QUARTET ALLIANCE: LEND A HAND (Wild Duty & Judgement)

Chapter 44: World Disasters

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10:19 P.M

– Castle's Lockup –

Rehan shot up when he heard the fast, nearing footfalls echoing through the dark area. Discerning what sounded like heavy, labored breathing, he looked up just in time to see Kazuo digging in his back pocket and quickly pulling out the hair pin. He fumbled with the padlock, inserted the key into the hole, and twisted it after a few futile attempts.

The raven head stumbled inside and hurriedly fastened the lock and hid the hair pin. He did everything so fast that neither Rehan nor Zen were able to speak a word. Kazuo ran a hand trough his damp hair and sighed audibly, already knowing he had to explain everything. The boy walked to the nearest corner and plopped down on it, curious eyes following him silently as he panted.

"Unscratched and alive," he said then looked up to find Rehan on the verge of tears whilst Zen was trying to hide his panic by annoyance.

"Really?" Zen said which made Rehan and Kazuo look at him, "You stole a book out of all things?"

"No, no. This is crazy. You need come see," Kazuo said breathlessly and Zen looked at him like he had gone mad.

The ash blond came around and sat behind the raven head, although he need to support himself with his heels since Kazuo was taller. Zen observed them for a while before he also walked closer and sat next to Kazuo. They looked at the cover and before long, the redhead discerned it.

"I've seen that same book with Omi before," he commented, "Where'd you get it from?"

Kazuo touched around the cover which read 'World Disasters' and glanced at the redhead, "No other than Omi himself," he panted slowly.

Zen stared at him for a moment longer then spoke, "You stole it...from him?"

"Please be more specific," Rehan groaned and covered his face with his palm.

"I'm still processing everything myself too," Kazuo shook his head and closed his eyes, seemingly trying to calm down before he explained everything to the two.

"What the actual heck?" Rehan said in disbelief, "We should not make the same mistake of trusting that guy again," his voice sounded unsure, but hard as he recalled memories of the curly head betraying them.

"Give me that," Zen muttered and snatched the book out of Kazuo's hand. A frown was drawn permanently on his face as he read the cover one last time before flipping it open.

On the first page, there was a message written in a messy handwriting style:

Chapter 7: D.I.M 2 The noxious universe.

"I think it's a bookmark," Kazuo spoke first after examining the page, "Look at all the other chapter titles, they're just ways on how the world could end. Chapter one says meteoroid, two says the return of the Mesozoic era, which basically means dinosaurs, but chapter seven is what we're looking for. Open it," he explained.

Zen nodded and flipped a couple pages hastily before he opened chapter seven. As they read through the chapter, everything was coming together. Every unusual event was reworded and paraphrased into a story. It was like going through a flashback as they read and recalled the whole lot.