The Unknown

Ch. 17 - Kechizu

The next morning, you were jolted awake by Choso's cell phone ringing. It was quite the rude awakening considering he chose the most annoying out of all possible choices. You groaned and threw a pillow over your ear and held it tight against your head until he finally rolled over and answered it.

"Hello?" His groggy morning voice answered. He was sitting up, still shirtless and eyes closed. All along his body were pressure marks from the sheets, a sign of a good night's sleep. He let out a deep yawn as he listened to whoever it was on the other line. "Shit..." Choso suddenly snapped awake and tossed the sheets off of his lap. "Okay, I'll be there." He started awkwardly putting on a sock with one hand but was then able to hang up and properly dress.

"What's going on?" You slowly sat up and watched as he quickly tripped over his own feet to find clothes from his suitcase.

"It's Kechizu," he said quickly, finding a shirt and tossing it over his head. His eyes began scanning the floor for the hair ties that you had tossed away. As someone who had this as a regular routine, you'd figure he'd keep more than just two hair ties around... "He's gotten worse, they're going to take him to the hospital."

"I thought your dad tried to avoid doing that stuff?" You wondered, getting up and joining him in getting ready. He had finally found the hair ties and grabbed his brush from the suitcase.

"He only does it when it's too much to handle anymore," he explained while feverishly brushing out the tangles in his hair. "That means that Kechizu's in a lot of pain so he just wants to take him there for pain management."

"I can't believe how fast this all happened," you mumbled, slipping on your socks. "He was fine before dinner and now, not even forty-eight hours later, he's practically dying." Your voice was soft as if to try and navigate the situation with care.

"No, he is dying," Choso's gaze pierced yours as he held one half of his hair up and began tying the tie around his locks, "these are all the same symptoms my brothers had before they passed, too. It doesn't take long."

"Why haven't the doctors done anything when they saw them? It just...doesn't make sense to me," you shook your head as you slipped on your shoes.

"I think he's paying them off," Choso refused eye contact as he tied his shoe. He had hissed through clenched teeth as if that pressure was the only thing keeping him from exploding with anger.

"You think Noritoshi is killing your brothers and is paying off the doctor's to look the other way?" You tried to capture his thoughts. He simply nodded and stood up from where he was seated. "Why would he do that? You're his sons..." This wasn't the first time this idea was brought up, but you still couldn't wrap your head around it. 

"He cares more about his money and his pride and joy than he does us," Choso explained, grabbing the liner and heading to a nearby mirror that hung above a liquor cabinet in the den that you stayed in. 

"Why would he have so many then?" You watched Choso as he steadied his hand and began applying the line across his nose. "I'm just having a hard time with comprehending this."

"What's there to comprehend?" Choso pulled away, the line halfway across his nose as he looked over at you. "He's a piece of shit. He's going to do piece of shit things." He turned back and continued applying.

You stayed silent as he threw his wallet into his back pocket and stormed out of Satoru's house. You trailed behind him, trying to keep up with his long strides as he traveled to the train station.

It took some time to get to the hospital and find where Kechizu was staying. When you took your first glance of the boy, he was in terrible shape. Noritoshi, your mother, Eso, and Toshi were all at his side when you both arrived. Tension filled the space immediately.