BANG! BANG!
Without warning, the sound of gunfire rang out from behind us; I quickly pushed Alice down and the bullet whizzed past us. When I turned around, I saw Ciel clutching her gun tightly, smoke billowing from the barrel, and even though she didn't have Everafter, I still felt a huge threat from her.
Alice slammed the card onto the ground without saying a word. "You guys are really stupid, aren't you?" She pulled the trigger, but before the bullet could fire—thick smoke billowed out from within the card, instantly engulfing both of us. The bullet had shattered the card, but the thick smoke hadn't dissipated. Frustrated, Ciel started firing repeatedly at the smoke until, eventually, it vanished—and so did we.
"Bloody hell!" She cursed, full of anger and frustration, especially when she saw a piece of paper bearing the words 'I hope our next meeting is at a café (◠‿◕)'
In the air, the two girls she was cursing in her head were flying with the help of wind magic. "When did you write that?" I asked, glancing at the girl with the blue ribbon in her hair; she smiled, both amused and proud of that little note.
"When was the last time we met her?" she asked, turning to me, that smile never leaving her face.
Blimey, she'd been preparing for that since then? I actually felt sorry for Ciel now.
Anyway, we had to focus on finding Rapunzel and Sullivan now—we'd told them to leave that place, but tracking them down was proving a real struggle. My own neck was starting to ache from looking down whilst continuing to search for them. "He really does want to be hanged, doesn't he?"
I turned towards Alice before turning towards where her eyes were fixed; near the clock tower, Rapunzel and Sullivan were resting. "Are you worried about them?" Sullivan asked Rapunzel, whose hands were sweaty, her expression showing that she was scared and worried.
Rapunzel simply nodded; she wasn't sure if we could get past them, and that was what worried her. Seeing this, Sullivan felt he couldn't bear it; he stood up and, with full conviction, said, "I'll go and check on them!" but his wrist was immediately grabbed; the grip was firm enough to make him realize that she was holding him back.
"Don't go!" she shouted, and that made Sullivan sit back down immediately. "They've gone this far just so I could meet you… If we separated again, all their efforts would be in vain!"
She spoke as if we were already dead.
Sullivan's hand reached for Rapunzel's right shoulder and stroked it to calm her; slowly, Rapunzel's head fell onto his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm here," he said, continuing to stroke her shoulder.
A cold, eerie aura suddenly enveloped them. "So, how long do you want to be hanging?" A voice that was sweet and terrifying at the same time; they both jumped in surprise as if electrocuted—he turned around and saw me and Alice watching their romantic moment.
Unlike Sullivan, who was trembling with fear, Rapunzel jumped up and hugged us both tightly. "You managed to beat them?! Amazing! You're absolutely incredible! I'm so happy to be friends with people like you!" Her embrace grew tighter, and I exchanged a glance with Alice; without needing to say a word, we knew exactly what to do—let her be.
Whilst Alice was still giving Sullivan a cold stare that made him shiver instantly, he himself wanted to try and lighten this complicated atmosphere. "B-By the way, how did you guys meet?"
Hearing that, Rapunzel immediately released her embrace, her eyes literally lighting up. I knew where this was going. "Alice, do you have earplugs?" and before long she pulled them out and I quickly grabbed them; I actually wondered why she had them, but now wasn't the time to ask about that.
She started rambling on at length, just like at the restaurant earlier, and from the movement of her mouth I could see she was speaking much faster than usual—but what was most surprising was that Sullivan didn't flinch at all and listened to Rapunzel's ramblings with a smile. I'd always heard that love is blind, not deaf—so how could he stand listening to her?
I might have underestimated him.
Ten minutes had passed and finally Rapunzel shut her mouth; I took out the earplugs and handed them back to Alice. "I owe you one," I said, and she just nodded in reply as she took hers out.