I hope this doesn't jump around too much. Please review, and if you don;t understand anything, I'll be happy to answer your questions either in the next chapter or via PM. Thanks again! :)
One Day Earlier- 10:21pm, Tochigi Prefecture
The electric blue SW20 tore through the hairpins at breakneck speed, taking the jump from one corner to the next on the perilous lines only the locals knew.
Hah! Pretty soon, I'll be able to beat Kyoichi no problem. The 19 year old thought to himself happily, grinning.
Still, as he neared the end of the mass of snake-like turns, headed towards the straight away, he froze as he saw the figure of a man lying in the road….
"Whoa!" Kai slammed on the breaks, turning the wheel as far as he dared and drifting to a stop a few feet away from the form in the road. Kai let out a sharp breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, hands maintaining a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel as sweat beaded on his brow.
"Damn, that was close." Kai frowned, staring out through the nightly fog at the still form. He frowned when the man lying in the road made no move to get up.
Kai frowned, throwing open the door of his SW and stepping onto the road, jogging over to the still form.
"Sir? Hey, Sir, can you hear me?" Kai crouched anxiously before the man lying in the road. He was wearing a business suit, and Kai reached out to shake the man before hesitating. Should he really touch the guy? You weren't supposed to move an injured person, but he'd need to, if he was going to get the man help….
Kai had been so caught up in his thoughts he didn't hear the person approaching behind him. Kai inhaled with a sharp gasp, coughing and choking as a cloth was shoved over his nose and into his mouth, invading his senses with a nauseating scent.
"Mmmpph!" Kai twisted- his head was spinning, and though he tried to lash out, he'd been caught by surprise, and all he could do was go limp as his body gave out on him, the sensation of rough pavement against his cheek the last thing he remembered before he succumbed to oblivion.
Present Day- 5:57am, Gunma Prefecture
Bunta frowned, looking at the clock for what must've been the fifteenth time in ten minutes. Takumi should've been back an hour ago. Bunta sighed. "Damn kid." He muttered to himself, heading outside the shop for a smoke. He stood for what must've been fifteen minutes, listening to the quiet early morning air, straining his ears for the purr of the 86 as it came towards the shop. There was nothing.
Bunta sighed, exhaling a mouthful of smoke into the morning air. It was nearly six in the morning, and something in Bunta's gut told him that something was wrong. Sure, Takumi stayed out longer than usual to drive the pass sometimes, but he'd never stayed out this late before. Normally, Takumi was back as soon as possible to grab as much sleep as he could before school started….
Bunta sighed, heading to the garage behind the shop, throwing open the garage door. An old pickup truck greeted him rather morosely, and Bunta sighed, grabbing the keys off the workbench and opening the door, climbing into the driver's seat.
"It's been a long time." Bunta spoke to the pickup, lighting a cigarette and pulling out of the driveway, heading up towards the pass. "Damn kid better have a good reason for whatever the hell he's doing…."
Despite its age, the motor of the pickup still purred beneath the hood, and Bunta smiled despite himself as he made his way up the pass.
Still, what little enjoyment he got from riding the well-tuned pick up evaporated as he saw the 86 sitting abandoned in the middle of the road, door open.
Bunta pulled over, putting the pickup in park as he got out, striding over to the open door of the 86.
"Takumi?" Bunta placed a hand on the roof of the 86, ducking into the car to find it empty. The key was still in the ignition, the motor purring idly…. Something was wrong. Takumi would never leave the 86 running like this….
Bunta turned, surveying the road, his eyes landing on something. Bunta jogged over, crouching down and feeling his heart drop when he found one of Takumi's trainers lying in the road.
"Takumi?" his voice had grown quieter, now, and Bunta knelt down, examining the shoe critically. Something dark was spattered on the pavement- Bunta froze for a moment- was that… blood?
The older man froze for a moment, uncertain as to what to do. "Takumi…." His son's name left his lips, before he was turning, running back to the pickup truck and slamming the door, flooring it down the mountain, towards the nearest police station. Something had happened- he wasn't sure what, but his son was missing, and he'd do his damnest to find the kid.
Takumi- hang in there, kid. I don't know what happened- but I'm going to find you.
Kai came to what must've been hours, if not a day later, feeling hungry but nauseated. He was laying atop a bed, his neck stiff from the awkward position he'd been splayed in, and he sat up hesitantly. "D-Dad?"
Kai groaned, swinging his feet over the side of the bed and placing a hand to his spinning head, swallowing back a groan as his stomach protested the sudden movement.
He was sitting in a small, windowless room- there was another bed pressed against the wall opposite him, and the room was incredibly bare.
"Ugh… where am I?" he spoke quietly, struggling to orient himself.
The last thing he remembered was getting out of his car to help that stranger….
Kai's eyes widened. He'd been taken somewhere- this wasn't good. Still, he had to trust his father would find him. Kai took a deep breath, centering himself and slowly laying back down. The best thing for him to do was lay down and observe- things would fall into place later.
Hours later, the door to the room was unlocked, two suit-clad men carrying a limp form into the room, laying him on the bed.
Kai got to his feet, watching the whole situation with muted anxiety. "What's going on? Who the hell are you people?" Kai was unnerved by it all.
The suited men ignored him entirely, before they were turning and leaving the room in silence, the clicking of a key in the doorknob as the door was locked behind them.
Kai let out a shaky breath, fists clenched. What the hell is going on here? He thought to himself, before noticing the figure lying on the bed across the room. Kai made his way over, seeing it was a kid who couldn't have been much older than him. The boy had chestnut bangs that fell over his forehead- the boy's face was coated in dried blood, his lips parted slightly and breath whistling though his stuffy nose as he laid still.
The kid was in a wrinkled t-shirt and jeans, and he was missing a shoe, revealed a rumpled crew sock.
"Hey- you awake?" Kai asked hesitantly, reaching for the boy's wrist. There was a strong pulse, even though the boy made no move to answer him. Kai sighed, removing his hand's from the boy's wrist. "They probably drugged him. Just like they drugged me." Kai muttered, a hint of bitterness in his voice.
Kai tried to scrub at some of the blood on the boy's face, but without a wet rag, he soon became frustrated, and he leaned back on his heels, sighing and taking a deep breath to steady his nerves as he swallowed.
"What the hell do these guys want with us?" he asked no one in particular. He received no response- all he could do was sit in silence and hope the bloodied kid knew more than he did about the situation they were in.
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