“Sure, but it might take time. I can get back to you.”
“No, we do this now.”
I wasn’t about to let Keiko out of my sight. Miki and I pulled her into a small coffee shop and grabbed a table.
I started reading through the chats. Keiko wasn’t kidding. Kaiyo wrote about everything.
Kaiyo: Today I woke up to loud banging outside my door. At first, I thought I was dreaming, until Iron Face stormed into my room and ordered me to get up. He scared the crap out of me. He had a deranged look on his face. I swear his eyeballs were going to pop out of his head.
He was so detailed I could practically hear his voice as I read. I think I remember that morning. Iron Face stormed into my room too. Reading his messages brought back memories I’d spent over a year and a half trying to forget.
“Are you okay to read this?” Miki asked. She must have sensed it was bothering me.
“Yes, I’m good to go.”
There were also good memories. Like when Kaiyo complained to Keiko that his uniform barely fit him. I couldn’t help but smile. No matter the situation, Kaiyo had always remained upbeat. He was such a happy-go-lucky person. It was a shame what happened to him, what Reina did to him.
“I found it,” Keiko said and handed me the page.
I started to read again.
Kaiyo: You’ll never guess what Iron Face did today.
Keiko: What?
* * *
Keiko: And?
* * *
I looked up at Keiko. “Are you sure you printed the entire chat history? It looks like conversations get cut off.”
“Yeah, it happened a lot. It’s because Kaiyo had to stop or he’d get caught. We almost never picked up the same conversation.” She stood, and both Miki and I gave her a look. “What? I have to pee.”
I nodded and went back to reading.
Kaiyo: Today my chore duties are sweeping and mopping and taking the trash out of the restaurant. I like this chore because it lets me go outside the compound. Plus, I get a break from everyone.
Keiko: What are you doing now?
Kaiyo: I just got done mopping, now I’m taking the trash out. I don’t know why the staff doesn’t do this after they close the restaurant at night.
Keiko: Because they have you to do it the next day, lol.
Kaiyo: Oh, wait, you’ll never believe this.
* * *
Keiko: Are you still there?
Kaiyo: Sorry. I was taking the trash out, and this old man appeared from nowhere. Almost scared the crap out of me.
Keiko: What do you mean?
Kaiyo: He was weird looking, kind of dressed like a homeless person but not. He had long hair tied into a ponytail. And he wore a big scarf that covered the bottom half of his face. But the weirdest thing is that his eyes had no color. They were white where it should be dark.
Keiko: Maybe he had cataracts.
