Worthy of Love (Hajime Hinata x Reader Fanfiction)

Chapter 21

  Back in the elevator, the first obstacle presented itself in the absence of a basement floor option on the buttons. It stopped at ground floor, with nothing beneath. 

  "I highly doubt they want anyone to see there's an underground area." Peko's pale finger ran along the button pad. "I wonder if..." She touched a crease in the steel facing, tracing it to find a small rectangle outline, about the size of a billfold. "This must be something. Perhaps it needs to be unlocked."

  "Let me try." You picked out the key card and pressed it to the outline, hoping for something to happen. Your prayers were answered when the crevice glowed white, then the steel casing slid down out of sight to reveal a hidden button embedded in the face. It read B1.

  "We found it," Peko said. 

  You pressed the new button and began your descent beneath the premises.

  The room you were introduced to was a large octagonal chamber, with desks lining the walls adorned with computers. The generic ceiling lights were off, delegating the light in the room to a monitor left on. You withdrew and activated your own flashlight, unwilling to flick on the light switch to your right. You scanned the room, seeing a door on the other side of the room, plus two doors on either side, giving the room perfect symmetry. 

  "Where should we go?" you asked Peko as if she had any clue of the layout.

  "We can look at all of them. Pick one."

  You chose the door on the left. Inside was what resembled a server room, with electronic towers taking up most of the space. A solid metal door stood beyond the techno castle, but it was locked, requiring a physical key. 

  "Not much in here," you said. "Nothing we can exploit, at least." 

  Back in the chamber, you picked the door on your left. You entered what seemed to be a small observation room, with clean floors, bare walls, and huge windows. A door stood against the back wall, but your attention was drawn to what was beyond the large windows. 

  The observatory overlooked an enormous space, almost incomprehensible in size. It could've been a ballroom, or a gymnasium. Dim green light emanated from the floor and walls of the room, illuminating the room with an inexplicable source. The area was completely bare except for a strange white box in the center of the room, with wires trailing from the ceiling down to different compartments and sections of the box. On the left side of the room was a second observation deck, several feet off the ground. From what you could tell, it was empty. You noticed the unopened door connected to a staircase that descended to the ground level within the cave. It was also locked, preventing you from getting into the area. 

  "What is all this?" Peko asked. 

  "So much, yet so little. I have no idea what it's meant to be used for."

  "This is getting stranger and stranger. It's good we discovered what's going on before it got too far."

  "I hope we're not too late." 

  The final door opened into a small room with a pane of glass splitting the room in half. On your half was a mounted monitor facing the entrance. On the other half was a sink, a toilet, and a cot, with a sleeping Hajime Hinata. 

  "Hajime!" you cried, slamming on the glass. It seemed to be durable material, keeping him from escape. 

  "Huh?" Hajime awoke, lifting his head. No sooner did he see you than he scampered to the glass, pressing his hands against yours. "How...how did you get here?" 

  "Doesn't matter. We need to get you out." You began pacing the wall, searching for a door of any kind. Small, patterned holes were punctured near the bottom of the glass wall, though they served no obvious purpose. He looked like a zoo animal on display, a thought that enraged you.