Infinity, Taken Literally

Discovery 5

"Reki?" Looking up over the hoodie pulled around him, the redhead offers a smile to his mum, who stands worried in the door frame. "It's been three days, how are you feeling?" It's been four days? He could've sworn it was only yesterday that he'd walked through the front door and was pulled into a hug by his worried mum before being ushered to bed. Somehow, she'd seen straight through his attempt to pretend to be fine. It was no surprise, she always has.

"What day is it?" Reki asks instead, pausing the 100th video he'd been watching. Opening the notifications centre of his phone he squints against the brightness of the screen. He'd left it on Do Not Disturb, so the stack of missed messages is a little overwhelming. Seeing Langa's name at the top, he quickly shuts it off, abandoning his search for the time.

"Oh, sweetie." With a sigh, Masae gently settles on the edge of the bed. "Do you want to talk about it?" Pulling the jumper tighter around him, Reki avoids her sad gaze. He didn't really want to talk about it, but at this point, he needs to tell someone to get it off his chest.

"I found out that Langa was keeping a secret from me." Her face softens and Reki can't stop the tumble of words out of his mouth. "And it's a big deal, but I also understand why he didn't tell me. But it still hurts." Reaching out, she pulls him into a hug. The way he instantly tenses at the touch makes a wave of guilt crash over him. Forcing himself to relax, Reki leans into the touch, hoping that she doesn't notice the reaction or the way his heart jumps in an emotion he refuses to acknowledge as fear.

"He's come past every day after school," Masae announces after a while of silence. "I told him he could come up here, but he insisted on waiting until you were ready." She waits for a response but doesn't receive one. "He cares for you, there is no faking the kind of emotion I see from him when it concerns you. Langa doesn't seem to be the type to keep secrets if it isn't something important. Is what he was hiding worth throwing all of that way?" With a squeeze, she pulls away and Reki leans back onto his pillows. He looks down at his hands, unsure how to respond. "I'm going to start on dinner, would you like some?"

With a sigh, Reki glances back down at his phone. "It's okay, I'm not hungry. I think I might have to go talk to someone?" This seems to please her, and she squeezes his hand before standing up.

"I'll leave some in the fridge for when you get back." She gives him a last smile from the doorway, before leaving the room.

"Thanks, Mum." Reki stares at the closed door for a moment, before finally opening his phone and pulling up the missed notifications. Without properly reading them, he skims over the numerous texts. There are a few from Miya, one from Joe and Cherry, and even one from Shadow. The most recent message, however, is from Langa. With a pause to mentally prepare himself, Reki clicks on the thread to scroll through the half dozen missed texts and calls from the past couple of days. Some of it is updates on what he's missed at school, another one saying that Miya is really worried, and Reki should respond to him, and some more apologies. The most recent one was sent an hour ago saying that he would be at work tonight, but his mum is home. With a sigh, Reki goes to turn the phone off, but another notification catches his eye, from an unfamiliar number.

With a frown, he clicks on it and another screen pops up with the word, 'invitation' in big bold letters. The little illustration under it is unmistakably Adam. What catches him off guard, however, is the red eyes the figure has. Even only seeing them on the screen, makes his chest hurt as it restricts with fear. The hungry red eyes that had been chasing him, flash through Reki's mind and he puts the phone down for a moment to collect himself.

He'd considered the possibility; the feeling Adam had given him was far too similar to the one Neo had. Over the past days, he'd had plenty of time to consider the possibility and connect the dots. After all, it was hard to think of anything but the attack, replaying over and over in his mind. But still, it doesn't stop his stomach from plummeting and an acidic feeling burns at the back of his throat. Despite how intense Neo had been, there is no doubt that Adam is twice as dangerous, and that's enough to make Reki never want to see him again.