"That's one shitty way to message a shitty news. But what can I expect from a shitty guy?"
Souta sighed regretfully and closed his phone. He was currently standing in front of Ryuga's apartment block. As per Daichi's request, he was here to investigate Ryuga's siblings.
"His half-assed message aside, the point stays the same. The matter is really serious… If something really did happen to his siblings… Ryuga wouldn't take it that well."
He sighed once more and made his way into the apartment. He took the elevator to the 4th floor, where Ryuga lived, and searched for room 406.
He found it fairly quickly. The only problem was that the room was locked.
'Huh? So they aren't home. Did they go to their school and college? I really hope so…'
Just then, his eyes wandered toward the inconspicuous white sticky note on the door. He crouched down to read it carefully.
And it read: Hey, Ryuga. It's Izumiya… I have taken Kai and Iuno with me… to the hospital. Once you arrive back home, please go visit me there… Something really bad happened.
"Shit…"
Souta cursed reflexively. He rummaged through his pockets to get his phone out, but he kept fumbling.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!"
After cursing for a whole minute straight, he finally managed to grab his phone and frantically called Daichi.
The ring lasted a single beat before the call was picked up instantly, Daichi answering in a deeply concerned voice.
"Something really occurred, didn't it? Fuck!"
Souta was taken aback by Daichi's immediate analysis. Though he was curious how he managed to pinpoint the situation so quickly, he had other matters to worry about.
"Daichi, listen to me clearly. I have something important to tell you, but first tell me… is Ryuga still sleeping?"
There was a pause on the other side. A beat later, Daichi answered, "Yeah, he's still sleeping. He can wake up at any moment though, so hurry up. And the call is not on speaker, he can't hear you. So don't worry about it."
"Yeah, sometimes calls get overheard. I was trying to be secure. Well, forget it. The main point is… Kai and Iuno are at the hospital. They're with Izumiya-san, Ryuga's so-called girlfriend."
"Shit… they needed to be taken to the hospital? Is it that serious? What the fuck are these cultists, man?! Seriously going after kids now!!"
"Keep your voice down, you psycho! Ryuga could wake up! He's already sick, if he sees his siblings injured that guy will do something really stupid and real quick."
"Yeah, you're right… Let's just stay put. I'll think things through once he wakes up. I'll keep things slow."
"Yeah, that's probably for the best. But I'm coming too, so we'll both think about it. Not just you. Okay?"
"Yeah. Thanks, man. Much appreciated."
"No probs. He is our friend, and his siblings are our siblings too. If he does something stupid, we need to help him."
A chuckle came through. It was small, short, but it eased both of their nerves.
"Yeah, right. We will do stupid together and form our stupid team. Kk, bye. Come here soon."
"Kk, take care."
With that, Daichi ended the call. Souta stared at the phone screen with an absent-minded gaze, mulling things over in his mind.
'We hit a beehive. That's for sure. Those masked cultists hunted Ryuga and his family first because he led us. But after him, all of us will be targeted next.'
…
After the call with Souta ended, Daichi spun his phone between his fingers again to calm his nerves.
A soft smile tugged at his lips, not because he found anything funny, but because he was genuinely grateful to have friends like Ryuga and Souta.
They were ready to go through the best and the worst together. 'Friends like them are truly rare.'
"Ryuga, wake up some homie… homie?"
Daichi abruptly shot to his feet, knocking his chair over in the process.
"What the fuck?! Where is this damn bastard?!"
When he turned toward the hospital bed, Ryuga was nowhere to be seen.
Daichi's eyes shot to the door. It was perfectly closed. Meaning Ryuga had run off a while ago.
'Did I daydream that long? I swear it was 2 minutes ago I checked on him. How fast is this brat?'
Still, now wasn't the time to complain. He needed to find Ryuga fast before he did anything stupid.
'He definitely heard me talking to Souta. Fuck!!!!!!'
Daichi didn't waste a second. He bolted out of the room and into the hallway. He looked left, then right, hoping to catch even a glimpse of a limping figure, but he saw no such patient.
So, he turned to a nurse passing by. "Uhm, hello Miss. Have you seen a black-haired, blue-eyed man, bandaged, running off somewhere too?"
Startled by his sudden approach, the nurse let out a small shriek and stepped back. After a moment of collecting herself, she gulped and pointed to the right.
"Oh, thank you very much. And sorry for scaring you. I didn't mean to, just… anyways. Thanks."
He rushed in the direction she indicated, and soon spotted a limping patient. Daichi hurried over and grabbed the man's shoulders.
"Hey, stop it man. I know you're all angry and shit, but look at yourself first, then at anyone else. This isn't the time… what the fuck??!"
Daichi stumbled back, nearly losing his balance. The patient he had grabbed slowly turned to face him.
That wouldn't have been alarming on its own, if not for the fact that only his head moved. Not his body.
Even worse was the face. He didn't have one at all. Instead of eyes, nose, or a mouth, the skin was stitched shut with red threads, forming a strange shape.
A vertical rectangle horizontally split down the middle. Or two squares stacked atop each other.
Either way, it didn't make the man any less horrifying.