Chapter 16 - Done

Ex is passed out on the floor. His hair is a mess and his clothes are rough. He opens his eyes and sits up, pressing his right hand to his head to dull the pain.

“This sucks…”

Ex gets up and gathers some clothes, ready to shower. The scene skips to him in the shower. He leans on the wall in front of him with water running through his hair and down his back. Ex closes his eyes, thinking deeply.

If I’m not getting punished for Kasumi being taken, then why should I help her? Why am I getting so worked up over something I can’t help? Maybe… Ex sadly opens his eyes.

“Maybe it’s because I am able to help. I’m just not wanting to.” Ex says softly.

Ex pulls himself off of the wall in front of him and looks straight up to where the water is coming from. He slicks his hands through his hair, closing his eyes again.

Ex is now ready to go. He looks much cleaner now, but his expression remains emotionless. Ex grabs his satul and walks out of his house. He pays much more attention to the surrounding areas around him now.

“Did you hear who’s coming into town next week?” A civilian says.

“No, who?”

Ex bumps into someone, shaking his focus.

“Watch it!”

Ex glares over his shoulder at the man and clicks his tongue. Ex presses forward towards the police station, walking with purpose this time. When he gets to the police station, he walks into his office, laying his stuff down on his desk. He lays out the files that he needs to potentially find Kasumi.

Why the hell am I still attempting to find her? It’s more harm than good for me at this point.

Despite what he knows, he continues searching and scanning through the files for important information. Just then, another investigator barges into Ex’s office, pissing him off.

“Don’t you know how to knock?”

“Chief Shusuke needs you in his office immediately, sir.”

“This is fucking annoying…” Ex says under his breath.

“What did you say, sir?”

“It was nothing. I suggest you get back to work.” Ex says coldly.

“Yes, sir!”

The investigator watches nervously as Ex walks into Shusuke’s office.

“Close the door behind you.” Shusuke orders. Ex closes the door behind him and sits criss-cross in the chair across from Shusuke’s desk. “I’m sure you heard.”

“Heard about what?” Ex asks, annoyed.

“The homicidal rate in Kyoto has boosted over 25% in these past few days.” Shusuke states.

“So? Can’t you get the other investigators on it?”

“Don’t get snippy with me.” Shusuke sighs. “No one has been able to figure this out. No one. You’re the only one I trust enough to figure it out. Innocent people are dying left and right. Japan isn’t used to this kind of criminal rate so the higher ups are riding my ass about it.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I need you in this case. I need you to put aside the one you were on-”

“I can’t do that, sir.”

“Listen to me.”

Ex crosses his arms.

“Fine.”

“You’re the best investigator we have, Takahashi. That’s why it pains me to say this. If you don’t obey my orders, you’ll be fired.”

Ex recoils in surprise and then quickly recovers.

“I’ll be fired, huh?”

“I’m sorry but I can’t control the situation. It’s out of my hands.”

“If that’s the way it has to be, so be it. I’ll complete any case you give me.” Shusuke breathes a sigh of relief. “On one condition.”

“Yes?”

“Whenever I need your help, you give it to me no questions asked.”

“What kind of help?”

“I’m not sure yet. Just say you’ll owe me one.”

Shusuke looks down reluctantly and then back up at Ex. He sees him as a younger version of himself, making him feel obligated to make the deal with him.

“Deal. I owe you one.” Shusuke takes out a file and hands it to Ex. “I really appreciate this, Ex.”

Ex gives Shusuke a nod of recognition before taking the file and leaving.

***

Kasumi is chained up like usual and looking down at the ground.

“Seriously, I don’t think you can take this any longer.” Kanai says.

Please...please just shut the fuck up.

“I can hear them. They’re getting close.”

Kasumi closes her eyes, a few tears streaming down her face. Please...just make the pain stop.

Lucile along with another male scientist enters the room with a cart. Lucile takes a small knife and stabs it into Kasumi’s shoulder. Kasumi shoots her eyes open and stares directly at Lucile with daggers for eyes without whimpering or showing any signs of pain.

“Ouch. You’re not looking too good.” Lucile teases.

Kasumi ignores Lucile’s response.

“Listen, maybe instead of enduring the pain and suffering, try embracing the pain. Laugh every time they do something. It might make them stop.” Kanai suggests.

They’re not doing this to inflict pain. It wouldn’t matter.

“It might also save you some sanity.”

No. If anything, it would hurt my sanity.

“We’re going to try something new today and I really need you to comply.” Lucile says.

Lucile kneels down in front of Kasumi and places a hand on Kasumi’s wet face. Kasumi attempts to dart her face away from Lucile’s hand but Lucile then harshly grabs Kasumi’s face and directs her forward.

“If you listen, you’ll be rewarded this time. However, if you don’t obey, you’ll be faced with punishment. Punishment you won’t like obviously.”

Kasumi narrows her eyes angrily at Lucile.

I wish everyone would just shut up.

“Alright. Make sure she’s blinded in a way that she won’t be able to recover from for at least a few hours.”

“Got it, boss.”

Lucile leaves the room as the scientist looks at his supplies on the cart.

“Hmm let’s see…” The scientist looks through the tools on his tray and then looks down at Kasumi. The scientist picks up a long piece of fabric and kneels in front of kasumi. “Sit still.”

Kasumi narrows her eyes before the scientist ties the fabric around her eyes. Kasumi hears shuffling footsteps and then the sound of a drill as if testing it out. Kasumi’s heartbeat picks up and her body begins quivering with fear.

“That doesn’t sound good.” Kanai states the obvious.

“Don’t move, dearie.” Kasumi then feels a sharp point on her left temple. “This will only hurt for a moment.”

Kasumi hears the drill start and then feels immense pain in her left temple. Kasumi fights the pain as much as she can and tries to keep from crying and screaming, so she tenses up her body and her fists but can’t help to whimper a little bit. The scientist drills another nail into her right temple, causing the same reaction. However, by the third nail being placed in between her eyes, all she could do was tense her body to fight the pain. She’s too tired to cry or even think about pain at this point. Kasumi feels blood trickling down from where the nails are inside of her head. The scientist removes Kasumi’s mouthpiece. She hears more footsteps other than the one scientist.

“Remove her chains and restrain her with the cuffs immediately. You remember what she did last time? Don’t let that happen again.” The scientist orders.

“Got it.”

Kasumi grits her teeth.

“Please...just leave...leave me alone…”

No one responds to her. The chains that restrain her wrists and ankles are unlocked and then immediately met with hand-cuffs. Kasumi’s hands are now cuffed in front of her.

“Stand up, Kasumi.” Kasumi hangs her head low, not moving a muscle. “I said stand up!”

The scientist raises their voice, but that doesn’t phase Kasumi at all. Kasumi feels hands grab at her weak arms.

“Stop! I want her to stand on her own.”

“But...it’s obvious she’s not going to stand.” A woman states.

“Stand up, Kasumi!”

The scientist kicks Kasumi hard in the stomach, knocking the air out of her.

“We’re not allowed to-”

“Shut up! If we’re going to shape her into what we want, we need to make her stronger. Not only break her, but build her. I don’t expect any of you to understand. Right now, she’s way too weak.”

Weak..? No...I’m anything but weak…

“Then prove them wrong. All of them.” Kanai says.

Kasumi clenches her teeth in anger and forces herself to stand on shaky legs.

“See? She’s a champ. Alright let’s get her moving. Be sure to guide her. We don’t have a lot of time.”

Kasumi is shoved into a foreign spot. She doesn’t know where she is. Someone uncuffs her and shuts a door, trapping her wherever she is.

“Kasumi, do you know where you are?” Lucile says over and intercom.

“N..No..” Kasumi mumbles to herself.

“Listen to me and you’ll be fine.”

“She’s lying to us.” Kanai says.

“How do you know that?” Kasumi mumbles.

“Because you have no choice.” Lucile says.

“Where do you want me to go?”

“All I can share with you is to use your power. Do that and you’ll be fine.”

“Don’t listen to her, Kasumi. Find a way out.” Kanai says.

“I don’t have a choice…” Kasumi says to herself.

Kasumi walks forward and is met with a cement wall. Thankfully, she wasn’t walking that fast and she has her hands out to protect her. This won’t be fun.

“I should also state, you have a total of 5 minutes to reach the destination we need you to reach.”

“What? How the hell am I supposed to-”

“The clock is ticking.”

“Kasumi, you need to hone your senses.” Kanai tells her.

“What? How in the hell am I supposed to do that?”

“It requires intense focus, but you’ve proven that you can heal yourself. This isn’t that different. Come on! You don’t have a lot of time!”

Kasumi reaches up to the nails in her head and tries to pull them out, but fails due to the amount of immense pain that happens as a result.

“Forget it! There’s no use in trying to take the blindfold off, Kasumi. Hone your fucking senses!”

After Kasumi tenses her body.

***

Ex is in his office late at night drinking scotch and observing files. He’s sitting criss-cross in his chair. He plants his elbows harshly on his desk and runs his fingers through his hair.

“What the hell am I supposed to do?” He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. “Forget..Forget she was ever in my life right now. I’ll find her when I have time. That’s right. If I haven’t died yet, then she hasn’t died. Right now, I need my job.”

Ex covers his face with his hands. I’m so sorry, Kasumi..

Just then, Ex’s phone starts ringing. He looks at it and sees an unfamiliar number so he answers it.

“What do you want?”

“Is this Ex Takahashi?”

“Yes. What is it?”

“I’m so sorry. Your mother passed away just a few minutes ago. The machines no were no longer able to-”

Ex hangs up the phone. He stands up surprisingly calm from his chair, gripping his phone tightly in his right hand. Once grief strikes, he snatches his satul and briskly walks out of his office. As soon as he walks outside, he’s immediately met by the strong winds. Ex holds his arm up to protect his eyes from any dirt flying around. He presses as fast as he can towards the hospital while squinting his eyes and holding his arm partially over his head.

“Please...tell me it’s not true…”

Ex is too distracted to realize a giant crack in the sidewalk. His foot gets caught in it, causing him to fall harshly to the ground on his hands and knees. Instead of getting back up and continuing, he balls up his fists and feels tears brim his eyes.

“I know… Wind begins to blow harshly directly at him. Ex leans up to where he’s on his knees. He looks up towards the night sky. “I know it had to happen at some point…” Ex drops his arms weakly by his sides. The wind suddenly dies down around him. “But why now?”

***

Kasumi runs directly into a cement wall and then into another.

“You’re getting closer, Kasumi! You’re so close. Just tap into your senses. You’ll be able to see where you’re going.” Kanai says.

“That’s impossible.”

“It’s been over an hour and they haven’t said anything to you. It’s inevitable that you’ll be facing pain even if you get through this maze. But, you might be able to avoid the harsher punishments.”

“How?”

“Prove your worth, Kasumi. Use your power like they want you to. It’s the only way.”

“I’ll try.”

“You can do it, Kasumi.” Sato says.

Kasumi’s posture changes. It looks to be much stronger and determined than she was previously. She tightens her scarred fists then releases them calmly. She gracefully brisks her fingertips along the cement wall and then smiles as if she was reborn as a new person.

“I’m impressed.” Kanai says.

Kasumi ignores Kanai and speeds through the maze straight to the creature that the organization hid inside the maze to make it longer. Kasumi is caught off-guard. The creature slices right through her shoulder. Kasumi whimpers in pain and clutches to her shoulder, snapping back into her old self. She can still see everything, including the creature, but her new-found bravery and courage is gone. Kasumi tries to scurry away from the creature but she sees the walls shift around her into a perfect square; trapping her and the creature inside. Kasumi stumbles backwards, falling fearfully to the ground. The creature turns towards her and advances quickly. Kasumi barely dodges the creature’s attack.

“Use your power, Kasumi! Don’t take it for granted! Use it now!” Kanai shouts.

“It’s your only choice!” Sato adds.

Kasumi reassures herself and stands up. Her body quivers with fear and insecurity.

“Right...just...use my power.”

Kasumi raises her hands in hopes to do something, but nothing happens. The creature strikes again, causing Kasumi to jump. When Kasumi lands, she immediately tries to find the creature.

“Remember what sparked your power before.” Sato says.

Kasumi flashbacks to all the painful times she’s activated her power.

“How..?”

“You’re a monster, Kasumi. It’s in your blood. You’ve always been a monster.” Kanai says.

Kasumi is thrown off-balance by the sudden comment. The creature stabs Kasumi straight in the stomach and shoves her straight into a cement wall, keeping her there. Kasumi tries pulling the arm that’s currently impaling her stomach.

“I’m not...a monster…”

“Did you forget what you did?”

“What you did to Yoshiro?” Sato says.

Kasumi pauses for a minute, remembering what happened. She then drops her hands and stops fighting.

“You are a monster. But you shouldn’t give up.” Kanai says.

Kasumi doesn’t respond. The creature leans in close to Kasumi as if to observe her.

“You’re...interesting…” The creature says sadly and distorted.

“You’re inhuman. So what? Stop being the weak ass little bitch everyone sees you as! Step up, Kasumi! It’s time for you to fucking take initiative! Fight! Fight back! Don’t you ever bend down to these vermins!”

“...vermins…” Kasumi plants her hands on the arm that’s impaling her and digs her fingers into the skin of the arm. “You’re right, Kanai.” Kasumi says manically. “I am a monster. A monster that wants to wipe out the vermins in this world. The unfair, DISGUSTING VERMINS!”

Kasumi yells, fueling her power even more. Her power disintegrates the arm of the creature. Kasumi lands on the ground and heals herself quickly. Kasumi’s wraps get covered in a different outfit. The creature’s arm grows back, but it’s not long before Kasumi tears and bites it apart, piece by piece and disintegrating every piece as she goes. The last piece being the heart. Kasumi is left standing covered in blood from head to toe with blood also seeping out of her mouth.

Lucile is standing behind glass elevated to where she can see everything that Kasumi is doing.

“Tell the boss that we’re ready for the big experiment. This test proved to us that she has the power to jump back from the brink of death. That’s very useful.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Oh and one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“Give the order for another injection. If she finds out, who knows what’ll happen.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The woman leaves the observation area. Lucile looks down at Kasumi who falls weakly to the ground.

“We’ll finally be able to do it.” Lucile smiles.

Kasumi is on her hands and knees breathing heavily.

“With her, we’ll be able to take over the world.”

***

Ex opens the door to his dark house with his clothes a mess and his hair covering his eyes. He opens his satul and grabs all the files that were going to help him find Kasumi. Ex walks over to the trashcan in his kitchen and drops the files in the trash can.

“I can’t.”

***

Kasumi is in her usual chained up position. Kasumi stares dejectedly at the blood-stained ground. Lucile and three other scientists walk into the room with one of them carrying a small box.

“Kasumi, I need you to promise me something.” Lucile says.

Kasumi’s eyes do not leave the blood-stained ground. Lucile looks down on Kasumi’s broken and severely scarred figure.

“Promise that you won’t kill us this time. If you don’t, you might be rewarded.” Lucile says.

Two men undo Kasumi’s chains. She’s obviously too hurt and tired to do anything.

“P...Please…” Kasumi begs extremely weakly.

“The ring.” Lucile orders. The scientist carrying the box brings it forward to Lucile. Lucile takes the ring out of the box and slides it onto Kasumi’s left-hand index finger. “Activate it.”

The scientist that was carrying the box reaches into the pocket of their lab coat and pulls out a small switch. The scientist flips the switch, ultimately triggering something in Kasumi. Her lifeless body straightens. She stares down at her right hand and screeches in pain as the ring pierces into her skin and releases something into her hand. Whatever it is that is released into her hand begins traveling up her arm.

“What’s happening?!” Kasumi shouts.

The men holding her release her. Pain strikes right in her back, forcing her to fall to the ground.

“Agh!” Kasumi shouts.

Kasumi’s veins light up in a bright purple as she struggles to move and breathe. Kasumi grits her teeth and struggles to look up at Lucile who smiles down at her. Kasumi’s fingertips dig into the cement floor, causing it to crack a little (same with her feet).

“There we go. Now we’re getting somewhere.”

Kasumi’s eyes are distorted and purple, her teeth are clenched, saliva seeps from her mouth and her nose is scrunched. She’s clearly in pain but the amount of power flowing through her makes it to where the pain is the least of her worries.