Digital Revelation
Chapter Fifteen – Fuuma meets /Kamui/
Hours passed before the strange woman returned. Kamui spent the time paging through his book – the one that he'd stolen, Fuuma was going to kill him – and watching Satsuki watch him. The little persocon made no effort to have a conversation with him. Every so often, he would look up to see her staring at him, the expressions mainly consisting of irritation, interest and perhaps boredom. Her scrutiny made him distinctly uncomfortable.
But when Kanoe re-entered the small room, he decided he would have preferred the quiet persocon's company.
In one slim hand, she held a bundle of cables. Her sultry smile widened when he backed up against the headboard, seeking the most distance. Too quickly, her hand pressed against his cheek, eliciting a whimper of fear that she seemed to enjoy. "Are you afraid of me, Kamui?"
His head bobbed frantically in a nod; he had no pride to protect by pretending to be strong. She laughed. "Perhaps you should be." She reached across the bed and wrapped her long fingers around his wrist, pulling him toward the edge despite his protestations. As he clasped his hands in his lap, Kamui realized they were shaking. Fascinated by this phenomenon, he ignored Kanoe as she connected a half-dozen cables into each of his ears and to a handful of monitors.
He didn't begin to take notice until a faint buzzing started in his head. Glancing up, he watched Kanoe typing on a keyboard attached to the largest monitor. She turned to look at him and smiled, gracefully inputting another command.
When the inside of his mind exploded with pain, all he could do was scream.
Nokoru hovered by Suoh and Akira as both persocon searched for some kind of signal relating to Kamui. The young Imonoyama genius tapped his fan impatiently on one palm, toying with the tassel. So far, neither persocon had been able to locate the missing Kamui, much to his and Monou-san's dismay. Their meeting had been cancelled in the wake of the disappearance; his manners would be atrocious to have tried to feed the older boy further troubling information.
Beyond his concern for Monou-san's well-being, he was beginning to believe that Kamui's disappearances were more than worrisome, they were bad. They were trouble. His repeated attempts to get into contact with Tokiko Magami had all ended in failure. Normally, he would be able to attribute this to the woman being unwilling to talk to any strangers. However, since her silence coincided with Kamui's appearance and subsequent disappearance... he felt it was more than just a coincidence.
He didn't know how much he should reveal to Monou-san, given the circumstances. What right did he have, given that the boy's father hadn't even told him anything.
"Kaichou."
Nokoru looked up, startled out of his thoughts by Suoh's voice. "Yes?"
"I believe I have found him." The monitor at Suoh's left displayed a map of the Aoyama ward. "I have traced his signal to the residence of a hacker named Kanoe."
"Akira, please call Monou-san."
"Of course, Kaichou," the black haired persocon chirped. "I hope Kamui-san is all right."
The rooftop in Shinjuku provided another breathtaking view of Tokyo. The light pollution gave the city the image of eternal day, making it easier for the city to never sleep. Shibuya, Harajuku and Aoyama glittered to his right, Akasaka and Chiyoda to his left. The best of Tokyo spread out before them, and yet Subaru's attention was far away from the lights and glamour. His thoughts had been directed toward a small section toward his right. He was there.
His reverie continued a few moments after the stronger arm encircled his waist. "Have you seen something interesting, Subaru-kun?"
"Here and there," came the reply, as Subaru began to close down his links to the persocon they'd been seeking. "He's very close."
A soft, velvet chuckle drifted over his ear. "I seem to remember you saying that last time as well." The firm body behind his offered a bit of support as he leaned backward, letting his eyes drift over the soft, shifting lights of the Tokyo skyline.
"He is closer, this time, Seishirou-san."
The hand skimmed over his side and Subaru tilted his head backward, into the crook of the taller man's neck and shoulder. "I'm beginning to think you don't want us to find him, Subaru-kun."
Subaru pulled away, with Seishirou's permission, as the man didn't stop him. "Don't be ridiculous," he said. "I know what our instructions are."
His only answer was another dark chuckle, winding its way into the soft illumination. And he could not answer because Seishirou was correct. He'd connected to the Kamui more than once, and all the memories uploaded to him had been simple, happy events. He couldn't help but want to keep the object of their search so contented.
Fuuma raced along the streets in Aoyama, following the directions given to him by Nokoru before Arashi had gone disturbingly silent. He was beginning to become used to this kind of incident. The directions were easy enough to remember, but the neighborhood was a maze of apartment buildings and walled-in houses. Veering sharply to his left as the section caught his eye, he saw a house with every window lit. Every instinct told him this was the house he was looking for and a quick look at the nameplate confirmed it.
Jiggling the lock, he saw that trying to force it would do no good. Stepping back and taking a deep breath, he leapt onto the wall, hoisting himself over into a small Japanese-style garden. The front door gave under his weight and as he set foot in the house, he heard a frighteningly familiar voice raised in a scream.
He thundered up the stairs, forced the door open… and froze.
In front of him, hovering a good meter off the floor, was Kamui. A mess of cables dangled from his ears, some wrapped around the throat of a gorgeous woman – Kanoe, his memory supplied, relying heavily on Nokoru's information. No matter how eye-catching the woman was, his gaze was turned back toward to Kamui. He was smiling.
The cords tightened around Kanoe's throat and she let out a half-gasped shriek that startled him out of his thoughts.
"Kamui stop!"
A cold silence, punctuated only by the soft whirr of computers, followed his order. Slowly, the cords loosened, letting Kanoe fall to the floor, coughing and whimpering. Kamui looked down at him and the expression on his face twisted. Fuuma swallowed, feeling something he had never expected to feel in Kamui's presence – fear.
"You must be Fuuma," Kamui purred as he lowered to the floor, the faint glow around his features remaining as he touched the ground. Still wearing the slight, feral-looking smile, he advanced toward Fuuma. "He's told me so much about you."
"He…?" It took a moment to realize that Kamui was using perfect grammar. Not that he noticed usually, but given the broken Japanese Kamui normally used… to hear it correctly was a bit unnerving.
Kamui pressed up against him, winding his arms loosely around his neck. The slight touch made him shiver for any number of reasons, most of which he wasn't willing to acknowledge. "He chose you…" the smile turned sinister in the harsh bluish glow of the computer monitors. "But you don't know yet."
Stepping back, Kamui traced the back of his fingers over Fuuma's cheek. "You'd better make up your mind, Fuuma.
"Or you'll be the first to go."
Fuuma found it difficult to breathe. "What… are you talking about?"
Kamui simply smirked at him, taking another step back. Slowly, the strange expression on his face melted away, replaced with the soft, slightly bewildered face he'd come to know well.
"Fuuma?"
"Kamui?"
The face lit up in a smile as the last of the glow faded. "Fuuma came. Kamui's special…"
Fuuma rushed to catch the persocon as he collapsed. As he held Kamui, he looked on the little persocon with alternating feelings of relief and horror and confusion.
What on Earth is going on here?
After about six months or more... an update! Thanks to those who have stayed with me. I appreciate it. :D
Next Chapter: Kamui recovers and Fuuma finds out some disturbing things about himself and his family. O-tanoshimi ni!