When Ryunosuke noticed that Miyuki was kind of frozen in her seat while he was talking to her, he blinked a couple of times, confused, and it took him a while to realize that he was holding her hand. This wasn't the first time that he did this, but seeing that reaction on her made him pounder if he should avoid holding her hand in the future to prevent any misunderstandings.
Sighing and blushing faintly, Ryunosuke was about to let go of Miyuki's hand, but she did it first. Funny and lucky enough, she didn't felt disgusted or uncomfortable after holding hands with him. Yes, she was embarrassed, but Ryunosuke thought that was just a normal and natural reaction, especially after Miyuki is just starting to meet him.
The pink blush in her cheeks, though. Ryunosuke found it very adorable. With a smile, a faint chuckle escaped his mouth while secretly staring at Miyuki's beautiful face. And then it happened again. His heart began to beat really fast, like if it was trying to pop out of his chest. After swallowing hard, Ryunosuke found himself blushing a deep tone of red, and then he slowly swung his head to his right to avoid any eye contact with Miyuki until his heart slowed down a few beats.
"God, what the hell is going on with you, Ryu!?" he thought, rubbing the back of his neck while sighing deeply. Miyuki began to say something, but he was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't pay any attention.
"Why are you acting so funny and weird around Miyuki all of a sudden, huh? Geez, relax, okay? It's not that you have a crush on her or something. R-Right…? Right. Now, you need to… OH MY GOD, WHY IN THE WORLD SHE'S THIS EXTREMELY CLOSE TO ME!?"
Miyuki agreed to help Ryunosuke put some bandaids on the small wounds on his face, so right now she was leaning really close to his face, carefully examining it. Oh, and this was really bad for the poor Ryunosuke. He really did his best to act cool, but he couldn't resist blushing the deepest tone of red a human can have while swallowing hard.
He was sitting with his back straight, his body completely frozen in his seat with Miyuki's eyes all over his face. She was so close to him that he could feel her soft and gentle breathing, and its warmth was very welcoming to his skin. The poor guy was so flustered that when Miyuki began to gently put some bandaids on his wounds, which thankfully weren't that bad, he instinctively flinched a little and the hairs of his skin perked up as a cat would. He hoped she didn't notice that because he didn't want her to feel bad or annoyed by his reaction, after all, it was him that asked for her help.
When Miyuki finally finished with her job, Ryunosuke released a long sigh of relief with a faint smile as she was finally at a proper distance from him, but, oh boy, he was definitely a magnet for weird and embarrassing moments.
MIYUKI. FREAKING. KISSED. HIM.
It was only a kiss on his right cheek, BUT STILL A KISS.
Ryunosuke once again froze himself where he was with his brain at the brink of exploding as he was trying to process what the hell just happened. At least this time nothing was his fault, so that was a good thing, but damn, if only his heart wasn't beating so fast and strong. And this time, his face wasn't the only place blushing red. Ryunosuke was looking like a weird and brand new species of red alien thing.
"Y-You… I-I-I…"
Ryunosuke was trying to speak, but no understandable words came out from his mouth because his brain was a whole mess at the moment, so the only thing he could do, and always do when finding himself in this kind of situation was to just stand up and run away. Runaway and forget about everything and everyone. Just run and run until his feet burn with pain.
Taking a deep breath, Ryunosuke stood up from the floor and when he was about to actually run away, Haruhi called out everyone. Widening his eyes with relief, and began to run toward the direction he heard her, excusing himself from Miyuki. He didn't even wait for her as she supposed to go to the same place too!
When Ryunosuke finally reached the entrance of the woods at the back of the Villa, everyone from the Lovers Club was already there. Haruhi explained everyone about a Treasure Hunt in the middle of the woods that supposed to be hunted. Ryunosuke got so excited about that that he definitely didn't hear anything else from Haruhi.
"Oh, my God, yes, I love haunted places!" he thought with bliss, raising his fists with a giddy expression, like a child waiting in front of a line to enter a candy shop. "I really hope to find a ghost or two! Oh, oh, I should bring my camera! I need to record this!"
As Haruhi began to pull out names from a hat Alexander was holding for her, Ryunosuke widened his eyes with a dumb smile, blinking in confusion, and it took him a moment to realize that must have been something she said on her explanation… Yes, that one explanation he didn't listen to at all. "Well, damn, this is unfortunate," he mumbled with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his head. "I just hope I get paired with Alex-kun so he can te-"
"Miyuki and Ryunosuke!"
Ryunosuke double facepalmed, letting go of a frustrated scoff. Of course, he got paired with the last person he wanted to be right now! Life really hated him, apparently, and really badly.
"I agree with the ugly Jigglypuff!" said Ryunosuke out loud while raising his right hand, and then pointed at Alexander with his index finger. "Can I be paired with my blonde friend, please? I can't stand this person beside me."
Ryunosuke is not usually this mean and aggressive toward somebody, but he was doing everything he could to avoid being around Miyuki. He just couldn't be with her right now. Not after she kissed his cheek and made him have weird sensations inside of him. Besides, that's what she gets for calling him stupid octopus again.
A faint gasp escaped Miyuki's lips upon hearing Ryunosuke's statement. She did not expect any of that! She is not ugly! Nor a Jigglypuff! She was also taken aback by the sudden mean attitude of the octopus head. With her embarrassment now turned into annoyance, the black-haired beauty huffed and crossed her arms. "As if I asked you to stand beside me!"
Miyuki awaited Haruhi's final verdict about the pairing though before she can hear a word from their beloved president, Alex jumped out and hissed at her. She let out a surprised yelp, quickly backing away from the feral male while subconsciously sticking to Ryunosuke for protection. She can't believe Alex just hissed at her! Like a mirror, her view of Alex's slowly cracked and shattered. She didn't feel safe around him anymore.
The black-haired female stepped closer to Ryunosuke, her fingers tugging at the hem of his shirt. She tried not to flinch hard when Alex emphasized with a conviction that they cannot switch partners though, during that moment, Miyuki doesn't care. All she wanted right now was to leave and hopefully, with Ryu by her side.
"D-don't make him mad anymore," she mumbled under a whisper, tugging harder. "...let's just go. Please."
Ryunosuke couldn't believe what his eyes just witnessed. Alexander, someone he considered his true best friend, jumped out from behind Haruhi and hissed at poor Miyuki before lashing out toward him too. He explained Miyuki and him that they were not allowed to switch partners because it was like some kind of golden rule that Haruhi said. He was seriously thinking that he should've paid attention to everything his beloved Prez said earlier. Still, there was no reason at all for Alex to be so mean and grumpy, especially not toward Miyuki, which really had a liking toward him regardless of her androphobia. Poor Alex probably left a really bad impression on her after this, ripping to pieces that little trust she had on him.
What was more surprising and kind of amusing, however, was how Miyuki tried to find protection behind Ryunosuke, adorably tugging the hem of his shirt. Wait… Does that mean she was using the poor Ryunosuke as some kind of shield against Alexander's wrath!? Oh, she wasn't a stinky, ugly Jigglypuff. She was definitely an evil one as well!
"Ugh, okay, we get it, dude," Ryunosuke said with a slight frown, clicking his tongue. "Geez, calm down, okay? If you just want to be with Haruhi alone, you could've just told us calmly." Sighing, Ryunosuke turned around, and unconsciously worried for Miyuki, he gently grabbed her right hand before heading into the woods. "Come on, Miyuki, let's try to find that chest and win this hunt. And, who knows, maybe we can find a ghost or two on our way. I hope so!"
With a giddy chuckle, Ryunosuke smiled brightly, forgetting completely once again that he was holding hands with Miyuki when minutes ago he told himself to avoid doing such a thing. He couldn't blame himself, though. It was her fault for trying to find his protection. Besides, he was already so accustomed to the warmth of her hand that his body already found her touch comforting.
There it was again: the loud pounding of her heart. In that exact moment, her focus once again zoned in on their intertwined hands. Since when did her hand fit his perfectly? And when did she start feeling so warm and tingly around him?
Miyuki was completely oblivious about what's going on around her as her eyes shifted from their hands to Ryu's back. Was he always this tall? She was starting to notice little things about him and for some odd reason, she liked it. She continued staring at him until a rock interrupted her step. Stumbling forward, Miyuki found her face buried into Ryunosuke's back.
"I'm sorry!" The black-haired beauty squeaked, her cheeks already flushing red. "There was a rock and I lost my balance and... And..."
Hold up. Since when did she become so awkward?! Especially around Ryu! Usually, she'd be attacking him with mean words just like minutes before so why isn't she doing that now?
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she then distanced herself away from the octopus head by a couple of centimeters away. Sure, she wanted to walk away from him but upon looking around they're already deep inside the forest. She didn't want to get lost. Nor get scared.
"I'm still mad at you, you know?" Miyuki suddenly blurted out while looking anywhere but him. "Y-You make me feel comfortable and protected so um.. I.. accidentally kissed you. But it's your fault okay! If you weren't so beaten up and asked me to help you with your wounds then I wouldn't have kissed you!"
By now Miyuki looked like a tomato but she didn't care. "J-Just keep your distance from me and let's find the treasure. I want this to be over."
It took Ryunosuke quite a while to notice that his hand was holding Miyuki's once again. By this point he didn't know what to think: if he was really stupid for always forgetting not to hold hands with Miyuki or, apparently, he actually enjoyed holding her hand and he doesn't know about it. Yes, he prefers to believe that first option. There was no way he liked holding hands with the girl that always finds an opportunity to insult him or argue with him for practically no reason at all. Yes, Miyuki has a special condition called androphobia, but that still doesn't give her the right to treat him so rudely. Besides, why in the world she calls him an "octopus head", though? Does his head really look like that of an octopus?
Geez, he really doesn't know what to think about that, honestly. And, yes, that comes from the guy that compares Miyuki with a pink fluffy Pokemon, but, hey, at least a Jigglypuff is cute!
Concerned that Miyuki has been so silent through their stroll into the woods, Ryunosuke slowly began to stop walking, and when he was about to turn around, he felt a slight bump on his back, followed by Miyuki quickly letting go of his hand with an adorable squeak. With a confused smile, the black-haired guy turned around to look down at Miyuki, just in time to hear what happened to her when he wasn't looking at her.
Seeing her so flustered and at the brink of a panic attack for such a trivial incident really amused Ryunosuke. Scoffing with a grin, Ryunosuke crossed his arms. "Geez, Miyuki, just relax, okay?" he told her, shaking his head. "Nothing bad happened and I'm glad you bumped with me instead of falling to the ground face first. That would've been tragic as your cute face would-"
Did Ryunosuke just said that Miyuki's face was cute RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER!? Oh, boy! Now, the one that was acting all awkward and almost to go full-panic mode was him. His whole face was flustered with the deepest red possible, and he didn't know where to look. He couldn't look at Miyuki now. Not after saying such an embarrassing statement. Oh, how much he wished for the ground to just swallow him at once.
"I-I…! Huh… T-This isn't what you think, okay?" he began to say, stuttering dumbly as he tried his best to regain his cool composure. "I-It's not that you're cute or anything… No, wait, that's not true, you're actually really cute. Ugh, no, wait, that's not what I'm…! Oh, God, what the hell is wrong with me!?"
This was it. This was the exact moment our poor Ryunosuke died… At least internally. He was trying to say something to Miyuki, but his stupid brain forced him to say something completely different, mixing up what he was trying to say. Realizing there was no way he could save himself from this situation, Ryunosuke took a deep breath and quickly turned around before raising his hands and slapping his cheeks.
"OKAY, MOVING ON," he said out loud, acting that what happened seconds ago didn't happen. "We should continue venturing deeper into these woods. I have a feeling Haru-chan, and Alex-kun hid the treasure chest somewhere in the center of this place. Let's keep our eyes wide open, okay? I really want to win this thing, so don't blow it."
Nodding with a smile, Ryunosuke began to walk in a weird and funny robotic manner as he was still feeling embarrassed by everything he said to Miyuki minutes ago. He really called her cute. Two times. God, he really wondered what she was thinking right now.
Not noticing there was quite a big rock in front of his path, Ryunosuke's right foot tripped with it and with a yelp, he fell on the ground, face first. And there he stayed. Our poor Ryu… Laying on the ground with his right arm and left leg twitching a little bit.
"C-Cute?!" Miyuki's red cheeks suddenly turned crimson upon hearing Ryu's words. She was completely flabbergasted, unsure of how to respond! She gaped at the octopus head while trying to understand what was going but her tiny brain just can't comprehend it. "Ryunosuke thinks I'm cute? Wha-, Why?! Does he have ulterior motives? He's not going to kill me in these woods, is he? Oh heavens, what is happening."
She was snapped out of her little paranoia when Ryu shouted and suggesting that they should move forward. Miyuki thought it would be best to do just that, just so they can stop being awkward. She didn't utter a word as they walked around since her mind was filled with questions. Just what is this man up to? One minute they're enemies and the next, he'll call her cute! Her cheeks flared up once again at the very thought. Why does her heart keep skipping beats whenever she thinks about it?! I definitely need to visit the doctor after this trip. There must be something wrong with me.
Not a moment longer, Miyuki looked around. Ryu was walking way ahead of her and she was supposed to mind her own business until Ryu was about to stumble into a rock. "Ryu-," before she can even give him a warning, the said male tripped and fell face-first on the floor.
Instead of a worry, a giggle escaped Miyuki's lips. She didn't mean to be rude or anything but she just finds the scene funny. "Oh, dear!" she uttered between giggles, trying to help him but failing miserably. "I'm... I'm sorry! I... I don't know why I'm even giggling!"
"Here," she said once her giggles were gone, reaching out a hand to the octopus head to help him stand up. She can already feel the awkward atmosphere dissipating and turning into something else though she couldn't figure out what. "Try to focus on the path ahead, okay? I-If you're distracted by my…um... cuteness then I can just… put a paper bag in my head. Or if you want, we can split up."
She knows it's a dumb idea but truth be told, she didn't want to cause any more physical harm to Ryunosuke.
"B-Besides, it's getting darker and I don't want to return to the villa empty-handed so um... Let's focus and find the chest."
Ryunosuke could swear he kind of heard Miyuki giggling at his unfortunate fall. It that was the case, that was straight out cold, and rude. With an awkward sigh, Ryunosuke moved his arms, and with his hands against the ground, he pushed himself upwards and turned to his right to sit up. Luckily for him, he didn't cut or broke his face. However, his forehead wasn't that lucky as it now had a medium-sized red spot right on its center. With a pout that surprisingly looked cute, Ryunosuke gently lifted his left hand to rub the reddened spot on his forehead.
"Ugh, yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh," he told Miyuki after a minute. "I just got distracted by a moment, okay? I'm not usually like this, but it can happen. Geez, no need to be so rude, and laugh about it." Ryunosuke rolled his eyes to his right, his cheeks already red out of embarrassment. He couldn't believe he just tripped and fell right in front of Miyuki from all the people in the Lovers Club. That's what actually has him so annoyed, not that she was laughing at him.
"For the love of God, can this night get any worse?" he thought, growling internally.
The blush in his cheeks intensified when Miyuki told him that he shouldn't get distracted by her "cuteness". Scoffing nervously, Ryunosuke pouted once again, and when he was about to cross his arms, Miyuki offered to help him to get up by holding out a hand. When Ryunosuke noticed her hand, he blinked twice before gently raising his hand to grab hers.
But, wait… Wasn't that a great opportunity to get revenge on her for laughing at him? With a smirk, Ryunosuke chuckled. "Oh, what about if YOU join me on the ground as well!" he said with an evil grin. Then, he pulled her toward him by her arm but was unfortunate enough to miscalculate where Miyuki supposed to land. So, it was already too late when he realized what would happen next: Miyuki fell right on him, accidentally bumping her forehead with his. With a slight yelp, Ryunosuke threw himself backward, eyes closed, and taking Miyuki with him.
In the end, they ended up in a really awkward situation: Ryunosuke was laying on his back on the ground while Miyuki was on top of him, her face just a few short inches apart from his. She was so extremely close to him that he could hear and feel her warm breathing and could smell the perfume that came from her neck. Noticing the strange extra weight on him, Ryunosuke slowly opened his eyes, and almost had a heart attack when the first thing he saw was Miyuki… RIGHT ON TOP OF HIM!
Gasping with shock, and swallowing hard, Ryunosuke froze where he was and just kept staring directly into Miyuki's eyes, his heart racing like a hundred beats per minute, and trying his best to not lose his crap at the moment.
Miyuki expected Ryunosuke to accept her helping hand but no! The octopus head decided to be petty by pulling her down towards him. With wide eyes, the black-haired beauty lost her balance.
"Ow!" The girl yelled as she felt her forehead bumping into something hard. Did she knocked her head against a rock?! Pain seared into her head as she rubbed the sore spot before opening her eyes.
A faint squeak escaped her lips. Ryunosuke was staring so intensely at her! She tried to move but found herself frozen. There was just something the way he looks at her that made her heart beat faster than a cheetah. Why is he staring at her? And why is she staring back at him?! God knows how long they were in that position though, after a couple of seconds, Miyuki had enough. She felt like if she stared at his eyes any longer, she'll melt!
Miyuki clumsily tried to push off of Ryunosuke by sitting up but realized that she was straddling him! Her blush reddened even more. "I.. uh… um..." Completely and utterly lost for words, the black-haired girl squirmed. She didn't know what to do in this situation! As she kept on squirming, she suddenly felt something poking her. "Um," uncertain what it was, Miyuki tried to figure out what was poking her until her thoughts dictated what it was.
"P-P-P-PERVERT!" The girl screeched, clambering away from Ryunosuke. "W-Why… H-How... K-Keep that away from me!"
Little did she know that the thing that was poking her was merely Ryunosuke's phone.
"I'm definitely a stupid octopus, Goddammit!" shouted Ryunosuke mentally after realizing he put himself on a really awkward and embarrassing situation. In what the hell he was thinking of pulling Miyuki towards him, huh? It was more than clear and obvious that the chances of her falling on top of him were more than high! Now, look where he put himself. Whichever he looked at this situation, not even a sorry can fix it. And Miyuki knew that he pulled her to him on purpose!
"I-I-I…! Oh, my God, I'm sorry!" he managed to say, at last, sweating nervously and blushing intensively. "If only I knew we would've ended up like this, I wouldn't have been stupid." Giving excuses to try to fix his mistake wasn't working at all. Once again, nothing could save him from this one. Boy, he definitely fucked it up again with Miyuki. Yikes, the poor guy can't score anything at all with her!
Sighing, and swallowing hard, Ryunosuke gently tried to roll to his right, holding Miyuki from her back to not let her fall, but apparently she thought the same thing and tried to get off him. Sadly, both of their movements made everything worst. The poor Miyuki ended up straddling him like a horse, and Ryunosuke ended up feeling her tight, and thick thighs.
"Alright, stop right there, Miyuki," he quickly told her, blushing with an awkward smile. He looked up at her. "This won't work if we both move, okay? Let me just…"
Ryunosuke was quickly interrupted by a loud screech from Miyuki before getting off him. Confused, Ryunosuke frowned, pushing himself to sit. The next thing he knew, Miyuki was yelling at him, accusing him of being a pervert. With an annoyed and confused frowned, Ryunosuke blinked his eyes. "Huh? What the hell did I do now?" he asked her, but after he saw her looking at his pants in horror, Ryunosuke looked down at them.
After a short moment, the black-haired guy burst into hysterical laughter. "Oh, my God! Oh, no, no, no!" Between laughs, Ryunosuke took out his phone from his right pocket before showing it to Miyuki. "It was my phone, Miyuki. Oh, my God, really!? You really thought it was something else!?"
Ryunosuke began to laugh more after staring at Miyuki, facepalming.
"Y-Your phone?" Miyuki asked hesitantly, her cheeks still aflame. Was it really a phone? The poor girl then shook her head. There's no way she'll try and confirm whatever it was. She's already embarrassed beyond belief! Deciding to just ignore what happened, the black-haired beauty cleared her throat.
"We should get going," she said. "It's already getting darker and we haven't even started looking for the treasure."
God knows how long they were looking for. They started searching behind bushes, above the trees; even went inside caves. Miyuki was already close to giving up considering that she has numerous insect bites until she stumbled upon an oddly constructed group of rocks.
"Hey, octopus head. Isn't that... Weird?" Miyuki asked while pointing out the group of rocks. "It's like it has been moved recently. Come on! Help me dig the rocks out."
Agreeing with Miyuki with a nod of his head, Ryunosuke lowly stood up from the ground and dusted off his pants. Then, he began to walk deeper into the woods, Miyuki walking beside him at every moment. It was as she didn't want to leave his side now that they were so deep into the woods, and things around them were getting kind of scary. With a wide smile, Ryunosuke looked around the woods, hoping to find some ghosts or any ghouls creature. Then, this whole stroll through these woods with Miyuki wouldn't end up being a complete fiasco... Like it's turning out to be. The poor guy definitely wants to see something exciting or else he will cry internally.
"I'm so killing Alex after this," Ryunosuke thought with a kind of creepy smile over his face. "Nothing of this would've happened if he wouldn't have be a selfish monkey, and let us switch partners. That's right, everything that happened here is his fault!"
After a couple of minutes of some walking deeper into the woods, Ryunosuke, and Miyuki stopped. The black-haired female pointed at a suspicious stack of rocks that clearly somebody put around to hide something. When Miyuki told Ryunosuke her suspicions that something could be among those rocks, the black-haired male nodded in agreement, crossing his arms. As she walked toward the rocks, she asked for his assistance, which he immediately accepted.
"I wonder what the prize could be," said Ryunosuke with a smile as he reached the stack of rocks, and began to put them away, digging them out and see if there was in fact something hidden under them.