"I'm feeling much better now… I think. Dr. S.R. is taking really good care of me and the police officers I met are coming to visit me very often. But the one thing that's on my mind is Seirin. My teammates. My friends. My home. My family. They've been killed, and I'm the last one of them to survive. Was that really supposed to happen? Was me being able to live a miracle or a mistake? I really wanna find out the answer to this mysterious mystery, and the best place to start is… Kyoto. Something there will lead me to a clue, I hope."- Kagami Taiga
Chapter 14: Following the Trail of a Bloody-ish Red Part I
Kagami woke up from his sleep tired, yawning a million times before going back to his unfinished dream. He hasn't been getting enough shut-eye lately– well he has, but he always felt like he spent 10 hours doing nothing. This strange event, which Dr. S.R, had noticed, finally became a discussion. Which went by pretty fast, to be exact.
Kagami had been diagnosed with eyenomaphiliopsis, (a made up word, obviously) a state in which one cannot feel that they have slept enough due to destruction of a very important part of the eye, the pupil.
The only way it could be resolved was if someone recorded your dream while you were sleeping, the next day you watched it, and then everything would come to an end.
'But where are we going to get a Baku or dream cards? This is not like the Japanese drama show 'My Little Nightmare,' Kagami thought, closing his eyes.
The bright sunlight pouring in from the partially opened windows made it hard for him to fall back asleep, so the redhead shifted his body so his back was completely facing the ceiling.
A few moments passed, and Kagami fell into a slumber he had never had in days. It seemed so vivid, you could have thought that he was in real life.
He was in a Kyoto local tea drinking spot, and he was sitting by himself at the corner table with… Kuroko Tetsuya.
They were both laughing about something funny until Kuroko leaned forward and kissed Kagami on the lips tenderly. The redhead relaxed his tense shoulders, setting down his cup of black tea and wrapping his arms around the latter's waist. Their kiss evolved into something more romantic, more developed. They were just regular teenagers after all, nothing to be surprised about.
Kuroko pushed Kagami down on his back and laid on top of him, using his tongue to force his way through his pursed lips. They both made several moans and groans, saliva dripping from the gap between their mouths. It was a hot mess, a real sexy hot mess, to be precise.
Suddenly, the lights dimmed. Then turned off completely. The redhead couldn't see anything, but when he tried to sit up, there was no weight on him as he had felt before. Did that mean… Kuroko wasn't on him anymore? If so, where did he go?
Kagami got up and began to feel for a wall. He felt one alright, but it was super cold. He couldn't feel the presence of the other customers that were supposed to be there. This was getting creepy now, for real.
A light flashed on– a spotlight. It shone in the opposite corner of where Taiga was standing. Under that spotlight was Kuroko. His head was down and his arms and legs were crossed. "Kagami-kun, save me. I don't want to be here anymore. Save me, please! Please save my body and soul from him! I beg you! Save me!"
"Kuroko…" Then, a wave a shock flew through his skull. "Ah!" he cried, falling to his knees. His brain was pounding simultaneously, making him press his hands on his head.
This is when Kuroko's sorrow face began to melt and mold into something else. "I'm back," said a light and deep voice.
Kagami strained his head to look up. "No way," he stuttered. "You were Kuroko the whole time?! You bastard; you tricked me!"
"Eh, so I did. But that was a good thing, or else you two would've had sex for all I know," said… Akashi Seijuuro, snickering from ear to ear. "Just so you know, you guys will NEVER find me. You may know that I reside within Tetsuya's slender body, but no one else does. Seirin can't do anything. The police and political authorities can't do anything. I'm just surprised that you managed to survive my attack back then, fighting back and all. You even managed to scratch me a bit. But still, you can't tell others about my whereabouts."
"What? W-What do you mean?!"
Akashi chuckled and began to walk forward. "I mean, just look at you! You're still banged up hard after what I did! This was my original motive. Killing Daiki and Satsuki was just a warmup, I guess. See ya."
"Wait! Wait! Tell me what's going on! Why are you doing this?! Tell me!"
But sadly, Akashi's body began to dissolve into blood and it spilled on the ground of the shop, leaving a red trail.
The regular lights turned back on, and everything turned back to normal: the noise, the customers, outside the store. His tea was still warm, but Kuroko wasn't there anymore. The blood still remained, and Kagami collapsed, no one coming after him.
"Oh shit!" Kagami shouted, waking up. He picked up his head and looked around with wide, quivering eyes, noticing that he was back in his room, plain and all. "Was that a dream? It couldn't be; it seemed so goddamn real! The fuck's wrong with my brain?! That was too scary!"
Dr. S.R. came rushing in, apparently hearing her patient's scream. "Kagami, are you alright?!" She set down her clipboard and ran over to his side, calming him down. "What happened to you; your bed sheets are a mess!"
"I had a dream! I had a dream! It freaked the fuck out of me! I saw him! The guy who tried to kill me and Seirin!"
"What?! Who was it?"
Kagami's heart was racing until he fell flat on the bed, his face connecting with his fluffy pillow. He didn't wake up.
"Yep, he went down," S.R. sighed heavily. She placed an IV tube into Kagami's right arm and sat on a chair, staring at him without blinking.
'He's one weird creature, I believe. One of the most liveliest patients I've had in years. I bet he's had a long and harsh life, under the pressure of his friends being murdered. And he's just a teenager too. This might increase the chance of him developing mental distress and hallucinations. But the question is: did it already start without a proper diagnosis? I've gotta create a medicine to stop this for it might do serious corruption to Kagami's brain for life.'
She clenched her fists tightly and breathed in a deep breath… then coughed it out immediately. "Damn, this air is stale. How can poor Kagami live in this?!" Her breasts jiggled as she got up and reached for the air freshener in the back closet. When she was about to close it, she opened the door more; she realized something.
"Hey, what's this? The brunette glared at the ground and squinted. Then she noticed what is was: a trail of something red. It kept on spreading in multiple directions, eventually reaching S.R.'s heels.
"It's not fruit punch. It's just something red. I need to know what this is; this has never happened before." The doctor folded her black skirt and bent down, placing her fingers into the substance and into her mouth. She made a face. "Yeah, it's definitely not juice or food coloring."
She put it on her skin and it dissolved… in the blink of an eye.
"God, the heavens are falling!" she exclaimed, backing away. "It's blood! Well, not just any blood. The kind that disappears within contact of the human skin. But this type of blood belongs to none other than the dead. There's nothing… dead here…"
S.R. heard Kagami groan, so she quickly closed the closet door and walked back to the main room spraying the air with the purifier.
"What happened to me?" he muttered, ruffling his screwed-up hair.
"You passed out due to the exhaustion of the brain from a current event. I plugged an IV into you just in case something happened. Your wounds might begin to open if it continues, but I'll highly doubt that'll happen."
"Why do you answer all of my questions with a science-y tone like that? You're a doctor, not a scientist."
S.R. dropped the can and flailed her arms. "Just shut up! Just shut up! Just shut up! I am a certified doctor, and doctor-ism requires the knowledge and tone of science! Why do you need to know all this; you're just a fucked up teenager who's almost been scissored to death! Stop asking me all these goddamn questions!" she shouted, falling to her knees in despair. A waterfall of tears fell down her face, creating a puddle on the ground.
Kagami gaped in response. "S.R… why the breakdown? Are you okay? Are you feeling well?" He jumped off the bed carefully and came to her side, lifting up her tearstained face.
"Sorry," she whispered. "I just lost my cool there." She slowly pointed to the closet before her, trembling. "T-There's something in there."
"Huh? I didn't hear you."
"T-There's something in there. It's dead. Not alive. N-Non human!"
Kagami flinched in surprise and shock. "What? What are you talking about? You're creeping the shit out of me."
S.R. calmed her trembling hand and took a breather. "When I went to get something out of there, there was a trail of an odd red. So I foolishly bent down and tasted it."
"What did it taste like? Sweet?"
"Definitely not fruit punch nor food coloring."
"O… kay."
"Then, I placed it on my skin and it dissolved rather quickly than I thought. Finally I realized that it was blood. But not just any type of blood."
The latter gulped and a bullet of sweat dropped from the back of his neck. "W-What do you mean by that?"
"It's the blood of the dead! Only a dead organism can have blood like that! But the thing is, there's nothing dead in that closet! So I freaked out by taking my anger out on you! I'm sorry if I hurt you."
"It's okay. Since we're are here, why don't we figure out the mystery together?" Kagami suggested getting up, helping the beautiful doctor to her feet.
"Are you nuts?! I don't wanna go back in there!"
"It's the only way to know what's going on here. If we don't find it out now, who will? This place might reek of the possible horrible stench. And plus, if there is something dead, wouldn't you want to throw it out?"
S.R. nodded slowly, placing herself behind the redhead's back and she squeezed her hands on his shirt like a little child. "Mm-hmm."
"There we go." He took a cautious step forward at a time, his fists in the air. The latter stuck out her head from behind, seeing if they were close yet.
Finally reaching the closet, Kagami took a deep breath and flung the door open with a bang!
"God! Where's all this blood coming from?!"
"Told you," S.R. mumbled.
The redhead noticed a range of items in the medium-sized space: a large blanket, white pillows, white bed sheets, and the such. "What is all this stuff?"
"Extra room equipment just in case there is a shortage or an accident happens."
Kagami nodded without looking back, his mind focused on the now tainted red objects. "By any chance, is there a baseball bat in here?"
Dr. S.R. pointed to a shelf in the upper right hand corner. "There."
The latter reached for it and patted it against his palm for a time until the feel was good and right. "You ready?"
The girl moaned and clenched to the side of him. "Y-Yes."
"What?! I couldn't hear you!"
"Yes!"
Kagami placed the bat in one hand and began to walk forward inch by inch towards the extra items. More sweat dropped from his forehead each step, and S.R's moans were getting louder. "We're here," he announced.
The brunette released herself and stood directly by his side, her stethoscope in her hands. "I'm ready for this."
"Okay."
The trail of blood now completely shrouded their feet and leaked into the main room slowly as a snail. No, turtle. No, snail. No… both.
Kagami bent down halfway and pinched his fingers on the edges of the large blanket. He breathed in deep, coughed it out (suddenly realizing how bad the air smelled due to whatever was in this closet) and closed his eyes.
"Be careful," she warned.
"You don't have to tell me twice. Here I go. 1… 2… 3!" Kagami pulled off the covers with a whoosh! and fell back.
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! OH SHIT! HOLY CRAP!"
"AHHHHHHH!"
The lights turned off completely.
Please review! Man, I'm gonna leave you hanging for a few days to keep you thinking! ^_^