Cases Uncovered

26 | The Agency

"Don't judge people from the outside. Like any rose has thorns, the more the person appears nice on the outside, the more you should doubt the inside."

- Ai Haibara

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Chapter 26:
The Agency

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ZANE

"Why me, big sis? I thought you had more time than I do?" Raine teased, her smile playful.

"I'm dealing with something even worse, and you don't want to know what it is," Elizabeth replied, her brow furrowing with concern. She glanced nervously toward the window, as if expecting someone to appear. "Plus, I'm one of those being blamed for the disappearance of that item."

"What exactly is this missing item?" I asked, leaning forward with curiosity.

"It's a memory stick with secret plans against terrorists," Elizabeth answered seriously. She paced the room, her hands fidgeting with the edge of her jacket.

"Don't you want to?" she added, turning to her sister.

"I'm still studying," Raine replied, her eyes fixed on her phone once more.

Elizabeth sighed. Without another word, she headed to the door and grabbed the doorknob.

"Until next time," she said softly, her gaze lingering on Raine for a moment before she left our flat.

As her footsteps faded down the hallway, Raine remained engrossed in her phone.

"Can I ask you something?" I ventured.

She put down her phone and turned to face me. "What is it?"

"Can I know what happened to you back then? How did you end up being—"

"Being this? My current self?" she interjected, her tone tinged with reluctance. "Is it because of Liz?"

"We're all here now, and like I said earlier in the library, we're going to be together for four years," I pressed gently. I was prepared to listen, eager to understand.

She fell silent, her gaze drifting towards the kitchen. After a moment, I continued, "Alright, I'll tell you things I haven't shared with you yet," hoping my openness would earn her trust.

“Yes, our life in the province was fine—normal and simple,” I continued. “But before that, city life wasn’t new to me, though it was full of violence from people. The biggest issue was money.”

I suddenly wondered if it was alright to tell her those things. However, seeing her attention was focused, I decided to go ahead and say it.

It might be the only way to make her talk.

"The woman who raised us wasn't our real mother. I was young when our mother passed away. She was my father's second wife, but no matter what I did, I couldn't bring myself to call her 'Mama'."

Tears streamed down my cheeks, catching me by surprise. I recalled Raine's words about how people perceived me as feminine in my movements, but in that moment, I couldn't help it — I couldn't control myself.

I'm fine with being someone who cries easily rather than reverting to my old unruly self.

“Even though the blue t-shirt my sister gave me when we first met was for girls, I didn’t mind,” I said. “I know I’m odd, but I’m still trying to find myself. I don’t even know what I really want to be. I wanted to be a doctor so that what happened to my real mom doesn’t happen again, but I also have other aspirations.”