Rainbow: Woot! It's here! The Halloween special is here!

Wings: Sweet, the only scheduled update on your account! What do we have this year?

Rainbow: Well, since you asked… It's a fandom that's somewhat near and dear to my heart.

Wings: Which is…

Rainbow: Cuticle Detective Inaba! God I love it for reasons that don't even begin to make sense or justify it compared to other series that are probably just better, but still! Anyway, let's get going with this!

The room was dark and cold, that much the boy knew. He was about sixteen years of age and lay curled up in the corner of the room upon which he reflected. It was damp and dark, and he really did not care for it, though given his life's circumstances it was exceptionally more comfortable than previous arrangements. A small metallic rap broke the boy out of his revere and he looked up. He wasn't exactly pleased to see the scene laid out in front of him. It was simply a small messenger bot placing a metal tray on the nightstand. The boy sighed and walked over to the far corner of the room, over to the bed and nightstand and glanced down at the tray. On it was a single syringe. The boy took it and sat down on the bed. The mattress didn't budge, but the boy didn't pay it any mind either. He grit his teeth and plunged the needle into his arm. It pierced right through his jacket and skin, and he pushed the plunger until it bottomed out, its contents whirling away into his blood stream.

Kei woke up. It was a bright day outside the agency. He couldn't exactly remember what he was doing when he had fallen asleep. Hopefully, Yuuta and Inaba hadn't gotten themselves into trouble, though undoubtedly, though Kei, they had. Kei stood up and walked around the desk into the what would probably be considered the greeting area if it wasn't in a complete state of disarray. Kei sighed and started to pick the mess up automatically. Besides, there really wasn't much worth in doing anything else. He knew full well that Yuuta and Inaba were much more capable then him. Still, there was always that part of him that wished he could actually do something. He supposed that was just the mother hen inside and dismissed the thought with an air of finality, though he may have hidden a little sadness away from even himself.

Kei was done in ten minutes and glanced around the room. It suddenly occurred to him that this was incredibly boring and perhaps that was the reason he had decided to take a nap in the first place. Another sigh, this time one of regret that he hadn't gone with Inaba. At least then he would have had some excitement, even if his life was in danger as it always was for some reason. Kei turned around and walked back to his desk.

There was a package laying on it. Amidst the clutter of paperwork and disheveled office supplies, a single green box lay in the middle of the desk. Intrigued, Kei picked it up and hefted it. It wasn't particularly heavy, but it was almost certainly containing something made of metal. Kei put the box close to his right ear and shook the box. It was ticking. Kei instinctively dropped the parcel, and it fell to the ground and emitted a sound like a crack. Kei backed away, inching to the wall behind him. The room seemed to dim and the light from outside seemed to bleach the colors from the roon. When he reached the wall the package hadn't exploded, he was fine, and a sense of ridiculousness came over him. This was obviously some kind of prank, probably set up by Yuuta. The box had probably been laying there the whole time he had been sleeping and he had just failed to notice it when he had woken up. Still shaking, Kei laughed nervously and began his descent to pick up the discarded parcel. When he touched it, he felt it pulse and then it exploded.

The boy woke up drenched in sweat. His undershirt clung to his back, and he found the sensation of his sweater sliding smoothly over his T-shirt that clung to his skin faintly disgusting. He sat up and discovered he was under the covers of the bed. He glanced to his side and saw another syringe. It was full of the same liquid. He grabbed it and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. He was still shaking and the needle danced precariously over his flesh. One breath, two breaths. It was no good, he couldn't steady his hand. The boy elected to instead jab the needle into his shoulder with abandon. The same treatment was applied to the plunger.

Kei walked into the agency for the second time. For some reason he had already seen himself walk through the doors. It was quite odd having an out of body experience, Kei decided. He closed the door behind him and watched his double go about tidying the place up. Then he decided to help, though his body seemed to pay him no attention, and he was having trouble grabbing the broom which seemed to dart out of his hands every time. Yuuta walked in. Kei's body greeted him and asked if the chocolate he was carrying was for him. Yuuta laughed a little then told him to go looking in the washroom for his. Kei slumped hearing the exchange a second time. He was glad that Yuuta could joke around, but it did hurt to not even be considered. Kei shook his head and continued to chase the broom handle. It was only when Kei looked down a few minutes later that the knife in his chest became apparent. Kei whirled around and saw himself holding the handle. He probably would have spoken something about the improbability of the situation but he was too busy collapsing. In his mind's eye Kei thought he saw something like pity cross his double's face, but the room had already gone too dark to tell.

This time when the boy woke up, he opened his eyes very slowly, almost unwillingly. The dark room had become bright with lights, imaginary and fleeting but also blinding. Spots danced in front of his face and he blearily tried to grab at one. It instantly faded and a sense of how stupid he was being began to dawn on the boy. He couldn't remember how many days he had been here, but he was neither thirsty nor hungry. The youth closed his eyes and covered his head with his hands. After some time, he decided that this too was stupid and he rolled over to face the nightstand. Another needle. The boy was beginning to despise them. He grabbed the cylinder and stuck it into his arm. Them he slowly started to apply pressure and felt the liquid pour into his veins.

Kei was standing in front of a throne. The chair was straight-backed and austere. The throne was plush and festooned with all sorts of baubles. Kei blinked again. The room appeared dingy and damp. Kei blinked in disbelief. The palace was lined with his subjects. Kei blinked some more, this time the image stuck. He felt out of place in his ordinary hoodie and jeans. This wasn't the place for him, this grand hall. Kei whirled around, people all throughout the hall where cheering. Kei glanced back, a procession was making its way towards him, no. That would be silly, towards the throne, yes that was it. Kei started to move out of the way when a figure jumped out of the line and ran up to him. "What are you doing, Kei?" It was Yuuta and he was shaking Kei like a doll. "C'mon, we already rehearsed this!" Kei was silent, the rest of procession continued on its way and stopped in front of the pair. Another shadow dropped out and offered something on a pillow to Kei. Kei was choking. It seemed something had been lodged in his throat. "Kei?" Yuuta and Inaba were looking at Kei with concern. This was wrong, this place was wrong, he felt like it was wrong. Kei wanted to scream but couldn't. He clawed at his throat, desperate for some opening to relieve his thoughts. He was drawing blood, he could feel moist air beyond his throat, he broke through.

The boy bolted up and sprang out of his bed. He ran past the new bottle on the nightstand and raced for his old corner. He felt something trace down his face. Was it sweat? Or tears? Or blood? The boy didn't care, he just wanted to curl up and hide. Some instinct that something would could for him. Something would hunt him. Something would kill him.

The boy made it to his original side of the room. He sat down and stared at the bed. He saw the nightstand too and the new tray, but he refused to focus on them and instead concentrated on the dark layer underneath the mattress. He shivered. He couldn't stop looking and shaking and wondering what had happened. He was paralyzed with some primal force that held him to his dark corner. For a while, that was all he could do, stare and quake and cry and fear the completely known and yet strange truth that lay before him. He knew exactly how long he had spent in this room. It had been sixteen days.

Noah turned the monitor to face her and then glanced up and Yuuta. "Any thoughts you'd like to share?" She had grabbed a clipboard and readied a pen. "I'm always interested in what you have to say, Yuuta."

Yuuta just sat in her chair and stared at the back of the computer screen. "Y-you.."

"Yes?" Noah cocked her head to the side so that her computer glasses caught the monitor's light and flashed.

"You're sick…" Yuuta didn't move her eyes.

"That's not very nice Yuuta," Noah remarked, her grin intact. "Besides, he's the one who asked me to do this. Think he remembers?"

"What did you do to him," the Yuuta gasped. "Why would you… you…"

"What did I do? What he asked. Why? Because I'm a good friend, unlike you." Noah set aside her clipboard and stared into Yuuta's eyes. "Is it shocking to find out what happens when something you mention so off hand, so casually, becomes true? Tell me, Yuuta, tell me what it's like. I want to know what a special person feels like. Someone who's been sure of their existence and meaning and goals their whole life and yet gives no conscious thought to the ones who worry about them."

Yuuta glared right back at Noah. "You were my friend! Why would you?..." The question hung in the air.

"I'm not his friend, or maybe I am. Do you ever think about your parents, Yuuta? Do you ever think about if they're worried about you?" No response. "Yuuta, do you know what it's like to feel replaceable, not for a minute, or a day, or a month, but for your entire life?"

"Why?... What would you even gain by doing this?" Yuuta's head dropped to look at his hands. "What gives you the right to be my judge?!" Yuuta screamed. "I haven't done anything wrong! It wasn't supposed to end up anything like this!"

"What gives you the right to play God with his life?" Noah replied coolly. "But, we appear to be at an impasse, wouldn't you say? You won't answer my questions and my answers don't appear to please you." Yuuta fixedly stared at his hands. "So let me offer you a choice. It's more of an opportunity, really." Noah paused and turned the monitor around. "Kei hasn't finished his treatment yet." The boy on the screen was curled up in the corner, clutching his head. If the audio had been on, Yuuta was sure he would have heard the boy's screams. "All he needs to do is take the four pills in the bottle and he'll be fixed!" Yuuta heard Noah smirk. "So here's your choice, you can trust Kei and convince him to take his medication over the loud speaker, or I will give you the key to his room and you can try and find it. If you do, you can force feed him the pills."

"And why shouldn't I just kill you, talk to Kei, then run down and help him?"

"Because we're friends. Even now we're relying on each other. Trust is important, isn't it? I'm sure Kei would agree." Noah set the key down by the monitor. "So, what will it be, Yuuta?" Yuuta snatched the key up without hesitation. "Oh? Well then, good luck." Noah tapped a button on the panel and the room was flooded with light. A door had opened into a white, sterile hallway. "Hope you find him, Yuuta."

Rainbow: Aaaaand it's over!

Wings: What? I can't. What?! What is going on?

Rainbow: You'll never find out! Never! Well unless I write another chapter… Which isn't too far out of the question, I guess…

Wings: So basically, you've just added another story to the pile of ones you'll never finish.

Rainbow: Hey, cut me some slack! After all, isn't this supposed to be your job?

Wings: Ummm… Yeah, but you seem to like it soooo…

Rainbow: Anyway, thanks guys for reading! Be sure to have a Happy Halloween! And remember no eating razor blades!