𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩; KAORU HIITACHIN & TAMAKI SUOH

chapter four: snapdragon

snapdragon

the flower of deviousness

just as he promised, m/n waited at the doorstep of a giant hall. the doors seemed to soar into the clouds with their immense height. being the gentleman he is, Kaoru had arrived first.

m/n, weary of the eyes around him, took Kaoru's hand and gracefully bowed. the politeness made his stomach turn every time. for a host to be treated as such royalty, especially by a simple commoner, was something he relished in.

except, as he was clearly about to see, m/n isn't your average commoner. he has a bit more... pizzazz to his life than he lets on.

"oh my-" Tamaki's sudden gasp alerted the others of his arrival.

"nice to see you're both making yourselves comfortable. would you care to join the party?" m/n asked sweetly as if no ill intentions were hidden. 

Despite their recently developed rivalry, the two boys took the invitation graciously. Tamaki bolted up the stairs, disregarding any need for etiquette. Kaoru climbed the stairs right behind him. 

for a commoner's house, it had a few too many stairs. a few too many stairs... decorated entirely in snapdragons. not a glamorous or especially pretty flower at all. 

it struck them as odd. 

as it should've. 

their days were filled with puzzles and mysteries by the hand of m/n l/n and they wanted it to end. but, they didn't wish for m/n to end with it. 

"i wasn't sure how comfortable the two of you were with alcohol, but there is an open bar if you so please." m/n guided them both to the bar, neither of them daring to utter a single word. "as I mentioned yesterday, this is an, um, well..." 

m/n faltered. m/n had never faltered. technically, they had only known him for a few days. but he never faltered. 

their ears perked up, awaiting a single word. 

"It's an escape room." 

that certainly wasn't what they were expecting. 

"an escape room? Sorry, m/n I'm not familiar—" Tamaki was appalled at how nervous he became when speaking to m/n. His nerves instantly subsided when he gripped Tamaki's hand. 

although his nerves may have calmed, his pulse certainly skyrocketed. 

"It's all in the name, Tamaki. To leave this venue, you must escape." quickly, almost within the blink of an eye, m/n gripped Kaoru's hand tightly. as if he would vanish any second. "You must escape." 

Kaoru's breath hitched with every movement of his fingers as they crawled up his arm and into his hair. it was a scene from a play and he was Juliet. if he was fated to die by Romeo's hand, then so be it. 

as far as he was concerned, it would be a happy death. 

"Excuse me, boys. I have to go explain the rules to the rest of the participants." With his voice barely above a whisper and his shoes making no more than a scuffled sound, he was gone. 

the only trace of him left behind was a single snapdragon with a note attached. Tamaki and Kaoru looked at each other, at the note, then back at each other. 

they both ran toward it, simultaneously gripping the card. although they hated each other, the card was something they both found extremely important at that moment. 

clouded by confusion and a little bit of lust, they read. 

escape room: snapdragon. 
goal: find the snapdragon

rule #1: choose a partner

rule #2: choose a door

rule#3: survive at all costs. 

as the boys turned to look at each other one last time, all they heard was the echoing voice of the person they would do anything for. "one last hint, as a token of my gratitude—! never trust a stranger that hands out flowers."