Number Seventeen(A Nanbaka Fanfiction)

Chapter Ten: Letters From Home

"Is everything alright?" Uno asked the next morning at breakfast. "You aren't eating."

Elizabeth had been quiet and hadn't eaten any of her food. Definite warning sign. This girl could eat almost as much as Rock. If she wasn't, well, let's just say she wasn't feeling all that great.

Elizabeth nodded, twirling her fork, which had a waffle piece on it. "I'm fine. Just a bad dream, is all. I'll be better by lunch, I promise."

"Are you sure?" Rock asked. "You usually eat like me."

"I'm fine," Elizabeth insisted, clearly annoyed. "I just had a bad dream, jeez!"

Elizabeth's annoyed manner got the guys to shut up, but they didn't stop worrying. Elizabeth was their friend. Something was going on with their friend and they had to find out what.

In the guard room of Building Four, Kenshirou and Hajime were reviewing papers. Papers that Kenshirou had made when he was part of the police force. Papers that had been denied, rejected, sent away.

"Why do you think your reports were denied?" Hajime asked. "This is some very useful information."

"I assume because they either didn't care or didn't want to acknowledge something of this magnitude," Kenshirou replied.

"Makes sense," Hajime observed. "Are the files from the Thailand prison in here?"

"The one where ten inmates went missing within a month?" Kenshirou asked. "Yes, though I made those after I came to Nanba. My police reports go back several years. I became a correctional officer several years ago."

Kenshirou handed Hajime the file. He examined it, his eyes narrowing. "Ten inmates go missing in an all-female prison. Only three are ever found again."

Kenshirou nodded. "It gets worse. There are records of hundreds of inmates going missing with only a five percent discovery rate. Most of the inmates have never come back into the public eye."

"So either they're dead. . ."

"Or still being kept," Kenshirou finished gravely. "The ones that have returned are ones like Numbers Fifteen and Six-thirty-four, they have strange powers. I believe that their powers are unique to them."

"Do their powers match their personalities?"

Kenshirou shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. Six-thirty-four wasn't hot-headed as a child or even young adult and Fifteen, well, you know that he doesn't seem to be the violent type. Their powers, whatever they are, are a choice made by this organization. Also, according to both inmates, the man with the scar has something to do with it. They say that he's the head scientist."

"So sort of like Josef Mengele?"

"Exactly like Josef Mengele, except more sadistic, in a way."

"Why is this man with the scar doing this?"

"I have no clue. Though from Seventeen's account, we can only assume that Elf is the person that the man with the scar sends to find and take new specimens."

"Most likely. I do wonder what is so special about Seventeen and Fifteen. We know that Six-thirty-four had an issue with fire long before he was even arrested. Now we have to find out the hidden potential in Numbers Seventeen and Fifteen." Hajime flipped through some more papers. "Sheesh, how many inmates have gone missing?"

"I told you, hundreds."

"What's the precise number?"

"From what I can tell, up to about three months ago, about 782."

"And only five percent have ever come back? That's only 39 people!"

Kenshirou nodded gravely. "Indeed. That's why this is so terrifying. Too many inmates have been going missing. They go in waves every couple months. For the past several years, anywhere from five to twenty inmates can go missing every few months."