Chapter Twenty-Nine

Suki skipped along the hallway—she was looking for you. She felt bored but cheerful—a combination that meant she absolutely had to spend time with you pronto! She grinned when she saw you exiting one room and then drowsily entering another. "Hey! (y/n)!! Wait up!" she yelled out while waving her arm.

You paused where you stood and turned to see her. You smiled a little—it was forced; you were tired. A part of your brain was happy to see her, but most of your brain was overwhelmingly fatigued. "Hello, Suki," you waved as she got nearer.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a slight tilt of her head.

"Looking," you replied with a sigh. "I'm still...looking for Jenna."

"Right," she frowned, not trying to hide her disdain for your reply. "Didn't Quince tell you to give it a rest?"

"Well...," you said simply, trying to collect your thoughts. That's correct. He did tell you not to worry. He told you he would tell you what happened as soon as he could. You trusted him. At least—you wanted to. But it was hard to just stop looking for her! It felt like if you did you were letting yourself forget about her. Maybe it was less about finding her and more about making sure you didn't stop caring... as silly as that was. How could you say that to Suki without her immediately dismissing your feelings? You knew you were the only one left in the house that cared about the situation. Don had accepted Quince's words and had grown annoyed with you when you would ask him to look with you. "I think it's become a bit of a habit at this point," you tried.

"Hmm...I suppose that's fair," she considered. "But now you've had enough and it's time for you to hang out with me!" she laughed happily and clapped a hand on your shoulder. She was so cute, you smiled too, but you couldn't do fun things right now. Your heart wouldn't be in it.

"I don't know," you smiled apologetically. "I think I just have to keep looking."

"Whaaat! But you admit that it was a habit! Like you don't actually have to find her now, cuz Quince said he'll tell you where she is soon!"

"Looking for her is the only thing I can really think about right now," you sighed again. "If I do anything else, I'll just be itching to start searching again. I'm sure that eventually, I'll get over it, but for now, I have to look. I can't help it."

"(y/n), that sounds bad! That sounds really, really bad, you need to take a break, or you'll go crazy!" Suki was serious in her concern. You were beginning to seem obsessed with this.

"Suki, just let me do this. Please?" you looked up to her. She cursed in her mind when she saw your big, tired eyes and your pouty expression "god fucking DAMN it why is she so adorable? Too cute, too cuuute!"

"Okay," she frowned deeper, her thoughts leading her away from the conversation. "You'll hang out with me soon though, yes?" she demanded.

"Sure," you nodded as you turned around. "I'll see you around."

"Yeah," Suki answered half-mindedly. She was upset now, but in a blurry way. She felt like her emotions were foggy—probably the effect of being around you when you were like this. She missed you. Why did it have to be this way?

"Were you bothering her?" a gruff voice came from behind her.

"Huh?" she turned around to see Ryo. "What gave you that impression, asshole?"

"It's just something you usually do," he shrugged.

"No, it's something you usually do shit face! And you better not go bother her now, she's busy!"

"Busy looking, yeah I know." He breathed out, "I still wanna bother her for a minute though."

"Well, you can't!" Suki snapped. She didn't mean to be getting so worked up, but if you weren't going to hang out with her then it'd be unfair for you to hang out with him!

"Whatever, I'm sure she'll tell me to leave after a few minutes. I just need to see her. Get out of my way," Ryo groaned exasperatedly.

"You just need to see her? Since when?"

"Hey, you know what, I heard Jason was making cake in the kitchen," Ryo rolled his eyes. Without continuing to engage, he walked off in your direction.

"That won't work on me this time! She half yelled. "Just don't hang out with her for too long or I'll rip you a new one, ya hear?"

He said nothing and just waved without looking back. He planned on being with you for a bit—he was sick of the distance. He couldn't have his turn if you were tirelessly searching for a girl you'd never find. If the only way to be near you was to look, though, then he'd do it. Whatever.

You didn't notice him when he came in, giving him a chance to observe you. He didn't know what to think of this new phase you were in. Ryo supposed he should care more about the random disappearance of someone else in the house, but if it wasn't you or him, he couldn't bring himself to care. He wasn't sure he'd even had a conversation with Jenna before. You still hadn't realized he was there, but he didn't mind.

Your upper body was ducked into a small door you had noticed. It was dusty and seemed like it was just storage space. You could dig around later but for now, you'd move on. Unexpectedly, you hit your head on the way out. Ugh! that totally hurts! This sucks! You thought angrily as you coughed out the dust that fell onto your face. When you heard someone laughing behind you, you quickly tried to regain composure to see who it was.

"Hey!! Don't laugh ass hat!" you frowned at Ryo.

"Why not? That was funny. Look, you've still got spit on your face from your coughing," he pointed. You were still coughing a little as you embarrassedly wiped at your face.

"What did you need?" you asked.

"Should I need something to come see you?"

"Well, I'm a little busy is all," you frowned as you turned to close the small door.

"Yeah I know," Ryo fought off the urge to mock you for this. "I was gonna... look...with you."

"What, really?" you said, surprised.

"yeah, really," he groaned. "If you don't spend some time with me, I'm going to get agitated. Okay?"

"You just love to prove that you're the world's biggest baby," you laughed.

"As if you're any better," he grumbled.

"I am."

"Are not!"

"Whatever," you groaned, but really you were glad that someone was going to help you. "I'm just going to check the next room. You're going to come with?"

"Lead the way," he nodded.

And so, you did. You went through rooms at double time now—you were back in rooms you had already seen this morning. He was helpful, but talkative, which was a little weird. Not weird really, just something you weren't accustomed to. You had been pretty isolated for the last few days. It was weird for Ryo to speak so many full sentences in a row, he must have really been lonely.

"I guess this is enough for now," you sighed after he had complained for the third time in that room.

"Thank god," he groaned dramatically. "This is pointless."

"I just can't find it in me to stop trying until I know she's okay," you repeated.

"Quince said he knew what was up. Why isn't that enough for you?"

"It just doesn't add up! There's no outside here, there isn't anywhere to go! Everything that exists for us is this house and that's it. How could she have left?"

"It's not like you've seen the whole house," Ryo rolled his eyes.

"Yeah," you said slowly, coming to a realization. "You're totally right, I haven't!"

"...How is that making you excited?"

"Ryo, I need to find the attic!" you exclaimed.

"What?!"

"That's probably where she is and that's also why Quince can't tell me yet! Cuz it's against the rules!" you grinned, feeling accomplished.

"(y/n), even if you find it you can't go in it, so what's the point?" he scowled. "You should really give it a rest."

"I can't not look, dumbass!" you frowned. "I am almost guaranteeing that she's in there, it's the only thing that makes sense!"

"That doesn't fix the obvious issue here," he argued, his face getting angrier. "You can't check inside the attic. So what's the point of finding it?"

"...Why can't I check? That rule is silly anyway! What are they gonna do if I break it? Put me in jail?" you rolled your eyes.

"No one breaks any rules here!" he growled, gripping the collar of your shirt. "The higherups made those rules for a reason. You don't know what's in there!"

"Woah, dude," you winced, edging away. "You have a point, but... I think If I find out where it is at least that'll give me some answers."

"You can't go looking for it," he demanded again.

"Let go of me!" you snapped pulling away. He released you, to your surprise. "I don't know if I'll go in or not, okay? I just want to find it."

"You know what? If you're going to go look for it then just don't speak with me for a bit. I didn't realize you were this stupid," His eyes narrowed at you. You were confused—why was this upsetting him so much?

"...Why are you being so mean?" you asked, looking away.

"Because I'm just a little disappointed to find out that you're a fucking idiot is why. Why can't you just wait for Quince to tell you? What is it with you that makes you such a whiney, stubborn person? I regret coming in here," he scoffed before leaving.

You were dumbfounded. He's always snippy, but you had forgotten that Ryo could be cruel, too. Why did this hurt so bad?

Why was he so mean? How were you so wrong to him? You thought that you two had gotten closer, and there's no way that you're wrong! I care about him! Doesn't he care about me? you thought angrily. No—there's no mistaking it—he does care. He has to, considering everything he's done. He even sought you out just to talk to you.

He shouldn't have been so awful, and you just hoped he would apologize soon so that you could both get over it.

For now, you'd keep looking.

Or maybe, you'd keep looking after you cried for a minute. Your feelings were hurt.

.x.x.x.x.x.

Ryo went into his room. He was surprised that you'd even consider breaking one of the rules like that. Hadn't Quince explained to you and your group that breaking the rules was...against the rules!?

Ryo had never been a stickler for rules in life, but seeing Quince enforce the simple rules so energetically had done something to Ryo overtime. It made him somewhat paranoid, although that paranoia isn't unjustified.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice anyone knocking on the door until they came in. "Did you make (y/n) cry?" Jason spoke with no introduction when he invaded Ryo's room.

"What are you doing in here?" Ryo frowned.

"Answer the question."

"I don't know, maybe you should ask her," he spoke sarcastically. "Get out."

"Fine, whatever. You pretty much confirmed it for me. Don't do it again," Jason spoke.

Ryo had wanted to retaliate, but Jason had already slipped out just as quick as he had come. "How did Jason already know about that? Did she go to him?" Ryo wondered jealously.

"I made her cry...?"

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