The reeking stench of blood and bodily fluids permeated the air that had turned icy-cold. Kenji’s body laid on the ground, twitching and spazzing, like a fish that had been taken out of the water for some time.

On the faces of his comrades, looks of disbelief and horror were plastered all over. Everyone was frozen in their spot, bewildered by what had just happened.

...

What the fuck.

What the fuck.

What the fuck?!

What on earth happened?! I had missed how the ghastly cut on Kenji’s neck occurred.

Did Luna actually do that…?

I couldn’t believe it.

There was no way, right...?

...

I didn't know, but...

I had to do something at the moment!

“L-Luna…!”

I grabbed her by her wrist that were dangling loosely by her side. She was standing over Kenji’s body, staring down at him with an expression that I couldn’t see since I was at her side and her hair was in the way.

“W-we have to go…!”

I tried not to gag, holding my breath in, feeling the wetness of the hot blood that was on my face and clothes. "Let's—"

“AAHHHH!!!”

One of the members started screaming, turning to the exit and made a break for it.

Seeing this, the other members started running too.

“Ryo, we should stop them.” Luna said. I felt her pulling away from my grasp, but I jerked her back to me.

“What the hell are you saying, Luna?!” I yelled at her. “W-we have to go!”

There was a dead body on the ground. There was no way I was going to stick around long enough for the police to charge Luna or me with murder.

Even if she was the one that did it…

I-it was for self defence…

It wasn’t her fault…

“Come on!” I pulled at her, averting my eyes from the macabre sight of the corpse lying face flat on the ground. A pool of blood emerged underneath the area of his neck, staining the grass a dark patchy red.

Luna nodded, staring down with crimson cheeks at my hand that was grasping her wrist.

I didn’t have any time to look at her though. I was already pulling at her, taking her along with me as we headed out of the park, quickly going back to my apartment which was right across the street.

~x~

Luckily the neighbourhood I lived in was a quiet one. Somehow, we made it back without anyone seeing us. It would had been quite a sight, considering how much blood was on Luna and me.

With shaky hands and uneven breaths, I slammed the door shut behind us, hastily locking the door, throwing on the chain lock as well.

“F-fuck, fuck…..”

My vocabulary seemed to have reduced to only simple profanity as I tried to ignore the warm blood that was quickly drying on my face and clothes.

Luna was standing behind me, watching me silently.

I turned away from the door to face her, trying to put on my best comforting face, but the only thing I could manage was an ugly forced smile.

“O-okay…” I breathed. “We… we have to first get rid of these clothes…”

“Alright…”

She must be feeling horrible as well.

I could imagine how scared she must be, considering the state that I was in. Normally, things don’t phase me…

Well, I’ve never encountered anything like this in my life before, but I had seen car accidents, roadkills, and my share of horrifying images and videos online.

Nothing really compared to what happened at the park, however.

“Listen, Luna.” I stared her in the eye. “You… you shouldn’t blame yourself, alright? It’s not your fault.”

I walked away from the door, and towards her.

“Everything’s going to be okay…” I said, trying to slow my ragged breathing. “I’ll take care of it… It’s okay…”

At this point, it was like I was trying to soothe myself, moreso than I was trying to soothe her. The sight of Kenji’s dead body kept flashing in my mind, refusing to disappear.

“Okay, Ryo…..”

There was a somewhat blank expression on Luna’s face, splatters of blood staining her flawless cheeks.

She must be in shock.

I had read about this on the internet.

When someone goes through a horrific incident, their minds tend to detach to try to protect themselves.

“I’ll let you go wash up first.” I said, pointing at the bathroom in the living room. “The bathroom’s over there, Luna.”

She nodded, then turned away from me, heading to the bathroom.

She disappeared inside and the door closed.

I let out my breath, exhaling all the air that felt like it was trapped inside my lungs.

“Hah..… hah…..”

I staggered to the kitchen, my face grimacing.

“What… what the fuck should I do…?”

I washed my hands at the kitchen sink, then splashed the water at my face, trying to wash off the blood as best as I could.

Some of it had dried onto my skin, and it was a disgusting feeling, rubbing at it to get it off.

Once done, I poured myself a glass of water, then gulped it down.

Fuck, fuck...

I placed the glass down at the counter, staring numbly at the living room.

Did I do the right thing...?

Maybe I should had just stayed and waited for the cops...

I mean….it wasn’t our fault, right...?

...

But all Kenji did was throw a punch at my direction. He didn’t even hit me, and somehow a murder happened.

How were we going to explain that to the police…?

…

I remembered reading on the newspaper a week ago about a man that was released from prison after being falsely locked up for 30 or so years…

I had looked at that article and laughed to myself, wondering how the hell they could make a mistake like that, but it didn’t seem implausible at the moment…

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Fuck!

I couldn’t risk Luna going to jail or me!

Did Luna even do anything? Maybe Kenji just tripped and accidentally cut himself or something…?

That was probably a bit of a stretch.

I should ask Luna when she gets out of the shower—

My phone rang in my pocket, and I glanced down at my jeans. Reaching into my pocket, I took my phone out, then stared at the screen.

Eiji.

Dammit. Why the heck does that moron have to call at the worst moments?

I answered the call, then placed the phone at my ear.

“Yeah, what’s up, Eiji?” I said, trying to sound normal.

“Heey! Ryo! How’s everything going!”

The line crackled as his voice came through on the other end.

“What is it? Why did you call me?” I said impatiently.

“Woah, so cranky!” Eiji laughed, causing the line to crackle again. “I guess that must mean it didn’t work out with Luna, huh?”

So he was calling about that?

I was surprised he still remembered. Dammit.

But this wasn’t the time to talk about that…..

“Yeah, look, it went fine. We’re dating now, so if you don’t have anything else to—”

“WHAT?!”

I winced, pulling the phone away from my ear.

That idiot! He almost blew my eardrums out.

“Yeah, she said yes.” I snapped into the phone. “Don’t scream into the phone like that.”

“Wait, wait, wait—Back it up for a bit. How the hell…..” I could hear him shaking his head on the other side. “Dude, don’t kid around with me like that. There’s absolutely no way! Luna has rejected every single guy that has asked her out in the school, and you’re telling me she accepted you?!”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying!” I gritted my teeth. I should probably just hang up.

“Haha, I seriously can’t believe that, Ryo.” Eiji said. “I mean, I know you’re hurting from the rejection, but you should tell me the truth, man. I’m your best friend—”

I pulled the phone away from my ear and pressed the ‘end call’ button.

Why the heck am I wasting my time with that idiot?

I had more urgent matters at hand here and—

“Ryo…..”

I heard Luna’s voice calling for me, and I glanced at the door of the bathroom to see her head poking out. Her jet-black hair was wet, sticking to the sides of her face, and her bare shoulder was showing.

Feeling a jolt over my body, I raised an unsteady hand to my face, trying to keep my jaw from falling off.

“Yes…?” I said, staring at her pale-violet eyes and using all of my self-control to not to look down at her shoulders.

“I-I don’t have any other clothes... or a towel…” She said shyly.

I thought about what she was saying for a second.

“S-sorry!” I stammered.

How could I had forgotten that! Of course, she needs to shower to clean up after all that blood that went on her.

Running to the bedroom, I pulled out a towel and the smallest sized pants and shirt I could find in the closet, then ran back to the living room, handing the clothes and towel to Luna, while turning my head the other way.

“Here you go...”

I was staring down at the ground, my face hot.

Behind the door, Luna was completely naked…

“Thank you…”

Luna took the clothes off my hand, and for a second, I felt her soft, damp hands touching mine.

That sent an electrifying feeling up my spine.

The temporary contact ended, and she took the clothes out of my hand slowly, before closing the door.

Once the door closed, I let my breath out.

Aahh!!

Why was she so cute?!

I was getting so many weird thoughts around her.

It made me even forget about the incident momentarily as I went about cleaning the apartment, waiting for Luna to be finished in the bathroom.

~x~

The sky outside was dark by the time I finished washing up myself. It felt weird using the same bathroom that Luna used just moments ago, but cleaning the blood off my body made me quickly forget that fact.

Throwing on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that I took with me to the bathroom, I stuffed my old bloodied clothes into a spare bag that I kept in the closet and never used.

Then, I glanced down at the floor where Luna had left her old clothes.

Hang on…

Are those…

…..

There was no doubt about it.

On top of her clothes….. were her underwear.

Not just her bra, but her panties too.

What the heck?!

Did she have to take those off?!

Lightheadedness hit me and I grabbed her clothes off the ground, placing them in the bag.

If her underwears were here, and she was outside… then that must mean…

I shook my head fiercely, interrupting my thoughts.

Come on Ryo!

Stop having these thoughts!!

There are more important issues at hand here!

With all the bloodied clothes now placed inside the bag, I zipped it up, then slung it over one shoulder.

I unlocked the bathroom door, then entered the living room.

Luna was sitting at the kotatsu table, watching the television that was now switched on. It was a show about some television drama. Her phone was sitting at the table.

“Oh…” Luna turned to glance up at me with a cute smile. “You’re done, Ryo.”

“Ye-yeah…”

I tried not to think about her underwears that were inside the bag.

“I’m going to get rid of this bag.” I told Luna, walking to my bedroom to place it at the corner of the room. “So that there wouldn’t be any trace of us… with what happened…”

“That’s a good idea.” Luna said from the living room.

“Anyways, don’t worry about it.” I went back to the living room, giving Luna a reassuring smile. I felt a lot better after washing away all the blood. “We won’t talk about what happened from now on. I’ll take care of everything, Luna.”

“Th-thank you…”

Luna averted her gaze, underneath my stare, her face reddening.

Gah!

She’s way too cute!!

Sitting down at the kotatsu table on the side, I glanced at the TV screen. I wasn’t really interested, but it was on, so it would be awkward to not look at it.

The volume was low, and there wasn’t really much going on.

“So…” I coughed, then glanced at Luna. She wasn’t looking at the TV, she was looking at me, which was kinda weird. “Do you have to go home soon? It’s getting pretty late.”

I glanced past her head, at a clock in the kitchen.

This was about the time I would be normally having dinner.

“Um…..” Luna stared at me nervously. “C-can I stay… for tonight…?”

“Stay?” I raised my eyebrows. “Here?”

“Yes…” Luna shifted in her seat, then glanced down at her clothes. She was wearing the shirt and pants that I gave her. “I can’t go home like this… My parents wouldn’t like that…”

“Right!” I nodded quickly.

“S-so I was planning on staying here for tonight…” Luna started tapping her index fingers together, blushing. “I can sneak back home in the morning, so they wouldn’t see me in these clothes…”

“Ye-yeah!”

I was getting excited at the thought of Luna staying overnight at my apartment.

Us two?

Alone?

Hell yeah—

Hang on, Ryo! Be serious, you idiot! Don’t forget about the situation that brought you here!!

I coughed, taking a breath.

“Won’t your parents mind, but?” I glanced at Luna, taking on a sober look again. “About you staying out?”

“N-no! They won’t!” Luna said. “I will just tell them that I’m staying at Akane’s house.”

Akane was her best friend, the girl with brown hair that I saw with her at school yesterday.

“Sure.” I said. “As long as your parents don’t mind…”

“I-I’ll call them right now, they don’t mind…”

Luna picked up her phone off the table, then started pressing buttons.

I watched her as she placed the phone to her ear, waiting.

…

“Hello…?”

Luna spoke into the phone, turning slightly away from me.

“…Mum…?”

…

“Yes… I’m okay…”

…

“Um… I’m going to be staying out… for tonight…”

…

“Yes… it’s at Akane’s house…”

…

“Yes, I know…”

…

“Thank you, mum…”

…

“I love you too… Bye mum…”

…

She took the phone away from her ear, placing it down on the kotatsu table then turned to me with an excited look.

“M-my mum said it’s okay!”

“Really?” I said. I was happy too, having her over for the night. “That’s great!”

“Yes!”

“Well, let’s get something to eat for dinner…”

“I can cook!” Luna got up from the kotatsu table hastily, heading over to the kitchen. “I’ll cook for you, Ryo!”

“Uh—I don’t really have much.”

I turned to watch her at the kitchen, going through the cupboards. She seemed to have a pretty good idea of where everything was. I could barely find the things I wanted inside my own kitchen.

“It’s okay!” Luna called from the kitchen. “Just sit down and wait! I won’t be long!”

Unsurely, I slowly turned away from her, glancing at the television screen.

I felt bad for making her cook, but she seemed really insistent on doing it.

I never really had anyone cook for me besides my mum. But…

Luna was such a good person!

She had a really nice personality, was extremely goodlooking, and she could cook! I remembered her being the top student at her cooking class.

This was like a dream come true.

It would be so great to have Luna as a wife…

Well, I still probably had to help her out though. That was what being a gentleman was about. I got up from the kotatsu table, then headed over to the kitchen to help Luna out.

~x~

Once dinner was made, which I couldn’t really help out since Luna was way more skilled than me, we ate dinner together and had a conversation where we were both laughing. It felt like the incident never happened at all. The food was amazing, as expected from Luna.

Everything felt so perfect, it was like a hazy dream. A dream that I didn’t want to wake up from.

After she cleaned up everything, despite my protests, she sat back down with me at the kotatsu table with a cheerful smile.

“Thanks, Luna…” I said. “That was really great…”

“It’s okay, Ryo.” She said. “That’s expected of me.”

I laughed and joked. “Don’t say that. That makes me feel useless.”

“No, really.” She said. “If I’m going to be your wife, Ryo, then these things are supposed to be done by me!”

…..

What?

She smiled cutely at me, but there wasn’t a sign on her face that said she was joking.

“R-right…” I laughed weakly.

Did she really just say that…?

“Um…” I tried to change the topic, glancing over at the clock. “It’s getting pretty late, huh?”

“Yes…”

“Well, I’ll be sleeping in my room then!” I got up from my seat, grabbing my phone off the table.

We had already agreed on the sleeping arrangements, which was that I would be sleeping on the bed and that she would sleep on the kotatsu table. I wanted her to have the bed, but she wouldn’t allow it the other way.

“Okay, goodnight, Ryo~!” Luna smiled, tilting her head slightly.

“Goodnight, Luna...”

I smiled back at her, then headed to my bedroom, closing the door behind me.

Something weird was going on here.

I knew that things were going too well, but I didn’t really want to face the truth.

It felt like there was something I was forgetting, something that I had been ignoring the whole time…

I turned off the lights in my bedroom, slumping down to my bed in the darkness.

Covering myself in blankets, I took my phone out, glancing at the screen that was glowing in the dark.

…

Hang on.

This wasn’t my phone.

This was Luna’s phone.

I must had grabbed the wrong phone…

I was about to get up to give it her, when I accidentally turned on the screen. The phone went to the calls menu and my heart stopped.

The calls menu was blank.

She hadn’t called anyone at all today…

But… she was on the phone with her mum…

…

I went through her phone, going to the contacts list, with my breathing getting uneven.

…!

I stopped.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

On the contacts list… was my name!

But… I never gave her my number…

…

Then something even bigger hit me and my body went rigid.

I… I never told her where I lived…

Images of the dead body re-emerged in my mind, flashing vividly with the quickening of my heart.

The guy…

The guy that died…

Kenji…

I had saw his knife fell down to the ground when Luna pushed me to the side…

It was clean.

No blood.

Then that must mean…

…

But… it was impossible, right…?

…

No… it was the only explanation.

...

Luna must had killed that man with her own knife.

At that moment, the door creaked open.