anguish ; yttd

𝐟𝗼𝐮𝐫

Joe and I had been talking for some time. It'd been at least 15 minutes since Sara left. Joe, of course, had been trying to get me to talk about myself, but I always had a way to dodge anything he asked that I didn't want to answer.

"Well," he said, "I think I've cooled down a bit. Wanna go see if there's anything else of interest here?"

I nodded and stood to my feet. "Let's head out."

When we left the bar, I noticed that Reko and Kanna were no longer there. I wondered where they wandered off to. Joe and I went to the smoking area, then into the game room. He was purposely trying to avoid the cafeteria. I couldn't exactly blame him.

As soon as we walked into the game room, Sara was walking out the the red room, struggling to hold a man in a prison outfit.

"Ah, Sara." Joe flinched slightly when he saw the man on her shoulder. "Wait, what the?! What's that?!"

"Was he in the red room?" I asked.

"Yes, he was!" Sara confirmed. "He fainted as soon as he saw me! Joe, give me a hand."

"Got it!" Joe said, going to support Sara. "Let's carry him to the others."

"That was the plan," Sara said.

I followed close behind them as we walked into the Central Hall, making our way to the kitchen. On our way there, we got a suspicious look from Q-Taro.

"Hey!" he shouted. "What the hell's with that guy?!"

"He lost consciousness..!" Sara said.

"Well," Q-Taro said, "I dunno nothin'! Have somebody who'd know check 'im!"

"Gosh.." I muttered. "Thanks for the help."

We walked to the pink room. Hopefully Keiji would have some useful advice for us. As we turned to the room, everyone there looked towards us. Reko was there but I didn't see Kanna anywhere.

"Hm...?" Keiji turned to us. "Sara... Is that..."

"H-Hwahhhhh...?!" Reko yelled. "T-The hell is this about?! That guy on your shoulder...?!"

Sara let out a breath as her and Joe let go of the man. "Lend me a hand please."

She explained how she'd be stuck in the red room and had to do some puzzle to get out. And when she finished the puzzle, a locker appeared and the man was inside there.

Keiji reached down to check the man's pulse. "Relax. He's just fainted."

"Who the hell is this guy.." I murmured.

"He's got a collar," Keiji noted.

"Let's tie him up," Sara said.

"Tie him..?" I asked.

"Ahh," Keiji grinned. "You never miss a beat Sara."

"We'll tie him up with whatever we've got available," Reko agreed.

"As long as he doesn't move," Keiji said, "should be fine. Once he's up, let's leisurely question him."

As I felt a bit of relief, I turned my attention to Nao and Gin. They were still looking at Mishima's body.

"Uhh.." Joe looked at Gin and Nao with a concerned look. "Keiji, are Gin and Nao still..."

".. Yeah," he said. "Still the same as ever. They haven't moved an inch. Hurts me to see, too."

"Might you want to investigate?" Sara asked.

"Well, yeah," Keiji responded. "It's hard, but somebody's gotta do it... And I just so happen to be a pro. Though this is my first time investigating a body I once talked to."