Limitless

Chapter 9: Suspicions Rising

Anything in italics are flashbacks.

Kaito felt a lot better when he and Shuichi exited the bathroom. Thankfully, no one was looking at Kaito like they had done after his outburst. They all decided that Shuichi could handle everyone and went back to their own business. Kiyo was gone, most likely escorted to the lab for his turn. Kaito will have to find him later to apologise for what happened. Both he and Shuichi went back to where Kaito was sitting. As Kaito sat down, Shuichi started to rummage through the board games. He probably thought that a game of something might help Kaito feel more relaxed. Now that Kaito thought about it, playing a game does sound good right about now.

"Everything okay?" Kaede asked as she sat down at the table.

"Yeah. Kaito just got a little freaked out." Shuichi answered, placing a game down on the table.

"Don't worry, Kaito. Kiyo doesn't mean to do it, but he does scare people a little when it comes to his powers." Kaede smiled sympathetically as she remembered the first time Kiyo spoke to her about a spirit wanting to talk to her. Kaito smiled back, albeit a little wobbly. He looked back down at the paper in front of him. He still needs to write this letter. Maybe he'll just tell his grandparents that he's okay and he's made new friends. The last thing that he needs to do is to scare them with the experiment that he went through. He was about to make a start when someone suddenly looked their arms around his shoulders from behind, causing him to let out an involuntary yelp.

"Were you scared, Kaito?" Kokichi laughed, revelling in the result of his childish prank. Kaito ignored him, but it didn't stop him from being nosy. "Hey! Hey! What you doing there Kaito?"

"Should you not be touching me?" Kaito said, trying to hold back a laugh as he remembered his first day in the Facility.

"I already touched someone else a minute ago. I won't be able to have your powers for another hour or so." Kokichi said, sounding disappointed. Kaito normally wouldn't be convinced as the boy has lied so too many times for him to count. However, seeing as how Kokichi wasn't flying uncontrollably right now, Kaito had to take his word for it. "So what are you doing? Come on! Tell me!"

"Not that it's any of your business, I'm writing a letter." Kaito sighed, giving up. He knows that if he doesn't say anything, Kokichi will just keep digging until he gets what he wants.

"To who?" Shuichi asked as he was in the middle of setting up the game.

"My grandparents." Kaito answered, not looking up at his new friends.

"You're allowed to write letters to your family?" Shuichi asked again, his voice laced with confusion.

"Yeah. Just like everyone else." Kaito shrugged absentmindedly, again not even noticing how confused his friend was.

"Kaito, we don't get to write letters to our families." Kaede suddenly said, her voice laced with sadness and confusion.

"What?" Kaito exclaimed, his head snapping up so fast that he's surprised that it didn't detach from his body. He finally saw the looks that his friends were now giving. Minus Kokichi, they looked confused and hesitant to answer his question. Shuichi and Kaede were glancing each other uncomfortably. This was the first red flag.

"I don't know what White had promised you, but it was obviously a lie." Kokichi suddenly interjected, smiling like he had won the lottery. Red flag number two.

"Kaito, no one here contacts the outside world. We're not even allowed outside." Shuchi added after an uncomfortable minute. "The last time I spoke to my uncle was as I was going to school one morning. Three years ago." The third red flag was getting ready to be raised. No one contacts the outside world at all? No one goes outside? Kaito suddenly glanced around the Lounge Area. He noticed an insect magazine that Gonta was looking at, and saw that it looked really old, creases along the magazine. The book that Maki was reading too seemed old and read many time before as there were clear and evident creases along the spine. The cartoon that Miu was currently watching was a mech cartoon that Kaito had seen before. The problem was that it was when he was a little kid and the show had stopped years ago. They don't even repeat it anymore. Come to think of it, cartoons and documentaries that aired years ago were the only things that played on the TV. No news broadcasts or new shows. It was like time had stopped down here.