One Week Later - Kori in Front of Akiko's Inn Room
It had been a full week since Akiko locked herself in the room. Kori wasn't particularly mad about it—after all, she appreciated having a space to herself—but considering how they had originally planned to share a room to save money, being unceremoniously thrown out without explanation was a little annoying.
Kori knocked on the door "It's me, Kori. I brought you lunch. I'm leaving it in front of the door."
"Oh, you can just bring it in." Akiko answered from inside.
Kori blinked. Am I actually allowed inside now? Not only that Akiko was finally speaking to her but when Kori pushed open the door. "I'm coming in—WHAT THE FUCK?!"
Akiko looked up, unfazed. "Why are you yelling?"
"Have you seen this mess?!" Kori exclaimed.
"Oh, that?" She glanced around the disaster zone that was once a room. Papers, books, and random objects were strewn everywhere.
"I was too busy to clean." Then, she crossed her arms. "Besides, I don't have cool skills like you. I had to study all day."
Kori scoffed. "Do you even know how hard it is to maintain magic in the form of a sword?"
Akiko raised an eyebrow. "You're saying that with a straight face—how the hell am I supposed to know?"
Kori let out an exhausted sigh. "I trained for an entire week, and the best I can do is maintain it for six minutes."
"At least you didn't have to study from textbooks," Akiko grumbled.
"Fine, let's stop arguing. But seriously, what have you been doing alone in here after kicking me out?"
"I was memorizing and learning spells," she said casually. "And I never kicked you out."
Kori squinted. "What do you mean, you never—"
"Oh my, did you already memorize all the spells for your element types?"
Both Kori and Akiko snapped their heads toward the unexpected voice.
"Oh, Leah. It's you." Akiko furrowed her brows. "May I ask what you're doing here? And how did you even get in?" (A)
Leah smiled, twirling a strand of her pink hair. "Room cleaning. I have spare keys for all the rooms. Anyway, it's amazing that you learned all those spells in just a week!" (L)
"Uh… thanks, I guess." Akiko replied
"Ahhh, you're so cool!" Leah practically sparkled as she looked at Akiko in admiration.
Kori sighed. "Shouldn't you start cleaning? You have other rooms to take care of too, you know."
Leah pouted. "Kori, you're such a buzzkill… but you're right. Don't worry, Akiko! I'll clean your room perfectly!"
As Leah busied herself picking up fallen papers, Akiko leaned in and whispered to Kori.
"She's a bit too nosy. If someone saw her acting like this, they'd think she was interested in me."
Kori smirked. "you think so?"
"The first day I locked myself in this room, she came in to change the bedsheets and spent four hours praising my face." she answered with chill running down her spine.
Kori shrugged. "I kinda see it. But not really."
Akiko frowned. "Why not?"
"She's engaged. To a guy," Kori said simply. "But even if she were into girls she wouldn't- actually she would probably be interested in you."
A teasing idea popped into Kori's head, and she couldn't help herself.
"What made you change your sentence midway?" Akiko asked.
Kori leaned in with a grin. "Because, as far as I remember, you received way more confessions and chocolates from girls than boys on Valentine's Day."
Akiko shuddered. "Please don't make me relive those dark times. It makes me sick."
"You're not alone. I still cringe thinking about it." Kori says agreeing
"What do you mean? You never even received a confession in the first place." Akiko replied to her comment.
Kori scoffed. "What makes you so sure about that? Also, I was talking about that girl who tried to kill you after you rejected her in middle school and—"
Akiko's face twisted in horror. "I think that's enough for now."
She quickly clamped her hand over Kori's mouth, muffling any further embarrassing details.
Leah giggled. "Hehe, when I first saw you two, I thought you were both too mature for your age. But after watching you interact… I guess not."
"Huh?" both of them confused
One week ago - In Front of the Inn
"Should we go in?" Akiko asked unsure
"I think so."
Both stood hesitantly in front of the inn's entrance. Eventually, Akiko nudged Kori forward. "Kori, you go talk to the lady at the reception."
"Sis, I have social anxiety."
"Me too."
"But you've talked to more people than I have." Kori argued
Before they could argue further, a cheerful voice interrupted them. "How may I help you? I'm Leah, daughter of the inn owner."
As soon as Kori laid eyes on her, she let her intrusive thoughts win and blurted out—"Oh, a cotton candy."
Leah confused "Huh? What did you say?"
Kori coughed. "I mean, your hair is really pretty."
Leah beamed. "Thanks!" (L)
Actually, I was making fun of your pink hair and pink eyes…
"Hello, I'm Akiko, and this is my younger sister, Kori. We'd like a room to stay in for some time—maybe a week or so." (A)
"What kind of room would you like?" Leah asked politely.
"A single room." Akiko replied booking them a room.
Kori's eyes widened. A single room? Is she trying to lower the cost?
"That'll be 20 silver coins for the week." (L)
Kori handed over the money, and as soon as Akiko got the key, she headed straight to the room—
And locked Kori out.
"Sis, open the door!" Kori urged but only got silence as an answer.
"…"
Leah chuckled. "Do you need another room?"
"Yes. Please."
"That'll be 20 more silver coins."
"I know."
Back to the Present
Leah sighed, looking around the disaster that was Akiko's room. "Why don't you two go out and practice while I clean? This is going to take at least an hour."
Kori took one look at the mess and pitied Leah but this was the perfect chance to test Akiko's skills anyway.
"Good idea." (K)