I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

Chapter 42, Section 265: The Haunted House Overflowing with Pink Bubbles

"This is way too dark..."

Kiyoshi glanced back at the sliding door, which was completely obscured by a heavy curtain that blocked out all light, and nervously steadied himself against the wall beside him.

"Ugh—!"

The uneven texture of the wall made Kiyotaka's scalp tingle. She rubbed her palm against her leg and touched the smooth skin beneath the snow.

He nervously put his hands behind his back and fidgeted with his fingertips.

It seemed that the eerie background music in the haunted house stopped the moment she stepped in. The surroundings were so quiet that she could clearly hear her own heart pounding wildly. She tentatively took a step forward, and a row of dim indicator lights lit up at her feet, along with a faint, will-o'-the-wisp-like light in the darkness ahead, as if enticing Qinglai to go deeper into the house.

As if bewitched, Kiyotaka walked inside with trepidation.

Rapid breathing echoed in his ears. As Kiyotaka went deeper, dim lights would occasionally illuminate the terrifying ghost faces embedded in the walls.

After several frights, Kiyotaka didn't let out a loud scream, but she was already hovering on the verge of her soul leaving her body.

I don't know if it's because Class 2-J has too much class money, but they actually built a haunted house that's unlikely to appear at the school's cultural festival, like—

As Kiyotori walked with seemingly steady steps, but actually trembling like a sieve, on what was actually a fairly normal flat ground, she stepped onto a soft object with little foothold the next second. Just as she was swaying and trying to find her balance, a ghostly prop with an indistinct face suddenly jumped out from the wall next to her, scaring Kiyotori so much that her legs went weak.

Unsurprisingly, Qinglai is about to make a fool of himself by falling flat on his face.

Its appearance is beneath the snow.

"Well--!"

"Huh?!"

Two voices came from the corridor.

Fortunately, this section of the road has a soft surface, so even if you fall on it, you won't feel too much pain.

Kiyoshi first felt a soft touch on his back, followed by a cool breeze on his neck. It seemed that there were many small openings at the bottom of the wall, and a continuous stream of cool air was pouring in, as if someone was blowing cold air on his neck.

However, all the elements that should have terrified Kiyotaka were now insignificant. What was more impossible to ignore was the soft, warm, and fragrant body on his skin, and the other person's gentle, breathy breathing in his ear.

Kiyoshi keenly noticed his heartbeat suddenly quickening.

It was unclear whether the thing pressing down on them was a "ghost" or simply the soft body of a slender woman.

Kiyoshi instinctively tried to hold her breath, but this only made her heart beat faster.

The overhead light suddenly turned on, casting a dark gray-orange glow that allowed Kiyora to clearly see the face of the person pressing down on him.

"Yukinoshita-senpai?!"

"Tachibana-san?!"

The two, realizing what was happening, quickly separated themselves. Their skin, which had been touching, felt like it was on fire. Kiyoshiro coughed awkwardly and wiped his slightly damp palms on his school uniform before looking at Yukinoshita, who was still sitting on the ground not far away, just like him.

In the dim light, Yukinoshita's fair face was tinged with orange, with a barely perceptible blush hidden within. She turned her face slightly away, so that Kiyoshi could only see her profile. Her small, cute ears seemed to be slightly warm as well. She seemed to be hiding something as she smoothed the strands of hair behind her ear with her hand, glancing furtively in Kiyoshi's direction.

The moment their eyes met, they both instinctively moved away to the side.

Something seemed to be gradually spreading in the supposedly eerie haunted house.

“What a coincidence,” Yukinoshita took a deep breath to calm herself and spoke first, “I ran into Tachibana-san here.”

"Senior, why are you here all alone?"

She imagined that Eriri, Kasumigaoka, and the others should be with her, but at this moment, she was all alone. She wondered how Yukinoshita had managed to shake them off.

“It wasn’t originally just one person,” Yukinoshita paused, her gaze towards Kiyori slightly complicated, “Tachibana-san is unexpectedly attractive.”

Was this just a joke he made about her...?

Kiyoshi wasn't quite sure what the other person meant by their tone.

"Please, senior, be kind with your words."

She struggled to her feet from the soft ground, but the lights suddenly went out.

A short, sharp gasp was heard nearby.

"senior?"

"how?"

There was a slight, almost imperceptible tremor.

Realizing that Yukinoshita wasn't as calm as she appeared, Kiyoyori forced herself to cheer up, "I'm heading in your direction now, please wait for me here."

After a long while, Yukinoshita didn't answer. Just when Kiyori thought the students in Class 2-J were up to something, a reply, barely audible, came from ahead: "Hmm..."

Back in her own body, Kiyotaka felt much more comfortable using her muscles to maintain her balance. Although the sensation under her feet was still terrible, she could at least move forward while holding onto the wall, if she could try to ignore the tingling sensation in her palms.

Whether it was because he had been frightened too much or because some strange switch had been turned on, Kiyoyori felt a sense of responsibility welling up inside him: "If my senior is afraid, then I must be brave."

Anyway, let's get out of this damn place first.

In the darkness, Kiyoshiro couldn't pinpoint Yukinoshita's location, let alone know how to comfort her. He could only continue the previous topic, trying to distract Yukinoshita while searching for her location by sound.

"You just said that you weren't alone, but came with Eriri and the others?"

Kiyoshi reached out and groped around, but only touched thin air.

"Ah."

"Did the senior get separated from them?"

“They got separated after they came in,” Yukinoshita said, gradually calming down as if she knew there was still someone in the space. “They should have left by now.”

Indeed, no matter how outstanding the hands-on skills of the students in Class 2J are, and no matter how successful this haunted house is, it cannot change the volume of the classroom. The haunted house in the cultural festival is destined not to be as professional and complete as the haunted house in the amusement park.

but……

"Seniors, how long have you been here?"

Yukinoshita didn't answer immediately this time, and Kiyori felt like he had grasped the key point.

Speaking of which, Yukinoshita-senpai seems to have a terrible sense of direction...

Could it be...?

"I am not sure."

After a long while, Yukinoshita finally answered, but Kiyori felt that he could hear a hint of shame and indignation in her reply.

"puff."

Snowfall: ! !

P.S.: I've been having a lot of worries lately, it's really giving me a headache... The weather suddenly got cold, everyone please remember to keep warm~

Chapter 43, Section 266: Even if you squeeze in, you're still an outsider.

The soft chuckle did nothing to lighten the already chilling and terrifying atmosphere.

The haunted house was so cold it made you shiver, like the air conditioning had been turned up too high.

Kiyotaka chuckled and cleared his throat. "Senior, I should be nearby."

Without any lights, Kiyotaka could only rely on her impressions of the space to perceive it. As mentioned before, even if this haunted house is very realistic, it is still an event within a cultural festival, meaning that the space is quite limited.

As a class activity, in order to prolong the "enjoyment" time, the haunted house can only be made into a relatively narrow passageway. Although this approach requires limiting the number of people entering, and the unpredictable factors of tourists may cause a long waiting time, this passageway-style haunted house also conveys a sense of tightness and oppression to tourists from the narrow space, which can be said to have combined all the available horror elements together.

but--

Kiyoshi was grateful for the arrangement; otherwise, she might not have been able to find Yukinoshita even after an entire noon.

"Ah."

The sound beneath the snow was nearby. Kiyoyori tentatively reached out his hand, but hesitated and stopped in mid-air.

"Senior, could you extend your hand?"

Touching in the dark is like opening a blind box; what lies ahead might be a surprise, a disappointment, or even hell. Kiyoshi doesn't want to deepen the misunderstandings that already exist between Yukinoshita by touching something she shouldn't.

The sound of clothes rubbing together echoed in the darkness, and Kiyotaka finally managed to grab a small, cold hand while cautiously groping around. For some reason, it had an indescribable sticky feeling on it.

"……Um?"

"Tachibana-san?" Yukinoshita was puzzled by Kiyori's voice just now, and at this moment she touched the other's sweatshirt.

"Senior," Kiyori took a deep breath, his voice trembling slightly for some reason, "I didn't hold your hand, did I...?"

Even though Kiyoyori desperately wished that the hand in his hand belonged to Yukinoshita.

"..." Yukinoshita understood the implication in Kiyori's words, and unconsciously clenched Kiyori's clothes with her small hands, saying steadily, "Obviously not."

So whose hand is it? The answer is obvious.

This is a haunted house...

Kiyoshi immediately felt his palms start to sweat, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back, making him shiver even more in the cold air.

Is it too late for me to let go now?!

Kiyoshi felt a pull on her clothes, but she didn't have time to pay attention to who was pulling her clothes. The hand in hers clearly belonged to a woman, but its body temperature was not human. It gently slid across her skin, wrapped around her wrist, and left a sticky, uncomfortable feeling.

Hearing a slight noise, Kiyoyori seemed to anticipate something and instinctively stretched out her other hand to quickly block in front of her. The eerie background music suddenly started, and the dim lights suddenly turned on. Something lunged at the two of them, but Kiyoyori blocked it with her hand. She only had time to see a clump of long, loose hair before Kiyoyori forcefully pushed the student from Class 2-J who was pretending to be a ghost back into the hole she had poked out.

"Ugh—!"

As if he hadn't heard the other person's muffled groan, Kiyoshi, with his eyes vacant, forcefully pushed the other person away.

A muffled thud came from the other side of the wall.

"Tachibana-san!"

Kiyoshi, who was called again, turned around and trembled with fear. Only then did he belatedly realize that a pair of hands had wrapped around his waist and that his ears were slightly red under the snow. Before he could see clearly, the lights went out again.

"Yukinoshita-senpai..." Kiyoyori's body stiffened, but her undisguised tension made Yukinoshita relax.

She could clearly feel the other person's tense abdominal muscles under the sweatshirt.