Hello again! I've finished this earlier on than I expected too.
Way shorter than the other one. I think this beginning makes more sense to me than the other one. Tell me what you think?
Chapter One
Beware of Hangovers and the Consequences
*!*
*Beep!*
*Rrrrrriiiiiiinnnnggg!*
*Click!*
*Rrrrriiiiin―*
*Crash!*
Smoke drifted out of the slightly damaged alarm clock. Baby blue bed sheets shifted as a heavy body lifted itself from the comforts of one's sleep. Navy blue pajamas wrinkled and rustled at the slur movements.
Once a foot set on the cool surface of the wooden floor, another joins, and shuffled into a standing. A hand combs through the greasy hair and clumsily walks to the curtain window. Peeking outside, the sunlight blinds the eyes and another hand quickly covers, rubbing to remove the whiteness.
When adjusted to the light, the curtains are opened wider so that shadows would bleakly vanish. Checking the calendar in the right hand corner, a sigh was heard when there was no school to wake up for. Head throbbing but nearly bearable, footsteps headed towards the kitchen.
Grabbing a bottle of painkillers and filling a glass of water, a perch mouth greedily drank to clear the bitterness the pills left. Wipping a trail of liquid that escape, the cup was placed down in the sink to be washed later. Placing the pills in their former place, the door to the bathroom opened.
The room was not too small or too big. A shower to the right, a toilet on the left, a sink by the window, and one rug in the middle of the plain bathroom. The mirror above the sink glinted with light reflected on the window.
A young male face appeared on the mirror. His soft features were restless and his brown hair was mussed with a messy cowlick. Tears leaked from his shiny sapphire eyes when he yawned. His shirt looked baggy on his figure and the sleeves were too long on his arms.
His hand unconsciously rubbed the sleep from his eyes and he stretches his slender body like a cat. Twisting the faucet, water gushed out and he splashed the cool liquid on his warm face. The major headache was slowly fading into his subconscious and sleep was no longer presence in his body or mind.
Tugging off his night-wear to nakedness, he turns on the shower. A cascade of rushing water pound onto his lithe body and the calming sound allowed him to close his eyes. Scrubbing everywhere that he thought was filthy; he grabbed his vanilla scented shampoo and soap he got as a gift from his mother. Adding a huge amount on his head, he scrubbed the greasiness out of his hair and applied some on his limbs.
Putting his whole body under the shower head, water flowed down from his flesh to the drain. The soapy substance ride along with the water and bubbles litter around the surface. Deeming himself clean he turn off the shower and dried himself with a fluffy white towel. Stepping out off the bathroom and into his bedroom, he picked simple clothes from his drawer.
Checking his cell phone, there were five new voice messages. He played them nonchalantly and sat on his desk chair. It beeps before displaying the message.
"Shin-chan~!" He winced at the nickname and the voice that came along. "I hope you are doing well. Anyway papa and I are in Hawaii! Isn't that exciting~?" He can actually hear her content purring from here. "Too bad Shin-chan's not here~! C'mon Shin-chan! Have you thought of coming with us this year? I heard from Hakase, that this year will be so tough on you~!" Afteritended, he made a mental note to scold at their good neighbor, Hiroshi Agasa.
The beeping continued until it played the other message. The voice he heard, he instantly felt fondness and another emotion he couldn't identify. Worry and panic was laced in words, leaving him a little bit guilty to know he caused distress to one of his few friends of childhood.
"Kudo! You haven't been home when I came for supper. That rarely happens!" Questioning; "Where are you? Did anything happen?" Worry; "Dammit Kudo! Call me back!" Exasperation; "I'll see you tomorrow, Kudo…" Fake calmness and silent anger.
Shinichi Kudo knew that the last line meant that he would have a good explanation on what had happen that night. The problem was he couldn't remember it at all. He was in bed and everything was in the same place, nothing out of the ordinary. Just the huge headache earlier and that it felt he didn't sleep at all.
Worried about his health or if he did something stupid, Shinichi recounted the events that happen last night. A teenage boy with shoulder-length red hair and ivory eyes appeared in his memories. He thought tiredly of him but also caringly. A huge headache and pain in the ass sometimes but still a friend, no matter how weird he acts.
The red head came last night and drag him away to somewhere. He rubbed his temples at the head pounding scenes speeding past his mind. Lights...smell of liquor...body heat that wasn't his own...meaty hands grabbing his waist...sense of panic...familiar ivory eyes sparking in fury...black...black...black...
...Coldness...and blue eyes...the same color as...
The doorbell vibrated through the whole house, waking Shinichi from his trance. Standing up and walking towards the front door, he looked into the peephole he just installed after his friends surprise attack him on his birthday last year. There were two delivery men with a huge box behind them.
Confusion swam in Shinichi's mind, he had never order anything so far. Unlocking the door, he stepped out and did a once over. He had never seen a company who had men dressed in pink uniforms with a logo called 'Pandora'. The one with a wavy black bob cut tipped his cap at Shinichi and asked in his gruff voice above the clipboard he held in his hand, "Are you Kudo Shinichi?"
Now Shinichi was suspicious and also slightly curious. It wouldn't surprise him if this was one of his friend's pranks to laugh at him but he was more interested in the box behind the two men. It looked quite heavy and very expensive.
Even if he did order this package, Shinichi doesn't have the money to buy anything that high. He only had some cash his parents sent and money he earned from his part-time job. He quietly answered the man, along with nodding his head slowly. "Yes...I am him."
The man lowered his clipboard and gave a toothy grin. "Well...Mr. Kudo we have an exclusive delivery for you." Shinichi must have looked like he wanted to protest because the man cut him off. "You've got three days. You have to return the product within three days if it is not towards your liking. That is all...Good day Mr. Kudo." His serious tone vanishes as soon as it appeared.
When he turns to leave, Shinichi noticed the other man was gone. Frantic, he went inside and found him with the box in his living room. The man places it down softly before tipping his hat at Shinichi on his way outside. A slam of wood against wood was heard, indicating that the door was closed.
His eyes barely left the box except to glance at his door when the door slammed shut. He was nervous at the discovery of what was in the box and his hand twitch when he grabbed the surface of the lid. Tightly squeezing his eyes, he slowly opens the box and put the lid aside.
Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes to see the item inside.
...
...
...
A piercing cry rang out into the early morning air. People walking by, eyed the house strangely before going back into their business. The birds in the tree fell out and clumsily climb the wind into the sky. Cats woke up from their nap briefly and dogs shifted their keen ears to hear where the cry is coming from.
Shinichi was backed up on the right-hand corner of his living room, a look of delirious panic painted on his face with a hand covering his mouth. His body trembled and his sapphire eyes stared horrified at the box in front of him. His skin paled and he felt about faint but he couldn't look away from the 'thing' in the large box.
A body of a young boy, the same age as him, lay inside. He was pale as a ghost and looked as if he wasn't breathing at all. What scared Shinichi the most was that their faces were too similar except a few features. He shivered at the colorless skin and blue lips, it wasn't hard imagining himself in this state.
If this was a joke between his so-called friends, it wasn't a good one. Rather, it was creepy and disturbing through many levels. Taking long breaths and releasing them, he calmed his lungs down considerably but his heart is a different matter. Cautiously walking forward, he shook the other males arm. Receiving no response or pulse, he shook harder on the cold skin and his panic came forcefully back. He didn't notice a white paperback book slipping out until it landed with a solid 'thump'.
The sound caused Shinichi to jump, his heart beating irregularly. He stared at the book for a few minutes before looking back at the boy. Picking up the book, he read the title out loud, "The Lucky Lover Series?"
He glanced at the boy again then started flipping through the pages. He skipped the pages that were none important. Skimming through several lines he found out the boy was not really a corpse but a figure, some mechanical robot disguised as a human being. He passed the hundreds when he saw the bald bold letters 'How to Set Up' and read the entire paragraph.
By the time he was finished, his face flushed a bright red. He had to kiss the figure. The red deepen more for it was his first kiss. He shook his head at the girlish notation but the blush wouldn't disappear. He stared at his own face reflected on the figure and wondered if this was narcissism to kiss someone with the same face. He sighed, it would have been so much better if it was a girl or if he was a girl.
Silently saying goodbye to his masculinity, he shyly brought his face near the boy's face. His heart pounding, he embarrassingly kissed the figure lightly on the lips. Gears turned soundly and tense mechanical limbs twitch. Shinichi squirmed, startled when hands combed through his hair and pulled him closer. Bright indigo eyes flutter open.
I like this version better because we get to see Kaito more quicker. If you like the other version better and I can delete this and make a chapter three for the old version. I hope this one is better. I waited until the 25th to post this and started on chapter two in this version. T.T
Though in my option the second chapter is too detailed so if it's boring let me know so I could shorten up the chapters in the future.
Ciao~!