Play rock paper scissors to split into two groups. To give Sora more opportunities to interact with his classmates. I propose to use a familiar game to split into two groups to become closer. The boys hesitate after hearing my proposal. After several rounds of rock paper scissors without any tacit understanding, I form a team with the boy called Akira, and Sora forms a team with the enthusiastic Michihito. However, they didn't engage in friendly interactions as I expected... After Akira and I start acting alone, the scene becomes the exact opposite of "warm and sweet." [Guardian]You two have a very simple mission. The key you need is inside this small block of ice, and you just need to find a way to melt it. Muhahaha! Lady Luck really is looking over you two. I look at a huge block of ice that is half the height of a person in front of me, I fall deep into thought. [player]Are you sure you understand the meaning of "small"? [Guardian]This is indeed a small object compared with the size of a demon. I very thoughtfully prepared two ice picks for you. Now, let me hear the sound of ice breaking! [player]The guardian claims to want to help us to return to the real world, but keeps mentioning the demon every few sentences. Is it possible that we're caught in a trap that would awaken the demon instead? Akira, what do you think? [Akira]Hmm. [player]This challenge is completely physical. I hope we can complete it soon. [Akira]Hmm. After separating from his classmate, Akira seems to become a different person. He becomes a person with few words and answers every question with fewer than two words. He even looks uncomfortable whenever I approach him. Even looking at each other in the eye is a luxury, let alone having a pleasant conversation. The moment I got the key, Akira turns and leaves, as if he is running away, leaving me alone to face the chaos of the broken ice on the ground. [player]I never expected Akira, who has such a vicious tongue, to have a hidden fear of social situations, which makes me really curious about how Michihito managed to start talking to him in the first place. [Michihito]AHHHHH— While I mumble under my breath, Michihito's terrified screams pierce the walls into my ears. About ten minutes later, Sora brings the frightened Michihito back to the meeting point. I don't know what happened, but both of them have unhappy expressions on their faces. [player]What happened? [Sora Ichinose]I... [Michihito]It's my fault... I held Ichinose back. Ahaha, if only I managed to find the clue sooner. The change in the form of address from "Straight-A" to "Ichinose" catches my attention, even if there did seem to be some misunderstandings between them. However, getting recklessly involved in the relationship between young people can easily cause a backlash, so I have no choice but to hold my silence. Sora seems to also have noticed this detail. There is an obvious pause in his movement when he steps forward, but he quickly resumes his usual pace. [Sora Ichinose]Since we've got the key, let's open the exit and go to the next room. [Michihito]Yes! Let's not waste any time! The two boys work together tacitly to keep focusing on the game and avoid talking about what happened just now, so I can only suppress the doubts in my heart for the time being. It just seems that my plan of helping Sora make friends during this group challenge has failed. The next game session is my last hope. However, the atmosphere between us hasn't improved at all by the time we step into the last room. Sora has almost no communication with the other two people. Can a team with such poor communication solve the final puzzle and escape from the room? The answer, of course, is no. While searching for clues, I touch a mechanism by mistake. After a loud sound, the walls on both sides begin to move forward slowly. [Guardian]Oh! You managed to find the hidden stage. How "lucky" of you! You'll be squashed flat if you can't activate the portal in 30 minutes. Haha! Good luck! [Michihito]What?! What should we do?! Save me! [Akira]The store won't really crush you, but my arm will be bruised all over if you don't let go now. The constantly approaching walls fill me with a sense of dread, making even me nervous, let alone the boys around me. Only Sora has managed to keep calm. He even silently speeds up his search for clues. As time passes, the space available for us to move in becomes smaller and smaller, and the emotions of the boy gradually reach a critical point. Time seems to pass even faster in the chaos, and in the end, we rely on the guardian to provide us with the password to leave the escape room. Light shines into the escape room from outside, which is difficult for us to adjust after spending so long in the darkness. What's more uncomfortable is the mood of our group. Since we relied on the store's hints to find the exit, no matter how we look at it, we failed the challenge. [Sora Ichinose]Excuse me, can you explain the last puzzle to me? [Shop Employee]Of course. Actually, you got really close to solving the puzzle, but one of your friends put a book that is a clue under the sofa cushion, which is why you couldn't solve the puzzle in the end. [Michihito]Oh, I messed everything up again... I'm so sorry, Ichinose. [Sora Ichinose]We only had a 50% chance to complete the challenge anyway, so you don't need to apologize to me. [Michihito]Ahem, it's getting late. Akira and I still need to go to the library, so we'll leave first. [player]Okay, take care then. [Michihito]Bye, Ichinose. [Sora Ichinose]Bye. After watching Sora's two classmates leave, Sora and I become a group of two again. Since he hasn't said anything, I ask him about what happened when we split up? [player]Sora, if you don't mind, can you tell me what happened when you were with Michihito? You were both so quiet in the second half of the game, which didn't seem to match your desire to make friends with your classmates. [Sora Ichinose]... [player]Is it something you don't want to tell me? [Sora Ichinose]I just don't know how to talk to him. We didn't actually have any conflicts. [Sora Ichinose]We encountered a reasoning problem that required two people to work together, but Michihito and I don't know each other that well, and it would be too overbearing of me to directly command him, so we had to find the clues by ourselves. However, many clues were scattered all over the room... [Sora Ichinose]Now that I think about it, at first, Michihito would ask questions around me, but he stopped talking after he saw that I was busy. Maybe he got a little unhappy because I was too busy solving the puzzle and ignored him. I thought it would make him happier to leave the dark room if we can solve the puzzle quickly, but... I seem to have made a mess of things. The boy sighs and focuses on the Rubik's Cube in his hands to hide the sadness in his heart. Sora wants to make friends more than anyone else, but he just doesn't know how to do it. The friendship between young people is the purest and warmest, and it would be a pity to miss it. Combined with what Michihito said earlier, I basically understood the source of all problems. [player]Perhaps everything is just a misunderstanding. [player]You wanted to solve the puzzle and leave the escape room quickly because you knew Michihito was afraid of the dark, but Michihito thought he annoyed you by constantly asking you questions, so he chose to keep quiet to not get in your way of solving the puzzle. You misunderstood that and it made you even more reluctant to approach him. [Sora Ichinose]I thought he was angry. It'll be great if he wasn't angry. Sora's eyebrows and eyes relax. He looks in the direction his classmates left. The green branches of the trees on both sides of the road sway in the wind like they are waving to him. [Shop Employee]Customers, our store sincerely invites you to participate in our latest event. If you write down your experience or recommendations in the guestbook, you'll have the opportunity to win a free escape room experience coupon that can be used whenever you want! Probably because the employee was aware of the awkward atmosphere before, he doesn't come forward to invite us until Sora's eyebrows relax. I am about to nod when I see Sora take the pen and paper from the employee first. [Sora Ichinose]Since it's a misunderstanding, it'll be better to explain things in person. I want to invite Michihito and Akira to play another escape room game. PLAYER, will you play with us? [player]Of course, don't forget you need four people to play these escape rooms. It seems that this afternoon wasn't fruitless. Well... Why don't we go and play mahjong with Ichihime and the others at Mahjong Soul Shrine then?
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