The travel down the stairs was unexpectedly long and eerie. There were no lights at all. It was all dark and there was no telling how long did the stairs stretched below.
Not only that, but the moment Akira and Ren stepped into the stairs, there was a sudden cold air that greeted them.
There was something about it that made the hairs on Akira's arms raise. She was used to working and doing their missions at night when it was dark. However, it was different than this one.
She was basically only able to move unperturbed at night because of the moon. But this time, there was no moon, just pure darkness. It was almost as if she was encaged in a room full of darkness where there was no escape.
The thought suddenly gave her the anxiety. But she quickly fought her emotion away. She pushed back the thought in her head and reminded herself that she's not a coward, that she was a fierce and strong woman. There was nothing to fear.
They were surrounded by darkness, but she remembered that there was actually a solution for that. Good thing she had brought her phone with her.
Fishing out her phone from her pocket, she turned on its flashlight and used it to light the path that was in front of them.
With the flashlight illuminating their way, the two had finally gotten a better look at the exact place they were at.
The passageway was actually quite compact. If they had walked side by side, their shoulders would inevitably be crashing against each other. The width of the corridor was just enough to accommodate one person at a time.
They had also noticed that the walls were made of rough cement, and the stairs were made of cobblestone.
Ren sniffed then he caught a weird scent in the air. It smelled of something like a burning incense.
"What is that?", he said as he continued to sniffle.
"Do you smell it too?" Akira replied without looking back at Ren.
Ren nodded, then realized it was of no use because Akira couldn't actually see him. So instead, he answered, "Yes."
"This is suspicious. I don't think it's a good idea to keep inhaling it. You better cover your nose", Ren suggested warily.
He was very familiar with such tricks used by people. Some use incense that had drowsy effects, or if potent enough, it could also leave those who take in the smoke unconscious.
Akira had no objections with Ren's suggestion. She thought that he had a point. It could be a trap. It was not far from that. After all the things that she had witnessed so far at Tomo Ogawa's house, she realized that they could never really be too careful. Considering how crafty the man was, anything could just be possible.
So, it wouldn't be actually a loss on their side if they were always on their guard.
Covering her nose with her other arm, Akira continued to lead their way. Ren also covered his nose and continued to follow her from behind.
The two couldn't tell it exactly, but they felt like they've been walking for minutes already, but the stairs seem to reach its end soon.
How much longer will it take them?! And just how long was the stairs.
Akira was starting to feel impatient. She felt like they were wandering in a maze that had no end to it. Tomo Ogawa sure had his way of squeezing the brain cells as well as the patience out of people.
After a while, Akira could finally see the last step on the stairs through her flashlight. A glitter of hope started to sparkle inside her. But the joy was quick to disappear when all she could feel was a cold and hard wall.
She thought at first that it was a door, but when she touched it, she realized that it was actually a wall and they were at a dead end.
Akira was so frustrated she almost wanted to pull her hair. As as when she thought the major problem was solved, here came another one.
Was there no end to Tomo Ogawa's crafty and cunning ways? It was as if they were being played by him at this moment.
"What on earth is going on?" Akira said all in frustration, confusion and anger. She started to question if they were even really at the right track, or perhaps the piano was just another diversion and trap.
It was so hard to tell because with Tomo Ogawa, everything could be possible. He's so smart to the point that he was so unpredictable.
"This is a dead end."
"No. I don't think so", Ren disagreed. "Use your nose, that weird scent we caught earlier is still there. In fact, it's getting stronger here. We need to find out where that smell is coming from."
Akira was so distracted by her frustration and anger that she had completely forgotten about the incense-smelling scent. Once again, she concentrated and inhaled. The same scent greeted her nose. Ren was right. But where could it possibly coming?
Ren started to sniff the walls like a dog, not caring how stupid or shameful he might have look.
Akira stood speechless for a moment, contemplating whether she should commend him or be disgusted by him. She felt like it could be both.
Despite her conflicting thoughts, Akira decided to follow Ren. She sniffed the wall at the end of the passageway, but she tried to do it in a way less weird than Ren's.
It was only the two of them and there was really no one who could see her. Still, her pride couldn't take the idea of allowing herself to look that stupid. She still had her dignity to keep.
She moved to the corners of the wall, then something caught both her nose and eyes. The scent was stronger in that area. Not only that, there was actually a very tiny gap between the edges of the wall. It was so small that only air could escape. But Akira felt it, the air coming from the gap didn't only have a strong scent, it also felt colder.
"I think there's a room behind this wall", she said to Ren.
Ren eyed her. Akira couldn't really figure out the meaning behind his stare.
'Is he perhaps doubting me? Or mocking me?' she thought to herself.
Did he find it that unbelievable for her to figure it out first? Or perhaps did he feel infuriated that he didn't figure it out first?
She was convinced that he didn't like the idea of her figuring things out first. Because of that, she was reminded the distaste that she had for him, and this time, she felt that her dislike towards him just increased by another twenty percent.
She was itching to finish the mission with him so she could finally stop spending time with him and get herself in a good distance because being around him was starting to feel suffocating and unbearable.
"Good", he replied after pausing for a short while. "Let's see, there could be another button here", he ran his palms and pressed in against the wall, hoping to find a button or something. But there was none. It was all flat.
Just as when they thought they'd gone far already, now they're stuck. Was it already the end for their mission?
Ren refused to give up. After all, his freedom and safety was also at stake. As much as possible, he wanted to leave the Genjis as soon as he could. He had a lot of important things to take care of, and the longer he was staying with the Genjis, the longer those things were jeopardized.
"Perhaps the key is not in the wall itself. Perhaps it's somewhere else here. May I borrow your phone?"
Akira's eyes widened, "What? No! What do you need it for?!"
Ren sighed weakly at her reaction, "I'm not going to read your messages nor contact someone. I just need the flashlight to check something."
Akira hesitated for a moment. Should she trust his word or not? There was really no point for him to lie, right? She was there with him and even if he did anything funny, she'd quickly stop him.
"Fine", she finally gave in.
She handed the phone to Ren and Ren thanked her in response.
Her eyes were fixated at the phone, making sure that there was nothing else Ren was doing but only the thing he said he would do.
He turned around, then started to go back to the stairs nearest to the dead end part of the passageway.
One...two...three...on the third step, something caught his eyes, stopping him on this cracks.
"Take a look at this", he said with brows furrowed as he was confused with the thing that was in front of him.
"Do you know what this is?"