The 9 Millimeter Kiss - Chapter 61: Chapter 61

"Yuki," Takumi called out to his son.
"Yeah!" Yuki replied, rushing to his Papa's side. He reached out to hold Takumi's hand. They were always warm compared to his own.
"It's not your fault."
The boy looked up. He couldn't see his Papa's face with the blaring sun beating down on them.
"What isn't?" Yuki asked, clutching onto his hand.
Takumi didn't reply. Instead he started walking.
Yuki smiled and followed, "Where are we going, Papa?"
Takumi didn't reply. He instead asked,
"Are you scared?"
Yuki continued to walk beside him.
"Nope!" the boy smiled. "Are we going to see Uncle Shin?"
"Uncle Shin's a little busy right now." Tenji replied.
"Oh." Yuki pouted.
"Then can we go see him later?"
Tenji chuckled. "Yes, we can go see him later. But now's not the right time."
"So... later, Later?" Yuki grinned.
"Yes. Later, later." his papa confirmed.
They suddenly came to a halt.
"Yuki," Tenji spoke, a slight quiver to his voice.
"Yeah?" the boy looked up. They were under a tree's shade.
Tenji slowly knelt down, a sad smile on his face.
"You'll be alright." he whispered. Cupping Yuki's face.
Yuki frowned. "But I'm okay right now."
Tenji slowly brought the boy closer, into a hug.
"You'll be okay." he mumbled.
It'll all be alright...
Sobs echo through the dark. The only light ever coming from the cracks on the door.
"Where are we?" a woman sobs.
"I don't know." a man replies.
How long has it been?
"Is someone else there?" the man bravely calls out.
Another choked sob echos.
"You shouldn't be too loud." a child's reply echos.
There's a light gasp before coughing.
"Where are you?"
There's a sharp clank against the floor, then metal scraping.
"Hello?" the man calls out again.
"What are your names?" the child speaks up a bit. There's a strain in his throat.
The man attempts to squint into the darkest parts of the place. He's sure the voice is coming from there.
"My name is Kato." the man replies. He glances back at the woman, only really being able to make out her outline.
"My- My name is Meiko." the woman answers as well.
"Kato... Meiko..." the child whispers.
The adults wait for another reply but when nothing is said the man once again asks, "Where are you?"
Another pause before more scraping of chains fill the place. Small yet heavy footsteps accompany it.
"You'll see me when he gets here." the child mumbles.
"Who is? Who's going to come?!" the woman nearly shrieks.
The child halts his steps, only feet away from the new people's cell.
"My name is Yuki."
The man staggers backward. The darkness of the place playing games with his senses.
"Yuki..." the woman mumbles, almost out of familiarity.
"Yuki," Kato cautiously asks, "Where are we?"
The place is beginning to feel suffocating.
"I don't know." Yuki replies. "I'm sorry."
"You!" the woman suddenly gasps, pointing at Yuki's shadowed figure. "You're the boy who went missing! Oh my god!"
"What?" Kato's eyes widened as he looked back at Meiko. "Missing? You don't mean--"
A series of heavy thumps came from the outside.
"He's here." Yuki coldly voices before returning back to the darkest parts. The scraping of chains following him.
"Who is?! Don't tell me it's them!" the woman harshly whispered. The thumps from outside seized.
"Oh my god... Oh my god we're going to die!" the woman latches onto her hair, cradling herself. "They won't find us-- We're going to die..."
"I'm sorry..." Yuki voiced one last time before the only door out of that place was opened.
Satori Yuki was a child who had once lived without a worry in the world. His worries only ever pertained to what he could use to get up to the snack cabinet when his Papa wasn't looking.
Then bad things happened.
"No...NO!" Meiko screamed as she was being dragged out of the cell. "Please! NO!"
Her eyes were wide with terror. Her legs refused to properly stand even as she attempted to push them away. Her hair in a dirty tangled mess.
How long has it been?
"Please! I have a family!" she begged upon being thrown onto a tile floor with a drain.
"I haven't been here for quite some time."
Yuki felt himself tense up. He was quietly curled up against the corner, eyes shut and hands over his ears. His heart loud enough to make it feel as though it would burst at any minute.
"Should we start playing again?"
"Please... let me go..." Meiko sobbed.
An audible blow to the woman came. The sound of her body collapsing caused Yuki to tug onto his hair in vain. He was always able to hear everything.
"She was starting to get on my nerves." Their boots walking away from the presumably dead body.
A bucket was placed into the sink, the tap squealing as water began to fill it.
Yuki tentatively looked towards their direction, arms covering as much of his sight as possible. The lights were only ever on when he came back. And the boy was slightly thankful for it.
"So have you decided?" he asked as he closed the tap.
Yuki hated this. How could he even decide...
"Pick a number."
"...no." Yuki mumbled.
Their heavy footsteps walked over to the cell where Kato lay unconscious.
"1 through 5." he repeated before hauling the bucket filled water onto Kato.
"No..." Yuki whispered, shaking his head.
Kato awoke coughing and gasping.
"Yuki-kun,"
The boy flinched as he felt his threatening gaze. Looking away he curled back into the corner, shielding as much of himself as he could.
"You don't want to make me angry, do you?" he tenderly asked.
Yuki's heart raced as he heard him come his way.
"We've played this game before. You should know what comes next on the list." His shadow now looming over Yuki.
"No." Yuki whimpered. He knew what was next. It was nearly always the same order.
"Get away from him!" Kato shouted, angrily clutching onto the iron bars.
However, he paid no mind to him. He slowly knelt down and softly caressed the boy's hair.
"Yuki, the sooner you pick a number. The sooner it'll end." he whispered. A sly grin spread across his face.
"No... please...." Yuki hiccuped.
How long has it been?
He continued to caress the boy, rubbing circles onto his back.
"I'll get you something better to eat." he offered.
"No..." Yuki continued to deny, his entire body shaking.
"I'll let you get some fresh air--"
"I can't, no." Yuki gasped.
Yuki's head was suddenly thrown back. His hair was tightly gripped and hoisted up until he was at the tip of his toes.
"If you don't pick a number, it'll be a lot more painful."
Yuki stared up at him, eyes wide and mouth agape in pain and horror. His toes barely offered any sort of relief to his scalp.
And with a choked sob, Yuki said, "Two..."
Kato's protest for Yuki continued as he wasn't immediately released from their grasp.
"Two?" He questioned.
Yuki didn't reply. His uneasiness grew as a different kind of smile was replaced.
"How about you help me this time?"
Yuki was released from his grip and dropped to the floor before he could oppose it.
"It's about time you join in on the fun as well, Yuki-kun~"
Yuki trembled as he carefully got onto his knees. "No--"
"Don't worry!" he replied cheerfully, snapping on a pair of arm length rubber gloves.
"I'll make sure to take good care of you."
He slipped on a large black apron, turning back towards Yuki as he tied it from behind.
Yuki turned to look at Kato, who clutched onto the bars with a look of uneasiness and confusion.
"You should be honored, Yuki!"
Yuki turned back to him, his fingernails scraping onto the floor in distress.
With a smile they placed a hand onto their chest and said,
"Let Matsuda- sensei take care of you."
"Yuki, I'm going to be as fearless as heroes!" Mai proclaimed before attempting to mimic the number 1 hero's signature laugh.
"Mai! You're going to fall off the branch!" Yuki shouted from the base of the tree.
"That's just the thing sidekick Yuki!" Mai grinned looking down at him. "This height is nothing to the pro's!"
"Mai, I can see your legs shaking!" Yuki frowned.
"Silence! You're interrupting my training!" Mai shouted.
Yuki huffed, continuing to look up.
"Fine! Then I'm going to the lake!"
"What? Why?!" Mai asked, alarmed.
Yuki went to pick up his backpack, "You need to focus!"
"But--"
"Bye!"
Yuki walked away a bit from the tree before hiding.
"Yuki! Come Back!" Mai cried out.
When he didn't reply she began to panic.
"YUKI!"
He waited a bit before returning, making sure his presence was noticed.
"You called?" he smugly asked, looking up.
Mai was now sitting on the branch, hugging the trunk instead of standing on it just as she was before he left.
She didn't reply. Simply giving him a light frown.
"Are you stuck?" Yuki asked, holding back a laugh.
There was a small pause.
"...yes."
"This just in! Heroes and Law Enforcement are currently in pursuit of a vehicle!"
The camera angles down onto a highway. Loud screeches of vehicles sharp turning audible from high above the ground.
"We managed to get information that this man, driving the car we are zooming in on, was spotted disposing of two of the missing victims from last month. As of now they haven't been able to identify them but this. Right here! This is currently the closest thing we've been able to get to identifying a suspect!"
Sirens blare. Heroes attempted to get as close as possible. Everyone knows. If they don't catch him now. There might not be another chance like this again.
"The windows are tinted so we're unable to get any physical description."
"Do you know if there were any witnesses, maybe a description or a sketch can be released later." a news reporter from the studio asks. It takes a moment before there's a reply.
"Fortunately an officer was able to catch a glimpse of him but as of now they've joined the speed chase."
"Anything regarding the vehicle?"
"They've run the license plate and found the car belongs to Tachibana Meiko. She was reported missing roughly three weeks ago by her husband. Last place seen was in a supermarket parking lot of a supermarket."
He could still hear him.
He could still see him.
He could still feel the stifling red liquid run down his cool skin.
No matter how much he kept his hands in the cold water, the feeling was still there.
He rubbed dirt onto his skin to feel something else. It didn't work.
His entire being was too warm-- too hot-- it was suffocating him.
He dug his nails into his skin, trying to scratch away the feeling.
Nothing.
Nothing worked.
It was warm.
It was hot.
It was suffocating.
How long has it been?
Yuki laid on the floor, a thin sheet covering him. The walls looked as though they were moving.
He was cold but sweating.
His lips dry. His body, shivering.
Yuki's head was pounding. He felt as though his skull was about to burst in half.
Everything hurt.
There was a rush of footsteps nearing the door.
He's come back. Again.
Yuki found it odd for Matsuda to look so out of breath and exhausted. On top of that, he was pacing back and forth. Mumbling about something.
Yuki would have probably questioned it had he not thrown up. This obviously caught Matsuda's attention. Whether it was a good thing or not, he would have to wait and see.
"You're sick again?" Matsuda hissed as he rushed over to the boy. "I'm starting to think you lied about not getting sick."
Yuki coughed up what little remnants of food his stomach had.
"Well at least I'll have something to keep my mind off of things." Matsuda mumbled as he scooped Yuki off the floor and into his arms. The boy's body heating up in pain and full of exhaustion.
How long has it been?
This would be the second time Yuki would leaves the place.
"There won't be any others for a while." Matsuda sighs disappointingly, carrying Yuki up a flight of stairs.
Yuki lets out a small cry of pain. It's getting harder to breathe.
Matsuda clicks his tongue in annoyance.
He opens another door before the cool wisp of air hits Yuki.
Yuki can tell it's night time. He hears the rustling of trees and the sound of a lock clicking.
This is the second time Yuki will be going to the cabin.
"You're lucky I came back." Matsuda grins.
How long has it been since he came here?
"Otherwise you might have actually died this time."
How long has it been since this all began?
Yuki didn't know.
He had no way of knowing.
Maybe one day he might know.