The street was so dimly lit as Shinya walked to his apartment, snow blowing with the wind and getting caught in his hair. He heels clacked on the cement as he walked, loudly echoing in the empty streets an alleys, his bracelets clinking together making as much noise as his shoes did. He glanced around nervously, somewhat frightened of the night.
He didn't know why,
but he had the feeling that he was being watched, that someone or
something was following him to his apartment. Gradually he increased
his pace, subtly just incase if someone were following him they
wouldn't realize he had caught onto them.
He jittered nervously,
running his hand along the side of his pants. He walked faster and
faster until he had broken in a run, running around the corner into a
dark alley way, pressing his back against the wall, gasping for air.
He looked around in his bag for his cellular phone, he needed to call
someone. Shinya knew he wasn't just paranoid, someone was following
him. As he pulled out his phone he paused, he didn't hear any
footsteps. "Baka," Shinya jumped as he heard the words and
dropped his cell phone. He squinted through the darkness, trying to
see who was there.
As if sprung from the darkness, the first thing he saw was a fist flying at his face, striking him in the jaw. Caught off guard, Shinya stumbled to the side, trying to walk back towards the side walk in a daze. The same hand that had punched him grabbed him and shoved him against the wall, and then he felt cold metal beneath his chin, sharp and moving back and forth as if taunting him. "Shinya…Terachi Shinya…" the voice mused with an American accent. "I hoped to get someone of higher value, but you'll do. How much do you think the others would pay for your safe return?"
Shinya bit his lip, confused. "E—excuse m-m-me?" he stuttered, struggling to find the words to speak. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know who this was, or why they were holding him like this.
"How much do you think the rest of your shitty band would pay to see you returned safely?"
"I—I don't kn—know," Shinya stammered, wishing he hadn't had dropped his cell phone, which was lying only a few feet away from him. He felt the sharp metal press hard against his neck, beginning to be dragged slowly across. He winced at the blade cut through his skin, feeling trickles of warm blood slide down his neck.
"Then you better think fast," the man said in a menacing tone.
Shinya whimpered, clutching his bag tightly. He didn't want to die, and he knew even if he gave the man an answer he would still be killed. "I don't want to die," he whispered in a frightened voice.
"You deserve to die, you fucking faggot," again, Shinya was punched in the face, sending him to the ground. He got on hands and knees to try and stand up, but the man kicked him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He grabbed Shinya's hair and tilted his head back to face him, Shinya's eyes wide with fear. "All fucking Japanese faggots like you should die. Dressing up like fucking women. You think other women like it? You're just fucking queer, and all you queer Japanese need to die. I'm going to pick you all off one by one until there are none of you left to corrupt any other countries out there with your homosexuality."
"What?" was the only world Shinya could gasp out before he was struck again along with a large chunk of his hair being torn out, accompanied with pieces of his scalp and blood. He cried out in pain, clutching his head. The man struck him again.
"Shut the fuck up!" he shouted, striking Shinya again and again, hitting him in the face and the chest. Shinya screamed out, but the man was relentless. He didn't understand it, why did this man he didn't even know hate him so much. Because of the band? Because of Dir en grey? That was not a reason to hate him so, to beat him and threaten his life. He dressed feminine on stage and in videos and photo shoots, but he did not dress like that all the time, this man was hurting him just because of his public image. Tears ran down his face from both pain of the beating and confusion.
"Please…Stop…please," Shinya sobbed as the man stopped beating him. His body was so sore; his lips were bloody from having accidentally bitten through them when he had been hit in the face. His nose bled and his right eye was swollen shut, along with his head still bleeding. He rolled onto his back, staring up at the sky, gasping and sobbing. He looked over and watched the dark man rifle through the objects in the alley until he found a long metal pole, swinging it in the air several times until he found the feel satisfactory.
"No…I'm begging you…please…" Shinya moaned, feeling hot tears solidify into ice particles on his cheeks. The man struck Shinya with the rod, forcing him to curl into the fetal position on the ground, sobbing, trying to hold back his screams. He hit him again, his time in the side of the head. For a moment, everything turned back and a loud buzz filled Shinya's ears. He was numb he couldn't feel the ground beneath him, almost as if he were floating.
And then all his
feelings came back at once, the pain, the wetness of his clothes from
the snow, his hands covering his face, the whistling of the wind, and
something new… a hand shaking him vigorously, a voice calling out
his name. "Shinya! Shinya! Wake up!"
He groaned softly, his
remaining functional eye open slowly and he saw, blurry at first, a
face in front of his, two piercing in the lower lip, one in his
eyebrow and nose, his eyes almond shaped, concerned and caring. His
blonde hair fell down in soft tufts around his face, adding an almost
childish look to his impeccable features. "Kyo?" Shinya asked,
his voice sounding pained and desperate.
"Yeah, Shin-chan, it's me…are you alright?"
"Kyo…what happened to…to…" Shinya couldn't find the words to speak, he was trembling. He grimaced as he sat up, staring at Kyo.
"Sshhh, come on, Shinya, let's get you cleaned up. I'll explain later."
Shinya clutched the blanket wrapped tightly around him, still trembling from the attack and shivering from the cold of his wet clothes. He stared at the steaming cup of tea on his coffee table, resting beside several books, most of them fanatical books he read for fun. Next to one book was a note he wrote to himself as a reminder he need to buy Miyu and Puppy more food. Kyo was bandaging all his open wounds as best he could, cleaning the blood off of his face.
"A-arigatou gozaimasu," Shinya said quietly. "Kyo…h-how d-did you know to c-come?"
Kyo fumbled around in his pockets for something and finally found it, Shinya's cell phone. "You dropped this in the alley, I guess you hit the speed dial for my cell or something because my phone rang when I was walking out of the studio. I heard some guy talking about how Japs need to die or something, so I came looking for you, and that's when I found you. He freaked when he realized someone was watching and ran for it," Kyo explain, leaning back and taking a sip of his own cup of tea. "Shin-chan, why didn't you try to defend yourself?"
"I—I couldn't…he wouldn't stop…" Shinya's voice trailed off. "Did you see him? Do you know who he is?"
Kyo reached into his jacket and pulled out another object. "I found this in the alley, I think he dropped it," Kyo handed it to Shinya.
Nimbly, he took what appeared to be a passport. He opened it and stared at the face of his attacker, a man with a round face, thin lips and piercing green eyes that seemed to stare at him with a growing hatred. His hair was almost as long as Shinya's, a reddish-maroon color that was clearly unnatural and showing his brown roots near the top of his head. He read the first name aloud, "Seth". So this was the man who hated him so, an American man. "Shinya, are you okay?" Kyo asked.
"I'm just…just…I don't understand how he could hate me so much and not even know me. He said that all Japanese needed to die, because of our look," he stared at Kyo, "because of how our band dresses. Kyo, I'm scared, what if he comes back for me? What if he goes after one of you?" Shinya stared to sob, and placed a trembling hand over his face to hide his tears from Kyo, he didn't want Kyo to see him like this, he didn't know why, he just didn't want him to see him so weak and seemingly defenseless.
He felt Kyo wrap his arms around him tightly, pulling him close. "Don't worry, Shin-chan, I won't let him hurt you again, I promise."
Shinya woke up groggily, his body still sore. He slowly kicked the covers off of him and sat up in bed, remembering little from the night before after Kyo had brought him home. He glanced at the clock and saw that is read 10:00 A.M.. He was supposed to be at the studio by 11:30, so he had plenty of time to get ready. He walked into his bathroom and quickly took of his clothes, turning the bath handle to a somewhat medium water temperature and pull of the switch to start the shower. He paused before getting in and examined himself, large bruises on his arms and sides, a few on his thighs. Reluctantly, he walked over to the mirror above his sink and stared at his reflection for a long time, feeling his stomach churn at the sight of his face.
His eye was barely opened, and all around it, the skin was swollen, purple and black. He had two large bruises on either side of his jaw, it was quite obvious where his hair had been torn out, his lower lip had a large scab across it, and he had a large mark across his neck from where he had been cut. He shook his head, unable to stare at his reflection any longer, and he had no idea what he was going to tell the other. He stepped into the shower slowly, the water hitting his sore limb and bruises stinging a little at first, and when the water touched his head he cried out in pain, the water burning his missing flesh. He washes himself quickly, not bothering to clean his hair, he knew the shampoo would burn his scalp if he did.
Shinya grabbed two towels, draping one over his shoulders and the other he tied around his waist. He walked over to the fogged mirror and glanced at his face, seeing that it looked a little better without all the blood on it. He grabbed is toothbrush and toothpaste and quickly applied the toothpaste, ran the toothbrush under cold water and started to brush his teeth. He couldn't brush too much, because when he stretched his lips to get his molar it hurt the cut across his lower lip. He rinsed off the toothbrush and walked out of his bathroom.
Shinya walked out of his room to go to the laundry room, he hadn't had the time the night previous to fold all of his clothes. As he entered the kitchen he saw Kyo standing in front of his fridge, rifling through the contents for something. "Kyo? Did you go home last night?" Shinya asked.
Kyo turned around, smiling. "Yeah, but I figured I'd come get you, just to be safe," he said. "Want something to drink?"
Shinya laughed to himself. It was his apartment, shouldn't he be offering Kyo a drink, not vise versa? "Um, is their any orange juice left?" Shinya asked.
Kyo looked back at the fridge and grabbed a jug of the Minute Maid orange juice. He went to a cabinet, but was disappointed to find bowels and plates in it. He moved onto the next one and cursed as he found that it was filled with appliances. HE moved to the next cabinet and opened it. "Seriously Shinya, who the fuck keeps books in a cabinet?" he asked as Shinya laughed out loud. He moved to the next cabinet and finally found the glasses. He pulled two out, one for himself and one for Shinya. He poured each of them a glass, setting Shinya's down on the table as the drummer walked over to it.
"Thanks, Kyo," Shinya said, sipping it, but wincing as the citrus burned the inside of his mouth and gums. He tried not to let Kyo notice. "What time is it?"
"11:15."
Shinya coughed as he sipped the orange juice again. "11:15? No way! I was only in the shower for around ten minutes!" he cried jumping up and racing to the laundry room. He looked around for some pants, but all he could find were a small pair of shorts and a tight tank top. He threw them on without a second thought, he would never hear the end of it if he came in late, and no doubt Kaoru would throw a fit about it.
"Oh, I see, your clock is broken!" Kyo shouted from Shinya's room.
"Wonderful!" Shinya called sarcastically as he grabbed his back by the door containing his drums sticks, read books, and wallet. "Are you ready to go, Kyo?"
Kyo emerged from Shinya's room, spinning his car keys on his index finger. He stared at Shinya in surprise for a moment, seeing all the bruises that covered his thighs and upper arms, but said nothing of them, not whishing to upset the drummer anymore than he already was from the night previous. "Come on, let's not keep leader-sama waiting."
Shinya lowered his head as he walked into the studio, trying to hide his damaged face from the others. He wished he could wear a wig and have the hair over his face. He watched Kyo laughing as Die and Toshiya stared at him in shock and Shinya remembered Kyo always came in late, especially when they were scheduled in the morning. "Kyo! You're here?!" Die laughed. "Who woke you up? I want to see how badly you beat them from disturbing your beauty sleep!"
"Shinya! You have a letter!" Toshiya came bouncing over to him and handed it to him, bouncing back to were his bass was to finish cleaning it.
Shinya sighed with relief, realizing Toshiya was far to hyper this morning to look clearly at his face. He opened the letter silently as Kyo went to see was Kaoru was working on. He trembled as he read the letter, every word written in red ink, signed at the bottom it read, "Seth". He whimpered and dropped the letter, feeling faint he grabbed onto the nearest chair for support and forced himself to sit down.
"Shinya?" Kyo walked over to him. He saw the letter on the ground and read the opening out loud, " 'You got lucky, Mr. Terachi, that your friend came along, or your faggot Jap ass would have been lying dead in the alley. So fucking lucky your fucking midget faggot lover came to save you, huh?' " Kyo stared at Shinya, "Who the fuck is calling me a fucking midget?"
Toshiya walked over, peeking at the letter. "What is this? Hate mail? And what is it talking about Shinya 'got lucky'?" he asked.
Kyo ignored him and kept reading, "Your going to die, just like you deserve. You're polluting this world with your shitty music and your gayness, all you Japs need to die and burn in Hell where you belong! When I'm done with you I'm coming after the rest of your faggot lovers, you just wait. Then they'll all be burning in hell with you, Mr. Terachi."
Kaoru stood up and walked over to them, taking the letter and skimming over the lines, then he looked up, giving Shinya worried look. "What happened last night?"
Shinya forced himself to lift his head and reveal his battered face, the cut along his neck and he made visible all marks inflicted from the brutal beating the night before. He heard Toshiya gasp and Die shut his eyes for a moment, horrified by the sight, and Kaoru just stared at him in shock. When Shinya said nothing, Kyo put a comforting arm around his shoulders, making his blush deeply. Why was Kyo being so nice to him? They hardly ever spoke to each other, and hardly hung out together, but Kyo came to his rescue, he cleaned him up, drove him here, read out loud the letter Shinya had not the courage to, and now he was comforting him. Kyo was being so gentle towards him, so kind, he enjoyed Kyo's touch, but then again he didn't want to be touched by Kyo, something felt different about it, it was more…loving…
"Last night, Shinya was attacked by an American man. He called me, but didn't have time to speak with me. By the time I found him he was unconscious in an alley a block away from his apartment complex…he was being beaten…" Kyo winced as if the memory pained him. Shinya felt awkward, why was Kyo so affected by what had happened to him? "He's out to kill us, he has a vendetta against us, he wants us dead."
"We have to go to the police," Toshiya said, fear creeping into his voice as if the American man were standing right next to him.
Kaoru shook his head, "Not a good idea, word will get out someone hates us and they could find out through the news."
"What should we do?" Die asked, sounding distressed.
"We have to wait and see what's going to happen next," Kyo said in a monotone voice. Shinya felt Kyo's hand give his shoulder a comforting squeeze, making him flinch slightly. He wanted to be touched by Kyo more, but for some reason he felt the thoughts were very wrong, he knew he had to make them go away. He stood up, clutching his bag.
"Shinya, where are you going?" Toshiya called as he walked towards the door.
"I'm going home," he answered, walking out the door and shutting it gently behind him.
"Shinya, wait!" Kyo called after him, rushing out after him.
Die gave an exasperated sigh. "What are we going to do? If he wants us dead then he's gonna kill us!" he sat down, a solemn expression on his face.
Kaoru sat down across from Die and Toshiya followed suit. "I guess practice is cancelled," Toshiya mumbled.
