"Michi," Ryuji grabbed your wrist, pulling you to the corner of the room, looking up at a large air vent. "Quickly," he whispered, taking out the grate and holding his hands out for you to step on.
You didn't hesitate, letting him boost you up into the tunnel. You crawled in. At your heel, you felt the press of a solid object, and you could just barely bow your head down to see your feet. It was a cell phone.
The metal grate was promptly pushed back onto the entrance, shrouding you with rectangular shadows.
"Oh, boy, Christmas came early this year!" The cold British accent halted the breath in your lungs. Bakura sounded thrilled, his voice loud and clear.
"You must be Bakura," Ryuji's voice was steady with anger.
"Now I have two of Kaiba's boys to play with. Oh, I can't wait."
"Let's talk this out."
"Oh, we'll have plenty of time for talking. Step closer and empty your pockets slowly. Or I'll paint the walls with your comrade's blood." And then laughter, sharp and maniacal, filled the air.
Your entire body turned to stone.
What do I do? You wonder, helpless.
"We have back up. If we don't report soon, more will come for us," Ryuji sounded confident, his bravery helping you remember. He helped me hide. He gave me his phone.
He was counting on you. He could have kept you with him, to also be trapped by Bakura. But he had pushed you to go ahead, to help them from a safer position.
This placed trust helped push your fear aside and you tried shifting the phone closer to your hand. The vent wasn't completely narrow. You could get on your hands and knees and crawl. You curled into as tight a ball as the clearance allowed, the sharp ding of the metal walls from your wriggling made you stop all movement. Bakura's laughter had stopped.
A pause followed, feeling like excruciating minutes to you.
A crash clanged. You grimaced.
"What was that for?" Bakura sounded amused.
"I came here for a job, just finishing it."
You heard the thump of flesh being struck followed by the sound of someone spitting.
"Break Pegasus' property, I break that pretty face of yours. Best take you somewhere with less expensive things for you to kick around. Come. Walk ahead of me. Any funny business, and Pointy here will have to skip our date with my dentist."
"Dentist?" Hiroto sounded genuinely confused. "Oh."
You heard them leave.
After a few long seconds you curled again, kicking the phone and getting it into your sweaty palm. No service. Damn. You had to find a spot in this ventilation system that wasn't a dead zone.
Move. The voice in your head commanded you to press forward. Ryuji, in the short time you had known him, had helped you and shown you kindness. You didn't want him to get his teeth ripped out. You crawled and shimmied, as quietly as you could, further into the dusty duct. You had to pause whenever the urge to sneeze struck, desperately pinching your nostrils, praying the wave would pass, before continuing on.
You checked your phone every so often, praying you'd get at least one bar of signal soon.
You found yourself at a series of grates below you, the bars black with dirt and dust. The distant revving of a fan and the blast of cool air made you shiver.
Below, the lights turned on. You backed up and peeked through the vent.
Four meters below, the crowns of three heads greeted you. Bakura's white hair, the glint of a metal gun in his hand, was pointed at Hiroto's brown pompadour. "Stop," the foreigner commanded. "Take that rope." Ryuji walked to a table, obedient and compliant.
You checked the phone. One bar.
When you opened the address list, thankfully, 'Oyabun' was at the top of the list. You pressed the green call button. Your hand was trembling.
"Otogi, how'd she do?" Kaiba's voice, for once, brought hope and relief into your heart.
"Kaiba," you barely whispered above a decibel, voice trembling, "help us."
"What happened?" His calm voice hardened promptly.
You struggled to speak back, overwhelmed with gratitude that the call was going through.
"Ito? Answer me." He sounded concerned and tears began to well up in your eyes.
"Bakura is here. He has a gun. Ryuji and Hiroto are captured. I'm in an air ducts. Please. Hurry."
"We're on the way. Stay alive, Ito." He hung up, the beep of the phone leaving you alone again.
"Tie your friend here," Bakura drawled, "nice and tight. Have a seat, Pointy. I'll be checking your knotwork. Best not to disappoint me."
You watched helplessly as Ryuji bound Hiroto's hands and feet to a chair.
"Now," Bakura pointed his gun to Ryuji, "Step back." Bakura checked Hiroto's bonds, and a satisfied grunt sounded.
The sudden swing of his arm cracking into Ryuji's face made you jolt.
You watched Ryuji fly backwards and collapse to the ground, bright red blood splattering the ground. The red burned your eyes. A tear trickled down your face as Bakura kicked Ryuji repeatedly with heavy thumps, laughing, your friend groaning and clutching his head as he curled into a fetal position.
Why? He did as he was asked. You were chewing your lip, pushing up your glasses as they slipped from the slickness of your tears. Bakura was truly a monster.
A tear escaped and dripped past the grate.
You pressed the gasp to your lips with your hand and held your breath.
Bakura's head turned for a moment and returned to Ryuji.
"Oh, careful, sir," Bakura squatted down and pulled Ryuji's face up with his fist full of black hair. "The ground is slippery." He laughed again, his voice darker and sadistic. "Such a shame to ruin that nice face. How about you save us some time and tell me what you're doing in my warehouse? Maybe after I'm done with you, we can salvage the damage with some reconstructive surgery."
"Stop! We were just told to investigate what the Crawford family is up to!" Hiroto sounded desperate, trying to protect Ryuji while tied to the chair. He pulled at his restraints and leaned forward. "Just intel gathering! And maybe break a few things. Send a message, you know?"
"So you're a spy? You know what we do with spies back West?" Bakura got to his feet, kicking Ryuji in the head hard. "You wouldn't. Because we don't leave a single finger intact by the time we're through with them. Loved ones never hear from them again. Lake Mead is nice and deep. But here, we've got the whole Pacific!" Bakura stopped, looking down at the back of his hand. You saw blood there. When he licked at it, nausea left you dizzy.
This man was messed up.
Footsteps sounded, leather soled shoes clicking on stone.
"Now, now, Ryou, darling, why are you making such a mess? I hope you're planning on cleaning up, you naughty boy."
The voice was colorful and flamboyant. You saw the silvery sleek head and bright red suit, already knowing without getting a good look at his face who this new man was.
It was Pegasus Crawford.
"Have our guest take his seat, and do make sure he stays there. I need him coherent before you have your fun."