Kidnapped

It was one in the morning when Minezawa stumbled drunkenly into his home.

“Misaaaa, I’m hooome,” he slurred with a huge grin on his face.

The sound of footsteps carried throughout the house as Misa ran downstairs.

“Babe! I told you not to stay out late tonight!” She scolded angrily as she came up to steady him.

Minezawa swayed and stumbled as he engulfed her in a hug, “Am sowy.”

She let out a resigned sigh and lead him to their bedroom. Trying her best, she started helping him undress while muttering how he reeked of alcohol and how annoying he’s being right now. Though Minezawa was too drunk, on both alcohol and happiness, to notice his girlfriend’s frustration.

~

“Ugh…my head…” Minezawa groaned as he struggled to open his eyes.

He blinked a few times and finally mustered the energy to get up, went down to the kitchen, and was pleasantly surprised to see his girlfriend still at home.

Hugging her from behind he said, “This is a pleasant surprise. Took the day off to babysit me?”

She scoffed at him, “Whatever helps you sleep at night babe. I have a favor to ask. Why don’t you eat and we’ll talk after? It’s already 3 in the afternoon and I messaged your boss for you.”

She handed him his phone and he kissed her cheek, “Thank you, darling. You’re the best.”

Misa smiled at Minezawa and pecked his lips, “Go eat.”

He watched her walk upstairs and then pulled out his phone as he headed to the dining table to eat a late breakfast.

Minezawa

Never drinking with you guys again. You all use me for my money anyway😒

Foreversingle

Woah there big guy, not all of us are Ida🙄. And besides, last night called for a celebration. The drinks obviously had to be on the star of the night

Lightweight

I’m hurt that you two think I’m after your money😔Defend my honor @Mr. Showoff

A few minutes passed and Isuzu didn’t respond. His status showed online, but Minezawa just shrugged it off as him still being asleep and forgetting to close his ChatApp. He was about to send another message with proposal ideas when Misa walked in.

She pulled the chair opposite him out and sat, resting some documents on the table.

“Missed me already, babe?” He teased and inhaled the rest of his scrambled eggs.

She gave a light laugh and then cleared her throat as she began speaking hesitantly, “Now, I know this might be a tough ask and all, but I have no one else to turn to that I trust.” She paused for a bit, seemingly unsure of how to continue. Minezawa put a hand over hers and smiled reassuringly, “I’m sure you know that my research entails a lot of classified stuff. Normally, we’d get volunteers for this kind of thing but because of how sensitive this area of interest is we can’t just get any and everyone to do it. And even if we could, we’ve hit a wall and can’t continue.”

“I see. I don’t completely understand as I don’t know what your company is researching, but if I can help you, I’d be happy.”

Her eyes pooled with unshed tears, “Babe….thank you…this means so so so much to me.” She wiped her eyes and slid the file over to Minezawa, “Here, these contain information on the experiment. Once you’ve read it and understood everything, sign the last page.”

Minezawa brushed through the agreement, ‘Let’s see what we have here…..an experiment that uses no…nociceptive stimuli? What the heck is that? Spatial displacement protocols…..psychophysiological variances….somatic distress…?

A few minutes passed while Misa looked on as he stared at the fourth page, “Lemme guess, you saw all the fancy corporate jargon and don’t understand anything?”

“Nope,” he popped the ‘P’ and just flipped to the last page to sign.

“Want me to explain? Though I doubt I’d understand it any better, I think lawyers make things difficult to understand on purpose.”

“Babe, it's okay. And yes, they do make things difficult on purpose.” He slid the file back to her and gestured to the other, “What’s that?”

She gave an uncomfortable smile, “An NDA”

Seeing her hesitance and discomfort, Minezawa took the file from her and signed his name on the dotted lines.

“Sorry,” Misa apologized.

“No need, I know it’s not you. As the CEO in training for my parents’ company, I know how uncomfortable it can be to ask someone you love to sign certain things. You should have seen my dad’s face when he gave me that employment contract,” he joked to lighten the mood.

Misa laughed and gave him a loving smile, “Now, here are some hangover tablets. You should probably get some more rest too since you have the day off.”

He handed her the contract and took the tablets that he downed with his coffee, “You’re the best, babe.”

She frowned, “You shouldn’t drink those with coffee.”

Before she could scold him more, he hurriedly got up, “Well would you look at that, I think my bed's calling me.”

Minezawa practically ran to their bedroom as his girlfriend scolded him.

He shut the door and leaned the back of his head against it, eyes shut with a content smile on his face, ‘Mom’s birthday is next week; I think I’ll break the news to her and dad then. I’m sure she’ll be excited to finally have a daughter.’ He yawned, ‘I’ll have to put in an early leave request so I can help plan the engagement ceremony….then another….for the wedding… and then…what else was there…? *Yawn* ‘I’ll think about that later, I’m so…tired.’

~

The sound of glass shattering jolted Minezawa awake. Disoriented, he shot to his feet as steadily as he could.

“Misa?!” He called out as he opened their bedroom door. He called out for her again and again as he walked through the eerily dark corridor.

“Why the heck are all the lights off?” He muttered to himself as he tried turning on one of the light switches. “Did the backup generator conk out?” He asked himself.

Minezawa came from a relatively wealthy family, and when he decided to move out, his parents spared no expense in finding him a place to live. They had settled on a house in one of the most expensive communities around—a spacious four-bedroom luxury home complete with a pool, game room, movie theater, gym, two built-in garages, and almost two acres of yard space.

Despite its size, Minezawa had never once found the house unsettling or too empty, even before Misa moved in. A live-in housekeeper had always been there to keep everything clean, warm, and inviting, making sure the place felt more like a home rather than an oversized mansion.

Right now, however, it felt like the latter.

“Mrs. Tamachi!” He tried calling but received no response.

‘Ugh…should I just call the police? Yeah, I think I’ll do that…and grab a weapon.’

Just as he was about to turn around, a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed him, yanking him backward and sending him tumbling down the stairs.

“F***!” Minezawa cursed as he desperately tried to reach for the railing, his fingers grasping at empty air in a futile attempt to save himself. He crashed down the stairs, landing hard at the bottom. He laid curled up for a second, before forcing himself to his feet.

*BAM*

His head snapped backward as he fell to the ground once more. The impact sent a burst of white across his vision, and his ears rang as the room seemed to spin; sounds becoming muffled and distant.

He instinctively clutched his head and felt a warm liquid run down his forehead.

“Ahh!” He yelled as a foot connected to his stomach, then another and another and another. Until he was gasping for air with saliva running down his chin.

The attacks stopped; it seemed like they were giving him time to catch his breath.

“I-if its money…I can…give it to you,” He inhaled shakily. “Just leave me…and everyone….else alone…”

Minezawa was far too disoriented to realize that there were three attackers who had already encircled him. No one responded to him.

‘Shit, I need to get away and somehow find Misa and Mrs. Tamachi.’

He tried speaking again, “What…do you…want…? Where’s…my girlfriend and…housekeeper?!”

Finally, he received a response, “Don’t worry, you’re about to meet them.”

Minezawa’s eyes widened in horror, fear almost gripping him, but he refused to believe the worst had happened. If he could hear glass breaking earlier then he would’ve heard screaming too, but he didn’t. With that small sliver of hope in mind, Minezawa clutched his stomach and rose to his feet shakily.

But the men didn’t give him much time to think of or do anything, two of them grabbed one arm each as the third walked up to him. The lights from outside cast dark shadows on the man’s face, making him look more intimidating.

“Is that hope I saw in your eyes?” He mocked, “Just because they’re alive doesn’t mean they’re unharmed rich boy.”

“Whe-”

Minezawa’s sentence was cut short as the man grabbed his face and pulled out a syringe, “Your voice is annoyingly jarring rich boy. Why don’t you take a nap?”

Panic filled him as he struggled futilely. He felt the liquid seep into his veins as his head got heavy, and he fought to stay awake. But it was of no use. The man let go of his face just as everything started to go dark.

And though his life was in danger at this very moment, all he could do was muster up a weak mumble “Mi…sa….”