Limitless

Chapter 21: Some Digging

Thank you for the 700+ reads everyone!

Happy birthday Gonta, the Ultimate Entomologist and the Ultimate Gentleman 🎂

It had been a couple of weeks now since everyone had escaped and found the building. So far, it actually felt more like home, even if it's temporary. With the money that they were able to get, they had been able to get fresh food and some clothing from charity shops (unless they had to get anything brand new, something that they tried to avoid as best they could). They were also able to get furniture from second hand shops to make their temporary home more accommodating. Even Kaito and Maki were able to turn the basement into a small apartment. Everything that everyone needed was in the apartment building, they even managed to fix the plumbing (but that's a story for another time). They still had rules that they had set to stay hidden away. White might not have Keebo to track them down, but that won't stop him from trying to look for them. No going alone at night. No using powers, unless it is an emergency, in public. And, this last rule hurt the most, no trying to contact any relatives. It hurt, but it was necessary. It was slim, but there could be a chance that White might have people listening in on any communications going to close friends and family of the Limitless. Even writing something like a letter might be a bit too risky right now. Communicating with family and friends was a risk that no one was willing to take.

Maki scanned the electronic calendar that Miu had been able to make. She was looking for a particular date that she wasn't looking forward to. She didn't want to admit it, but she secretly started to like living in this place, even if she was living in the basement. This was the first time that she felt like, she had a home. Even if everyone else, other than Kaito and sometimes Shuichi, didn't want to talk to her willingly.

"Tuesday...." Maki muttered, finding the date that she was looking for.

"What's up, Maki Roll?" Kaito asked from where he was sitting. He was fiddling with a small radio in his hands to try to play some music in the basement. It felt a lot more like a small apartment down there. There were a couple of small lamps to help brighten the basement up a bit. There was a small couch that they were able down there, along with a small table. Since the basement had two small rooms, they were able to get doors so the rooms could be small bedrooms for both of them.

"Nothing." Maki said, wrapping her dark red jacket a little tighter around her. Since everyone was able to get new clothes, they were able to express themselves better. Or at least try to in Maki's case. She had only been able to wear dark clothing like black jeans, dark boots and red shirt and jacket. Kaito meanwhile was wearing jeans and a T-shirt with the NASA logo on it with trainers that had a galaxy pattern on them.

"You sure? You seem a bit...I don't know...distracted or something." Kaito asked, concerned about Maki's sudden skittish behaviour.

"It's none of your concern, Momota. Please just drop the subject." Maki said dismissively, suddenly heading into her room. She closed the door behind her, a clear sign that she wanted to be alone. Kaito watched the door curiously for a few seconds before he got up. He was sure that heard Maki mutter "Tuesday" when she looked at the calendar. Was she nervous about something? Scanning the calendar, Kaito found the date that she was looking at. What was so important about this date that made her shut down like that? Maybe something happened that she doesn't want to be reminded about, like a form of trauma or something like that. He honestly hoped that he would get her to be more open about anything by now, but it's like every time he asks her anything it's like one step forward and two steps back. Maki just can't seem to be open with him right now. He was able to get her talking back in Isolation, but now that they're out, it's like Maki has nothing to talk about anymore.

Kaito looked up at the door leading out the basement, wondering if he should or not. Maki might not appreciate him poking his nose where it didn't belong, but he didn't know what else to do about it at this point. Besides, he might be wrong in thinking that he'd find out that way. He headed up the stairs. He looked around the boys' apartment, seeing Keebo looking down at a book. Since escaping the Facility, the robot had been reading quite a lot unless he was with Miu. He wanted to try to experience being human, but it was difficult since he was forced to be stuck indoors all day. Kaito felt sorry for him, but what could they do? It was too risky to have Keebo walking around in public right now.

"Hey, Keebo. Can I talk to you for a minute?" Kaito asked, catching Keebo's attention. The robot slipped a book mark on the page he was reading and stood up for the couch.

"Do you need anything?" He asked, not sure what Kaito was after.

"Yeah. Do you have our files stored in you or something like that?" Kaito asked, wishing that he didn't have to do this behind Maki's back.

"Yes. Do you need me to look into something on your file?" Keebo asked again, starting to piece together a few things but still didn't get the full picture.

"Not mine." Kaito sighed, starting to wonder if he should back out now. No, he can't. He needs to find out what's going on with Maki. He quickly looked around, making sure that no one else was around. "Look, I know that I'm probably gonna dig myself an early grave, but could you look into Maki's file and see if there is anything to do with February 2nd on it."

"Oh! That's an easy one. That's Maki's birthday. She'll be eighteen." Keebo immediately and enthusiastically answered. Kaito felt like someone had splashed cold water on his face. Her birthday? Maki's birthday? That would explain why she was looking at the calendar. But why would she hide that from him? It was something that was important to her, or should be. There was no reason as to why it should be hidden from him.

"You're serious?" Kaito asked, just to be sure. He didn't want to doubt that Keebo was wrong, but he just wanted to make sure that he heard it right.

"Yes. Why?" Keebo answered, again, wondering why Kaito was trying to look into this matter.

"Nothing. Thanks, Keebo." Kaito said, shrugging off the robots's curiosity. He started to make his way back down into the basement before he look at Keebo again. "Oh! And don't tell anyone about this conversation please. I don't know how they would react if they find out."

"Understood." Keebo agreed before turning to go back to his book. Kaito didn't know what he was going to do now other than talk to Maki about this. He still couldn't wrap his head around that she didn't say anything about her birthday. Maybe something happened on it that Maki didn't want to discuss or something like that. He didn't want to think that was the case. He didn't want to think that something awful had happened to her on her birthday. That would be one of the worst things to happen. Kaito will just have to ask.

Hopefully, Maki won't hurt him because of this topic.