Clack, clack, clack…
Mm…?
The noise sounded far away at first as I slowly woke up.
Huh? What was I doing again…? I think I went to buy ingredients for dinner with Minatsu and the other girls, but we had to go back, and… Oh!
Kotone got kidnapped!
I opened my eyes as much as I could.
“Asuka, are you awake?”
“Kouzuki.”
I could see Kotone and Minatsu in front of me.
“Kotone and Minatsu! You’re all right…! Ouch!”
I tried to get up, but I winced at the pain spreading down my neck.
“Don’t get up too quickly. Your neck’s all red and swollen.”
My neck was warm, too. Though I didn’t manage to see him, the guy who popped out of nowhere behind me was the one who did this. He managed to get me before I even sensed he was there.
Sure, I wasn’t focusing as much as I should have been, but I’m supposed to be Red… I can’t believe he got me like I was any other regular girl…
I bit my lip out of frustration.
The same goes for Kotone. If only I’d realized what was going on a few seconds earlier, she may have been able to escape. But instead…
“Does it hurt, Asuka?” Kotone looked over at me worriedly.
“No…” I quietly shook my head.
I can’t call myself Red like this…
I could feel my eyes welling up with tears as I bit my lip even harder.
“What, just one failure and you already want to call it quits?”
Kei?!
I couldn’t help but look around, but…there was no way he was there. I didn’t have my earpiece in, so I couldn’t have heard his voice just now.
But his words woke me up anyway.
I know Kei would never quit—that’s for sure. He’d think of a way to bust us out of here!
“No more regrets!”
I spoke to the two at a normal volume, and they looked back at me, surprised.
“Asuka…?”
I slowly propped myself up.
I’d better figure out how hurt I am, first. My neck…hurts, but I can deal with that. My hands are tied behind my back, and it doesn’t look like I can break out of that. My legs…are not tied up, so they can still move.
I bet they skipped my legs because they thought I’m just some kid. Yeah, you guys are gonna regret that later.
Next, I need to figure out where we are.
There are a bunch of cardboard boxes in this room, so maybe we’re in some sort of storage space? There’s one door and a small window near the ceiling; that’s where the light is coming in.
If we’re gonna bust out of here, it’s gotta be through the door, but they definitely have someone guarding it outside.
Okay! I think I’ve figured it out.
I may not be Kei whipping up escape plans left and right, but I can at least figure out my surroundings.
Clack, clack, clack.
Hm?
The noise I heard when I woke up was still there. It was Kotone, tapping what sounded like a pen on the concrete floor.
The pattern seemed to be random, instead of any specific rhythm.
“Does this bother you?”
Kotone saw me watching her hands, and she turned around to show me what was indeed a pen.
“It’s just a good luck charm.”
A good luck charm? That’s not what I’d expect from you in this situation…
“Asuka and Minatsu, I really am sorry you two had to get caught up in all of this,” Kotone said, bowing her head down and looking at the ground.
“H-hey, don’t say that. I mean, you got kidnapped too.” I stumbled over my words to try and respond.
“But it was me they were after. I never thought in a million years they would try something like that in broad daylight. This is all my fault, and I’m very sorry about this.”
“Do you think we’ve really been kidnapped…?” Minatsu asked, and I could tell she was scared. She wasn’t panicking, but you could tell she was trying not to cry.
“Yes. The culprits have kidnapped me to demand a ransom—or something else—from my grandfather. They’ll come for me when the time comes, and when they do, I’ll make sure to have them set you two free. So you don’t need to worry.”
You’re too hard on yourself. This isn’t your fault, Kotone.
“What’ll happen to you when they free us, though?”
“I’m the hostage they want the most, so they probably won’t do anything too severe… Hibiki is there for me, too.”
Hibiki… He was zapped down by the stun gun. I wonder if he’s okay. He seemed a bit off even before the attack.
“Hibiki is that boy detective, right? The guy who kidnapped you seemed to walk right through him.” Minatsu sounded annoyed, but Kotone didn’t let that get to her and smiled back.
“Yes, but it’s all right. I know he will come to my rescue… Like he used to.”
Used to?
“Did something happen to you two when you were little?”
“It did… Seeing as we have some time on our hands, would you like to hear a little story?”