Childhood Friends

Chapter 21: The Blood

Kaito's body ached almost all over when he woke up. His head throbbed painfully, his legs had stiffened up and his arms and shoulders felt like they were on fire. He shook his head a little, trying to clear away the dizziness. The bump on his head didn't help much. If anything, it made it feel a little worse. Kaito tried to reach to feel where he got hit, but instead he heard a rattle of chains above him as he couldn't move his arm. Ignoring the searing pain in his head and ache in his neck, he looked up. His hands were handcuffed, the cuffs secured so tight that the cruel metal had begun digging into his skin. A sturdy chain was nailed to the ceiling and had been attached to the handcuffs. Kaito tugged hard on the chain, hoping to get the nail loose. He heaved as hard as he could, ignoring the cuffs digging into his skin. Nothing. Not sure how else to try to get the chain loose, Kaito grabbed it, and pulled himself a couple of inches off the ground. Taking a deep breath, he tugged hard with his full body weight used as an anchor. Again, the nail didn't budge. All that it resulted was him swinging a little.

Sighing heavily, Kaito carefully brought himself back to the ground. He wasn't going to get anywhere like this. He looked around the room that he was in. This was a completely different room from where he was last time. It seems to be an old office, probably one that the old hotel manager owned. The old carpet had lost its colour thanks to the years of collecting dust and had a musty smell coming from it. The wallpaper had been stripped completely and graffiti covered most of the bare walls. The window was boarded up, but telling by the breeze that came from it, it must have been smashed at some point. The only thing that seemed out of place was the furniture. The desk, chairs and a file cabinet was clearly brand new, showing obvious signs that the office had been used recently.

Kaito looked around the best he could. He tried to see anything that could be of any help to him. However, nothing was in reach and he couldn't move from where he was forced to stand. He was literally stuck. Kaito suddenly felt his lungs fill up with something, something that he knew was wrong. His lungs filled up so much that his chest started to feel constricted. He had this sudden and massive urge to cough. Knowing what it would result in, he tried to hold it in. He pushed it as far down as he could. However, he couldn't hold it in. The coughing started quiet at first. Then it erupted into loud hacking that Kaito couldn't contain. Thick, copper flavoured fluid erupted from his mouth. Blood splattered the floor near him, his feet and the front of his shirt. It hurt so much. His lungs felt they were slowly starting to fill up again and his throat felt like it was on fire.

"Damn it..." Kaito hissed, angry and shocked at how much he coughed up this time. It was so much more than the first. He couldn't imagine what would happen if he didn't get the antidote sooner or later. He can't do anything at this point. He'll have to wait for Maki to come back. He hated feeling useless like this.

Kaito snapped out of his self hatred when he heard the door opening. He probably alerted a guard outside or something while he was coughing up blood. He wondered which assassin was it this time. He hoped it would be one stupid enough to get close enough for him to kick. He figured that it would help relieve a little of the frustration he was feeling right now. He immediately put that thought aside when he saw Shi standing in the doorway.

"I see you're finally awake. You've been out for a while." The assassin smirked. Kaito was ready to shout at him, but then he had to double back on that plan. He wasn't in any good state to do much. Shi seemed satisfied that Kaito stayed quiet. At first, Kaito kept his eyes glued to the ground, despite the nauseating sight of the puddle of his own blood. When he heard Shi walk around the room, he couldn't help but keep his eyes on the man. Even if he couldn't do much, he may as well keep an eye on the assassin in case he tried anything.

"Looks like time is running out for you, Momota." Shi stated heading towards the desk. Kaito couldn't help but feel a little surprised that this monster knew his name. "Oh, yes. After finding out that Harukawa was spending time with you, I had my men do some digging on you." Shi crossed over to the desk and picked up a brown file. As he started reading from it, Kaito turned a little to have a better look at him. "Let's see. 'Kaito Momota. Age 16, born April 12th. Enrolled at Hope's Peak Academy as the Ultimate Astronaut. Resides with grandparents. Lost parents in a tragic, drunken accident'." Kaito refocused his eyes back to the ground, feeling exposed. This man had no right to look into his life like that. Now he knows almost everything. His life, his family, where he lives and goes, and goodness knows what else has been uncovered. He felt sick to his stomach about how calmly Shi just spilled out that information. He sounded so calm that he may as well have been reading off of a news paper.