Hello everyone! It's me again, with a new story! Like the summary says, it's set after the events of The Phantom. I'd love to say "but it's fine if you haven't read it" except I can't because both are so tightly linked that you'll probably be completely lost. Also, if you have read the Phantom I hope you remember it well because I have a tendency to use tiny details. But don't be afraid, I'm sure it will be fine!

Enjoy the ride!

Chapter 1: Welcome To My Nightmare

Megumi was going back to Japan. After all those years he spent with her in Paris, it seemed weird for Souma to see her leave. Of course, he was happy for her. She deserved to be a chef and the master in her own kitchen, if not her own restaurant. And Inui had really given her a great opportunity when she offered her to be the chef in her new restaurant in Japan. Especially given how much his friend missed her family these days…

It felt like yesterday when the redhead first met her in the Trattoria Aldini and started teaching her recipes to challenge Takumi through her. And yet, it was something like six years ago already. Time sure was flying…

He smiled as he saw Alice talking to her excitedly, while Ryou watched her with his usual, indifferent look. Their restaurant was finally getting the success it deserved, and it had become more and more popular through the years. How they managed to finally find a proper balance in their respective styles, Souma didn't know. But Takumi and he went there regularly and he knew for a fact that it worked extremely well.

"Looking at those two sure makes me nostalgic of when you were still working with me…" Takumi remarked.

Souma turned to him with a smile. He couldn't agree more. At least he got to see him more often back then… Sure, they saw each other at home ever since they moved in together, but the redhead still found himself missing his partner's presence in the kitchen with him, from time to time.

"You know it wouldn't have worked," he still opposed. "It was always your place, and your family's place. We wouldn't have been equals there."

"And you love challenging me way too much… So yes, it wouldn't have worked in the long run," the blonde agreed.

"I love challenging you? I think you do it almost as often as I do!"

"You started it!"

"I'm pretty sure you did."

That argument was almost as old as their relationship itself. Neither of them could remember who challenged the other first. At some point, it stopped even being a habit. It was more of a ritual between them now. Even better than morning kisses in a way, because no matter how silly it was, it was theirs, and theirs alone.

"By the way, how is your new aide?" the redhead suddenly asked.

"She's doing fine. She still has a few things to learn, but Marco and I agree that she has potential."

"See? You're worried every time someone leaves, but you always manage to find good replacements."

"Sure, but that's still troublesome. Why can't I find someone who stays?"

"Because you're too good at finding talented cooks?"

"Maybe…" Takumi replied thoughtfully. "But still, I don't like worrying about the kitchen staff leaving all the time. I know it's better than worrying about them making a mistake whenever I'm not here to check on them, but that's still annoying. I mean, even Marco! He's so perfect I can't picture him staying forever, and then how will I replace him?"

"The same way you replaced me with him when I left?"

"Right. It makes me even prouder of him, when I think about it. I thought I'd always complain about him not being as good as you are, but he's an awesome sous-chef and I'm never worried whenever I have to leave the kitchen to him."

"I wish I could say the same about Mitsuru…"

"Hey, at least you have Takako. And Misturu is good at communication, so he's still a great asset."

"If only he was as focused on cooking as he is on taking pictures of the dishes, he'd be a wonderful chef…"

"But he admires you a lot, so at least you won't have to worry about him leaving," Takumi pointed out. "Just give him some time to adjust, he's still young and he hasn't been here for long."

They were deep in their conversation when Megumi approached them. As they saw her, they immediately dropped the subject to include her. There were many people she had to talk to before the end of her farewell party, and they wanted to enjoy her presence as much as they could.

"By the way, I talked to Gin recently," the redhead announced. "He said that he'd be happy to see you once you're in Kyoto. Also, he told me to remind you that you can talk to him anytime if you have troubles with something."

"Thank you, Souma. I'll keep that in mind."

"So he's back to his old job?" Takumi inquired.

"Not exactly, but he's found something similar. He says it's even better since it gives him more freedom than his previous job."

"What about your father?" Megumi inquired. "Is he still traveling around?"

"Not at the moment. He said he was tired of it and went back to his old restaurant, so you might see him when you arrive. I don't know how long it will last though, you know how he is…"

"I don't know many chefs who can leave their restaurants like that for months at end, and still come back with as many customers as when they left…" Takumi marveled.

"I know. I wish I could do the same," Souma sighed.

"Because you'd leave me behind for months?" the blonde asked with an indignant look.

"You could come with me…"

"I can't leave the Trattoria like that, customers or not."

"I could leave for shorter periods."

"Right…" he half-agreed, still looking pretty skeptical about it.

"Hey, why don't we go to Japan together when Megumi is fully settled?" Souma suddenly offered.

"That's a wonderful idea," Takumi replied with a lot more enthusiasm.

"I'd love to see you there," Megumi agreed.

Still, Souma couldn't believe she'd be leaving in less than a week…

"I'll miss you," he sighed.

"I'll miss you too… All of you," she replied with a sad look.

"But Yuuki and Ryoko sure will be happy to see you again," Takumi reminded to cheer her up.

"Sure! They told me they have planned lots of things for when I arrive. I'm quite curious about it, since they wouldn't give me details," she explained with a smile.

She's grown up so fast… the redhead mused, unable to tell if he was joking or not.

They left with promises to talk often, but Souma knew he was terrible at keeping in touch. Hopefully, Takumi would remind him to do it. He was way better at it, being much closer to his family than him. And before she left, maybe he could organize something just for the two of them, if she wasn't too busy. She was his best friend, after all…

.

As he had planned, Souma had a lot of troubles replying to Megumi's emails. He absolutely had to do it though, the last one had been sitting in his inbox for weeks already. But… he also had to test a new recipe. Life was made of tough decisions, and since Takumi was in Tuscany for the week with his brother, the redhead obviously chose the recipe. His boyfriend was probably going to scold him for that later, especially since he had just reminded it to him this morning, but that would be later. Now, it was cooking time. He had the restaurant all for himself, and he was going to make the best of this quality him-time.

He gathered his ingredients, took care of the prep work, and turned on the stove.

According to the newspapers, the explosion could be seen in the whole neighborhood. The cause of the accident couldn't be determined.

.

The surroundings of the crime scene were crowded when Takumi arrived. Fortunately, the agents recognized him from afar and managed to open a way for him. Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes stood in the blood stained kitchen, and they were obviously at their wits end. Good thing he'd just solved the Mystery of the Tofu Diamond and was free for this new case.

"What do we have here?" the blonde asked coldly, indifferent to the flesh and blood covering the walls and counters of the kitchen.

"It's obviously a criminal explosion," Sherlock replied.

"We don't have any proof of that, Sherlock. Use your grey cells," Hercule countered. "All we know is that the explosion occurred between 12:65 and 78:99 AM. More or less a duck sandwich. Apparently, the poor man covering the walls is the only victim. There was no one else around when it happened, according to the witnesses."

"I see," Takumi replied as he took a bit of flesh from the counter to closely examine it. "Except that … this isn't human flesh!"

Everyone in the room gasped loudly at the revelation. He continued:

"That particular color can only belong to minced beef. It's prime quality. Quite a waste, if you ask me…"

Everything was so clear to him. And he loved the way the detectives were looking at him in awe.

"This pink-greyish thing here," he said, pointing at the brain parts, "is obviously lamb brains. Again, top quality. It could have been so tasty with just a bit of butter and herbs…"

He continued his inspection, and finished with the most obvious part.

"And here, sirs, what you thought was human flesh and blood is nothing more than a Bolognese mixed with a bit of red wine. My colleague Isami could probably tell you where the wine comes from exactly, but he's working on another case at the moment. We can always take samples for later. My personal opinion is that it could go quite well in a bœuf bourguignon, however."

He turned back to the two detectives with a stern frown.

"So as you can see, your victim is nothing more than a bunch of ingredients scattered everywhere in the room to look like human remains. Which can only mean one thing: the person who was in the kitchen when the explosion occurred wanted to fake their death. What we need to know is why, and where to find them."

He turned back to the mess, wondering if it would be possible to cook something with the different ingredients. Somehow, he knew that the key to this mystery lied in his ability to find a proper recipe using all of them. That was what being a detective meant, and he was the best in the world.

However, something was bothering him here. He interrupted his culinary musings and asked:

"What's the name of the 'victim' again?"

"According to our source, his name is…"

"Yukihira Souma."

.

Takumi woke up with a weird recipe of brains Bolognese in mind. What was his dream about again? He couldn't remember, but it must have been strange, if he woke up with such a thought. However, he was close to finding a proper way to make it, he was sure of it! If only his dream had stopped just a bit later…

He took a look at the window, and guessed from the light coming in that it was a good time to get up. He opened the shutters and took some time to adjust to the incoming light. He then leaned on the window, enjoying the amazing view he had of the Tuscan countryside. He took a deep breath, savoring the warm smells of the sunny morning, and smiled. If only Souma were here to see it with him…

The blonde missed him already, and he had called him just the day before. But now his phone was turned off and Isami was keeping it because, according to his nonna, he was spending way too much time on it and should focus on nature and spending time with his family while he was here. He could agree on that, although he felt that he wasn't using his phone that much. His weekly calls to Italy lasted much longer, usually…

Anyway, Isami and he would fly back to Paris in just a few days, so he should really make the most out of what was left of his stay here. He got ready for the day and went down to the kitchen. Breakfast was ready, and only his brother was missing at the table. The blonde smiled at the scene of his parents and grandparents talking casually over coffee and cakes. That was another thing he would miss back in Paris. Especially the way his mother always managed to greet him as if seeing him was the best thing that happened to her all day.

Sweet Italy… He wondered if Souma would agree to live here with him when they got older… The Mediterranean sunshine would make a great change for him, after the years he spent in the undergrounds of Paris. That would be nice…

.

After just three days with his phone turned off, Takumi clearly didn't expect to have hundreds of missed calls and texts. As soon as he turned it on, in the train back from the airport, it started ringing and vibrating like it was going to explode any second. He exchanged a surprised look with Isami who turned on his own phone, only to realize that it did exactly the same. He only had half as many missed calls, but that still made a lot.

To say that it worried Takumi would be an understatement. And as he tried to understand what happened and who called him exactly, his mind rushed to a simple conclusion: it was about Souma. His boyfriend was actually the only one who didn't try to call him or contact him in any way, and that only made things more alarming.

The hundred something texts he had only confirmed this impression. Mostly, he could put them in three categories: "Are you okay?", "Call me back ASAP" and, more importantly, "Have you heard about Souma?"

Obviously, he had not.

"There was an accident in the kitchen and he's dead," was one of the first things that crossed his mind.

He turned to his brother, who was looking at him with great concern. Apparently, his phone was saying approximately the same thing, but with more "Is Takumi okay?" and "Can you tell Takumi to call back ASAP?"

"He's in the hospital right now, in critical state," the blonde thought again.

"He got abducted," was another possibility.

"He got involved in a crime and now he's on the run." "There was an accident and he needed blood, and only my blood could have saved him oh wait we're not the same blood type never mind." "He's sick he had a terminal cancer all along why didn't I notice earlier, unless he got sick because of one of his experiments I told him not to use that smelly old cheese with lemon curd maybe that was poisonous Souma you're so stupid!"

All kinds of horrible scenarios were twirling in his mind, making the whole world around him spin and here he was, stuck with his phone in his hand, unable to remember what he was even supposed to do with it. What did Souma do this time? Maybe… Maybe…

The blonde snapped back to reality when he felt Isami's hand on his shoulder. He turned to him with a distressed look. His brother seemed more concerned than ever.

"Nii-chan, stay with me," he said softly. "Why don't you call your voice mail? There might be more information there."

He nodded silently. There was a lump in his throat that prevented him from speaking, and he knew that if he tried to, he would only manage to let out pathetic sobs.

He was shaking while dialing the number of his voice mail, and he almost dropped his phone in the train when he received a call from Alice. Since she was one of the people who called him the most, she might know what it was all about.

"Takumi, finally! Where have you been? Everyone's worried sick about you!"

"I was in Italy," he managed to reply, unable to suppress the shaking in his voice. "What's happening?"

Alice remained silent for a few seconds.

"You haven't heard?" she asked.

"Heard about what? I've been away from my phone for just three days and now I have hundreds of missed calls and I'm worried sick. What happened to Souma?!"

"Oh… I thought you knew already…"

He heard a sigh.

"I don't know if I'm the one who should tell you this…" Alice continued.

"I don't care about that. Just tell me!"

"There was an explosion in Souma's restaurant three days ago."

As he heard the words, Takumi felt more worried than ever. However, it wasn't like his whole world shattered or something similar. Actually, he was almost … relieved. At least he had something concrete to worry about now, and his mind became slightly clearer once his brain stopped elaborating all kinds of possible (and impossible) scenarios.

"No one's hurt," she continued. "But … we don't know where Souma is right now. I don't have the details, but apparently the police didn't find a body. He just … vanished."

Was it better? Was it worse? Takumi didn't know.

"Takumi, are you still with me?" Alice asked, worried about his silence.

It took him a few seconds to remember how to breathe, but he eventually managed to reply:

"Yes. So they don't have a clue about … what could have happened?"

"Not yet. They're still investigating. There are lots of possibilities, you know… And the fact that he disappeared makes it even more mysterious."

She paused for a second, and added:

"Also, I think they've been trying to reach you. I guess that half of the missed calls are from them, since you're the most likely to help them."

"I don't know anything…"

"You still know him better than the inspectors do… I guess you'll have to contact them soon."

"Right…"

They paused, and Takumi drowned again in fear and sorrow until Alice said:

"By the way, if there is anything I can do, just tell me, okay?"

"Sure," he replied mechanically.

"Do you want me to tell the others? I think they're all worried about you, and maybe you don't feel like taking care of that right now so…"

"Yes, you can do that. Thanks."

He was starting to feel empty now. He was beyond feelings. Only numbness remained.

"I'll … start right now. Is Isami with you?"

"Yes…"

"Good. I'll … I'll do it then. Bye, Takumi."

He hung up.

Gone. Souma was gone…

He slowly turned his head and met his brother's concerned and questioning look. He told him what he'd just learned, calmly, like a he was telling a story that didn't concern him at all. He was too far gone to care.

That sounded way too familiar to him, now that he thought about it. Souma has an accident that may or may not have left him disfigured. He disappears without a word. No one hears about him for years. That was the second time already. It wasn't even original anymore. To think that it could happen twice to the same person was almost laughable. Actually, Takumi would have laughed if he had the strength to do it. But he didn't feel a thing, so he could only admire the irony of the situation from afar.

He spent the last five years and eight months trying to prove the redhead that he would love him no matter what, and that he'd rather have him crippled, or horribly disfigured, or anything but gone, but still. Takumi left him on his own for two weeks and what happened?

Gone.

Again.

Why did Souma have to be so stupid?

Okay so... the links between both stories still worry me a little. It isn't a problem right now (I guess) but just so you know: don't hesitate to ask me if you need a summary of the relevant plot point at the start of each chapter or something. I'll gladly add it.

See you!