Hiding In Plain Sight

Burning Pain of Death

Shuichi sighed as his eyes fluttered open, pain radiating through his entire, groggy body. He attempted to move, to hold his head and relieve some of the pain, but his hands wouldn't move. Glancing down, Shuichi noticed ropes tying his wrists and ankles to a wooden chair. "Now, that wasn't a very smart move of you, was it Saihara?"

He stared up at the room, noticing fourteen of his friends in similar situations, all tied to the same wooden chairs. His blood ran cold, rage bubbling in his stomach as he noticed everyone with bruises and cuts to their bodies. Maybe Harukawa can help get us out of here. Glancing at the woman in question, Shuichi noticed her entire body wrapped up in rope, providing no hint at escape. Can she use her power to teleport?

"Don't try to use your powers, the sedative has an inhibitor that freezes specific genes. I could go further into it, but none of you would understand." As he spoke, Shuichi noticed the chief of police, Soichiro, waltzing into the middle of the room, gun in hand.

"How did you-" Hoshi started asking, another officer appearing from the shadows and punching him in the head.

"No talking!" The officer shouted, retreating into the shadows again.

"I was only playing mind games with you all the entire time. You can't pull the wool over my eyes." Soichiro patrolled the circle. No, no we can still escape, just keep holding onto hope everyone! Shuichi glanced around the circle, noticing the determination in the eyes of his new friends. We can do this.

"Let us go!" Momota shouted, receiving a punch to the head from the shadows. Shuichi had no idea where they were, there were no walls in sight, the floor made of smooth, grey concrete.

"Now, why would I do that? It would be fun to follow you all around the country, but I'm getting tired of it now. I'm surprised none of you figured it out, especially you over there, Saihara. I know you, detective." Soichiro approached the detective, motioning towards the male with his gun. "Oh, I've been dying to get my hands on you."

"Leave them alone," Shuichi glowered at the older man as he approached. If I can distract him, the others might be able to escape.

"Hm, I will, for now. You're the one I want to play with," Soichiro laughed. "You think you can win, but I know everything about all of you, I've been monitoring you for years. If you were to escape, I'd find you within the hour. I even know about your little event," he chuckled. Gripping Shuichi's jaw, Soichiro forced his head back, opening his mouth and shoving the barrel of the gun between his teeth. Shuichi's eyes widened in shock, the familiar taste of metal coating his tongue.

"No, stop!" Rantaro screamed. Multiple officers approached to hold him back, gagging the male who continued to shout.

"If you hurt him, I'll make your life fucking hell," Kokichi whispered, sending chills down everyone's spines. Tears pricked at Shuichi's eyes, the memories of when he'd tried to take his own life flashing in his vision. Shuichi listened to the commotion, the pain others felt because of what was happening to him. He needs us all alive, so if I fight back, I could win.

Shuichi attempted to move, and start fighting in any way, but his assailant shoved the gun further into his mouth. "Ah, no moving, otherwise I'll shoot. You may think I need you all alive, but that was only so I could monitor your abilities." That means he'll shoot me if he wants to... Unwillingly relaxing his body, Shuichi took a deep breath as the gun slipped from his mouth, threatening to crack his teeth. Turning to the side, he spat out as much saliva as possible, trying to rid himself of the metallic taste. "Interesting, I thought you were ready to die. Oh well, more fun for me."

"You're sick. The police are supposed to help people! Not even criminals deserve this treatment!" Chabashira shouted. She fought in her ropes, unable to break free. Harukawa, Chabashira, Gokuhara, Ouma and Momota all have more ropes around them than I do. How did Soichiro know who the fighters of the group are?

"I'm doing this to help the civilians! Now, I publically said I needed you all alive, but I never said I'd keep you alive." Soichiro reentered the middle of the circle, surveying the victims. All I wanted was the satisfaction of killing the useless ones myself, all the filthy mistakes we made will be eliminated."

Soichiro raised the gun, shining from Shuichi's saliva as he aimed it at head height, turning to aim it at each victim one by one. "Now that you're all captured and your powers are dormant, I'll be nice enough to let you know what we'll do with survivors. We need to find a way to grant powers to civilians, to create a superhuman species. Some of you may die during the testing phase, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. 

Once we're done here, you'll go to a brand new home where you'll probably die. It's just our secret research base. None of you important subjects will die, of course." Soichiro continued to pace the circle, smiling calmly the entire time. I'm nothing more than a mistake, not just to my parents, but to the entire Japanese government too. Maybe I should've tried to kill myself again. I knew my happiness was too good to be true.

Shuichi joined his anguished friends' cries, tears dripping down his cheeks as everyone realised his time was up. "Akamatsu Kaede, you're able to move objects around from afar, but you still need to have the same strength to move them as if you were touching the objects. Too much of a hassle and not what we're looking to obtain."

Akamatsu's eyes widened as she screamed, the gun pointed at her head. Soichiro slowly stepped toward the woman violently fighting her restraints, the gun touching her blonde hair. The room erupted in shouts as the gun went off, Akamatsu's struggling ceasing as the woman's limbs went limp. "No!" Shuichi shouted. She's not dead, no, she's not! Blood poured down the woman's body, brain matter plopping to the floor.

"Woah, hit a nerve with her, did I? Didn't know you all liked her so much." Soichiro laughed, returning to the middle of the room. "That's a lie, I know everything about you all. Now, you, Shinguji Korekiyo. You created thorned vines from your body, but they slice you up. Considering the amount of damage caused by your power, it's useless to us." Raising the gun, Soichiro shoved it against Shinguji's head, shooting the male.

Brain matter splattered into the shadows behind him, the man falling limp in his seat, gurgling behind his mask. Screams continued to bounce throughout the room, two of their companions dead, covered in their blood and brains. "Now you, Saihara Shuichi." The ex-detective refused to show any fear as his captor approached, gun held out and freshly reloaded. "Being able to tell lies, really? That's the most pathetic ability out of everyone here." I know.

"Don't you dare hurt him," Harukawa seethed, radiating a threatening aura. 

"Oh how I'd love to shoot you Harukawa Maki, but your power is one of the most useful to us. You've been through assassin training from what I've heard, so these tests will be a piece of cake to the likes of you. Sedate her." Soichiro never broke his malevolent gaze from Shuichi, grinning as commotion ensued. Shuichi watched in hatred as Harukawa was shot with a dart, the woman struggling before falling limp.

"You know, Saihara, your criminal life has been quite interesting. It would make a decent story. Such a shame this has to happen when you began to value your life. Oh well, bye-bye!" Soichiro cheered, pushing the gun against Shuichi's head and pulling the trigger. Shuichi placed a smile on his face as he stared at Rantaro and Kokichi, who screamed as if their lives depended on it.

Shuichi felt a burning sensation radiate through his head, a loud ringing drowning out the screams of despair emanating from both of his boyfriends. He fought to continue smiling for the sake of his loved ones, his head swaying as his body became harder to control. Staring at his boyfriends, Shuichi felt happy knowing he accomplished at least one thing in his life.

I love you both with all my heart. You've saved me from my darkest moments when I thought nothing could pull me back. All I hope for is that my memory will help you continue in this world and fight for freedom. Please, don't have the same fate as Akamatsu and I. Akamatsu, the first best friend I ever had, I'll see you soon.

Shuichi's head lolled forward like a ragdoll, blood pooling on the floor as the world around him ceased to exist. Watching the blood, he felt at ease, the flowing liquid calming his anxiety. It flows like the stream back at the bar, back at home. As he slowly died, he only had a few things he regretted not knowing. Why was Tojo hiding in the corner, and why was she wearing a police uniform?