"Very well then. We'll split up to look for the missing parts, then come back here to meet up next the time clock strikes the hour. Is that alright with all of you?"
Ace's words were spoke calmly, but seemed to echo somewhat eerily in the huge hospital room. All of them nodded, Seven included – though he did shoot another glare at Lotus while she wasn't looking. No matter what she said, he was still rather sure that ship may have something to do with the Titanic's twin – the Gigantic. It made sense, didn't it?
…Well, maybe it didn't really made sense, but it was at least an explanation for the fact that huge-ass ship that seemed to have come from another century. Of course, it may be a coincidence… but a part of Seven was convinced that he was right and that it was the Gigantic. The reason why escaped him, since he sure had never seen the ship. Or had it? How could he tell? If only he could remember…!
"But what about Nine?"
June's voice snapped Seven from his thoughts, and caused everyone's head to turn to Nine. Everyone seemed to have forgotten his presence until that moment, and it sure hadn't been hard: they had been checking out the REDs and then arguing about the ship, while Nine had just aside without saying a word or making a noise. Yeah, Seven thought, he was easy to forget about.
The sudden attention caused Nine to cringe and look away. "I-I… I c-could help look f-for…" he began, but was cut off by Santa's snort.
"Like hell," he snapped. "After the stunt you pulled we're not untying you, and it's not like you can search a room with your hands tied up."
"He could help me search," Ace suggested helpfully. "Two people can search a room more quickly than one, and even if he, er, lost control again, I'm fairly sure I keep him under control. What do you think?"
"That it's stupid-ass idea," Santa muttered. "Fairly sure isn't enough. You're bigger, but this bastard's slippery as an eel. If he causes trouble again we'll end up wasting time, and we've got little enough of that."
"I agree with him for once," Lotus said, looking at Nine with suspicion. "I don't want this guy wandering around with his hands untied. I'm sure Clover and Snake don't, either."
With a nod, Snake reached to put a hand on Clover's shoulder. "Yes, you are correct. I have no doubt Nine means no harm," he said with a serene smile in Nine's general direction, "but he did prove himself unstable and Clover was almost harmed because of it. I'd rather him stay bound unless the situation absolutely calls for another pair of hands. Do you agree?" he asked, tilting his head towards the spot where Junpei and June stood. June nodded, and so did Junpei.
"Yeah. They've got a point, Ace. We have little time, and if he has another, uh,moment like the one before we could waste too much of it. It's not like we really need him to search," he said.
Ace chuckled. "Well then, I see I'm greatly outnumbered. I won't push the issue further. What should we do with him, then? Seven?"
Seven glanced at Nine, who was still standing on the same spot and avoiding their gazes. He felt somewhat sorry for him – being treated like a dangerous animal while he was clearly even more scared than everyone else in that room couldn't be fun – but on the other hand… on the other hand, the others had made good points: the guy was unstable, and could be both unpredictable and dangerous. Sure, he was unarmed now… but it would be safer for everyone, including Nine himself, if stayed tied up.
"Nine," Seven called out, causing him to wince and finally look up at him. He looked somewhat lost, but reasonably in control. "You'll wait for us here. We'll, uh… I'll tie to one of the beds, okay? Try to get some rest until we get back," he said. He didn't really like the idea of doing that, but he could wander off otherwise, and looking for him could cause further delay. Nine didn't like it, either: it wasn't hard to guess.
"D-do I have to…?" he asked weakly, his gaze moving through the huge, sinister room. He shivered, and Seven couldn't blame him. It wasn't a nice place to be left alone. "W-what if… what if Z-Z-Zero shows up?"
Damn, that was something Seven hadn't thought of… nor had the others, judging from their expressions. All of a sudden, leaving him behind didn't seem like such a good idea. Until Snake spoke, that was it.
"I don't think we should worry about that." Everyone's eyes shifted on Snake, who shrugged and went on as though he had sensed their gazes. "Think about it. Zero wants us to play, and is likely not going to interfere. Why create such a system otherwise?"
"System?" June repeated, looking rather puzzled. Snake gestured to his wrist.
"I'm referring, of course, to our bracelets. And to the RED and the DEAD, too. Together, they are all that is needed to enforce this game's rules; they're jury, judge and, if needed, executioner. This game is designed to be ran without any kind of external supervision or intervention; that's why I don't think Zero would interfere. Why created something like this otherwise?"
Snake's reasoning made sense to Seven, and judging from the comments and nods that ensued it made sense to the others, too. He turned to Nine, and he could tell he didn't think quite the same way: he didn't look relieved in the slightest. Seven walked up on him and put a hand on his shoulder; the other man winced, but he didn't try to pull back.
"We'll leave the door open," Seven promised, "so that if anything happens all you'll need to do is shout for us. Someone will hear and come here. Okay?" he said. Truth to be told he wasn't so sure he would be heard – if they all were distant enough and inside the rooms they were searching it was likely they wouldn't – but Snake was right: Nine was likely in no danger if he stayed on his own for a while, and he needed to be reassured to make sure he'd cooperate.
Nine licked his dry lips, his eyes darting somewhere on Seven's left, then he drew in a shuddering breath and gave a nod that was little more than a nervous jerk of his head. "O-okay."
"Good. Let's go." Nine followed him meekly enough to the closest bed, and stayed still while Seven untied his arms. Seven allowed him a few moments stretch and rub his arms before gesturing for him to sit on the thin mattress. He obeyed, and before long both of his hands were securely tied to the bedpost, well apart so that he couldn't try to undo the knots. When Seven stepped back, now towering over him even more, he took notice of the fact he now looked even more vulnerable.
"Done. You can both sit or lie down, whatever you prefer. It won't be too long. Try resting a bit meanwhile, okay? You look like you need it," he said.
Nine seemed surprised by Seven's effort to reassure him, and stared up at him for a few moments with something akin to confusion before nodding and looking down. "A-alright."
"Good. See you in a bit," Seven said, giving Nine's shoulder a light pat before walking with the others out of the room and into the hallway. He turned once before heading off to search his share of rooms, enough to see Nine had shifted to lie down, his face buried in the thin mattress so that he wouldn't have to see the hospital room, nor the huge numbered doors.
Time passed slowly, so slowly that it seemed not to pass at all: it's hard to keep track of it when you're tied down in a room with no clock, only able to listen to the occasional metallic groan coming from the depths of the ship – but it was fake, all of it, it had to be because the Gigantic had sunk and they could only be in Building Q, they had to be there – and your own heartbeat.
Kubota didn't mind listening to it, though: it meant he was alive. Granted, he had never been in real danger: the bomb wouldn't have set off and killed him had he managed to go through Door [5] – because Hongou said it wouldn't and he believed him, why shouldn't he? Hongou was always the one in charge and he had a solution for everything, he could stay calm and cold and make plans when Kubota himself couldn't even make himself think – and Hongou wouldn't have let the others kill him, he was sure of it.
Of course he had to pretend he didn't know him and couldn't really defend him, because he needed the other players to trust him now that they knew that 'Nine' couldn't be trusted, but if he got in real danger… then he would have acted, Kubota was sure of it. He would have helped him. Hongou was on his side, he would tell himself when the silence became too much to bear, Hongou had a plan, Hongou would make sure they'd make it out, Hongou would let nothing go wrong. It was a reassuring knowledge, and it almost managed to chase away his terror at the thought of what could happen if they didn't win that game, of what the other players could do to him, of what Zero could do to him.
Zero.
The mere thought caused Kubota to shiver, feeling as though the room's temperature had suddenly dropped. He had barely seen a glimpse of him, a black figure clad in a black robe and a gas mask, before the Soporil he had inhaled made effect and made him lose consciousness. He knew that was a vision that would stay in his nightmares, should he live long enough to have any.
Who could that be? It was someone who knew of the Nonary Project, no doubt. One of Gordain's heirs, maybe? No, that would make no sense: they were their allies and allowed Cradle to access to the necessary funds to create the Nonary Game to begin with, so why would they put them through another?
No, it had to be someone else. That man, Snake – he had been one of the subjects, he was sure of it. Kubota had never even looked at them, since his role in the project didn't require him to meet them, but he distinctly recalled that one of the experiment's subjects was a blind boy… a blind boy that would now be roughly the same age as Snake. It couldn't be a coincidence, which meant that his sister had taken part to the experiment, too. Yet neither of them had brought it up, and acted like they knew nothing of how a Nonary Game worked.
They're involved somehow. They must be. They must want revenge. They must know I had a role in it, or else I wouldn't be here. But what will they do with me? Do they want to kill me? Will they come to kill me now?
The thought alone they could do just that while he was tied down and helpless, leaving him no time to scream for help, made him whimper and shut his eyes tighter.
But it wouldn't happen, he told himself. It wouldn't happen because when Seven had said he'd tie him up and Kubota had looked at Hongou for advice, Hongou had nodded. A small nod, sure, so that no one else would notice, but a nod it was and that had settled it. If Hongou was alright with that, he had told himself then and was telling himself now, then he was safe. Hongou would know what to do, he alwaysknew what to do, and he only had to do as he said, always. By now he probably knew whether the blind man and his sister were behind it all, too.
Were they? It seemed logical, but if they were then why would they put themselves among the players? And why kidnap him and Hongou alone? Why not Nijisaki and Musashidou as well? And why involve people who had absolutely nothing to do with the Nonary Project? Or had the others been subjects, too? But then how would Lotus and Seven figure, since the experiment had only used children as subjects?
The thought Seven was not likely to be involved in any plan for revenge was more reassuring than he had expected: the man was huge and strong, so strong that back at the staircase he had really thought he'd just snap him in two in his anger, and he could pose a serious threat even to Hongou. Out of all the other players, he was the very last one Kubota would want to have against. But he hadn't acted at all like he hated his guts for what he had done, had he? Well, not after some time, at least: after his anger for his attempt at going off ahead as Hongou had instructed him to do he faded, he had actually been of help. Considering that he could smother him with no more effort than he'd need to swat a fly, that was… reassuring enough.
The first thought in Kubota's mind when he had awakened into that nightmare had been that the other players would be his enemies, of course they'd be, and they'd kill him at the first occasion they got so that they could get out because that was what people did – and he was too weak to put up much of a fight against most of them, he knew that much. Seeing Hongou there had been an unspeakable relief because he knew he would help him, he knew they were on the same side, heknew he would have some plan ready. He knew he would be on his side as no one else would ever be.
Still, Seven had been kinder than expected; all of them had, truth to be told – they hadn't killed him or left him behind after the stunt he had pulled, a fact that still boggled his mind – but Seven had seemed concerned and had even helped him down the stairs to make sure he wouldn't stumble and fall with his hands tied. It may be an act – yes, it may be, and that kindness hadn't gone as far as untying his hands – but he would make such an useful ally that Kubota wanted to believe it wasn't.
Kubota wondered if Hongou would be able to talk him into helping them out: he had to realize he would make an useful ally, and with his bracelet number they could go through Door [8] as soon as they found the REDs' missing parts. If Hongou could do that and find the missing parts first, they could go right away and be well ahead of the other players. Or maybe he had a a different plan? Maybe he'd come to untie him first, while the others were searching, and then… then he'd probably come out with a plan, because Hongou always had some sort of plan. Always. And then… then…
Lost in his thoughts, his face still burrowed against the mattress, Kubota never heard the sound of light steps approaching. He did feel a faint prickly sensation on the back of his neck, but barely even noticed it, and kept trying to think what Hongou's next move may be. Trying to, because thinking was starting to become more and more difficult – his thoughts blurring and mingling before starting to fade out. He felt light-headed and very, very drowsy. He tried to shift, to lift his head, but it felt heavy. His eyelids seemed to weight a ton, too, and he couldn't force his eyes open.
"Try resting a bit meanwhile, okay?" Seven's voice said somewhere in the back of his head, just as he had said when he had reached to give his shoulder a reassuring pat, so utterly different from the painfully tight grip he had trapped it into right after his attempt at going ahead had failed.
You look like you need it, he had said, and it was true: he really needed rest for a few minutes, to forget all about what was going on and… and…
He didn't get to finish that thought: on moment later he was slipping into nothingness.
Hongou was smiling a very, very ugly smile when he pulled the needle from the back of Kubota's neck. He took a few moment to make sure that there was no blood coming from where he had pierced the skin – there wasn't – and that there was enough Soporil left in the syringe for him to use should he have further need of it – there was.
He could have used it up to kill Kubota with it, but he could find only one vial and he may still have need of some Soporil. Perhaps it wouldn't be enough to put to sleep the mountain of a man Seven was, he reasoned, but it would slow him down considerably… and a sluggish opponent can be killed easily enough, regardless the size. Especially if he could take the knife Seven still had in his pocket: once he had that, he could deal with him and then with the others, one by one.
But now it was someone else he had to take care of, and his time was limited.
Hongou put the syringe and empty vial back in his pocket and turned his attention on Kubota. His face was pressed against the mattress already when he had walked in, so sneaking up to him and injecting him with Soporil had been very, very easy. And now he was deep asleep, still tied to the bed with his face buried in the mattress. It wouldn't be hard, Hongou reasoned, putting a hand on the back of that pathetic runt's head and press it down. He wouldn't wake up, the Soporil would see to it, and he wouldn't struggle: he'd suffocate, plain and simple, dying in silence without even knowing it. And once the others saw him, they would see no mark indicating he had even been killed.
Maybe the stress killed him, Hongou would suggest with a shake of his head and a saddened expression. You saw how terrified he was. Maybe something frightened him, a noise or just his imagination, who knows, and his heart gave in. Poor man. If only we allowed him to search with us instead of leaving him here alone…!
With a smirk, Hongou reached down to put a hand on the back of Kubota's head and began pressing down. A few minutes, he thought, a few minutes and he'd be certain Kubota would never be able to tell—
"Nhhg…"
The groan had been faint, but to Hongou's ears it sounded loud as a shout. His first reaction was pressing down harder on the back of Kubota's head to silence further noises, mentally cursing himself for not giving him enough Soporil – but then there was another groan, and Hongou realized it had not come from Kubota.
It came from right behind him. He pulled back his hand as though Kubota's hair had caught fire and turned around, his heart in his throat.
It was Snake, walking toward him with staggering steps. He seemed sluggish, his mouth hanging open without any apparent reason and only incoherent noises leaving it, but it was him: his clothes set him clearly apart from the others. "Snake?" Hongou heard himself calling out, forgetting all about Kubota to stare at him in confusion. What was wrong with him?
There was another groaning noise, but no real reply. It was as though Snake was trying to speak but was unable too. He took a few more staggering steps forward, then stopped and simply stood there, silent.
He's drugged, Hongou thought. He had to be drugged, or… could he have slipped and hit his head? He was blind, so perhaps that may have happened. Silly as it sounded, it wasn't like he could think of many explanations for what he was seeing: Snake, staggering around, unable to even talk and… and…
And defenseless, Hongou's mind supplied. Completely defenseless.
He was one of the subjects. He knows about the Nonary Game and yet keeps quiet about it. He must be hiding something. And even if he isn't, he may speak. He's a bigger danger than even Kubota is. He must go.
And now he was just as vulnerable as Kubota.
Hongou's eyes shifted from Snake to the numbered doors, namely on Door [3], and the on the RED's components he had found in one of the rooms he had searched – Zero hadn't even bothered to hide them well – and that he had left on a bed before going straight for Kubota. Then, slowly, he began smiling.
"Come, Snake," he called out, his voice calm and low, and walked up to Snake to grab his arm. He led him to the closest bed, Snake following him meekly and without speaking, and made him sit.
"Wait here a moment," he said affably, and then went to put the missing pieces of the REDs back in place. Even though he knew nothing would accuse him should anyone walk in right then – he had found the missing parts and was putting them in place, that was all, while Nine slept and Snake seemed confused for some reason he couldn't imagine – what came next… well, it wouldn't be easy to explain should he be caught on the act. Oh, he was fairly sure no one would walk in since they were still all out searching for the parts he had already found and time was not up yet, but there was still a possibility someone would be back sooner for whatever reason, and thus being quick couldn't hurt.
He was no Kubota, but he could put the missing parts back and reactivate the REDs easily enough. And, once all the REDs were ready to work, once Door [3] was ready to be opened, it was time for Hongou to choose.
Throwing both Snake and Kubota through the door and to their death was tempting, of course, so very tempting, for he'd be rid of two very real threats in one go. But he knew better than doing that: if he did, he may as well write his guilt on his forehead for everyone to see. It would have taken the others no more than a moment to realize who had opened the door with them.
He also considered suffocating Kubota as he had previously planned to do and use his bracelet to throw Snake in, but he decided against it. While not quite as obvious as the previous idea, it would likely seem too much of a coincidence. Not only that, but the other would notice the bracelet was no longer on Kubota's wrist and realize he may have used it to open the door with Snake. He couldn't even put it back on Kubota once the deed was done: the bracelet wouldn't close again if it detected no heartbeat.
Things being as they were, Hongou knew there was only one relatively safe solution: kill one of them and save the other for later; get rid of the biggest threat and then take care of the other. And Snake was the biggest threat there. He probably knew less of his past than Kubota did, yes, but while Kubota was certainly not involved in what was going on there was a good chance that Snake was. And even if he wasn't, he was more likely to speak of the Nonary Project than Kubota: while Hongou didn't trust Kubota to keep quiet for too long, he knew he could make him hold his tongue for at least some more time… a control he did not have on Snake.
Yes, he thought, Snake had to go now; Kubota would follow later. Of course there was the fact that Snake's death – if he really died, for he still wasn't completely sure whether or not Zero's words on the bombs had been an empty threat – would make Kubota realize that he had been lied to, but it didn't worry Hongou too much. For all his genius, the man was a dependent fool; his need to rely on someone he knew would be stronger than any doubts. And Hongou would make sure to act very shocked when Snake's death happened, so that Kubota would think he had beenwrong rather than lying.
He would never doubt me. Never. And he won't see his death coming until it's too late. Much like Snake.
With one more glance at Snake, who was still sitting where he had left him with his head held low and mouth gaping open, Hongou quickly went to untie Kubota.
It was so easy, almost laughably so: Kubota was so thin and light that dragging his unconscious form, putting his hand on the scanner panel and then leaning him down on the floor took no more than a minute. And then, when he went to take Snake's arm to pull him to the door as well, he stood and followed in silence, clearly not even understanding what was going on around him. Hongou only had to make him put his hand on the scanner panel, put his own hand on it, and then pull the lever.
The door opened like the maw of a hungry beast, and Hongou's smile was very close to beastly as well. He put his hand on Snake's back and pushed, and the next moment the man was tumbling in side with no more than a small, surprised noise. He landed on his back and feebly tried to get back up… but it was too little, and too late: he was still on the floor, trying to speak and holding out a hand for him, when the door closed with a clang that Hongou could only hope had not been heard.
And then the beeping sound started: Hongou could hear it, if faintly, through the thick metal. For a moment he wondered what would happen if all of that turned out to be a bad joke, if there were no bombs inside any of them, but it was too late to wonder now. And he couldn't linger to listen, either: he had to put Kubota back in place and tie him up again before anyone walked in.
No one did, and he could put Kubota back on the bed and then tie him down with the same knots Seven had used; he had just started tying his right hand to the bedpost when he heard it, muffled by more than just one door but unmistakable – an explosion.
For a moment Hongou forgot all about Kubota and just turned back to Door [3], almost forgetting how to breathe as well. The eighty-one seconds had ran out, and an explosion had happened. So it that had been no empty threat, Hongou thought with equal parts of wonder, satisfaction and nervousness: that game truly was deadly, as the first Nonary Game had been… though never as much as Gordain's Game.
Oh, no. Never like it. Gordain's Game was something else entirely. No scientific purpose: only slaughter.
But that did not matter, Hongou thought as he turned his attention back on Kubota and quickly tied both his hands back to the bedpost: he had won Gordain's Game, so he could and would win the Nonary Game, too. He hadn't lived through Gordain's Game to lose at one that was of his own design, after all. He would be victorious once more, he would come out alive once again.
"But you, old friend… you will not. Not this time," Hongou said very quietly, finally stepping away from the bed where Kubota lay, once again bound and still unconscious. He had saved that man's pathetic life once, many years before; taking it back to protect himself now was his right as far as he was concerned. For a brief moment Hongou wondered if Nijisaki would have done the same: Kubota had owed him his life as well that one day, in what felt like another lifetime. Perhaps he would, perhaps not. Nagisa was a practical man, but he had had a soft spot for the terrified kid they had been stuck with through most of Gordain's Game.
The thought of Nijisaki made him uneasy, and he wondered – not for the first time, truth to be told – how come he had not been kidnapped as well. Or perhaps he had been: perhaps he was the witness Zero spoke of in his letter. Still, it seemed unlikely: Zero had likely observed them for a long time before acting, and he would know that giving him his right-hand man as the so-called witness would only mean giving him an ally.
If Nijisaki was the one in the Captain's quarters, Hongou thought, then they would win their way out once again, just like old times.
And if it was not… then it would be a threat, and he would deal with it just as he had dealt with Snake. Hongou looked back at Door [3] and gave a feral smile.
Either way, I win.
"Nine, can you hear me? Nine? Nine!"
It was that voice, loud and booming, that made his mind stir from within a deep black hole of nothingness. He couldn't quite place it at first, same as he couldn't tell where he was, what time it was, what was going on. And he wasn't interested in knowing any of it, really: he only wanted the voice to go away and let him sleep.
"Nine!"
That's not my name. Leave me alone.
But neither the voice nor its owner went away. If anything the voice grew louder, and someone was shaking him to hard that his teeth chattered. The noise seemed to echo into his head.
"Nine! For fuck's sake, wake up!"
I don't want to, Kubota wanted to say, but he could not: when he tried to open his mouth to speak it felt like it had been stuffed with cotton, and only a pitifully weak noise left him. He tried to shift, to get away from the grasp of… of whoever was holding him up, so that he could curl up and go back to slee—
Whack.
The blow was sudden, and had the effect a bucket of cold water could have. The sudden stinging sensation on the left side of his face didn't quite jerk him awake right away, but it did clear his mind some; enough to know where he was, what had happened, why he was being called that… and who was it it was speaking.
With what felt like an awful effort, Kubota managed to open his eyes. It felt as though each lid weighted a ton. Then his eyes cracked open and he could see, if barely – his glasses, he thought dizzily, he was not wearing his glasses, and he had also been untied and was resting on his back – several faces above his; one especially was closer than the others, heavily scarred and immediately recognizable.
"S-S-Seven," he managed, only then realizing how horribly thirsty he was.
Above him, Seven smiled. "So you're alive. Good. You got us worried for a while. So, what happened?"
Kubota blinked, still confused, then tried to squint to see him more clearly. "Happened?" he repeated. He tried to sit up, but his head spun and he would have fallen back down hadn't Seven's hand reached to support his upper back. "W-what…?"
"Are you really saying you didn't see anything?" someone behind Seven – Lotus – spoke, folding her arms on her chest. "That you were here the whole time and didn't even see who put the REDs' missing parts back on? That you just sleptthrough it?"
The anger and mistrust in her voice was enough to make Kubota wince. He dared to take a look at the others and, while he couldn't see them clearly without his glasses, he could tell they were just as suspicious as she was: their mouths were all pulled into tight lines, and they stared at him in silence. Even Hongou.
Kubota swallowed and turned back to Seven. "I-I… I have n-no idea… I d-d-didn't see a-anything! I—"
"Yeah, how convenient," Santa snapped, causing him to trail off with a wince, then he turned to the others. "First the shit he pulled with Clover, and now this. Don't know about you, but I don't trust this guy as far as I can throw him."
"But he was bound, just as we left him. He can't have been the one to put the missing parts back on," June said reasonably, and Kubota was relieved to see both Junpei and Hongou nodding at her words.
"But he must have seen something!" Santa countered. "He must!You don't justsleep through this kind of shit! And now he refuses to tell us—"
"Have you thought that he may have been drugged?" Hongou spoke up, his voice quiet but authoritative as always, and that was a wonderful relief, because he wasstill on his side and he would help him out of that mess, help him out of there. "Most people don't usually require a blow to be awakened, Santa."
Santa snorted. "How do we know he wasn't faking it?"
"Now you're kinda reaching," Junpei muttered, looking down at Kubota. "Just lookat him, okay? He's still half asleep and he barely reacted when Seven hit him. That would take some great acting skills, and he… well, he has none."
"Junpei's got a point," Seven said, his hand still holding up Kubota's upper back. "I think Ace is right. Whoever put the REDs' components back must have drugged him. Don't you remember anything at all? Maybe someone walked in. Before you… fell asleep. Maybe it was Zero. Did you hear or see anything? Maybe you think you imagined it, or…?"
Kubota swallowed and shook his head. "N-no, I… I saw no one," he said truthfully, his head spinning. Had he really been drugged? It certainly felt like it. By who? Zero? Had it really been Zero? Had he stood just right there where Seven was now, looking down at him as he lay helpless? The thought made him shiver. "No one," he repeated, desperately trying not to think of how easily Zero may have killed him. And why hadn't he? If he wanted revenge, then why…?
Seven's voice snapped him from his thoughts. "So you didn't see Snake either, did you?"
Kubota blinked. Snake? He looked around, squinting to see better, and he realized that the young man was not there. "N-no, I… I d-didn't… where…?"
"We don't know," a low, flat voice reached his ears. Kubota turned to see Clover a few steps from the bed. He couldn't see her expression without glasses, but her shoulders were oddly slumped, and she was staring at the floor. "He… he's missing. We looked for him everywhere, but he's… not here. Maybe he was drugged, too!" she exclaimed, taking a few steps closer and staring at Kubota. "Zero may have taken him! You must know something! Anything! Maybe something you saw, maybe… can't you remember anything?" she asked, a pleading note in her voice.
Kubota shook his head. "N-no, I… I didn't see anything. I'm s-sorry, I…" he paused and swallowed, his mind reeling. Could it be a coincidence that he had been drugged, and when he woke up the missing parts were back and Snake was missing? Did it mean he was Zero, after all? It seemed to make sense, but then why disappear leaving his sister behind? And why hadn't he killed him – one of the men behind the Nonary Project – when he had a chance?
"We didn't."
Junpei's words startled him out of his thoughts, as they seemed to startle everyone else. They all turned to look at him, and he met their gazes, his mouth set to a grim line. "We didn't look for him everywhere. Not really," he said. He didn't need to say anything more: the next instant everyone's eyes were shifting on the numbered doors, and a heavy silence fell in the room.
Without glasses, Kubota could have almost believed that the red paint marking them was blood.
