Chapter Text
It felt like burning hatred.
He wanted to die more than ever, he was dying, but it wasn't enough. Ken wanted them to come with him, to follow I'm into the pit of a bottomless hatred and despair. He wanted them to feel his grief.
What was once the deep love he felt for the shorter blue haired boy, had turned into hatred for everyone else. Everyone else who had moved on. Moved past his decaying corpse. He had to step up. He had to clean it. Because no one else would have. He would've stayed tied to the chair with how many holes in his stomach. And his very own head gone.
Ken didn't know why he cared so much now, now that his limbs are pressed onto an X, and how is spinning and turning, and is one snap away from death.
But he guesses this is it.
Or, perhaps maybe just a strong feeling dream.
A very, very, strong feeling dream.
── .✦
He woke up.
The bed sheet was crinkled over his body, twisting and turning in weird ways. His pillow was warm. It felt like it had been ages since he was last here. But he can't remember when he was away from here. The last thing he remembers is going to bed.. and then.. his dream.
It was.. violent.
He can remember the color red, he can remember hurdling screams, ones that were of pure terror. Ones that he doesn't think he can get rid of in his mind. He can remember his own, but it wasn't when he was dying in that dream, but when he had seen the shorter blue haired boy with holes in his stomach. And his head off. The boy who had made him feel.. complete. Okay. Even if it was a dream, that feeling he had felt, it was something very real. Ken can't get the boy out of his head.
His dyed blue hair, a peak of his black roots on the top of his heads. The black sweater he had worn, and the skull motif on the pockets. Muted red shoes he wore, they were a little old and dirty, but it suited him. It matched his brilliant red eyes that Ken can remember.
There shouldn't be a reason why he feels so.. remembering, of the shorter boy, but he can.
Ken stiffly got out of bed, and he could feel his legs hurting. It was sore, like someone had torn off his legs, gave him new ones. Like the space in between his joints had glass in between them. Despite the annoyance, he had bared it, and got up. He held onto the bed frame of his bed, and walked to the door. Grabbing the knob with what little strength his body could muster up, he twisted the knob, and was met by his sister, Mao, who frozen when she had seen him. The air in the hallway became stilted, as she let out a trembled laugh.
"K-Ken..?" She had her hands over her mouth.
She rushed over to his side, holding both of his shoulders. "O-Oh my god.. y-you're here, you're back. Where were you? What happened?!" Before he could answer any of those questions, she had pulled hi into a hug. He placed his arms around her back too, it felt like he hadn't seen her in a while either, even when she was just there yesterday.
"YOU WERE GONE FOR A MONTH!" She screamed.
"Wait.. what?" He pushed away from the hug, mostly out of confusion. "You were just gone one day. Mom has been so worried, where were you!?" Her tone almost accusatory. "I don't.. know. I was gone for a month?" He questioned, she nodded, dragging along the hallway.
Even when he had lived for a while, the hallway felt.. new. Fresh. She held onto his wrist like he'd disappear into thin air any second, and stopped once they were at the bottom of the stairs. "Mom! He's.. back." Mao yelled, his mom turning around. And like Mao, it felt as if it's been a long time since he had seen her. His mom pulled him into a similar hug, and rubbed his back in circles.
"You were gone for a month.. Where did you go..? We thought you were.." Her voice cracked. Dead. They thought he was dead.
"I don't know. What time is it..?" He asked, looking between the two of them. "It's around 8 AM. Honey, Ken, you need to tell us where you were." She had answered, asking a question of her own in return. "But I seriously don't know what happened.. Can I see the news..? Maybe that will give me an idea of what happened.
His mom nodded, walking to the TV, and the sounds of the clicking stopped once a guy with a suit appeared on screen.
"A few others had disappeared.. Around the same time as you, Ken. The same age too." Mao informed. "Do you know any of their names?" She nodded, taking out a notepad from her pocket. "Let's see here.. For one, Isono Miki, and the Chiba Airi. Harada Keizou.. Um.. Sasaki Hitomi. Ojima Takeshi, Hama Ran, Tsuno Manami, Hiroaki Nakamigawa-"
"The designer?"
"Yeah. Celebrities just went missing too. Tamba Ruiko, Watari Nishino, and Yanagi Shigeki." She finished listing.
"Aren't those guys Olympians?"
"Yeah. I'm sure I missed a few people... But not everyone that went missing I have written down.." She pointed out. "Hm." Those names sound pretty familiar to him. "I still don't know how you just.. appeared back in your room, I came there just to see if there was anything more were could give to the police." Mao explained. "That's weird.." He muttered. "What matters is that you're back."
"I'm glad to be back..."
"Have something on your mind?"
"I just.." He debated on talking about it. "I have memories of where I was.. I just.. I don't know if it was a dream or not. It was way too long to be a dream! But it feels too.. incoherent now to be a full memory." He tried putting his thoughts into words. "Well, tell me about it, we have to solve how you were just gone for a month, then appear back in your room. That's not normal."
"Alright.."
── .✦
"I.. don't think we're gonna find anything else out." His mom sighed, disappointed, but tired. Mao was digging for any information she could get out of him, which wasn't much. They were up for a few hours now. "What if I just make lunch for Ken now, you've kept him here for a while." Mom offered, Mao shook her head.
"We have to! It's so weird he just.. came back! Even he doesn't know what's going on!"
"It's fine, Mao. Like mom said, I'm here now.. a-and, if-"
He got cut off by the sound of his phone ringing. It was an unknown number. And he didn't recognize it either. But the string.. He feels like he's seen it, but it's not too familiar. "Did you get a scam caller as soon as you came back?" Mao scoffed, half-joking. "I.. I don't know. I feel like I should answer it though. I'm gonna." He announced. Picking up his phone, holding it to his ear.
"Hello?" He said, expecting something from the other side of the phone. "Hasegawa..?" A voice from the other line. It wasn't expecting, just a call.
No, not just any voice.
"Takeshi..?" The syllables came out slowly, until the name as a whole. Ojima Takeshi.. He was an illustrator. He made children's books. He.. spaced out often. He was where Ken was while he was missing. "You're.. alive?" He asked, almost whispering into the phone. Ken paused. "I-.. y-yeah. I'm alive." He looked down at himself. And yeah, he was alive. "Why are you.. um.. asking? Did I.. look dead..?"
"Are you doing okay?" He immediately pressed. "Where are you right now?"
"I-I'm fine. Sorry, I don't really remember much.. do you remember..? Because I'm.. really drawing a blank here." He questioned, and got silence from the other side of the phone. "You.. you don't remember everything?" Ken shook his head even if Takeshi wasn't there to see it. "No.. I remember who you are. Just.. everything else.. I remember.. Kazutoshi."
The blue haired shorter boy.
That was his name. Kazutoshi. Kamimura Kazutoshi. It rolled off his tongue, and he felt.. warm. Unlike the cold he had felt right before he had woken up.
"Uh-.. Please. Don't try anything." He sounded awkward at the name mention. "I won't... why would I?" He asked.
"You really don't remember anything.." Takeshi took a deep breath from the other side of the line. "I'm gonna try and get in contact with Nakamigawa, do you know Kamimura's cell phone number? Or anyone else for that matter?"
"I don't.. I... I still feel pretty light headed. I can try to remember again later.." Nakamigawa.. the fashion designer. Someone who Mao had written down. He can also recall the sour attitude that he had during his time. "Okay.. Well.. I'm sorry. I don't think you remember. But I'm sorry." His voice was genuine, and it was a real apology. "Oh. Um. Thanks..?" He responded awkwardly. "I have to go now. Stay safe, Ken." He said, and then hung up.
"Who was that?" Mao asked.
"It was.. um.. someone who was with me during my time missing. Takeshi." He answered. "So, then, did he remember what was going on?"
"He knew more than me... So, there's that.. I kind of just want to rest though.. My body hurts pretty badly." He commented, whilst his mom placed down a dish she quickly made. "Thanks." She nodded and smiled. After whatever mess must've happened, he continued to eat. He deserved a little rest.
But Kazutoshi had stayed on his mind.
He wondered where he was now.
── .✦
Ken looked at his back.
It had a rabbit on it, it was engraved into his skin, by a hot iron, if he were to guess.
The design was.. off-putting. And it was now forever on his back. He can remember almost passing out in the auditorium. He can remember... Hama? Pressing it onto his back. Not so willingly, but more just.. like he had to. Wherever he was, he's sure it couldn't have been good.
Especially with the way Takeshi had put it...
He apologized. And his tone was almost.. scared when first talking to him.
Why was he so insistent that Ken was going to do something? Did he do something before? What could he have done in order to get someone to be so.. cautious around him? What could've pushed him to do something bad in the first place? He feels different, he's body is different, he can see by the brand on his back and the.. large amounts of cuts on his arm.
He can vaguely picture staring at a glowing liquid. Blood. He had used luminol during his time there.
Why though?
For fun? That doesn't seem like the kind of thing Ken would do. Why were the lights off in the first place? What happened in there?
He doesn't want to know.
But it seems like Takeshi knew. And so Takeshi was cautious.. Hiroaki too by the sounds of it. He can picture.. Wada, Yanagi, Tamba, and the other two standing outside glass. Two way glass. But the glass looked supported. They looked tired. From what he can make out in his memories, they all had levels of horror on their face.
What could've happened?
And how could Kazutoshi, someone so.. warm. Come from a place like that?