The Missing-A Kaito-HiME piece

Woah-been a while since I've done one of these. The rough draft for this has been sitting in my notebook unfinished for TWO YEARS. xD But I sat down last night and wrote it in ONE SITTING. xD What you an accomplish when you're supposed to be studying for tests...So-the second to last Kaito-HiME piece in the story line-but no tthe last one I'll write, because after 'The rescue' I plan on writing MORE.

But enjoy!

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There was something rather depressing about being in a cage, Kaito found out. Well, cage wasn’t accurate. It was a cell, and not a bad one. As far as cells went, this one had no rats, no spiders or any bones laying around. But then, this wasn’t the middle ages, and this was Japan and a highly advanced company he was talking about.

Kaito shifted uncomfortably in the shackles around his wrists. They were chaffing and his arms and legs felt like lead. “After-effects…” he muttered, letting his head loll to the side against the stone wall and sighed, “Damn…I knew I should’ve taken the double dose…” he shook his head. Two days. Two days worth of side effects. Side effects that were caused by the…strange incident that had happened as he was shot at. A column of ice. He had called forth so much ice he had slept the whole first day in the cell. He could barely remember what had happened. But what had happened afterwards…that was clear as ever in his head.

“Sucks for you, eh kid?” a rogue smirk looked lethal on the lips of the woman before him. She had changed. Her face was sharper, icier. Her hair was pulled out of her face in a ponytail. Eyes that had once been full of laughter were nao hard, and guarded. A gun. His mother was pointing a gun at his forehead.

“Do…Don’t…you know who I am?” Kaito’s voice trembled, and he could barely hold back the urge to scream and cry and throw himself at the woman.

A look of disdain, and a eyebrow arched up. The gun lowered from his face and hope filled his chest until a sharp yelp escaped his lips as his hair was wrenched up exposing his face. He watched in horror as his mother looked over his face with a sense of disinterest. “Nope. Don’t know you.” She answered, dropping his down to the ground again, “But I guess D1 is pretty slimy to send in a kid that looks like my son used to,” she pressed a foot against Kaito’s back, forcing him to remain on the ground.

“Wh-what do you mean used to!?” Kaito cried, gritting his teeth against the pain.

The heel pressed deeper, “Don’t pull bubuzuke with me kid,” the response was snarled, loathing in every word, “D1 killed my family a long time ago. You bastards stole my family from me!”

The breath was knocked out of Kaito’s chest, and he struggled to look up at the anguished expression on his mother’s face. “We…what?” Kaito wanted to argue, to say that he and kaa-san were fine! That they were alive and looking for her. But the words died in his throat.

A shallow sneer graced Natsuki’s lips, “Of course they wouldn’t tell the dummy that. What else did they tell you? Did they say to pretend to be my son?” Natsuki wrenched the boy’s shirt up so he was eye to eye with her, “Bet they briefed you on him, right? About things he knew about me, and ways to get through my defenses,” her eyes glowed with hate and the sneer grew, “I bet you even know what his favorite cartoon was,” she challenged.

Kaito couldn’t stop the words that came from his lips, “...Go go Kamen Rider,”

The shock on his mother’s face was apparent, and jade eyes widened in surprise, and Kaito knew what she was remembering-singing the theme song in the morning with their bowls of cereal. The surprise faded into anger though, and he was thrown to the ground before he could blink. “Search him,” she ordered the guards, “And give me his belongings-I want to be in charge of this wise-ass,”

Kaito watched in horror as his wallet was pulled from his pocket. He struggled against his captors, “G-Give that back! That’s important to me!” That has all my pictures in it! The horrified thought came to surface.

Natsuki surveyed the wallet with disinterest, “Shouldn’t have brought it then,” she dismissed, walking away, “Take him to a holding cell-then tell the big wigs about it. Don’t bother me about him until later, you hear me?”

“Well…this could be worse…” Kaito thought sarcastically, “I could be dead.” He looked up at the ceiling, “Kaa-san’s probably worried…and Michi’s probably wondering what to say to her…Kanaye’s probably just rarein’ to punch me though…” he chuckled hollowly and glanced at the guards outside his cell. They weren’t there a few seconds ago. “What?” he snapped.

“You’re wanted in the conference room.” One growled, opening the cell and dragging him out.

“I thought I was going to be interrogated,” Kaito argued, struggling to keep the pace the guards had with his weak legs.

“Not anymore-you’re being released.”

“To who?”

“Fujino Corps.”

Kaito blinked, shocked. Fujino Corps? He didn’t have time to reflect though, as he was thrust into a room and faced a familiar face. “O-oji-“ he cut himself off when he saw the look his grandfather gave him.

“I’ll be taking the boy back-he’s our collateral damage-so it’s our job to reprimand him,” the clipped of his grandfather made him cringe on instinct. The famous Fujino crimson eyes left no room for refusal. “Come along boy.”

The shackles came off and Kaito stumbled towards the man. Composing himself, he walked out with the man as quickly as possible. The moment they were in the privacy of the tinted windowed car Kaito slumped over. “How did you find me?”

The look his grandfather gave him was incredulous, “Kaito. You are my oldest grandson-clearly I would be searching for you the moment your mother called,” he leaned forward, “She hasn’t slept in two days,” he informed the teen and watched as he flinched. He assessed the wounds the boy carried and sighed, “We’ll have a doctor look at you before we let your mother see you,” he murmured, taking out his phone to inform someone of their arrival.

“She did this to me.” When his grandfather gave him a quizzical look, “Mom. She beat me up,” Kaito explained, “She…she thinks kaa-san and I are dead. Because of D1,” he choked, “She said I was an imposter…then beat me up and threw me in a jail cell,” he looked at his grandfather with pleading eyes, “Don’t tell kaa-san who did this to me-or where I was. She…I don’t think she would be able to take it,” he pleaded.

The senior Fujino sighed, “I assumed something like that had happened. However…you seemed to take the different route of getting to SEARRS than Shizuru,” at the confused look he continued, “The night of your escapade, your mother was in a meeting with a SEARRS representative-he was called out because of an emergency at the factory-You I presume,”

“So Kaa-san has…”

“Ben looking for her too, yes. You didn’t think she’d just given up did you? You two are far to tenacious for that,” the old man chuckled, “So bullheaded at times…” he glanced out the window and stayed silent as the car lurched to a stop, “But for nao-we must get you cleaned up and presentable for your mother. The least thing she needs to see is you all dirty and bloody.”
The two entered Fujino Corps and made their way to the CEO’s private sector-where Kaito was introduced to extremely painful antiseptics and rough bandages. He was arguing with the man applying the wraps when the door burst open. He swung his head to face his mother-disheveled and weary. His words stopped and he froze. She looked like crap. She really hadn’t slept in two days.

“K-kaa-san…” he tried to form a sentence but didn’t get the chance as she was already in front of me and if the pain radiating from the side of his cheek meant anything-it meant he had just been slapped by his mother. His mild-mannered, calm even if the world were exploding mother. “Kaa-san…?” he tried to find words again but failed.

He didn’t end up needing them though, because he was quickly engulfed in a embrace so tight he was sure it wasn’t helping the bruised ribs. Still though-he held back just as tightly, trying and failing to fight the tears that came to his eyes. If Shizuru was crying like there was no tomorrow-then he could too.

--

You know, when a normal person comes to break into a place, or tries to kill people-they don’t normally carry around a wallet. I mean-what sort of dumb ass is this kid? Feh…he may look like Kai-but he sure ain’t him. I taught my boy better than that. I glance down at the wallet and shrug-I’ll let him squirm in his cage for a bit before I go to talk to him-so there’s no need to look at this just yet.

It wasn’t until a day and a half later I actually opened the wallet for inspection. Money-3 thousand yen. Huh, not bad. I might just keep it-buy some more mayo-since I’m running low and the stupid grunts here won’t go get it. It’s when I look at the student I.D I get worried. Fuuka Academy? This boy goes to Fuuka? I look at the name and drop the wallet completely.

Kuga-Fujino Kaito

No…That’s not… ”A fake then,” I dismiss, tossing the card to the side, “Easy to make a fake,” I remind myself. Get a grip Kuga! Seriously-no need to come undone from something like that. Let’s see…oh? This kid’s got a shit load of pictures in here. Of him-and some high schoolers. I frown and look at the red hair who keeps showing up in the photos. Wait…That’s…

“Michiko?” I could barely hear my own voice. My Fumi-daughter? Damn…it’s Michiko? She’s gotten so big. She’s standing in the Student Council room with the fake Kaito and another boy-raven hair and a pair of lime green eyes, and a grin that would make the Cheshire cat envious. “Kanaye? Yuuki Kanaye?” Damn! How the hell does this kid know them!? These are the kids of my past-my son’s best friends. My friends’ kids…this is so screwed up…

I flip through a few more of the three of them, laughing and having fun-pranks and games. A school trip. Then I get into middle school pictures. There’s one of the three of them posing in their uniforms-and then-

“Jiminy crickets!.”

No. This isn’t real. This can’t be real. Not happening. A sick joke-this has to be a SICK JOKE. Because my wife-who’s dead is smiling up at me in this photo-and the fake Kaito is grinning up at her. I flip the photo over and suck in a breath.

Kaito’s Middle School Entrance Ceremony

That handwriting…

“Shizuru…” my voice cracks, and I flip through another picture-this one of the two of them in Kyoto-wearing kimonos. Shizuru’s holding a tea set, and the boy looks bored, but is trying his best to pay attention. Another photo-Shizuru and him-and Michiko and Mai-at the park. Another picture.
That’s me. That’s me and my family in the photo we took on Kaito’s sixth birthday. Kai’s face beaming and me and Shizuru laughing. Smiling. Happy.

“No…” I scramble over to the photo ID on the ground and scan it again. Kai’s birth date, his age, blood type. Everything-everything about him to the dot. I sort through the pile of photos again and come across a scrap of paper.

Kaito-I’ll be at the Student Council meeting today to discus the Founder’s Day Festival-try not to act so surprised when I walk in.
-kaa-san

Shizuru’s handwriting-a casual note, just an every day thing.

“Don’t you know who I am?”

“...Go go Kamen Rider,”

Oh Fumi…“Kai…” I lurched over the chair I was leaning on and tried to steel myself. You’re alive? You and Shizuru are alive? Oh Fumi…I beat up my son. I beat up my boy-and called him a fake! “Kai…” I swing around and fly out of the room-desperate to make it to his cell-to apologize, to hold him tight and beg him to take me home.

He’s gone. The cell is empty and I grab the first grunt who walks past me and shove him to the wall. “Where’s the kid?” I’m growling-fuming.

“Ch-chief told us we had to release him! Some guy came and picked him up!”

“Who?”

“F-Fujino Corps!”

I drop the grunt and take in a hard breath. Fujino corps? Then…it is them. They…They found me. I dash away and rush back to my rooms-locking doors behind me. “Oh Fumi…” I clench the fabric over my chest, “They’re alive…They’re okay, they’re okay,” I choke on the sobs that suddenly appear and I’m crying. Tears of relief-tears that I’d held away for years spring forth and force their way out.

I want to leave-want to storm out and go home and hug them and tell them I love them and I missed them and I’m so damn happy they’re alive-but I can’t. They’ll find out. I have to play it cool. I have to pray that Kai will come back-try again. Please…please try again.

“I want to go home. I’ll be damned if I don’t.” I cry, shaking my head, “You’d better come back soon Kaito-don’t disappoint me. Please.”

I finally got to this piece, mostly as build up for the next chapter of the RP. It's a good chance to observe Kaito's solo adventures (well sorta) so I have a better idea of what to work around him in the future. Very intense beginning with Natsuki having poor Kai at her mercy, and every POV segment is well executed.