Jay-jay's POV
Sweat dripped down my face. My wrists burned from how tightly they had been tied.
This bastard hadn't spoken to me again. He just kept talking in Japanese with his companions. Thankfully, my friends seemed to sense the situation and stayed quiet as well.
Ryosuke Sato!
That was his name. His companions called him Ryo. But I preferred to call him Idiot.
Annoying! I couldn't think of anything to do because I was afraid Mica and the others would get dragged into this. He might take it out on them instead. I couldn't even speak because I didn't want to risk saying something that would set him off.
"You!" The Idiot pointed at Ella. "...why are you looking at me like that?"
It was obvious he struggled with English.
I turned to look at Ella, whom he had pointed at. I wanted to smack my forehead when I saw her expression. She wasn't saying anything, but she was glaring daggers at Sato.
Great... solid move.
"Because I don't understand—."
Sato quickly cut her off. "You don't have to."
I couldn't stop myself from interfering. He was dragging too many people into this.
"Why are they even here? I'm the only one you need, right?"
His eyes shifted to me. "Yes, but things didn't work well because of Jason."Friday the 13th?
The guy we fought at that gotohan? The one with the fancy motorbike? Was he even still alive?
"...what I want is Keifer, Yuri, and their gang." He added.
Gang? Who? Those Snakes?
They weren't even a real gang. Wannabe gangsters, maybe.
And besides, their so-called leader wasn't even here. There was no way we were going to wait for him to return. God! At this rate, we'll still be stuck here by HVIS's graduation because that guy hasn't shown up yet.
"Can you at least leave them out of this? They'll come anyway if you only take me." I said, trying to sound reasonable.
"So, you just want to be the main character?!" Freya interrupted dramatically.
"Oh, idiot." Ella muttered, clearly loud enough for Freya to hear.
Even though Ella and I weren't exactly on good terms... I agreed with her.
"What?!" Freya asked in annoyance.
"Actually, I agree with her." Honey added, referring to Freya's statement. "...it does sound like you're just trying to be the only one rescued. Like you're the main character."
"Oh, another idiot." Rakki said, rolling his eyes.
I wanted to slam my head against the wall because of these two fools.
I was literally trying to find a way to get them out of here, and this was what they were thinking about?
Wow... just wow.
"Urusai!" (Shut up!) the Idiot yelled at us.
"WHAT?!" Freya and Honey asked in unison.
Sato held his temple as if trying to suppress a headache. "I said 'shut up'."
We all nodded. The two idiots actually shut up for once.
Sato turned away from us for a moment and spoke to one of his men. The guy he talked to reached into his pocket and pulled something out—his phone. I stared at it hard. It looked way too familiar. It had the same case as...
Shit! Aries' phone!
"How did you get that?!" I demanded, my eyes still locked on the phone.
I knew it. The horoscope guy wasn't the one who texted me. That idiot was so careless.
"That belongs to Aries!" Ella said, attempting to stand, but one of the men quickly grabbed her by the shoulder, keeping her in place. "...is he with you? Is he here too? What did you do to Aries?!"
A wave of fear washed over me. I didn't understand.
All I could think about was that Aries must have lost his phone again.
But what was Ella talking about?
"What... isn't Aries at school?" I asked cautiously, though the fear in my voice was obvious.
"He was with us, looking for his phone. We split up for a bit, but when we went back for him... we found you instead." Mica explained.
No... Please, no! I turned to Sato. "Is he here?!"
He smirked at me, then raised two fingers, signaling to his men. My heart pounded wildly, as if trying to outrun the fear building inside me. Then, they brought someone in. A man in a uniform, his head covered by a black sack. The others quickly adjusted a chair, facing it toward us before forcing the man to sit down.
As soon as he was seated, Sato reached out and yanked the black sack off his head. Damn it!
"ARIES!" Ella and I screamed at the same time.
He looked dazed, like someone who was drugged and sleep-deprived after playing video games all night. He forced his eyes to focus on us, and it was as if he had just woken up from a dream when he realized who we were.
"J-Jay? Ella? What—The hell!" he shouted when he noticed that he couldn't move his hands because they were tied.
He struggled against the restraints, but it was useless.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU EVEN WANT?!" I yelled in anger.
Damn it! Does he really have to drag everyone into this?!
"Shut up, Jay!" Aries snapped at me.
"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO INVOLVE THEM—!"
I didn't even get to finish my sentence because he suddenly slapped me.
Even Ella and the others screamed in shock.
"FVCK YOU! DON'T YOU FVCKING TOUCH MY SISTER!" Aries roared, seething with rage.
If someone hadn't been holding my shoulders from behind, I would have collapsed straight to the floor. I squeezed my eyes shut from the pain.
You bastard! I'll get back at you later!
I forced my eyes open. I noticed that each of us now had a man standing behind us, gripping our arms to keep us from standing up.
"Noisy, noisy." Sato said as he walked toward me.
The man behind me yanked my hair, forcing me to look up.
"I don't like noisy people." he said before punching me hard in the stomach.
You son of a—!
The guy holding me let go, and I fell straight to the ground. Aries cursed nonstop as he thrashed against his restraints.
"FACE ME, YOU COWARD!" he bellowed, but Sato just laughed at him.
I was on the verge of tears, curled up on the floor in pain. I couldn't even clutch my stomach because my hands were bound.
One of the men grabbed me again and forced me back onto my seat. I gasped for air as the Idiot turned to face me once more.
Damn you! I will get my revenge!
"Listen to me," he said, pulling out a phone. "...talk to Yuri. Ask him to be here as soon as possible. Your life is in danger. Bring his gang, and of course... Keifer."
"Don't follow him," Aries warned.
Sato snapped his fingers and pointed at Aries. Another man immediately punched him. I nearly ran to him, but this lunatic Idiot blocked my way.
"You will do what I said, or..." He pointed at Ella. "...I will hurt them next."
"Just do what he says!" Freya shouted at me.
"Shut up!" Rakki yelled at her. "...he might do something to C-in and the others."
"Rakki's right. Calix and the others might not be able to handle them if they outnumber us," Mica added.
"What the hell?! Obviously, they'll call the police for backup. There's no way they can take on this psycho alone," Honey said in frustration.
"Enough! Let Jay-jay decide." Ella snapped, worry evident in her eyes as she glanced at Aries.
I looked at all of them. I knew they wouldn't be able to handle whatever Sato had planned for them. They weren't as tough as I was.
But if I called Yuri here, they might get ambushed. Sato's men might be more than we anticipated.
Tsk! Whatever happens, happens!
"I'll do it," I told Sato.
He smirked and started dialing on the phone. It was on loudspeaker, so we all heard the ringing. He held the phone close to my mouth just as the call was answered.
["Hello? Who's this?"]
It was Yuri's voice.
"Y-Yuri..."
["Jay? What happened? Where are you?"]
I looked at Sato. His expression told me he was waiting to hear what I would say next.
"Yuri..." I took a deep breath. "...there are a lot of them. Ten inside, but I'm not sure how many more outside. Bring backup—."
Before I could finish, Sato yanked the phone away and slapped me hard across the face. I almost fell again, but the guy behind me caught me.
I took the opportunity while Sato was close and spit right at his face.
My cheek was completely numb from his two consecutive slaps. Maybe hit the other side next time so at least it's even!
The Idiot glared at me. He wiped his face with his palm while holding out his other hand for the phone from one of his men.
"Send him our location and get ready," he ordered, his eyes still locked onto me.
"Fuzakeruna!" (Don't mess with me!) he shouted at me.
"Fuzang ina ka rina!" I mimicked his tone.
He clearly understood what I meant, but it seemed like he had finally snapped.
Without hesitation, he grabbed me by the throat and started choking me.
"LET GO OF JAY-JAY!" Aries screamed.
I could also hear Mica and the others shouting all at once. But I couldn't focus on anything anymore. All I could feel was the tightening around my neck, my vision slowly fading to black.
"Jigoku he ike!" (Go to hell!) he spat right in my face.
You bastard! I don't even know if you just cursed me or not!
Everything nearly went dark before he finally let go. I collapsed forward, gasping for air and coughing violently.
I felt the tears sliding down the corners of my eyes.
"I am so eager to kill you!" he said, walking away from me.
"S-Sato." I called out to him, though my voice was barely there. He turned back, and I glared at him. "...just wait u-until I get out of here. I will make you pay." I threatened.
He only laughed. Then he walked out the door, followed by the rest of his men. The ones restraining us finally let go and left as well, until only two men remained in the room.
"Jay..." Aries called me.
I looked at him and forced a smile. "I-I'm okay."
"They're coming, right?" Honey asked.
"What if they can't handle the enemy?" Mica asked worriedly. "...what will happen to us?"
"They can! I know they can!" I answered, even though, truthfully, I wasn't sure.
I wanted to cry. I really thought I was going to die back there. I saw it in his eyes—how badly he wanted to finish what he started.
But I couldn't let that happen. Not in front of them. I had to be strong because if I gave up, what would happen to them? What would become of us?
They will come, I know. But... will he come?
"Who was that guy earlier?" Rakki asked. "...what does he want from us?"
Aries and I looked at each other, hesitating whether to answer Rakki's question. They might not take it well if they found out that I was actually his target.
"I remember him." Ella suddenly said. "...I've seen him talking to Yuri before."
"He said he needs Yuri, Keifer, and the Gang." Freya said. "...they have a Gang?"
"He's referring to Section E." I answered.
"So that's why we're here? Because he knows we're close to Section E?" Mica asked.
Possible... I only thought about it now. There's no way he'd just drag Mica and the others into this just because of me. Unless he had been monitoring my every move—or maybe even the movements of the Serpents as well.
"Why me? And Aries?" Mica said, looking at us. "...even Rakki, when he's not even close to Section E."
"Also me." Freya added. "...I don't remember having any connection with them. Maybe with Yuri and Keifer, but that was like... a very long time ago."
That's right!
Does that mean they really just got caught up in this because of me? If that's the case, then this is my fault. It's my fault they're here.
"Whatever the reason is, one thing's for sure—that guy is crazy." Rakki said while looking at the door that the Idiot passed through. "...you all saw what he did to Jay-jay."
"So what now? Are we just going to wait for those Section E guys?" Honey asked in frustration.
"Pray." Aries answered. "...Pray that they come, and that Keifer is with them."
I looked at Honey. "You're the one who's with him. D-do you think he'll come?"
"I don't know." She answered, avoiding my gaze.
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"I don't know! There's no way to contact him! Except through Keigan, which is impossible because he's blocking all of Keifer's connections here in the Philippines." She explained, making everyone look at her.
"I-I don't understand." I said, shaking my head.
Honey took a deep breath. "Keifer needs to fix himself. No space and no time for distractions because his relatives refuse to give him his inheritance. Keigan makes sure that he has all the time in the world, so he cut off all connections—."
I immediately interrupted her. "Wait, wait, wait! What do you mean cut off? But he can still talk to some of the Serpents! He even talked to this Horos—Aries!"
"Duh!" She replied. "He has ways."
Wew... That motto of his sounds like a bank slogan.
I was really confused. Until the picture from his birthday suddenly came to mind. The one that that Crazy Bastard sent.
If he really had no connections here with us, then it's impossible that he's the same person as my textmate who always seems high. He rarely even talks to me.
We all fell silent. Listening, thinking about what could happen to us. Only now did I realize that silence can drive someone insane. I was discreetly trying to loosen the ties on my hands, but every time I moved, it only hurt more.
Annoying! Nothing was coming to my mind.
I looked at Aries, who was also looking at me. Concern was written all over his face. I wanted to ask him if he had a plan, but Sato's two men were closely watching us.
"It's so hot in here! Don't you have air conditioning?!" Freya complained dramatically. We just sighed. She was more worried about the room's temperature than her own life.
The two men ignored her. They just glanced at her briefly before turning to each other to talk.
"Oh, pretending to be deaf, huh? And they're not even handsome." Freya muttered loud enough to be heard.
"Can you please shut the fvck up?!" Honey snapped in annoyance.
Here they go again!
If this is what I have to listen to, I'd rather deal with the silence, even if it drives me crazy. Their bickering continued. Our guards and Rakki's group weren't even stopping them anymore—probably tired of mediating their fights.
We had been sitting there, blankly waiting for something to happen, for about half an hour when Sato's Idiot self suddenly entered the room. He was smiling—his teeth so bright that it made me want to knock a few out.
Don't sing! Don't you dare sing!
"He's here." He said, looking behind us.
We all turned to look as well. The wooden, rotting door creaked open, revealing the person Sato had been dying to see.
He was followed by two of Sato's men. He walked in—
Following behind him were two of his men. He walked towards us while keeping his eyes on me.
"Y-Yuri..." I whispered.
He smiled at me briefly before stopping in his tracks and facing the Fool.
"Let them go now." Yuri ordered seriously.
Sato laughed loudly. "No!" he suddenly shouted. "...I said, You, Keifer, and your Gang."
He was still determined to find the Serpents and their King.
"Keifer is busy, and we don't have a Gang, we call them friends." Yuri clarified.
They really considered those Serpents as friends. That was something to be proud of.
"Then where is—!" Sato didn't get to finish his sentence when something suddenly fell from the ceiling behind us.
We all turned to look. The thin, termite-eaten plywood had collapsed. Following that, a small boy slowly stood up, dusting off his clothes.
I glanced at Yuri when he slapped his forehead. It seemed like this one messed up.
"Why was that wood so weak?" said the small person—or more accurately, the Brat.
"C-in?" Ella said.
He turned to us like an innocent child. He even looked at me and Yuri before flashing a wide grin.
"Torplise!" he said, raising both hands.
"Get him!" Sato shouted, but before they could move, we suddenly heard a series of noises from outside.
"Someone got in!" someone shouted.
I looked at Yuri. He had brought reinforcements; he wasn't alone! Before I could even speak, someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me away.
Yuri tried to go after me, but Sato's men blocked him. I also heard Aries calling my name. Everything was happening too fast.
"Where are we taking her?" asked one of the men behind me.
I looked at the people in front of me. They were all walking hurriedly.
"Get the car!" Sato ordered one of his men.
A car? They were going to take me away!
I struggled against the man holding me, but because they were walking so fast, I stumbled to the ground. I heard Sato cursing repeatedly in Japanese. I recognized some of the words, which were definitely profanities.
Suddenly, he grabbed my hair and yanked me up. I screamed in pain. Even though my hair was thick, it wasn't enough to support my whole body being lifted like that.
"Kisama! Ama!" (You! Bitch!) he shouted.
All I could do was stomp my feet. I couldn't stop the tears from falling due to the pain. I hated the feeling of being helpless.
Damn you! If I go bald because of this, I swear I'll shave your head too!
He finally let go, realizing he couldn't drag me around like that. I thought he was giving up, but instead, he kicked me in the back. Since my hands were tied behind me, they took the brunt of his kick.
"Arrgghh! Stop it!" I screamed in pain.
He seemed determined to hurt me. As if that wasn't enough, he struck me with something hard. I quickly turned onto my stomach to protect my face and chest because those were his next targets.
"Stop it! STOP IT!" I screamed, my voice mixed with desperation.
He finally stopped after several blows that landed on my shoulders and arms. He also struck my thighs and legs.
I wanted to cry out loud from the unbearable pain. I couldn't even move anymore. It felt like this was how he planned to kill me.
But it seemed I was wrong, because I heard the distinct sound of a gun being cocked—he was going to use it to finish me off.
"Go to hell now!"
Someone... anyone... please... help.