Chapter 209: We Can Clear the Confusion With a Fight
"To make things clearer, let"s call the Reno with a mark on his wrist, Reno 1. We"ll call the Reno by your side, Reno 2. The Rena upstairs—with the dirtied sock—would be Rena 1, and the one with the clean socks would be Rena 2."
Chalk drawings of four small human figures appeared on the blackboard within the building. Two of the figures were upstairs and two were downstairs. They each were labeled with their names and number.
"You saw Reno 2 and Rena 2 when the elevator first opened after you went to the ground floor to look for them. Reno 2 also saw your dead body in the bathtub. You heard a flus.h.i.+ng sound, so you rushed upstairs. You met Reno 1 and Rena 1. They both used their abilities."
"You have some suspicion about Rena 1"s ability, so we can"t confirm she is the real Rena. But, right now, we are sure that Reno 1 is definitely the real Reno since his [Did you check your almanac before leaving your house today?] is a very rare ability. Is this right?" Mrs. Manas asked after organization the information they had.
"Yes," Lin Sanjiu replied immediately.
Mrs. Manas kept quiet as if she was deep in thought. Seeing that, Lin Sanjiu pulled herself out of her [School of Higher Consciousness]. Looking around, she noticed that Reno was still scribbling on his piece of paper, with his head down. While he wrote, he bit his nails. His brows were tightly knitted, and he would pause now and then.
That "why?" from Lin Sanjiu set him thinking, as he tried his best to formulate an answer. Rena did not close the door of the apartment unit properly when she went in to search for her accessories. Lin Sanjiu and Reno could hear Rena"s pittering footsteps as she moved around the room. Reno felt pressured every time he heard her footsteps. Finally, he finished what he was writing and checked the door before he showed his message to Lin Sanjiu.
His handwriting was as messy as before. He had crossed out a few words so there were black smudges everywhere. In spite of that, Lin Sanjiu managed to read the two sentences he wrote.
The first sentence: "She called me a "coward". What is that? We don"t have that word in Red Nautilus."
The second sentence: "My sister doesn"t have any starfish ear studs. I made that up! I think my sister is possessed by something!"
"What is going on?" Lin Sanjiu felt like she was going to explode. She wanted to ask more question but she suddenly heard footsteps drawing closer. Rena opened the door the very next second and peered out. Meanwhile, Reno had already crumpled up the piece of paper and stuffed it in his pocket.
"I searched but I can"t find it anywhere," Rena didn"t show any unusual signs at all. She pouted, "Since you brought that up, I think I didn"t have that pair of ear stud when we arrived at Kisaragi Station… Maybe, I forgot it at Red Nautilus."
Reno did not reply, he shot a glance at Lin Sanjiu secretly.
"It"s weird. Why would a guy like you notice a small ear stud?!" Rena suddenly glared at him, sounding a little suspicious at Reno, "Besides, I wear so many accessories… Even if someone were to point it out, shouldn"t it be Lin Sanjiu?"
"She"s right!" Mrs. Manas shouted abruptly from Lin Sanjiu"s mind. Due to her excitement, the teacher had forgotten that she was not supposed to speak. Lin Sanjiu quickly scanned the faces of the two people around her with her higher consciousness. She wanted to see if any of their expressions changed, but none of them moved. Since they planned not to move, their expression did not change. Lin Sanjiu couldn"t figure out which of them was trying to conceal their reaction.
"Can you keep your opinions to yourself? We will speak when I enter the school again!" Lin Sanjiu shouted back in her head at Mrs. Manas.
Whenever Lin Sanjiu entered her [School of Higher Consciousness], she used her ability actively. As Mrs. Manas is part of her ability, others are unable to hear her during this process. On the other hand, when [School of Higher Consciousness] is not activated and Mrs. Manas speaks directly to Lin Sanjiu, the spirits would hear the teacher.
However, Mrs. Manas couldn"t be blamed for this time around as Lin Sanjiu had the same sentiments. It is rare that a guy that doesn"t wear many accessories would notice what his sister usually wears. Let alone Rena who had more than 100 accessories all over her body. It was quite unbelievable that he could even remember that his sister doesn"t have any starfish ear studs and that he made up that statement.
Reno began to feel anxious, he gave a quick glance at Lin Sanjiu and defended himself, "Bullsh*t! I... I am your brother! I…"
But after he repeated "I" for a long time, he couldn"t find any words to explain how he noticed that his sister didn"t have a pair of starfish ear studs.
Rena harrumphed and leaned against the wall. She narrowed her eyes and stared at him.
"Honestly speaking, brother. Ever since we entered this building, I feel that there"s something wrong with you. Even though you like playing pranks on others, you shouldn"t make that sort of joke in the corridor!"
Reno looked up with a puzzled face, "A joke?"
"What"s wrong? I tried to act as if you were possessed when you stuck your head out in the corridor and scared me! You forgot?" Rena frowned. The look of distrust on her face became more obvious.
"When did I…" Reno immediately replied. Before he finished his sentence, he changed his answer stiffly, "Oh. Oh. You mean that. I know…" Even though he said that, anyone could see from his pale face that he did not know what Rena was talking about.
The corridor fell into a complete silence. After some time, Reno suddenly stood up and broke the silence. "I"ll go wash my hands," he said softly. Rena appeared slightly guarded as she s.h.i.+fted from the door. She watched him closely as he entered the apartment unit. Following that, Lin Sanjiu and Rena heard the sound of the bathroom door closing.
"This Reno doesn"t know about the prank." Lin Sanjiu thought to herself.
After a few seconds, Rena woke Lin Sanjiu from her bewildered state using a soft voice. "Lin Sanjiu, I need you to help me," the girl bit her own lips as she planned. "I think my brother is acting really suspicious. I don"t think he was playing a prank in the corridor. I think he is really possessed…"
Lin Sanjiu was stunned.
"I mean, that explains why he can"t remember what happened. If he is possessed, I am not sure if my ability will work on him. So, can you help me?" Rena sighed softly.
"When he comes out from the bathroom, we can try to make him fall. Then, I will try to tie him up. If we meet any trouble, we can just adapt to the situation."