Across the Water

Chapter 8

72 Hours

Twelve

I wake up in the morning with the light streaming through my window, feeling contented with the memories of last night flooding back to my memory, until I'm struck by a bolt of panic. I remember blatantly ignoring all the reasons I had for not kissing Lisa in the past. Maybe those reason were not so half-baked after all. No, stop it, I tell myself, I did nothing wrong. She loves me back. I have no reason to feel ashamed.

A stupid grin plasters itself across my face.

Lisa's in the bathroom, so I wander into the kitchen. Nine's dressed in a blue apron and a matching bandana on his head, chopping a green onion, helping his grandmother make breakfast and looking awfully domestic.

The moment I step foot into the kitchen, his eyes narrow. "Did you have a nice swim, or whatever the fuck you were doing last night?"

My heart freezes. I decide to play dumb. "That's a pretty strong, yet baseless accusation. Why don't you get back to chopping your onion?" I say nonchalantly.

He gestures with his knife. "It's not baseless, it's a fact. I woke up to go to the bathroom and saw a trail of water from the door to your and Lisa's bedrooms. I had to mop it up, by the way. You should be grateful," he snaps bitterly.

I lift up my hands in surrender. "Fine, you caught us. We took the rowboat from down the street, and we accidentally capsized it."

"You stole the Serizawa's rowboat?" Rika exclaims in disbelief as she folds an omelet.

"More like borrowed," I admit, sinking down onto a counter barstool. "We put it back."

Nine turns his attention back to his leek. "Considering what we have planned for today, maybe you should limit your criminal activity to once a week."

"Shut up," I say grouchily. "Our existence is criminal." I pick up the remote from the counter and turn on the TV.

An excited news anchor is interviewing Shibazaki.

My heart stops. They've figured it out. Nine drops his knife in shock, and it clatters to the wooden floor. Everything we've worked so hard for! They finally know!

He tells her about connecting the dots between all our bombings, and how they were aimed towards those at the center of the Athena plan. He describes how Mamiya divulged he took 26 children from various Japanese orphanages and placed them in an experimental institution, where they all died from cruel treatment except two, which ran away and became the sensational Tokyo bombers. He tells the news anchor the search for us is his highest priority. He then glares directly into the camera, and I can feel his stern gaze pierce my soul all the way from Tokyo.

"Nine, Twelve, I know you'll see this. You've won, the whole world is watching, and I've gotten as much of your history out as I know at this point. I now issue you a personal message. Surrender, cooperate, and help us bring the offenders to justice. Otherwise, I can't guarantee your safety, because I will find you and have you tried for your terrorist crimes. If that doesn't scare you, I should let you know the Americans are thinking of getting involved."

I flip through the other channels, but they're all playing the same interview. Every single one.

"Damn, they really didn't have to threaten us with the Americans like that," Nine complains, sounding offended.

I scoff. "Are you serious? We're planning on blowing up a cell phone tower today. I think they have a solid grasp of our capabilities. If I was trying to capture us, I would threaten us with the Americans, too."