Kisaragi Station || Apocalypse Paradise #3

214: Let's Take Turns Being Suspicious

No one knew if the Rena in the apartment was the same as the previous Rena in the corridor.

When Lin Sanjiu flew into the apartment unit following Reno, she wasn't even sure if the young man in front of her was the real Reno. She suppressed her immediate urge to use her [Consciousness Mimicry] and hovered in midair. Rena, standing in the living room, seemed to sense something was wrong. The girl quickly stood straight, guarded.

"Rena, let me attack you once," Reno said softly after a moment. "This is the only way I can verify your identity."

Rena narrowed her eyes at Reno. She took two steps back and raised her chin. "Okay... But you have to let me hit you first."

The atmosphere froze. The siblings watched each other for some time. Neither of them could agree with the other party's proposition. Lin Sanjiu wasn't even confident about who they were.

The only certain thing was that Reno and Rena had already been seriously corroded by dark matter over these few bizarre days. If either of them were to receive an attack from a spirit, there was no telling if they would share the same fate as Lin Sanjiu. Furthermore, neither of them had any Higher Consciousness ability.

After contemplating for some time, Lin Sanjiu gritted her teeth, floated between the two teenagers, and spelled out: THEY MIGHT HAVE LEFT. WHY DON'T WE JUST REST FOR A BIT?

Presently, Lin Sanjiu couldn't think of a better idea. For now, she couldn't bring herself to leave this building. She could only calm the siblings and wait for things to unfold. Lin Sanjiu's suggestion helped ease the hostile tension between the siblings slightly.

To keep an eye on each other, the siblings cleared the space in the living room. They sat cross-legged in the center of the room and interrogated each other cautiously about their past shared experiences. Each time they spoke, they would start with, "Do you remember that year..." With each question, they would try to probe further and scrutinize each other.

Lin Sanjiu floated in midair as she monitored the siblings with full attention. Meanwhile, she ran through what had happened over the few days, trying to make some deductions about the situation. Even though she had a vague feeling that she had caught something, she could not unravel the veil covering the truth. She knew the siblings did not have the same experiences and information about the situation. Yet, she still couldn't make sense of many things or think of an explanation no matter how hard she tried.

She floated around the room unconsciously and suddenly realized that the room had turned silent. The siblings stared at each other. Lin Sanjiu couldn't tell from their expressions if they were more relaxed or guarded than before.

"Brother, why do you remember only some events?" Rena asked quietly. Just when Reno was about to reply to her, Rena seemed eager to skip over the matter and shook her head. "Forget it. Let's talk about it later. It's getting late. What should we do now?"

"We still have to do what we have to do," Reno replied, strait-laced. He shot a sidelong glance at his sister and went to lie on a sofa, which was part of a two-piece set, allowing the siblings to each occupy one. They sat opposite each other so that they could monitor one another.

"Preserve our strength. Sleep," he said rather brusquely.

He then turned his back to Rena and didn't move for some time. No one could tell if he was sleeping. In Kisaragi Station World, the nights were always longer than the daytime, with the last rays of the sun disappearing from the sky by around four or five pm. There was only pitch-black darkness outside the windows.

Lin Sanjiu didn't know how much time had passed. She sensed a subtle shift, not quite a sound, perhaps just a change in the air current. It roused Lin Sanjiu from her training, which she hadn't fully immersed herself in, thus making little progress. However, she had managed to fully develop her skull. With her brain entirely encased, she was now a floating skull.

Lin Sanjiu used her Higher Consciousness to scan the room without moving. She noticed Reno sitting up on his sofa, observing his motionless sister and the silent skull with controlled movements. He quietly stood up and headed to the bathroom, a necessity they couldn't avoid despite agreeing to stay within sight. When either of them had to go to the bathroom, neither wanted to follow along.

As Reno left, Rena, who had been feigning sleep, turned over. Apart from the suspicion between them, everything seemed normal. When Reno returned and lay on his sofa again, they resumed their silent vigil, enveloped once more in a deathly silence.

Nothing changed for a few hours as the night grew darker. It was so dark that it was a little frightening.

As dawn approached, the siblings remained on their sofas, unaware of Lin Sanjiu's stealthy flight out of the window. She surveyed the floors above and below, finding them equally dark and devoid of life. It seemed like there was only one pair of siblings in the entire building, the ones with her. Despite wanting to explore further, she worried about potential risks. After careful consideration, she returned to the apartment unit anxiously.

Rena lay motionless with her back turned, but when Lin Sanjiu flew past her, she couldn't help but react. Unsurprisingly, Rena had been awake the entire night and was now trying to catch Lin Sanjiu's attention. Despite Rena's face being obscured by the sofa's shadow, Lin Sanjiu's heightened perception through her Higher Consciousness allowed her to discern the girl's expression.

'What is she doing?' Lin Sanjiu thought as she drifted over, puzzled.

Rena's expression relaxed, though her body was still tense, and she didn't dare to move. She gestured to Lin Sanjiu with her mouth to look behind her.

As Lin Sanjiu looked over, she was greeted by a sight that nearly made her fall from midair in shock. When she had returned to the living room, her mind preoccupied, she had only given the siblings on the sofas a cursory glance, so she didn't notice anything unusual. Rena lay on her sofa with her back facing outward, while Reno appeared to be facing his sister...

He was indeed facing his sister, his gaze fixed on her. However, beneath his face, Lin Sanjiu could see his backbone, unmistakably his back. That is to say, Reno had twisted his head 180°, staring at Rena with narrowed eyes while maintaining the act of breathing.

As Lin Sanjiu shuddered, wondering why Rena had not acted, she saw the girl waving to her with subtly. Rena still looked frightened, but her face showed determination.

Lin Sanjiu was stunned for a second but quickly reacted. Rena sat up slowly, acting like she was going to the bathroom. "Reno" immediately turned his head back when Rena turned over, reverting to a normal position.

Rena beckoned Lin Sanjiu while standing outside the bathroom. Lin Sanjiu quickly floated to the other end of the room, acting like she was trying to find a place to rest. Since Lin Sanjiu was translucent, hiding her presence in the dark wasn't hard. Seeing that "Reno" did not notice anything, Lin Sanjiu and Rena slipped into the bathroom and closed the door.

"If we inadvertently alert him," Rena whispered, barely audible, "it might be fine if we manage to destroy him. However, if we can't, we're back to square one. But even if we do destroy him, I still won't know where my brother is... Why don't we continue to secretly observe him? Maybe we could find clues to Reno's whereabouts."

The girl seemed to have thought through the matter multiple times. Even though she stuttered a little, scared, she sounded very convinced. Even though Lin Sanjiu doubted that the thing would bring them to Reno, she agreed with Rena after some thought.

"I'll go out first. You can go back to the living room a little later. I don't want him to find out we were together." After saying that, Rena waited a few seconds before opening the door. Nothing had changed in the living room. 'Reno' was still lying motionlessly on his sofa.