When I left the restroom, I had to walk past the lounge once again. Everything was as usual, but it would appear as if the young woman and the middle-aged man had disappeared. They were probably headed to a nearby hotel to finish the night, but tomorrow morning, I believe the young woman will have more black flowers blossoming within her garden as she's tainted.
None of that is my business, so I continued towards the bar. That was when I saw two men standing beside Mura. On their faces were ominous smiles and just by looking, I could tell that they were up to no good. One of them were chatting with Mura, attracting her attention as he leaned against the bar. While the first one distracted Mura, I saw the second men slip something into Mura's drink that quickly dissolved.
Immediately, I understood what they were after. What the man had dissolved into her drink must be a drug of some sort that will either knock her unconscious or render her extremely intoxicated that she'll be unable to make reasonable decisions. In other terms, it's a date-rape drug.
I closed my eyes and shook my head at how dark humanity could be as I approached the bar. However, when I opened my eyes once again, I saw that Mura had taken a sip from her drink, probably out of nervousness or something. Whatever it was that caused her to drink beverage, I didn't know. All I did know was that if I don't get there quickly, things will turn ugly.
Like expected, the two men had a vehemently ugly smile on their faces. They must be filled with great excitement knowing that their plan for a fun night had succeeded partly. The only thing they had left to do was simply wait for the drug to take effect and haul Mura away to a hotel room of some kind. Sounds pretty simple, but oddly effective since they were working in pairs.
"Do you have any business with my girl here?" I said in a stern voice as I approached the two of them.
I intentionally elicited a threatening aura from my eyes so as to intimidate them and send them off. Usually, these people would bugger off when they see a male companion with their target. These two were of no different and quickly scurried off with muffled curses as their night was thus ruined by me.
Then, I glanced over at Mura, who had a tired look on her face. I wasn't sure if this was the pill that the two men had dissolved in her drink but since she had only taken a small sip, I don't believe the effects of it would be that strong or occur so quickly. Therefore, it must be her being genuinely tired.
"Thank you," she smiled as she expressed her gratitude to me for getting her out of that situation.
"I think it's time to leave," I said, grabbing her by her right wrist and pulling her gently up from the bar. I chose not to tell her about the drug that was dissolved in her drink, thinking that this way, I can prevent unnecessary panic in her. Besides, she only drank a little bit so it shouldn't have that much of an effect on her.
"Would you like help calling a taxi?" the bartender asked us.
"No," I responded, gazing lazily into the bar tender's eyes.
He didn't offer to help Mura when he saw that the two men had slipped the pill into her drink. I understand that he might not want to draw trouble to himself, but... that made it difficult for me to accept his aid now.
"How much is the bill?" I asked, taking out my phone using my free right hand.
"150 Vil," the bartender said, pushing the scanner over in our direction.
"Pretty darn expensive," I muttered as I scanned my phone and paid the bill.
"Wait!" Mura protested. "My drink was the expensive one. I should be paying."
I didn't answer her. Instead, I continued walking towards the exit of the bar while holding onto her hand. She didn't resist me in any way or form. Rather, she was surprisingly cooperative, so much that it made me question whether or not if the drug had taken effect already. I glanced over my shoulder at her, and to my surprise, her cheeks were slightly red. However, there's too many factors that could've caused this, from the alcohol she drank, the drug, or simply being shy that I was holding onto her hand. It's probably the first option of the three though.
Once outside the bar, I called for a taxi using my phone. On the display, it says that one should be arriving in five minutes. My plan was to take the taxi back to the hotel, and then try and sneak up to the floor her room was on without being seen by other students. It's gonna be difficult, but I'll find a way.
I glanced over at Mura, and discovered that I was still holding onto her hand. With a blush on my face, I quickly released her hand and apologized. There were no response from her. She just stood there as she gazed at the road and the many cars that drove by.
A cold breeze blew by, causing me to shiver slightly from the surprising low temperature of the night. I should've been expecting this since the season should be transitioning into winter time. However, neither Mura or I were prepared for this so it was quite cold to just stand out here.
I looked over at Mura once again and saw that she was shivering slightly. She had her hands around her and pulled her coat tighter around her. However, it would appear that there wasn't much of an effect. Seeing her like this was quite awkward for me since I'm not sure what I could do for her. I could always give her my coat, but then I'll be cold. I guess that is a way to go about it, so that's what I did.
"Here," I said, putting my coat over her shoulder like a cloak.
It was difficult to not chatter in this cold, but I somehow managed. However, the hard part was the next few minutes of waiting and trying to not shiver whenever the wind blew by. To conceal my reaction, I intentionally looked away from Mura, turning to face the road as well so that I could look to see if our taxi had arrived or not.
Suddenly, I felt a surprising warmth from my right side. I looked to my right and saw that Mura had hugged onto my right arm, allowing her warmth to communicate to me. Her face was pretty red, which I guess was from this sudden intimacy.
"This way you won't be cold," she whispered.
It was surprising to see her in such a timid state. It reminded me of Muria, but I guess this must be because she's her older sister and the two were pretty similar in appearance.
My body immediately became rigid as I tried my best not to move. However, another reason was because my body automatically tensed up in response to her touch out of nervousness.
It wasn't too long before the taxi finally arrived and the two of us boarded the vehicle. Then began the drive back to the hotel. However, this drive wasn't a peaceful one since for some reason, Mura continued to hug onto my arm and leaned against me for the entire duration of the drive without saying a world.
After about fifteen minutes, we arrived back at the hotel. We waited near the entrance since there were plenty of traffic entering and exiting the hotel, making it difficult for us to try and sneak in without any of the students recognizing Mura. We needed a plan.
"Put on my coat," I said to her, "and wear the hood. That way, we can try and hide your face from the others."
She nodded in agreement as she wore my coat directly over her outfit. Then, she pulled the hood up. I took a few steps away from her, observing her to see if she could be easily recognized. I think if she were to keep her head down, no one should know it's her.
"I think we're good," I nodded to her. "Just keep your head down when we go in."
"Got it," she nodded.
Then, we began with our plan. Because she had to keep her head down, Mura held onto my hand as we walked so that I can direct her to where we were going. I walked at a pretty brisk pace since I didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention from the other students, and lucky for me, I didn't. I think it's because of how often it was for guys to try and sneak prostitutes into their rooms that I was mistaken to be one of those people. Whatever. As long as it works, I'm not the one to complain.
The two of us quickly hopped onto an elevator and closed the door so that no one else could enter. Then, Mura entered the floor that her room was located on, which was also the thirteenth floor. Upon seeing this, I prayed in my mind that we don't bump into Luna because it would be hard to explain if that were to happen. However, it looks like my luck did not run out just yet today since we made it to her room without bumping into anyone that we knew.
Mura unlocked the door to her room and the two of us entered. I walked in first since if anyone were to see me in the hallway, it would spell trouble for the two of us. Therefore, my plan was to enter and leave when no one's around in the hallway.
I let out a sigh of relief as we finally entered her room and the door closed behind us, signifying to me that we were safe. "That was tiring," I said, feeling my rapidly beating heart slowly relax. "I'll leave when the hallway is are clear."
I looked over at Mura who was still standing by the door. Then, I had a bad feeling when I saw her put the door chain head into the slot on the door behind her.