Chapter Text
Past the exit door of the Operating Theatre there was little more than a long hallway that continued the theme of a hospital with a blizzard outside. The windows rattled as wind and snow hit against them. “It’s almost enough to make you forget it's summer outside.” Juno said as they walked, looking a lot better now that they'd left all the mannequins behind. The stag nodded, looking briefly at the door he’d left slightly ajar behind them so Free could get out. “Yeah, I’m impressed this place can fit inside the mall at all.” He said, his eyes now landing on the false snowstorm outside. In truth, he also wondered where Agata could’ve ended up after him and Free got separated too. If the complex was too big, it would be difficult to find him without alerting the staff. “I’d rather avoid getting the cops involved. Free and Agata are ex-cons, so it would only cause more trouble for everyone in the long run. Not to mention it would interrupt the date.” He thought, though on a less logical side of him was also very worried for the missing lion. Hopefully he'd managed to sneak into one of the rooms like Free did.
Louis lingered behind as Juno and Marin talked in hushed tones in front. From where he was standing, he couldn’t hear anything they said, but judging by Juno’s face turning a bright shade of red he could gather the boy was asking about what they’d done during the date. Ibuki walked by his left side, remaining quiet as she looked at the snow hitting the window. Compared to the other pair, they might as well seem like strangers rather than father and daughter. “Did you have fun, Ibuki?” He asked tentatively, wanting to break the slight tension that had formed. The question broke her out of her thoughts as she turned to face him. “Oh… I did! I'd never been to an escape room before, so it was a nice change of pace. Even if it was a bit of a shock to bump into you here.” She said with a small smile. As always, Ibuki seemed to roll with the punches just fine, but… Louis could tell she had something on her mind. As to whether she would share or not was difficult to say.
“And you? Are you enjoying your date so far?” She shot the question back at him, her eyes briefly meeting with his before returning to the window. Ahead, the pair of wolves argued further. “I have. Despite the surprise, I am grateful I got to introduce Juno to you.” The stag said, smiling as he watched Juno and her son. “I want to marry her one day… Though that might not be for a long time, heh.” He could feel a rush in his chest at finally saying the thought out loud. It was as though this nebulous idea he’d been parading around in his head had finally been given shape by confessing it to his daughter. On her end Ibuki seemed surprised, but it was quickly hidden behind a playful smile. “Hehe, You’re getting a little ahead of yourself there. But….” She hesitated, her smile dipping for barely a moment before she caught herself. “I… hope you manage to do it. Juno seems… like she’s happy with you. I feel like she makes you act in ways I don’t see very often.” Ibuki’s gaze returned outside, though this time Louis didn’t miss the way her ears were still perked up. The simulation outside sputtered for a moment. “I… suppose that might be true. You said it yourself, it’s been a long time since I’ve been on a real date.” He said, watching her carefully. The doe revealed nothing, her hands placed carefully behind her back, her face turned away from him. “But I doubt it’s just because it’s a date, is it? She’s special to you because you have a history, right?” She said. Louis raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t like Ibuki to ask questions like this. “Something like that. I don’t really think of her as The One Who Got Away or anything, but… I do wish I had a way to be with her while also taking care of Horns Conglomerate.” He said with a frown. Watching as Ibuki's shoulders tensed the slightest amount.
“... Then why didn't you?” The doe asked, still avoiding meeting his gaze. “You could've kept it a secret. Had your cake and eat it too.” One of her earrings reflected the light from the windows in a quick flash, almost as if she were sending him a signal he could decipher. Louis stared for a moment, wondering what was going through her head. “I could’ve… but it wouldn’t have been fair, would it? Juno had her own dreams and… being reduced to a mistress would only hold her back.” He stepped a little closer to Ibuki, who stopped walking and slowly turned to face him. Her expression was neutral in that false way that told him something was bothering her. He reached up to her cheek and cupped her face with his hand. “Besides, I don’t regret choosing the path I did. It… let me protect the people I care about… and have a wonderful daughter too.” This type of candor wasn’t what he was used to in their relationship. Usually they teased and played, gently pushing each other. That was comfort for them, love in actions, not words. He could only hope she would know his words were sincere.
Ibuki placed her hand over his, looking down. “So… You never tried to run away?” She asked carefully. Louis tilted his head curiously. “I did… I ran away from my father, my school, my friends… everything. I didn’t want to be his perfect son anymore… so I didn’t.” He confessed. The doe’s eyes widened as she looked up in surprise. “In the end none of those feelings went away. I was still stuck living a life someone else chose for me.” He concluded. In the end, whether it was the Shishigumi or Horns Conglomerate didn't matter, he needed to choose what the role meant to him.
Ibuki stared, eyes searching his expression with care. “T-then what happened? Why did you stay…?” She sounded incredulous, as though he'd just confessed to winning the lottery and throwing the ticket away. The stag chuckled. “Because… even if my father was inarticulate with his feelings, he did love me. Horns Conglomerate was his life’s work and I… didn’t want to see it fall after he was gone.” He said, looking out the snowy window into the darkness outside. “That’s what I chose for myself. In my own way, I wanted to change the world like he did.” Horns Conglomerate needed him and so did the Shishigumi. The doe next to him grew still, her expression still guarded even as a glimmer of something could be grasped in her eyes. “... I see… I would’ve liked to meet him.” She finally said. Louis stared, then a smile slowly crept into his lips. “He would’ve spoiled you rotten, I'm sure.” Without the baggage of their relationship, Louis was sure Oguma would have loved to give his granddaughter the world if he could. Ibuki smiled, leaning into his hand.
“Hey! What's the hold up? C'mon we gotta beat the others!” Marin's voice came from the end of the hall. The wolves had finally noticed their absence. Ibuki's hand fell and shortly after so did his. “Let’s get going before they miss us too much.” The doe smirked casually, the moment they just shared doing nothing to dampen her mood. At least on the surface. Louis smiled as he followed behind. “Lead the way, boss.” He said, unaware of the wisp of smoke that seeped through a gap in the window.
—
Agata followed behind the trio at a safe distance as they left the escape room. He’d luckily managed to sneak through the passage unseen before the gate closed. The rabbit and both wolves seemed to be having fun at least, even if the large stupid-looking one mostly nodded silently as the bunny chatted his ear off. “I feel like a massive creep doing this….” He thought as he peeked out the corner. The others crossed a door at the end of the hall and the lion sneaked behind them to reach the next hiding spot. He pressed his back against the wall as he pressed his ears close to hear what was going on inside. What sounded like an employee could be heard, explaining that they’ll have to wait a moment as the other group reaches the end. It was clear he was not getting through there unnoticed. His eyes scanned the hallway as he spotted a well hidden door behind a wall panel that had been left displaced and partially covering it, one labeled Employee Area. “It really is my lucky day.” He thought as he reached out to push the door open, it had thankfully been left unlocked. He shoved his head in slowly, checking the inside to see if there were any employees inside. Unlike the warmth of the Biotope and the cold of the fake storm outside, the hallway was eerily still. Dust could be seen hanging in the air as he stepped carefully, his ears straining to pick up on any other signs of life. “Are they just understaffed here or did something happen?” He thought, wondering where everyone else was.
Walking down the winding hallways, his ears slowly drooped as he took in the amount of doors. Door after door after door, none with any signage or any indication of where the exit might be. “Not only are they understaffed, but this place also probably breaks some sort of fire code.” He remembered having to place some bright exit signs over the doors at the Shishigumi’s hideout on Louis’ behest back in the day. The old boss had thought it unnecessary, but the stag argued that the building could quickly become a death trap in case of an emergency. “Given our line of work, I guess it made sense the boss would be worried about arson. That’s just the type of guy he is.” He thought. Ironically enough, that building did burn down when the black market was destroyed, though thankfully no one was present at the time.
As he reminisced, he stumbled upon a room that was actually labeled. “... Security room.” He muttered, pressing his ear to the door and finding no evidence of anyone inside. “If there’s security cameras I might be able to find Free.” He pushed the door open gently, peeking inside to check the coast was clear before rushing inside and letting it click shut behind him.
The room was a spacious rectangular lounge. A desk lined with nine security monitors sat against the left wall, while a couch and a row of lockers occupied the other side of the room. There was the lobby outside, a few rooms meant to identify players as they entered or exited one of the escape rooms, a view of the exit hallway he was just in and some of the rooms he passed on the way. Interestingly enough, there were no cameras in the actual escape rooms. “Security seems pretty shoddy here. Good for me, I guess. Means I didn’t get caught sneaking out.” He thought, clicking around to check any other clues to Free's location, coming up empty handed. “Damn… If only I could call him, but my phone is busted from the cold.” He continued looking. In the desk there was a floor plan, a box with some discount coupons, and some keys he quickly pocketed just in case.
Agata was about to turn around and leave when his ears perked up at the sound of approaching footsteps. Thinking quickly he hid behind the door right as it swung open. The light from the hallway pierced the dark as a silhouette stood at the entrance. The lion held his breath. Based on the shape of the shadow, the employee was likely not much taller than himself. If he was quick he might be able to knock them out before they notice him. The shadow moved as the employee stepped into the room. Agata's muscles tensed as he sprung from his hiding spot and pounced on their back. The employee stumbled forward with a curse, golden mane catching the hallway light as he spun around. Agata managed to hook his arm around the man's neck and attempted to incapacitate him. Surprisingly, the employee retaliated by using his body's strength to headbutt against Agata's chin. He was knocked back, releasing his grip as he fell to the floor. The other lion turned around with a scowl, only for it to turn into surprise and confusion. “Oh for fuck'- There you are! I've been looking all over for you!” He exclaimed, though his shoulders did seem to relax slightly.
Agata stared in shock for a moment before it quickly turned to relief. “F-Free! I'm glad you're okay.” He said, scrambling to get up. Free gave him a sardonic smile. “Despite being attacked, I am.” It was playful, but Agata still felt guilty. “Sorry… I was trying to find you and you caught me by surprise.” In his defense, it was only logical to assume an employee had found him. The other lion rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I figured. I thought I'd find you on the cameras too.” He pointed his thumb at the screens. “I’m guessing that didn’t work out.” He said. Agata shook his head. “It’s weird. There’s no employees anywhere here, I’m wondering if something happened.” His hands reached up to brush his mane nervously. Free hummed. “Well… I thought I smelled some smoke earlier, but it might’ve been my imagination.” He said with a shrug. “All the more reason to get out of here.” Agata said, eyeing the hallway in case anyone was coming. Free turned to look at the computer. “I wonder where the boss is….” He muttered, clicking a couple of times while looking at the cameras. “Aha! He’s about to leave. Let’s hurry and catch up with him!” He said, pointing at the screen where a familiar stag could be seen talking to his daughter. “Wait, I have an idea!” Agata said, eyeing the lockers in the corner. He reached inside to pull a couple of uniforms that looked to be their size. “It might be good to blend in a little more.” He tossed one to the other lion, who caught it in the air. “Nice!” He said, not noticing the way a pen inside one of the pockets in his uniform flew through the air and pressed a key. As they departed, neither noticed the pop up in the corner that said Security Lockdown either. Somewhere else, metal shutters came down to barricade the way right as an alarm sounded somewhere else in the building.
—
Legoshi, Haru, and Teru were taken to a new room: The Winner's Lounge or so the employee had called it. The Art Deco-inspired lounge glowed warm under an elaborate glass light fixture in the center of the ceiling. Curved emerald velvet booths and cream leather chairs had surrounded low marble tables while a polished black-and-gold bar stretched across the back of the room, glittering with crystal bottles and chrome cocktail tools. Just beside the bar, a narrow metal door was partially hidden behind a curtain, while on the far right side of the room a heavy metal shutter had been pulled almost all the way down leaving a small gap. The motor at the top seemingly malfunctioned and stopped with a worrying whirr. Muttering under his breath, the employee slipped back through the door they’d entered from. Once it shut, the glossy black-and-gold wall panel concealed it almost completely. Seeing little else to do, Legoshi and Haru helped themselves to the bar, giving Teru an age appropriate drink and themselves a pair of martinis.
“It’s weird we were left alone here. I get that we technically won, but they didn't even tell us what to do next.” Haru said as she took a sip. Legoshi looked at the shutter, the only item besides a computer behind the counter to stand out as anachronistic. “Well… If the shutter's busted then maybe we're stuck here until we can get out….” He said, plucking the olive from his drink and offering it to the rabbit sitting next to him, who ate it from his hand. “Gross, heh heh.” He chuckled. Teru rolled his eyes at their antics, but Legoshi could see a hint of a smile forming on his lips.
The moment was interrupted as they heard some noise behind the shutter. A door opening and the thudding of feet as they rushed in from somewhere beyond. “Damn… The way here is blocked too!” Louis’ voice came loud and clear from the gap under it, followed by coughing. Haru and Legoshi shared a look before they got up and rushed to meet the others, Teru following behind them closely. “Hey! We’re here!” Haru called out, leaning close to the gap. A thin ribbon of gray smoke curled beneath the shutter, carrying the sharp smell of burning plastic. “Haru? Is that you? Are the others with you?” The stag asked. Legoshi counted four pairs of shoes on the other side. “Yep. Legoshi and Teru are here too. What happened to you guys?” She asked. This time it was Ibuki who answered. “There’s a fire! We rushed over here because the way out is blocked. They pulled down the shutters on us.” She said, her voice panicked and raw from the smoke. Legoshi watched as Juno also knelt down to talk. “The hallway outside is filled with smoke! Can you guys open the shutter?” She asked. Legoshi looked at the other two with worry, The gravity of the situation settled across all three of their faces. “The motor’s jammed. We’ll try to get it open, but you should look for something to help on your end.” Haru told the others before turning to the wolf, who understood wordlessly with a nod.
He took her in his arms and pulled her up closer to the motor. Haru found the panel to open the motor, but she couldn’t pull the screws with her hands alone. “... Damn it!” She huffed in frustration. “You guys wouldn’t happen to have a screwdriver on your side, would you?” She yelled down through the gap. “Not in hand… but there is a storage room here! We’ll try to get it open while you guys search on your side.” Louis yelled back. A plume of wispy smoke passed through the gap as heat began to radiate from somewhere beyond the shutter. “I’ll search the bar.” Teru said over his shoulder, rushing behind the counter to check the cabinets. Legoshi gently put Haru down, barely getting a moment to breathe before they too rushed to find anything that could help.
On the other side of the shutter, the four of them glanced at each other in a panic. Marin looked to his mother, who in turn looked to Louis, who turned to look at his daughter, whose eyes were closed as she tried to focus. “Standing around won’t do any good.” The stag finally said, trying to sound confident despite the circumstances. The others stayed silent, watching him as he tried opening the storage room door, to no avail. It was a metallic pull door so kicking it down wasn’t an option. “If only I’d brought my lockpicking tools….” Louis thought as he searched the room for anything that might work as a replacement. Marin was the next one to move. The wolf rushed to the window, pulling it with all his might and breaking the lock. Fresh air drifted in from the bright summer day outside, a welcome relief from the smoke that had caught them by surprise. “ Look, the storage room also has a window.” Ibuki said, pointing at the opening on the side of the mall. “If only we had something to be able to cross, but….” Louis cursed their luck, but the room they were in was devoid of anything. They could try to return the way they came, but the smoke that seeped under the door made that impossible.
Marin looked at his mother, then at Ibuki. “I’ll get it, don’t worry.” He said, not giving either of them enough time to respond before vaulting out the window and clinging to the edge of it, much to everyone’s shock. “Marin! D-don’t do that! It’s dangerous!” Juno called out to him in a panic. The wolf ignored her protests. He dropped from the window and caught a narrow ledge beneath it, claws scraping against concrete. He shuffled until he reached a sturdy drainage pipe, which he climbed up to the side of the storage room window. For a terrifying second his hand slipped, but he caught himself before reaching the open window with his hand, pulling himself up and inside. Louis didn’t know if this was an indication of how fearless or foolish Marin was. The three of them looked at the metal door as it was suddenly slammed open with a kick. The wolf peered out with a smile. “See? No problem at all.” He said, beckoning them inside. Louis could see Juno holding back her impulse to reprimand him as they followed him.
The room was full of props and unfinished puzzle elements. Locked boxes, machines of unknown purposes, broken mannequins, old computers, etc. Eventually Ibuki stumbled upon a toolbox with a flat head screwdriver inside. “Here, we found one!” She rushed to the shutter and rolled it underneath. The light steps of the rabbit could be heard approaching, followed by the heavier steps of a wolf shortly behind. “Great! We’ll get the shutter open for you guys!” Haru’s voice came in clear. The plumes of smoke grew more intense as heat could be felt emanating from the door. A moment after, the metal barrier fell with a loud clang. Marin and Louis grabbed the bottom edge and strained upward. Even with Legoshi helping from the other side, the shutter only lifted a few centimeters. The doe rushed into the storage room, coming back with a curtain rod in hand. “Here! Let’s try this!” Ibuki said, shoving it in the gap under the barrier. “Uncle Legoshi! Step on the rod with your foot!” She yelled, beckoning Marin and Louis to help her lift. “O-oh, okay! I’m pressing it down now!” Legoshi said. With a heave, the three of them lifted the rod and pulled the shutter up enough for a person to pass through. It bent awkwardly, but it did not break. Louis motioned Juno with his hand, and the she-wolf rushed through, followed by Marin and Ibuki who reluctantly left him to pull it up by himself. “Here! Shove this underneath!” Another voice, which Louis assumed to be Terushi’s, spoke from the other side, before the corner of a table was pushed beneath the shutter. “Nice work!” Louis said, releasing the rod with a loud clang and passing under the barrier himself.
On the lounge side, everyone searched frantically for another exit. There was little time for greetings. Legoshi tried prying the panel where the employee had disappeared earlier, but it was impossible for him to get a good grip. “We’re not getting back through there. The only other door here is the one by the bar.” Haru said, pointing at the metal door at the other end of the room. The group moved to inspect it, finding that it was locked behind a 6-digit combination. Meanwhile, Louis eyed the computer on the counter, frustrated to find that it was password protected. “May I?” Terushi said, standing next to him. The stag reluctantly stepped aside and let him. He half expected him to try and reset the password, but the kid instead inputted a username and password, opening the desktop with a tap of the enter key. “How did you…?” Louis asked in shock, but Terushi shook his head. “Username Admin and password Admin1234.” He said with a small smirk. “Never underestimate the power of a lazy and underpaid manager.” He took to searching the emails for clues, cool and composed even as the others panicked around them. For someone who looks so much like Legoshi, the boy had clearly inherited those nerves of steel from his mother. Louis leaned in to read. “There! Employee Area door code change.” The stag pointed at one particular subject. He squinted as the teen clicked it open, reading each line carefully.
On their end, Juno, Marin and Ibuki tried to find any physical evidence in the keypad itself. “No difference in pressure. Can’t see any signs of the buttons being worn down either.” The doe pressed each key from the side with her nail while holding down the handle. Juno tilted her head curiously, before her ears perked up as she hit upon an idea. “I got it!” She exclaimed, pulling a compact case from her pocket and putting some powder on her finger. She carefully rubbed the powder on each key before blowing, revealing fingerprints on only five keys. 1, 2, 4, 5, and 9 respectively had a defined white fingerprint. “Nice! Now we know the code must use these numbers! Where did you learn to do that?” Ibuki said with a smile. Juno looked a little sheepish. “Oh, it’s just an old trick I learned back when I was in the girl scouts.” She explained. On his end, Marin rubbed his neck awkwardly. “Yeah. Since we only have 5 numbers, that means only one should repeat. That’s, like, 1800 different combinations.” He explained, his ears pivoting to and fro as he tried to come up with a way to reduce the number of possibilities. Ibuki hummed. “If we assume it’s a date we might have an easier time, but… that’s still a lot of them.” She racked her brain to try and come up with something, but she couldn’t think of anything.
“The code for the door was changed to the month and year the escape room is themed to.” Louis said out loud, catching everyone else’s attention. Legoshi pulled the pamphlet out of his pocket and flipped through it. “... Oh… It doesn’t say the exact date. Just that it’s set in winter.” He explained, his ears drooping. Teru shook his head. “The only winter month it could be is December. Since you’d need to press the 0 key for January and February.” The teen explained. Legoshi’s tail wagged as their hope was renewed. Haru smiled at him. “Yeah! This place is really retro too… so I’d say it’s either 1945 or 1954.” She added, to which Teru nodded. “We just have to try both of them.” He reasoned, but then Juno added. “Art Deco peaked earlier, so 1945 is more likely.“ The she-wolf looked to Ibuki, who nodded as she plugged in the numbers carefully, before pulling the handle on the door. It clicked satisfyingly as it opened with a creak. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief before hurrying out of the room. The smoke reached their ankles as Legoshi pushed the door closed behind them.
—
They ran into the dark passageway for what felt like hours before reaching an exit. Pushing it open, they emerged into the light of the lobby, now full of spectators and surrounded by paramedics and firefighters. The first responders took notice of their appearance and immediately rushed to help each one individually as the crowd of rubberneckers gasped at the revelation that there were people still inside. Apparently the cause of the fire had been a malfunctioning machine in the snowstorm simulator. An intruder of some kind had broken it as they snuck into the Operation Theatre scene. Louis tried not to think about the implications, but he made a mental note that when the dust settled and the bill inevitably reached Horns Conglomerate it was coming out of Free's salary.
Aside from ash clinging to their clothes and their fur, all of them were unharmed. The fire was mostly contained by the time they were let go. Louis suggested calling it a day, but Juno and Haru were opposed (and technically so was Legoshi, but Louis got the impression the wolf was more or less bullied into saying that). So they settled on cleaning themselves up, which meant a quick trip to the bathroom with 7 or so packets of wet wipes to try and remove all the soot from their bodies.
“I can do this myself, dad….” Teru complained as Legoshi scrubbed his fur with the wet wipes, leaving them black as coal after a couple of uses. “Don’t worry. I’ll be quick!” Legoshi said, missing the point entirely. Louis chuckled as he watched the teen grow increasingly embarrassed at his father’s behaviour. As expected of the wolf, he took care of everyone else before even thinking of himself. On his end he took special care to wipe his antlers thoroughly as the branching shape of it made it easy for soot to cling to it. Next to him, Marin opened the tap and rather unceremoniously shoved his head under it, staining the water black. A moment later he was clean, albeit dripping wet. “Unbelievable….” He said with a chuckle. “What? It’s efficient!” Marin defended himself with a goofy smile. Louis rolled his eyes. “Here, you’re gonna catch a cold….” He picked up a roll of paper towels and dried the wolf’s fur carefully. The stag hadn’t really taken notice before with Juno, but wolf pelt was double coated and thick. Despite that, the water didn’t seep too deep, making it easy to dry. Marin’s tail wagged as he leaned into Louis’ hand. The four of them probably looked ridiculous, though Louis was able to (begrudgingly) accept a little public humiliation if only to help Marin. Soon enough, the wolf was dry, smiling like an idiot. “Thanks! Couldn’t have done it better myself.” Marin’s tail wagged behind him. What was it with wolves and wanting to be pampered?
Louis gave him a smile. “Heh, no problem. Now you should change out of those clothes.” He reached for one of the bags Ibuki had brought them and handed it to him. “Oooh, Nox Chien District? You shouldn’t have!” He eyed the clothes with interest. Louis could only sigh. “Yes… Apparently, Ibuki thought that going to a designer brand was a good idea when all we needed was a quick change….” The stag eyed his own bag from the Cervani store containing a satin shirt and pants. Ibuki was always mindful of dressing well, but Louis wished she were more mindful of the budget. Marin didn’t seem bothered by the gift, at least. “Hehe. I guess having money can sometimes mess with your idea of cheap.” The wolf reassured him, going into a stall to change out of his ash–covered clothes. Louis’ ear flicked as he did much the same in the next stall. “No. It’s probably that she wanted to mess with me again.”
Once the four of them were changed (the reveal was delayed a moment because Legoshi put on the pants backwards somehow) they met up with the ladies. “Heh heh, you guys look so fancy now!” Haru said. The rabbit was wearing a significantly breezier and cuter dress with a soft oversized knit over it. Maison Lapinelle, probably. Yet another expensive brand to add to the list. The rabbit seemed comfortable in it at least. She looked up at her wolf with a smile. Poor Legoshi stared, his mind taking a moment to reboot. “Y-yeah, you too!” He finally said, his tail wagging uncontrollably. Louis was aware Legoshi had a thing for Haru’s cuteness, but seeing it in action gave him heartburn. “I like your shirt. Figures you’d look nice in more formal clothes.” Juno’s voice broke him out of his thoughts as the she-wolf approached him. He tried not to stare, but Juno truly did look beautiful dressed entirely in Aurel Et Loup. A fitted black turtleneck and a long wine red skirt that reached just under her knees. It was a little warm for the weather, but the sun was setting soon anyway. “Thanks… You look beautiful in that.” He said, enjoying watching her squirm a little as her face turned a nice shade of beet red. “.... T-thanks!” She muttered, her face shoved deep into her hands. Subconsciously he let out a sigh of relief at knowing this whole situation hadn’t changed her.
“So, what are you guys planning on doing now?” Ibuki asked, a quiet smile tugging at her lips as she watched everyone enjoy their new outfits. As much as Louis wanted to scold her, she did seem to put a lot of thought into everyone’s style. “For now? I don’t know. We spoke vaguely of going out for drinks, but….” Louis said, his eyes drifting to where the others seemed to be busy admiring each other’s change of clothes. Ibuki chuckled. “I get it… we should make ourselves scarce then, huh?” She said with a smirk. Louis was about to tell her it more or less depends on what the others wanted to do now when a man dressed in the Escape Room's uniform approached them.
“Pardon me, but I have something for you on behalf of the Escape Room team.” The lion said, extending a small box to him. His face was partially covered by a hat, obscuring his identity. Even so, the color of his mane was very, very familiar. “Seems like Agata and Free made it out okay as well.” He thought, receiving the gift while his eyes remained fixed on the man's face. “How kind.” The stag said, watching Agata adjust his hat to hide his face better. “We'd like to apologize for the events that transpired today. Hopefully this will not deter you from visiting us in the future.” The lion did not break character, but Louis was smart enough to tell he wasn't talking just about the fire. He sighed. “Sure, don't worry. In the end everyone made it out safely, so it’s no harm, no foul.” Louis's ear flicked as he watched the Lion's tail flick. Agata gave a quick bow. “I'm glad. Please enjoy the rest of your evening.” He said, before turning tail and departing. Ibuki rolled her eyes. “Will you tell them some day those disguises don't fool anyone?” She snided, crossing her arms. Louis suppressed a chuckle. “Aw. I don’t want to hurt their feelings.” He joked, actually getting a laugh out of the doe for once.
“What’s that thing for anyway?”
“Oh, the gift? It's a voucher for….”
“For…?”
“A Kareoke bar….”