『A crystal can only reveal its hidden structure when fractures thread through its inclusions』
Jewelry embedded with the finest of gemstones will always capture a person's attention. Whether it be through the flurry of colors running through the glas...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
『ARC TWO: CAREFUL STEPS』
✧ ▬▭▬ ▬▭▬ ✦✧✦ ▬▭▬ ▬▭▬ ✧
Neither Akihiko nor Tanami enjoyed the dark. It reminded them of how their parents would lock them alone in a pitch-black room with no light source. Unless you counted the soft glow emitted from their hair and the crystals they created, there was no light. When they were younger, they would simmer over the thought of creating a few pieces of citrine but a few glances at the stained bandages curled around their arms quickly shut that idea down.
An airy puff escaped Tanami's lips. Her hands hooked around the fabric of her blazer's sleeves. A chill pricked her spine and she rubbed her palms up her arms. In front of her, Akihiko had shoved one hand into his pants pocket. He raised his phone, the device's flashlight illuminating the hallway beyond them.
The eggshell wall paint was peeling and the lightbulbs clinging to the ceiling were deader than a crumpled autumn leaf. Out of curiosity, Akihiko took a few careful steps and he was met with the loud squeaking of the wooden floorboards. The noise made Akihiko's nose crinkled due to the horrible sound his ears picked up.
Raising her hand, the female twin pressed her digits against the peeling paint. Her face instantly turned into one of disgust feeling the broken paper feeling staining her skin. "Should I assume this place is still a part of the school or did we take a wrong turn somewhere?"
"No, we are still in a facility inside Mizu. But if we did not have this map," Akihiko fished out the tablet and pressed an app on the screen. A map appeared on screen and he held it up for his sister to see before tucking it away once more. "I am ninety-nine percent sure that both of us would think that we ended up in a random abandoned building. We should turn back and find a different route-"
"Wait, wait. We should go exploring." Tanami retorted as she latched her fingers around his wrist.
Her brother sent her a look of disbelief and blinked twice. He stared at her for a while before tilting his head in bewilderment. "What?"
Sighing, Tanami ran a hand through her thin, fiberglass bangs that clung to her forehead. She gave him a stressed smile. "Sorry, I should have clarified. Don't you think it's a bit odd why a place like this would be open?"
"Kohei-san had a lapse in judgment."
She lightly jabbed his arm and rolled her periwinkle eyes. "Kohei-san is not that forgetful!"
"What about the time that we were ten and he forgot us at the mall? I thought Tomo was going to stab him with a pen if Sumiko did not wretch it out of his hand."
"...remind me how Tomo and Kohei-san are friends?"
"I do not think anyone actually knows."
The two stood in silence for a few minutes before an eerily squeak caught their attention. Instantly, their muscles tensed, and their joints froze from the sound. Their periwinkle eyes met and the hair on their necks instantly stood. Neither of them had moved from their positions so they were not the ones who forced the floorboards to squeak. Before something else could be heard, Akihiko instinctively grabbed onto Tanami's wrist.
