"So let me get this straight... you want me to ask my friend in the police force to give you information on the guy who kidnapped you so you can find out where your roommate is and rescue him, am I correct?" Kaito said, pressing two fingers to his temple in confusion.
"Yes, that's accurate." I said.
"And what happens when we find out where he is and get inside the building?"
"No idea, I guess we can improvise?"
"Your plan has holes! Even if we manage to get your roommate back safely this guy is gonna be hunting you down afterwards like a bloodhound. What are you gonna do then? Flee to America?" Kaito asked, growing more frustrated by the second.
"Your friend is a police officer, is he not? We'll just bring him along as our defense and if that doesn't work we can go in by ourselves." I replied, leaning back in my seat.
"We'd need a search warrant for that, and if the police really are corrupt I doubt we'd be able to get one." Kaito retorted, releasing a long exhausted sigh.
"Look, I know you don't care about my roommate, but I do. He means a lot to me and I can't just leave him in the hands of a sadistic mafia boss to be tortured for the rest of his life! One way or another, I WILL get him back. And the second I get him back, the first thing that I'm going to do is put him behind bars." I said, my eyebrow twitching in annoyance.
"Hold on... mafia boss? Are you kidding me?! The f*cking mafia?! This day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" Kaito exclaimed, slamming his palms down on the table and getting up from his chair.
"Kaito, where the hell are you going?!" I asked, following Kaito as he walked down the hallway into the lobby.
"I'm going home, I can't do anything for your roommate." He replied, pushing the doors to the parking lot open.
"Oi! So you're just gonna leave him there?!"
"Yes, it would cause me less problems that way."
Underneath my skin, my blood boiled. How could someone be so heartless? So cold? To choose yourself over someone in need is truly revolting, it made me sick to my stomach. I felt my intestines tie into knots, people that prioritize themselves above people who are suffering shouldn't be allowed to walk the planet.
"How... h-how could you say something like that? Would you really turn your back on another person so easily?" I felt the string of sanity in my mind begin to fray as I said that, something underneath all the politeness and generosity started to smolder.
"I don't have time for this, I won't help you." Kaito answered, opening the door to his car.
"You..." The string continued to unwind, "... Are the worst kind of person on this planet." Snap.
For the first time in my life, my humanity had been severed. I had no filter. I was like a ticking time bomb about to blow.
"So, you're just gonna let him die, is that it?! You have no idea how much pain he's feeling, how scared he is?! As a matter of fact, he probably thinks I'm dead right now! At this very moment, he's chained to the wall and forced to endure torture simply because he made one mistake in the past! By the time I was thrown into the same room as him, he had bruises, cuts, he was coughing up blood every time he tried to speak! He's dying in there.... and you have no right to take his whole life from him!" I yelled, tears forming in the corners of my eyes and compromising my sight.
Kaito stared at me for what seemed like ages, contemplating something I couldn't see. Until finally, he averted my burning glare and shut the car door.
"I'm... sorry. I shouldn't have acted so selfishly. But I want you to know that I don't like the idea of helping you rescue your roommate, even so... I will help."
I stared blankly at Kaito's guilty face, completely oblivious to any and all things happening around me and letting my brain slowly absorb his words.
".... eh?"
"I said I'll help, that's what you wanted right?"
"Yeah, but why?"
".... Because."
"Because isn't an answer, Kaito."
"Just shut up and stop crying before I change my mind!"
"Ack!" I quickly used my sleeve to wipe the tears from my eyes and stood up as straight as possible. All traces of hatred had evaporated in only a second. "So... what now?"
Kaito made a pained look like a kicked puppy and covered his face with his hand.
"Now, I guess I'll introduce you to Kenta."
______________________________________________
We arrived at a small apartment building next to a convenience store about 10 miles from the morgue. The paint on the door was chipping, the road was noisy, and the neighbors were... lets just say they were a little loud.
"Are you sure this is the right place, Kaito?" I asked, nervously shifting my gaze from side to side.
"I'm sure of it, he likes to act like he isn't home." Kaito answered, pulling out his cell phone.
"Kaito..... is that a flip phone?" I asked, looking at the old phone model in Kaito's grasp.
"N-no, I don't know what you're talking about." He said, denying the blatantly obvious fact that it was indeed a flip phone.
He flipped through his contacts before pressing one and holding it to his ear, something rang inside the apartment before going silent. I looked over at Kaito, who now had a scowl plastered across his face.
"Uh, Kaito.... are you oka-" I was cut off by the loud bang caused by Kaito's foot colliding with the door.
"Oi, Kenta! Open the door you little sh*t, I know you're in there!" Kaito yelled, stuffing his empty hand in his pocket.
"Ne, Kaito, why are you banging on this poor man's door like a maniac? What'd he ever do to you???" I thought, awkwardly turning my head away from Kaito and the door.
Two minutes of kicking the door and constantly calling passed before the door creaked open.
"Kaito... shut the f*ck up, you're annoying the whole building." The man said, an ominous aura surrounding him. I nearly jumped out of my skin.
The man was just a little taller than Kaito, he had messy dirty blonde hair, pale skin, olive green and brown flaked eyes, but the disturbing thing was that he wasn't wearing a shirt. The only clothing item he wore was a pair of camouflage cargo pants.
"Then you should've opened the door earlier, and go put a damn shirt on!" Kaito replied, the tips of his ears slightly tinged red.
Heehhh, what's this? Kaito's embarassed??? Could it be that senpai has a crush? My gaze went back and forth between the two of them, a smug grin crept up the corners of my face. This was finally getting interesting, it appears that the ice has started to thaw.
"Who's the shrimp?" The blonde man asked, turning his attention towards me.
....Shrimp? Is he referring to me?
"This is my colleague, Miyazaki Hikaru. It turns out we'll be needing that favour you owe me to help out his friend." Kaito responded, shoving his phone in his pocket, "Hikaru, this is Shigeru Kenta. He's an.... old friend of mine."
"Ouch, no need to be so harsh Kai." Shigeru said, wiping a fake tear from his cheek.
He called him Kai, they must be pretty close.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Shigeru-san." I said, bowing in politeness. I didn't intend to ruin my first reputation with this guy since he was my best shot at rescuing Kanoe.
"Wow, so formal. There's no need to be so polite you know, this isn't exactly a good place for that." Shigeru said, leaning against his door frame.
"Huh, why not?"
"Because some of the other residents here might take the opportunity to grab your a$$."
I stared at Shigeru in bewilderment, then looked around me to make sure no other people were nearby.
Shigeru just laughed as Kaito facepalmed.
"You totally fell for it, if only you could see your face right now! I like you kid, come on in, I'm sure there's lots of stuff to discuss." He said, walking back inside the apartment and leaving the door open for us.
Well, I guess this is it. One step closer to getting Kanoe back.