Moonlight cast itself along the garden's cobblestone floor. The garden lights giving the path a gentle glow, and bringing colors to the petals below.
With each gust of wind, the bushes around us ruffled, their movement far too loud in the stillness of the night.
Sophia stepped forward a few paces. Her emerald eyes met mine, sparkling in the light. "So... want to do a little Q&A?
"Hmmm? What for?"
She sighed. "Well, I just realised that I don't actually know much about you."
A brief pause followed. "I'll ask you a series of questions, and you better answer quickly. Or…"
"Or what?"
"It's nothing. Besides, it's going to be the same ending anyway." She looked ahead, deeper into the garden.
"If my prediction is somehow accurate... just telling you, it won't work."
She chuckled. "Apparently, if you answer a bunch of questions right before doing something pretty intense, things don't usually go well. I saw it on the internet this afternoon."
"Wait pretty intense? And should a royal princess really believe everything they see on the internet?"
Sophia grinned. "Let's start. You'll see later."
We walked side by side along the garden path, our footsteps hushed against the stone.
"Favorite food?"
"Takoyaki, with extra sauce."
"Favorite game?"
With each step forward, the night grew quieter.
"Uno."
"Any hobbies?"
"Killing people."
I caught a glimpse of someone's shadow slipping through the moonlight, gone almost as soon as I noticed it.
"...Aside from that?"
"Playing cards."
"Do you smoke?"
"I eat wafer rolls."
Ahead, the center came into view. Eight pillars stood, arranged in a circle, supporting a dome illuminated by the moonlight.
"What's your style?"
"In clothing? Rugged formality."
"Have you ever drank someone else's coffee?"
"That's a stupid question."
"If you were an object, what will you be?"
"Ace of Spades."
At the center of the dome, a lone music player stood. I could already guess what's going to happen.
"How about your type of girl?"
"Queen of Hearts."
"Are you using card methaphors because you think it's cool, or is that how you genuinely think?"
"...It's how I genuinely feel."
"What do you think the song is going to be?"
"I don't know, maybe 'Thinking Out Loud'?"
We finally reached the heart of the garden. Grass walls rose to half our height surrounding us, while a dome rested above, supported by eight pillars at the sides.
"That'll be it. Feeling uneasy?" She walked towards the lone music player at the very center, and chose a song to play.
"Of course not." My voice was confident.
"You're a terrible liar." She smirked, then stared straight at my eyes, her steps heading straight to me.
"One last question. Does this finish with a perfect pirouette… or a fall before the music stops?"
The wind howled once more, only this time the leaves were quiet, with only a soft rustle. They're ready, and so was I.
"Oh, don't ask me." I finally answered.
"So be it."
The song finally played.
***
I moved to the right, my shoes sliding quietly over the stone, while Sophia stepped left, already turning as she shifted her balance. She completed the turn with flawless precision, and I mirrored her a heartbeat later, rotating to face her again.
Together, we stepped back, measured and deliberate. Our arms stretched outward as if measuring the space between us.
Then we advanced, one careful step forward, the gap closing between us. Sophia pivoted sharply, spinning twice, her stunning figure shone elegantly beneath the moonlight. As she landed on my arms in an embrace, I pushed her away in another spin.
Suddenly, four figures in black popped up from the bushes at the side, their guns pointing directly at us.
Of course, I had already expected this. Grabbing my gun, which already had the silencer Yuta gave me, I shot them before they could react.
Half went down with headshots, dead, and the other half were hit in their hands. Sophia's spin was already ending, so I had to make my shots quick.
Fortunately, the remaining men didn't scream in pain from the shots.
As Sophia finished her spin, my hands reached out to her, catching and guiding her vision away from the scene.
Our dance continued, and the fight continued as well. With the pursuers not giving up, still trying to kill us.
They had already given up shooting us though, probably because they were using heavy guns, and you can't exactly operate those with one hand.
One pursuer rushed at me, a knife in his hands. I kicked him in the chest, sending him tumbling farther away. Then I took out some throwing knives from under my suit and… well, threw them.
But it looks like this fight got much worse for us, as far off in the darkness, a brief spark caught my eye. Sharp and ominous. It came from a fixed point, too deliberate to be natural, a piece of cold light reflecting where no light should be.
In a situation such as this, it could only mean one thing. Someone, somewhere, was watching us through glass and steel.
We continued to dance, a step to the right, two steps back, in each other's embrace, circling around the dance floor. There were two enemies left, a sniper and one last pursuer.
The pursuer rushed at us. At the same time the sniper shot, the bullet barely missing my leg as I stepped away just in time.
The pursuer was still there. So I pulled Sophia toward my body in a tight hug with one hand, positioning myself so her head faced away from him.
Then, with my free hand, I swiftly grabbed the gun from under my suit once again and shot the last pursuer in the head.
Once the enemy was down, I breathed a sigh of relief, and looked at Sophia's face, only to find her wearing a wide grin.
So she knew... well, of course she did. Who wouldn't notice?
The sniper kept firing. Dodging the bullets was much easier now that my mind wasn't overthinking about making sure Sophia didn't notice, but it was by no means a walk in a park.
Seriously I wondered why I hadn't just told her in the first place.
Now, how to stop that sniper. Just when I was deep in thought, another glint from a sniper scope came into view. This one closer, and from the opposite direction of the other.
It seemed the first sniper noticed as well, as the shots suddenly stopped. Were they not allies?
At that instant, the first sniper disappeared. One moment, the cold light of the sniper's lens hovered against the night; the next, it vanished, never to return.
Our dance came to a stop together with the music. Sophia looked at me, confused. "How about the sniper?"
So she really knew, I sighed. "One died. The other… the other is a friend of mine."
Yuta. I don't know why, but I was sure of it.
"Oh, really?" she said in a teasing voice.
"What? Jealous you don't have any friends like that?"
Sophia smirked. "What are you saying? Of course I have friends like that."
"I'm staring at him right now."