Hiding In Plain Sight

Paranoia is Sometimes Life-Saving

I'm glad Harukawa is feeling better, she's back to normal now and threatening Kokichi already. Shuichi smiled to himself, slipping on a dark maroon jacket and covering his head with the hood. Glancing at the woman beside him, he watched as Akamatsu flicked false freckles across her cheeks, having changed her appearance entirely with makeup alone. "Wow, you have no end of great makeup here Saihara, I'm jealous!"

"It's yours too now, use what you want. We can always steal more if we need," Shuichi chuckled.

"Wow, look at you Sai, you're becoming a great thief," Rantaro appeared in the doorway, leaning against the frame with a smirk. "To think you hated the thought of stealing only two months ago. You two look great by the way."

"Thank you Amami!" Akamatsu beamed, her long hair pinned up in a bob. "We should get going now, it's the perfect chance." With that, Akamatsu grabbed Shuichi's wrist and pulled him out of the house, the two making their way towards the supermarket to steal more food for the group. Shuichi's eye twitched in pain as Akamatsu kept a firm grip on his freshly wounded wrist, the woman unknowingly digging her fingers into the wounds.

Glancing around, Shuichi noticed a small bird flying over the houses beside them as they continued their trip. "Hey, Akamatsu, look!" Falling for the distraction, Shuichi sighed in relief as Akamatsu removed herself from him, the boy rubbing his wrist to attempt and ease the pain. The two made it to the supermarket without any problems, slipping inside unnoticed as they both grabbed a basket, filling it with anything they needed.

"Hey, so why do you have that much makeup? I know you wear eyeliner, but not a full face or anything," Akamatsu asked to ease the nervous air.

"It's embarrassing, but, I've been cosplaying for years." Shuichi rubbed the back of his neck, blushing. 

"That's awesome! We should do makeup together at some point, I'd love to see what you can do!" Akamatsu grinned, throwing cans of food into her basket as Shuichi filled his with whatever medical supplies and water he could find. The two grabbed a few plastic bags and entered the self-checkout, starting to scan their items. Shuichi sighed, standing still as he prepared to grab their items and bolt as they'd planned.

Shuichi noticed Akamatsu finishing scanning, having placed every item in the bags. Picking up one, Akamatsu picked up the other, the two glancing around to see no one paying attention to them. "Now," Shuichi whispered, the two running as fast as they could out of the store and down the street, ignoring the shouts from security behind them.

Smiling, Shuichi's body overflowed with adrenaline as the two bolted into a food court, slowing their pace to hide inside the female bathroom. Checking every single stall to ensure they were alone, Shuichi and Akamatsu shared a cheerful glance, breaking out in laughter. "That was amazing!" The blonde giggled, taking out hundreds of hair clips, her hair falling around her shoulders with grace. Taking off his hoodie, Shuichi shook out his fluffy hair before tucking it underneath a hat he hid underneath his shirt.

"No matter how many times we do this, I guess it's always fun. Come on, let's focus on calming down before we go back home." Shuichi placed the bag of supplies on the floor, staring at the ceiling as he took deep breaths to rid the adrenaline overdose.

<--o--🩸--o-->

The two walked down the street, blending in with the crowd as they hid in plain sight, making their way home. Frowning, Shuichi felt a pair of eyes bore into his back. Spinning around, he couldn't see anyone staring at the two, only a stray cat looking up and hissing before running ahead of them. "Go left."

"Why? Home is to the right-"

"Just do it." Turning left as Shuichi ordered, the two walked down a random street, further away from their destination. Pulling something from his bag, Shuichi pretended to fumble and drop the item, turning around and crouching to pick up the object. As he turned, the male noticed a blob of red dart behind a tree, the rest of the street remaining mostly barren. I was right, we're being followed.

Standing again, Shuichi kept pace with Akamatsu, trying to speed up slightly without looking too suspicious. "Listen, someone is following us but I didn't get a great look at them. Whatever you do, act natural."

"How are we going to lose them? No one comes down here, we can't blend in with people," Akamatsu mumbled, panic hidden amongst her voice.

"We go into an alley and hide, when they look for us, we sneak out and run home," Shuichi suggested. Nodding, Akamatsu yanked him by his wrist into a gap next to the two, the duo ducking behind a dumpster. Peeking around the corner, Shuichi noticed a small woman with a bright-scarlet bob following behind them.

"H-Hey, I know you guys are here. I'm sorry for scaring you both, I just thought I recognised you," the woman stuttered. That's the same person from the ghost town, she was being escorted by the police before I killed one of them. She must've escaped, I wonder if she really is the same woman. Stepping forward an inch, Shuichi felt himself thud against the wall as Akamatsu pulled him back.

"What are you doing? She might kill us!" Akamatsu shouted at Shuichi in a whispered tone. Without warning, the woman dropped to a heap on the floor, startling Shuichi as she fell in front of their hiding spot. Jumping forward, Akamatsu put her fingers to the girl's neck, smiling as she nodded at her friend. "There's a pulse. Poor thing, she must be really tired, maybe we should help her."

"No, we can't. She could be an Ultimate Hunter," Shuichi interjected, frowning at the bird that stared at him as it landed nearby.

"She said she recognised us though, surely she's safe. Isn't this the same woman the police were with that one night?"

"That could've been a trap. Anyone could recognise us, our names and faces are on TV every day." Akamatsu turned and glared at the male, disappointment shadowing her face.

"Are you saying we shouldn't help an innocent woman!?"

"I'm saying we shouldn't help someone who could be trying to turn us over to the police!" Shuichi argued. "Tell me, how do we know she's trustworthy?"

Watching the bird caw and fly away, the red-haired woman opened her matching red eyes and smiled warmly. "You can trust me, I'm an Ultimate too."