April 8, 2005,
Day 1 of the Three-Day Deadline,
Kaito's Apartment - 6:47 AM.
Pain.
That was the first thing Ren registered when consciousness dragged him back to reality.
Not the sunlight streaming through thin curtains. Not the distant sound of traffic or the neighbor's television bleeding through the walls. Just pain.
Everything hurt.
His ribs screamed with each breath—a sharp, stabbing reminder of Yuto's fists. His jaw ached, tender and swollen on the left side. His knuckles were purple and black, the skin split across two knuckles where they'd connected with something hard. Maybe Yuto's face. Maybe a table. He couldn't remember.
Ren tried to sit up but it was a big mistake as his body protested violently. Pain flared in his abdomen forcing him back down with a big groan.
"Fuck…" he muttered, voice rough.
