XI. Conflicted
Kai felt extremely conflicted at the moment.
The thing was, he actually wanted, yes, wanted to know if Monica was alright.
But...Why? Did he actually feel that much concern for her? It wasn't even like she was physically damaged that much during Sylvan and Shadow's fight earlier.
Before she came around, he would just mind his own business, really. Okay, there was the exception of looking out for Shachihoko, who he feared a few times would get in trouble for running around in the air vents; and looking out for Sylvan, who was emotionally fragile about almost everything that went on in this organization that he was a part of. But besides that, he would just mind his own business.
But then, Monica came along, and since then he actually started feeling concern for someone other than himself, Sylvan, or Shachihoko. It was weird, at first. He had to admit that it was weird. It wasn't like him to feel concern for anyone-not too much, anyway-and everyone knew him to not be such a soft-hearted person.
He wasn't really sure of it completely. All he knew was that he felt concern for her. Unfortunately, he didn't really know why.
"Monica."
Monica turned to see the tiger-like Inhuman jump onto the laboratory floor from the air vent above.
"Kai..." The angel-like Inhuman paused, before speaking. "What are you doing here?"
"I had to know if you were alright, Monica." Kai muttered quietly in response, walking over to her. "I mean...About what happened earlier..."
"I'm okay, Kai." Monica spoke, looking up at him. "I'm alive. I'm not in the Pit or dead."
"...Well, that's good I guess." Kai paused, before speaking up again. "Where's Sylvan?"
"I think he's asleep. He mentioned something about getting some rest earlier."
"I see..." Kai made eye contact with her quietly. "Did you ever hear about his plans?"
"Yeah. I know about them now. And about his dead sister, too." Monica paused before continuing, crossing her arms as she talked. "It's terrible that he lost his sister to some wild Inhuman. I understand why his father started this organization in the first place now, but it's really getting out of hand. Sylvan can see that. It's no wonder that he wants all of the Inhumans out of this place...So that they won't be treated like test subjects anymore."
"I know." Kai paused, before continuing. "Monica...Um...I never told anyone, except for Sylvan and Shachihoko who were there, about what I'm going to tell you. Can you keep it a secret?"
Monica nodded. "I can."
"Good." The tiger-like Inhuman paused again, before speaking. "After the apocalypse struck...My mother died. I don't know what happened to my father, because I never found him. I also had a sensei who taught me about the ways of the samurai. He died in the apocalypse, too."
Monica said nothing as he continued. "I was forced to take care of my younger siblings, who also transformed into Inhumans, but then Yuiichi Kirisaki found us, and...They were all used in experiments, except for me. Kirisaki claimed that it was because younger ones could deal with more pain than older ones, but I disagree completely. They all died because of him!" His hands balled into fists as he finished. "I can't forgive him for that...And that's why I'm going along with Sylvan's plan to break us all out. So that no more people like my siblings have to suffer the same fate."
Kai looked very upset by the end of his story, and Monica felt unsure of what to do. Thankfully, that was when the tiger-like Inhuman spoke up again.
"What about you? What was it like for you before you came here?"
Monica paused, before she spoke quietly. "My mom and dad both died in the apocalypse. All I did before then was scrounge around for whatever was edible. I tried to help out other survivors, during my time as a human, but after I became an Inhuman, everyone just started avoiding me. I couldn't do anything to get help, and the next thing I knew I was locked up in here." She let out a sigh. "I'm sorry about your family, and your sensei."
"I'm sorry about your mom and dad, too." Kai responded. "Monica...We're going to get out of here, soon. All of us. We'll make it through this." The two made eye contact, and only realized then that they were holding hands with each other.
It was the first time the two actually touched.
Behind the door to the room where all the blood samples where kept, Sylvan leaned against the door, smiling a bit before letting out a quiet sigh.
Tomorrow was going to be quite a day.