Reconnecting

On that night, seven years ago, Lena sat at her dinner table looking over some notes. For some reason though, probably because of the noise coming from the television, she couldn't focus.

Normally, the TV wouldn't have been used at all but today was a special circumstance. Her cousin was actually under her care for the day. He was about ten years old at the time and seemed weirdly engrossed in, not only the show, but also the device playing it. 

Deciding to take a break from her studies, Lena walked over to watch with him.

"Do you like this show?", she asked.

"Sort of.", he said.

Lena had to pause to think about how to continue the conversation. 

"Hmm... Hey, how about I record some more episodes for your next visit?"

"You don't-"

"You know just in case you miss anything."

"..."

"I mean, you can't follow along if you don't know what's going on, right?"

The boy stopped responding and when Lena looked back at him, he was no longer there. Blinking twice, she quickly scanned the room but couldn't find him still.

"Goodbye."

Lena followed the sound of his voice and was led to her front door. There, she saw Rin and his mother looking back at her. All she could do was watch as the two of them left and the door closed, obscuring them from view completely.

*Buzz Buzz*
She awoke to the sound of her phone beeping, minutes before her alarm was set to go off. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, she checked her messages.

***

By the time Rin was discharged from the hospital, it had already been a month. There was no time to take it easy though. He dragged his desk chair all the way across the room and set it against his window. Then he opened up the blinds, sat in the chair, and pulled out his phone.

His back was facing the window, and his phone was pressed up against himself in way that only someone directly behind him could see what he was writing.

"It must be a real hassle setting this up every time we need to talk.", his reflection said.

Rin responded by typing something.

"I've got no choice. Klein knows where I live and if he's serious about finding me out, then he's definitely bugged and placed surveillance cameras in my room to see if I'm acting weird."

"Well, maybe he'd be more willing to let you off the hook if you hadn't messed with him so much towards the end of your conversation."

"It doesn't matter. You said you had something important to tell me so say it."

His reflection took a bit but eventually responded.

"Okay then. It's about Lena."

***

Thirty minutes later, Rin exited his room and passed by the living one. As usual, his mother was sitting there, watching the TV with a blank look on her face. Once he'd noticed the empty calendar pinned against the wall, Rin stopped in his tracks. 

Pausing briefly to take a look at the current date, he then glanced back at his mother one more time before finally passing her by and walking out the front door.

The first thing he saw was a black car parked in front of his house; just close enough to arouse suspicion, but just far enough to be chalked up to mere coincidence. No matter where he went, the car followed closely behind him. It was clear as day what was happening.

After walking a couple of blocks down, Rin came across a mall and decided to go inside through the back entrance. 

On his way in, he noticed a see-through room with a bunch of computer screens as well as a lone security officer sitting in front of them. At least he could find some solace in the knowledge that whatever happened to him here would be captured on tape. 

Eventually, he found what he was looking for. A fountain and, sitting in front of it, the person he'd arranged a meeting with. 

***

Rin and Lena sat together, watching the crowds of people passing by and listening to the water splashing behind them. 

"Have you had any trouble with Klein, by the way?", Rin asked.

"Klein?"

Lena turned to look at Rin, who was now looking around at all the shops surrounding them. He seemed to be searching for one in particular. 

"The guy in the suit. The one who visited me at the hospital."

Lena shifted in her seat uncomfortably. 

"Oh him... Yeah, he asked me some questions before. I didn't tell him anything, but..."

"He may have bugged your house. You don't talk to yourself anymore, do you?"

"I never have! And why would he even bug my house?"

Never averting his gaze, Rin responded. 

"Because of your relation to me. So, be careful of what you say and do from now on. And not just at home..."

He tilted his head as if pointing to something. 

Making sure to only move her eyes, Lena took a look and saw two men in suits sitting a bit away from them. One of them was Klein. They didn't seem to be watching her, but that was probably just how they wanted to appear.

"So... You still don't want to involve the police?", she asked.

"There's no need to. As long as we don't go near the pocket watch, they'll never find it. All we have to do is nothing and eventually they'll lose interest in us."

"And if they get tired of waiting and decide to... get rid of us?"

"If they really think we have what they want, then they can't. We're their only leads, after all."

It was clear she wasn't satisfied with his answer.

"You could've called the police yourself. Why didn't you?", Rin asked.

Lena thought back to her earlier dream.

"...I have my reasons.", she said. 

Rin finally gave up his search and looked down as if disappointed.

"What were you looking for?"

"Well, I remember there being a pretzel place around here, but it's been a while, so maybe it's gone?"

"Oh that? Isn't it on the second floor?"

She pointed up as she said that, guiding Rin's gaze in the correct direction. His eyes swept over the floors above him before looking down again.

"Oh...", he said.

"Do you... Wanna go?"

It took a while, but eventually Rin nodded.

With that, the two of them were off and their first stop was the shop Rin seemed so enamored by. The pretzel was soft, warm, and tasted exactly like he remembered. Though, his cousin seemed far less impressed with it while eating.

"Do you know why you were you so curious about this place? It's good, but I wouldn't say it's anything special."

"Hmm... I guess I just have fond memories."

Once done, the two walked around aimlessly as they made small talk.

"So, how's school going for you?"

"I haven't gone in a while. So, I'm probably going to quit soon."

"Oh, well... A-Anything you want to take a closer look at here?" 

"Maybe a couple of things..."

They took a quick glance at any shop that caught their eye. Or maybe it was more accurate to say any shop that caught Rin's eye as on more than one occasion, Lena would lose track of him and later find him lingering somewhere.

She'd take her eyes off him for a second and he'd disappear without a trace. One time he did this, Lena discovered him staring at a wristwatch on display. Another time, he was looking at a demo for a game coming out soon.

Lena's reaction time improved gradually over the course of their visit, and it even got to a point where she'd be able to catch Rin before he could even step away from her. Her need for constant vigilance made her trip to the mall much more stressful than it would have been if she were alone.

"Aren't you a bit too relaxed? Don't forget why you're here.", his reflection said.

The ominous warning came out of nowhere and it snapped Rin back to reality in an instant. He checked the time. It was about an hour until two. He checked behind him to see if they were still being followed. Sure enough, they were.