MASKED GAME (05)

[TO MAKE SURE WE’RE ON THE SAME PAGE I AM WRITING IN THESE CAPS TO REMIND YOU THAT KAORU THINKS HARUKA IS DEAD, BUT MAKOTO KNOWS THAT HARUKA’S ALIVE FROM UMINAZO. MAKOTO MET HIM WHEN HE WAS 13. K THX BYE]

M: “…”
M: “Tell me how much you know about ‘me’ first.”

K: “Huh?”

M: “Well? It’s clear that you know things that I don’t. But, do I know things that you don’t?”
Earlier I asked how much he knew about ‘Kaoru’. I thought he ‘should’ know everything I know about Kaoru, so, does that mean he knows everything I know too and more? That’s what bugged me.

K: “Listen, it’s crystal clear that I’m not ‘Akatsuki Makoto’; you can tell by my face, my attitude, and my choice in wardrobe. So obviously I don’t know everything about you.”
K: “I’m not that much of a creep.”

M: “So, you don’t know the big event that happened to me when I was 13?”

K: “I don’t know, you transferred school around that time, right?”

M: “Huh. So I do know something that you don’t.”
I was surprised. I thought.. He had some sort of access to everything I know about.. Everything.

K: “……..”
K: “..Sure, sure. Go on…”

M: “Well, it doesn’t look like I’m planning on telling the real Kaoru ‘this’ anytime soon. So I’m definitely not going to tell the fake one in front of me ‘this’ information.”

K: “What’s this ‘THIS’ you’re talking about?!”
K: “Oh don’t even GO ther-”

M: “If you tell me how to leave I’ll tell you what ‘that’ is.”

K: “No dice.”

M: “That’s too bad.”
M: “Even though I’m offering you the chance to not be an only child anymore.” I said softly.

M: “But you’re so stubborn on keeping me here to solve something that couldn’t be solved since there’s no ‘logic’ here.”

K: “Aaah you’re scary.”
K: “Truly you are.”
K: “But I can’t be bought that easily.”
K: “If there’s something you’re keeping from the real Kaoru, then as much as I want to meddle, it’s none of ‘my’ business.”

M: “It’s none of your business because you’re not real.”

K: “Ssh you’re harsh.”
K: “So be it, I’m not going to question ‘this’ any further. Whatever ‘this’ is. See if I care.”
K: “I’ll say this in the most straightforward way I could possibly think of: There’s no way I’m telling you how to leave.”

I had a feeling I must’ve teased him more than I should.

M: “Don’t be so grumpy.”
M: “You’re supposed to be a good host here.”

K: “You’re right, I’m just a GREAT company. You should be lucky I’m here.”

M: “Huh.”
M: “So? Won’t you lead me to that ‘next person’ or whatever now? And who is it anyway?”

K: “Alright, a deal’s a deal.”
He stopped walking and so did I.

K: “In this world where logic doesn’t apply, did you know that I could use magic?”
He snapped his fingers and a dark hole on the ground just in front of us. He looked at me with a face that says ‘this is awesome, right??! Say it’s so!’ and just waited for my reaction of it all. I don’t think I had a surprised look in my face. There was no point on asking myself ‘how’ he could do this and that either, so I wasn’t confused. So with half a mask attached to my face, I wasn’t really showing much emotion.

I crouched down and looked deep down the hole. It didn’t look like… The floor below us can be seen. It was completely black and there was no telling the height of that hole.

M: “I know I shouldn’t be asking this ‘cause I know you’re just going to say ‘trust me I’m your buddy’ and everything. But is this supposed to be safe?”

K: “Trust me, I’m your buddy!”
K: “I guarantee your safety, so just jump down!”

M: “What’ll happen once I jump down?”

K: “You’ll be falling for a while and then you’ll hit the ground. That’s pretty much how falling works, you should know this!”

M: “I’m not gonna die right?”
Dreams about falling is really common… And I’ve heard the stories behind that dream too. It’s said that if you don’t wake up before you hit the ground, you’ll die. Of course, this kind of theory is ridiculous, I understand that. I was just being cautious. I’m sure I had a dream about falling once or twice before.

K: “I guarantee your safety! You won’t die from this height.”
K: “So, so! Hurry up, that person’s waiting for you! Bet she’s mad at me for keeping you all to myself for this long.”

M: “Fine.”
I gulped. I wasn’t sure what’d happen to me if I die in this dream. Would my mind… Just go blank? I was awake in ‘this place’, so if I lost my consciousness here, where can I go to? I can’t just ‘die’ here. .

M: “Will I see you again?”

K: “Aahhhhh I wonder about that.”

M: “I’m serious.”

K: “You’ll meet Kaoru again once you wake up so don’t put on that kind of face.”
K: “Now get off my hallway!”
He kicked me while I was still in a crouching position with a big laugh. Surprised and definitely not in balance, I fell to the hole.

And so I started falling.