Tangerine ~ Bullet Train

21 - "You want to rent a room for the three of you?"

No matter how strong and tough Yuina wanted to be, she still looked around suspiciously every now and then, as if she expected the mafia to take them out at every moment. Tangerine and Lemon thought they would probably be off the radar for at least a day. There were still people on that train and the White Death would want to deal with them first. Maybe he would even think that other people were hired to kill his son and steal the case, killing The Twins also. No, he would find out they were still alive and ran. He wouldn't rest until he had found and tortured them.

But what of Yuina? Tangerine couldn't look at her without feeling a sting of pain. He still felt so guilty for dragging her into all this. She surely would be very scared, and not without a reason. Tangerine couldn't bear the thought of the White Death finding them with her, torturing her also, but he couldn't just leave her on her own. They were all in the same boat now, and that boat would strand at a motel near the edge of the town. They didn't want to be too close to the city, but also not too far away from it. It only just started to become light, so they had to choose something fast.

'Good morning,' a girl said when the three of them entered the office, turning on a bell. She spoke friendly on impulse, but Yuina could see a strange look in her eyes when she looked at them. She tried to hide it, but Yuina had already seen her eying her companions in a weird way. 'Hello,' Yuina greeted her with a slight smile, 'the sign says you're open, is that correct?' The girl nodded. 'It is,' she replied with a strange intonation in her voice. 'Is there a room for three available?' Yuina asked politely. She didn't understand the disapproving and foul looks the employee gave her companions. They had all changed their upper clothes with things from her suitcase, so they wouldn't look bloody anymore. Surely Yuina's over-sized sweaters looked fitting but strange on Tangerine and Lemon, but it wasn't enough to be a reason to look at them weirdly. Then it hit Yuina that it wasn't the reason at all.

'You want to rent a room for the three of you?' the girl asked, narrowing her eyes slightly at the men. 'That's correct,' Yuina replied. 'Are you family?' the girl asked. Yuina knew she didn't have to answer that, yet the girl wouldn't just tell them the price. 'Friends?' she hold on. Yuina was getting irritated already. All she wanted to do was take shelter from the mafia, wash away everything in the shower and hit the mattress to get some rest. 'Is there a room available, or should we look elsewhere?' Yuina said, not able to hide her slight annoyance. The girl pretended like she hadn't behaved the way she did and nodded politely at Yuina. 'There is a room available. I just need some data from you.'

'Of course,' Yuina said whilst putting her hand in her pocket, taking out her wallet. The girl behind the counter looked at the two men again. She didn't seem sure of it, yet she suggested: 'We have a standard list of data we require to rent a room out. It could take a little while, but you can take a seat if you want.' There were a few chairs stationed in the office, just out of ear range. The girl couldn't think she was being subtle, could she? Tangerine and Lemon also got the memo, but they didn't address it. Just like Yuina, they just wanted to get into that room as soon as possible. 'It's okay,' Tangerine forced himself to say calmly, 'we'll wait outside.' Yuina watched them as they walked away with a strange feeling in her stomach. She could still see them standing outside, which seemed to make her somewhat steadier again.

'She thinks we're kidnapping her,' Lemon said amused, his brother and him facing away from the office. 'She thinks we're mistreating her, just like people always do.'

'But we are,' Tangerine replied mumbling whilst sighing. 'Look at what we've done to her. At what I have done to her.' Lemon looked at his brother. 'You have given her some peace. I know it sounds strange, and I can't understand it myself, but she seems to want you around. She seems to be comfortable with you and thinks of you as a protector.'