Chapter 56 Cleaning

After feeling the call of her body clock, Miya found herself waking up.

Miya then sat up from her bed with drowsy eyes. She rubbed them as finger-combed her messy hair.

Suddenly, Miya's eyes shot open. She immediately took her hand out of her hair before pinched herself in the cheek with it

"Ow!" Miya released a pained noise as she gently caressed her reddened cheek.

While still feeling the pain on her face, Miya used her grey eyes and scanned the room she was in.

It was a white empty room with the only furniture inside being the bunk bed she is currently sitting on.

"Phew!" Miya let out a sigh of relief as she tried to catch her breath. Her breathing is so fast that it seemed like she just ran a marathon.

While doing breathing exercises, she placed her hand in her chest. Feeling that her heart might jump out of her chest, as it was beating loud and fast.

After a few more minutes, Miya managed to calm herself. She then did her morning routine of doing stretches.

After doing her morning routine, she gazed up at the bunk bed.

"Empty..." Miya mumbled as the beds above her's has been abandoned.

She then turned her head and walked towards the door.

She opened it and exited. Her view was then greeted by the large hallways in a massive place.

She gave the place a quick search with her eyes, but found no one around, she did hear some muffled voices though.

She walked alongside the wall of the hallway, eventually reaching the room next to hers.

"Celine..." Miya said as she read the name that is engraved in the door.

Miya looked down and said. "We have to wait two weeks for her."

As she was looking down, she saw something infront of the door.

It was a very wonderfully detailed rug.

"Has this always been here?" Miya thought as she reached for the rug out of curiosity.

As she touched the rug, she thought to herself. "This feels... nice."

She then began feeling the rug with her hands, seeming like she was looking for something that was lost in the rug.

She eventually found herself on top of the carpet.

Feeling like a child who was just given a new toy. Miya revealed a smile.

She looked around and after finding no one, she laid down on the rug. She closed her eyes and thought to herself. "It feels nice and cozy. Like I'm in a gentle embrace."

After being completely absorbed on the feeling she felt, she opened her eyes, and was shocked to see what was infront of her.

It was three girls, Miya, Rose, and Lilly. And they had this weirded out look on their face.

Feeling their judging stare, Miya tried to defend herself without removing herself from the rug. "I-I... it's not what it looks like. I wasn't using this rug as a bed, no way!"

While the other two kept their judging glare, Lilly let out a sigh and walked over to Miya, who is blushing red from embarassment.

Upon standing beside Miya, who was still on the rug. Lilly gestured with her hands as she said. "Can you move over a bit, Miya?"

Confused by her sudden request, Miya rolled over to the side, making space for Lilly.

Seeing Miya's unwillingness to separate with the rug, Amber and Rose looked even more weirded out.

Immediately after Miya moved, Lilly jumped on top of the rug and laid her body on it while wearing a very satisfied smile.

"Haaa... I just got this out of cleaning, so it's in the best form." Lilly said as she continued to lay face down onto the rug.

Seeing Lilly's bold actions, Miya decided to indulged herself into the warm embrace of the rug once again.

Seeing the weird display in front of her, Rose walked over to them and asked. "Why are you guys acting like this?"

She then knelt down and reached for the carpet.

Upon coming into contact with the carpet, Rose pinched it between her fingers.

"It's soft and... satistfying." Rose commented as she continued to feel the rug.

After a while, Rose joined Lilly and Miya.

Seeing her friend join in, Amber looked extremly uncomfortable.

Rose let put a long satisfied sigh before she said. "Come on, Amber. It's nice. Try it."

Amber then took a step back as she replied. "Uh, no, thank you. Peer pressure doesn't work on me."

"Come on. Come on." Rose said as she continued to lay on the rug.

"No." Amber replied.

"Come on. Come on."

A sweat drop dripped down at Amber's forehead.

"Come on. Come on."

Amber closed her eyes and looked very conflicted.

"Come on. Come on."

Amber then opened her eyes and shouted. "Fine! I'll touch it, and I'm gone."

Amber stomped her way over to the rug. She then knelt down and placed her palm onto the rug forcefully.

Amber's expression slowly relaxed as she said. "It's... nice."

After a while, Amber joined in with them.

It was a truly bizzare sight, four girls, looking very happy on top of a rug.

The girls then took turns in describing the feeling they felt.

"It feels like my mother's touch."

"It makes me feel like I'm at home."

"I feel like I'm in a beautiful woman's embrace."

"It feels like Sister Celine is choking me to death." Lilly said while looking very happy, but the others didn't seem to care on the implications of what Lilly just said.

They continued this bizzare spectacle for a long time.

After a while, V walked down the hallway while yawning.

As he was about to enter his room, he saw the four girls in the corner of his eye.

He took a single glance and said. "Nope!"

He then went into his room and closed the door.

After another long wait, Lilly opened her eyes and said. "Oh, yeah. Forgot that Sister Celine doesn't like it when people touch her stuff."

She looked at the girls surrounding her on the carpet. She then yelled. "Get off!!!"

She flipped Rose and Amber to the middle of the hallway while she rolled Miya towards the door, opening it a little.

Upon removing the girls, Lilly looked down on the rug and said. "A little bit more."

She then laid down on the carpet once more.

Miya rubbed the back of her head, as it was the part of her body that hit the door. She then smelled a sweat aroma coming from the room behind her.

Miya sniffed the air a couple of times before she turned around and face the door.

"What a nice smell." Miya said.

Amber then took a deep breath before saying. "Yeah... That's smell is kinda nice."

Rose, who was sat next to Amber, released a sneeze before she said. "Uh, Miya. I think you should stay away from that."

"Huh?" Miya turned to look at Rose, confused by her statement.

As she turned her head, a person went past her and stood behind her.

It was Lilly, and she was blocking the door with her body.

She then said. "I wouldn't suggest going in. Sister Celine values her privacy."

The girls picked themselves off of the ground and gave her a nod.

Lilly then said to them. "Thanks for understanding. By the way, Miya. You still haven't eaten breakfast have you?"

Miya swung her head left and right.

"The food's already ready. You're the only one who has yet to eat. Rose and Chrys told us to let you sleep in." Lilly explained.

Miya nodded as she wore a bit of a lonely smile. After receiving Miya's response, Lilly led them down the hallway.

While walking Rose asked. "What was that smell, Lilly? It smells... a bit dangerous."

Amber looked at Rose with a confused face and said. "Really? What makes you think that?"

Lilly turned her head towards them and said. "Well, she is not wrong. That smell comes from a carnivorous plant that emits a sweat smell to lure it's prey."

"It then uses it's wip-like leaves to grab the prey and release more of that sweat smell to poison it and kill it."

"It uses the sweet smell to kill it's prey?"

"Too much of anything is bad. The smell you refer to as sweet is actually poisonous, but it's harmless in small amounts." Lilly replied.

"Then, why is it in that room if it's dangerous?" Rose asked.

"Well, for one. Sister Celine isn't affected by the poison. Second, if you know how to handle it, it will warm up to you and turn loyal. It acts like a sentient plant pet if the records could be trusted." Lilly stated.

As they were talking, they approached the T-junction and encountered Chrys.

Lilly turned to him and asked. "Where are you going?"

Chrys let out his evil smile and said. "What makes you think I'm going somewhere?"

Lilly's expression immediately turned sour as she yelled. "I don't want to deal with your stupid face today, Goldie!"

"Ooh, isn't it a bit too early to shout?" Chrys said while still wearing his evil smile.

Lilly gritted her teeth while Chrys let out a giggle. The girls were kinda just forced to watch.

Chrys then said. "I'm going out with Morgan. We'll be back before sundown."

Lilly regained her cool and asked. "You mean like a... date?"

"If you call going to the Hunter's headquarters and 'extracting' information from them a date... Then, yes, we're going for a date." Chrys replied.

Lilly let out a low grumbling noise upon hearing Chrys' reply.

Chrys placed his hand on Lilly's head, rubbed it, grabbed a handful of hair, raised it in the air before he dropped it, causing Lilly's white hair to look messy.

Looking satisfied with his work, Chrys said. "Don't worry, I won't leave her."

Chrys then began walking away without waiting for Lilly's reply. Lilly only released a couple of incoherent grumble as she watched him walk away.

Seeing Chrys' figure go through a door, Lilly fixed her hair and said to the girls. "Alright, where were we?"

As if nothing happened, they continued their conversation which eventually led to talking about random things.

Upon walking a little bit more, Lilly stopped and asked Miya. "Uh, Miya, Can I ask for you to do something after you eat?"

"Sure, what is it?" Miya asked.

Lilly then pointed at the top of the gigantic hallway. Her finger pointed at a cobweb all the way up on the ceiling.

"I want you to clean that up." Lilly stated.

Looking very unsure, Miya replied. "Uh, I don't think I can reach that."

Lilly then replied. "Exactly. You can't reach that with normal means. This is training to help you develop problem solving skills."

"O-okay, but can I just ask Rose to get up there?" Miya said as she pointed at Rose, who was trying to jump for the cobwebs which looked a bit ridiculous.

"It's a good idea to rely on your companions, but they wouldn't always be there. So, you need to think for yourself on how to do it." Lilly said.

"Uh, okay." Miya answered as she looked up to huge walls and eventually the cobwebs. She felt very intimidated.

Miya scratched her cheek and asked Lilly. "Uh, Can I get a hint?"

"Sure, I didn't expect you to do it first try." Lilly said as she nodded to herself.

"Hmm, it's usually Brother Set who does this sort of stuff." Lilly said while she has her hand on her chin, looking like she is pondering deeply.

"How does he do it?" Rose asked.

"He goes like this..." Lilly said as she took a low stance, tucked her shoulders close to her body, arched her right arm back while she grunted in a low, deep voice.

"Ignite!!!" Lilly shouted.

She then released the tension in her muscles, and punched forward with her right arm extended fully while yelling.

"Crimson road!!!"

Lilly remained in this pose for a couple of seconds.

The girls felt like something was supposed to happen.

Lilly returned her stance to normal, clapped her hands together and said. "Hope that helps, Miya."

"Eh?" Not only Miya, but the other two girls with them looked confused as well.

"Hehehehe!" Lilly then proceeded to giggle to herself as she ran away, leaving the confused girls behind.

Rose released a forced smile and said to Miya. "Good luck, Miya."

"Uh, yeah, thank you." Miya said as she looked very confused on what just happened.

Amber then commented. "Why do I feel like she'll do the same for us, Rose?"

"Because that's probably true." Rose replied.

"Miya. Think about it after you eat your breakfast. Your brain won't work with your stomach empty." Rose added.

"Uh, yeah." Miya replied as Rose and Amber began to walk away.

Miya looked up towards the cobwebs once more.

She then reached for her knives, but then realized she took them off before sleeping and forgot them in the room.

Devoid of any weapon, Miya went for the second best thing.

She took off her shoe and held it.

She then proceeded to throw it up towards the cobwebs, hitting it and the ceiling it's connected to.

Miya covered her ears as the shoe hit the ground.

She then looked around, grabbed the shoe, put it on before she followed Amber and Rose, looking like she just commited a crime.