Chapter 377 - Trouble Around Every Corner

"...Sorry," he muttered, turning away. 

Silence filled the width of the room for a few, still seconds as he felt the cool chill of self-embarrassment run over his body. 

"I probably said a lot I shouldn't have--"

--Before he could apologize further, a foreign sensation was felt against his cheek that immediately warmed them with a crimson blush. 

Was that? He thought. 

Placing his hand on his cheek, he was left still for another moment as his brain--gone hazy from fluster--processed what had just happened. It was a complete surprise attack--one he was not in the least bit prepared for. 

A kiss, he surmised. 

As he finally turned back around to face Iris, she held just as much of a scarlet blush as he did, if not even further. 

"Don't apologize, dummy," she muttered, fiddling with her hair, "...you helped me. I just don't want to be coddled. I'm not a kid that needs to be spoiled anymore, I'll show Mother that when I return...I want you to know I can handle myself, Ren. I'll protect you, as well." 

"I see...well, I have faith in you! And...Oh, urr...you're welcome," he responded, still keeping his hand against his cheek as if trying to preserve the kiss. 

Once again, awkward silence; they were both painfully inexperienced when it came to such feelings--leaving a mutual uncertainty between them as they sat wordlessly on the bed. 

"We should probably go down to the first floor, right? I bet the others are headed down there too," Ren offered. 

"Right," she replied quietly, still holding a blush. 

After utilizing a more than useful contraption present in the room that used runes to completely clean their garments, they took turns using the bathroom to get properly dressed. 

Though his bedtime clothes were objectively more comfortable, it felt right to slide his sable coat over his torso as he strapped his boots on and placing his sheathed sword at his hip. He found himself hesitant to bring it along with him, but he retrieved the black book from beneath the mattress, hiding it beneath his coat and cloak. 

The same couldn't be said when he looked at Iris; though she looked beautiful no matter what she wore, he came to appreciate the night gown she displayed the previous night. 

"All set?" He asked. 

"Yup," she answered with a smile, tucking her hands behind her back playfully. 

As they approached the door to set out from their room, he stopped for a moment while in front of her, staring at the door in front of him, though paying no mind to it. 

It's now or never, Ren, he thought, this is the last chance we'll have alone together the rest of the day. I was wrong to believe emotions like these shouldn't exist within Purgatory. It's the opposite...they can flourish--even in this hell, love can bloom! It's up to you to let it grow!

"Ren?" She called his name. 

Be a man, Ren! Sirius, Sora, Fai--I hear you, loud and clear! He thought. 

Clenching his eyes shut while drawing in a breath that allowed fresh vigor to flow through his youthful veins, he turned around to face her. 

I'll be damned if you one up me in this field, Macheo! He told himself. 

"Listen, if you don't want this, then slap me!" He announced boldly. 

"Ren--?"

--Answering her not with words, he placed his hand on the back of her head, allowing his fingers to be enveloped by the veil of her azure locks before pulling her into a proclamation of love; a meeting of their lips. 

A bold move; one so disconnected from intimacy himself could only dream of beforehand. It had to be done with complete confidence, allowing zero hesitation to seep through as he brought his lips against her own. 

There was no resistance; she accepted the endearing kiss wholeheartedly as it was held in a shining moment, allowing the artificial sunshine to cascade down on them. 

"Soft," was the only word that came to his mind as he felt her saccharine lips, producing a vibrant warmth through his body that flickered from complete shyness to gratifying comfort. 

Fully embracing the moment, her hand reached out to his, interlocking their fingers as her stomach fluttered with the butterflies of love. 

Less than an action formed out of tangible, physical satisfaction, it was a proclamation that bonded their feelings, allowing them to blissfully intertwine their unspoken thoughts that converged in the silent, serene exchange. 

"I want to be with you."

"Keep me at your side." 

"I'll protect you."

"Let's share this life." 

"...I love you…"

Without words, their most vibrant thoughts were interlaced and shared, proclaimed through a single kiss. 

When I'm with you, the pain goes away...if just during our time together, it fades as if your smile provides a healing warmth to my heart. 

The constant pain, the plaguing thoughts, the dark impulses...Iris, none of them exist when I'm with you, he thought. 

--As their lips parted, they both exchanged the same tender smiles as their cheeks were ablush with a light pink; though most of which, it was their eyes that smiled with utmost joy, glimmering and shining. 

"Let's start today--together, and the day after that...maybe the next week and month as well," he told her, "you get what I'm saying, don't you?"

Her heart was caught in a trance in the way his words were bolstered by the radiant light reflecting off of his pale skin, glimmering in his hazel eyes. 

Nodding her head, she responded, "Mhm! Let's." 

They left the room shoulder-to-shoulder with unfading smiles, traversing the corridors with a certain bliss to their step that left any troubles swept away. 

You miss any shots you don't take, right? I guess it's true, he thought. 

Naturally, their hands met as they walked together, joining in a slight embrace as they twined their fingers halfway. 

--Such innocent bliss didn't seem capable of existing uninterrupted, however. Ren noticed it first: the malicious presence now blocking the corridor; it was a man, half a head taller than him with a sizable build of muscle that fit his wild, crimson locks. 

Supporting the problematic appearance of the scruff man, he wore a sleeveless, umber shirt with a flared collar, brandishing blood-stained bandages over his fists. 

The moment his eyes met with the man's narrowed, orange irises, the stranger's hands clenched with an audible pop. 

"Ren…" Iris whispered. 

"Stay back," he spoke to her with a calm tone. 

--Though calmness was the last thing he felt as a potent fire rushed through his veins, reaching his head as a rage bubbled up. 

"What do you want?" He asked the man. 

Staying silent for a moment, the tall, crimson-haired man with a gauze over his nose answered, "Everything you've got. Crimson coins and all." 

Figures, he thought. 

"You should walk away," Ren warned. 

The man raised his hairless brow, "And what makes you think that's the way things are headed?" 

"There's two of us and one of you. In addition, magic is forbidden here…Fighting amongst each other is also prohibited," He answered, placing his hand on the pommel of his sheathed blade. 

The last part was a lie, Iris and himself knew that, but it was a gamble he decided to take. 

A laugh bellowed from the wild-haired man, causing Ren to narrow his eyes out of confusion--trying to decide if it was simply the man having a screw loose, or something more. 

"Sorry, but you see, I can't help but laugh when someone is just so damn cocky...yet wrong," the bandit grinned. 

"...On what part?" He asked.

"It'd be easier to tell you what you got right," the crimson-locked man answered, "magic isn't allowed, yeah, but everything else is fair game! That's the nature of this tower! The Tower of Balam is heaven for guys like me! And also...I'd say our numbers are about even." 

More so than anything else said, the last portion drove a nail through Ren as he quickly turned around, coming to the realization that there was another person stationed behind the both of them. 

A frighteningly large beast of a man who barely fit the width of the narrow corridor with his hulking, scarred arms at his sides. 

Noticing the look of shock present on the young man's face, the bald-headed giant of a man grinned ear-to-ear with a twisted joy taking place on his scarred face. 

Shit, they've got us on both sides, he thought, and fighting is allowed…? No, it sounds like it's almost supported. I see...scumbags like this would take advantage of that. 

"Iris...I know you don't want to, but please--let me handle this. I know you can handle yourself, but if you really don't have the Pact,..." Ren urged her. 

To his surprise, she nodded her head with a reluctant smile, "I know, Ren. You can handle this. I believe in you." 

A fire was lit under him when hearing the unconditional support from her, "I think a kiss on the cheek would seal the deal." 

"Don't push it," she teased. 

As she said it, though, she placed a light kiss on his cheek that left him with a confident smile. 

"I think after that, I might be strong enough to lob one at God," he joked. 

The red-haired bandit clicked his tongue before drawing a dagger from an ankle-sheath, "Try and save the day then, Prince Charming." 

"I'd like to see him try," the beastly man cackled, cracking his fists as he began to approach from behind. 

A two-front war, eh? I'm used to fighting three people at once, so you're ill-prepared, you jackasses, he thought. 

Preparing to draw his blade from its sheath, the action was halted while he looked behind him at the colossal man--stunned for a moment as the bald-headed giant lurched forward as if being hit from behind. 

"Hey, hey, hey...you're in my way, you fat piece of shit," a familiar voice spoke. 

That voice, he thought. 

"Is that…?" Iris began to say, staying tucked near one of the indented spaces where a door sat. 

"That's Macheo, no doubt about it," Ren smiled, "there's no mistaking that attitude!"