Snakeskin (Tangerine) ✓

五

The Cobra

Lemon made his way down the train. He glanced into the luggage racks in each gangway, before continuing into the next car. When he reached the first class lounge, I slipped into an empty row in the car before. I couldn't follow him into the empty lounge. He would recognise me immediately and my cover would be blown.

I sat impatiently in the seat, tapping my foot on the ground in angst. He had been in there for a while—almost five minutes. I was about to stand up and peer through the window, when he trudged past me, empty-handed.

Thank fucking god! I sighed in relief. He hadn't found the hidden case; it must still be concealed behind the trash panel. I jumped out of my seat and headed into the lounge to check anyway. It was too important and I just had to make sure it was there.

The door slid open as I approached and I entered the room. It was empty, except for the Wolf. I headed into the kitchen and opened the panel, my jaw dropping in shock at the empty bin. The briefcase was gone! But Lemon hadn't taken it. That meant someone else must have found it, and Ladybug hadn't been down this way since I had the last checked on the bag. Who could have taken it?

I ran back up the train after Lemon. He was seated back in his chair, so I continued past, deciding to check on Tangerine and Ladybug instead. They were both somewhere at that end of the train. I walked towards the end of the train, passing through the momomon-themed car, and heading through the gangway towards the storage car at the back.

I stepped out of the way, as a train attendant pushed a fully stocked trolley out of the room. She had one thousand yen in hand and was stuffing it into the money pouch around her waist. She thanked me as she passed and I simply nodded in return, smiling politely until she exited the gangway.

A muffled clunk and a yell of anger sounded from the room, and I peered in from the outside, seeing something I had expected to see much earlier in the trip: Tangerine and Ladybug were fighting in the storage car. For what reason? I had no idea. Neither of them had the case to my knowledge, so it was kind of pointless. They fell through the window into the back room, so I stepped forward, entering the storage room as the door slid open,

A large gust of wind blew through the smashed glass and I ran forward to see the emergency exit door had opened. Ladybug and Tangerine were nowhere to be seen and my first thought was that they had fallen out of the door. I leaned out the window, trying to see if they had fallen on the tracks, but to my surprise, a hand gripped the extended seatbelt of the chair, hanging out the door.

Ladybug was holding on for dear life and over his shoulder, Tangerine was clutching his leg. With a sigh, I leaned out of the door, gritting my teeth at the pressure from the strong wind. I extended my hand out, trying to get Ladybug's attention.

"Grab my hand," I yelled over the deafening roar of the wind and the train. "Here!"

Ladybug looked up at me, recognition flickering across his face. He rolled his eyes but took my hand nonetheless. When I pulled him into the car, I extended my hand again to Tangerine. He stared at me with wide eyes, realisation dawning on his dishevelled face. I didn't say anything, just waited for him to take my hand. He did, and I hauled him into the car, pressing the button to close the door behind him.

I turned around to face them both. Ladybug looked annoyed but Tangerine was staring at me with his. mouth agape like a fish. I didn't say anything, just stared impassively between them.

"Bronte?"

There it was. He seriously thought he could address me as if nothing had happened. My blood was boiling and I acted out of pure rage when I pulled my knife from my coat and threw it, wedging it into the wall right beside Tangerine's head. He looked slightly shocked but didn't dare to say anything else.