Inheritance

While Rin remained silent, it was because he was focused on something no one else would have been.

"So, he really did make it? The stasis bomb? I didn't think it was possible to make something powerful enough to destroy the world."

Klein looked over at him. 

"It's honestly impressive. Being able to make something like that.", Rin said.

"Aren't you wondering?"

The two locked eyes. 

"About?"

"If your father was one of my problems..."

After such a heavy question, Klein expected an intense reaction, but he got nothing of the sort. Instead, Rin simply moved onto his next locker.

"You already know I was never really close with him, so whether or not you killed him doesn't mean anything to me.", he said. 

"Then aren't you bothered at all? That someone related to you is responsible for endangering the entire world. That he may be the reason you don't wake up tomorrow. Does that also mean nothing to you?"

Silence. 

Klein couldn't help but scoff.

"...The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh?"

Rin's grip tightened around the rails of the ladder. 

"You know, just a couple of months ago, I would've hated being compared to him. I can't even remember the last time he was around. Never coming home, leaving me with mom, letting someone else raise me... I hated him."

A brief pause.

"But I sort of get it now. He found something special. I have no right to judge him for chasing after it."

Another brief pause.

"The things you enjoy doing, what you find fulfilling, the choices you make. All of that's up to you. What I do or think is my business, and I'm tired of others acting like it's any of theirs. So, don't lecture me on how I should feel. I can figure that out on my own."

Despite his insistence however, Rin loosened his grip on the ladder. 

Silence filled the room again as their chat had ended. Rin tried to brush past it.

He brought his key ring up to his face, read the labels on each one, and then opened another locker. Inside was just a small piece of paper. It seemed to have been haphazardly torn out of a notebook. Rin held onto his key ring with his mouth, then reached out to it with his only free hand. 

It was dark, so he had to squint, but one look was all he needed to figure out what it was. He climbed down the ladder quickly.

"S.B. Four, two, and... one.", Klein said.

They were the letters and numbers written on the paper.

"S.B. has to mean stasis bomb, right?", Rin asked.

"Probably. I can't imagine anything else it could be."

"What about the numbers? Do they mean anything to you?"

Klein took a moment to think about it before responding.

"No. Nothing immediately at least. My only guess is it's some sort of pin."

"Would it only be three digits long though?"

"Hmm... That's a good point."

The two fell into silence yet again, but it was broken rather quickly.

"...A safety deposit box number."

Rin looked up at him.

"Why do you say that?", he asked.

"For some reason, he started visiting the bank daily after work. At the time, I thought nothing of it, but now I wonder if..."

"...Well, it's definitely worth looking into."

"You think it'd be in such an obvious place?"

"Even if it's obvious, it doesn't change the fact it's a secure location that's hard to get into."

"Then if it is there, how do we get it?"

"Did you forget? I'm his son. All I have to do is ask for a withdrawal and the key is ours."

Klein looked to the side.

"Guess that's as good a plan as any."

Rin pushed his hands into his pockets with confidence before moving towards the elevator. Klein looked back at him. But when he turned to do so, Rin wasn't there anymore. 

***

Klein stood face to face with the man in the trench coat.

"You're already finished for the day, aren't you? So, what are you doing back here?", Klein asked him.

No response. The man simply made his way for the exit. Klein continued his interrogation.

"And that thing you were cradling in your hand?"

The man stopped in his tracks. The two were right beside each other now but staring in opposite directions.

"So, you finished...", Klein said.

"...No. Not yet."

Klein turned his head to look at him.

The man clutched onto the stasis bomb tightly.

"I still... I still have work to do.", he said.

"...And your family?"

No response. The man began walking again. 

***

Rin continued his walk towards the elevator.

"Wait a second.", Klein said.

Rin stopped in his tracks. He turned slightly to show he was listening.

"One thing before we go."

Klein made his way over to Rin and dug into his pockets as he did. Then, he raised his closed fist as if waiting for Rin to hold out his hand.

Surprisingly, what Rin felt against his palm was smooth, glass-like even. It was the crystal-clear stasis bomb. Needless to say, Rin was utterly dumbfounded by this.

"...Is this some sort of trick?", he asked. 

"No trick. You can have it. Without any of the keys, it's a useless hunk of junk anyway."

Rin took a while to examine the device now that he had it back again. For some reason, it felt like it fit perfectly in his hand.

"Daigo. Your father... I didn't actually kill him. I couldn't.", Klein said.

Somewhat ignoring what he was saying, Rin turned over the device in his hand to see it from all angles.

"But it didn't matter at the end of the day...", Klein continued.

Once again, it seemed like Rin wasn't really paying attention. He was fully captivated by the device.

"Because he did it himself."

Rin's eyes widened in response to this. He stopped his movements suddenly and looked up slowly. For some reason, the room was getting whiter and whiter as Klein spoke again.

"I can't be completely sure why but learning about these keys gave me some idea."

The layout, the desks, all of the texture, and all of the things that gave it a sense of shape or form were disappearing now too, leaving only Rin and Klein behind.

"He probably couldn't live with what he'd done then created those locks and took his own life as a way of atoning. Or maybe, he never made that thing in the first place and went crazy trying to figure out a way to contain it."

Rin looked back down at the device sitting in his hand as Klein continued.

"Either way, his obsession with it led him somewhere he could never go back from. So maybe you're right. Maybe I don't have any right to judge you or tell you how to feel. But I figured you should at least know the whole story before you start sympathizing with that moron..."

Having finished, Klein made his way to the elevator and tapped Rin on the shoulder as he passed him.

"Let the stasis bomb be a reminder of that."

Klein continued walking away, leaving Rin alone with his thoughts. He stared down at the stasis bomb with a pained look on his face. He then raised his left hand to wipe his forehead but noticed something before he could.

Something was strapped to his left wrist. It was the watch Lena had given him on his birthday. He'd almost forgotten he was wearing it. With both his arms raised, Rin stared at the two items beside one another, unable to decide between the two lives they represented.