Author's Notes
This chapter is partially inspired by one of the episodes in Hawaii little bit in the third segment really. The girl gets kidnapped and then they find blood all over her jacket.
A nice long chapter? Know why? Cause I compressed the plan. Meaning more stuff in chapter, but less chapters. Two more actually. Well…one more, featuring the DW again (along with something you might or might nor guess) and the epilogue. This is actually my favourite chapter too. Enjoy.
Slaves to the Trade
.Domination. These things caused his world to be stripped away. 'You may hold my body, but my soul is free.' Can that truth be saved, or is it doomed to be forever squelched beneath a master?
Character/s: Kouichi K
Genre/s: Drama/Angst
Rating: T
Chapter 11
'Otou-san! Watashi wa anata o aishite!'
Those words managed to freeze his heart. Even worse was the dial-tone that echoed thereafter. Worse still were the three silent days attached at the tail, where it seemed everyone in the city was tethering at the edge of some giant see-saw about to crash down into a crevice.
It couldn't possibly be much worse as a father. But that was before he received the post at the morning of the fourth day.
'Special delivery,' the postman grumbled through his poncho, sniffing a little. It was raining quite heavily and a bitter wind was blowing northward with a vengeance. It truly was dismal weather, but unfortunately he'd signed the fine-print that forced him to drive through rain, hail or shine to deliver boxes and packages across the city. He had not however signed the one that said he had to act all loveydovey over the fact.
Kousei signed the contraption shoved under his nose (thinking more a moment that he missed the times where it was paper), and accepted the box.
It felt rather heavy, considering the size, but he found he had no problem moving it over to the table. It wasn't the sort of heavy that caused his muscles to scream in apprehension, but as soon as he let it go to take a closer look at it, his heart decided to start pumping faster.
'I'll send the scraps home in a pretty little box.'
That's what the unknown caller had said. The police were apparently still trying to track the voice, but had currently had no luck. It could easily be a fluke, they said. There hasn't been a murder yet.
He tore the masking tape off the box in both reluctant fear and a feverish haste.
And inside, was another box similarly wrapped…except for the corners stained with red.
Kouji had been lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling when he heard the doorbell ring. He shot straight up with a speed that would have resulted in back-pain for anyone older, but slumped back down when he noted the post van parked outside.
It would figure. Some stupid special delivery would get him worked up like that. Get his hopes up would perhaps be a more exact statement.
He didn't think of the delivery again until the doorbell rang a second time. This time, recognising the black car parked in the driveway, he drew in a sharp breath before almost flying down the stairs. He could feel something swelling in his chest, a mixture of fear and hope…for why else would the private detective come by unannounced?
But he'd barely made it to the entrance way when he almost ran into his father. And any question or statement flew out of his head at the shocked and helpless look on the other's face as he went to answer the door.
Kousei noted his presence a half second later, and suddenly his expression changed to thunder.
'Go to your room.'
'But-' Kouji began, before he was cut off as the other raised his voice, to a level that could be classified as "shouting".
'Go to your room. And stay up there!'
He stared at his father a moment, before forcing a scowl onto his face.
'Fine,' he said a little coldly, dragging himself back upstairs. A few minutes later, he heard the click of a key turning in a lock.
Normally, that would make him mad. Heck, he was a little mad that whatever the new problem was (unless his father had simply cracked under all the strain and coffee he'd been drinking, which was actually quite likely considering the effects of caffeine), but he was more worried. About his brother, his parents…he couldn't blame Satomi for wanting to be out of the house as much as possible (she had left a little earlier for the shopping than she normally would).
He returned to staring hazily up at the ceiling, sleep pulling at his eyes. At the same time though, sleep was the last thing he wanted…or needed really. He'd slept for more than sixteen hours the previous night, almost double what he usually did. After all that though, he felt like he'd tossed and turned all night long in the throng of some nightmare.
Actually, he remembered, watching the shadows from his partially open curtains twist and turn upon the white ceiling. That wasn't too far off, because he did remember the sensation of feeling trapped, scared and alone in some dark place, and some sharp pain…and he'd probably screamed too, seeing as his throat felt a little raw. He didn't remember waking up though, and if he remembered enough of the nightmare, he really should have remembered waking if he had. The only natural conclusion he could draw from that was he hadn't.
As for the nightmare, it had passed into the darkness of his dreamless sleep so quickly and fled with equal haste that it could not have been natural at all. And now there was something hollow sitting in his chest, some extra weight he had to carry around.
Suddenly, he felt tears welling up in his eyes. The white walls started falling in, and he sat up with a panic that was nothing like his normal self as he tried for the door. He'd go out, he decided. Unless his father wasn't doing anything. Maybe they'd sit on the couch together staring listlessly at some random movie until Satomi came home and made an amused comment. They'd actually done that once, for the sake of each other's company. Understandably, they'd been mortified to realise they'd been watching some M rated romance story the entire time.
But the door was locked. And he just stood for a few minutes, frozen, before punching the door.
It didn't open, but his coat fell with a clunk, and the phone within its pocket tumbled out.
'It did not come from the heart or the brain so didn't result in instant death,' the forensic scientist read from his sheet. 'But its blood does match that of the missing person.'
'So there's a possibility he's still alive?' the detective asked, frowning. 'I don't want to tell them otherwise unless you can be almost absolutely sure-' She broke off. 'How about the blood?'
'Dried and clotting, indicating it's more than a day old when separated from the body,' the scientist reeled off. 'But the amount is no figure to go by, considering the organ was removed from the missing person, apparently while he was still conscious-'
'Enough,' the detective snapped. 'I don't need that amount of detail.'
'My apologies Hanajima-san,' the other replied, bowing a little before handing her the full report. 'But there is some good news though.'
'Oh?'
'Yes.' He nodded. 'The organ appears to be part of a lung. More specifically the lobe directly above the heart.'
'I thought you said it wouldn't result in death?'
'Oh, people can live with up to an entire lung, that's three lobes, missing,' the scientist explained. 'Depending on the method of removal of course. The fact that it was so close to the heart could suggest it as a means for torture, both for the missing person and the one this…parcel was delivered to. The good news however is, since it is a lung and not another organ, we were able to grow cultures to determine the quality of the air he breathed during his…assumed captivity.'
'And how does that help?' the woman asked, a little frustrated.
'Well, air quality changes by subtle amounts depending on where a person is. The cultures were found to be high in levels of metallic, sulphur and carbonic fumes, suggesting the location is particularly near, or perhaps within, some sort of plant.'
'That is a help,' the detective admitted. 'But not a wholly significant one. Do you know how many factories there are in Japan?'
'A fair few,' the other replied. 'However you can draw a radius, seeing as the parcel arrived four days after the call.'
'I've got my assistant on that now,' Hanajima Kiku nodded. 'We should be able to pinpoint a general location from there.' Then, to herself she added: 'I must say this is a bit of a new twist to kidnappings. The "body" is normally not so ambiguous.'
'No,' the forensic replied. 'But you have to admit it's a hell of a lot more effective…except they might have slipped up a little with the lung.'
'Either that or they're at the end of their rope,' the woman frowned. 'And they've decided to leave us a few breadcrumbs to hit the rocks.' The frown deepened. 'Kyoto mightn't be the safest place in the world, but for children to start being kidnapped from right under their parents' noises by coercion methods that appear entirely legitimate-' She shook her head, leaving the statement unfinished.
'Sometimes you have to wonder what sort of world we live in,' the scientist agreed. 'It should be shrinking, but if it is, why haven't you found those kids yet?' His tone held no accusation.
The woman simply sighed tiredly. 'At least I'm looking. But there are a fair few family and friends around too. And for no-one to catch a hair of…how many has it been?'
'If you can't remember,' the forensic scientist said sympathetically. 'It must be a fair few. There'll never be a shortage of children for anyone except for those who care enough to look.'
'Indeed. Even for me, who finishes her job and continues on with her life.' She sighed, brushing her hair away from her face. 'Keep working on narrowing the scope. I'll go help Makurada-kun.'
'Ni-san? Did you try looking in the park?'
Takuya bit back the retort that sat on his tongue. After all, his little brother was trying to be helpful. One couldn't really help it when younger kids understood missing people to be someone to rendezvous at the park at a later time.
'Yes I did,' he replied simply.
Shinya looked up at him. 'Well…' he frowned in concentration. He didn't like his new older brother. He wanted the cheerful one that would fight with him back. As odd as it sounded, it wasn't like Takuya to restrain himself in any way. It just wasn't right, but all of his brother's friends seemed strained for the past few days.
He was starting to think that "my friend is lost" was more serious than he had originally thought. After all, when they'd lost Tomoki at the zoo once, they'd managed to find him within the hour at the ice-scream stand, where the boy pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone that he had stayed in his place and the rest of them had strayed, making them the lost ones.
'Did you try that funny looking toy thing?'
'Excuse me?'
Shinya waved his hands, most unhelpfully.
'The funny looking toy thing Kimura-kun had,' he repeated. 'It was…umm…' He thought for a moment. 'Grey with black grips? No! Black with grey grips.'
'Black with grey grips,' Takuya repeated slowly, before it hit him and he jumped up. 'His D-scanner! I didn't even know he still had it!'
'He said it was some sort of communication dev-Ni-san?'
'Thanks Shinya!' Takuya shouted, already at the phone, quickly dialling a number while his heart thumped away. Why oh why hadn't they thought of that sooner?
Then his excitement deflated for a moment. What good would one D-scanner do?
Then it shot up again. If the D-scanner wasn't on him, which it probably wasn't seeing as he had been interrupted during lunch, it might be able to track him.
'Kouji!' he exclaimed, a little loudly. 'Did you know Kouichi still had his D-scanner?'
There was a pause, then a bit of a sniff before a 'no' was heard.
'Are you crying?' The excitement ebbed away into concern.
'No.' This time the answer was short and clipped and entirely unbelievable. 'And no, I didn't know he still had his…' His voice broke off. 'Wait a sec…'
'We can use that to find him, can't we?' His voice was still rising several octaves, with an almost desperate exhilaration. 'The D-scanner should track him. Even if it doesn't work for the rest of us, Kouichi gave his spirits to you so…'
'…so it should work for me.' He could scarcely believe it. A possible solution had been right under their noses. Why hadn't they known about the D-scanner? Perhaps Kouichi had simply assumed they still had there's; now that he thought about it, he didn't recall ever mentioning they'd turned back to cell phones. In fact, he didn't think he'd ever mentioned they were cell phones to be begin with.
There was another thing they could talk about.
There was a pause, and then: 'Are you sure you're okay Kouji? You sound a little…lost.'
'Have you heard yourself?' Kouji shot back, before thinking for a moment. 'I guess I am a little lost. It feels like the start of the Digital World all over again. I felt him fall and hit his head you know, and I didn't even know back then…'
There was another pause, and it stretched a little longer before Takuya spoke again.
'It'll be alright,' he said. 'You and Kouichi found each other then, didn't you? And now you two know each other, so this time you're looking too.'
'I wonder if that makes a difference…' he said quietly. ''tou-san locked me in my room.'
'Maybe he just doesn't want to bring you down with the possibility of something bad,' Takuya suggested after a little pause. 'But you sound like you need someone. I'll call the gang and we'll be at your house in-'
'Don't,' Kouji interrupted in a bit of a flat voice, though the tone suggested he was somewhat distracted elsewhere.
'Why not? You know we don't mind-'
'Shush.'
Takuya fell quiet, but he could make out no sounds at all, but then Kouji spoke again. 'I wonder what that was. 'tou-san sounded almost…'
'Hopeful?'
There was another pause, and then: 'yeah, hopeful. But-' There was the sound of a sharp breath as the brunette heard the sound of something, or someone, dragging up the stairs. He was sure Kouji could hear it too. After all, he was at the bottom of the stairs and could clearly see there was nothing (or no-one) on them.
'Time to talk to your father?'
Surprisingly, he found himself listening to a mumbled conversation as opposed to an answer. Apparently Kouji had abandoned the phone instead of actually hanging up, either having forgotten or he was planning on continuing the conversation at a later point in time. The brunette found himself considering whether he should hang up and take the train over to Minami-ku when the phone was picked up again.
'Can you come over?' Kouji asked in a strained voice, sounding somewhat stuck between shocked and some degree of blankness.
Takuya didn't question the sudden pivot, nor the reason. 'Sure,' was all he said. 'I'll be over in five minutes. You want me to call the others?'
'I-yeah.'
'Why did you want me to come all the way here?' Tomoko asked, more tired and worried than curious as she arrived at the Minamoto's doorstep around two in the afternoon.
Satomi was the one who answered the door, simply shrugging helplessly and letting the other woman inside. 'I'm afraid I don't know,' the brunette said quietly. 'Kousei was the one who called you, didn't he?'
At the other woman's nod, she continued: 'he's become a couch potato. And Kouji's up in his bedroom with their friends.' Surprisingly, she was one of the few people who didn't stumble on that.
Evidently, she didn't approve of her husband's new appearance, having come home to find him staring at the blank screen of the television and having, as far as she could tell, not moved an inch since then. Especially since he'd practically ignored her…which was unusual in any sort of situation. And when she'd knocked on Kouji's door, she'd received no reply, even though she could hear the breathing of five people behind it.
It made her a little more than just a "little" upset to be honest. After all, she was a part of the family too.
'Let's hope you can get more from him than I could then,' was all she said, taking the other's coat and hanging it up, before setting the kettle on to boil. She really felt like a cup of tea. After all, someone had to head their heads on straight, and apparently the onus fell upon her as the adult least emotionally connected with what was turning into one hell of a mess. Literally.
Kousei didn't knock before entering his son's room, but only four pairs of eyes looked up at him. Actually, it was only three, because Takuya's eyes were immediately drawn to Tomoko, and the message he'd rung her with once he'd decided to ring her to ask about the D-scanner and found out she was coming out to Shibuya.
She wasn't looking at him though, instead collecting her remaining son in a tight hug. Kouji made no movement either way, taking comfort as it was giving and having none to offer in return.
After a little while she parted from him, eyes red, and her gaze shifted to the box that, while slightly stained, sat innocently on the desk. Her breath caught and her eyes started brimming with tears, but she went over nonetheless, and doing what none of them had dared.
Then she withdrew her hand, slightly dusted with dried blood, and choked back a sob, eyes starting to spill over with tears, running down a single cheek before staying there, refusing to relieve her.
'I can't believe it,' she said hoarsely. 'I just can't believe it.'
She looked at her hand, but made no move to dust it off.
'The D-scanner?' Takuya asked.
Everyone stared at him, Tomoko rather blankly, but she eventually reached into her purse and drew the black plastic device out. 'I don't see what good it'll be…' she said quietly, unwrapping her hand…
…to reveal the screen cracked beyond repair.
Izumi stifled a gasp, then buried her head into Junpei's chest in an attempt to muffle the sobs. Junpei's hand came up to bring her closer, the other on Tomoki's shoulder who followed in the female's suit, glad that the tall orange hat they'd so ridiculed hid his face now. Takuya just stared at the blank screen, then wildly at every person present as if waiting for someone to shout out "April Fools" or the likes. But it was nowhere near April. It, he suddenly realised rather incongruously, was his birthday. No wonder his parents hadn't been home.
Of all the rotten times to have a birthday. In a way, he was glad everyone seemed to have forgotten (except perhaps his family; no wonder Shinya had looked extra worried). It just seemed so inappropriate to have a birthday on a day like today.
And to top it off, the rain hadn't let up at all. They were all somewhat wet, but catching pneumonia was the last thing on his mind.
Kouji took the device without a word, staring at the cracked screen. He didn't think it was even possible for the D-scanners to break; they'd tolerated so much. Hammer, heat, ice or flame, they'd always survived, unscathed. But somehow, it had broken, and Kouichi was never one to treat his things carelessly.
Then suddenly, it fell apart in his hands, into two unequal halves, revealing the snapped wires that appeared to have been pulled from a plug haphazardly enough to cause a hyaline fracture sort of break. It was soundless, seamless…but when he brought his hands together in an unconscious effort to bring them together, there was something missing. The two halves, while looking to have originated from the same puzzle, did not match up. As if a piece had been shifted from the middle, or there was another device out in the world, similar to this, that had swapped its half. Made it incompatible. Destroyed it beyond repair.
His lips parted slightly: salty, dry. He licked them and tried to speak, but nothing came out and he swallowed before trying again.
'He's still alive,' the younger, and now perhaps only twin, said quietly, still clutching the remains of his brother's D-scanner. 'He has to be. I'd know otherwise. And I think I've been dreaming about him. Something's different now, but he's still out there. Just like Duskmon. Somewhere…' He fell silent again, clutching the broken pieces of the device close to his heart.
Maybe he didn't entirely believe that statement at the time, but a few more nights validated it. Maybe not beyond all doubt, but he could feel it in his heart, the same hollowness that had hit him with the blow of a sledge-hammer in the elevator, that had persisted throughout the Digital World, all the way up to the Dark Continent, spurring him away from the best (and most persistent) friends he had ever had to look for something deeper, something closer, something more…
He knew, he just knew, that he couldn't give up on Kouichi. Even if he was going to live the rest of his life in delusion, fruitlessly searching for a lost cause, then so be it.
Because their destinies, their very souls were tied together. He wouldn't set out a funeral boat to guide a dead spirit home. He'd be that candle light, and he'd be the little boat too, collecting the wax that melted and floating on the water of death.
Or perhaps the dish function would go to all the other people in his…no, their, life.
