The Stray Kids of Edogawa Rampo

Cheese in the Trap

Cheese in the Trap

A S H E N Montero
December 27, 11:51 pm.
Oedipus HQ.

"Araaaaaay! Aray kasi!" ngawa ni Hiroki habang dinidiin ko 'yung bulak sa galos niya sa mukha.

Sinimangutan ko siya, "'Yan, mga ugok kayo. Anong pumasok sa isip niyo't pinasabog niyo ang bahay niyo ha?!"

"Wala naman kaming choice eh!"

"You guys, seriously," Mia looked at them with a disappointed-but-not-surprised expression. "Kung 'di dumating si Cryssa at Von para tumulong malamang inaayos na namin ang lamay niyo!"

June sighed and placed the icepack on his swollen cheek, "We're taken aback. I didn't expect them to be this forward and aggressive," he told us, "And above anything else, I'm more worried about Zen."

Nasapo ko ang noo, "Sinabi mo pa, nang pumunta siya dito sa HQ para humingi ng tulong, namumutla na siya. His wound is not looking pretty at all."

"Sana nakatakas siya ng ligtas," Lance murmured. "Siguro naman co-contact-in niya tayo 'di ba?"

"He would. He can't be away for too long. Sigurado ako na tuloy-tuloy pa din siyang hinahanap ng mga kamag-anak niya. They're really serious about killing him this time."

"I really hope he's okay," Mia said with a sigh. "And by the way, aren't you worried about something?"

"Ano?"

"Pinasabog niyo lang naman ang bahay niyo, naligtas niyo ba 'yung telepono ni Edogawa?"

Nagtinginan silang tatlo as if first time nilang makita ang isa't-isa. 'Yung mga ganyang tinginan, mga tingin ng mga taong gumawa ng kalokohan. Napangisi nalang ako dahil sa katangahan nila. "Wow, amazing. Nakalimutan niyo 'no?"

Lance closed his eyes in disdain and collapsed his back on the reclining chair, "We're doomed."

"Baka patayin tayo ni Twelve pagdating niya dito." Hiro grimaced to himself.

June shook his head, "Nah." Tumayo siya at pumunta sa desk niya. He popped a gum inside his mouth and checked his files. "I don't need his help anymore."

Mia and I glanced at each other, "What do you mean?"

He shrugged casually, "He can disappear for all I care. Now that the bigger picture is about to reveal itself, I'm starting to see what's about to come. At isa pa..." he lifted his glance at us. "It looks like he didn't really have a plan to help us from the start."

'Di ako nakaimik. 'Di ko alam kung anong tumatakbo sa isip ni June sa totoo lang, 'di ko alam kung okay pa ba siya o malapit na siyang mabaliw sa sobrang stress but whatever it is, I know that he knows what he's doing. As always. Pero 'di ko maisip kung anong magiging reaksyon ni Twelve tungkol dito.

Edogawa is his only guardian after all.

Napakamot ako sa batok saka binigyan ng band-aid si Hiro, binalatan naman niya 'yon saka nilagay sa sugat niya sa mukha. "Saka na natin problemahin 'yan. The first thing to do is to get Zen back here."

"Agreed," Hiro pointed at me. "Ang tagal nawala sa radar natin 'yung mga humahabol kay Zen kaya muntik na ako atakihin kanina."

"Zen took June's car, pwede naman siguro natin 'yun ipa-trace 'di ba?" Lance looked at me and I went straight to my desk to look for details.

"We can do that. But for now, magpahinga na muna kayo. I need to talk to Crysa and Von, we need to settle what happened in your area," sabi ni Mia saka sinuot ang headphones niya. "You guys stay here for the mean time."