Half-Sight

11 | auction

11. AUCTION

-

A STORM HITS on the day of the auction.

Rain pounds with fury against the window the entire day. Wind screams outside. The clouds are a stormy mass of muddy grey, the color of the smoke that belches from Osaka Medicine Tower.

We stay inside the entire day except for a few trips to the first-floor convenience store. Still, water drips from the ceiling in the halls, and somehow the humidity seeps through the vents, sticking on our skin.

"Well, no one's going to show up to the auction now unless they're desperate, right?" offers Bohai over onigiri lunch.

If it were me and I had family infected with Red Lung or loved ones who could live a full-sighted life... "Believe me," I answer, "they're desperate enough."

It doesn't help that the silence surrounding Ren is still thick with tension. While Kotomi told us the police would still follow Nobu's lead and focus on apprehending us—Ren interrupted.

"Let Nobu do what he wants. I'd rather keep our plan for the auction off the line." Then he hung up before either of us could say a word.

Bohai looked to him, stunned and annoyed. "What is wrong with you? We're trying to get more intel."

"No. We already got our intel. You were trying to give ours away."

"Come on, Ren, this is a team. You've gotta trust somebody."

"I want to keep this between the three of us." Something different and darker showed itself in Ren's eyes. "I don't want the police meddling in this more than they have to."

Bohai's brows pulled tight. "But they're the police. Meddling is their job."

"So they can do their job nicely at the entrances and exits of the square, making sure no one else is causing a scene. If Nobu's leading them, you think his arrogant head is going to outsmart Yun and Daizo? Probably not."

He coughed. "And we do?"

"I know him." Ren shifted, eyes alight. "This is what's going to happen. I'm going to go after Daizo. Hina will lead the police to Yun. And Bohai will make sure the citizens are being evacuated properly. Understood?"

"I thought we made decisions together," muttered Bohai.

"You want to keep this between the three of us?" I repeated.

He tilted his head. "Is that a problem?"

"No. Not at all. But since it's just us three, tell us how you know Daizo so well. If it's about your scar, we could—"

Ren tensed. "That's none of your business."

I had a flash, then, of his earlier bitterness. "And you think I'm not trustworthy—"

"Okay," exhaled Bohai. "Let's get something to eat, yeah? Hina, you wanna come?"

We headed to the kitchen and fished around the fridge for nectarines. Bohai's room remained silent, as if Ren had chosen to sit down in his own isolated world.

Now, two hours before the start of the auction, we gear up in silence. I'm too confused and frustrated to try to bridge the chasm that Ren has set up around himself.