The Conundrum Corporation |Oumasai

Chapter 23

I sighed and sat up as the door creaked open. For a new door it's pretty creaky. There standing was Shuichi. Oh, that's fine.
"Hey Shu. What's up?" I asked him. He fumbled with his hands.
"I was going to ask you if you wanted to come to the bakery with me," he replied. "I was going to ask you earlier, but then Mikan came in."
"Sure...like a date?" I teased and grinned.
"I guess," he mumbled and forced himself to look upon the floor. I burst out laughing.
"Oki doki. When will we go?" I questioned him while getting up from my comfortable position on the bed.
"Now?" he insisted, but it sounded more like a question. I shrugged and looked around. I have nothing more to do really, so I should just go. We did want to get to know each other more.
"Alrighty, now is good," I smiled and skipped out of my room leaving a flustered Shuichi behind.
"You coming or not?!" I yelled at him.
"Of course," he exclaimed and ran out of the room to catch up with me.

"Finally, my feet are tired," I groaned as we entered the bakery. Shuichi furrowed his eyebrows.
"We were walking for five minutes and most of the time we were in an elevator," he commented. I folded my arms like a child.
"Still," I insisted. Honestly, I think I'm just cranky because of all that's happening.
"Do you want to sit here or would you prefer somewhere else?" Shuichi asked me while gesturing to a seat. I hummed.
"Here is good," I shrugged. Shuichi nodded and I took my seat. Shuichi sat down on the other side of the table. I looked past me to see a glass container full of cakes.
"Hey, so Maki came to fix my door just before you came in. She gave me some information in exchange of looking after her department," I stated. He looked at me confused.
"Looking after her department?" he muttered.
"Yeah, I thought that she would ask me something else," I shrugged and took the menu off the table. Shuichi put a finger to his chin.
"Do you think...she's going to try and escape?" he asked me. Escape? I looked up at him.
"What do you mean escape?" I muttered.
"Leave the corporation," he replied. I mean Maki did seem pretty miserable but then she told me that after this 'mission' they would let her go. Now that I think about it, she almost explained her situation like she was a captive.
"She did seem pretty miserable," I murmured.
"It wouldn't be the greatest if she did try to escape, most likely they would drag her back here," Shuichi sighed.
"Geez, you're making it sound like you guys are being kept here against your will," I told him.
"Well if you put it that way, we are. We don't get to go to the outside world ever and we've all been working here for years. Watching people die everyday is drastic," he responded, with sadness coated in his voice.
"You've never told me this before," I asserted. I scratched my head and looked at his face. He always seemed to have never minded life here. What was going on?
"Sorry, I didn't want to make you...anxious or anything," he smiled at me. I frowned.
"Is it really that bad here? Why doesn't Byakuya do anything?" I replied. He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced sideways.
"That's why we're glad he's going. He's just so...cold. He doesn't care for us," he frowned. I put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay, once Byakuya is gone, the new leader will surely be kinder," I smiled at him.
"He will be," Shuichi smiled at me.
"He?" I questioned him.
"Yep! It's a he, apparently. Byakuya is just making sure that he's fit for the corporation," Shuichi answered me. I nodded and then got up to get a cake. We've been here for some time just talking and now I'm hungry. I stared at all the cakes. Which one to get? Maybe, I'll ask Shumai to see what he thinks. I turned around to ask him.
"S-" I started, but then stopped. Shuichi's head was in his hands and he looked like he had a huge headache. I blinked a couple of times. Is he okay? I walked back to our table.
"You okay?" I observed his face. He nodded, shakily. He removed his hands from his face and smiled at me.
"I'm okay," he nodded. I sighed, I don't let people get away with easy lies.
"Liar. What's going on?" I insisted and sat back down.
"What are you doing? Go get your cake," he insisted. I shrugged and tapped my finger lightly on the table.
"Cake can wait," I answered. "You've been lying to me ever since Mikan came into your office."
He sighed and looked down guiltily.
"Well...I've been getting really bad headaches and I think that...I'm getting my memories back," he sighed. I jumped up from my seat on the table.
"What?!" I exclaimed. He nodded. He's getting his memories back? That's great news! He shouldn't be upset about this.
"Yeah, you know that information I told you about the new leader? How it's a 'he'?" he carried on. I nodded, not wanting to interfere in his explaining.
"I just woke up and remembered it. It's like I've known it for the longest time but...I lost it," he explained. I couldn't help the smile forming on my face.
"You know what this means right?" I chirped up. He scratched his head.
"What?" he smiled confused.
"Once you get your memories back, you can tell me everything! You are the key to this mystery. Along with that other person," I added. Shuichi frowned.
"What other person?" he muttered and I slumped back in my seat.
"I don't know really. Just this person who Maki refers to as 'idiot'. Apparently he's coming soon to deliver a package," I smiled.
"Oh, it's that time of year already? I thought that the package would come in a few more months," he sighed. What? He knows what the package is? Well of course he would know what the package is, he's also a leader.
"Well do you know what the package is?" I asked him. He shook his head.
"All I know is that Rantaro is given a package in the middle of the year. The boy who delivers it is also the maker of the package. He's actually my friend, although he is pretty rude at first sight," Shuichi explained. So he doesn't know what the package is, but he knows the person who delivers it? Hm. Well, he's getting those five specific memories back. That's good news. One step closer to the truth.
•
They're lying to you.
D- not t—- ——e