14 Karma
"H-Help! I've been kidnapped!!! Help!!!!" Kaito shouts.
"No matter how much you scream, nobody will hear you. This is an abandoned shack in the middle of a forest." I say.
"What...You shouldn't do anything to me, my sister will come for you!"
I ignore him.
Kaito's breath becomes unstable.
Where did I go? He keeps thinking.
"Wait! I'm sorry! Please!" Suddenly Kaito says.
From Ayato's memory, this guy's sister is a big shot in the Idol industry, SSS-Rank Mika Kazama.
"Now then..." I grab Kaito's head and he screams.
All of my viruses invade his brain.
I infiltrate into his memory and take a look at things myself.
========================
2 weeks ago...
========================
"Hey, this is the money I promised," Kaito said, handing a woman a stack of money of about 1000000 Yen.
From this fragment of memory, Kaito was standing in the alley with a blonde woman covering herself with a blanket, underneath, only her underwear and bruises remained.
The blonde, with shaky hands, received the money.
"Remember, the one who did this to you is Ayato." He said.
The blonde nodded and walked off, trudging her leg along.
Kaito smirked and pulled out a cigarette box, taking a cigarette out to smoke.
He was planning to lure me out using the rumours, and at the same time, destroy my reputation and make me a target of hate.
A few days later, Hanabi approached Kaito and asked for a breakup during academy time right in front of everyone.
!!
"What is going on?" A passerby whispered to her friend.
"Isn't that Kaito's girlfriend?"
...
Kaito clicked his tongue. "What's the reason?" He asked
"I have no reason to date a bastard like you anymore." She said.
That enraged Kaito even further. "Huh?... You..."
Kaito clenched his fist and held his anger in, he cannot break his image.
"You are breaking up with me after cheating on me!? Even when I've done so much!" Kaito purposely exclaimed out loud.
?!
"What?"
"That bitch did that?"
Hanabi widened her eye. "What lie are you spouting? I'm simply-"
"I don't want to hear your nonsense!" Kaito turned around and walked off into the Academy.
...
Everyone stared at Hanabi with contempt.
"How dare she make Kaito senpai cry?!"
"She doesn't even know what's good for her!"
"Fucking bitch."
Hanabi's reputation hit rock bottom that day. When Kaito's subordinate spread even more ridiculous rumours about her, she suffered even further prejudice and bullying.
The lady in the cafeteria did not give Hanabi any food. Teachers always picked on Hanabi and forced her to be the scapegoat for punishments. All of her friends abandoned her and talked behind her back.
Those three were only the earlier, lighter, form of bullying she encountered.
In the end, some boys even attempted to buy her body when absurd rumours of her prostitution service spread.
=========================
"Hah..." I sigh when I let his head go.
So that's why the current Hanabi have no light in her eyes.
Kaito convulses uncontrollably.
I snap.
"ARGHHH!!!"
The pain forces Kaito back.
"Huff huff...please...I won't do anything to you anymore!"
"The both of us know your words are bullshit," I reply.
!!
"Then what do you want? Money!? I can give you as much as you want!"
I ignore Kaito again.
From his memory, Mika Kazama is a slim woman with black hair and eyes. The Mika Kazama I remember has blonde hair and green eyes.
Anyways, Mika is a cowardly scum. Her power involves healing people physically or mentally and she values it very highly, only helping those who pay her well. That was one of the reasons my plague brought massive casualties: Mika refused to help the mass infected and only ran away from highly infected areas.
I throw a glance at Kaito. Mika is a threat to my plague regardless. I need to eliminate her and I can use this guy...
But before that, I pull the blindfold off.
Kaito looks at me as my shadow engulfs him. His eyes are crimson red.
"Please..."
I smiled. "Okay." I untie the ropes around his arm, letting him free.
???
Kaito, confused, stands up while caressing his hand. His back still hurts.
I extend my hand towards the door. "Go ahead."
Kaito slowly walks out of the shack looking around.
??????
Suddenly, his legs give out as he falls to the ground.
"Aufghhh!!!" Bolts of agony bounce around his lower body when Kaito grasps his leg, rolling around.
"What's wrong? Are you not going to escape?"
"Huff huff... I... AHH!!!!"
...
Kaito's torture ensued for 20 minutes more until he completely succumbs.
"I will do anything! Do you want me to reveal all my schemes!? I will do it! I will do it!! Just let me live!!!" Kaito grovels at my feet and begs.
I smile. "Your life will end either way, are you sure?"
"Yes yes! Please! Let me live!"
...
I squat to Kaito. "Engrave this into your mind, I can see what you see, I can hear what you think, and lastly, I can inflict wrath more agonising than what you've experienced. And the best part? You will not die."
Kaito nods his head vigorously. "Yes! I understand! I understand!"
A yellow array of orange shone on my face. The sun is rising.
Kaito is still wearing the academy uniform, albeit slightly ragged.
"Let's go," I say.
Kaito forces himself to stand and slowly trudge beside me.
----------------------------------
"Is that Kaito?"
"What happened to him?"
"All that dirt on him is disgusting."
Waves of gossip explode when Kaito simply stare at the Hero Academy's entrance.
I stand at a tall building nearest to the academy and watch the show through Kaito's eyes.
A girl walks up to Kaito. "Are you okay?"
...
"Kaito senpai?"
...
Crowds after crowds gather around him. At this point, almost everyone congregated at the gate.
I look at Kaito. Kaito grovels on the ground with a trembling demeanour and shouts a simple "I'm sorry for tricking everyone!"
"What?" Everyone mumbles in unison.
