The New Ajin

Chapter Ninteen

Maybe Kei did have a heart somewhere under all that coldness.

He did end up giving Kou and I a television, it was a small ipad, but it got the job done. He also gave Kou his manga. He was about to leave again when Kou had stopped him by shouting, "are you really not going to do anything?"

Kei widened the top and poked his head through, "How can we stop him?"

"It's obvious. We fight!" Kou shouted.

I groaned and placed my face in my hands. That answer was so childish, was not even a real plan. In all honesty, I did not have one but nothing would have been better than "we fight".

"I feel stupid for asking you," Kei said.

He had then looked at me. I was still sitting on the floor, at the time I was doing sit ups and Kou was working on his push ups. From our time in here we had improved greatly. I was working on two hundred off my knees and Kou could do a strong fifty. After fixing his technique, he no longer looked like a five year old girl.

"What would yo do?" Kei asked.

"If you would let me out of this stupid metal box, I would," I did not know how to finish that sentence. Well, I did but Kei did not need to know that I would find Noaki and run away with him. That is what my heart wanted the most, to be back with him.

"You can't even finish that sentense. Well, at least you didn't give me a dumb answer like that one," he started to close the lid again.

"Wait! I know where Sato's hide out is!" Kou shouted, "how about we report it to the police!"

That answer was far more intelligent then "we fight". Yet still, I was sure Sato had moved locations after two people escaped.

"There's no way he would be in the same place after letting you two escape," Kei said my thoughts.

"Listen to me, Nagai, when I meet Sato, he said mass murder. Even if the police tried to interfere, an ajin can kill anyone they want. Sato's really gonna do it!" Kou shouted.

"Probably." Kei aggreed.

"But if they can go crazy because they think they are ajin, so can we," Kou motioned towards himself and me, "if we work together we can have a chance to stop him."

"There's no point," Kei said, "first of all, there's no doubt that he's been through some high-level combat training. We can't 'just fight', we won't win."

"Then why are you training with that black monster!" Kou countered, "weren't you planing on fighting with that thing?"

"That was just curiosity," Kei replied calmly. It felt like his face held no emotion. His face was always neutral and his voice was in monotone.

"It't important to know what you can and cannot do," Kei added, "whether it is related to fighting or not."

"So you're really not planning on fighting?" Kou looked down disappointed.

"I enjoy my life here," Kei said, "a nice relaxing life. I have no intention of throwing that away."

It was hard for me to not agree with him. If I had never found out I was an ajin I would be in America right now, taking a picture of Naoki in a cowboys hat. He would be begging me to ride a bull or to heard cattle and I would try to talk him out of it but most likely fail. I do not know where we could even go to ride a bull but I'm sure Texas has it somewhere.

I would have found my biological mother and have answers to questions I did not know I needed until she wrote to me. She would be pretty because, y'know, I am pretty. Maybe she would be sorry she had given me away and beg me to stay with her. Naoki and I could start a new life in America, land of the free.

I could be free, not in this stupid truck.

Kou, on the other hand, did not see it that way.

"So you don't care, as long as you are okay?" he asked through gritted teeth. His hands were clenched into fists and he was looking away disgusted.

"That's what everybody thinks, isn't it," Kei said. I bit the inside of my cheek.

"No!" Kou yelled.

"Baka," Kei then closed the top and we were covered in darkness once more.

I was sure that Nagai Kei had a heart. It must have been there somewhere, it must have cared at some point of his life. He must have loved, how could a human not love?

Kei and I were similar in a few ways. We could both read situations. We could plan out the better path to take. Where I take in emotion as a factor, he did not.

That was our biggest difference. I had left Naoki, not because I did not care for him, not because he would slow me down, but because I did not want to curse him how I was. He deserved a better life than this one I was stuck in. We would have to be constantly running away in fear. He should not have to do that. Not for me.

I constantly asked myself in this metal box if I would have done it again. Left him. In my heart, the answer was no, but after thinking it out in my brain, the answer was yes.

Another question was, was this mission with Kou even worth it?

I had to ask myself this as we tried to sleep. If I had wondered this while we were awake, I know I would have stared at him, and if I stared at him, he would be able to tell what I was thinking. Kou was good at that, at least, reading me. I was not sure if reading people was a gift for him or I had a hard time shadowing my thoughts.

Kou was not the smartest person but he had actually inspired me to "save the human race". He held so much passion that for a split second I thought he was actually going inspire Kei to let us out.

A split second.

I wish I was not an ajin int he first place, but since I could not help that, I would need to do what was right.

I had done so much wrong in the past. I had stolen, smoked weed, drank alcohol, gotten into illegal activities.

But now I was given a chance to do right.

First, though, I had to get out of here with that dimwit Kou.