Lie to Me Again | ONC 2024

12 - Natsukashii

Yuki didn't splash her face with water this time, instead swiping her damp hands around her neck. She exhaled, nodding at the reflection in the mirror, a girl without a strand of hair out of place or any smudged makeup to speak of. It hadn't been easy, but—

"You did it, Yuki Hime," she said. All week, she'd been dreading that car ride to winter formal with Era. But coming with Rhett had made the initial dread the worst part of the experience. If she could conquer that too, then this could finally be a hill she no longer died on.

Maybe then she'd no longer dream of that midnight road steeped in rain. 

Grabbing her clutch, Yuki pulled open the bathroom door to the hall. Rhett was leaning against the opposite wall, hands tucked in his pant's pockets. When a couple rushed by, he shrank back as if he could sink into the gold-leafed wallpaper. Yuki's heels struck the floor as she forced two guys to side-step her while she joined Rhett's side.

"Are you alright?" she asked, raising her voice. Though they hadn't entered the main room with thumping music and dimmed lights, the background noise threatened to swallow up whispered conversation.

Rhett leaned down to talk in her ear, putting a protective hand on her back to shield her from the students pushing past. "You know I'm not one for crowds. Not like you."

"If only you could see how much you've glowed up," Yuki said in Rhett's ear, with a light grip on his shoulder to keep her balance. "I've always thought you're suited to the spotlight, but now you're more confident than you used to be. Other people are sure to notice it too." 

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that either." Rhett's eyes flicked up to the people behind her, their depths colored like molten steel. While most of his features took after his mother, the grey eyes and tall physique had been inherited from his father—a quiet, stern businessman with an odd penchant for remembering wishes. Rhett had once said every trinket in the house was the result of a family member looking for a second longer in the store or mentioning an interest in passing. Rhett's guitar was a birthday wish fulfilled and so was Minji's Totoro plushie. 

Yuki had envied that, though now she envied the simple reality of having parents who were still alive.

The slight pressure of Rhett's hand brought her nearer to him until her chest hovered mere inches from touching his. "Truth be told, being noticed isn't all that pleasant when it's the wrong person." The flatness of his tone betrayed no emotion, but his eyes spoke volumes as they hardened like sharpened blades.

"Well, Tudor! I thought you were sick and couldn't come."

Yuki turned at the sound of Sophia's voice to find the junior girl hanging on Ethan's arm. The poor boy looked to be sweating bullets, his face and neck as red as Sophia had predicted. Red to match her dress.

"I happened to recover," Rhett answered, his hand on Yuki's shoulder slipping down to hug her waist. 

Yuki held her breath while Sophia sized up that subtle gesture with an upward tilt of her chin. Though she was no Era, Sophia could still make her life miserable on a whim. If it came to that, the best outcome Yuki could obtain was to take Sophia down with her. Not the best odds.

Luckily, Sophia tossed her hair and appeared to take Rhett's answer at face value. "He looks like death," Yuki heard the other girl say as she and Ethan moved on without another word. Ethan nodded in agreement, but Yuki caught him glancing back as they rounded a corner. He'd better not have given the ring she'd returned to Sophia...

"Your hands are warm," Yuki murmured as the heat from Rhett's hand pressed through the dress' bodice. She lightly brushed the back of her fingers against his forehead. He might've had a slight fever.