︶꒦꒷ Second Chance ꒦꒷ ⌇ rainiiqx

𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙞𝙫.

act iv. seeking mystery

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I gulped, closing my eyes, before coming to my senses. I recognized that voice.

Sighing in relief, it was just her.

I stepped away from the counter, the lights opening the moment I did so.

She stared me down, "Why the hell are you near the knives?", she asked, suspicion lacing her tone. The girl looked at me as if I was some wanted criminal, nervousness in her eyes, but she kept her guard.

I internally panicked, realising what kind of situation I put myself into. I practically creeped behind her, in the dark, so close to the knives, with a murderer on the loose possibly still near the area.

"I promise, this isn't anything at all like what you're thinking.", I managed to spit out, my voice wavering once again. "Look, I thought you were an intruder and—", I continued, cutting myself off, realising she was wearing a black jacket, a badge on the chest pocket, along with a pair of gloves.

"And?", she asked. "What are you wearing..?", I muttered, shifting the topic.

Nozomi stared for a moment, before realising what I meant. "Oh, this? I'm just trying some stuff out. I can't sleep, and I got bored.", she mumbled, taking off the jacket and gloves, half folding and letting them dangle in her arms.

She said it confidently, so she most likely wasn't lying, but there was some sort of badge on the jacket, it's a uniform. I couldn't get a clear look, so I'm not completely sure what sort of badge it was, but it definitely wasn't just for fashion.

I left it alone either way, it's not like she's gonna answer me if I bring it up anyway.

"It's... turning five, you should probably go back to sleep.", she said. "I'm not tired anymore...", I whispered, barely enough for her to hear. "I mean, if you're not tired, we can take a stroll around the place if you want."

I looked at her, noticing a sincere smile on her face. The smile I got addicted to after all those years of regret. I couldn't help but smile myself.

We didn't bother changing our clothes, Nozomi just took a jacket since it was freezing outside. It's not like anyone's really awake at this time anyway, we aren't gonna stray too far as well.

The walk was quiet, occasionally we brought up some stuff about our past, but the silence was peaceful. Our footsteps matched, soft taps against the grains of sand beneath our slippers.

"Sorry if this is too private to ask, but how's the case with your brother?", I asked, genuinely still concerned and curious. I kept my head low, avoiding eye contact as I felt ashamed asking her that.

She came to a short halt, and so did I. We stood in silence for a moment, but unlike the tranquil quietude the last few minutes, this felt uneasy.

She started walking again, and I followed. "They found his body in a cabin, beside him was a girl I saw as my sister.", she answered, a strike of guilt immediately hitting me.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, that probably wasn't a good question to ask...", I started, talking slightly faster out of guilt. "Don't worry about it, I've gotten over it.", she reassured, "The only thing that infuriates me is that they haven't found who did this to them yet."

"Really? Even after all these years?", I asked, sympathising with her. She sighed, "Yeah really, I'll capture who did it someday!", the monochrome-haired girl claimed, seeming confident in herself.