Winter Airs

No matter how long the others waited, Rin couldn't come up with an answer.

So, they waited no longer. Klein and Miles exited the room.

And after a couple of seconds, Lena moved to follow them.

"Lena.", Rin said.

She stopped and then turned to face him. There was another silence, but a much briefer one this time.

"There's something I need you to do."

***

Klein handed them two sets of blankets and pillows, and Lena got to work setting up her sleeping station right away.

Rin didn't follow her lead however, instead opting to approach a lone TV screen sitting in a corner of the room.

It was covered in dust, and the screen was heavily cracked, but Rin didn't care. He simply stared at his own reflection. Never taking his eyes off of it, he waited and waited until a slight distortion caught his attention. Soon after, his own voice emanated from the screen. 

"How was the bank?", his reflection asked.

Rin made sure he was speaking in a low voice.

"Why'd you disappear on me all of a sudden?"

"Why does that matter?"

After checking around himself for a bit, Rin responded with a twinge of anger.

"Lena was taken hostage during your little vacation. You knew that would happen so why not tell me about it?"

"For the same reason I don't tell you about a lot of things. It's more fun that way."

A brief silence. 

Rin started to pick at the bottom of his shirt.

"Stuff like this is different. You should know that."

"And you should know I'd never want anything bad to happen to her. I knew you could handle it and that she'd make it out alive, so I didn't think it would be a problem."

Another silence. His reflection sighed.

"...Can't even trust yourself anymore, huh?"

It was impossible not to flinch at that.

"...Fine. But no more games this time. I want you to tell me everything, whether it has to do with Eva or that detective or any other complication, I want you to tell me now."

After only a moment's delay, his reflection answered back confidently.

"There's nothing to tell you."

With that, their conversation was over, and the long wait began.

***

It was roughly five months until the end of the year and Rin and Lena spent every waking moment of it inside as a safety precaution. 

They spent the first few days just cleaning up the place; wiping up all the dust and washing all the dishes and utensils.

Eventually, the two sat down to rest from their entire day of chores. They stayed silent for a while in order to fully appreciate their brief respite. 

Lena sighed.

"We still have to make dinner..."

She stood after saying that and motioned Rin to follow her.

*Cut*
Rin sliced through the onion with ease. He'd gotten enough practice over the past few days to where he actually looked competent in his work. 

Within seconds, he was finished and looked towards Lena for her approval. 

She had a distant look on her face. Rin glanced at her station and noticed she'd barely even started on her side of things.

"Guess I'm faster than you now, huh?"

Lena's eyes widened slightly. She smiled awkwardly at Rin as she finally got to work. 

They spent the rest of their day in silence.

***

*Knock Knock*
Miles walked through the front door, carrying a big bag of groceries in his arms. He set them down on the dinner table before making conversation.

"How are you guys holding up?", he asked. 

It had been a month since Miles last visited. Rin pulled him aside immediately.

"Hey, is there anything we can do here? Lena's been seeming down lately and without our phones, we've only got some books to read."

Miles looked around the place.

"Well, there might be some board games in the attic-"

"Got it."

Patting him on the shoulder, Rin jogged upstairs to look for anything to stave their boredom.

Within a couple of minutes, Rin came back down with a large stack of different games to choose from. He set them down one by one on the living room floor.

"Hey Lena.", he said.

"Hmm?"

She was reading a book across the room.

"You want to play a game?"

Lena looked up.

They settled on a pack of cards for their entertainment.

"Are you sure we played this game when I was a kid?"

Lena frowned while looking down at her cards.

"Why? Is there something wrong with it?", she asked.

"No, it's not that. Just seems a little simple. Kind of hard to believe I liked it."

He threw down a pair of tens.

"Are you okay with that?"

Rin looked up, confused. Her question didn't make much sense to him.

"Returning to these simple things. Once you get the final key.", she said.

He looked away from her.

"There's still time, you know?", she said.

"...For what?"

"To take his offer."

"I already told you... If you want to take it, you can. Don't use me as an excuse not to."

After a moment of silence, Lena stood up abruptly. She dropped her cards and left without a word. 

They spent the rest of their day in silence.

***

The atmosphere of the house grew cold, and it only got worse once the winter airs started settling in.

*Creak*
Lena leaned down to open a cabinet as Rin walked over to help her clear it out. As soon as she opened it, a roach came scurrying out.

Rin couldn't help but roll his eyes in response to this. He braced himself for the inevitable freak out.

"Can you take care of that?", Lena asked. 

Without even waiting for a response, she reached in to grab a couple of plates, continuing to go about her business with a blank expression on her face. 

Rin just stood there, watching her. 

He couldn't put his finger on what exactly, but there was something sad about her reaction. 

Every day felt the same as the last.

Wake, eat, sleep.

Wake, eat, sleep.

It was a tedious yet simultaneously stressful process where everything in between felt meaningless and all the two could think about was what would be waiting at the end of it.

Regardless of how slow it felt though, time was passing. The outside world was changing.

The streets soon became flooded. Christmas ornaments decorated the neighborhood, snow drizzled from the sky, and a certain someone was making their move.

***

*Knock knock*
Eva turned to face the door to her cell. It was a metal door with only a small window to look through.

After a couple of seconds, the door opened and a female warden stepped inside.

A couple more seconds passed, and the warden stepped out again. But while she was wearing the same clothes, her face was ever so slightly different.

*Tick tock*
The day was New Year's Eve. The clock struck 6:30 PM

Rin and Lena were sitting across from each other at the dinner table. Neither of them spoke as they dined on the final meal of their current lives.

The sounds of their utensils clinking against their plates filled the room.

Rin couldn't even taste the food he was eating. He put down his fork awkwardly and slowly looked up at the person sitting opposite him. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words came out.

Leaving Lena oblivious, he silently returned to his meal. But just as he was about to pick up where he left off, he was interrupted by a knock at the door.

He got up immediately and peered through the peep hole. Two seconds later, he opened the door.

Klein and Miles stepped through for their final visit.

"Here take this."

Miles handed Rin two train tickets. It was time to go.