𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒕'𝒔 𝑻𝒖𝒕𝒐𝒓 | Kazutora Hanemiya x Reader

Chapter 12

At long last, it was the night before the cultural festival, and the students were allowed to stay late to set up their class projects. Kazutora and Y/N were making sure everything went smoothly, and the entire class was excited about their haunted house. Kazutora helped set up the maze while Y/N got the actors into their costumes. They hadn't interacted since the incident with their senior at the staircase. In fact, things between them had gotten to become even more awkward. They wouldn't even talk to each other about the festival anymore; they simply tasked their classmates to relay messages for them.

Finally, the setup was complete and the actors went into the classroom to hide in their assigned spots for their technical dress rehearsal.

"Okay, L/N, Hanemiya," said Yamashita, their classmate in charge of lights and sounds, "since you guys led us, you'll be the first to go through the haunted house! We included a surprise we didn't tell you about, too, but you'll see that at the end!"

The pair were about to protest when their classmates shoved them into the classroom and closed the door. It was dark, and creepy music was playing in the background. They could hear creaks and scuffling from the actors.

Kazutora knew Y/N didn't want to be there with him, but they both had no choice. "Y/N," he said and turned to her. He looked at her, and though it was dark, he could see that the color completely drained from her face. Her brows were knit in a worried expression and she looked stiff as a board.

"Y/N?" Kazutora said, making her pay attention to him. "Are you actually scared?"

"I-I mean," she squeaked, "I can't help it! O-our class did such a great job..." She tried to laugh it off, but she was frozen in her spot. Kazutora felt kind of bad about suggesting they do a haunted house in the first place.

"Okay, I helped put up some of the maze, so I'll try to remember the fastest way out," he grabbed her hand, thanking the universe that she couldn't see his blush. "And remember, they're just our classmates."

"Got it," she said, and she shocked Kazutora by hugging his entire arm close. She must be really scared, he thought. Though I can't complain.

Through each turn, the actors dressed as bloody corpses and mutilated zombies jumped out of every corner to scare the pair. Y/N had her eyes closed the entire time, completely relying on Kazutora to lead them out, but she screamed with every little noise made in the maze. Kazutora was doing his best trying to remember how to get out of the classroom, and soon enough, they were close to the end.

Just one more passageway, Kazutora thought sadly. This was the closest Y/N had been with him in a long time, and even though she was scared out of her mind, he savored this quick moment with her.

Suddenly, the room went completely dark. Kazutora couldn't see, but he knew the door was straight ahead.

"We're almost out," he told Y/N. Immediately after he said that, the room flashed like lightning and their costumed classmates were crawling on the floor toward them. Y/N opened her eyes in shock and screamed before bolting to the door with Kazutora in tow.

She fell to her hands and knees in the hallway, breathing hard. Yamashita ran towards the pair.

"Are you okay, L/N?" He asked, panicked.

Y/N looked up at him and Kazutora, smiling and giving them a thumbs up. "Great job, guys! That was super scary."

Yamashita and Kazutora looked at each other, unsure of how to respond to her. "Okay," Yamashita started, "anyway, now check out the surprise we set up!"

The pair's eyes went to the laptop on the table outside the classroom. They looked at the screen to see photos of them at the last portion of the maze. Y/N's mouth was in mid-scream and she was looking down at the floor where her classmates crawled towards them. How embarrassing, Y/N thought. She looked at Kazutora in the photo. He was looking at Y/N as if to check if she was okay. His arm was half up in front of her, as if to shield her from her classmates. Y/N felt even more embarrassed at how she acted toward Kazutora in the maze. She looked at Kazutora beside her, who was smiling at the photo. Her cheeks started to burn and she quickly turned to Yamashita.

"This is such a great idea!" Y/N said. "Everyone's going to want to come to our classroom for sure tomorrow."

"Thanks! We were inspired by roller coaster photos in theme parks. We figured it would be another pull for our audience."

Y/N and Kazutora thanked their classmates and helped them clean up. Just like that, they were back to being strangers.

+ + +

"Oi, Mikey, do you even know where Kazutora's classroom is?"

"No clue," Mikey said to Draken, yet continued to lead the way anyway.

"Why don't you guys text him?" Said Emma, annoyed. "We're wasting time and I still want to check out the food stalls."

The trio walked down the halls of the unfamiliar school. They knew Kazutora had become more active with extra-curricular activities and wanted to see what he had been skipping Toman meetings for. And if they could tease him and Y/N, then all the better.

As they turned the corner, Mikey saw a familiar face.

"Y/N-chan!"

"Hey!" She started walking up to them when she realized they were with the blonde girl she had seen Kazutora with. She felt her chest tighten in jealousy. Of course she would want to see her boyfriend's class project, she thought.

"Are you guys here to check out our classroom?" Y/N asked politely.

"Yeah! Is Kazutora there?" Draken asked.

"I think so," she replied. "I was doing other committee stuff, but he should be manning the booth."

Suddenly, Emma stepped in front of Mikey to meet Y/N's eyes. "Hi!" she said excitedly. "I'm Emma and you must be Y/N! I've heard a lot about you. You're so pretty!"

"Ah, thank you," Y/N said. "I'm sure you're excited to see your boyfriend's project. The haunted house was actually his idea."

"What?" Draken spat, annoyed. "Boyfriend?"

"Huh?" Emma was confused. "I don't have a boyfriend..."

"What?" Now Y/N was confused. "I saw you and Kazutora together after school one time, so I assumed you were on a date."

"Why were you with Kazutora, Emma?" Draken asked, squinting at the girl.

Emma realized when Y/N must've seen them, but she couldn't blow her cover, knowing they were out getting Draken a gift. "Oh, uh... We just happened to run into each other! Nothing serious hehe," she explained.

"Hmmm, okay..." Draken said. But Y/N was still confused. If Kazutora didn't have a girlfriend, why did he distance himself from her so suddenly?

"Hey Y/N! Can you show us to your classroom?" Mikey asked, seemingly not having paid attention to their conversation.

"Okay, sure," she said. "Follow me."

+ + +

"Mikey! Draken! Emma! You guys are here!" Kazutora exclaimed excitedly when he saw them.

"Yo," Draken said, "so is your haunted house going to be scary or what?"

"Check it out yourself, asshole," Kazutora said cheekily. They exchanged fake punches before the visiting bunch made their way into the classroom. It was only then that Kazutora realized Y/N had been behind them.

"Oh, hey," he said nervously, unable to meet her eyes.

"Kazutora," she said. He hadn't heard her call him by his name for a while, so his heart started pounding like crazy. He looked at her but couldn't discern her expression. "Let's talk properly later, after we're done with the classroom project."

This caught him off guard, and he muttered a weak "ok." He had a feeling it would be about how they had been acting around each other, and he knew that just like with rival gang fights, he had to face this head-on.