Shin2 Dan: Chapter 38: Unmask (2)
Fukuda slowly opens her eyes and raise her head. But as soon as she begins to move her neck, a sharp pain caused her to whimper. She was about to raise her hand and rub the sore spot, but quickly realized that both her hands and feet are bound, with her back to a wooden pole. She tries her best to struggle, but it was all useless as the ropes are bound too tightly that red marks have begin to appear. Fukuda finally gives up and looks around at her surroundings.
The room wasn’t small, but it was narrowed by the scraps of metals around her filled the room. The stained concrete ground is filled with rusty metals. One area has various parts from an old ship, while on the other, a boat with many holes stood, filled with dust. A brown and dirtied white board next to it, but the cobweb showed how long it has been standing there without use. Some smooth fabrics are hanging all over the ceiling with small metal holes at the end, she guess masts. Some of the holes contained pieces of string that has been worn out over a year. There are natural light coming from the windows on the top of the wall, but they are too high for her to climb. And then, Fukuda realizes there’s someone next to her, Shida Mirai.
Her head suddenly hurt, but images of the events before her black out slowly gives her an idea of what has happened. She remembers now. She saw Shida being kidnap, and then she was hit unconscious.
Next to her, Shida slightly stirs and finally wakes up.
“What am I doing here?” Looking around at the strange place, Shida asks, “What is this place?”
“We’re confined, as you can see. I guess you could say kidnapping.”
“Fukuda-san?” Turning her head to the owner of the voice, Shida cried in surprise.
Hearing the sound of Shida’s voice, the door opens and a head with a Doraemon mask peek in. Noticing the two girls staring back, he turns toward the room and calls to the other two.
“They’re finally up. What should we do now? Should we contact him?”
The door swings open fully and the three kidnappers walk in, masks still on their faces.
“That wouldn’t do us any good.” The voice from behind the Fox mask, “We should wait for a good chunk of time so their parents will be even more worried. Then we can get more ransom money. You know how kids are these days, sleeping around and such.” He chuckles at his own joke as Doraemon joins in. The one in the Ultraman mask didn’t laugh, just watch the girls silently, Fukuda guesses that it could be pity.
“Who are you?” Shida asked, “And why did you bring us here? What did we ever do to you?”
Fox casually walks up to her and squats down to her height. He held her head but Shida quickly pulls her face away. This time, with more force, he grabs her again. Then he slowly moves it one way to the next.
“A pretty face like this will give us some good exchange.” He said to his companions.
Anger filled her head, Shida spits on his mask before he could turn away.
“Why you!” His fist raised, about to hit her with all his might as Shida turns away, expecting the pain, but it never come. Instead, the fist stays in mid air for a bit before it falls to his side. Shida could feel the intense stares from the eyes behind the mask.
“Hey, do I know you?” Fox said, “You seem familiar.”
“Funny.” Shida smirked, “Why would I know some kidnapper wearing a fox mask? Unless you want to show me your face, then I can answer your questions.”
Looking at her, Fox chuckles, “Such a smart mouth girl for such a pretty face. But too bad I’m not too stupid myself.”
Standing up, he signals to his companions to leave.
“Should we feed them?” The one in the Ultraman mask asked.
“Just leave them.” Fox shakes his head, “They need to realize what kind of situation they are in right now.”
“What if we need to the restroom?” Shida yelled after them.
Looking back at her, Fox taunts in a mocking voice, “Well, you can just pee on the ground.”
He laughs and turns to leave with the other two following him, leaving Shida flabbergast at his obscene suggestion.
After the door has closed, Shida turns to Fukuda, “What should we do now?” But seeing Fukuda not answering, she continues, “I’m sorry for this to happen, but we need to find a way out of here.”
Another silence answers her. Turning to the other girl, Shida snaps, “Hey, are you listening?”
“Shh, just be quiet for now.” Fukuda looks around again at their surroundings. Her brain trying to make sense of the situation in front of her.
After a while, feeling anxious at the silence, Shida asks, “Well? Anything?”
“It looks like we are somewhere near the water, like an old ship factory or something like that.”
“Well, isn’t that obvious.” Shida rolls her eyes.
“Well, where in Tokyo would you find ship factory?” Fukuda asked, “And an abandon one at that?”
“How would I know?” Shida shrugs, “I don’t visit ship factory for fun.”
“You sure are slow.” Fukuda sighs.
“What did you say?”
“I said, comparing to other slow people, you are even slower.” Fukuda smirks.
“That makes no sense. And you’re starting to make me angry.”
“Okay, think of it this way. How long does it take for us to travel from Shinrichi Gakuin to the sea?”
“Around 2 hours, at least.”
“Based on the sky, when we were kidnapped, it was 15 to 20 minutes before 6 o’clock.” Fukuda tries to explain, “At that time, light is still out. Right now, it seems like the sun is nearing, but not yet setting. Today sunset is supposed to take place at 6:59pm, so we can say that it’s around 6:40 to 6:50 right now.”
“And?”
“Think about it, I didn’t sleep much, only about an hour or so.”
“Are you saying that this place isn’t next to the sea, since it didn’t take us that long?” Shida asked.
“Yes.”
“So if we aren’t next to the sea, then we must be near a river.”
“Right.” Fukuda smiles, “And the nearest river to Shinrichi Gakuin is...?”
“Tama River!” Shida smiles at reaching the answer.
“Correct!”
But in just a moment, Shida’s triumph smiles quickly change, “Then why don’t you just directly say it in the first place? Then we don’t have to spend so much time arguing.”
“Because, it’s fun.” Fukuda smirks.
“Are you mocking me?” Shida furrows her eyes, already not liking where this is going.
“Hardly.” Fukuda laughs, “I like it. It amused me.”
Shida rolls her eyes. Of all people she has to be kidnapped with, it’s this girl who laughs at their current danger.
“I’m sorry Fukuda-san, but this is not a laughing matter. You do notice that we are being tied up right?”
“It’s alright, they won’t harm us.” Fukuda smiles, “Seems like they are hired by someone, so until the person get here, we are relatively safe for now. Also, all they want is money, though my family does not have any. On the other hand, you do. I’m guessing that’s the reason they decided to kidnap you.”
“That’s a bit obvious.” Shida shrugs.
“The problem is the person that hired them.” ignoring Shida’s comment, Fukuda continues, “What reason did he want to kidnap you? Wouldn’t it be better to just do it himself? He’ll be able to get all the money instead of dividing it four ways.”
“How should I know? Perhaps he’s the leader.”
“Well,” Fukuda shakes her head, “From their tones of voice, they sure don’t see him as the leader.”
“You are making my head hurts!” Shida cries.
“Well, whichever.” Fukuda shrugs, “At least we know where we are.”
“And how does knowing where we are going to help us?” Shida asks, “We don’t even know which part of the river this factory is located at. And even if we do, we can’t even contact anyone outside. How will we escape? Should we try yelling for help?”
“That’s going to be useless.”
“How do you know?”
Fukuda shrugs, “Well, you see, they didn’t even bothered to cover our mouths, so I’m sure they are confident that nobody is near enough to hear us and come to our help. This place must be surrounded by nothing for a way, except the river.”
Pausing, Fukuda turns to Shida, “Don’t you remember? They said, ‘They’re finally up.’, which mean they have been waiting for us for a while.”
Thinking for a bit, Shida wonders, “Wait, you mean it’s the area near Tsukahara Bridge? That’s only 15 minutes from Shinrichi Gakuin with a wide area of grass. I remember seeing some warehouses near there.”
“You’re catching on pretty fast.” Fukuda nods.
“But that doesn’t mean anything if we can’t contact the outside.”
“You’re right. It is useless.”
Shida turns to the girl next to her, irritates, “See! Your reasoning is all useless.”
“It’s true. We can’t depend on just our knowledge alone for us to escape alive.”
“Then how?”
Fukuda rests her head on the pole, “The only way for us to escape is wit and luck.”
---------------
Author's Notes: I think my writing style reflect what I was reading at the time. ^^;; I think it was Percy Jackson and the Olympians when I was writing this chapter...
The room wasn’t small, but it was narrowed by the scraps of metals around her filled the room. The stained concrete ground is filled with rusty metals. One area has various parts from an old ship, while on the other, a boat with many holes stood, filled with dust. A brown and dirtied white board next to it, but the cobweb showed how long it has been standing there without use. Some smooth fabrics are hanging all over the ceiling with small metal holes at the end, she guess masts. Some of the holes contained pieces of string that has been worn out over a year. There are natural light coming from the windows on the top of the wall, but they are too high for her to climb. And then, Fukuda realizes there’s someone next to her, Shida Mirai.
Her head suddenly hurt, but images of the events before her black out slowly gives her an idea of what has happened. She remembers now. She saw Shida being kidnap, and then she was hit unconscious.
Next to her, Shida slightly stirs and finally wakes up.
“What am I doing here?” Looking around at the strange place, Shida asks, “What is this place?”
“We’re confined, as you can see. I guess you could say kidnapping.”
“Fukuda-san?” Turning her head to the owner of the voice, Shida cried in surprise.
Hearing the sound of Shida’s voice, the door opens and a head with a Doraemon mask peek in. Noticing the two girls staring back, he turns toward the room and calls to the other two.
“They’re finally up. What should we do now? Should we contact him?”
The door swings open fully and the three kidnappers walk in, masks still on their faces.
“That wouldn’t do us any good.” The voice from behind the Fox mask, “We should wait for a good chunk of time so their parents will be even more worried. Then we can get more ransom money. You know how kids are these days, sleeping around and such.” He chuckles at his own joke as Doraemon joins in. The one in the Ultraman mask didn’t laugh, just watch the girls silently, Fukuda guesses that it could be pity.
“Who are you?” Shida asked, “And why did you bring us here? What did we ever do to you?”
Fox casually walks up to her and squats down to her height. He held her head but Shida quickly pulls her face away. This time, with more force, he grabs her again. Then he slowly moves it one way to the next.
“A pretty face like this will give us some good exchange.” He said to his companions.
Anger filled her head, Shida spits on his mask before he could turn away.
“Why you!” His fist raised, about to hit her with all his might as Shida turns away, expecting the pain, but it never come. Instead, the fist stays in mid air for a bit before it falls to his side. Shida could feel the intense stares from the eyes behind the mask.
“Hey, do I know you?” Fox said, “You seem familiar.”
“Funny.” Shida smirked, “Why would I know some kidnapper wearing a fox mask? Unless you want to show me your face, then I can answer your questions.”
Looking at her, Fox chuckles, “Such a smart mouth girl for such a pretty face. But too bad I’m not too stupid myself.”
Standing up, he signals to his companions to leave.
“Should we feed them?” The one in the Ultraman mask asked.
“Just leave them.” Fox shakes his head, “They need to realize what kind of situation they are in right now.”
“What if we need to the restroom?” Shida yelled after them.
Looking back at her, Fox taunts in a mocking voice, “Well, you can just pee on the ground.”
He laughs and turns to leave with the other two following him, leaving Shida flabbergast at his obscene suggestion.
After the door has closed, Shida turns to Fukuda, “What should we do now?” But seeing Fukuda not answering, she continues, “I’m sorry for this to happen, but we need to find a way out of here.”
Another silence answers her. Turning to the other girl, Shida snaps, “Hey, are you listening?”
“Shh, just be quiet for now.” Fukuda looks around again at their surroundings. Her brain trying to make sense of the situation in front of her.
After a while, feeling anxious at the silence, Shida asks, “Well? Anything?”
“It looks like we are somewhere near the water, like an old ship factory or something like that.”
“Well, isn’t that obvious.” Shida rolls her eyes.
“Well, where in Tokyo would you find ship factory?” Fukuda asked, “And an abandon one at that?”
“How would I know?” Shida shrugs, “I don’t visit ship factory for fun.”
“You sure are slow.” Fukuda sighs.
“What did you say?”
“I said, comparing to other slow people, you are even slower.” Fukuda smirks.
“That makes no sense. And you’re starting to make me angry.”
“Okay, think of it this way. How long does it take for us to travel from Shinrichi Gakuin to the sea?”
“Around 2 hours, at least.”
“Based on the sky, when we were kidnapped, it was 15 to 20 minutes before 6 o’clock.” Fukuda tries to explain, “At that time, light is still out. Right now, it seems like the sun is nearing, but not yet setting. Today sunset is supposed to take place at 6:59pm, so we can say that it’s around 6:40 to 6:50 right now.”
“And?”
“Think about it, I didn’t sleep much, only about an hour or so.”
“Are you saying that this place isn’t next to the sea, since it didn’t take us that long?” Shida asked.
“Yes.”
“So if we aren’t next to the sea, then we must be near a river.”
“Right.” Fukuda smiles, “And the nearest river to Shinrichi Gakuin is...?”
“Tama River!” Shida smiles at reaching the answer.
“Correct!”
But in just a moment, Shida’s triumph smiles quickly change, “Then why don’t you just directly say it in the first place? Then we don’t have to spend so much time arguing.”
“Because, it’s fun.” Fukuda smirks.
“Are you mocking me?” Shida furrows her eyes, already not liking where this is going.
“Hardly.” Fukuda laughs, “I like it. It amused me.”
Shida rolls her eyes. Of all people she has to be kidnapped with, it’s this girl who laughs at their current danger.
“I’m sorry Fukuda-san, but this is not a laughing matter. You do notice that we are being tied up right?”
“It’s alright, they won’t harm us.” Fukuda smiles, “Seems like they are hired by someone, so until the person get here, we are relatively safe for now. Also, all they want is money, though my family does not have any. On the other hand, you do. I’m guessing that’s the reason they decided to kidnap you.”
“That’s a bit obvious.” Shida shrugs.
“The problem is the person that hired them.” ignoring Shida’s comment, Fukuda continues, “What reason did he want to kidnap you? Wouldn’t it be better to just do it himself? He’ll be able to get all the money instead of dividing it four ways.”
“How should I know? Perhaps he’s the leader.”
“Well,” Fukuda shakes her head, “From their tones of voice, they sure don’t see him as the leader.”
“You are making my head hurts!” Shida cries.
“Well, whichever.” Fukuda shrugs, “At least we know where we are.”
“And how does knowing where we are going to help us?” Shida asks, “We don’t even know which part of the river this factory is located at. And even if we do, we can’t even contact anyone outside. How will we escape? Should we try yelling for help?”
“That’s going to be useless.”
“How do you know?”
Fukuda shrugs, “Well, you see, they didn’t even bothered to cover our mouths, so I’m sure they are confident that nobody is near enough to hear us and come to our help. This place must be surrounded by nothing for a way, except the river.”
Pausing, Fukuda turns to Shida, “Don’t you remember? They said, ‘They’re finally up.’, which mean they have been waiting for us for a while.”
Thinking for a bit, Shida wonders, “Wait, you mean it’s the area near Tsukahara Bridge? That’s only 15 minutes from Shinrichi Gakuin with a wide area of grass. I remember seeing some warehouses near there.”
“You’re catching on pretty fast.” Fukuda nods.
“But that doesn’t mean anything if we can’t contact the outside.”
“You’re right. It is useless.”
Shida turns to the girl next to her, irritates, “See! Your reasoning is all useless.”
“It’s true. We can’t depend on just our knowledge alone for us to escape alive.”
“Then how?”
Fukuda rests her head on the pole, “The only way for us to escape is wit and luck.”
---------------
Author's Notes: I think my writing style reflect what I was reading at the time. ^^;; I think it was Percy Jackson and the Olympians when I was writing this chapter...