Unresponsive

*Tick tock, tick tock*
Rin listened to the sound of the clock as he watched the window closely. He couldn't see the room on the other side of it, but he didn't need to. What he was so engrossed in was the surface of the window itself.

His reflection was finally back. 

"Been a while. Ready to learn where the final key is?"

After a moment of silence, Rin looked back at the detective.

"I refuse.", he said.

Two words. All it took was two words for the room's atmosphere to change.

"W-What are you saying?", Lena asked. 

"I'm not taking the deal."

"You don't get to just decide that."

Lena lowered her voice into a whisper. 

"Rin, this is crazy, it's time to put a stop to this."

"I will... But I'm doing it on my terms."

After that brief exchange, Lena looked back at the detective.

"He can't just do that right? Refuse your offer, I mean."

"Unfortunately, ma'am, he has every right to. I can't force him to tell me anything.", the detective said.

"Well, I'm taking the deal, and I say he's coming with me."

"And who says you get to decide that?", Rin asked.

The detective glanced at him, before returning his gaze to Lena.

"He's right. You can't just force him to come along with you."

"Yes, I can. I'm his guardian, so he doesn't get a choice."

She glared at Rin who let out a tiny snort in response to her words. He couldn't hide how ridiculous he found the idea to be.

"Okay wait. How old is your son?", the detective asked.

"S-Son? No. He's, my-"

"I'm eighteen.", Rin said.

Lena glared at him again before turning back to the detective.

"He just turned eighteen."

"Still makes me an adult."

"Technically an adult."

"Legally you mean."

"Well whatever word we use; you're still acting like a child."

The two turned to glare at each other yet again before looking away in anger. 

*Tick tock, tick tock*
The detective glanced between the two of them before packing up his files.

"Well, if he's legally an adult and you're not even his legal guardian, then he can make his own decisions."

He stood up. 

Rin followed suit, but right as he did, the detective spoke up again.

"But as an adult, he also has to take responsibility for his actions. You can't blame anyone but yourself if things go wrong."

No response.

The detective handed Rin a card.

"If you ever change your mind, contact me. Until you do, we'll be placing you under heavy surveillance. If I ever get any more concrete evidence that you and Eva are connected, you'll be placed under arrest immediately."

He left Rin and Lena alone with only their thoughts and the ticking clock to keep them company.

***

It was completely dark when they got out. Klein was already there waiting for them. He was going to say something but ultimately decided against it once he realized how pissed Lena was.

"Unbelievable! Just unbelievable..."

There was no response from Rin as she kept grumbling to herself.

"Why'd you have to do that? We had the perfect deal, and you just had to..."

Rin tried to sneak away from her for a bit, but it proved to be a useless effort as Lena zeroed in on him immediately. 

She grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him furiously.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"...I'm sorry, okay? But think about it. We can't trust him. He might just be trying to incriminate us and if he's not, you can still take the deal yourself..."

Lena stopped shaking him.

"And what about you?", she asked.

Rin averted his gaze. There was no response.

Lena looked away from him in disbelief.

"...Don't you get it? You're just going to get yourself killed."

Before Rin could say anything, he was interrupted by the sound of a car's engine. A vehicle approached them and rolled down its window to reveal Miles sitting in the driver's seat. 

"It's ready.", he said.

Klein and Rin looked at each other, nodded, then got climbed into the car. Lena was the only one confused, but with no other course of action, followed the other two inside.

***

They reached their destination shortly. It was a small, rundown, and very old looking house. 

"Where are we?", Lena asked.

"An old safe house.", Klein said.

The house was just as rundown on the inside with large amounts of dust everywhere. Lena covered her mouth as she looked around the entrance.

*Creak*
Klein opened a door slightly and then gestured everyone else to his side. He revealed a staircase that seemed to descend into an everlasting darkness.

"Before you go in, leave behind any phones, watches, belts, or anything else you have that gives off a reflection.", Rin said.

Lena gave him a weird look.

"Just trust me."

She looked away from him again, frowning slightly.

Everybody else patted themselves down in search of any kind of object that fit Rin's description. 

Rin dug into his pockets and slapped his phone onto a table nearby.

He unbuckled his belt around his waist and did the same with it immediately.

Finally, he unstrapped the watch sitting on his wrist.

He paused to look at it for a couple of seconds, a moment of doubt entering his mind. But it wasn't strong enough.

He placed the wristwatch on the table along with the rest of the objects and followed Klein down the flight of stairs. Candles lit the way as they descended into a completely barren room. 

Rin looked around, leaned down, and checked every corner.

"No windows, no puddles, no metals or glass..."

"So, what's the point of talking in a room like this?", Miles asked.

"I'll get to that later, but there's something else we have to talk about first."

Once done examining the room, Rin stood up and turned to face everyone.

"December 31st."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"On that day, someone will be leaving town by train at 8 PM... They have the last one."

"The key?", Klein asked.

Rin simply nodded in response.

Klein crossed his arms as he leaned against a wall.

"The last one, huh?"

"Just one more and we're done."

Rin looked at Lena as he said that. She didn't look back. 

"And who says you need to be the one to handle it?"

It was Miles who said that.

"Give us a name and we'll track the guy down ourselves. Your role in this is over."

"I don't have a name to give you.", Rin said.

"What does that mean?"

"It means he's forcing us to take him.", Klein said.

"That's right.  You don't know their name or even what they look like. Which means I'm the only one who can identify them."

"And how do we even know your information is accurate?", Miles asked.

"He's already led us to two keys. I believe him."

Despite Klein saying that though, he seemed a little unsure himself. He looked Rin directly in the eyes.

"I know there's probably no convincing you, but I want you to think back on our conversation from before."

He hesitated slightly before continuing.

"And whether or not you're following in your father's footsteps right now."

The room went completely silent. Rin couldn't bring himself to answer him.

There was no response.