I Just Want A Single Ending!

Honestly, Kamigawa Saku wasn't very interested in the haunted house.

To him, haunted houses were all about cheap scares—things popping out from corners or unexpected places.

This one only reinforced his view.

So, it's just more predictable jump scares, huh?

As he looked at the creepy mask that dropped from the ceiling, his expression remained completely unfazed.

Is that it?

This haunted house was clearly designed for kids. If he'd been younger, he might've been scared, but he'd grown up.

There was no way something like this would frighten him now.

That was how it was for him, though; for others, maybe not so much.

For example…

"Eek!"

Ijichi Nijika shrieked, clutching his arm tightly as she recoiled from the jump scare.

With her grip tightening, Saku could feel the sensation in his arm intensify.

"…"

He felt more than a little conflicted.

What to say here?

As a normal guy, he was naturally somewhat… aware of this.

While he wasn't exactly reacting to it, this couldn't keep up indefinitely, or his resolution to secure the "single ending" might start to waver.

Then again, he'd promised himself a break today, so the whole single-ending thing shouldn't even be on his mind.

Still, Nijika holding his arm like this wasn't ideal.

Who could stay calm with someone clinging to them like this?

But he was a gentleman—he wouldn't just take advantage of someone.

Even if it was… quite enjoyable.

So, he had to resist this temptation.

After her scream faded and they'd cautiously moved forward a bit, Saku casually asked, "Um… don't you think this looks a bit too… close?"

"Huh?"

Hearing that, Nijika looked down at her arm, which was wrapped around his.

Almost instantly, she pulled back, taking a few steps to widen the distance between them.

"Oh, sorry! I usually come to places like this with my friends, so it's just something I did out of habit."

This wasn't her first time in a haunted house; she'd been to a few with friends.

Since her friends were all girls, she'd occasionally hold onto them when she got scared.

But this was her first time coming with a guy.

Plus, she and Saku were on great terms, so she hadn't even noticed herself grabbing his arm instinctively, as if it were nothing.

If he hadn't said anything, she might've kept going without realizing a thing.

"It's no big deal."

Saku brushed it off easily.

"Sorry to trouble you," Nijika said, still a bit bothered by it.

"Oh, if you're still feeling nervous, you can grab my shirt instead. That way, it won't feel as… close," Saku suggested.

Even holding his shirt might seem a bit intimate, but it was still far less so than clinging to his arm.

"Oh, you're underestimating me—I'm not that scared!"

Even as she said this, Nijika instinctively grabbed onto the hem of his shirt, resting her other hand on his shoulder and hiding behind him as they continued exploring.

In truth, she didn't mind the closeness.

She and Saku were good friends, so being a bit touchy was only natural, right?

Well, as long as it was Saku.

Besides, they were in a haunted house. No romantic atmosphere here whatsoever.

Right now, surviving was more important.

"…"

Seeing her change of stance, Saku glanced over, feeling like he should say something, but ultimately, he kept quiet.

It wasn't exactly what he'd pictured when he'd said to hold onto his shirt—still felt kind of close.

But whatever, he couldn't be too picky.

He could put up with it until they were out of the haunted house.

Come to think of it, why had Nijika even suggested going here if she was so scared?

Wasn't that basically asking for trouble?

Just as he was grumbling to himself, a figure wrapped in blood-stained bandages jumped out from who-knows-where and let out a guttural scream: "Aaahhhh!"

"Eek—!"

Nijika's scream rang out again as she instinctively tightened her hold on Saku from behind.

"…"

Once again, Saku wasn't scared by the haunted house itself—he was more alarmed by Nijika's reaction.

She'd gone from holding onto his shirt to clinging tightly to his whole arm, and the sensation was now… significantly amplified.

It was an all-encompassing experience, to say the least.

He'd messed up—he'd been so focused on avoiding awkward closeness that he'd overlooked the fact that, in moments of fear, people tend to cling to whatever's near.

Now that he thought about it, anyone observing him right now would probably think that not only was he happy with just holding hands, but he'd somehow maneuvered things to take full advantage of Nijika's fear.

How was it that the more he tried to be a gentleman, the further he got from actually being one?

Wasn't this all a bit too ironic?

"…Let's keep moving," Nijika said quietly after the figure disappeared, finally loosening her grip.

"Nijika, maybe you could… just hold my hand?"

After a short pause, Saku finally mustered the will to suggest it.

Holding his arm hadn't worked, and holding his shirt hadn't worked. This left only one option: hand-holding.

After all, he couldn't exactly just ignore her, could he?

No, leaving her to fend for herself was definitely not an option.

To be clear, his suggestion was made out of necessity and wasn't his first choice.

Under the current circumstances, holding hands wasn't exactly that intimate.

It was worth noting that she'd said something similar to him back on the roller coaster, and he was merely echoing her words now.

That meant holding hands was simply… normal for them.

Yes, that's all it was…

No, this wasn't working; he couldn't convince himself!

Hand-holding, no matter how you looked at it, was super intimate!

If he'd known things would turn out like this, he wouldn't have agreed to the haunted house in the first place.

"Sure, no problem."

Nijika didn't hesitate to reach over and take his right hand.

If she'd minded holding hands, she wouldn't have offered it as an option when they were on the roller coaster.

"…"

Feeling the warmth of Nijika's hand, Saku let out a resigned sigh.

Holding a girl's hand was… a really nice feeling.

Soft, warm…

It was no wonder so many people wanted a girlfriend.

But for someone like him, committed to a single-ending route, this was far from ideal.

Ah, he'd almost forgotten again—today was supposed to be his day off from worrying about the single ending.

Right, since he was technically on break, nothing he did today should count. It wouldn't affect the single-ending outcome.

In other words, he just needed to compartmentalize today.

As he mused over this, starting to veer into denial, their journey through the haunted house continued.

"Eek—!"

After another scare, Nijika instinctively hugged his arm again.

"???"

Feeling her cling to his arm yet again, Saku was utterly bewildered.

What was happening?

Weren't they holding hands?

Why was she hugging his arm again?

How had he gone in a complete circle, right back to square one?

Actually, it was even worse than before.

Initially, she'd only been holding his arm. Now, she was holding his hand and hugging his arm at the same time.

This was getting way more intimate.

Saku was starting to think the situation was spiraling out of control.

He couldn't see any issues with any of his choices—they'd all been reasonable efforts to avoid getting too close.

But each time he'd tried, it only seemed to bring them closer together.

In hindsight, maybe it would've been better if he'd never tried to control things at all.

Looking down at his arm, now firmly clutched by Nijika, Saku thought about pulling back again.

Surely, things couldn't get any worse, right?

But after a few seconds, he quashed the impulse to do anything else.

No, better just to leave it as is. What if things somehow escalated even further?

Just like now—he hadn't anticipated things would end up like this.

Better to grin and bear it.

He even decided not to let go of her hand.

Who knew what might happen if he let go?

Too risky.

---

And so, Saku and Nijika completed their tour of the haunted house in that same awkward state.

Nijika was continually startled by various scares, while Saku focused on keeping himself in check.

Just because he didn't want a girlfriend didn't mean his body agreed with him—it was being brutally honest.

After all, he wasn't some emotionless robot.

"That was so much fun!"

Stepping out of the haunted house, Nijika finally let go of his arm and hand, beaming as she shared her review.

"Yeah…"

Saku replied awkwardly.

Toward the end, he'd lost all interest in what came next in the haunted house—his attention had been entirely on Nijika.

She was being way too much.

Noticing his change in expression, Nijika stepped a little closer, concerned. "Are you tired, Saku?"

"No, not really."

Saku instinctively took a step back.

She was too close, and he wasn't prepared for that.

"If you do feel tired, don't hesitate to let me know, okay? Don't worry about it."

Nijika smiled kindly.

"Mm, I will," he replied.

With his current stamina, he could last all day without breaking a sweat.

Except for a marathon study session like he'd done last week.

Nijika looked down at the map. "So, where to next?"

"We just got off a pretty intense ride, so maybe something more relaxed?" Saku suggested.

"How about the merry-go-round?"

Taking his advice, Nijika quickly picked the next attraction.

"That's for kids, isn't it?" Saku teased.

"It is," Nijika nodded, then added, "but a lot of adults ride it, too. Some say it's nostalgic or that it makes up for a missed childhood experience."

"Well, if that's the case, let's check it out."

Childhood… such a distant word.

"Sure."

---

Before long, they reached the line for the merry-go-round.

It was a popular ride for all ages, and there were plenty of people waiting.

Just as Nijika had mentioned, a fair number of adults were among the crowd—mostly women, though.

The occasional guy seemed to be there with his girlfriend.

Saku couldn't help but feel a little bad for them.

"Nijika, have you been to an amusement park before?"

With some time left to wait, Nijika continued the conversation.

"Yeah, but it was a long time ago," Saku said, thinking back.

"What did you do then? Do you remember?" Nijika asked eagerly.

"Not much—just rode things like the merry-go-round, bumper cars, and Ferris wheel," Saku recalled.

"No roller coasters or anything?"

"Of course not. I was scared of heights and horror back then. Couldn't even bring myself to look down when we rode the Ferris wheel," Saku sighed. "Didn't enjoy it one bit."

"Well, we can go on the Ferris wheel again later so you can make up for what you missed," Nijika laughed.

"Yeah."

Saku smiled back.

As she watched him, Nijika seemed to notice something.

Typically, if you visited an amusement park as a kid, it was with your parents.

Had Saku done the same?

If so, when he'd been to the amusement park before, he'd still been afraid of heights and scary stuff. And based on what he'd said, that meant he hadn't "grown up" yet at that time.

Now he'd grown up and no longer feared those things—but the person by his side had changed.

She recalled what he'd mentioned about his parents passing.

Could his "growing up" have happened after losing them?

…

No, she couldn't just jump to conclusions.

She didn't have any evidence. Right, that's it—there was no evidence.

Those little comments didn't prove anything.

Nijika quickly shook off the idea, though her gaze softened with a touch of care as she looked at him.

---

T/N: I wonder if Saku is really that unfazed by his parents death or maybe he's hiding it?

Ahem! Gather close, esteemed audience! Do you comprehend the privilege of basking in my radiance? Truly, you're witnessing history in the making—a performance unparalleled in the annals of Fontaine!

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Oh, but wait! You're probably wondering, "Furina, how can someone as magnificent as you need assistance?" To that, I say: why deny mortals the honor of contributing to such greatness? Supporting me is supporting art, and who doesn't want to say they were instrumental in a legend's rise?

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— Furina ✨