After I told my brother and Mei about what I learnt about Reina, we immediately went out of the apartment, leaving behind the groceries. Honestly, my brother couldn't have came at a better time.
When we get in the car, Mei immediately begins to start the car whilst I put my seat belt on.
"Everyone ready?"
""Yes!""
My brother and I answer in sync as Mei quickly pulls out of the driveway and into the street.
"S-so, I'm still a bit confused. So your sister was here the whole time?"
It's only now that Mei begins to ask questions as she drives. My brother also looks confused from the passenger seat as I sit in the back.
"I don't think so... From what grandma told me, she only recently moved here."
"Wait, you spoke with grandma?!"
"Nn."
"How?"
"I used Reina's phone."
Speaking of which, I left both Reina's and my own phone back in the apartment.
"Huh? Wait, how did you get a hold of your sister's phone?"
"...I just stumbled upon it."
Mei speaks back up in confusion as she keeps her eyes on the road. I do want to tell them everything, but it's painful enough remembering what those guys must've done to Reina... They mentioned they cut her, right? If it was with that same knife then it has me worried what her condition might be. She could even be in hospital right now but we need to give this address a shot.
"Well talk about luck. We'll get there in five more minutes hopefully."
The five minutes actually ended up being around close to ten minutes, however it felt more like a whole hour with how tense this situation was. I'm sure my brother's also feeling the same thing as we barely talked much throughout the drive.
"So.... This is it?"
Once we arrived at the apartment complex, we all looked out from the front windscreen with mixed emotions.
The place seems almost run down in a way with the bits of garbage around scattered around the place. That's not to mention the size of it. All the doors seem cramped together which makes me wonder if the rooms inside even have enough room for two people.
"What apartment number did you say it was?"
"Uhm... I'm not sure."
Mei questions the exact location, but my grandma didn't know the exact address either. But I'm glad that we've come this far at least.
"Then I guess we'll go around knocking on some doors."
With that, my brother was the first to leave the car, followed by Mei and I.
I'm not so much as angry no more, but the beating of my heart feels heavier and heavier the closer I get to this place.
"Shall we split up? Mei, you can take Luna and go from the right. I'll take the left."
"Gotcha."
"Nn."
Looks like my brother is wanting to find her as soon as possible as well.
With Mei by my side, we go around knocking on the doors from the first floor first. There's only two floors to this place which I thought would make it go faster, but even with the first knock on the first door, no one answered.
"Shall we try the next one?"
"..."
At Mei's proposal, I knock a bit louder on the same door, refusing to leave just yet.
"Shh! Luna!"
"I want to make sure that-"
"Aaaaagh!-"
Cutting both Mei and I off was a man who seemed to have a bad case of bed hair. It seems like we must've woken him up, but should he really be asleep at this time? It's not even fully dark out.
"What do you two want?"
The man switches his gaze from Mei to me before doing a double take at me. It's not surprising given my looks.
"Do you know anyone by the name of Reina?"
"Who?"
"My apologies. Have a good rest of your night."
"Hahh-"
With Mei's apology, the man simply shut the door in our face. It wasn't forceful, but it's clear that he didn't want to be disturbed.
"You shouldn't have knocked so hard."
"Well what if he was the one who has Reina? I needed to make sure."
"I guess, hehe. But try and tone it down just a bit?"
"...I'll try."
With that, Mei and I move to the next door as she quickly begins to knock, only this time a bit louder than her previous knock. It didn't take long before it's resident came out to greet us, but upon seeing that it was a woman, we quickly left for the next door. We're looking for either a man or Reina anyways.
The first floor eventually was a bust as we soon met up with my brother before we separate once more, attacking both sides of the second floor.
Once more, Mei knocks immediately upon arriving at the first door upstairs, and just like the last door we opened, the person who answered was another woman. Only before we could apologize, the woman locked eyes with me much stronger than the others, it was almost like she recognizes me, which immediately set off alarm bells in my head.
"Sorry to-"
"Do you know Reina?!"
I cut Mei off with my question to the woman.
"R-Reina? I'm not too sure. Aren't you the young lady that stays next door?"
Both Mei and I look to one another as our eyes widen in excitement. I was dreading over the idea that we'd fail to find anything about Reina.
"No! Actually. I'm her twin."
"Ah? Haha, sorry. You two look so much alike."
"Thank you very much! Sorry to bother you."
I quickly say my farewell as I really don't want to spend anymore time with her if we already found out Reina's location. It seemed like the woman wanted to talk some more, but soon enough, we hear the door to her apartment close as Mei and I arrive at the door next door.
"So this is it?"
"Nn..."
My heart's pumping even harder now as this time, I'm the one that knocks first.
After ten seconds, there doesn't seem to be any movement, so I knock a second time, this time a bit harder than before.
"You think she might not be home?"
"I don't know..."
Even so, I knock a third time, but the idea of Reina being in a hospital right now does surface my mind. Maybe her guardian is with her there and there really is no one home. I can already feel my heart dropping deep in my chest as I think back during the time in that hospital bed with our father. Please don't tell me Reina isn't-
"Tch!"
Frustrated, I end up banging on the door louder.
"H-hey! Luna! Careful-"
"Yo! What's happening?!"
My brother ends up jogging up to us with a panicked look on his face.
"Did you find anything?"
"Yes. The lady next door said that Reina's staying in this apartment."
"Really?!"
But the moment Mei tells him the good news, my brother's eyes light up, however even still, there's still no one answering this god damn door. But right as I was about to start busting down this door, my brother walks up to the door instead, knocking on the door in my stead.
"Hello!~ Is there anyone home?"
But again... No answer.
"What do we do?"
"I'm not-"
"Ahhh! What?!"
But just then, the door flies open, revealing a man in glasses. His hair is a bit long and unkempt as his hair is nearly covering his eyes. At first glace, he doesn't look to be someone that was once my mom's editor...
"Huh?"
But just then, the man locks eyes with me.
"Didn't I give you a spare key?"
My eyes light up at his words. He thinks that I'm Reina! There's no way! Wait. Maybe I could play along with this! Just from looking inside, it doesn't look like Reina is inside, but if I play along with this then maybe-
"Uhm actually we're-"
"Yes! I'm sorry. I lost it while I was out."
I quickly cut off my brother as he was about to clarify which made both him and Mei turn to me in a bewildered fashion.
"And who are these people you brought here?"
{"Please..."}
I mouth the words to Mei and my brother, hoping that they'll play along. My brother seemed to have caught on, but Mei still looks quite shocked.
"U-uhm. Well we were just worried about seeing a girl walking around at this time, so we uhm... We walked her back home."
My brother nervously makes up a story which does seem to work, however Mei looks to be losing even more of her sanity upon hearing this.
"R-Ren?! Wait, what are we doing?"
"-Just play along."
My brother starts whispering to Mei in hopes to calm her down, but that only seemed to have made the man before us curious.
"I'm sorry to bother you. Thank you for letting me in."
I bow to the man, apologizing again about losing the non-existent key I made up.
"Ugh. Well then, thank you two for bringing her back."
"Y-y-you're welcome!"
Mei speaks up to the man, clearly nervous about this whole situation. I don't blame her for wanting to oppose to this. I mean... I'm literally suggesting that I live in this strangers house that neither my brother or Mei knows, but the way I see it, they at least know where I'll be. It's the weekend now so I can at least spend a couple days trying out this plan. Hopefully I only need tonight if Reina isn't actually in the hospital.
"Ah, but could you give me a second? I need to properly thank them."
"Hahh~"
The man exhales, clearly not happy for some reason as he retreats from the front door, walking deeper inside the apartment, leaving the door open.
"Are you crazy?"
After waiting for a few moments, Mei is the first to speak now that the man is no longer in sight.
"I'm serious."
"You don't know this man. Plus he looks really shady."
"Yeah, sis. I get what you mean, but even this... It's a bit-"
"It's fine... I can handle it."
From how the man looks, he seems quite thin, at least when compared to those two guys I dealt with. Those men seemed to be trained and worked out to an extent, however this man just looks like your average build.
"Even in the worst case scenario, I'll manage."
"And what do you mean by that?"
"I mean unless he's trained, then even if he tries to kill me, I can fend him off."
"What?"
Mei looks at me, flabbergasted at the words coming out of my mouth. Even my brother looks confused. I guess I'll explain...
"My guardian was a trained martial artist. The requirement for me to live on my own was for me to learn from him. I also make sure to exercise when I can to keep my body in shape."
"S-seriously?"
"Nn."
I would've thought the explanation would give Mei some comfort, but she still looks a bit riled up. If anything I think I just made her even more worried. I can't help but smile though, seeing her care this much.
"If anything happens just call- ah!"
I totally forgot I left my phone back at home!"
"Here!"
"Eh?"
I give Mei the key to my apartment. With my brother planning on moving soon, I figured leaving it in her hands would be more ideal.
"This is my key to my place. I left my phone there so if you could grab that then we can stay in touch."
"O-okay?"
"Hold on sis. Even then, this is still dangerous, even if you can fight."
"H-he's right, Luna. Why don't we just leave and then come back tomorrow?"
I get what they're saying. We have found out exactly where Reina lives, so it's not like we're in a rush, but I can't just seem to accept their idea. I mean... The man that's apparently Reina's guardian... He doesn't seem that great. Also the state of the apartment was quite a mess while also looking barren at the same time. Just the thought of Reina coming home to a place like this...
"No. I want to do this."
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yes."
"...Hah~ Alright, sis."
"What?! You're accepting it just like that?!"
"Mei. I know my sister well. If she's already made up her mind on something, there's no stopping her."
"...Hnnng! Fine, alright! But on one condition!"
"Yes?"
Mei looks at me sternly while holding onto my key tightly.
"We'll go grab your phone, but you must promise to keep us in the loop. Check in with me every few hours. Okay? If we don't hear from you, we'll be coming right back here."
"Okay."
That's fair enough. I feel happy knowing that Mei is treating me with this much importance. It almost feels like she's an older sister. Well I guess she is now, at least if my brother can actually get with her that is.
"And if he does try anything, kick him right between his legs."
"Mmm..."
Right when Mei says that, my brother ends up gently holding his crotch. I'm aware of how fragile that area is for guys, it's why I did the same thing with that man before the police took him away.
"Nn. I promise."
"Then alright. We'll be back very soon, so be sure to answer the door."
"Got it."
"Mmm~!"
Suddenly, Mei brings me into a hug as I feel the softness of her well endowed breasts. But before she could let me go, my brother also joins in, wrapping his arm around me on my other side.
"Stay safe. Okay, sis?"
"Nn. I will."
After our hug and saying goodbye, I finally enter the door to the apartment before closing it behind me. It's only now that I realize that the smell of this apartment is quite musky, almost like the air inside here is much heavier than outside.
"Took you long enough."
And sitting at the desk not too far away in what appears to be the bedroom, is the man; Reina's guardian.
"Sorry. They were quite friendly and just wouldn't stop-"
"I don't care. Now hurry and clean the rest of this shit up."
...Huh? Wait, what's with this attitude? I figured he was only like this 'cause he was disturbed when answering the door. I would've thought that he had calmed down by now. Also... Does he expect me to clean all of this?
"Well? Hurry up. I didn't bring you here with me to live for free."
"...Yes. Okay."
What's with this man? Has Reina been living here answering all of his demands? I mean, it does look like he's busy with some sort of work on his tablet, but surely he could clean up this mess- huh?
Just then, I notice something peculiar in the left corner of the room. That's a blanket, right? And also next to it is a box... Looking back over to the bedroom, I'm assuming that is where this man sleeps, so... Don't tell me that Reina has been sleeping on the floor?! The revelation causes me to ball my hands into fists, digging my fingernails into my palms. Calm down, Luna. You only just got here. We're not here to cause trouble.
After taking a moment to calm myself down, I start cleaning up the junk that is left on the ground before dumping it into a trash bag. Thankfully the trash doesn't seem to smell that bad as it must've been recently used. Still though, I should probably open a window. However, the moment I do.
"Hey!"
The man snaps at me as I moved into the bedroom to open up the only window at the back of the apartment.
"Do you realize how cold it is? Keep that damn thing closed. If you want air then just go outside."
"...Right."
He looked to be on the verge of lunging at me, so I back away from the window before leaving the bedroom area. I really don't want to make things worse. But now I'm slowly coming to an idea of what Reina's living situation is like...
After around twenty minutes, I finally get all the trash rounded up and put into the trash bag. But right as I was about to bring it outside, the door knocks.
"I'll get it."
The man remains silent as I go to open the door, trash bag in hand.
Just as planned, my brother and Mei came back and handed a small bag containing my phone as well as Reina's along with my charger. My brother also handed me some money as well before they ended up leaving. I was tempted to update them on the things I found out already, but I chose to stay quiet for now. I don't want them getting all worried. Also apparently my brother isn't leaving just yet so we should still have time to make that tikka masala after this plan of mine is done.
"Haah~"
With everything seeming to be done, I sit down on the blanket where I presume Reina was sleeping. It not bad sitting, but I can already tell how painful it must be to actually lay down like this. With that thought in mind, I peer into the cardboard box to the side.
There wasn't that much noteworthy inside, mainly just toiletries and other generic things, nothing that would be significant for us or our family. But-
"Reina..."
I mutter her name quietly as I gently bring myself down onto the blanket. I inhale deeply as her scent quickly fills my lungs, driving out any of the lingering stench of the room. But just the scent of Reina alone immediately calms me down as I end up balling up the blankets in my arms, trying to wrap myself in it whilst keeping my face buried in it.
There's no mistaking it, this is definitely Reina's smell. It's not exactly like I remembered, but the smell has a very nostalgic feeling to it. I must be some sort of weirdo, right? But even still, I take in another breath as any lingering tenseness in my body dissipates as my eyes gradually grow heavier.
"Ah~ Reina."
Please hurry up and come back. Your sister is here and waiting for you, you know. Ah! Wait, I'm not meant to sleep just yet! Ah~ But... Maybe just a little nap will be okay? Right?
Slowly, I submit myself to this blanket as for the first time in a long while, I go to bed before the sun fully set.