Specimen T-04

Part 20~Coffee Cup

Keiji groaned as he woke up. His head pounded, and his skull aged, if that was possible.

"Keiji, are you okay?" Karma held Keiji in his arms, gently wrapping the bandage around Keiji's wound.

"I'm fine."

"Good. You went out like a light. I was so worried about you." Karma pulled Keiji up, as Keiji chuckled.

"I'm fine, Karma. I think I just short-circuited." Keiji paused, whispering under his breath. "I knew Nagisa said short-circuiting hurt, but fuck, this is worse than I thought."

Karma tilted his head, giving Keiji a confused look. "Short-circuited."

"Don't worry about it. Where's Nagisa?"

"They took him and the girls."

Keiji shot up. "Then we have to get them."

"Wait, we will get them." Karam placed a hand on Keiji's shoulder as Keiji huffed. "But we don't know where they are."

"I can find them."

"How?"

Keiji hesitated. "You just have to trust me."

~~~

"No one'll bother us here." The leader of the students pushed Kayano, Kanzaki and Nagisa to the floor. "If we're gonna play, it'll be more fun with more people, so I'm calling my buddies. Let's have fun being lowlifes. We'll even take pictures."

"If you lay one finger on my friends, I'll rip out your heart- if you have one, that is." Nagisa glared at the leader as he laughed.

"Don't worry. We'll ruin your first."

Nagisa laughed. "Good luck with that! Many have tried, but none succeeded!"

"We'll see about that."

The leader turned away, gathering with his buddies.

"Nagisa, you need to stay calm. If you start fighting these guys, we don't know what will happen." Kayano nudged Nagisa as he sighed.

"I won't let that happen. I won't let these people hurt you."

"Nagisa, it's okay."

"No, it's not!" Nagisa let out a breath, his body shaking.

Kayano's eyes widened as she watched Nagisa. "You're scared."

Nagisa let out a bitter laugh. "It's not my first time, but I won't let them hurt you." The air between the three grew cold as Kayano cleared her throat.

"Kanzaki, that picture was a surprise. You're so studious. I didn't know there was another side to you."

Kanzaki hesitated before she spoke. "Yes, well. To my dad, it's all about the right education and the right job. Without that, you're a nobody. It's all about appearances. So I used to change mine and go play where no one knew me. Dumb huh? That's how I ended up as a class E student. I don't know who I am anymore."

The leader laughed, kneeling before the trio. "I know who you are. You're one of us. We hate elitist wannabes. The kind of brats who need to be put in their place. I used to get this one girl to accuse rich businessmen of groping her. Stuck-up bitches like you? I kidnap them and teach them a lesson. We've ruined a lot of girls. Just call us missionaries of the depraved."

Nagisa glared at him. "I thought I told you I won't let you touch them."

"Oh, right!" The leader threw his right hook, knocking Nagisa to the ground. "You think you're better than us? I'll drag you down to our level. Just you wait." He pressed against Nagisa's throat as he gasped.