Demise Game

7. scavenge

Jinsei was shocked to see he wasn't the only person at the office building when he arrived.  Already waiting by the doors, leaning against the wall with arms crossed, was Isora, tapping his foot impatiently.  The sight was enough to make Jinsei stop in his steps, out of breath and frazzled.  Whereas the teen was still in his pajamas, Isora was in jeans and a jacket, clearly having thought ahead before leaving his house.

        Jinsei wished he put actual pants on.  It was chilly out here.

        "What are you doing here?" Jinsei asked, rubbing his arms to try and bring some warmth to the skin.  Isora sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets.

        "I got your text," he admitted begrudgingly.  "I figured if you went by yourself, you might do more harm than good, so I came to help as well."  While Isora was usually in a bright and teasing mood, he was ornery — with good reason.  Jinsei felt as if he were walking into the lions' den.  "Besides..."  Isora trailed off with a sigh before shaking his head.  "Whatever.  Let's catch up with them.  It's already almost one.  How far do you even live from here?"

        Before Jinsei could answer, and before the two could enter the building, another voice called out to them from the distance.  Both teens turned to see a girl bicycling furiously toward them, blonde hair barely visible in the moonlight.

        "Hanami...?"

        Isora and Jinsei exchanged puzzled looks, but waited for the girl to catch up.  It only took her a few minutes before she had arrived, hopping off her bike and leaning down onto her knees for a moment, hunched over as she tried to catch her breath.

        "Hah.... hah....  I'm glad I....  I made it in time!"

        It was clear, wherever Hanami had came from, had been quite a distance from here.  Either that, or she had been biking all around town in hopes to find the correct location.  Knowing Hanami, it was probably the latter; especially since she didn't have her phone to receive Natsume's text.  Jinsei asked as much.

        "How did you figure out where to go...?"

        Hanami held a hand up to signal to give her a moment as she took a couple deep breaths.  After a few seconds, she stood up straight, her hair tousled by the wind and sticking to her sweaty face.  "[Y/n] said that the building had to have exactly ten floors!  There are surprisingly not that many buildings with that many."  She then drooped slightly.  "I didn't know which one, though, so I was visiting all of them to see if any looked shady...  Or something..."

        Isora snorted.  "You're lucky you caught us, or you would have been biking more.  Solid plan, Hanami."

        At Isora's teasing, the blonde puffed out her cheeks, going to set her bike up against the building.  "I'm working with what I got!" she shot back, although that fire died down as she stared up at the office building in trepidation.  ". . . Is this where they're at?"

        Pulling out his phone, Isora doublechecked the text Natsume had sent.  "Supposedly.  They started at midnight."

        Jinsei couldn't blame Hanami's behavior; he was equally as nervous, stomach flip flopping like a fish on dry land.  He had boldly declared he would come help Natsume and [Y/n], but now here and facing the task, he was getting cold feet.  Coward.  The name he called himself was once again mocking him, haunting him just as bad as whatever ghost they had all summoned.

        Isora could sense Jinsei's hesitance.  After he put his phone back in his pocket, Isora sighed, face grim but determined.  "Come on.  The longer we wait, the more danger they'll be in."