Heart of a survivor × Chishiya Shuntaro

Chapter Thirty Nine

After Takara's brush with death, the pair had passed through the correct door, leading Chishiya and Takara deeper into the labyrinth. The two hadn't spoken since their impulsive kiss, silence lingering in the air while they trudged on. It wasn't an awkward silence between them, but a blissful silence, comfortable in each other's company.

Their brief moment of intimacy made Takara glaze over the fact that she had almost died 10 minutes ago. In fact, she hasn't even properly processed what had happened to her.

However, dying was imminent in the borderlands, and Takara had kind of gotten used to that. But kissing Chishiya? That was something she thought would never happen.

Takara pondered what would happen next, and how this would impact their friendship. Did Chishiya return the kiss purely from the situation they had been in? That he thought it was a sort of thank you kiss for saving her? Or did he feel the same as her? Would it turn into more than a fleeting moment of affection? She so desperately wanted to ask him all of her questions, but right now wasn't the bestest of times. Not when their lives were on the line and the clock was ticking.

The sound of footsteps up ahead pulled Takara out of her thoughts, she gave Chishiya a knowing look before the pair pressed themselves against one of the walls. The footsteps were getting louder, and as Takara approached the corner of the wall, she unsheathed her knife, ready to attack.

With the strangers close to colliding with Takara, she jumped out from around the corner. She came into contact with the hem of the strangers shirt, grabbing onto it forcefully and pinning them against the wall.

Takara held the knife to the person's throat, ready to slice them open.

"Whoa h-hold on! We're not a threat!" The boy yelled out in fear, lifting his hands up in surrender.

Takara stopped in her tracks, catching a glimpse of the boy she held against the wall. He was young, eyes filled with fright as they darted from Takara to the blade she held.

Tilting her head to the right, she spotted his partner looking just as fearful. Met with Takara's piercing gaze, the other boy followed suit and put his hands up. Takara noticed the cuffs that linked the two boys, they must have not figured out their riddle yet.

"If you're not a threat, we'll be on our way," Chishiya said from behind Takara. Unbeknownst to the other pair, his hand danced over the handle of his glock in the waistband of his joggers.

While Chishiya had their attention, Takara's eyes scanned the boys, eyeing them up and down for any weapons. Her knife was still pressed against the boy's throat in case either of them tried anything.

Upon quick inspection, neither of them had any weapons Takara could see. But that didn't mean they had none concealed from view.

"Umm, okay I mean y-yes sure! After you" he stumbled over his words, feeling scared of the two strangers in front of him. But mostly he was afraid Takara would slit his throat.

His friend eagerly nodded his head in agreement with his friend's words, staying mute.

To Takara, they both seemed harmless, and she was a pretty good judge of character most of the time. Her grip loosened slightly on the knife, yet she still held it close to the boy's neck.

Takara turned to Chishiya, looking to him for the final decision. She trusted his judgment, seeing as he's less easily fooled than her. Catching Takara's gaze, he glanced between the two boys one last time before giving her a subtle nod.

With his nod of approval, she dropped the knife and sheathed it. A smirk danced across Chishiya's face, finding it amusing that Takara waited for his word to drop the knife. He was becoming increasingly aware that he was the only person she actually answers to.