Chapter 8

Flanked by all four of his men, Konya stood in the center of the floor, hands crossed in front of him, casting a decidedly annoyed glare toward Izanagi. "Look who is still breathing and requiring me to come out to this dump once again."

Izanagi wilted.

Wordlessly Narihisago watched as the glare turned from the victim to him. He kept his own stare level. Don't do anything stupid. Keep it in check. You can't reach him. Patience.

He gave a nod to Ryota and Kenta. The two stepped up, a cup in each of their hands. His throat burned for a drink. They held the cups of water as he and Hondomachi greedily sucked down the vague relief. It was only a few mouthfuls, but better than nothing. His empty stomach growled, a reminder that he hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday. Something told him they were only getting water to extend their suffering.

Kenta took a third cup, tugged down Izanagi's gag and held it to his grateful lips. The moment he was finished he turned to Konya and bleated, "Please! Forgive me! It wasn't my fau—ack!" The gag rammed back in his mouth put an end to that.

Tapping his finger, the rings struck one another as Konya slipped his gaze to Narihisago. "Did I not give you an order?"

Narihisago rolled his eyes. Sure, but a bound victim can't exactly commit suicide, genius. What did this rat tell them about me? Clearly they were clueless.

He sighed addressing his men, "What am I going to do about this? This man is supposed to clear a debt and I certainly am not finding any value in my new possession."

"What about the skirt?" Orochi pointed.

Konya cast a glance her way. "What about her? The price she would fetch would be insufficient compensation."

"Hey!" Hondomachi snarled, shifting back to her feet. "What's with the sexism, pal?"

Not daring to turn his head to face her, Narihisago watched from the corner of his eye, forcing himself to remember to breathe.

Tsuyoshi and Orochi both moved to intercept putting a wall-of-thug between her and the boss. Safe behind them, Konya rolled his eyes as he remarked flatly, "Women are only good for a few things. Running their mouths is not one of those. They are frail and weak."

Her teeth squealed. "Frail! Weak!"

Uh oh, he has no idea what he's dealing with. This isn't going to end well. Carefully, he shifted his weight ever so slightly away from her in anticipation. Guys like these were not going to get a clue. Not in time anyway.

She leaned forward, stamping a foot. "The man who hides behind such phrases is merely compensating for something he is severely lacking in."

Chuckling, Narihisago tucked his chin trying to suppress it.

Konya shifted his gaze to Narihisago. "You better control that shrew."

He glanced up. "Who? Hondomachi? Yeah, that's not gonna happen. Are you blind or just that unobservant? I have no authority over her. She's the ranked officer. I'm just a prisoner."

Tsuyoshi burst into laughter, pointing. "You hear that? A man bossed around by a half pint little girl! Unbelievable!"

"Half pint! Oooooo!"

It was subtle, but Narihisago noted the shift of her weight, it was almost like watching Momoki practice his martial arts. Behind his back he lifted a pointer finger, even though it couldn't be seen—not that it would do any good even if it could. These thugs were about to get schooled.

Even with her hands cuffed behind her back, Hondomachi closed the distance in two strides and delivered a savage kick to Tsuyoshi's groin. Her foot momentarily disappeared as it impacted.

"Get your mind out of the dark ages, you fuckin' prick!" She stood fuming.

In slow motion, Tsuyoshi clutched his pants and toppled forward into a heap, emitting a high pitched squeal in the process.

Konya's eyebrow twitched as the other three took a step back, making certain they were out of range they could barely conceal their concern for their own safety.

"Care to insult her again?" Narihisago remarked. "Go ahead. That was kinda fun to watch. I'd like to see what she targets next." When she's in the suit its easy to forget that she's the pilot of a shark-rangling spitfire from the well dives. But she is. She damn well is! Only an idiot messes with her.

Snapping his fingers, Konya headed for the stairs with his nose in the air. Ryota and Kenya picked Tsuyoshi up off the floor and helped him stagger behind. Hastening to Konya's side, Orochi leaned close to him as he spoke, "I expect results by the time I return. Make it happen."

"Yes sir." Orochi paused on the stairs enough to cuff Tsuyoshi's ear. "You moron!"

Hondomachi stood in a wide attack stance until well after they vanished. "Why are men such assholes!"

Narihisago replied quietly, "The jury's still out on that one." He flicked a glance toward the stairwell.

Belatedly she looked down, in surprise. "Oh, I didn't mean you."

He shrugged as she sat down in a huff.

"It just … just makes me so angry! They don't even know me! Women can be just as capable as men." Her voice dropped to a low grumble, "No matter what Mother said."

That brought him up short. Narihisago studied her hard expression for a moment, it told an epic story. "Your mother didn't want you to become a detective, did she."

Her eyes narrowed, she wouldn't look his way.

"Let me guess, you were supposed to be married by now, raising little bundles of joy."

When she ground her teeth he knew he had it. "How did you know I wasn't married?"

He glanced behind her. "That was an actual guess. But no ring, not even a hint of one being worn. Not that it matters. You're hardly the only single person in the world."

"You wouldn't think that to hear my mother. I'm worthless because I didn't settle down. What's wrong with being single? Doesn't matter that I breezed through school and blazed my way through my chosen career path. I knew what I wanted to do before I was ten, and I never wavered!" She verbally assaulted every word.

"Well, she's being decidedly shortsighted. There are plenty who would appreciate your skills."

"Who?"

He grinned at her. "The families of the victims, for one."

At that her temper began to quell a bit. She drew her knees up to her chest, resting her forehead against them.

"You know, there is someone who can empathize with you about the frustration of parental expectations."

She didn't lift her head as she eyed him.

"Have a talk with Momoki."

"What would he know about this?"

"Quite a lot actually. Trust me. Ask him, though it might take more than once to get him to open up about it. You have no idea the lengths I had to go to in the first place to get him talking about it."

"Tch, he fought with his mom?"

Narihisago shook his head. "Nope, more like his dad … the police commissioner."

She inhaled deeply. "He didn't want his son to become an officer?"

"Oh no, that part he wanted, more than anything. It was Momoki's lack of a relationship status that was the problem."

"Huh … who would have thought. Maybe I will have to when we get back." She stared out at nothing as the wind whistled through the siding. "Do you think the Kura knows we're missing yet?"

"Pretty sure, yeah. I didn't get the impression this was supposed to be an overnight. I'd bet they're looking for us."

Hondomachi snapped a nod. "Good. When they find us, I want to feed those assholes their own teeth before they are dragged off to jail!"

Narihisago mock-flinched. "Wow, and they talk about my urges."

"You telling me they don't deserve it?" She shot him a stern glare.

"Right now I wouldn't dream of suggesting otherwise." … because I value my shins. And still, she's showing remarkable grit in the face of all this. Most of the detectives I knew would have been sobbing and begging nonstop in this situation.

She rammed her chin back against her up-drawn knees, expression gradually softening. "Narihisago?"

"Hmm?"

Her voice had lost its edge, not quite timid but hesitant. "After Hayaseura mind-fucked you … how did you deal with the anger? I just … sometimes I have a harder time now … you know … after the hole."

He heaved a sigh. "Deal with it? To be honest, I really haven't been able to."

"Oh." Her eyes half-closed.

"That's the primary reason I can't ever be released."

She stiffened, head raising to meet his eyes, a slight tremble of the irises.

"Don't worry." He forced a weary grin. "Fortunately, you're not me, Hondomachi."

~ID~

The streetlamps illuminated the graffiti on the back alley brick walls Anaido's footsteps echoed off of. Not having amnesia came in handy in evading the initial onslaught. In a mad dash he'd left the welt covered Kearu, useless as she was to him, to her pointless fate. Having tried several other avenues before only to be beaten to death, he opted for what appeared to be the path less traveled, evidenced through the scattered debris and the yellow tape warning POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS!

His evasive dash hadn't lasted long before he was winded, but it was enough to create distance in this dark world before dying again. Hands in his pockets, he now roamed the rough alleys fighting the urge to peer up at the street signs.

Why do they gotta use so many numbers? Addresses, streets, phone numbers, dates, times! Huh, the ambient noise sure is interesting in this guy's mind. Let's see we have rattling cans blowing down the street, I'm guessing those are gun shots and not car backfires …

There was a scream, cut off at the end.

Yeah, that would be a shooting. Hrm, nice neighborhood, great place to raise a family.

He slowed his steps as the layers and layers of graffiti grabbed his attention and didn't let it go.

"What's this?" He cocked his head, taking a step back and tucking his chin in a hand. There was a pattern, not numbers, which was probably why he'd missed this in the last four dives, that is if it had been beneath in the other alleys.

"Hey guys, check this out." Why am I calling out? They're nosy fuckers, always watching! "The newer graffiti is symbolic in more ways than one, nasty dangerous creatures and threatening words. This guy became a serious power tripper. But—look here, in the gaps between. This is something else. Same hand, same bad spelling, but layered so deep it has to be early."

And it was the same over and over and over. What Anaido saw was the missing letters to complete the phrase: Daddy you're hurting me!

Anaido looked up to the sky. "Well well well, someone had a painful childhood. How much you want to bet that junior learned first hand how to be a sadistic asshole?"

A moment later gravity reversed, sucking him up into the darkness.

He opened his eyes in blue light of the cockpit, breathing a touch heavy as he stared at the ceiling. To his surprise the Wellside crew was in the midst of a spirited discussion, he attempted to follow but there were too many threads to grab any of them.

"Ok … did I do something wrong?"

Momoki shouted them into silence. "No, we think you did something right. Here's another unusual part about you, Fukuda. When Narihisago is in a dive we get thought threads from him."

"Uhh, wait … you can read the dude's mind?"

"Sakaido's, yes, more or less. But for some reason that doesn't happen with you."

He laughed, his finger brushing the scarred flesh near his hole. "Oh really. That's interesting."

"That conclusion you just reached, that the well owner had a painful childhood? What about the graffiti tipped you off?"

Leaning forward he closed his eyes. Recalling the image. There was no doubt the writing had been buried so no single entry could be viewed in its entirety. "You guys got some powerful computers up there. Unbury the message, reconstruct it."

"Give me a moment, Director … working on it … heh, well it's a mess, but it says … "

"'Daddy you're hurting me.' written in the hand of small child. Something tells me that no one listened when he called for help."

Momoki replied. "What tells you that?"

Templing his fingers he stared at the ceiling with a sad smile. "The voice of experience."

~ID~

The shafts of daylight stretched from the far side of the building, signifying early evening. Narihisago opened his eyes at the sound of heavy footsteps up the stairs. They were about to have company again. The sound of liquid sloshing around quirked his eyebrow. That was far more than a drink.

Kenta followed Tsuyoshi and Orochi, a large bucket in his hands reeking of seawater which he plopped down on Narihisago's side of the upper floor, roughly where he estimated the chain would reach. The sinister smiles on their faces were not particularly comforting. Although he did note Tsuyoshi walking a bit wide-legged, as well as eyeing Hondomachi with disdain. Orochi pushed Izanagi's chair a few feet from the bucket. He turned to Narihisago, holding out a hand toward the unfortunate man. "You gonna show us what you can do?"

He closed his eyes, having a vague idea of what as coming. As much as he hated to sign his own fate, he shook his head.

He didn't even get a chance to raise his head before a meaty hand clamped on the back of his neck, dragging him across the floor toward the bucket, the heavy chain clanking behind him. Orochi took over for Kenta, ramming Narihisago onto his knees, pushing his head down until his nose kissed the frigid saltwater. He knew damn well what was coming. "One last chance."

What a shitty way to prove my suspicion of our location right. So, this is where we start. Alright, could be worse. Narihisago took several deep breaths, anticipating. There was no stopping it. Bound as he was he had no chance of countering.

When his silence outlasted Orochi's patience, he plunged Narihisago's head shoulder deep into the water, holding him there in a surprisingly iron grip.

The seawater stung like needles against his skin, cold from the bay. There was a small silver-lining, the icy embrace numbed his aching head so he no longer felt that. Of course, the extreme cold brought another problem! He nearly opened his mouth in a cry at the shock, only mastering himself by a small margin. He needed the air in his lungs for as long as he could manage. This he remembered from a relatable well that involved a shipwreck in polar waters. Kearu's body had been in the middle of the ship requiring a lengthy underwater swim beneath the frigid waters to gather clues, of course without the aid of scuba gear. Here it wasn't the distance he traveled that determined when he could inhale again. It was the fickle mercy of a hardened thug. Arms behind his back left him with little he could do to resist. Orochi was indeed stronger than he looked.

The pressure in Narihisago's chest slowly built into an increasing alarm. Instinct drove him to resist the pressure keeping him trapped, trying to pull his head from the grasp as air bubbles escaped. The pressure lasted a bit longer until he nearly swallowed water in the desperate grab to fill the vacuum.

Orochi yanked him backward sending a shower of water into the air.

Gasping, Narihisago tried to force his eyes open, but the saltwater stung, forcing them closed as he tried to fill his lungs with air again. Rivulets dripped beneath his shirt, cold relentless fingers down his spine.

The hand forced his head in the direction of the victim, close enough that Narihisago could feel the man's feverish heat penetrating the cold. "Izanagi dies and you get to live. All you gotta do is talk. It's that simple."

Choking on the air, Narihisago shook his head as much as he could with his scalp being held.

"Your answer?"

" … I … refuse … "

He had just enough time to catch a breath before his face slapped the water again. The icy needles punched into bare flesh. Bubbles traced his numbing skin.

You've dealt with stuff worse than this in the wells. Stay calm. Drowning isn't that bad … suddenly it struck him … Except … This isn't a well!

This time it was harder to hold back the urge to thrash. The grip was strong, and Orochi was wily enough not to afford him a suckerpunch … otherwise known as a kick with his good leg. Once more the pressure built. His mouth opened, this time getting a lungful of water.

Yanked out of the grip of the water, he coughed up the ice cold liquid. Orochi released him, letting him fall forward onto one shoulder as he wretched and fought for air.

The sound of a chain dragged across the grating stopped short. Hondomachi's voice not far from him, "Stop! Leave him alone!"

Tsuyoshi snorted. "What's the matter, Bitch? You worried he doesn't know how to swim in a bucket?"

Once more Narihisago tried to force his eyes open, but the burning shut them instantaneously.

Hondomachi's shout was cut short by a sound of a solid thump and air being expelled.

"Take a seat and shut up!"

Barely catching his breath, Narihisago was mercilessly lifted again by the back of his neck.

Orochi held him above the water, droplets plunking in. "How about now? Or do you want to take another dip?"

For a brief moment he considered going through with it. But it didn't matter, even if he truly wanted to, " … Can't … "

"Too bad, asshole." Mercilessly, Orochi forced his head back into the water.

This time there was no delay, instantly Narihisago struggled feebly in his grasp. He he'd barely gotten a mouthful, not even close to a lungful of air. The more he fought to turn his head, the tighter the fingers dug into his numbing muscles. Desperate, he bucked backward as the bubbles escaped in a muted scream into the water. This time that didn't end the torment. He remained trapped below the surface, water invading his airway.

He didn't remember how he had landed on the floor on his side. He didn't remember losing consciousness. Instantly he coughed out a mouthful of seawater, spitting and gasping in a race to clear his lungs so he could breathe again. This time Orochi left him lying there, circling him in a slow methodical gait until at last Narihisago managed to crack open his eyes.

"One. More. Time." He thrust a finger toward the wide-eyed Izanagi.

Shivering from the cold, Narihisago could only gasp and blink slowly. None of this mattered. He couldn't do it. Certainly he could buy time if he mentioned that they needed to remove Izanagi's gag and let them talk for a while. But there was a chance something might come up and actually trigger it. A chance that Izanagi might take his own life. Narihisago wouldn't risk that.

As much as he could, knowing this would only bring more misery, he turned his head away, coughing. Now he could see Hondomachi on the floor hunched over, wincing.

"No?" Orochi barked, "Alright, smart ass. This is on you."

This time Kenta grabbed the back of his neck and dragged him toward the wall, dropping him against it in a sodden heap beside Hondomachi.

That surprised Narihisago. He'd expected another pathetic round against drowning as he was still hacking up seawater from his lungs.

A shadow grew with heavy steps, he looked up in time to see Kenta dump the entire bucket over Hondomachi soaking her to the bone as she shrieked from the shock of the water's temperature. Her chest heaved with each breath. Roughly a third of it spattered over him in the process, renewing the bone-deep chill.

Orochi leaned in close with a sly smile. "Sun goes down in an hour. Have a pleasant night."

"Isn't it going to get cold tonight?" Kenta asked.

"Oh yeah, but not enough to kill 'em. Besides, even if it did, this guy's looking like a washout and that ain't on us. Knew that crazy-ass story was too good to be true. A guy who can kill with words, puh! Wonder what the boss'll do to that hotshot prick when his payment gets rejected leaving his debt still due. That sucker is out of time. Can't wait till we get to collect. Hehehe." They turned and left, carting the empty bucket with them, discussing tonight's card game.

Already Narihisago's teeth chattered. There was no possibility of stopping it. He'd been left halfway slumped against the wall. Struggling to get enough pressure with his right foot against the grating, he forced himself closer to upright. That was all the strength he had left.

"So … c-c-cold … " Hondomachi gasped leaning into his side, her teeth nearly breaking they were chattering so hard.

Still fighting for breath, Narihisago watched the droplets trembling at the ends of his hair. "Did … did Tsuyoshi hit you?"

She nodded shakily.

"That's what … I thought … I saw." For the moment anything more was stolen by his shuddering from the cold fingers of water creeping down his spine.

"Sadists! D-don't do … it … the thing. T-that's an o-order!" She hissed. "S-shit! We're gonna … f-freeze!"

The sun's rays reached horizontal from the opposite end of the building beginning to blink out, the promised temperature drop approaching in the fading light. A rumble of thunder rattled the sheet metal, the wind gusted in through the gap behind them. He glanced up to the rusted holes pockmarking the ceiling, revealing the broiling storm clouds building overhead. He'd thought last night was hard … at least they'd been dry.

His chin flopped to his sodden shirt. "Shit."

Thick drops pelted the metal siding in the sudden downpour, creating a near deafening cadence. Through the ceiling, streams of water poured down.

Hondomachi's teeth chattered as the lightning lit up her features for a moment. "Na-Nar-ihi-sa-go … fr-fr-fr-freezing!"

Before he knew it she huddled closer than ever to him. Not that it meant anything. He was the only source of body heat available in the dark gale assaulting the building. It was the nature of things smaller bodies lost heat at a faster rate than larger masses. Clearly fighting for more warmth, beside him didn't seem to be enough, Hondomachi inched her way until to his surprise she had crawled into his lap in as tight a ball as she could manage, her clanking chain dangled off his right hip.

For a few heartbeats he was paralyzed, the well dives being his closest recent experience to this when Sakaido had managed to wrest a victim from the jaws of a well death and race them off to safety. But here there was no rescue, here there was no race to anywhere. This … this was real, it was actually happening. He rested his head on hers, whispering, "Thank you."

"For sharing the warmth?"

"For trusting me enough to."