Secret Meeting

(Protagonist's POV)

Nine floors above the terminal, the elevator dings. Its door slides open and I sneak out. The main room looks exactly like the one above.

"Oi, Hiro. You're late." Keita's steel eyes glare at the back of my head. I turn around to face him.

"I ran into some complications." I respond without flinching.

"Compli-?" Keita stops in the middle of his question as he spots the steaming takoyaki plate in my hand. His facial expression changes from serious to confused. "Wha- Why do you have takoyaki?"

"It's for Yamato." I answer honestly.

"He eats that?" Keita asks not completely convinced.

"Yeah he does." I leave a skeptical looking Keita behind and walk towards the dining room doors to the left of the elevator.

Two slim, brown arched-doors loom over me. Holding the takoyaki in my right hand, I twist and push the golden door handle with my left. I make an opening large enough for me to slip into. I lean back to shut the door. A slim dining table enough to accommodate twenty people sits in the middle of the room. Its dark colored wood appears to be clean. Red lanterns hang suspended above the table. Their color tints the room a weak red. Everyone probably ate already.

I find Yamato at the back of the room gazing at the night sky through the window. Countless stars shine in the darkness. For a moment, I stand there in peace, staring at Yamato's poofy hair at the back of his head. Those strands of hair sticking up stand out too much... Yamato catches me by surpise by suddenly turning around. He notices me at the front of the room and walks over towards me.

"What brings you here so late, Hiro?" Yamato asks smiling.

"I ate outside for a change." I answer calmly.

"I see. So you still prefer civillian foodstuffs over gourmet quality foods. Your preferences are interesting." Yamato assumes.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I got some takoyaki on my way back. Here." I offer him the still steaming takoyaki.

Yamato accepts the dish and closes his eyes, still smiling. "Thank you, Hiro. I appreciate the thought. You still remember that day, hm?" When Yamato looks back up, I am nowhere to be seen.

His narrow eyes widen and he frowns slightly. Yamato turns his head from side to side, searching for me. I continue to watch Yamato's rare reaction from the door way. After satisfying my curiosity I silently shut the door. I should've taken a picture or even a video. Okay enough fooling around. I push away my funny ideas and start to contemplate about the problem at hand.

I have to find a way to meet Daichi and the others secretly. Pondering this subject, I walk down the hall, unable to notice the dining room doors open behind me. I can't just walk out... or can I? Yamato steathily stalks behind me, his footsteps muted. Maybe I should cancel my morning studies, but I don't think Yamato will agree with that. My Sunday mornings are free most of the time, but meeting once a week is too-

"Hiro."

"Uwah!" I spin around to face Yamato. My facial expression registers surprise.

"First you suddenly vanish during our conversation and now you act like I am a revolting creature of some sort." Yamato frowns unamused by my reaction.

"G-gomenasai! I didn't hear you come out the dining room!" I apologize. This is not a good time to get on Yamato's bad side.

"...Apology accepted." Yamato continues to frown, despite my apology. We continue to walk down the hall together. I notice Yamato is still holding his takoyaki plate.

"That's gonna get cold." I say still staring at the takoyaki plate.

"Do you want some?" Yamato asks still frowning.

"No, I'm fine." I stop staring at the takoyaki and insert my card into the card slot.

I enter in the code for the forty-ninth floor. The elevator door slides open. Both of us step into the elevator. The door shuts tightly. Silence rules over the tower. Yamato would be crossing his arms by now if he wasn't holding his takoyaki.

"You are acting...different, Hiro." His cold tone shatters the veil of silence imprisoning the elevator.

"Different?" I play dumb. I look up and gaze at Yamato. Does he notice?

"Or are you simply comfortable murdering humans? That would explain your...choice of demons." Yamato chuckles. "It is about time that you stopped mourning rats. Sympathy has no place in this world after all."

I turn my gaze from Yamato to the floor, feeling uncomfortable with his words. It's true. Over these past four days, I have lost my sympathy for the weak. I haven't even dared myself to go against Yamato's orders. What have I become? Did I choose the right path?

The elevator stops and "dings," indicating that we have reached the forty-ninth floor. The door slides open and Yamato walks out.

"Good night Hiro." Yamato and his takoyaki leave.

Still feeling down, I walk out the elevator. Another chandelier hangs from the ceiling. Its design different from the ones on the previous floors. A soothing sea blue light reflected by several different crystals hanging from the chandelier, creates a veil of peace over the main room. Another image of the Earth lies down in the center of the room below the chandelier. Unlike the other images, the colors on this Earth are vivid and realistic.

My room is to the right, opposite of Yamato's room. For once my room feels painfully far away. Slowly, I make my way towards my room. I take out my identification card to unlock my door. As soon as I get in, I shut the door. I take my cellphone out of my pocket and glance at the time. 20:00 it reads.

Yamato's probably eating his takoyaki in his room. There's still some time to meet Daichi and the others. All I have to do is make sure no one sees me. Cautiously, I open my door a little to peek into the hallway. Nobody is wandering around in the hallway. I push open the door even further only to close it behind me. I glance at Yamato's room door across the main room, making sure that he won't sneak behind me again.

Coast clear.

"Pssst. Over here!" Daichi quietly beckons me behind a pile of rubble where everyone else waits.

"Did anyone see you come here?" Daichi whispers.

I shake my head no.

"Good." Daichi grins.

"So, do you guys have any questions?" I tug my hood off.

"Yeah! Why the heck is Biffrons still alive?" Daichi immediately asks.

"Uh, sorry. Can't answer that one." I scratch the back of my head feeling akward about his question. "Can you maybe ask something a bit more relevant to the current situation?"

"Um." Io looks like she has something to say.

"Yes?" I focus my attention on her.

"What did Yamato order you to do?" Io asks.

I let out a sigh. "He ordered me eliminate the weak."

"That's no different from murder!" Hinako says furious.

I don't know how to respond.

"Why can't we all be friends and stop fighting?" Jungo looks like a sad puppy.

"It's not that easy, Jungo. Are those all of your questions?" Everyone stays quiet. "Good. We need to think of a plan."

"A plan for what? Didn't you report that our group was 'eliminated'?" I flinch at Daichi's last word.

"Well Yamato's pretty smart. Sooner or later he might figure out that you guys are still alive. There's a posibility that he already has..." I begin to trail off, realizing what this can lead to.

Everyone is in shock. I decide to let them think for themselves.

"We'll discuss this some other day. I need to get going." I pull my hood back on. Everyone goes back into hiding, but I stop Io.

"...Why?" My voice is barely above whispering.

"I... can't. It's not right." Io responds looking dispirited.

We say our farewells to each other before we go our opposite ways. My cellphone reads 21:00.