-- ; [ That ] was certainly unexpected. After how polite and sweet he had been, the girl wasn’t anticipating on him retaliating physically. All of a sudden, she felt herself lifted off the floor of snow, her shoes still soaked from them, but significantly less cold now that they weren’t buried beneath the snow. Though a shiver ran up her spine, the chill of the air ghosting over her skin for the brief moment that the fabric of her shirt had been lifted in the back, exposing her lower back for a quick second.
-- ; [ All ] at once, her heart rate increased. This wasn’t the plan, not in the slightest ! She had to get home ! Right now, she was in a situation that she didn’t want to be in, one that could possibly get her into serious trouble. She had to do something !
-- ; [ As ] Ayano parted her lips to protest, something hit her on the head, roughly. On impact, she felt an enormous, crushing pain, but didn’t have the time to react before she was driven into unconsciousness.
-- ; [ Panic ] shot through the hero’s body as she woke up, thrusting her body upwards into a sitting position. This wasn’t right. If anything, with this throbbing in her skull, she expected to wake up in a bed of golden flowers. So why . . . ?
-- ; [ . . . Oh, ] right. She’d been kidnapped by a skeleton. She must have been in the garage that he was talking about before the incident. Now was the time to explore her surroundings.
-- ; [ Picking ] herself off of the ground, she glanced behind her at the bed she previously had slept in. Was that . . . a dog bed ? And was that dog food beside it ? Was this guy really treating her like an animal ? He didn’t seem like a mean person, but this was just ridiculous. Shaking her head, she brushed aside the dog essentials and read the note on the floor.
-- ; [ Opposed ] to the current conditions she was under, the note wasn’t so rude. In fact, he was apologizing for his actions. Honestly, despite how frustrated the girl was, her lips curled into a grin looking over his note. Or maybe it was the fact that the bars of this prison were far too wide apart to keep her contained. Either way, she seemed pretty amused.
-- ; [ Sliding ] out of the garage was no problem. After slipping between the bars, she was basically home free since the door to the exit was unlocked. You’d think someone so focused on getting that royal guard position would be more careful --
-- ; [ . . . Never ] mind, then. Perhaps waiting outside the door was as good a security system as any.