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No. No, no, no, she was not going to be cornered like this! Karen could feel her heart race as the silhouette against the wall followed her like an apex predator. She was at the bottom of the food chain. And she needed to run.
Just as she turned to face the way ahead, or at least a hiding place to hold her breath and hope she wouldn’t get caught, she only saw a dead end. She glanced around, hearing footsteps loud enough for her to know she didn’t have the time to be picky. She ducked under a cluster of junk, a table left half-folded and rusted chairs that were both left to rot. Holding her hand over her own mouth, she attempted to silence her harsh breathing. Running wasn’t Karen’s strong suit, especially in a chase like this.
How did he get here? That was the most prevalent question she had. Not, “Will I survive?” because with HIM, she doubted she could afford such a luxury. She didn’t attempt to peek as the footsteps got louder.
She could hear him now, yelling for her name.
“Karen! Karen? Karen, where are you?!”
She closed her eyes and kept pacing her breathing. Dripping against her cheeks and burning her eyes, even her own tears reminded her of…HIM. How did he get here? How the FUCK did he find her?
He was so close. Karen could only silently pray. Go away, go away, go away, go away, go away, go away-
“Karen?”
Kneeling down to her eye level was-
“Stay the fuck away from me!” Karen shouted at him. She tried to shrink back into the crevice.
He spoke again, his voice ever so gentle. “Hey, are you alright?”
Karen then realized it wasn’t…HIM.
It was none other than Jun’Ichi. He just looked a lot like HIM.
“Karen?”
“Wh-!” She took a deep breath, trying to maintain her composure.
Even looking at him was hard to manage.
Jun’Ichi asked, “You don’t have to explain yourself. You’re okay.”
Karen didn’t believe a word of that.
There was no point in trusting a man built like Jun’Ichi.
Athletes were all the same, Ultimate or otherwise.
He moved away from her hiding spot. Next to her was a pointed shard of glass, a large fragment of a mirror. Slowly, shard in hand, she got out of her hiding spot. Jun’Ichi was rummaging through the piles of broken debris, muttering over how “he thought it was here.”
“What” was there? Ideas spread around Karen’s mind like a swarm. It was only a matter of time he found “it” and attacked her! With a forceful swing, she hit him with the glass shard, piercing his neck.
Dull streaks of red dripped from the wound. Jun’Ichi looked back, his eyes wide. “K-karen?” He stammered. While it broke the skin, he was still able to speak, if a bit slower due to shock. To Karen, it made sense he was still up.
He was still stronger than her.
She pushed him, making him fall backwards, right where the shard had plunged deeper. Jun’Ichi tried to speak, but between the wound and him gargling his own blood, he wasn’t understood. Karen watched, realizing, as her target lay immobile, what she just did.
Her heart was pounding again. She couldn’t speak either. What was she meant to say to a dying man and her fellow participant. She took a deep breath, and did the only thing she could: Hide Jun’Ichi.
He struggled at first, what didn’t help was that he was heavy. Even Karen, the Ultimate Lifeguard, had a hard time dragging him near the pile of junk she hid in earlier. By the time she was able to cover him, she noticed he was already getting cold.
She really did it…She killed someone.
This is fine, I’m fine. Karen reasoned with herself. For now, remain calm.
She was very lucky that no blood splattered on her person. Not on her skin, her clothes, anything. However, when she appeared at the plaza, the only place every participant was willing to stand around in, there was an unexplainable air between them.
Did they already know about Jun’Ichi? Was she suspicious already?
Shun Matsumura, the Ultimate Hiker, came up to her. While usually she kept a lax, almost dull stance, when she looked at Karen, all she could see was a look of concern. “Karen,” Shun spoke, her voice airy, “There you are. Have you seen Jun’Ichi?”
Her first response was to lie. “No,” She said, “What’s going on?”
Shun opened her mouth, but she sighed, dismissing whatever she was actually going to say. “No one’s seen him for hours.”
The sight of his body flashed in Karen’s eyes. “W-well,” She stammered, “He’s grown, why should we worry?”
“…You have a point there.” Shun agreed, “But it’s not like him to just...” She gestured with a mock explosion. “And…I don’t know, with how small the group is...”
Shun was right, to an extent. Before…What happened to Jun’Ichi, only sixteen people, including Karen, were placed into Gateway. The ghost town, Karen assumed, was only making these feelings worse.
“We’re living in a bubble,” Karen argued, “He couldn’t have gone that…Far.”
It was here that Karen realized she fucked up. Really fucked up. It was only a matter of time before someone would find the body. Then…It would be a matter of time before she was caught. Again, the thought of
Jun’Ichi’s body flashed in her mind.
Not to mention what could happen. With such a small group, how would such a thing be…Recognized? What would happen to her?
Another rang of worry hit as she, and the other participants, watched Basara Nakajima climb onto the disused fountain that rested in the very center of the plaza. Basara was a very scrawny person, a twig compared to the muscular and toned physiques of those like Karen and Jun’Ichi. Yet what made up for their physicality was one thing.
Standing about as tall as they could, Basara requested, “Everyone, I need you to listen.”
It was their strategy.
“I think the best thing to do is search every inch of Gateway. Jun’Ichi might’ve found a way out!” They kept a wide smile as they spoke, “We need to split up, five groups of three.”
For the next fifteen minutes, Basara assigned everyone to a group…Karen couldn’t leave. That would make her suspicious. However, she wasn’t chosen in a group until almost everyone else left. It was just her, Shun, and Basara.
“That makes us the last group.” Basara sighed, getting off the fountain. A few stray pieces crumbled, leaving more room for the dried weeds that kept growing. “We’re going to Storage.”
Karen’s blood ran cold. Storage, or as the fading sign on its wall formerly identified it was “Nest: Storage Hall”, was an area that had long since collapsed in on itself. That wasn’t what separated it from many of the other buildings and areas of Gateway though: It was notorious for how difficult it was to enter, much less traverse in.
It was also where Jun’Ichi’s body laid, cold and hidden.
Shun asked, “That’s why we’re both here?”
With another smile, Basara explained, “Most of my reasoning, yes. I can also crawl into smaller places there.” Then, he added, “I would’ve had Ryou do that, but…”
Ryou was the youngest of the participants at sixteen. However, with their height and their own stature, they looked a few years younger. Not having the kid poke around debris, especially with an already dangerous building, Karen admitted that was a good call.
“Now, let’s go.”
The walk to Storage felt so long. To Karen, it felt like she was being dragged back to the scene of the crime. Suddenly, Basara stopped and said, “Shun, do you mind going ahead?”
“Oh…Sure.” Shun sounded weary, but she followed through, leaving Karen and Basara behind.
Karen was about to speak, but Basara beat her to it. “Thank you for not arguing about this.” They said, giving Karen a look she could only think of as the face of gratitude. With a sigh, they said, “I know you and Jun don’t get along.”
That was an understatement. They witnessed the constant arguing between them. Karen wondered if the reason (or part of the reason) why they were downplaying this was…Because Basara really cared for Jun’Ichi.
She felt guilt eating away at her.
“He’s…” Karen tried to say something about how he was kind (or helpful, friendly, a nice guy. Useful, even), but instead she struggled to say, “A person.”
“Ah…He is.” Basara spoke, but by their stance, Karen realized that wasn’t the best choice of words. “I just hope he’s safe. He doesn’t run off.”
“You say that like you’ve known him forever.” Her sarcastic lash came off meaner than she meant it.
Basara shrugged. “It feels like it. I’ve spent a lot of time with him, I hope we’re friends at least!” They laughed, an inkling of joy despite the situation, “But…Sometimes you just don’t know a side of a person.”
That reminded Karen of someone she had…Still remembered.
“Karen?”
She looked at Basara. “What?”
“…Is something wrong?”
Karen backed away. She said, her breath shaky, “What, I’m fine. Just thinking.”
“No one’s face drops like that when they just ‘think’.” Basara pointed out. They sighed, “As your fellow-” They cut themselves off, “As a friend, if there’s something bothering you…I want to understand your pain.”
Like hell she was going to tell them she killed Jun’Ichi. However, with an offer given so softly…Maybe it was time to at least…Talk about it.
As they walked, Karen wasn’t sure how to word…Any part of HIM. She couldn’t even look at Basara.
“Jun’Ichi reminds me of…Akio Endou.”
Basara asked, “You mean, the Akio Endou? Ultimate Bodybuilder-no, wait, former Bodybuilder?”
Karen nodded. She continued, “We had a relationship.” She waited for Basara to ask if she meant romantic, but they didn’t. She was partially surprised but also accepted it. A moment of comfort. “Things were…We were together, at first, because of our reputations. We both came from wealthy families. His was richer than mine would ever be…But that’s not the point.”
“It was arranged?”
“In all but the name,” Karen admitted, “For the longest time, I’ve known Akio…I thought I was in love with him, but his training became intense.”
“…How?” Basara’s tiny question came out wary. Karen understood why they asked. No one ever heard the answer. She never got past saying it out loud.
She ended up stalling. “I thought it was temporary, since it started during the Olympic tryouts that year…I was wrong. But I kept holding on,” Karen felt pressure behind her eyes, “If only-”
“Karen,” Basara’s tone had changed back to the stern commanding version of them back at the plaza, “What happened?”
“He used performance enhancers.” Karen explained, “I don’t know what exactly, for the longest time they weren’t detected. For…A while after he used…He did a lot of things to me.” She felt her throat go try. The pressure behind her eyes stopped, only for tears to drip against her cheeks.
It had been so long since she was able to cry about this.
Basara said, speaking so carefully that Karen thought they were trying to avoid an emotional landmine, “That’s terrible, Karen. I’m sorry I made you relive that.” They bowed.
“You didn’t know.” Karen assured, “But…Thanks for listening.”
For once, Karen felt…Comfort. Yes, she didn’t elaborate what HE did, but that would’ve been too much for Basara to hear. Not wasn’t the time. She wasn’t sure if there would ever be a right time. Not while Jun’Ichi was gone by her hands.
With their conversation lasting a while, Shun was already trying to find Jun’Ichi.
“Jun’Ichi! Jun?” She yelled, her voice making a light echo against the walls. When she noticed Karen and Basara, she perked up and asked, “What took you guys so long?”
Basara just said, “We got caught up in something. You didn’t go inside?”
Shun shook her head.
“Alright, that’s fine.” They took a deep breath and lead Shun and Karen inside the tilted entrance.
As they rummaged around, Karen was left stunned. She wanted to somehow further hide Jun’Ichi’s body, leave and pretend nothing happened while living in Gateway. However another, harsher plan, was to let his body be found. All Karen would do then is feign ignorance.
She had to play the waiting game until then.