Plastic Love

“You know… It’s kind of fucked up that there’s a water fountain here considering the death chamber next door," Taku said.

Teri scratched the side of his head. Taku looked at him, his eyes wide and his lips pressed together. His friend was doing his best not to laugh, and what broke him out of the stupid spell was Yayoi chuckling and gently punching his shoulder.

They moved north, the only way they could go. Doing this meant activating the fire trap rigged to the door on the northern side of the fire room. Pushing the door opened a secret compartment in the paper-like walls at its side, bringing forth an honest-to-goodness flamethrower that served as a minor inconvenience at best. Yayoi suggested breaking the trap entirely, but Taku didn’t want her to waste a spell just for that—he also thought the flamethrowers were cool and breaking it would be a waste.

They also had to leave the door on the southern part of the fire room open. This meant that they had to be more careful as they pressed forward, considering that they would literally be opening a path for monsters to jump them, but it was a risk they were willing to take.

“You think it’s poisoned?” Teri asked as he moved forward, setting his eyes on the fountain in the middle of the room.

“Well…” Yayoi replied, looking back at the fire room to make sure that no enemies would dare to jump them. “If it is, Taku’s here.”

Paper roses filled the floor, though the majority of it was clustered around the feet of the tall white fountain in the middle of the room and of the area’s corners. The wall’s makeup was the same, still appearing sturdy and made of paper. On the wall were the flat yet bright windows that fed the room with the golden light of the setting sun, and in between these windows were portraits of people—Teri hoped—their entirety blackened with ink except for their judging glare that met the party at eye level.

It wasn’t hard not to notice the fountain. The air itself suggested that these paintings were watching everything, even more so than the ikemen graffiti.

“She’s not exactly wrong,” Taku said, poking one of the portrait’s scrutinizing eyes. He also broke from the party and checked the door on the eastern side of the room for traps.

A part of Teri screamed that the painting had just blinked.

“It’s just that the process itself is painful and messy depending on the poison,” Taku continued, on one knee as he touched around the door. “If the poison makes you shit your pants until you die… then hooooh boy… I mean, I can probably help you not shit your pants, but I don’t have any magic that will help you unshit it—yet. Or even better, a spell that could help you recover from the mental scars.”

Teri snorted. “Thank you for letting me know that you’ll be with me through thick and thin… even when things get messy.”

“I am an amazing friend, yes.” Taku gave the door a final tap and got back on his feet. He faced Teri and Yayoi. “Our exit’s clear. The corridor looks like it leads a bit further east and would have a turn towards north.”

“I’ll be with you too.” Yayoi clapped Teri’s shoulder. Her voice was sweet but her eyes seemed disgusted at the way the paintings looked back at her. “So don’t worry… If you get the poison that makes shit till kingdom come, I won’t let you forget it. Ever.”

“Bitch…”

Teri’s voice trailed off as he moved toward the middle of the room. Looking at the fountain closer, it seemed to serve as a stage for a princess—her stone gown caught mid-twirl. The princess, characterized by her braided twin-tails and glasses, raised a bouquet of flowers overhead with pure joy. From it, a graceful and sparkling stream of water arced gracefully into the pool below. It smelled sweet. Too sweet. It was inviting. Its glimmering surface bore a pinkish hue, shining even more against the golden glow of the “sun.”

A layer of bright pink unopened letters filled the very bottom of the fountain. And Teri, without much thought and to Yayoi’s surprise, dunked his hand into the water to fish for one of them. It felt delicate and fragile to the touch at first, but it became dry and sturdy by the time Teri placed it in Yayoi's hands.

Teri’s heart skipped a beat.

“Oh… for… me?” Yayoi gasped. Deliberately. Slowly. Painfully. Her tone was high. Wide-eyed, she covered her mouth. “You… shouldn’t have…”

Teri became more aware of the blackened portraits that were judging them.

“Oho… a love letter!” Taku chimed in. “Dreamt about receiving one of these bad boys during the better and only part of my high school. I didn’t get it, but it felt good dreaming about it. Like what kind of responses I could give or the thought of turning someone down or accepting their love… that kind of stuff. But damn… look how pink the envelope is! And all that glitter…” He waved his brows at Teri and Yayoi. “That’s style… It’s also unopened. Try smelling it too. I heard about girls using these scented ink and papers.”

Yayoi took a quick whiff and raised her brow. “Faaaanncccyyy… It smells like roses.”

“Faaaanccyyyyyy…” Taku said, dragging his words to meet Yayoi’s energy. He set his staff against the edge of the fountain and twirled, posing like a princess. “Oh, my heart! My heart! My heart yearns! When will the sun shine upon my loneliness, for the wind to blow the clouds away—the rain. Oh! The rain! Will my light remain dead? Shall it continue to wait for the eager soul? Or will someone reach the depths of my heart and bring upon it a new light?”

“Oh… Princess…” Yayoi muttered, going as far as to deepen her voice. She set her piercing gaze to Taku, stepping in front of him with the letter pressed against her chest. With a nervous breath, she thrust it toward Taku, holding it in front of him with nothing in her eyes but the floor. “Please, accept the proof of my feelings.”

Teri, blissfully making himself unaware of the paintings judging him and his friends, scooped up a handful of water from the fountain and took a sip. It tasted like sugar water. But the bitterness came through. It reminded him why he thought it was reasonable to drink suspicious water that had been soaking a pile of love letters at the bottom of the fountain.

“Kyaaaaaaaa~” Taku squirmed, gently picking up the love letter from Yayoi’s hand with his sweaty, delicate fingers. “I shall accept it, my dear prince… The proof of your love…”

“What… the fuck…” Teri groaned, finally aware of the bit and unnerved at how the paintings seemed to glare at both of his friends. “Yoooo…”

“My prince—” Taku opened the letter and the pinkish glimmer in his eyes died, making him drop the princess act at the very next second. “Eugh. What a mood killer…”

He showed them both the love letter’s contents. It had nothing but the words “I can’t” violently written all over.

“Guess that’s over…” Yayoi groaned. “It was just getting better too—” She covered her mouth again, looking more confused than ever.

“Where the fuck did that come from?” Teri asked. “I mean, Taku doing it is kind of expected, but… you?”

“YOU TOLD ME TO IMMERSE MYSELF—” Yayoi tilted her head. “Actually…” She stepped away from the fountain. “Wait. In normal circumstances, I would be disgusted—no, repulsed—by the thought. But I ended up doing it anyway like it’s the most natural thing to do. I’m still weirdly okay with it even now that it’s over…”

“Yeah, just so you know… I would be repulsed by the idea too.” Taku gave himself a dejected smile. “And ignoring the fact that I behaved like a fucking princess, which I would respectfully request everyone to forget…” Taku’s eyes widened, his mouth half-open. “Yeah… no one drank the water from the fountain, no?”

“Is it poisoned?” Teri asked, looking away. “Will it make me shit myself to death?”

Taku wagged the love letter, disgusted. “This has a stupid charm spell in it. It works on three levels. First, the person seeing this letter would be tempted to pick it up; I’m guessing it works especially well if you don’t know if it’s charmed. Second, the person holding this letter would be tempted to give it to another person; I’m resisting that shitty temptation right now and it seems I can’t give it back to Yayoi. Third, the other person would be forced to accept it. The spell ends the moment the letter is opened.” Taku sighed. “Well, not really forced. But you would be very, very, veeeeryy, okay with it. It’s a stupid spell engraved on a stupid magic item. If the water is filled with letters like these, then it’s safe to assume that…”

Taku stared into Teri’s eyes.

“…the water isn’t as safe as we thought.”

“I see…” Teri replied, keeping a straight smile as he turned away and set his eyes towards Yayoi. “Does the charm recharge if you close the letter? Is it permanent?”

Yayoi raised a brow. “The fuck are you looking at me for? What are you trying to say? YOU gave that letter to me. I didn’t fuck up. This is on you—”

“That’s a very specific question… but yes…” Taku replied, his voice sounding a bit soft and invasive into whatever Teri’s standard was for comfort. “It looks like the letters will reseal itself with magic if it remains closed long enough. Do you want it?”

“At least… it gets less effective now that we know about it. I’m not entirely against the idea of Teri keeping it and carrying it like a weirdo. And who knows, it might become useful in the future…” Yayoi gazed at Teri as she stepped back, her face a bit red. Her bravado was gone. “What? Is there something wrong with my face?”

“I just think that the letter is neat.” Teri’s right eye twitched.

Yep.

Something was wrong.

Teri marched in front of Taku, ignoring the fact that he had blushed as he got closer. He snatched the letter from his hand and moved towards the door on the eastern side of the room. Teri knew for a fact that he needed to get the fuck away from this room.

“Let’s go. I think there’s more to this area than we think, but I guess we’re bound to get some clues someplace else. We can’t stop here, right?”

“Guess so.” Taku moved toward Teri, pressing his longing gaze against his back. “I’ll be right behind you, my… prince—” Taku cut his words. He looked at Teri and Yayoi, confused. “What the fuck was that?”

“We need to get fuck out of this room,” Teri blurted, opening the door and getting out without any regard for his safety.