*** =͟͟͞͞( •̀д•́))) Progress! =͟͟͞͞( •̀д•́))) ***

Chapter 25: What if

"Why would you lie to me?" Len sat next to her to confirm whether or not what she said earlier was a lie, but… He was having a hard time believing her. Which should be natural since it was simply ridiculous. "I could list a lot of reasons."

'That guy knows who Rin was before she lost her memories huh... How am I supposed to believe that?' He wasn't going to fall for that. 'If I really think it's that impossible I wonder why I'm trying to get her to confirm it for me though...'

"Is it really that unbelievable? Or do you just not trust me?" It's really a little bit of both, Len thought. It would've been a little bit more believable if she were to provide evidence or something. Or act less suspicious and more humane. "Because you should trust me! I haven't lied all day!"

"You just lied to that guy a few seconds ago!" He tried to control his voice. Len paused and he took a quick glance at Piko; they were sitting at the back, and Piko was sitting, perhaps 10 rows of seats in front of them. From that distance he shouldn't be able to hear their conversation, still… Len lowered his voice anyway. "You said you haven't told me anything import-"

"Hey, it's just a matter of measure! Maybe to you that information is important, but to me it isn't. I've got a lot of things going on in my life, don't think you're the only source of entertainment I have!" She folded her arms. "So, technically I didn't lie."

"…Fine." Mayu may be right on that one, but that doesn't mean he could just trust her words like that. "I still don't trust you."

"Have it your way, then. Whether you believe me or not is your problem. Maybe what I said is true, maybe I'm just trying to mess with your head a little bit 'cause I think it's funny." Just a few seconds ago she was trying to convince him to trust her, now it was up to him to decide? "He told me they were clooooooose friends. Super duper hyper really really close friends."

"Sure they are." He doubted that guy actually used the term 'super duper hyper really close friends'.

"Hmph…" Mayu pouted. "I did say whether or not you believe me here's up to you, but… Why don't you think about it a little bit? Let's assume what I just said was true."

"So what if it's true?" It'd be ground breaking sure, it'd be shocking sure, but then… So what? "If that's supposed to be a secret, as long as Rin doesn't know about it I don't think it'll-"

"How can you not care about this? You're taking it waaay too lightly!" It's supposed to be a 'what if' scenario of course he wasn't thinking about it too much. "You haven't seen the big picture yet!"

Len sighed and decided to give it a chance and think it over, there's nothing wrong with a brain teaser and it wouldn't hurt if it's just a 'what if' conversation. It's just... So what if they knew each other? The past is the past, and if it's supposed to be a secret it won't affect anyone. It'd just affect anyone who knows about the 'secret'.

'Rin should be the one who is the most affected if she knows about that secret. It doesn't look like that guy's going to let Rin know about who she was, so that's not going to be a problem. If they knew each other, and they were close friends… Then…'

Then it hit him.

"Oh, that face! You're putting on a face that says 'I think I just figured something out'." Mayu tried to copy his expression. She squinted her eyes, then widened them in surprise. "Or something like that. So, what is it?"

"No, there's no way to confirm it."

"Then I'll ask him!" She sounded too excited for it. It's good that she was enjoying herself and not being all… Deadly and threatening and everything , still… It's a what if scenario. "What's on your mind?"

"If what you said is true, and that they were close friends… Then in their first meeting he would ask 'how have you been' or 'why don't you remember me'. If he's not shocked to see her the-"

"That means he knows she'd lost her memories! Or maybe he's directly involved in it!" She finished Len's speculation for him. "It's too bad I can't ask him more about this. In the middle of our conversation earlier I kind of just… Had this sudden urge to tell you about it and ran for it. I doubt he'll continue the story."

"Are you sure it's not something one sided? Maybe it's true that that guy knows who Rin was, but maybe Rin doesn't know who he was before." Len thought back on what Kaito said to him. That guy volunteered to 'do some house work for them'. That's it, no more, no less. He didn't tell him anything about how Rin and that guy met, though he knew they went out to do an errand together.

'That should be enough to confirm it... He's not shocked to see her at all if he doesn't mind going shopping with her, right?'

"I told you they were super close friends! Really, really close! More than that even!" Len didn't like how Mayu was trying to stress how… Close they were. "Jealous?"

"The past is the past, it doesn't matter what kind of relationship they had before." Besides, Rin had forgotten them all. So, again, it wouldn't affect them at the present. "Are you just exaggerating things? What did he say exactly?"

"Uhm…" It looked like she was in deep thought; which was weird because she couldn't stop talking earlier... What's there to think about? "Uh… I can't tell you 'cause I think this part's pretty important. Let's just say they're super close and they do know each other."

"The relationship they had before is that important?" He thought Mayu would spill everything out without thinking, it just made him more curious. Or maybe she was just trying to mess with his head.

'…I shouldn't get too carried away. This is just… A what-if game.' Len sighed. 'I don't care how interesting it is, or how much of it makes sense I shouldn't just believe everything she says.'

"*sigh* To be so clooose with someone and all of a sudden the next time you meet her she doesn't remember all times you've spent together. I kinda pity him you know. That's saying a lot." Len found it amazing that she could pity another human being, that made her less of a psychopath; though she did have a point. "You should stop being mean to him. Or, you know, at least considerate."

"What are you talking ab-"

"Here's a little tip from me." Mayu sighed. She'd heard that the people you hate is actually very similar to you. Opposites attract and likes repel. Of course telling Len that he's similar to Piko would just make both parties vomit or something, so Mayu decided to cast that fact aside. " You should befriend him."

"Why should I?" Was he supposed to give him pity because Rin doesn't remember him? That's not his problem.

"First of all, grow up and let it go. You say that the past is the past but you still haven't forgiven him! Don't you get it? He has valuable information and if you befriend that anti-social baker you might get it!"

"You know…" How many times did he have to remind himself that they were talking about a what if scenario? Apparently Mayu assumed he fully believed that secret or story or whatever. "There's still a possibility that you're lying to me about all of this, right?"

"Ugh, I can't believe you! After everything we've discussed I can't believe you're still considering that! Fine, have it your way. I'll make sure from now on I'll lie every time I talk to you!" For a second Len had forgotten that she too was a human, and she was a girl. If he keeps on saying he doesn't believe her of course she's going to get hurt eventually. "Let's just change the topic."

"Oh, hey look Piko's walking this way. I think we made too much noise." The one who made the tantrum was her. Sure, Len had kept his voice low, but Mayu didn't. "What brings you here, Mr. Baker?"

"Nothing." He sat next to Mayu and sighed. He looked a little bit disturbed for some reason. "I just thought I'd sit here."

"You're worried I might spill some info to him huh…?" Bull's eye. "Don't worry, I don't plan to be the first to break our deal at all."

"The deal?" They kept talking about that 'story' but in the end he knew nothing about the deal those two made.

"It doesn't concern you."

"Yes it doesn't but there's nothing wrong with telling him. It's called being active in a group conversation." Mayu did say Len should consider befriending him, but if they can't even talk without glaring or throwing sarcastic remarks at each other it seemed impossible. "Piko told me a story and if I ever tell this story to anyone else I'll give him permission to kill me."

"Let me guess…" That's good, that means Piko hadn't been listening to them at all. Well, if he had, Mayu would be dead by now. Or he'd at least try and stop them from talking about it. "Did he say he'll kill the person you've told the story to as well?"

"Uh, how did you know?" Mayu looked at Piko, then she looked at Len. It's weird, the two either completely ignore one another or exchange glares. And they did it simultaneously so... If it weren't for whatever dark background they had it'd actually be funny. Scratch that the dark background made it even funnier.

"The last time I made a deal with him he gave me the same rule. If I tell anyone about his time in prison and what he's done, he'll kill me and the person I've told the story to." Len smirked. "Technically the two of us should be dead by now."

"Is that true? That's no good, I forbid any deaths in this train! It's far too early for that, Piko you can kill Len some other time can you hold it in for now?" She declared, and somehow Piko didn't seem to mind. Len thought he'd take the deal a little bit more seriously. "Wait, so… You've really never told anyone about this? Come on, it's not like he spies on you 24/7 if you really want to you could've told someone."

"It's not like I want to tell anyone, and it's not something I want to talk about so what's wrong with putting it all behind me?"

"There's nothing wrong about it, I guess." Mayu shrugged. "Let's put that aside for a second. Hey Piko, the story you told me was really reaaaaaaally interesting, you know? Unlike that detective over there I feel like I want to tell the world about it!"

"Then that means I'll have to kill you, right?"

"And you'll kill everyone in the world? I admire your spirit!" She giggled. "If I tell that person about it will you kill her too? By 'that person' I mean… The girl in your story."

"I don't want to talk about the deal if he's here." Piko was getting fidgety. As much as Len wanted to laugh about it, it was hard to do so since the girl they were talking about was Rin. And if that guy even thinks about trying to hurt her it's really not something to laugh about.

"Eeh, but he has nothing to do with the story! You can just pretend he doesn't exist. So… Answer my question!" Mayu was right, he had nothing to do with the story. Was that guy afraid that... If he knew that he might tell Rin about it? "If you don't speak up I'll tell him the story."

"I'm not going to kill that person." He answered without a second thought.

"Wow, look how obedient you are! I'm going to use this threat all day! If I use it often enough I wonder if it'll make you cry?" Len looked forward to that one. "It's too early for anyone to shed a tear right now though."

'Too early for bloodshed and too early for tears, huh…' Mayu still hadn't given them any clue to where they were headed to, or what they, what she was planning to do. He had a guess, but that wasn't the only thing that bothered him.

'That guy.. In exchange for his story what does he get in return? Permission to kill her? That doesn't seem all that worth it, especially since he's the one who made the deal first. It should benefit him more than Mayu.' It'd be near to impossible to ask either of the two what their deal was. And a part of him still think it's Mayu's plan to mess with his head. 'I keep having to tell myself that there's a possibility that they're lying to me, this is really tiring. I should just hurry up and pick a side. Am I supposed to accept the fact that that guy had a history with Rin before?'

'...It's hard to pick.'

"I really feel like I owe you two a story! I've heard so much from you today, it's time for me to be the storyteller, don't you think?" She glared at Len, clearly still irritated from before. "I'll try not to put any lies in this story this time."

"So… How do I start? I'll start it off with a once upon a time, then. Once upon a time there lived a little princess. She'd always wanted to rule the land ever since her father told her she was going to be one." Len expected her to talk about something from her past; that's what he and Piko had been telling her the all day.

"And so she killed everyone who was standing on her way to become a princess." Len changed his mind, that sounded something very Mayu-ish. "The end."

"Was that supposed to be a story about you?" Piko was actually contributing to a conversation, that was surprising. Len (and Mayu too, really) expected him to be silent the entire train trip.

"She's definitely not a princess."

"Ever heard of metaphors?" Len didn't like the way that guy was staring at him. It's as if he's saying 'you're an imbecile who doesn't know what a metaphor is.' Or maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him because that's what your eyes do when you hate someone.

"That's not what I meant, I'm just saying she's not princess material if she kills people."

"Well you're both right. It's a metaphor and clearly I'm not cut out to be a princess in those fairy tale books, probably." She shouldn't deny the fact because she clearly wasn't princess material. "I said 'I'll kill everyone who was standing in my way', but in the end I only had to kill three people."

'If 'princess' is supposed to be a metaphor to being… That organization's leader, then the three people she has to kill is… Obviously the leader, that would make it the king, and the queen needs to be killed too, the last one is…' Len thought it over. 'If the king told her she's going to rule that means there should be no other candidates, unless…'

"The princess had to kill the king, queen and a prince?" Len couldn't believe that guy could answer the question before him. It wasn't really a question, but still. And he had the answer in his head!

'Wow I'm being really childish.'

"Yes! The king kept going on and on saying that I'll rule the world but the second he heard he's going to have a son I'm out of the spotlight?" It's hard to believe how lightly they were talking about murder like that. Then again, the three of them had killed someone at least once so… "Something had to be done about that."

"Why's being a princess so important?" Len thought if Mayu had chosen to be a normal girl he wouldn't have suffered as much. Then again, with that kind of living environment, with her father being a lead of an organization like that... Normal would be a little bit hard to get, huh?

"Hey, it looks fun and I'm having fun right now. Sure it's busy, and society thinks that it's horrible and you shouldn't sell people or kill people, but as my dear father once said, someone needs to do it. We're putting useless people to good use. So, hey, one hell of a silver lining." She smiled the most innocent smile. "Sometimes I wonder when karma's gonna get me though. My life's wonderful."

"When it does, it'll hit you hard. The first time I took a life the universe sent me that guy." Len pointed to the man who sat opposite to him. "It'll hit you hard."

"You should be grateful you're still alive." That felt 'nostalgic'. Len couldn't count how many times that guy had told him that while they were still in prison. He kept saying he should be grateful that he wasn't executed but he kept making his life in prison hell anyway.

"Whatever." Len stood up. "I need some time alone, when will we reach our destination?"

"A few hours, I guess? I'll tell you when we're almost there."

"I'll be in the other car." He had a lot of things to think about. He wanted to pick a side and figure out whether Mayu was telling the truth about the story or not, he had to think about the guess he had in mind on what Mayu's plan is, and he thought back on all the cases he'd solved so far.

As he walked to the other car his mind raced for ways on how to successfully murder that princess.