Honest Man's Sin

The sun plans on setting down. I believe that it will be around five in the real world. On the other hand, we're still searching for clues on where the armored man might be.

It's been ten minutes since our talk with Aimi until we planned on searching the environment. We both have the same questions. Who the puppeteer might be?

If we find that person, we will have a huge lead in our investigation. That survivor cannot walk far enough since it wears heavy armor. It's only been an hour since we confirmed that it is dead as Kenshin has said.

Wait!? Did he just lie? The moment he said it, his eyes wanders around, avoiding eye contact. If he lied, then there's a greater chance that we're on the right path.

But that was just an expectation, which is far from reality. Aimi called me towards her route the moment she found something. It is literally something, not someone.

We've found the armor together with the machine gun, but there's not even a person or blood. I pressed my lips tight while Aimi sighed heavily.

"It's pointless coming here," Aimi said.

"I thought it died? Isn't it written in the rules, that a survivor can't survive the poison barrier?"

"I can't think straight right now. This is such a waste of time. Maybe we should…" Aimi stopped after we heard some scream behind us.

"AIMI! IKEDA! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

"… should go back… Mayumi??? MAYUMI!??" Aimi shouted back the moment she realizes the familiar scream. Later on, Mayumi followed us to our location.

"Whew, I thought you would be too far enough," she said as she catches her breath.

"Right timing! I'm in denial. We don't know the way back," Aimi replied with an upturned face.

Mayumi's lips suddenly turned curve-down. "Who said I know the way back?"

We were both stiffened after hearing that expectation, making us wish that she was just kidding. Slowly, that same lips went up smiling.

"JUST KIDDING!!" She laughed. "You might have known me. I'm a genius in maps and route memorization!" She boasted.

"Okay? Nice? Can we get back now? It's a second to midnight," I said.

"Follow me."

While we are walking, I noticed Aimi having a blank look in her eyes. She's continuously fidgeting her fingers and starts speaking after she collected some confidence.

"Mayumi… Uhm… How's Kenshin?"

"That panda? He's still a panda. Luckily, we have ice. Electricity only works on houses. The outside will be a big dark night," Mayumi replied.

"I mean… How he's feeling?"

"Don't worry about what will happen. The moment you two ran, I slapped him. I'm just irritated with him. Is there something wrong?"

"You already told us the answer to that," I said.

"Hmph! He deserves it! That idiot sold us to a serial killer."

"But… do you already have a plan? Kenshin asked you about a plan, right?" Aimi asked.

Mayumi replied with silence for five seconds and stops walking. "No. I don't."

"You're going with his plan!?" I asked.

"I might be a genius, but I am no match for a serial killer. This tower is a place for them. We can't adopt morals here."

"You're saying that you've sold us? Is that right? You should have formed a plan! You have the chance, but you didn't!" I shouted as I clench my fists.

"He's just testing you."

"What do you mean?" The moment I heard her reply, the tension in my arm all vanished.

"He's testing both you and, at the same time, himself. You already knew how badly he provokes someone."

"That's…" Aimi stuttered. "That's the only time I saw him doing it successfully."

"Do you want to know what he said after I slapped him? He laughed and said 'Do you see that!? He got angry!' You already know what happened next."

"I might be rude, but may we know what happened next? Because we both don't know," I asked.

"Common sense, I slapped him again! It's just too satisfying," Mayumi exclaimed.

"Lucky for you, he didn't fight back," I commented.

"But still," Aimi muttered as she continues fidgeting, "what would I say to Kenshin?"

"He said he won't be following someone with a blunt-scary title. He has some contact within the enemy lines, and from what we know, we can use that info in planning strategies. He didn't say anything after that."

"Did he just fool us in all of this? Didn't he know that we've wasted time on this chaotic quarrel?" I asked.

"For you, it might be not. If I'm bad at provoking, practicing with the most emotional person would be ideal. That means if you're dumb, you're the first lab rat."

"Thank you for such kind compliments," I replied with irony.

"But… That's only one reason. If he decided to practice it, then his plan might have involved himself being the bait. Aimi, if you know that you're offering yourself to save someone, would you say it to them?"

Mayumi's words might have accidentally hit Aimi who lowered her gaze. She's been troubling the incident she's involved in. If I were in her situation, if I have the chance to replace the past, the past where Kenshin killed for her sake, then I would choose not to involve him in that scene anymore.

"You're right, Mayumi. I shouldn't have asked for help back then," Aimi muttered.

"Help for what?" Aimi asked with a tilt from her head.

"Oh, nothing! Never mind it. I'm just imagining things!"

"You're turning red. Is it for Kenshin? Do you want me to help you form your message?" Mayumi asked with a malicious plot on her face.

"N… No! I'm fine. I know what I need to say to him."

"Then, we will give you the maximum 'private' space we could offer," Mayumi chuckled.

"You're thinking things irrationally," I said with a narrowed look in my eyes.

"Oh, I forgot! The import should be awake by now," Mayumi said.

"Import?"

"The bleeding girl you two spotted from the woods, don't you remember?"

"Can you please make your word choice understandable," I complained.

"She's the reason we need to go back now. Kenshin will draw down his plan. We need to attend or we'll die tomorrow."

That's right. It's been night already, and our sleep will dictate how we will live tomorrow. We don't have any clock to check what time it is that's why we need to rely on our body clock.

As we went back to the house, Aimi still stoops her head down. We saw the three sitting on the couch. When the girl looks at me, she suddenly froze and flinches back while she muttered her words.

"Monster…"