Chapter Fifteen

"Ryo?" you waved your hand a few times. He was zoned out, staring dead at you. Creepy... "Ryo! Stop staring you're freaking me out!" you snapped. Finally, he seemed to wake up and his face morphed into its usual scowl.

"Do you have a problem?"

"Yeah, you were staring right at me," you stuck your tongue out. "Are you tired or something?" He didn't respond; he just kept his gaze on you again. He was out of his thoughts now, but he didn't want to speak. "Maybe you should go to bed," you suggested.

"Trying to get rid of me?" The blonde rested his chin on the palm of his hand. "Or were you suggesting we nap together?"

"What?! There is no context in what I said that would allude to that!" you pouted.

"Yeah, not like I would allow you to be that close to me anyway," He rolled his eyes.

"Says the guy who grabs my wrist incessantly," you clenched your teeth. What a jerk! As if to prove your point, he snatched your wrist and held it tightly. Not tight enough to hurt, but tight enough that you couldn't wiggle away. In your mind, you hoped someone else would come in here to help you out.

"This is different. As far as I'm concerned, this belongs to me," He brought your arm closer to him, and you began to struggle.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about! Let go!" you were getting angry, your face painted in red. The harder you blushed, the more grinned. I'm not flustered, I'm angry! You tried to convince yourself. You stood from the table and yanked your hand as hard as you could, but he was stronger. Maybe standing up was a mistake, because he stood too and backed you to the wall. What the fuck what the fuck.

"What's the problem? I like to hold you," he said in a way that suggested this was tender and not weirdly possessive. For a moment, all you could do was stare incredulously.

"Ryo, this is—this isn't okay! And this isn't holding, this yanking and pulling me around!" you managed to argue.

"It isn't holding?" he said in mock curiosity. "Why don't you show me what is, then?" As he looked blankly at you, his lips only slightly upturned, you almost considered that he truly was ignorant on how to hold someone. Should I... hug him? You thought before shaking the thoughts from your head.

"Stop—we aren't even friends! I don't just hug acquaintances," you spoke embarrassedly.

"We aren't? That hurts," he whined dramatically.

"Let me go!"

"What if I don't want to? What are you going to do about it?" He looked mockingly to you as he leaned forward. You were about to scream for help when he pressed his palm against your mouth firmly. "Aw, come on now (y/n). I'm just playing around. You get so worked up, it's funny."

You couldn't reply in any way other than showing anger through your eyes. You didn't want to hurt him, but kicking his balls seemed like a really good option right now. Rule four- no serious harm to other occupants. Right, but a crotch kick wasn't serious. You considered it. It wasn't like you were going to kick his dick clean off, at least, not on purpose. He stared into your eyes as you deliberated. If he was just messing around, then he would need to learn some boundaries.

And some lessons are learned the hard way.

You were seconds before slamming your knee into his crotch before someone ran over and shoved him off for you. In the impact, you also fell to the ground, but at least Ryo was off of you. "Suki...?" you looked over at your brown-haired savior who was kneeling over a not-impressed Ryo. She raised her fist over his face and looked just about ready to strike.

"Woah, Suki, relax! I was just playing," Ryo chuckled nervously. He barely showed it, but you could tell he didn't want to get punched.

"She didn't look like she was enjoying whatever the hell you were doing," Suki growled.

"Well, no one enjoys getting teased. Part of life, though, isn't it?" He frowned. You didn't know how far Suki would take this, so maybe you should intervene? I mean, the problem is gone now. You held your wrist tenderly.

"Suki, I'm ok. Thank you for looking out for me... you don't have to beat him up," You looked at her, but she was glaring straight at Ryo. After a few tense heartbeats, she finally loosened her grip on his collar and relaxed her fist. Ryo looked elated at the development. At least—as elated as his usually emotionless face could be. He was smug.

Suki crawled off him, but not without an angry shove to his side. She turned to you sympathetically, "(y/n), are you ok? I just saw him holding you like that and I had to act."

"Oh, grow up, Suki. Not doing anything you wouldn't do," Ryo scowled, still sitting on the floor. You didn't know what to say. He isn't completely wrong.

Ignoring him, Suki placed a hand on your face, "Don't worry about him. Do you wanna go somewhere else?" At her tender touch, your face flushed. Right...it's not like her feelings for me have vanished. I shouldn't lead her on or anything but hanging out isn't a bad thing. You nodded slowly.

"Yeah, don't be too upset with Ryo. Maybe we could hang out with Jason?" You suggested as you stood up and dusted yourself. Ryo seemed a bit annoyed with the development. I wonder what he's thinking...

"Yeah! We can watch a movie with him or something," Suki agreed. You offered her a hand to help her stand. The polite part of your brain wanted to give the same courtesy to Ryo, but you were nervous. Luckily, he stood on his own and stomped out. Now that the two of you were alone, Suki continued speaking, "What was that all about anyway?"

"I don't know," you answered truthfully. "I think he really was just playing." It seemed like the only real excuse you could give him.

"Well, that's a shit job of playing. You looked scared as hell, are you ok?" She said softly and looked into your eyes. She was gentle.

"Yeah, I'm really fine. Thanks for having my back," you smiled softly.

The two of you looked for Jason for several minutes before giving up and deciding to watch a movie on your own. Hanging out with Suki was fine, she didn't make you uncomfortable at all! She was overly nice, but to be fair, she always was. It was almost totally back to normal, and you appreciated it. You even ended up napping a bit on her shoulder.

-:xxxxxx:-

"Things to gain... and things to lose," Dianna repeated to herself in a mantra. She had been spending quite a bit of time mulling over her last conversation with you, and she was ready to build a plan to begin gaining in this hellish house. She smiled. She didn't care about the rest too much. Being friends with Ryo was easy, she just bantered with him. The only other person in the house that caught her interest in any significant way was you, and you would take some work to gain. "To gain... to lose. (y/n) to gain and to keep for me, (y/n) to lose for the others," she smiled as she wrote in her journal.

"What is it that makes a good friend?" she wondered out loud. She was used to acquaintances in work and romantic relationships that she didn't care about, but this was different. She wanted you to really like her. She had heard about your... adventure with Don. As she thought about it, Don didn't seem to dislike her company. Perhaps she could ask him for advice? The more she mulled it over, the more she decided that it was a good idea.

The walk to his room was quick, and she was glad to see that he was indeed in there, "Don, can I ask you something?" she wasted no time. He shuffled to the side to let her walk in the room. He seemed as unkempt as usual. He smiled. It was nice that someone in this godforsaken house wanted to visit him.

"Of course! Although, I can't claim to have extensive knowledge on much of anything," he laughed.

"I wanted to ask about (y/n)," she said while taking a seat in his room.

"Oh," his face fell. "Well, what do you want to know?" he figured he couldn't say "Fuck off, I'm not going to help you be a weirdo around (y/n)," so he would just go along with it.

"What would be a good way to make her be closer to me?" she asked bluntly. Genuine social interaction wasn't her strong suit.

"That's kind of a tough question. I don't really know...?" He bit his tongue lightly to help him think, "I mean, you're already pretty charming. You could just do what everyone else has been doing."

"What has everyone else been doing?"

"Everyone else has been just making her spend time with them. Just find her and tell her to hang out with you," he suggested. "It's not like she'll say no, as long as you're reasonable."

"That...makes sense, but usually her time is being occupied by Jason," she spoke someone disdainfully.

"Well, yeah. It's not like I talk to her often, but I get the idea that she's starting to become, uh... wary of you guys?"

"What? (y/n) is one of the most overly-trusting people I've ever met," Dianna was baffled at this suggestion. "And that hardly explains why she would spend so much time around Jason."

"Yeah, you have a point," Don shrugged. "I guess I don't really have another suggestion in that area then. You could try doing something for her? I mean, like something kind. Maybe make her breakfast or... whatever you like to do, I guess."

"You've given me a lot to think about," Dianna stood and walked to the door. "Thank you for the help. I'm sorry to cut this visit short, but I think there's another person I need to talk to." Dianna walked out the door, leaving Don to his bitter and lonely devices.

"If (y/n) is becoming wary of us, that could only be explained by two things," Dianna thought. "either she noticed something about us that she didn't like... or someone is planting seeds in her head." And with that realization, Dianna marched her way to a certain blue-haired man's room.

He wasn't there when she looked, but she wasn't going to give up. Someone had started the game before her, and she did not like the disadvantage she had. If she was correct in assuming Jason had been slowly isolating (y/n), then she would have to find a way to make him stop without you getting suspicious. She hadn't really suspected Jason, of all people, to do this though, so she had some doubt. "Could it be someone else? Jenna seems like she would like to somehow put a restraining order on the lot of us. She's been that way from the start though..." Dianna was just going to have to gather information

After what seemed like forever, Dianna found Jason alone in a small room with a puzzle laid out on the floor. He didn't notice her entering before she spoke, "Jason. I would like to talk to you."

He looked up from his seat on the ground, "What do you need?"

"You seem to be close to (y/n)," She began as she took a cautious seat on the ground.

"Is that a problem?" Jason asked as his eyes returned to the puzzle pieces. "If Dianna gets too interested in (y/n) that could be a problem for me."

"Of course not... I was just wondering why you had to isolate her from the group," Dianna worded carefully.

"I'm not isolating her," Jason lied with a shrug. "She just likes to spend time with me. Actually, I'd like to spend time with her now, so I'm going to go find her." He hastily stood up. Admittedly, the powerful brunette made him a little nervous.

She stood up as well, and grabbed his forearm, "I'm not sure what you're playing at, but you should know you're not the only one on the field." Jason paused for a moment without looking back at her. When she finally released her hold on him, he bolted out of the room.

Dianna stood still for a moment, having far more questions than answers at this point. She didn't know him. She really couldn't predict his actions. She could tell he was up to something, but she didn't have enough basis to accuse him of treachery. "An opponent just makes things interesting," She decided to herself. "And I'll crush him like the bug he is."

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very quick very sloppy doodle of the events in this chapter lolol can also be found on the art chapter