April 9, 2005 - Day 2 of the 3-Day Deadline,
Kaito's Apartment,
8:47 AM.
No alarm.
For the first time in weeks, Ren woke naturally.
No blaring phone, no panic about being late, no jolt of adrenaline. Just slow consciousness.
He felt the weight of blankets, the sunlight filtering through thin curtains, painting his room gold.
Saturday morning.
For a few still seconds, he simply lay there, breathing, listening.
His ribs still ached but it was duller now, healing but far from healed. His jaw was tender on the left side, the scar on his eyebrow pulled whenever he raised his eyebrows.
His knuckles were purple and black, scabs forming where skin had split. But it was manageable. Bearable, at the very least.
"Still hurts man." Ren thought, easing himself up.
He sat up slowly, swung his legs off the futon, and planted his bare feet on the cold floor.
The apartment was quiet except for the muffled sounds of a neighbor watching a TV show and someone's dog barking downstairs.
