Luna Iwasaki was kissing me…

Me.

Of all people!

It didn’t make any sense to me. Not that anything made sense to me at that moment, but…

The taste of her strawberry lips pushed down at my mouth, her body on top of mine, my back pushed against the cold, hard floors of the empty classroom.

After what seemed like an eternity, she finally ended the kiss, leaning up from me and staring at my eyes with a glazed look over her pale-violet eyes.

“Ryo…..”

She was sitting on top of my hips, her hands resting at my chest.

Hang on. Did she just call me by my first name without any honorifics? That’s a bit too informal, isn’t it? I mean, sure, we shared a kiss but…

…Trying to use logic to think about what was going on here made my brain crash into a wall. Nothing was coming up. It was like trying to fry an egg by cracking it at a table.

The only somewhat plausible scenario that I could think of was that this was all part of some sick joke.

Perhaps the entire class was standing outside the room, holding their laughters, as they waited for their cue to bust inside and ridicule me.

I mean, if that was the case, then the joke’s really on them.

A kiss from one of the most prettiest girls at school in exchange for a few weeks or months of teasing was clearly a one-sided deal that favoured my position on the board.

Still… this explanation didn’t seem likely. The kiss was too long, too drawn out and too real for it to simply be a joke.

Although my grades at school were terrible to say the least, I was still quite a rather intelligent individual, if not for my obscene laziness.

First things first, let’s try to figure out what on earth is going on.

“I-Iwasaki-san…” My voice came out rugged, and I coughed, clearing my voice. That’s what happens when you don’t breathe for too long. "What's—"

“Ah!” She glanced up from me at the clock at the front of the classroom. “Sorry, Ryo, I have to go now!”

I felt the weight of her body lifting up from me as she pulled herself up to her feet, walking hurriedly to her desk.

“What…”

I raised my body up from the ground with my elbows, watching as she swiped her bag off her desk, and headed out of the classroom.

“Hey—”

“Sorry about this, Ryo!” Luna turned to face me at the doorway, making an apologetic gesture with her hands, her face wincing. “I’ll make it up to you next time. See you!”

“You didn’t…”

I raised my hand up, trying to say something, but she already left.

I was now alone in the classroom, sitting on the floor and staring at the doorway with a dumb look.

What the heck…

Just exactly what was going on…

Did that really…

I stood up from the ground, the cogs in my head still trying to regain function.

Raising a hand, I pinched myself on the face and felt pain.

Ouch.

So this wasn’t a dream, after all…

Then that must mean that Luna actually liked me then…

I was still having a hard time trying to process this fact.

The whole point of the confession was really just to get my feelings out of my chest. I didn’t honestly think that Luna was going to accept my confession, let alone, throw me down on the ground and engage in a passionate kiss with me.

It seemed like something out of a badly written television series. Something that shouldn’t be real and yet…

I raised a hand, touching my lips, and remembering the feeling of her soft, petite lips against mine. A sweet aftertaste in my mouth.

My cheeks went hot, and I shook my head furiously.

Aahhh!! What the hell is happening?!

With a muddled brain and a fog of haziness, I began taking the long journey back home.

----------------------------------------

Beep beep. Beep beep.

Groaning, I slapped my hand down at the origin of the noise.

The noise ceased and I rolled the other way, feeling a comfortable warmth around me.

A quiet chuckle escaped my lips, my mind thinking about a dream that I had last night.

I was with Luna Iwasaki… in an empty classroom… and she…

I flinched, feeling sunlight on my eyes.

Just let me sleep… I want to go back to that dream… I confessed to her yesterday and…

I flung up from the bed, my eyes widening, pushing the blankets off my body.

That… that was no dream!

It actually happened!

With my heart beating loudly at my chest over the sudden surge of adrenaline, I glanced around the room, taking slow breaths as I tried to calm myself down.

In my view came a small bedroom, almost empty, except for the single sized bed I was sitting on and the individual pieces of used clothing messily sprawled on the carpet. At the side of the room was my closet. Probably the place where the clothing should go.

There was also a modest bedside table sitting next to the bed, a digital alarm sitting at the top.

It was the afternoon. Apparently, I had slept for quite some time.

Huh.

Today was a Saturday.

I completely forgot, and that moronic Eiji had made the same mistake. What a tragedy that I would do something so stupid as well.

Feeling my heart starting to slow down, I picked myself up from the bed wearily, then opened the door, heading out to the similarly small living room that was built in with the kitchen. A kotatsu table and a television were the only signs of luxury, if you could call it that.

This was my apartment, where I lived alone in Tokyo. I was sent here by my parents from Okinawa to study at the highly regarded Musashi High School, but at this point, it seemed like a complete waste of time. Sorry mum and dad.

Seeing as it was a Saturday and that there was no school, I felt myself in an upbeat mood, walking over to the bathroom, inside a door at the living room.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I could meet up with Eiji today, he wouldn’t believe it when I tell him what happened.

Chuckling to myself as I brushed my teeth, I was interrupted by a gentle rapping at the door.

Ah, how could it be at this time?

Don’t tell me the landlord?

I hadn’t paid my rent yet and was still waiting for my parents to send me more money.

God, I hope it’s not the landlord…

Heading out of the bathroom and to the door of the apartment at the living room, I placed my hand on the handle, unlocking the door and pulling it open, a toothbrush hanging out of my mouth.

Then choked on toothpaste.

Standing outside the door…..

Was Luna Iwasaki.

“Hey, Ryo~!”

Luna smiled at me, an angelic smile that radiated with warmth. Her smile fell though when she glanced down and saw my clothing.

A white t-shirt… and boxers.

“I-I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time…”

Luna’s face flashed a shade of crimson and she glanced up at me shyly.

“Iwasaki-san… n-no…” I managed to mumble.

I was staring at her, feeling a wave of awe smacking me over.

She looked so cute!

She was in her casual clothes, which I had never seen before! The only time I ever saw her was at school so this was something completely new to me.

A black tank top tucked underneath a plaided skirt in red and charcoal that stopped above her knees. Dark stockings ran up her legs, and a pair of ebony shaded shoes complimented her outfit.

“Anyways, please come in first!” I said, stepping to the side of the door. “I just need to get changed!”

I didn’t want to make her wait outside.

I had no idea what the hell she was doing here, but what I did know, was that I needed to do something about my clothes.

There was no way I was going to stand there in boxers and have a conversation with Luna.

No… my self-respect wouldn’t allow it.

“Really!” Luna said. “I-I can come in…?”

“Sure.” I laughed weakly, then watched as she hesitantly brushed past me, entering the apartment.

Damn, she always smelt so nice…

—Fuck, what the heck are you thinking?!

Shaking my head in frustration at myself, I closed the door behind her.

“I’m going to take a second, just have a seat.”

I pointed at the kotatsu table and glanced at her. She was staring at everything as though it was all really interesting.

What a polite person.

“Okay…” Luna replied.

Trying to seem composed, I strolled into the bedroom, grabbing some clothes behind my back, and went back to the living room to go to the bathroom.

Closing the door gently, I spun into a frenzy as I placed the clothes on a hanger at the side of the door then whirled around, spitting the toothpaste and brush out onto the sink and rinsed my mouth.

What the heck was Luna doing here?!

Am I having another dream?!

Ahh, this is too good to be true!!

I didn’t want to make her wait so I was trying to be as quick as possible.

What did I even grab to wear?

Glancing at the mirror, I saw a blue t-shirt and black jeans on the hanger.

Not bad, Ryo.

Swiftly, I threw my sleepwear off, then pulled the new clothes onto my body.

Giving the mirror a look, I saw that my black hair was poking out messily from my scalp.

Not good. Did I look like that the whole time I was talking to Luna?

Gah!

I turned on the water from the sink, grabbing some and using it to push down against my hair.

After that, I patted it dry with a towel.

Now, I looked at least somewhat presentable.

Grabbing the handle of the door, I took a deep breath, then pushed it open.

Luna was sitting at the kotatsu table just as I asked her to, waiting.

“He-hey…” I stammered, then coughed. Stop stuttering! “Sorry for keeping you waiting, Iwasaki-san.”

Luna turned her head to look at me, smiling amiably.

“It’s okay, Ryo. You can just call me Luna.”

I guess she did actually like me as well. Still, it was sort of weird how fast she was taking this.

"Really?" I asked. "I can just call you Luna, you don't mind...?"

"Of course not." She smiled.

Damn. Everyime she smiled, it was like an arrow hit my heart.

I sat down at the kotatsu table in front of her.

“Luna…” I said hesitantly, then tried to smile. “How are you? What are you doing here today?”

Her cheeks reddened, hearing me call her by her first name, an ecstatic smile tugging at her lips.

“I-I thought we should get to know each other better… since we are dating.”

Dating?!

The words echoed in my mind, and I found myself speechless for a second.

“R-right…” I said, then nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

“Since there’s no school today, maybe we could go out somewhere together?” Luna said, watching me nervously. “Or you don’t want to…?”

I was at a state of disbelief.

How are things moving so quickly?!

I didn’t really want to question her though, in case she changed her mind.

“Yeah, of course! No, that’s a great idea!”

“…..”

She sat anxiously, twirling the ends of her hair, staring down at the table. I could see that her hand was shaking slightly.

…..

Damn.

Why wasn’t she saying anything? Didn’t she want to—

Oh wait! I’m probably supposed to be the one to take her out!!

What an idiot, Ryo.

I mentally slapped myself in the face.

I should had known! It’s a man’s job to take the girl out!

Problem is that I had never been in a relationship before. Added to that was the fact that I had no idea what the hell she even liked.

Fuck!

What if this was a test? A test to see if I could hold up to be a good boyfriend?

What if she was planning to dump me if I failed this test?!

With that thought in mind, I quickly got up from the kotatsu table.

“Let’s go, Luna!” I said in a determined voice. I tried to sound like I knew what I was doing.

“O-okay…”

She nodded timidly then followed me as I opened the door of the apartment. I allowed her to step out first—like a gentleman should—then closed the door behind us, locking it.

Now… where the hell do I go?

~x~

We were now at a park across the apartment. It was really the first thing that I saw and decided to head over to while I thought of something better.

The park was small and tall trees surrounded the boundaries. It was barely used so it was almost always empty. Rumour was that a new apartment block would be built over the park in the next month or so.

Sitting down at a bench in the park, I sighed, placing my hands into my face.

Why was I so clueless?

How the hell was I going to be Luna’s boyfriend if I couldn’t even entertain her?

Peeking to my side at Luna, who was also sitting down, I saw that she had a content look on her face, her cheeks pink.

Ah, does she like the park?

Maybe I had struck gold by coming here?

Was she perhaps a tree lover??

Feeling relieved, I let my hands drop down from my face, leaning back against the bench.

“So Luna…” I started, feeling good. “I wanted to thank you… for accepting when I asked you out yesterday.”

“No problem, Ryo!”

Luna smiled at me, her head tilting slightly.

God, she was so cute.

“What do you like to eat?” Luna asked. “Next time, I’ll bring you food, Ryo!”

Ahh…

Was this really reality?

What did I do to deserve this?

“I eat pretty much anything.” I laughed. “If it’s edible then it’s good enough for me.”

“R-really?” Luna blushed, seeing me laugh. She laughed as well, though her voice was jittery. “That’s good. How about tomorrow then? I’ll see you again tomorrow??”

“Sure!”

I didn’t see why not. Tomorrow was another weekend and it wasn’t like I had something to do.

I was about to say something more, but a low voice from the distance interrupted me.

“Hey! That girl’s pretty hot, isn’t she!”

I glanced away from Luna and at the owner of the voice to see a group of guys approaching us from the entrance of the park. They were older than us, in their early 20s, and seemed to be delinquents of some sort. Their hairs were all dyed and threatening tattoos covered various parts of their body.

"Oh man, you're right Kenji. That girl is fucking sweet!" Another member of the group said.

They were all staring at Luna with lusting faces.

Straight away, I could tell that they spelt bad news.

I got from the bench, standing in front of Luna to face the group.

“What do you guys want?” I said, staring the one that was called Kenji directly in the eye. He had dyed blond hair and a rugged face, a scar on his cheek. He seemed like the leader.

He grinned, stopping in front of me, his group behind him. There were about six of them.

"Nothing with you." Kenji replied. "Go away, we just want to play with your girlfriend for a bit."

"That's not going to happen." I said. "I suggest you leave before I call the cops."

Chuckles went around the group.

“Oh wow. So scary.” He said in a mocking tone. “We should probably get going then.”

I felt nervous, seeing how many people they had, but I honestly didn’t think they were going to do anything.

Besides, I had to make sure that Luna was okay.

She was sitting at the bench behind me, but I couldn’t see her since I was focused on the group of delinquents.

“Yeah, that would probably be a good idea.” I said. “Just leave us alone, thanks.”

Laughing, he turned his back on me and I breathed a sigh of relief, though that was short-lived.

“Just kidding.” He said, then whirled around pulling a knife out of his jacket. “Did you really think I was going to just leave cause you told me to?”

The rest of his group started howling, and I was frozen in fear, staring down at the knife, glittering in the sunlight.

What the fuck?!

Was this really happening?!

In broad daylight as well?!

“Now if you don’t mind,” Kenji motioned his knife to the side, gesturing for me to move, “step aside before you get hurt.”

“Wh-what…”

I was trying to comprehend the situation, but it was hard when a wave of adrenaline hit me, causing my heart to flutter and my chest to heave.

Calm down, Ryo…

Breathe…

Assess the situation.

I glanced up from the knife, looking at Kenji.

His face was hard and cold, not a sign anywhere that said he was joking. That really didn’t help, but I still had to protect Luna.

“No…” I said, staring him in the eye.

“What?” He blinked at me.

“I said… no.” I said in a louder voice, then I glanced quickly behind me at Luna.

She was sitting down, staring at the group with a strange expression on her face. But I didn’t have enough time to figure out what expression it was.

“Run, Luna!!” I bellowed, then turned back hastily to face the group.

It was just in time to see Kenji, raising a fist to punch me in the face. His knuckles enlarged in my vision, but I didn’t have enough time to react.

Instead, what happened next changed my life forever.

Luna rose up from the bench, pushing me gently at my shoulders, causing me to falter to my side a few steps, narrowly avoiding the trajectory of the punch.

Then, blood erupted in the side of my vision, splashing everywhere, some into my eyes, on my face, clothes, it just went everywhere.

A chilling scream pierced the air, and suddenly, a metallic festering scent filled my nose, causing me to retch as though I was about to vomit.

Glancing back at the group, I saw Kenji collapsing to the ground in front of Luna, blood spraying from his neck.

“Wh-what the fuck…” I uttered.

~x~

“The moment when you wake up screaming in the middle of the night to find yourself in your bedroom. You stop and glance around, relieved.

Then out of the corner of your eyes, something from your nightmare emerges.”

~x~