RED AND THE APOCALYPSE
Chapter 65 — The Prison's Rules
Kaito's mouth hung open, his chin almost resting against his collarbone.
For several long, suffocating seconds, he simply stared at Tokita. His brain looked as though it had completely burned out, utterly unable to process the terrifying spectacle he had just witnessed.
Then, finally, he found his voice.
"Dude..." Kaito whispered, his voice cracking slightly.
Tokita looked up at him through his dark fringe, casually dusting his hands. "What?"
Kaito's eyes narrowed into intense, searching slits. "What in the actual hell... is your identity, bro? Seriously."
Tokita blinked once, tilting his head. "What do you mean by that?"
Kaito continued staring at him with a mixture of sheer awe and absolute perplexity.
Nearby, Natsuki—whose face was still pale and slick with a cold sweat— sat up slowly on the rusted bottom mattress. Having been half-delirious from the excruciating pain of Kaito yanking a bullet out of his thigh moments earlier, he glanced back and forth between the two, entirely oblivious to what had just transpired.
"Why the hell are you looking at him like he just grew a second head?" Natsuki grunted, rubbing his neck.
Kaito didn't answer immediately. Instead, he slowly raised his right hand and pointed a stiff finger directly toward Natsuki's leg.
"Dude... haven't you noticed?"
Natsuki brow furrowed. "Noticed what?"
"Your wound, man. Look at your leg."
Natsuki looked down at his thigh. For a second, his brain was so conditioned to expecting agonizing pain that nothing registered.
Then, his bloodshot eyes widened.
"Wait... what the—???"
He reached down with trembling fingers, touching the torn, bloodied fabric of his jeans right over the spot where the bullet had entered.
There was no active bleeding. No open, jagged hole. No swelling. No throbbing agony.
Nothing.
Natsuki carefully pulled the torn denim aside. His eyes expanded to the size of saucers.
"Whoa..."
He pressed his fingers directly against his bare skin. He pinched it. He pressed hard.
"My wound...!" Natsuki gasped, his voice barely a breath. He looked up at Kaito, his eyes wild with disbelief. "It... it actually healed?!"
Kaito gave a slow, exaggerated nod. "Bingo. Now the pieces are finally clicking together in that empty skull of yours, dumbass."
Natsuki stared at his own thigh as if it belonged to a ghost. "Wait, how the hell did my wound heal like that?! Did Mira come in while I was passed out?!"
Kaito slowly raised his index finger and swung it like a compass needle, pointing it directly at Tokita.
"He's the one who healed you."
Natsuki's head snapped toward Tokita with such force his neck nearly popped. His expression changed instantly into pure shock.
"Tokita...!??"
Tokita looked back at him, entirely unbothered. "Yeah?"
"Did... did you do this?"
Tokita gave a small, casual shrug. "Yeah."
Natsuki stared at him, his mouth agape. "You're the one who healed my leg?"
"Yeah."
"How?!"
Tokita paused for a moment, considering his answer.
"When?!" Natsuki pressed, leaning forward. "When did you do it?!"
"Um... just now, while Kaito was hyperventilating."
Natsuki's eyebrows shot up toward his hairline. "I never even knew your ability had anything remotely resembling healing properties! I thought you just hit things hard!"
Tokita leaned back against the cold concrete wall, crossing his arms. "Well... technically, it doesn't. But at the same time, it does."
Natsuki stared at him blankly. "What kind of answer is that?!"
Tokita raised his right hand slightly, flexing his fingers in the dim light. "My ability mostly deals with things that can't normally be grasped. Concepts. Abstract ideas that don't possess a physical form."
He looked down at his open palm.
"But if my perception allows me to grasp concepts themselves, then logically, there's no reason for it to stop at abstract thoughts. On a universal scale, almost anything can become something I can interact with. Water. Gravity. Blood vessels. Air..."
He glanced over at Natsuki, his expression deadpan.
"And apparently... the human body as well."
Natsuki's eyes widened further.
Tokita gave another light shrug. "Honestly, you're the first person I've actually tried it on."
A heavy, total silence descended upon the cell.
Natsuki stared at Tokita for three straight seconds. Then, his face slowly began to contort into a terrifying grimace.
"Wait." Natsuki pointed a shaky finger at his own chest. "So you're telling me..."
Tokita nodded calmly.
"...you used me as a damn guinea pig?!" Natsuki roared.
Tokita paused, looking up at the ceiling as if contemplating the ethics of his action. "Well... when you put it like that..." He looked away, rubbing his nose. "...yeah."
Natsuki's face flushed deep red with instant, explosive rage. "Dude! What the actual fuck is wrong with you?!"
Tokita looked back at him, perfectly composed.
"Were you trying to kill me or something?!" Natsuki's voice echoed loudly off the concrete walls, bouncing into the hallway.
Kaito winced, covering one ear.
Tokita shook his head softly. "No. As annoying as you can be, Natsuki, I wouldn't intentionally put your life in danger."
The blinding anger on Natsuki's face hovered for a few more seconds. He glared at Tokita, his chest heaving.
Then... he stopped.
His tense shoulders slowly lowered. He looked away, staring at the concrete floor.
For the first time since they had been captured and marched into this underground hell, the perpetual, prickly hostility in Natsuki's posture completely softened.
Natsuki reached up, running a hand through his messy hair and pulling it down to cover part of his face.
"...Thanks," Natsuki muttered under his breath.
Tokita blinked, tilting his head. "Huh? What did you say? Could you repeat that?"
Natsuki immediately whipped his head away, his ears turning red. "Nothing!"
Tokita tilted his head further, a small smirk tugging at his lips. "No, seriously, what did you say?"
"I said nothing!" Natsuki snapped back defensively.
"You definitely said something," Tokita retaliated instantly, his tone playful.
"No, I didn't!"
Kaito stood back, watching the back-and-forth exchange. A wide, genuine grin slowly spread across his face.
He had noticed it instantly—the fundamental shift in Natsuki. It was subtle, but it was unmistakably there. The bitter, defensive hostility that had shadowed Natsuki whenever Tokita was around had finally cracked.
It hadn't vanished completely, but it had weakened into something manageable. For the first time, when Natsuki looked at Tokita, his eyes didn't hold resentment or insecurity.
They held gratitude. And beneath that... a deep, unspoken respect.
Natsuki leaned his back against the wall. "Well..." He looked at Tokita, nodding subtlety. "Thanks for saving me, I guess..."
Tokita glanced over at Kaito.
Natsuki rubbed the back of his neck, staring at his boots. "I mean... I don't even know what to say after all that crazy shit." He turned back to Tokita, a small, genuine smile gracing his face. "But seriously... thank you, Tokita."
He looked at Kaito, then back at Tokita.
Tokita stared at both of them for two seconds. Then, his eyes narrowed into suspicious slits.
"Who the fuck are you?" Tokita asked flatly.
Kaito froze. Natsuki blinked. "What?"
Tokita pointed a accusing finger at Natsuki. "Who are you? What did you do with Natsuki?"
Natsuki stared at him in utter confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?!"
Tokita slowly turned toward Kaito, his expression completely grave. "Kaito, I think aliens have finally invaded and swapped bodies with Natsuki."
Kaito caught onto the joke instantly, snapping his fingers. "Yeah!" He nodded with deadpan seriousness. "I think you're onto something! The real Natsuki would rather eat glass than say thank you!"
Tokita nodded solemnly. "Something is definitely wrong here."
Kaito stepped closer to Natsuki, examining him like a strange specimen. "He's never sounded this polite before in his entire life."
"Exactly," Tokita replied, a tiny grin breaking through his stoic face. "Maybe the real Natsuki is currently trapped somewhere in deep space."
"Probably," Kaito agreed loudly.
Natsuki's left eye twitched violently. "Dude..."
Tokita and Kaito both looked at him with innocent, wide eyes.
Natsuki threw his hands up in absolute exasperation. "What the actual fuck?! I'm trying to be nice and thank you!" He jabbed a finger at Tokita's chest. "And you two turn it into a damn comedy routine!"
Tokita's lips twitched, fighting back a laugh.
Natsuki groaned loudly, flopping his head back. "This is exactly why I don't like thanking people for anything!"
Kaito cracked first. A sharp, booming laugh erupted from his chest. Tokita followed right after, a quiet, genuine chuckle spilling past his lips.
Within seconds, the two of them were laughing uncontrollably inside the narrow cell.
Natsuki glared at them, trying his hardest to stay angry. But as he looked at Kaito clutching his stomach and Tokita actually laughing, he couldn't stop himself. A reluctant, infectious grin broke across his face.
"You two are fucking idiots," Natsuki muttered, shaking his head.
Their laughter resonated through the small room.
For a brief, beautiful moment... the prison vanished. The oppressive guards vanished. The damp concrete walls, the bloodstains, and the rotting smell of the subterranean complex all faded away.
For those few precious seconds, they weren't captives awaiting judgment in an enemy fortress.
They were just three high school guys sharing a stupid joke. Three friends. Three idiots leaning on each other to survive the end of the world.
Then—
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
A heavy steel baton slammed violently against the iron cell bars, the deafening metallic rings shattering the moment instantly.
The laughter died.
Natsuki turned toward the cell entrance, his smile vanishing.
A guard was standing right outside the door, his face twisted into an ugly, furious scowl.
"You three," the guard spat, raising his baton to slam it against the bars again. "You three little fuckers."
Tokita, Kaito, and Natsuki turned as one, their expressions shifting back into cold, guarded indifference.
"Step out of the cell! Now!" the guard barked.
The three exchanged brief glances. Kaito let out a heavy, tired sigh. "Well..."
Natsuki grunted under his breath. "Here we go."
They stepped out through the narrow doorway into the main corridor.
The guard looked them up and down, his eyes darting into the cell before snapping back to them. "What the fuck were you three doing in there?! I heard enough damn noise from this block to wake up the whole facility!"
His eyes narrowed suspiciously, locking onto Kaito. "And what the hell was that light I saw flashing in there a minute ago?!"
Kaito raised both hands in a peaceful gesture, offering a disarming smile. "Hey, man, my bad. It was just me messing around."
The guard immediately stepped up, thrusting the heavy baton directly under Kaito's nose. "Don't fucking lie to me, kid!"
Kaito swallowed, taking a half-step back.
The guard leaned in, his breath smelling of cheap tobacco and stale coffee. "You keep causing disturbances in my block, and I'll drag you down to solitary myself. See how much you laugh in a dark box for three days."
Kaito's eyes widened slightly, holding his hands up faster. "Wait, wait, wait! No way, man. No solitary. We'll be quiet as mice. Honest."
The guard sneered, satisfied with Kaito's reaction. "Then shut your mouths and stay quiet."
He stepped back. Then, almost casually, with an arrogant smirk, he reached out and flicked Natsuki's cheek twice with his heavy fingers.
Tap. Tap.
Natsuki didn't flinch.
Slowly, agonizingly, Natsuki shifted his gaze toward the guard.
There was no angry outburst. No curse words. No sudden flare of his electrical power.
Just a stare. Cold, razor-sharp, and entirely void of human warmth.
Something about the absolute, predatory hatred radiating from Natsuki's pupils caused the guard's smirk to instantly freeze on his face. The guard's hand hovered in mid-air, a sudden, cold prickle of terror shooting up his spine.
Natsuki didn't need to say a word. The raw, lethal promise in his eyes spoke loud enough.
The guard stared at him for two full seconds, his throat working as he swallowed hard.
"Oh..." the guard muttered, his voice suddenly losing all its bravado. "Right."
He took a hurried step backward, lowering his baton. "Yeah. Just... get back inside."
He spun around on his heel and began marching down the hallway at a brisk, nervous pace, muttering loudly to himself. "Creepy little fuckers..."
Kaito immediately clamped a hand over his own mouth to smother a burst of laughter. Tokita's shoulders began shaking silently beside him.
Within seconds, both of them broke into hushed, wheezing giggles behind the guard's back.
Natsuki watched the guard practically jog away down the catwalk. A cocky, satisfied smirk returned to his face as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Yeah," Natsuki muttered under his breath. "You better run, you piece of shit."
Kaito lost it again, wheezing softly. "Bro... you scared the absolute shit out of him with just a look!"
Natsuki shrugged casually. "I didn't even do anything."
"Exactly," Tokita chuckled, brushing his bangs a little. "That's what made it ten times worse."
The three turned to step back into their cell.
But before their boots crossed the threshold... they stopped dead in their tracks.
The atmosphere around them had drastically changed.
The distant chatter and clinking of mess tins across the prison block had completely ceased.
Dozens of prisoners were now standing near the edges of their cells or leaning against the iron railings, staring silently at the trio.
And on the upper walkways above, several heavily armed guards had their rifle barrels loosely trained down on their position.
Kaito's smile vanished completely. "...We're being watched."
Tokita scanned the surrounding crowd, his dark eyes glinting behind his bangs. "Yeah. This isn't good. We've drawn way too much attention to ourselves."
Natsuki glanced up at the catwalks. "By the guards?"
Kaito shook his head softly. "Not just them." He gestured slightly toward the dark shadows of the lower cells. "The inmates are staring at us too."
Tokita's expression turned dead serious. "That's worse."
Natsuki folded his arms. "Why?"
"Because the guards already had an official reason to monitor us," Tokita explained in a low whisper. "The prisoners didn't. But now..."
Tokita's eyes swept over a group of scarred, dangerous-looking men watching them from cell four.
"...they're starting to view us as targets. Dammit... if the girls were here, they would have come up with a diplomatic plan by now. Especially Aoi. I just hope they're doing better than us."
Natsuki glanced toward the ceiling, his jaw tightening. "They're fine. Those three aren't push-overs. And as for these fuckers..." He cracked his knuckles, a sharp metallic click echoing in the quiet hallway. "...if they try anything, we all know how that story ends."
Kaito gave him a sideways glance, a dangerous smirk returning to his lips. "Of course. We'll use them to mop the floor."
Natsuki almost let out a laugh.
But then—
A massive shadow fell across the concrete floor before them.
The ambient light seemed to dim. The air turned heavy, suffocating, and cold.
Tokita, Kaito, and Natsuki slowly looked up.
Standing at the end of the narrow central aisle was a colossal figure.
He wasn't just muscular—he was an absolute mountain of a man. He stood several inches taller than Kaito, who was already the tallest in their group. His shoulders were so ridiculously broad that he practically filled the entire width of the hallway, and his head reached within inches of the overhead pipes.
For a moment, nobody in the block dared to breathe.
The giant began walking toward them.
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
Every single step echoed through the concrete facility like a sledgehammer hitting stone. Several hardened prisoners sitting in nearby doorways immediately scrambled backward into the darkness of their cells, giving the giant a wide berth.
Kaito's stance shifted, his body tensing into a combat-ready posture. Tokita remained perfectly still, his hands resting casually in his pockets. Natsuki narrowed his eyes, shifting his weight onto his healed leg.
The giant halted directly in front of their cell, looming over them like a brick wall.
He looked down at the three teenagers.
"You three," the giant rumbled. His voice was a deep, gravelly bass that vibrated in their chests. "Hey."
He leaned forward slightly, his massive shadow completely engulfing them.
"You three little rookies. Fresh meat." His face hardened, his thick brow creasing into deep valleys. "Get the hell out here."
The three exchanged swift, silent glances.
Something about this man's presence was fundamentally different from the guards or the broken, starving inmates they had seen earlier. This man didn't carry himself like a captive. He carried himself like an apex predator who owned every square inch of the dirt he walked on.
Kaito took a cautious step forward first. Tokita followed right beside him. Natsuki stepped up last, holding his head high.
The giant's dark eyes locked directly onto Natsuki's leg.
"Didn't you have a nasty-ass hole in your thigh when they dragged you through the main gate?" the man asked gruffly.
Natsuki glanced down at his clean denim. "Yeah."
Oh, shit! Natsuki screamed internally, his mind racing. I completely forgot I was supposed to be a crippled mess! Now these bastards are gonna interrogate us on how my leg magically fixed itself! Dammit, we really are total dimwits without Aoi and the girls!
Natsuki forced a nonchalant shrug. "Yeah... but it healed up."
The giant's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "Who healed you?"
Natsuki didn't answer.
The man took a heavy step forward, the floor groaning beneath his boots. "I asked you a question, kid. Who healed you?"
Natsuki crossed his arms defiance. "It doesn't matter to you."
The giant's face darkened significantly. "It matters a whole lot to me."
His sharp gaze shifted from Natsuki to Tokita, then over to Kaito.
"You're an ability user, aren't you?" the giant suddenly asked, locking his eyes onto Tokita.
Natsuki frowned.
Before Kaito could step in or say something wrong, Tokita spoke up first, his voice completely flat. "No."
The giant glared down at him. "No?"
"I'm not an ability user," Tokita lied smoothly, without a single micro-expression revealing the truth. He gestured casually toward Kaito and Natsuki. "My friends are."
The giant's brow furrowed. "So..." He shifted his massive frame, pointing a thick, scarred finger at Kaito. "...you're the one who healed him?"
Kaito caught onto Tokita's play instantly. He held his chin up and gave a firm nod. "Yeah. That was me."
It was a blatant lie—a necessary shield to keep the full, terrifying scope of Tokita's ability hidden from the prison population.
The giant stared down at Kaito for several long seconds, his expression completely unreadable.
Then, his face twisted into a fierce, aggressive scowl.
"Why the fuck are you lying to my face?!" the giant growled.
Kaito's posture stiffened. "What?"
The giant stepped directly into Kaito's personal space, towering over him. "I can feel energy, kid. Don't play games with me."
Kaito kept his mouth shut, his yellow aura humming quietly beneath his skin.
"I felt an ability flare up around you just now," the man stated coldly. He then slowly turned his terrifying gaze toward Tokita. "But... the energy signature I felt radiating from your cell a few minutes ago isn't the same as yours."
Kaito's heart skipped a beat.
He felt it...
The giant had sensed the difference. He had picked up on the hyper-dense, terrifying crimson aura that Tokita had released when he rewired Natsuki's biological system.
Natsuki immediately took a step forward, putting himself between the giant and Tokita. "It was Kaito! He healed me, alright?!"
The giant looked down at Natsuki, his patience wearing thin.
Natsuki pointed a finger right up at the giant's face. "So stop asking stupid-ass questions and fuck off!"
Dead, absolute silence struck the corridor.
Kaito's eyes widened in mild horror. Tokita slowly turned his head to look at Natsuki.
The giant's expression transformed into pure, dark fury.
FLARE!
Slowly, terrifyingly, the giant's pupils began to glow with a pale, sickening ash-colored light. The ambient temperature in the hallway plummeted, and a suffocating, heavy pressure crushed down on the air around them.
Kaito's jaw set, his yellow eyes flaring to life. Natsuki's body tensed, blue static crackling faintly across his knuckles. Tokita's eyes narrowed into sharp, deadly slits.
He's an ability user... and a powerful one at that.
The giant slowly raised his massive left arm, his claw-like hand reaching out toward Tokita's head. He didn't even need to make physical contact—the pure, unfiltered killing intent rolling off his body was a physical weight.
Tokita sensed it instantly. So did Kaito. So did Natsuki.
For a microsecond, the three prepared to unleash hell right there in the middle of the corridor.
Then—the giant froze.
His glowing, ash-colored eyes darted left and right across the catwalks.
Too many eyes were on them. Armed guards were adjusting their grips on their rifles. Dozens of inmates were watching from the shadows. A full-blown clash here would draw the entire compound's military force down on them within thirty seconds.
Slowly, reluctantly, the giant lowered his arm. The pale ash light in his eyes dimmed and died.
He looked down at the three teenagers, his voice dropping into a dangerous rumble.
"Follow me."
Natsuki frowned deeper. "What?"
The giant turned his massive back on them, beginning to stride down the corridor. "I'm going to educate you three."
He looked over his shoulder, his cold eyes gleaming in the dark.
"You're new here," the giant growled. "And clearly..." He cast a lingering glance at Tokita. "...you don't have the slightest damn clue how things work down here."
The three stood silent for a beat.
The giant continued walking toward a heavy iron gate at the far end of the block. "Come to my cell. Unless you'd rather fight fifty men at once."
Kaito looked at Tokita. Natsuki looked at Kaito.
Tokita stared at the giant's broad back as he walked away. Something about the man's posture and raw confidence communicated one undeniable truth: whatever came next... it was not going to be a friendly chat.
Tokita finally took a step forward. "Let's go."
Kaito fell into step beside him.
Natsuki let out a long, dramatic sigh. "Great. Another tour."
The three walked after the giant mountain of a man, their boots echoing against the wet floor.
Behind them, dozens of prisoners silently watched them go—some with pity, others with cruel, expectant grins.
And somewhere deep within the lower subterranean levels of the prison...
CLANG!
A set of heavy iron doors slammed shut, the metallic boom echoing endlessly through the dark tunnels.
The prison had rules.
And now... they were about to learn them the hard way.