Ruz's POV
Day Four, the festival had officially stopped pretending to be safe.
The field had been rebuilt again overnight, transformed into something that looked less like a school competition and more like a military training exercise designed by someone who hated teenagers.
Paired obstacles stretched across the grass like a maze of suffering. Blindfold runs that require absolute trust in a partner who might or might not drop you. Trust drops that require absolute faith in people you have known for just four days. Unstable platforms that wobbled even when you stood still, like they were laughing at you.
Whoever designed this course definitely had unresolved trauma.
Liam stood at the edge of the field, staring at the setup like it had personally offended his entire family line. His arms were crossed, his jaw was tight, and he looked like he was mentally drafting a complaint letter to whoever was in charge of student safety.
"This," he said slowly, "is emotional damage in physical form"
I stood beside him, calm as ever, watching the obstacles with the same expression I used for everything neutral, unbothered, slightly judgmental.
"It is just balance and timing," she said.
"It is betrayal and gravity," Liam corrected, pointing at the unstable platforms. "Those planks are not stable. I can see the sabotage from here."
The announcer's voice echoed across the field, loud and cheerful in a way that felt deeply inappropriate for what was about to happen.
"Next match, paired challenge! Section C, Z v/s Section A, D!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd. Noise exploded from every corner of the field. Students who had been sitting suddenly stood up. Students who had been talking suddenly screamed. The tension that had been building all week snapped into place like a rubber band pulled too tight.
"Participants - Ruzelle Cruz and Joshua Aquino!"
Josh stretched his arms casually, rolling his shoulders like he was about to go for a light jog instead of navigating an obstacle course blindfolded while someone else guided him.
"Alright," he said, flashing that same overconfident grin. "You trust me?"
I didn't even blink.
"No. I'm just too lazy to find someone better."
His smile froze.
"…That was harshly efficient."
"I aim for efficiency," I said. "Not kindness."
He cleared his throat.
"I was expecting hesitation. Maybe doubt. Some emotional conflict."
I looked at him like he was asking for free Wi-Fi.
"I don't have emotional conflict. I have deadlines."
"…I feel strangely insulted and respected at the same time," he muttered.
"Good," I said. "That's your character development."
He pointed at me. "You're enjoying this."
"Surviving it," I replied. "There's a difference."
He shook his head, smiling under his breath, like he'd finally met someone fluent in his kind of chaos.
Across the field, the announcer continued.
"Adrian Cruz and Lila Dayrit!"
Liam slowly turned to me, his eyes wide with the kind of panic that usually preceded a disaster.
"Oh no," he said. "Oh no no no."
I did not react. But Adrian did.
He looked straight at me from across the field, his expression unreadable for a moment and then he smiled. Not a friendly smile. Not a nice smile. Just a challenging one. The kind of smile that said I am going to win, and you are going to watch.
"Try not to fall," he called out, loud enough for everyone to hear.
I tilted my head slightly, not letting my expression change at all.
"Try to keep up," I called back, already walking ahead.
Josh stepped between us, clapping his hands together once.
"Okay, okay," he said. "Family drama later. Winning first."
A few steps away from the crowd, Selene lingered with her group, her eyes fixed on us.
Round One,
The whistle blew.
I tied the blindfold around my head without hesitation, the fabric pressing against my eyes, blocking out the light. The world went dark.
The noise of the crowd faded into something distant, unimportant. All that remained was sound and touch and the voice of my partner.
Josh stepped behind me, close enough to guide, far enough to not crowd.
"Alright," he said, his voice steady now, all the joking gone. "I have got you. Listen carefully."
"I always do," she said.
"Three steps forward… Now stop. Good. Slight right. Perfect. Step up."
I moved smoothly. No panic. No wasted motion. I had been in situations where I could not see before, not in games, not in practice, but in real life. A blindfold on a sunny field was nothing compared to that.
From the sidelines, Liam's voice, barely audible over the crowd.
"Why does this look so stable?" he whispered to someone I heard. "I do not like this. When things look stable, that is when everything goes wrong."
We reached the third platform.
The one.
The moment my foot touched the surface, I felt something was wrong. The board shifted under my weight not the natural wobble of a poorly built obstacle, but something deliberate. Something designed to fail.
Too unstable. Too loose. Wrong.
Josh noticed too, but too late.
"Ruz….wait…"
I managed to stop anyway.
The board tilted hard. My balance broke instantly not because I was unsteady, but because there was nothing steady to stand on, I could feel it on my foot. For a split second, I was falling. The ground disappeared under my feet.
Then a hand grabbed my wrist mid drop, fingers locking around my arm like a vise,
Josh.
He pulled me toward him with all his strength, and the impact of our bodies colliding nearly threw both of us off the platform.
But he held on.
Firm.
"Got you," he said, his breath sharp from the effort.
I steadied immediately, my feet finding the platform again, my body adjusting to the instability. The blindfold was still on.
"…Continue," I said calmly.
Josh laughed under his breath, a sound of disbelief and admiration mixed together.
"…Yeah," he said. "We continue."
We reached the halfway point, and our roles reversed.
Josh tied the blindfold over his eyes. I stepped behind him, my hand hovering near his shoulder, ready to guide.
My voice is different now. Calm. Precise. No extra words. No wasted syllables.
"Forward," I guided him. "Stop. Left. Two steps. Good. Don't mess it up."
Josh followed instantly. No doubt. No hesitation. Because there was no space for doubt. Not here. Not now.
"Jump," I said.
"…You sure?" he asked.
"Yes."
He jumped.
He landed clean.
"…I am trusting you too much," he muttered, his voice slightly shaky.
"You should," I said.
"…That is not comforting," he said. "That is threatening."
"It is both," she said.
Last Challenge
The final obstacle was the worst one.
Twin rope swings. Both partners had to release at the same time. Not one second apart. Not close enough. Exactly together.
One delay, one hesitation, one moment of doubt, and both of us fell.
I calculated quickly. The distance. The timing. The angle.
"On my count," I said.
Josh nodded, his blindfolded face tilted toward me.
"Three… two… now."
We moved together.
Perfect timing.
The ropes swung forward. The air rushed past us. For one long moment, we were suspended between the platforms, weightless, nothing but trust holding us up.
Then release.
Landing.
Sprint.
Result
We crossed first.
Clear and clean. We win.
The crowd erupted. Cheers exploded from every direction. Someone threw a shoe into the air.
Liam dropped to his knees on the sidelines, his arms spread wide like he was accepting an award.
"SHE DID NOT DIE," he shouted. "WE WON. THIS IS A MIRACLE. I HAVE WITNESSED A MIRACLE."
Josh removed the blindfold calmly, blinking against the sunlight.
"You are loud," I said.
"I am emotional," he said. "I am expressing myself in a healthy way."
Across the field, Adrian stood still.
His arms were crossed. His expression was unreadable. But he was not smiling anymore.
I walked past him on my way off the field. Paused. I looked at him.
"…You fell behind," I said.
A beat.
Liam gasped from behind
"Oh no. She started it. She really started it."
Adrian exhaled slowly, his jaw tight.
"You got lucky," he said.
"You got slow."
Josh stepped back from both of us, his hands raised.
"I am not involved in this," he said. "Do not drag me into your family business."
Adrian and I stared at each other. The battle wasn't over yet.
The moment we got home, it started.
No warning. No buildup. No slow escalation from calm to chaos. Just immediate, absolute, sibling warfare.
I had just put my bag down by the door when something hit my head.
A shoe.
Of course it was Adrian's.
I caught it after it smacked my hand.
I slowly turned my head.
Adrian stood at the hallway entrance, one foot bare, the other still shod, …his expression was proud. Like he expected applause for it.
"Return that," he said.
I threw it back.
Harder.
He dodged barely the shoe smacking against the wall behind him with a satisfying thump.
"Okay," he said, his eyes widening. "Aggressive. We are being aggressive today. Good to know."
I moved.
Fast.
He ran.
"WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?"
Adrian shouted, sprinting down the hall, his sock foot sliding slightly on the floor.
"YOU LOST ACCEPT IT"
I fired back, chasing him past the kitchen, past the living room, around the corner where Tito was reading the newspaper and did not even look up.
We turned corners like it was a race. Almost slipped on the rug. We recover and keep going.
I was faster.
After the chase had ended and we had both collapsed onto opposite couches breathing heavily, Adrian disappeared into the bathroom to shower.
I had seven minutes.
I used them wisely.
When Adrian opened the bathroom door, he stopped mid step.
Paused.
"…No," he said.
A string. A bucket. Positioned perfectly above the doorframe.
Too obvious.
I leaned against the wall across the hall, arms crossed.
"You saw it," I said.
"Yes," he said.
"…Disappointing," I said. "I expected better awareness from you."
He stepped inside carefully, watching the bucket, watching the string, moving like a man defusing a bomb.
Nothing happened.
He reached the sink. Turned on the water. Relaxed.
Then the water from above hit him.
Perfect aim. Perfect timing. The bucket I had placed on top of the medicine cabinet, the one he had not seen because he was too focused on the obvious trap, tipped forward and dumped cold water all over his head.
Silence.
Then
"…You are dead," Adrian said, water dripping from his hair, his shirt, his everything.
I smiled. "You said that earlier. It has not happened yet. I am starting to think your threats are empty."
Evening
We ended up in the living room.
Both tired. Both are still annoyed. Both sitting on opposite couches like two cats who had been fighting all day and were now pretending they did not care.
Adrian dropped onto the couch with a sigh, his shirt still damp, his hair still messy.
"You are getting better," he said.
I sat across from him, legs crossed, expression neutral.
"You are getting slower," I said.
He pointed at me, his finger sharp and accusing.
"Confidence," he said.
"Accuracy," I replied.
He laughed once, short, sharp, genuine.
"…That is new," he said. "You used to just accept compliments and now you return them as insults. You are evolving."
A pause settled between us.
Then, quieter, more serious.
"You trusted him," Adrian said. "Josh. On the course. You trusted him completely."
I did not look at him. My eyes were on the window, on the darkening sky outside.
I did not answer him.
"That is risky," he said. "Trusting someone you have known for four days. Trusting them with your safety. Trusting them to catch you."
"He did not fail," I said.
Adrian leaned back, his arms crossing over his chest.
"…I still do not like it," he said.
I glanced at him slightly, just enough to meet his eyes.
"You do not have to," I said.
He did not argue.
But he was right. Coz trusting someone and not falling was new to me.
It's not because I've never trusted anyone. I have. But I've been betrayed again and again by my own people.
But someone I had known for less than a week? Someone who had no obligation to catch me?
That was different
And that was also more dangerous in my life.
Because losing just hurts your pride.
Trusting someone really trusting them could hurt a lot more.