"You know, Squall. I don't think I said thank you for before."
"For what?" he asked, puzzled.
"For staying with me at the hospital. I really didn't want to be alone." He stayed silent for a few moments, not knowing how to respond to her sudden show of emotion.
"Your hand still hurt?" he asked, not really knowing what else to say.
"A little." Squall noticed how downhearted she seemed, more so than when Seifer had hurt her earlier.
"You alright?"
"Yeah," she replied.
"You're lying," he responded bluntly.
"Is it that obvious?" she sighed, looking down at the floor. "I don't want to go back. Squall, you have to help me. I hate him so much." She began to cry once more, tears cascading down her cheeks onto the pavement below. He looked away, not being comfortable with the current situation. He had no idea how to react. He was a trained mercenary, not a counsellor. "But I can't leave can I?"
"That's up to you."
"You just don't see it, do you? He won't just let me go. I don't even want to think about what he'd do to me if I left."
"You don't know that."
"But I do. Before he contacted SeeD, he told me that he hadn't finished with me yet. I don't know exactly what he means by that, but it doesn't sound good."
"It's your choice as to whether or not you go back."
"How can you be so cold?" she shouted in frustration.
"What does she want from me?" he thought. "This is her problem, not mine. Why is she trying to burden me with it?"
"Squall?" she screamed.
"What? What exactly do you want me to say? That everything will be alright? That you're going to be fine? You know I can't tell you that. I can't predict the future. Hell, Rinoa, nobody can."
"A little bit of humanity will go a long way," she screamed at him, before walking away.
The rest of the journey back to Seifer's apartment was spent in silence, Squall walking a short distance behind Rinoa, who was striding off, angrily, into the distance. He kept a close eye on her, knowing that it was his duty to protect her, and that the streets were a dangerous place for her to be.
As she entered the hotel, Squall lost sight of her.
"Damn," he thought to himself. "Better check the whole place. I've been meaning to do that since I got here anyway. Make sure it's a safe place for her to stay."
He proceeded to check the whole building, looking for any signs of suspicious characters or activities. Finding nothing of interest, he finally made his way up to Seifer's suite of rooms, finding his door wide open. Looking inside, he saw Rinoa sitting, hunched over Seifer's desk, studying a series of papers that she had found.
"Squall, look what I've found." She seemed to have calmed down slightly as she handed him the slip of paper. He snatched it from her grasp, glancing at it quickly. He saw it to be an unmarked bill for a large amount money. 20,000gil to be precise.
"What's it for?"
"I don't know. I thought maybe you would have an idea." He shook his head.
"There's no markings on it, just an amount. There's no way of knowing what it's for. Why are you so interested in it anyway?"
"Seifer found a note posted under his door. It told him that pay day was nearly here. It also said that if he didn't pay, I would be the one who suffered."
"Who could he owe any money to?"
"I really don't know. That was what I was hoping to find out. He should be gone for a while." She held up the empty whisky bottle for Squall to see. "He'll be out drinking if he's got none left here."
"Do you recognise the writing?" She shook her head. Never seen it before in my life. He stayed deep in thought for a few minutes. "Wait, did you say the note was slipped under his door?"
"Yes, is that important?"
"It means that whoever is threatening you knows where you live. It isn't safe for you here."
"I don't think Seifer's about to move." She immediately returned to the stack of papers piled on the desk. "I've found another one." Squall examined the slip that she was referring to, and found that the figure of 10,000gil was scrawled in untidy handwriting in the corner of the paper.
"You think he owes this to someone too?"
"Maybe. I don't know."
"Hang on, something's written in the corner." Squall took a closer look, trying to decipher the handwriting. "Raijin."
"What?"
"That's what it says in the corner."
"What does it mean?"
"I'm not sure. It sounds familiar though. I've heard it somewhere before. I think it may be a name."
"Where have you heard it before?"
"In a mission file, I think. I don't remember exactly."
"Well, it's the only lead we've got. I can't find anything else in these." She motioned towards the large stack of papers.
"Put them back then. You don't want him finding them." She reopened the drawer and was about to replace all the sheets of paper she had previously removed, when she noticed something strange.
"Squall? Does this look strange to you?" She pointed inside the open draw. Squall examined the inside of the drawer, and ran his finger around the joints of the wood.
"It's fake," he muttered, more to himself than to Rinoa. He removed the fake bottom to the drawer, revealing a small, metal box. Rinoa reached in and pulled it out.
"This could be what we're looking for." She gently undid the clasp and opened it, releasing year's worth of dust. Inside was a small, crystal pendant in the shape of flower. She handed it to Squall, hoping that he would know what this meant. The moment he touched it, he froze, and expressionless look spreading across his face.
"Squall? What's wrong?" asked Rinoa, concerned by his reaction. He didn't reply for some time.
When he finally snapped out of trance, he could only mutter one word.
"Ellone."