Akira raised her arm and quickly covered her nose. Now that she's aware that the incense was causing her to have hallucinations, the next question was how to counteract the effect of the hallucinogen.
She turned to the creature in front of her. If there was one person who knew things better about Tomo Ogawa and his tricks, it would be him.
She then asked to him, "How do we neutralize the effect of the incense?"
The creature moved towards her but she took a step backwards. She was already aware that it was Ren and that what she was seeing was purely a hallucination that was brought by the thing that she inhaled. However, she still couldn't help but be wary.
"Trust", the creature said as he stopped on his tracks. His hands were raised in front of him to assure her that he meant no harm.
After a few seconds, he said something again, "Me."
Trust. Me.
Akira picked up that he was communicating by saying words one at a time. But she really couldn't wrap her head around why he couldn't speak like he would normally do.
Was it perhaps another effect of the incense? Did it render him unable to speak properly?
He told her to trust him and that was the problem. She didn't really trust him. She might have agreed to work with him in the mission but that didn't mean that she trusted him.
The truth was that, she was on guard the whole time. There was a part of her that was expecting for him to betray her anytime during their mission, and she was also more than ready to take him down if ever that happened.
However, he did nothing to harm her so far. Even after she went on to attack him first, he just simply dodged her attacks.
If he really wanted to harm her, now would be his best chance to do considering that Akira was not really seeing things well and that there were no other people around apart from them.
Despite still having some hesitance inside her, Akira decided that she had no choice but to trust him this time.
"Fine. Come", she replied.
After giving her permission and seeing that she was no longer as guarded as earlier, Ren proceeded to come closer to her.
He inserted his hand inside his shirt then brought out a thin silver chain that was hanging on his neck. At the end of the chain was a pendant that was shaped like a bottle.
Akira was surprised to find out that he was actually hiding something inside his shirt. They had been holding him captive for days but no one of them ever noticed the silver chain.
Then she realized that it was because the shirt that Ren was wearing had a high collar which covered the entire base of his neck.
He opened the bottle then handed it to her.
"Drink", he said to her.
Akira eyed the bottle intently and accusingly.
Was it really the right call to trust him? What if the liquid inside the tiny bottle was a poison? What if all this was just a trap? What if Ren was actually working with Tomo Ogawa?
A sea of questions started to flood Akira's mind that she was struggling to make a decision.
Should she take it or not? Should she drink it or not? Should she really trust Ren or not?
As she was drowned and troubled in her dilemma, Ren suddenly took back the tiny bottle.
Akira furrowed her brows. She was confused with his action.
What was he doing now? Didn't he say for her to drink it? Why did he take it back?
Almost instantly, her confusion was cleared. He took back the bottle then took a sip of whatever was inside of it.
He was ensuring Akira that it was not a poison and that it was safe for her to drink it.
Akira once again was left surprised and speechless. She didn't expect at all that he would be that observant and patient towards her.
If she was him, she would have forced the bottle in his mouth by now.
After taking a sip, Ren wiped his lips then handed back the tiny bottle to Akira.
Seeing that he was fine after drinking it, Akira took the bottle and gulped a tiny amount of the liquid quickly.
To her surprise, it didn't actually taste bad. In fact, it tasted good. It reminded her one of those iced drinks that she would get during summer that had a minty effect once it reached her throat.
"That wasn't bad", she commented as she gave back the bottle to Ren.
The moment their hands touched, she started to feel a little dizzy.
"What's going on?" she asked, her heart beating fast. She was starting to fear that perhaps it was really a poison and that she had been fooled.
But after blinking a few times, the dizziness started to fade away. Her blurry vision became clearer and the hideous creature in front of her disappeared.
She was now facing the real Ren with the crimson hair and honey eyes.
"It's you. Oh. Thank God", she sighed loudly as she felt so relieved.
"Right. Thank God you didn't kill me", Ren replied.
Akira glared at him. That wasn't the reaction or response that she was expecting from him. She felt a bit insulted as she thought that it wasn't really her fault that she attacked him.
She was certain he would do the same thing if he was in her position.
"Then, I'm sorry. Can you blame me? You looked like a monster there for a moment", she replied sarcastically.
"A monster?" Ren raised on of his eyebrows.
Akira nodded, "Yes. Blood on your hair, fangs, dark eyes with spirals in the middle – they all looked so real."
"I see. It's the effect of the incense."
"But what was that thing you made me drink?" Akira asked.
Ren squeezed the tiny bottle on his silver chain, "Oh. This? It's a concoction. It works on various poisons and even drugs."
"And where did you get it?" Akira was so curious how did someone like him acquire such a valuable thing.
Ren gave her a smile, "That is also something that I can't tell you."
"Still playing the mysterious and secretive card, aren't you? Are you sure you're not related to that man Tomo Ogawa?"
A low chucked escaped Ren's mouth at her remark. He then shook his head, "I am not. Though I think it would be quite cool to have him as a relative."
There was a silence for a moment. Over the period of time that she had spent with him, Akira had learned that Ren was the type to joke whenever and wherever he felt like to. But, she still couldn't figure out how to go along with his antics. Perhaps it would take an eternity for her to get used to guy.
"Enough with the chatter. Let's get moving", she said as she turned her back at Ren and faced the long hallway.
They had been faced with numerous surprises and delays and she was hoping that there were no more tricks or traps waiting along the way.
"Let's hope this is the last phase, and that we're finally getting to our desired destination."