Chapter Text
One second, an exhale and a lonely tear shed. A young man of about twenty-six years old with black hair lay on the dirty floor in a deplorable state with no greater company than the thin and small blanket that covered his battered body from the cold of that small and dark room in which he was. He didn’t know how long he had been there, it was difficult to keep track of the time when you didn’t know if is day or night, but he assumed that he would have at least six month there, having in account the regularity of the weird dough that he believe, that it’s porridge in a metallic bowl with a small jug of water that was delivered through the crack of the door, although he also questioned that measurement because he lost himself looking into the void or was drugged.
It had been a long since he had lost track of the time and the warmth of the sun or a hand that did not want to hurt him. More than once he waked up in a febrile state tied to a gurney in a makeshift infirmary and returned barely conscious to his cell at the time when he looked relatively better.
He was so tired, he didn't have strength to fight back or to keep enduring. His stubborn nature and hope that he would be found have disappeared some time ago, he resigned to lay curled up in a corner, ignoring the last five meals that where that where left through the door. He just wanted to close to eyes, go to sleep and never wake up again.
A loud thunder is heard –an explosion- his mid supplies, with the rumble of the place. Weakly, he raise his head and look towards where the door was supposed to be, barely hearing muffled screams and loud noises that he later recognized to be shots. Due to the thickness of the walls he cannot discern what exactly he was hearing neither if it was good all that noise, to him, this could be another dispute between the mad people that have him here.
He felt like hours had passed, but probably wasn’t more than twenty minutes when the noise subside. He did not know if still was people there, but he still decided to gather his little strength left and crawl to the door that was six feet from him. Being next to it he notice that still is there the last meal that was left to him, he take with shaking hands the bowl and turn it over by throwing the content, then using it to hit the door with it. He knew that with his actual condition the noise would be more than hitting with his bare hands while screaming with a broken and unused voice.
He didn’t know how long he was making noise, but he would cling to that little window of hope that he seemed to appear, just knowing that between each hit, and weaker scream, there where longer pauses and his strength was running out. “H…Help” he manage no say already in a low voice barely clanging the bowl against the door before it falls from his hands and dropping his back against the wall next to the door, his tears freely falling down his cheeks.
The sergeant Jesse Lewis initially guessed that this raid would be with little causalities against an organization dedicated to the contraband and it was, until the moment in that he was with a part of his team in the deepest and darkest part of the old edification, with the threats already neutralized and with orders to the other part of his team to take care of secured sectors and to took everything deemed important.
After the first door in the last corridor they find something that would be called an improvised infirmary with a strong smell of bleach and dubious stains of a brown-reddish color. He advance cautiously a few steps and when he noticed the room deserted, he approaches one of the boxes divided by curtains, opening it to find an old gurney with a big and long black bag that have a zipper that goes from top to end in the middle and attached to it an identification-like card with a serial number in black and write in red failed. He frown and reaches out his left hand to the zipper, opening it slowly revealing first black hair and then a disfigured face with a expression that is between terror and pain, with marks of dried blood originating from his eyes, nose and mouth.
“It seems this was more than just a merchandise warehouse” He comment to no one in particular, noticing the uneven pupils and the strange color around the irises.
Juri Tanaka approaches after having reviewed the grisly room a little more and at the moment that he noted the contend of the bag let out a whistle in awed, “Human experiments? Place seems taken straight from Resident Evil” Take a quick look around “Even though the decoration is more of the style of Silent Hill.”
Yugo Kouchi watches from his guard point at the door with a grimace, “This is not the moment to compare this with a survival horror game” Scolds him “plus-“ He stops and turns to look back down the hallway that stretches out a little further with a few metal doors, frowning.
“You heard something?” Ask Shintaro Morimoto approaching from a desk that he was looking into its drawers, closing his mouth seeing that the opposite make a gesture of silence with his hand, still looking to where seems the noise come.
Lewis moves away from the gurney and walk to the door, pausing at the entrance for a moment in absolute silence until he hears it, a distant metallic noise and barely there with the intervals that it had. Without looking to his comrades, gesture with his right hand to move forward. Quickly both Shintaro and Juri take position to both sides of the door from where noise was coming.
Jesse take position perpendicular to the door and Kouchi stand a few meters back, after a few seconds Jesse nod and Shintaro breaks the lock on the door with a blow from the butt of his assault rifle and Juri kick the door to open it revealing a dark room with a nauseating odor of bodily fluids but apparently empty, until Lewis take notice of a lump next to the door, nod in that direction to Juri for him to illuminate in that direction with his flashlight, revealing a male human body sit in the floor with his back to the wall in a high level of malnutrition dressed with an old torn hospital gown. Tanaka was going to move his light thinking that was another dead body, when Jesse raise his hand stopping him and approach, managing to notice the weak breathing and the painful rising and falling of his chest, he squatted down in front of him believing that the man would be unconscious but what he found was a pair of tired yet determined dark eyes looking his way behind a curtain of dirty black hair. “You are going to be safe now, we’re going to take you out of here” Assure “I’m the sergeant Jesse Lewis. What is your name?” He ask while thinking how they are going to take him from there without causing problems to his weak body.
“Hoku…to” Is the weak respond with a raspy voice that came from a dry and chapped lips.
“Do you think that you can get up?” To this the young man shake his head, Lewis nod thoughtfully and turn to look to Shintaro “We have to take him out of here immediately. For the state of his body every minute count and we don’t really know how his full condition is.” Then turn to Yugo “Contact to Kyomoto and tell him that wait for us with a first aid kit ready and that he call for an medic back up”. To this Kouchi nod and raise his hand to his radio to give the notice. “Tanaka, both you nd Kouchi on the front, Morimoto rearguard, I’m going to carry him to the exit. We probably have forty minutes until the paramedic arrive given the location we are in” The three men nod. Then the sergeant hangs his rifle in his back and stand to one side of the young man who follow him with his eyes trying to be awake. He rise slowly his hands and cross one behind the too bony shoulders and the other under his thighs, then he bring him closer to his torso and carefully stand up maintaining a firm grip, he raise his head and nod to his team to then leave of that room/cell making his team get in motion and take they respective positions, noticing the quick look Kouchi give to his fragile charge and start moving with quick steps to the stairs that conduct to the exit.
The sergeant make sure to move forward the quickies possible without moving excessively the young man in his arms. Take a quick look to the silent ex-hostage who has his head in the shoulder of him. Is almost like a doll think when notice his glazed eyes, then return his eyes to the hallway noticing that they are just a few steps from the stairs, make sure that his grip is firm and start climbing the stairs. Feeling something pressing his back, look over his shoulder and nod thanking Shintaro who nod in return, then return his eyes to the front.
When they get to the first floor that is more illuminated due to the windows he heard his charge, that he probably hasn’t hear if he wasn’t near his face, and stop to see what is the problem and note that he is trying to hide his face in his shoulder with his eyes tightly shut. Light…He think turning his body trying to dim a bit the light that come directly to them. “Does anyone have a handkerchief?” He ask trying to not sound awkward and half wondering if he should be carrying something like that in the future and half wondering how long has it been since the last time that this guy have seen the daylight.
“…You know that is almost impossible that we have something like that in ths moment, right?” Comment mildly annoyed Tanaka while looking that Kouchi pulls out a black handkerchief from one of his pockets and then approaches to his superior.
“Hokuto…” With a gentle and almost familiar tone call the young man, pausing until the mentioned tilt his head “Listen, I don’t want you to be scared, ok? Nothing is going to happen to you. I just going to blindfold your eyes with this” Raise his left hand where he had the piece of cloth “To obstruct the daylight, do you think its ok?” Ask waiting for his consent, Hokuto try to look the cloth, then Kouchi and nod. Yugo nod even if he can’t see it and bring his hands to his head, blindfolding his eyes and knotting gently behind his head, making sure to not pull his hair. After ensuring that the knot will not lose, he withdraw his hands and take a stif step back before returning to his original position under the watchful and strange gaze of Jesse and with that they resume they steps towards the exit.
Almost in the main part of the building the noise of all the movement of the rest of the squad designated to this mission that were divided between have to take over the detained, bring out all kind of documentation and scout the other end of the place. Hokuto shrink in Jesse’s arms shaking, to what the sergeant give him a gentle squeeze trying to comfort him, ignoring the questioning and not that subtle looks that some agents give in their direction.
“Over here! I have ready the equipment meanwhile we wait for the paramedic to arrive” Inform them Kyomoto Taiga with a raised hand, already having only half of his suit on. Lewis approaches him and carefully lowered Hokuto to the truck, getting Hokuto startled and try to grab to his bulletproof vest.
“I’m just siting you down in the truck so that agent Kyomoto can take care of any superficial wound that you have and maybe put a blanket over your shoulders. Sounds good?” Explain carefully while lowering him down and making sure that he is seated with support, withdraw his arms and take two steps back, he take off his helmet and balaclava, then give a nods to Taiga and give a short explication why the blindfold. Give a last look to the feeble man and turn over a small group that is near them taking of part of their suits while hearing Taiga talk to Hokuto.
“Hokuto? My name is Taiga, I’m part of Sergeant Lewis team. I am going to attend some of your wounds while we wait for the ambulance, so we need to keep you awake, Ok? Do you want water o…?”
He stopped paying attention to that and focused on the group that is in front of him, “Ok gentlemen, what did you found?” Ask looking at the agent who put in charge of the team that would be exploring the east side of the building, his own team in charge of exploring the west side.
Chapter 2
Notes:
Was planing to drop the chapter earlier but I wasn't that satisfied with it. Oh, well~ here it is. Like before, I apologize for mistakes (and probably some missing "A"s, my keyboard decided is not that important). No betareaded. without anything else to say, I hope that its understable and you enjoy~
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Two days since the raid had passed and when Lewis was thinking that he had accomplished something with the documentation that they raided from that building he discover that this is almost taken from some kind of fiction. If it wasn’t for all that informs, tabs, pictures, videos, unpronounceable components and the tower of files that are currently sitting atop of his desk he would be swearing that humans would know to not try this horrendous experiment, but here we are.
With an exaggerated sigh he close the file and stretch his back raising his arms and without lower them he look at the file that gingerly lay open over the other end of his desk and then looked to the person standing beside the window. He lowered his arms and put his hand in the border of the desk to help himself to get up exhaling through his nose “So…what are you going to do? You know” He goes to stand beside him “At this moment we don’t really know exactly what they did to him during this two years apart from what they were aiming and what they achieved before the other subjects died”
“Why are you asking me? You are the upper rang in this” Is the response that the tallest obtain from the man that doesn’t bother to look at him.
“Because…”The other turn to look at him and Jesse rise his hand with two protein bars and a sly smile “You know him more that anybody here AND you are his friend” stretches a little his smile when the shorter take de bar “and I’m sure that this would be really useful to know more of this and judge if he is a menace or someone that we can return under vigilance to a semi normal life, Kouchi”
Yugo grimace thinking that sound so wrong to referee to the guy he has known for many years as a threat and then turn to look at the file that lay open, walk up to it and take one of the photos that are in it with his free hand. In the picture can be appreciated a young man with messy dark hair and dark brown glazed eyes, clearly drugged but in better shape that how he was found. The picture was dated to six month after the abduction and five month after the start of experimentations, he frown and look at Jesse “Only he and other person of the files that I read some stats, have the patron of a blank month in between the abduction and experimentation but there is nothing written about it in neither of them”
“I think that I see one too, probably they mobilized them for a while while they take them to be sure to don’t be found or maybe they buy them from a third party” Jesse comment thoughtfully remembering the face of a woman of that file “they maybe where abducted to be sold or prostituted, they are quite eye catching”
“its certainly a possibility but first we should see the background of they. Apart from Hokuto, we don’t know anything from these people, name, age, district nothing, they were snatched from everything” He bite his lips for a few second while thinking and then open his mouth to keep speaking “Had they been confirmed from the missing person list? I doubt they are only homeless people, he isn’t one and apart from the older folders, the majority look from middle class homes”
“Haven’t asked yet but will do when we finish here to see if we can found what they did to the bodies” He says even if didn’t look like he was going to move from his current spot then walk back to his side of the desk and open the first drawer retrieving from this a tablet and tap in it searching for something and then leave it over the desk “Haven’t you seen the videos yet?” Jesse took another photo that has a closer date of the same man but thinner with his pupils blow wide, mouth slightly open, brown furrowed in a mix of pain and confusion. “It’s almost as if even they weren’t that sure about what the results they supposed to have” He drop the photo over the file and turn his face to look to his colleague who look to be deep in his thoughts and after a beat he put gently the photo with the rest, shaking his head.
“Not yet” He lick his lips and shallow “I. I been reading the folder with others to take similitudes in search of hints, and…” He sigh and scratch his head with dropped shoulders and looking down, shake his head and drop his hand to his side fisting it tightly.
“And you have been hounding the nurse station of his floor, calling almost every five hours to find out if he has awakened” He Say like a fact but gently knowing that the meaning of this young man being alive is different to both of them. Jesse exaggerate a sigh putting his hands on his hips and looking to the ceiling “Ya know…” He can’t avoid the mischief pouring from his tone and bring his left hand to his chest closing his eyes “I can’t help but feel jealous. Why don’t you look at me like that?”
“You idiot!” Kouchi lightly reprimand him with shaky laught, flick the forehead of the tallest when he looked to him, silently grateful by the silly joke of his friend. “And I’m not harassing, just wanting to know how he is. Beside,” He look at the file “He is been alone for so long, that I just want to make sure to be there for him, even if not at the moment when he wake up…” Look again at his colleague, determined “I want to be there the most possible for his recovery”
To this Jesse nod “I’m sure of that but I still think you should see at least some of what they did to him. We don’t know how is the state of his brain” He grimace remembering how some of the victims in the videos ended barely talking or with irreparable sequelae before dying. “That guy in the bag died a day before we arrived for a multiple organ failure, and was there a little over two years. His last video was he been almost catatonic murmuring something about too loud the ‘tump-tump’ noise, whatever that mean and it wasn’t explained in the informs that I’ve been reading about him” comment seemingly annoyed and continue “Plus there’re some encrypted files in the computers that Juri with that Sakuma guy from team Olaf are working on. If they can broke into it we’ll probably be capable of understand deeply all this and, if there are, where are the other labs.”
“How bad?” Kouchi ask sitting then opening the wrap of the bar and take a small bite of it. Let the bar in a part of the desk somewhere that wasn’t with some classified paper and take the tablet that Jesse leave over the desk and see a file open with the name ‘subject nº028’ that correspond to the folder he knows if from Hokuto and in it a long list of videos with dates for names. Kouchi grimace swallowing before pressing one that was dated a year after his abduction.
Noise, distant sounds and a constant and beeping to his right.
He doesn’t feel pain, but still feel so tired and like his head is stuffed with cotton, he isn’t sure where he is, but is scared to open his eyes. He notice that there is a light different to what did he get used to and there is something over his mouth and nose.
It take a few tries but slowly he managed to open his eyes, blinks three times trying to adjust to the light of the room and with half lidded eyes slowly gazes at the room. Where am I?... this doesn’t look like the mocky-infirmary. He blink slowly and look at the window that is with the curtains closed. A window! His eyes widened at the same time that the beeping noise rise. Frantic he look to both sides and his body seeing that hi is half covered by a blanket and that he have fresh clothes and bandages, D-did…I get free? He think and look up when the door is opened and enter two nurses with worried expression but the moment they see him seem to relax a bit, bolting one after saying about notify the doctor.
The nurse approach to the bed and almost look like she trying to remain calm. “Mister Matsumura? My name is Jurina Matsui. How are you feeling? I need you to calm down a bit, ok? Is not good for your condition have strong feelings” she ask while helping him rising his bed to a sitting position.
Hokuto observe her still a little dazed to even respond but managed to nod his head after a blink. Open and close his mouth twice trying to make work his scrambled brain to ask something, anything. He close his eyes and take a breath and let the air out slowly, bit his lower lip and open his eyes to look at the nurse who was patiently waiting for him with an encouraging smile, Probably think that I am freak or broken beyond repair. Look to the window and then to her and part his lips “ho…how long?” He manage to ask wincing at how raspy is his throat before start coughing and at the seconds feel a hand over his back and a cold glass in his lips, he take a short sip of water tasting it in search of something weird and when he deemed it clear, take another short one not sure how his stomach would react, then move his head not wanting more. If the nurse notice something, didn’t say anything about it, only remind him that is normal to have a patchy throat after sleep for so long.
At this moment the other nurse and the doctor came through the door. From then everything was a blur for him, between questions, test of every kind you can imagine and visit from others specialist he barely have answer, only that he had been admitted four days ago in the clinic. And after a few hours later he is staring at the ceiling trying to figure out what to do at the time of discharge. He close his eyes and sighed not even bothered to know how they knew his name, he barely remember saying to that sergeant…wait. Open his eyes frowning, I just say only my name, not my last na-…Ugh…The missing person report that probably my mother filled. Still it bother me that for some reason the main contact that I have is only those two nurse and the doctor, nothing from my family… Carefully and with some effort he turns to his left side looking to the closed window with sadness. All day the curtains closed, the light of the room dimed since I woke up…every single room had the lights settled low, they mentioned something about photosensitivity, based on what?. He let out a frustrated sigh closing his eyes, deciding that the better thing to do for now is sleep. At least is more illuminated and bigger than that room. And I can hear what is come and goes in the hallway.
Two days later, after eating a quarter part of the breakfast he lay there with his eyes closed, after waking up that morning he noticed that he can hear what is happening outside if his room but… a little more than he think he should can. So there he is, in absolute silence hearing what are doing the nurses and other patients that are in the hallway of that floor, he can’t make a lot of what he is hearing, apart that noticing distinct patterns in the footsteps that pass in front of his door and some voices like the ones from his nurses but is something that can distract his mind. Suddenly a pair of footsteps stop at his door and a ‘are you sure?’ from a voice that he had heard before, a few seconds of silence that he assume that the other person nod.
He open his eyes at the side moment that the door is being opened and look at who has entered. “…Kouchi?” He can not avoid the mix of emotions in his voice seeing that one of the two people is his old friend.
The mentioned, who have worry look when he came in, give him a relieved smile and then look to his companion who smile and nod his head towards Hokuto, “I’ll be outside” he say looking at both men before leave the room closing the door behind him.
Kouchi hesitated a moment and without losing his smile, approaches to the bed “Hey…” He start receiving a nod with a shy smile “It’s really good to see that you are awake” ‘and alive’ was left unsaid but notice for both.
Hokuto let a breath of air and respond “It’s really good to see you again”, then nod to the control of his hospital bed that was out of his reach “can you help me? It’s a little awkward to talk like this” confess with some embarrassment, trying to conceal the need to cry by the overwhelming emotions that want to be free while looking to other way.
The agent nod and take the control pressing one of the buttons to raise his once lost friend, then let it beside the bed and give a long look to his friend “Hokuto…” He call and wait for a few second for the other to look back at him “Really. I’m so grateful to have… find you alive”, his voice broke halfway putting carefully his hand over Hokuto’s and giving a small squeeze. Even if he just only wanted to hug him, he know he can’t, knowing just part of what happened to him made him worry of trigger something unpleasant for his friend.
“Kouchi…can” He bite his trembling lips, blink twice not wanting to shred tears “can you…hug me?” He manage to ask with a little and scared voice, raising his free hand “I really…I”. Before he finish or really know what wanted to say, was engulfed in a tight hug, he returning it instantly “I…I was so scared… at first I was so hopeful that…that somebody would rescue me from there, but passed the days and I was feeling so weird…” without knowing how he began to cry harder in the shoulder of his friend clinging to him.
Kouchi strengthens his grip shaking his head “We never give you up, never stop looking…” He separate the hug a little to see the face of the crying man “Every moment alone, every break I used to find you…GOD! I’m so glad” He murmur in his hair passing gently up and down his hand over his back.
They stayed like this for a while in silence, just with soft sniffing here and there. Without words and being more calmed the younger separated and lazily move a little to make room in the bed gently grabbing the sleeve of the older, he was starting to feel drowsy after crying but was insecure to sleep. “Can you stay a little longer?” He ask softly looking directly at him.
Kouchi stayed silent for a moment seeing how tired his friend was and trying to not look to deeply in what was stopping him for a good rest, look at his wristwatch calculating that he have some time left and nod with a soft smile, get on the bed and carefully passed his arm behind the back of Hokuto and brings him closer, “Come on, take a nap you don’t need to force yourself to stay awake”. At this him looked not so convinced but still closed his eyes and nuzzle a little his head in the shoulder of the older taking just a few minutes to fall asleep lulled by a ‘thump-thump’ that he didn’t bother to find out from where it come and a gently hand combing his hair.
Kouchi took his phone from his pocket and write a quick text to Jesse. Within a minute the tallest is opening the door and entering to the room, close behind him and look the scene opening his mouth bringing his hand to the his pant. “Don’t you dare” Say the older with a side smile knowing the antics of the other.
“But Kouchi~” whined Jesse approaching to the bed without being so loud. He take a look to the sleeping man and then to the agent more serious taking the seat that is beside the bed under his questioning gaze. “We didn’t come just so you can have a reunion and you know it” He crossed his legs accommodating his hands in his lap with a souring face and sigh. “Besides I doubt you can move from there without wakening him” He comment after a pause softening his face looking again at the guy while repassing in his head what he learned of the experiment. “Did he mentioned something?”
Kouchi’s hand stilled for a moment “No” then proceed to comb again the dark hair “we barely talked, the only thing the he was capable of say was about feeling scared and weird. We didn’t have much time to talk between crying and he is still recovering, so is not a surprise of him needing rest after that”.
Jesse stay quiet for a moment still looking at the sleeping man, then nod and look to his colleague “I was talking with one of the nurse that are mainly in charge of him. Still not sure how the managed that by the way. And for some reason they’re were given strict instruction about certain things, like have dimed lights and closed curtains, apart that half of the patients of this floor were changed to another floors when he was brought”
“Isn’t too much?” To this Jesse shrugged “You know something else, Jesse?” Kouchi ask arching an eyebrow, already perceiving the tales of the tallest when he is hiding something. At the silence of the other he just sigh “Confidential, uh? Why do I fell that this is not going to end too well?” ask rhetorically looking at the ceiling.
Notes:
Ugh...Why do I feel I just cut it in the midle of something and for some reason I write 'to' instead of 'at' even if I say 'at' in my head while traducing...
for now, Hokuto won't have much dialogue. But he will chatter more in the future ... I'm still finding out how he will develop and adapt to his new reality.
Please feel free to comment, criticize, correct or ask if something isn't undertable.
Seohayami_s on Chapter 1 Mon 12 Apr 2021 02:54AM UTC
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Justanotherbird on Chapter 1 Tue 13 Apr 2021 03:10AM UTC
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