[41.7] The Shrinking Room

I could feel Cyrus stiffen up beside me. When I turned to look at him, I could see a trace of uneasiness on his face.

"We also have no door to leave from."

I teased him, "What's wrong? Are you afraid of the dark?"

He looked around nervously, "I'm not afraid of anything."

The room suddenly shrank.

He flinched, "Did it move?!"

I tried to reassure him, "No. It didn't move."

The room shrank again, this time bumping me and pushing me into Cyrus.

He held me, "Are you okay!?"

"I'm fine. I just tripped over something."

The room shrank again.

Why does it keep shrinking?!

Cyrus started to panic, "W-We need to get out of here! Now!"

"Why are you freaking out?"

"I'm not! I just want to win the contest!"

The room suddenly shrank again.

He held me tighter, so tight in fact that I almost couldn't breathe.

Whoa. Why am I having deja vu right now?

I tilted my head, "Doesn't this remind you of something?"

He shook his head quickly, "No! It doesn't!"

The room suddenly shrank again.

Wait!

That's it!

My eyes lit up, "Yeah! It's like the time we were kids and got kidnapped. We were thrown into that cramped box."

He forced out a laugh, "Is that so? I can't remember that at all."

The room shrunk again.

Eh? Did it shrink again?

Now it's starting to get even tighter.

I glanced at him, "Are you… Still afraid of dark, enclosed places?"

He answered quickly, "Nope."

The room shrunk.

He continued, "I've outgrown that childhood fear."

The room shrunk again.

Well… He's certainly not shaking like he did when we were children…

But…

I rubbed his arm, "It's okay to be afraid. We all have something we are afraid of."

"I'm not!"

The room shrunk.

He cried out, "I'm an adult now! I'm not a child!"

The room widened.

Eh? Did it get bigger?

He continued, "You could lock me in a casket and I wouldn't be afraid."

The room shrunk.

I looked around, "Um. Cyrus-"

He kept going, "If you threw me in a hole and buried me alive, I wouldn't feel scared at all."

The room got smaller.

Wait… When he said an obvious lie, the room shrunk.

But when he told the truth, the room got larger.

Could it mean that-

He started speaking so fast I couldn't follow, "I'm not afraid of this at all. I'm not afraid that eventually we will run out of oxygen, start to claw at the walls until our nails rip off, scream until we no longer have voices, and before our heads explode because we can't breathe. Nope. Not afraid of that at all."

Each word he spoke only caused the room to get smaller at an alarming rate.

Eventually, we were pushed against each other without room to raise our hands.

"Cy-"

"-I'm not scared! I'm not scared at all! Really! This isn't terrifying at all!"

Oh my gods!

He's going to get us smushed!

He's out of his mind!

How do I get him to shut up!?

I can't raise my hands to cover his mouth, but I need to shut him up!

Oh… Wait!

There's actually something I've always wanted to try.

I promptly covered his mouth with my own.

That's right.

The best way to shut someone up is with a kiss.

But…

It's not as romantic as I hoped it would be.

OW!

I'm pretty sure he accidentally bit me too!

Whatever.

At least it was successful. He's finally shut up.

I pulled away and started talking, "I hate cooked carrots."

The room widened.

I continued, "I love cats."

The room widened.

"I love small, fluffy animals that don't bite me."

The room widened.

Cyrus finally understood what I was doing and gave a mischievous smirk. He added, "You loved me as a rabbit."

I nodded, "I loved you as a rabbit-"

The room widened.

Eh!? Wait a second!

I felt a heat rise to my cheeks.

He chuckled and poked my cheeks with an affectionate gaze, "Are you embarrassed?"

I pushed away his hand, "I'm not embarrassed."

The room shrunk.

He snickered, "It's okay to be embarrassed."

"I'm really not embarrassed!"

The room shrunk again.

"What the hell!?" I shouted at the room, "What do you want me to say!?"

Cyrus spoke up, "I think it wants us to tell the truth."

I rolled my eyes as I muttered, "How does this room even know."

"I have an idea." Cyrus turned to me, "Just say: I like you."

I raised an eyebrow, "You like me?"

He shook his head, "No. Tell me that you like me."

I felt a flush cover my cheeks, "W-What?!"

His eyes didn't waver as he stared down at me with a strange intensity, "You don't?"

I averted my gaze, "I-I do…"

The room grew larger.

The corners of his lips curved up, "Do you love me?"

"HAAH!?" I nearly couldn't believe what he said, "What did you say!?"

"Say you love me."

"Why would I say that?!"

He pouted, "You don't?... Ah… I should have known…"

"I… I-" My voice grew quieter, "I don't not… Love you..."

The room grew larger.

Cyrus beamed with joy, "You actually do?!"

I turned away from his bright smile, "Ehem… I think the room is broken."

The room shrunk again.

I cried out, "OH COME ON!"

He pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head, "My love for you gets stronger every day."

The room got larger.

I couldn't handle the situation any longer, "Alright, alright. No more mushy talk. Let's just get out of here."

"I have an idea of how to get out faster."

I raised an eyebrow, "What's that?"

He booped my nose playfully, "Say what you like about me."

I nearly screeched, "Say what!? I-I'm not going to say that!!!"

Cyrus smiled at me, "Do you want to get out of here or not?"

I forced myself to say the truth, "Y-Yes…"

He leaned close to me with a smirk, "Then say what you like about me… And don't lie."

I averted my eyes from his burning gaze, "I-I like your muscles."

The room widened.

He laughed, "Oh, come on. Is that all you got? Now I'm starting to wonder if you like me at all or if you are just interested in my body."

"Of course not!" I started speaking so fast my mind couldn't even work fast enough to keep up, "I like far more than your body! Your body is probably the best thing I ever saw in this world or my previous one, but that's not all! I would never be interested in a pretty face that lacked a good personality!"

Cyrus glanced around watching as the room was growing so large, it was now larger than when we first arrived, "I get it. You don't have to keep going-"

"-In fact, sometimes I find it very hard to believe you can even be such a good person. No matter how many years we are together, I keep feeling like there has to be some kind of fault in your personality, but I can never find it-"

"-Reika. The door-"

"-In my previous life, there was never a good person who was by my side, let alone attracted to me. So there has to be something wrong, but there's not! How is that possible?! How is it possible that you are the best person I have ever met and you are still interested in me?!"

Cyrus calmly put his hands on my shoulder.

I clamped my mouth closed once I realized I was rambling.

He smiled at me, "You really think I'm that good of a person?"

"Ugh…"