[LOBBY 4]

Masaru takes in a deep breath of cool air as he opens his eyes and sees the perfect white fan, spinning perfectly in his perfect little room in the hospital.

“Okay,” he says to himself. He’s not even sure what it means yet. Perhaps it’s an okay to what lies ahead, an okay to Sato figuring himself out so abruptly, or an okay to his realization about The Stranger. The thought that burns through his mind the most as he gets out of the bed, however, is of The City and his copy. What kind of game are you playing? he wonders.

He goes to the elevator and pushes the button. It opens, and the doctor is there, its cool glasses glinting from the lights. Masaru raises a brow, pauses a moment, and steps in. He gives the doctor a short, vague hum as he presses the button to head to the lobby. As usual, the doctor acknowledges Masaru respectfully, and the two have a quiet descent down to the first floor, a trip that Masaru realizes is becoming less awkward every time.

“I’m not going to get comfortable here,” Masaru says abruptly, breaking the silence as the doors open.

The doctor just gives him another supportive nod and heads out the door with him. Rounding to the lobby, Masaru sees that Kenji’s already there, with his head pressed against the scope of his rifle as he curls into himself.

He must not have heard me, Masaru thinks. “Kenji?”

All of a sudden, Kenji jolts up with wide, surprised eyes. “Oh, hey,” the grizzled man starts. “I didn’t hear you.”

Masaru just hums again. “Are you doing all right?”

“Yeah,” Kenji says with a nod as he glances aside. “I’m just thinking.”

“So, you ready then?”

“For what?” Kenji asks. His eyes glance to Masaru for only a second, revealing uncertain eyes.

“You know, all I need is one round from your gun,” Masaru says.

Kenji’s eyes turn back to his weapon. He pauses a moment as he just breathes. “It’s a rifle, kid…”

“I’m not a kid,” Masaru says. “I know you don’t want help, but let me do it anyway.”

“You can’t give me the kind of help I need,” Kenji says matter-of-factly. “No one can. No one but me.”

Masaru purses his lips as he hears Valerie’s shoes tapping along the tile in the distance. “Sato was pretty simple once he had someone else with him.”

Kenji’s brows raise up. “That…” He stops himself with a scoff. “That moron figured it out so quickly…”

Masaru gets a short smirk. “I don’t think he was a moron, Kenji. Not anymore. He had a simple problem and he just couldn’t see past it… and I think once you’re willing to let us in, that’s going to be the situation for you too.”

Kenji squints as he looks over the matte finish of his smoke-gray colored rifle. “If only it were that simple.”

“Complicated people can have complicated problems,” Masaru says. “And maybe you have the worst one. I don’t know, but what I do know is that having someone there to understand what you’re dealing with might help you see it better.”

Kenji’s hands turn white around his rifle as he strengthens his grip around the heat sink on the barrel and the buttstock. “I’m someone that fixes problems, Mr. Abe. I don’t pull people down with them.”

“Well, you’re pulling me down,” Masaru says. “You’re bumming me out. And I’d like you to stop it.”

There’s a pause between the two of them as Valerie steps in, looks between the two of them, and squints.

“…I think I’m going to take a quick lap around the hospital,” she says.

Masaru looks at her and sees the meaning behind her eyes. He nods. “Don’t be long.”

Valerie smiles, looks over at Kenji, and then turns away. The two of them wait for a moment until she’s out of earshot.

“Is letting someone trust you one time that much of a threat?” Masaru asks. “What’s there to lose?”

Kenji shakes his head. “Like I said, it’s not that simple. I’m a man, and I deal with my own problems in my own way. Yuna’s a kid, and Sato must have been a real idiot to have his problems solved so easily by someone else. No one knows me better than I do.”

Masaru nods. “That’s true. But in the same way, don’t you think that people can see things others can’t? Like you said, Sato and Yuna, they’re both in different places in their lives, mentally, emotionally.” He pauses as he gauges Kenji’s RES stat. It’s almost as easy as breathing for him now.

[RES]: 17/100

“That doubt’s going to creep into you eventually,” Masaru says.

Kenji scoffs. “It’s already there, kid.”

“It’s Masaru,” he snips back. “I may not have seen the things that you’ve seen. but if you’ve spent your whole life trained to focus on certain things, maybe someone that hasn’t been through those things can see more clearly.”

“More clearly,” Kenji repeats with a scoff before looking up to Masaru. “You don’t even understand a drop in the bucket. You don’t understand what I’ve been through.”

“You’re right,” Masaru says without skipping a beat. “I don’t. I’m a salaryman, and that job, for me, is hard. I have no doubt in my mind that the things you’ve seen, had to do, had to accept, might be worse than anything I’ve ever imagined.”

“You’re right,” Kenji says with an impatient tone. “You don’t get it, so don’t bother.”

Masaru pauses until Kenji looks him in the eyes. He understands the man a little better now.

“Is it because you’re scared?” Masaru asks.

Kenji has nothing to say to that. His breaths become sharper, louder for a few seconds as his teeth grit and his eyes flare.

“Masaru,” Kenji says after a pause.

“Yes?”

Kenji closes his eyes for a moment, takes a deep breath, and opens them again. “I don’t want to die here. I don’t want to fade away.” He pauses again as he licks his dried lips. “But I don’t want you to see it. I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to acknowledge it. Some problems a man just has to handle on his own.”

Masaru shakes his head. “That might be the case. Maybe for some things. But if you don’t have it in you to reach out, to be understood by someone else when it’s clearly something you need…” Masaru pauses. “Because you do need it, don’t you?”

Kenji pauses, finally looks up to Masaru to hold eye contact, and nods.

“Then,” Masaru continues, “you need to be brave enough to take a chance.”

The two are silent for a moment, and then a whole minute. Finally, they can hear Valerie’s shoes tapping in the hallway. She returns to the silent room with two men looking at each other.

“Do I need to take another lap?” Valerie asks with a sigh.

Masaru opens his mouth to speak, but Kenji shakes his head. He pulls back on his rifle’s charging handle to eject a round in the air. With the smallest effort, he catches it mid-flight before standing up. “Here.” Kenji pauses. “Masaru,” he adds before handing him the round. “Put that in your briefcase, and I’ll show you what I’m going through.”

Masaru nods. “Okay… No need to hang around. Is everyone ready?”

Valerie, her brow raised, nods. Kenji scoffs and nods twice. Masaru turns for the black doors.

“Then no more wasted time,” he says, stepping forward.

The clock reads 8:17 PM.