Sword Art Online
After The Incident
Chapter 5 – Torture for Show
~A warehouse in the outskirts of town. Kazuto´s POV~
I blinked my eyes open and looked around the dark room I was currently held captive in. The room was as gross and dark as ever, and I hated the place ever so much. I just wanted everything to be over. To finally escape from SAO, ALO and the events three years ago. To finally stop being reminded of the horrible things I had to go through. But some people just wanted to rub salt in my wounds.
In the middle of the room, Sugou and the hooded stranger stood with a small box tv between them. Sugou smirked as he presented a small tv remote from his coat pocket.
"What are you going to do with that?" I asked as I frowned a bit of worry.
My frowning and angry body language was only met with a psychotic smile from Sugou, and an arrogant huff from the unknown female figure.
"Shut up and be a good boy as we set up" Sugou said as he began plucking several cables into a powerbank.
As he finished setting up he began zapping through several channels, until he finally stopped on a channel, purely consisting of TV static.
"Aww no sports?" I said provokingly, as I looked at Sugou with a daring glare. He returned the gesture with an annoyed growl.
"Very funny. Try to keep that mood up when we actually get to work. I´ll consider it a challenge" He said as he then set on to present a whip, and several other weapons from a box in the corner, lying all of the weapons on the small wooden table.
I looked at the table terrified. I could feel how my eyes automatically widened and my breathing got faster and ragged as my fear rose.
"If you touch me I swear to god, Shousou-San will get you both arrested!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.
The two freaks simply laughed at my statement.
"Hah! That old fool!? He would have worked under me if he didn´t get that job before me!" Sugou stated with a psychopathic smirk.
"You have no idea how powerful Sugou really is Kazuto-Kun." The female stated softly as she walked over and traced her finger along my cheek "How do you think he escaped a high security prison?"
I growled aggressively as she touched my cheek and I bit out towards her fingers.
"Don´t ever touch me again you freak!" I hissed through my front teeth.
"Wow, he thinks he is dangerous huh!?" She said teasing me as she giggled a bit.
"If I didn´t know you don´t have any power in the real world, I would be afraid of you, black swordsman-Sama." She mumbled as she traced the wound on my cheek Sugou had inflicted on me the night before.
I snapped at her again before she went back to Sugou and the TV, and I slumped down back down into my chair. What the hell were they doing anyway?
~At the Yuuki Residence. Asuna´s POV~
Now Kazuto had been missing for more than 24 hours, so my dad had finally gotten through to the police, and made them file a missing report. I was starting to get sick with worry, and I didn´t try to hide it. I paced back and forth, back and forth between the living room and the kitchen, to the point where my parents were worried I would make a hole in the floor from all the pacing I had done.
Even my brother, who normally were on business trips constantly and therefor were almost never home, had canceled all his meetings and business trips when he heard the news, and had taken the first available plane home to be around and comfort me.
And it was not like I didn´t appreciate his will to be there for me when I needed him, it´s just that it didn´t really help. I was still as nervous and scared for my boyfriend´s safety as before, and my brother´s presence certainly didn´t help quelling some of the dark and horrible thoughts that ran through my head.
Even my mother, who normally wouldn´t show emotion, and who was normally cold like ice, showed concern and pity for me. She even decided to help me find Kazuto. One of her friends who worked for the news station in town owed her a favor, and so my mother made sure that Kazuto´s missing report would be sent in TV as much as possible, for as long as possible from now on.
I was truly happy for their concern about me, and I really DID appreciate their willing to help. But it didn´t really help me quelling my dark and scared thoughts about what might have happened to Kazuto. Somehow I just couldn´t convince myself that Kazuto was fine. The fact that I had contacted his aunt and cousin, and they didn´t know where he was either.
I had used all of that morning calling all of my friends, asking them if they had seen Kazuto. My search came up short, and I had only received little information, like where they had last seen him, what mood he had been in at the time, etc. etc. Everyone had promised to help in the search though, so that´s always something.
I decided to try the last option I could think of to stop my train of thoughts, and turned on the TV, hoping to be able to pry my thoughts off of him for just a second at least. But what I saw on the screen only made me all the more terrified and afraid of me and my boyfriend´s situation.
On the screen an all too well known face popped up. Though his face was covered in wounds and dirt I could easily recognize those serpent like eyes, and that psychotic smile. It was definitely Sugou, out of prison and as lively as ever as far as I could tell.
I backed away from the TV a bit and put both my hands over my mouth to prevent the scream I was about to let out from escaping my lips. I stared at the TV screen terrified. How had that psychotic bastard escaped prison!? How!?
"Hello again Yuuki-san. You must be dying to know what happened to your sweet sweet Kazu-kun right?" He whistled through his teeth, while licking his upper lip like a maniac.
"What have you done to him you bastard!?" I growled as I stepped forward towards the screen, now that my fear for a moment had turned into anger.
He simply smirked and stepped a couple of steps aside, and to my horror I now saw a hooded figure, standing beside a bound Kazuto on a chair, with a giant knife in one hand, and a whip in the other.
"No please… Don´t hurt him.." I mumbled as I fell to my knees and could feel how the tears began welling out of my eyes. I could do nothing but sit and watch as the hooded figure brought the knife closer and closer to Kazuto´s arm, then slowly but surely began slicing small cuts along his entire upper arm.
I could see how painful it was for Kazuto, and how desperately he tried to keep in his screams of pain. Every time as the cold blade would even touch his skin he would winch, and let me feel more and more guilty for not having followed him when he stormed away from us in the park two days ago.
I felt so hopeless, and meaningless. If I couldn´t even protect my significant other as I had promised him in SAO all those years ago, then what was I worth? He must have felt so abandoned and alone. I was a terrible girlfriend.
My family had apparently heard my crying, because all of a sudden they stood by my side, asking me what was wrong. When they finally realised what was happening they crowded around the TV, like moths to a flame, deeply in shock and anger of what took place right in front of their eyes.
"Sugou you bastard! You´ll pay for making my sister cry!" My brother shouted angrily as he aggressively punched a vase of flowers on a small table. The vase hit the wall and exploded into a million pieces before landing on the ground. I stared at him, but only for a couple of seconds before I pulled my gaze back onto the screen.
"It seems it´s the black swordsman to be rescued this time. Be sure to fulfill your promise to him Yuuki-san" The hooded figure stated as she made another cut in Kazuto´s arm, earning another winch from him and a small tear rolling down his cheek.
"Meet me and my partner on the address that will be emailed to you shortly. Oh and Mr. and Mrs. Yuuki-" He trailed off as he moved his gaze from me to my parents.
"Don´t even think about bringing the authorities. Only the yuuki family can be present at this meeting. You have a week to show yourselves" He said with a evil smirk as he grabbed out for a remote that lied on a table beside my bound hero.
Before he turned off whatever he was transmitting from right now, I heard an ear screeching plea from Kazuto.
"Don´t go Asuna! Please for the love of god don´t go there!" Before the TV went dead, and everything turned quiet.
~Meanwhile, Kazuto´s POV~
I gritted my teeth and widened my eyes in fear as the hooded figure brought the huge knife closer and closer to my right arm. Then she proceeded to slice my arm over and over again. My soft flesh was easily opened up by the razor sharp and cold metal that was her knife, and it hurt like crazy. I couldn´t keep some tears escape my eyes. They slowly rolled down my face.
Seeing my girlfriend on that little screen on the TV in front of me was maybe even more painful than my arm. She immediately broke down in tears and began begging for them to stop, but they just continued to torture me in front of her, like I was just their playtoy. Like I had no soul or feelings, if I was just a dead thing they needed to get rid of. They had hurt my family and me for the last this. It was decided. I was going to get my revenge. Somehow.
I was staring at the small TV screen and winched over and over again, the pain waves and tears obscuring my vision more and more as the torture session progressed. When the pain finally subsided for a while, and I heard how Sugou made terms for Asuna and her family could save me. When I heard he wanted them at a specific location, I realised he might have a trap ready for them.
I decided that Asuna and her family´s lives were more worth then mine and pleaded for them to stay away. Sugou turned off the TV and looked at me angrily.
"We told you to shut the fuck up!" Sugou yelled angrily as he grabbed my arm and smashed it down onto the wooden table, stabbing the knife deep into the palm of my hand.
I could no longer handle the pain and screamed loudly, tears falling down my cheeks like waterfalls. A warm red liquid began flowing down my arm and onto the floor, generating soft plop sounds whenever a blood drop would hit the ground. A small pool of blood was quickly formed beneath the table, and the intense pain almost made me faint. I wish I had. I just wanted it to be over.
But whenever I felt like I was about to lose consciousness and be relieved of the pain, the exact same intense pain would yank me back to my senses before I could follow through. The pain was so torturous. I wished for it to be over. The only thing that kept me from wanting to die, was the fact that I had promised Asuna I would protect her forever. And I intended to keep that promise.
So focusing on that single promise, and focusing on enduring the pain, I managed to block out some of the intense pain waves that washed all over my body, over and over and over again. My blood that covered the new wound in my arm felt like hot water against ice cold skin. And it definitely wasn´t pleasant.
The intense pain and my salty tears did however blur my vision, and tone down my hearing, just like it had when I was tortured in ALO. It sounded like the next words that came out of Sugou´s mouth came from far away.
"If you don´t behave we have to punish you" That was the words that was spoken to me by that complete psychopath.
"I will never… Do as you tell me you bastard!" I yelled loudly through my tears and moaning.
He smirked a bit and laughed hysterically as he pushed my chair against a wall.
"You´ve got guts kid I will give you that much" He mumbled as he looked over at the female figure.
"Come on. Our work here is done for now" He mumbled as they both exited the small room.
I panted a bit of my exhaustion and pain, but smirked a bit and chuckled. The fact that Sugou had yanked so violently in my arm was his biggest mistake yet. Cause this gave a chance to escape.
He had yanked so violently in my arm when he smashed it onto the table that it had become loose from the duct tape that held me bound to the chair I was sitting on. He had given me just enough space to yank my arm free completely, through enormous pain of course, and reach the knife had put on the small table. I smirked a bit as I picked up the knife but flinched a bit as my wound rubbed against the duct tape.
I panted a bit and smiled a little as I silently began cutting the duct tape, already planning in my head how I would approach the situation and escape the building I was captured in, without myself or anyone else getting hurt anymore.
My smile grew wider as I finally sliced the final layers of duct tape, and stood up from the chair, wobbling a bit as the intense pain had made me somehow lightheaded. I hold onto my arm a bit and sighed. It had somewhat lost some of it´s feeling in my fingers, but it wasn´t something too serious. I just had to bind it with something. Some of the duct tape I had lied over the arm of the chair would have to do for the time being.
"I´m coming Asuna" I mumbled with a soft smile as I took a deep breath and sneak down the dark hallways.
~Some Time Later~
I was making my way down the crowded sidewalk. I had to be careful not to make any more horrible waves of agony pulse through my arm and out through the rest of my body, so I was stepping slowly and carefully, afraid of the pain that might come if I was not careful. I knew though that if I didn´t hurry back to Asuna so her and her family could get me some medical attention, I would eventually bleed out. And then I might as well be dead.
Luckily me and Asuna had gone on so many dates past the last year that we had practically explored all of the city, so I knew the street I was currently limping down. If only I could find the right sidestreet to walk onto, I should be able to find Asuna´s home.
"Come on! Where is it!?" I groaned angrily and desperately to myself as I turned my head left and right in a fit of frustration.
"Come on! It´s a fucking mansion it can´t be that hard to find!" I mumbled again as I began to feel dizzy and began woppling in my footsteps, constantly falling over my own feet.
I widened my eyes and gasped of relieve as I finally saw the familiar building in the distance, a couple of hundred meters ahead.
"Great! " I mumbed to myself in success as I stumbled onto the porchstep and clumsily stumbled inside and collapsed in a heap on the floor. My vision began fading as several shaded figures loomed over me, one particularly known to me with her golden brown locks of hair hanging over my face like a curtain, before I smiled a bit and weakly closed my eyes, with a certain voice screaming my name.
~Meanwhile, Asuna´s POV~
I opened my eyes and yanked my head up in surprise as I woke up from my slumber. After what I had just witnessed on the screen I didn´t think I would ever be able to sleep peacefully again. But somehow, after Sugou and Kazuto had disappeared from the screen, my parents, after angry biggering about how to approach this situation, had somehow calmed me down. And I guess the mixed negative feelings and my calmed down state had made me fall asleep somehow.
But now I was suddenly ripped out of my not so peacdeful sleep, by some bumping sound out in the entranceway. I grew curious of what it was, and softly made my way out in the entranceway. The sight before me both relieved me and terrified me at the same time.
In the hallway, sprawled out unceremoniously, was my loving and caring boyfriend, bleeding badly from his wounds along his arm, and to my horror a deep hole in the palm of his left hand. The sight made me clasp both my hands on my mouth in horror, before I rushed over to his side, and put his head in my lap for support.
"Mom, dad! HELP!" I yelled loudly in desperation, my parents and brother soon rushing to me and Kazuto´s side, all looking down at him terrifedly.
"I´m going to call an ambulance" my dad mumbled softly as he flipped out his phone and dialed, 119. I looked down at Kazuto, who softly and weakly smiled, before he let his head go limp, and he passed out. I teared up and softly sobbed as I heard the sirens from far away, and minutes later watched over Kazuto as I sat with him in the ambulance, on the way to one of the most restless and painful nights of my life.
A/N
Hey guys! IM BACK BABY!
It feels so good to be back! Hope you guys liked the latest chapter. As promised I will keep writing chapters for all my fanfics in this summer vacation, so don´t worry. And the schedule is just as normal. One chapter of each fanfic every Sunday, so look forward to much more writing and reading.
Also a big thank you to Moshita for giving the idea of letting Asuna watch Kazuto get tortured. Do please tell me if anyone has any ideas like this as well.
Hope you liked the chapter, and read you next chapter my dragonlings!
See you next Sunday!