Can we Make It?

-32-

I think this whole thing is a lot simpler than it may seem. What I know is that there are only two people in the room. I'm certain that the people mentioned first must be the people mentioned...only I need to figure out how to prove that one of them isn't a person with the information I have. Rosa, Marie, and Jane could possibly be pets. I'm not sure what kind of pet they may be, but that's a start--and it would cancel out the chance that any of those three could be one of the two people.

So back to the main characters of the scenario. There was a tall-looking man and there was--wait a moment...if I think back to it he used past tense and present tense in the story. Whenever he mentioned the girl or the teenager he used present tense while, on the other hand, whenever he mentioned the man he used past tense.

That must mean that the man isn't a part of the party and is not one of the two people in the room. I know this because of the tense used as well as another important factor. The girl and the teenager are both wearing or close to something that resembles a party while the man is only wearing a mask and a white suit...which is odd seeing as the context is a party.

So the man isn't a person while the girl and teenager are the only two people in the room with the pets that are with them.

Shuichi, that was a good one...but you can't beat me with your little mind games! No no no, I got you again!

I smiled in my rest and took in the feelings and sounds around me. Letting the few senses I still had control over give me all the information they could. I was still unable to see and my whole body felt like it was surrounded by water. Thousands of gallons of water surrounded my body and made it feel as though it was too heavy or hard to move. That's how my body was making me feel.

Being unable to move my arms, legs, or even my head was difficult. Not being able to see was a different story. I wanted to be able to open my eyes and see Shuichi fast asleep under the faint light of the room. Sadly this was a task I was unable to accomplish to get the odd, but pleasing reward.

I felt my mind slowly beginning to shut down. A smile came to my heart, making me feel calm. Shuichi has his ways of helping me and I have my ways of helping him. Admiration always fills my chest knowing that the person who is my fiance is able to know me so well. On some occasions, I find it annoying and a little frightening most of the time, but then there are times like this when I feel as though the burden I assumed I had to carry on my own just becomes lighter.

Light as the leaves that blow through the wind so effortlessly. My burden was me standing in the wind trying to walk in the opposite direction of the wind to get where I needed to go. Shuichi helps me realize that I can be the same as the leaf and just go with the flow and walk with the wind and find another way.

This is why I love him. Love more than anything else in the world. Many times in a moment I remember how nice it is to be in love.

.

.

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"Hey lovely," I let my eyes open to soak in the light that was coming in from the crack under the door. Shuichi's eyes were the first thing I saw and they were sparkling in the light. Maybe that was my mind making it seem more of a fantasy instead of the reality...but it caused me to smile regardless of if it was real or not.

"Heya Shumai~," I cooed a bit, feeling my energy come back almost like I took in a deep breath after running a marathon. His smile brightened up his face and caused me to blush at the action. It was nice to feel comfortable enough to just blush.

Fingers moved against my skin as my gaze softened. The soft little tingling of my nerves as his skin met mine was the silent symphony I needed to hear. First thing in the morning I only wanted to be with Shuichi. Be able to see each other, to feel each other, and to experience these small moments with one another. It's what I live for.

I was almost trapped in the mindset of being all lovey-dovey for another eternity before reality crashed into the party. Breaking all the tables causing my hands to get all splintered. The pain of the embrace reality gave forced me to snap back into the puzzle of the situation.

We are in an apocalypse. We are in danger. We have a mission to go and help others who are being tortured and harmed. We need to get back into that mindset.

"Shuichi. I need to tell you about the mission Maki told me about." I said, making his hand drop from my cheek. "Mission?"

The confusion in his voice made me feel all the more guilty. I felt like I was hiding something from him. I hated feeling like I was a thief and Shuichi was the police officer who had me behind bars. He would look into my eyes with the sad gaze and lips that were heavy with hurt feelings. I loathed it when he gave me that look. Every single time I think about that gaze coming from him it makes me want to plead guilty and admit everything I have ever lied about. Just so he doesn't look like the world just kept letting him down past his breaking point.

"Yeah...you remember that group that attacked our home?" Caution held my words and carried them carefully to Shuichi. I only wanted him to understand the situation by giving him context. I didn't want to bring back all the memories we have from having to leave our home. Those thorns on the rose of our relationship that represent every hard thing we have ever had to do. I didn't want to reopen the wounds that came from those thorns...

"Yes. One of the homicidal groups that are going around trying to end humanity." His tone turned to ice. It made me flinch as I would if I just went to bed on a summer day only to wake up to see a blizzard happening outside my door.

"Why do you mention that group? You aren't going to have to go and help fend them off to save more of our friends are you?" Counting down from 10 my mind took a moment to realize what he meant. I felt the fear he experienced the last time I got so wounded from helping Maki fend off one of those groups. In this moment as his eyes widened at the thought of having to go through that again hit me like a wall of bricks.

"No no no, Shui, don't think about that now. I promise I won't let myself get that hurt again." I whispered, moving to embrace him. Holding his head into my shoulder as if I was shielding him from the arrows his emotions were trying to send through his heart. "This is a rescue mission, but this time it will be more discreet. And we have someone who knows the inside of the operation well."

Shuichi didn't move his head from my shoulder after I spoke. Assuming this was because he was trying to keep himself from crying I didn't move his head so he would look at me. I just continued to give him the information I knew from Maki. "We have one of the victims here with us and Maki said we were going to be going in a smaller group with this person leading the operation," I said again. Feeling the idea of the new person betraying us being passed around my mind made me start to worry...but this was before I realized.

This girl must have been to hell and back to get out of that place, so why would she be so willing to go back? Is it because she wants us to burn with her or does she want to end what has been tormenting her and all the other victims there? I hope that for the good of the others as well as myself and my beloved Shuichi that this girl wants the second option.

"I just...don't want you getting hurt. " His whispers were a small plea. It made my demeanor turn more serious. This wasn't just a rescue mission, this was something that could end up hurting my Shuichi. "I won't let that happen-"

"Shuichi, Kokichi." Maki opened the door. I looked over at her, feeling my grip on Shuichi became a bit tighter as I felt the need to protect him. "This is the girl I spoke of. She wanted to talk to the people who were coming with us on the mission." The door opened a bit wider as a younger woman walked into the room.

"My name is Zoe Mozin and I was one of the residents of the funhouse. I need your help to destroy it."