What does it feel like to have a friend you can trust with your life? That's the question the men living in the house of Aicle thought they knew the answer to. But they discovered that they were wrong. Their friends were not people that they could trust as much as they thought they could.
~X~
"If something ever happens to Keita or me, I trust that you will get rid of whoever is responsible for it." Emiru was speaking to his dear friend Leon.
"Do you really think that something bad will happen to either of you?" Leon asked with slight curiosity.
Emiru shook his head just a little."I feel that we can never be fully sure of our safety. I don't know why, but I keep having bad feelings, like something terrible is about to happen."
"Alright." Leon nodded once."I'll deal with whoever is responsible if anything so bad should happen to either you or Keita. I promise."
Emiru smiled softly at his best friend."Thank you. In return, I make the same promise to you, my dear friend."
~X~
Keita made his way to Emiru's bedroom in the middle on the night and knocked on the door before stepping in quietly."Emiru.." he spoke softly."Are you awake..?"
Emiru has been lying in his bed. However, he was still awake, his mind swarming with thoughts of the things he needed to get done tomorrow. Upon hearing Keita's sweet voice, he sat up and looked toward the other."Yes, Keita. Do you need something?"
These two were secret lovers. They hid their relationship. Only Leon know because he was the one person Emiru trusted the most."Well, um.." Keita fidgeted with his fingers uneasily."I need to ask you about something.."
"What is it?" Emiru was a bit confused. What did Keita need to ask him? Was it so important that he couldn't wait until morning?
"It's about Rubi.." Keita was having some discomforting thoughts about the short blond."You've been spending a lot of time with him lately..Do you..like him..more than me?" Keita felt so jealous of Rubi. Why was he getting so much attention from Emiru?
Emiru blinked a few times at the other before answering."Of course I don't like him more than you. He and I just have a couple similar interests that we like to discuss. He's just a normal friend." He got off of his bed and stepped in front of Keita."You don't need to worry. I'm in love with you and no one else. That won't ever change."
Those words brought a relieved smile to Keita's face and made him feel a little foolish."Okay. I didn't mean to worry. It just bothered me a little.
Gently taking Keita's hand in his own, Emiru led him over to the bed."Well then, why don't you let me wash away those little worries?" He lovingly kissed Keita's lips as he guided him down onto the bed.
~X~
The next morning, Keita sleepily made his way to the kitchen for breakfast, yawning quietly as he made a couple pieces of toast. Saran was sitting at the table, munching on a strawberry pop tart."Good morning, Saran." Keita greeted his friend.
Saran didn't seem happy this morning."Hm. You look like you need some more sleep." He narrowed his eyes at the other."Have a rough night?" His tone was more like a hiss.
Did he know?"Uh, yes, I suppose.." Keita grew worried. Did Saran know of his relationship with Emiru? He needed to change the subject."Where is Emiru?" he wondered."Did he go out?" Emiru hadn't been there when Keita had woken up.
"He's just hanging out with Rubi." Saran stated factually."As usual."
There it was again. The thing that Keita was worried about. Emiru had told him that he didn't need to worry, but that wasn't good enough. That didn't get rid of all his jealousy. So he did what he has to do. Leaving the kitchen, he sneaked into Rubi's bedroom. Grabbing the apple that was on the blond's desk, he took it to his own room. That's where he did it. He filled a syringe with poison then injected it into the apple. Hiding the syringe and poison, he returned the apple to Rubi's desk."Now he won't steal Emiru from me."
~X~
Emiru waved to each of his friends as he headed out of the house. He had some things to get done that would take up most of the day. He knew that he probably wouldn't get back home until nightfall. Keita was the only one who didn't say goodbye to Emiru as he left. Keita was sitting outside behind the house. He was thinking about what he had done to Rubi's apple. How would he act when the others would discover the blond's lifeless body? Would he be able to hide the truth from everyone? Maybe. Emiru was the only person who knew that Keita owned poison.
As Keita thought he had no idea what was about to happen. Saran was looking for him."Do you know where Keita is?" Saran asked Leon.
Leon was currently sitting in the living room, eyes glued to a new book he was reading."Keita? It he's not in his room, he's probably outside. He tends to sit out behind the house a lot."
"Okay." Saran made his way outside, being as quiet as possible. He was making sure Keita would not hear him coming. As he crept closer, sneaking up behind the other male, all his hatred and jealousy boiled of him. Before he knew it, he had pulled up the fishing twine that he'd been hiding behind his back and begun to strangle Keita. Keita swung his arms in attempts to hit Saran and save himself but to no avail. Saran kept the twine tight about the other male's neck until the struggling ceased. After Keita's body went limp, Saran went back into the house and to his bedroom. He did not feel guilty about what he had just done."Now he's out of my way." Saran had known about Keita's secret relationship with Emiru. How could he now know? Those two tried to hide it, but it was clear to Saran that Emiru favored Keita and cared for him more than anyone else. Saran was so jealous. He wanted Emiru to be his own.
~X~
After a while, Leon had grown bored with the silence in the house. Maybe he should start a conversation with one of his friends. However, as he was getting up from his chair, the side of his shirt got snagged and tore just a bit."Ah, great." Leon rolled his eyes and went to Rubi's room. After knocking once, he opened the door the door, seeing the other sitting at his desk. He seemed to be working on a puzzle. Rubi spent much time with puzzles from various puzzle books."Hey. Rubi." Leon spoke to get the others attention.
Rubi looked up from his puzzle and smiled."Oh, hey, Leon." Noticing the tears in his friend's shirt, he chuckled lightly, obviously thinking it was funny."Did your shirt get snagged on that old chair again?" He received a nod in reply."We should just get a new chair. Why do you insist on keeping it?"
"It's my favorite chair. We're keeping it." Leon said then dismissed that topic."Do you have any black thread I can use to fix my shirt?"
"Let me see." Rubi opened one of his desk drawers and looked through the different colors of thread he had."No, sorry. Keita should have some though."
"Okay. Thanks anyway." Leon closed Rubi's door and headed to Keita's room. knocking then peeking inside, he did not find him."Maybe he's out back." Heading outside and behind the house, he was shocked by what he saw. Keita's body was lying lifeless on the ground, thin red lines around his neck. Leon quickly covered his mouth with his hand to keep himself from making any loud noises. Whoever killed Keita might still be nearby. But who could have done this? Who would kill a nice person like Keita? Leon had an idea. Could it have been Saran? Did he do this? Saran had been the last person with Keita. Now that Leon thought about it, Saran did seem to be struggling with some jealousy lately. Leon had noticed his hateful gazes that were always directed at Keita.
Leon knew what he had to do. He ran inside as fast as he could, running straight to his bedroom. In a box beneath his bed was a gun. he retrieved and loaded that gun before silently making his way to Saran's room. The fact that he was about to shoot a close friend pained him. However, what hurt even more was the fact that the friend he was about to kill had murdered an even closer friend. Despite their friendship, Leon could not forgive Saran for killing Keita. Also, he had to keep the promise he made to Emiru. Opening his bedroom door as quietly as he could, he aimed the gun at Saran, who was gazing out his window.
Seeing, Leon's reflection in the window, Saran spun around. He was not given a chance to plead for his life. Three shots were fired. The last thing Saran saw before he collapsed to the floor was Leon turning away from him. Leon could not stand to see a friend dying by his own actions.
~X~
Rubi was absentmindedly chewing on the back end of his pen as he thought about the puzzle he was working on at the moment. This one was really challenging, but that's what he liked. He enjoyed challenges that made him think very hard. As he was thinking, his concentration was broken by the sound of someone running through the house. Who was running? Why? Rubi shrugged his shoulders, not really thinking much of it. Running didn't necessarily mean anything was wrong, so he pushed those thoughts aside and got back to his puzzle. Then, his concentration was broken again. This time, he was startled by the sounds of gunshots. Who was shooting? more importantly, who might have been shot?
Rubi opened a desk drawer and pulled out a knife. he always kept it there, just in case of an emergency. Leaving his room, he was freaked out by the silence."Keita!" he called but received no reply."Saran!" Still nothing."Leon!"
Leon was still in Saran's room, trying to calm himself. He couldn't stop shaking. When he heard Rubi coming, he didn't know what to do. He would need to explain what had happened. Leon heard Rubi step into Saran's room behind him and spun around in time to see his friend charge at him."Rubi, wait!" Leon's words were too late.
Rubi had stepped into Saran's room and saw someone with a gun. Instantly, ha reacted, attacking the other. Only after plunging the knife into his chest did he realize who the person was."Leon..!" He caught Leon as he fell. Glancing over, he saw Saran lying dead on the floor."Why..?" He didn't understand.
"He..Keita.." Leon was finding it hard to speak."I had..to..keep my..promise..Didn't..want to.."
"What promise?" Rubi didn't get answers. Leon died in his arms. Gently lying Leon down onto the floor, Rubi was shocked. He couldn't believe he had just killed Leon. He and Leon had known each other since they were kids. He was Rubi's best friend. Unable to handle the sight, Rubi went back to his own room to think. He paced around his room. Why would Leon shoot Saran? Where was Keita? How would he explain all this to Emiru? These were the things he was trying to figure out. While thinking, he grabbed the apple off of his desk and began to eat it. Munching on something always helped him think. After a few bites though, he stopped and looked at the apple. Why did it taste odd? Soon, his body began to grow weak and ache terribly. He now knew why his apple tasted odd. It was poisoned. How could he explain things to Emiru or let him know what had happened before dying? Going to his desk and grabbing his pen, he wrote down a few words on a page in his puzzle book, hoping Emiru would see it and understand.
~X~
That evening, Emiru returned home. When he stepped inside, he was greeted by nothing but silence."I'm home!" he called, receiving no answer. Maybe everyone was asleep. Though, that would be odd. It was a bit early for everyone to already be sleeping. heading to Rubi's bedroom, he knocked twice before entering."Rubi?" he was quiet, just in case his friend was sleeping. Then, he saw Rubi on the floor by his desk."Rubi!" Emiru ran over and checked for a pulse. Rubi was dead. By the color of his lips, Emiru could tell that he had ingested poison. Why? Was it intentional? Had Rubi committed suicide? Or had someone poisoned him? Spotting the apple nearby, which was slightly discolored on the inside from poison, the answer became obvious. Who would poison Rubi? The first person he thought of was Keita. Emiru didn't want to accuse the one he loved of killing a friend, but he knew that Keita had been jealous of Rubi. And Keita was the only one who owned poison. Emiru had told Keita that Rubi was just a friend and he didn't need to worry, but maybe that hadn't been enough for him.
Turning to leave the room to search for Keita and the others, Emiru noticed some large, hastily-written words on a page in Rubi's puzzle book. Reading what had been written, he was shocked."Killed Leon. He killed Saran. Didn't want to." he read aloud. Rubi killed Leon? Leon killed Saran? He didn't want to? why would Leon kill Saran if he didn't want to? Wait a minute. Maybe Saran did something to Keita, so Leon had to keep his promise. Emiru rushed out of Rubi's room and went to Saran's room to see for himself. There he saw Leon and Saran both dead. Rubi's knife was deep in Leon's chest. Leon's gun was by him, and Saran had been shot. Where was Keita? Emiru hurried to Keita's room but didn't find him, so he ran outside. he knew his lover loved to spend much time behind the house.
Emiru froze at the sight of Keita's lifeless body. He was still so cute, even after death had taken him. lifting his dead lover into his arms, Emiru carried him inside and to his bedroom. After laying the dead male on his bed carefully, he went to Keita's bedroom and searched around for the poison he knew the other had. When he found the poison and syringe, he went back to his own room and laid down beside his lover. He knew that he could not go on living. His friends had killed each other. They were all dead, including the one person he loved so dearly. Injecting himself with poison, he let death take him, dying beside Keita, the man he loved.
So much for trust.