A Botched Dealing

Rin stared at his reflection in the window of a shop. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a clock which showed him the time. 

"Hey!"

Lena's voice called out to him. Rin looked back to see her rapidly approaching. She looked a little annoyed.

"You can't just keep wandering off on your own."

Before Rin could respond, the intercom cut through the entire mall.

"Attention shoppers. Certain stores will be closing earlier due to unfortunate circumstances. We apologize for the inconvenience."

The intercom turned off, leaving Rin and Lena with only the white noise filling the rest of the space.

"Listen, I... I didn't mean to yell at you like that.", Lena said.

A brief silence.

"Sorry Lena, but I need to get back now."

"O-Oh, sure okay..."

With that, their trip to the mall was over and they walked over to the escalators in total silence. 

However, instead of funneling out of the exit most people did, Rin turned in the completely opposite direction of it. Lena followed him, wondering if he would correct course soon. But he never did.

They found themselves at a door off to the side, which was marked as another exit by the sign above it. Opening the doors revealed a long hallway. 

"Um, why are we going this way?", Lena asked.

"Just to make sure..."

"Make sure of what?"

Rin held the door open as he waited for Lena to follow. She hesitated for a bit but ultimately decided to join him. 

"I want to make sure they're actually following us."

As soon as he said it, the doors behind them opened again. Lena's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. Luckily, they were coming up on a corner so they could get out of their pursuers' lines of sights for a bit.

Lena suddenly stopped walking once they turned. Noticing this, Rin glanced back at her, curious as to what she would do. 

She seemed to be waiting for their stalkers to catch up to them as she leaned against the wall.

The footsteps were getting louder and louder, reverberating throughout the hallways to an almost deafening effect. 

They were right around the corner now. It was time for Lena to spring into action. She jumped out and kicked as hard as she could, hitting her target squarely. 

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!! WHAT THE HELL!?"

The younger of the two men was squealing on the floor. He clutched his crotch delicately as he yelled in pain.

"Oh god. I'm so sorry!", Lena said.

"Why'd you have to kick me there!?"

"I didn't mean to. I was aiming for your leg!"

As she spoke, she seemed to remember why she'd even kicked him in the first place. It took no time at all for her to switch to a more indignant tone. 

"Well, it's your fault for following us everywhere!"

Lena pulled Rin towards her protectively and then dragged him towards the doors. 

Klein never took his eyes off the two of them as they left. It was lucky he didn't as he noticed Rin dropping a crumpled-up piece of paper before exiting the hallway.

***

Lena pulled her cousin by the arm as she rushed through the mall. Rin didn't seem to be in as much of a hurry as she was, but he showed no resistance to her leading him around. At least, he didn't until he noticed a food stand out of the corner of his eye.

He immediately stopped in his tracks, forcing Lena to recoil back in response. She took one look at him and then at what he was looking at before speaking. 

"We should leave now."

"But... I'm kind of hungry."

"Why are you acting like nothing's wrong here? Especially after what just happened."

"Well, it's not like they did anything to us. And we're in a much more populated area now. There's no way they'd try anything here."

Lena rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. She was too much of a pushover.

The two sat down after ordering.

"They're still following us...", Lena said.

Rin didn't even bother to check. He did take a look around the general area though. While a lot of people passed through, very few of the seats near them were taken. 

There was only one person seated a table away from them. From the look on his face though, it seemed like this was the last place he wanted to be. Out of nowhere, Rin spoke in a hushed voice.

"Listen Lena..."

"Hmm?"

"No matter what happens, don't panic. I promise it'll be okay."

"What are you talking about?"

Before he could answer, Rin spotted someone entering the area. He was carrying a paper bag and just from a glance, it was clear he was a shady character. 

Despite that though, he was confident in his stride, only briefly pausing to scan the tables before walking over to one. He went right past the nervous man sitting alone, threw the bag onto another table, himself into an empty chair, and spoke without concern. 

"The money and instructions are inside..."

Lena didn't seem to realize what was happening at first. The shady man immediately noticed this. He looked between her and Rin. His gaze turned cold as he gauged both of their expressions before tilting his head upwards. 

He sighed heavily.

*Click*
A sound anyone could recognize with ease. Under the table, the man was holding something. It was a pistol, and it was aimed directly at the two sitting opposite him. 

"Don't move. Either of you. If you do anything that looks suspicious, you both die..."

Lena had a look of pure terror on her face now. She trembled from head to toe as she tried to better the situation. 

"We- We swear we won't tell anyone-"

"Quiet. I need to figure this out."

Rin bit the inside of his mouth. His heart was starting to beat faster and faster. The white noise from the rest of the mall was loud, but it paled in comparison to his own breathing.

Suddenly he felt Lena's hand grabbing his arm. Her grip was shaky. Whether she'd done this for Rin or just to calm herself down was unclear, but it did bring him a tiny bit of calm. However temporary that feeling would soon be. 

"...No other choice.", the shady man said.

*Bang*
The shot echoed throughout the entire mall and the white noise had completely died down as screams filled the void. 

***

It took a few moments for Lena to realize she could still hear the world around him. She opened her eyes slowly to see the shady man gone from his seat. Looking down, she found him writhing in pain on the floor, blood dripping endlessly from his shoulder.

She looked around and saw the two suited men standing there, still watching over her. Then she looked back just in time to see Rin lean forward to grab the paper bag sitting atop the table.

"W-Wait!"

She grabbed his arm weakly. 

"Not a good idea.", she said.

"Why?", he asked. 

Lena's eyes tilted upwards as she thought of how to respond.

"Umm, you... your fingerprints! You could get your fingerprints on it."

Rin looked back at the bag for a bit actually considering the consequences of this possibility. Ultimately though, he shrugged.

"Then it shouldn't be a problem as long as we keep it."

He said it so casually Lena was left utterly speechless. 

He peered into the bag and found a portable voice recorder as well as a stack of dollar bills bound together inside. What caught his attention the most however, was something nobody else would've even given a second glance.