...

Mataki walks swiftly down the street, glancing uncertainly up at the sky. She scowls at the rain clouds, and digs out her pocket-umbrella. But before she can open it, someone calls her name. She recognizes it, but does not notice the loud, angry tone. With a short laugh, Mataki turns back towards the antique shop with a smile. Her smile then vanishes.

Eiri is running straight for her, his teeth his in a savage clinch, fingers twisted at his sides, eyes wild as a horse. "Mataki!" he shouts again. "You bastard!"

Mataki, frightened, turns and starts to run; even though confused, she was too afraid to confront him.

But Eiri caught up quickly and grabs her by the arm, forcing her against a wall. "Where is it!" he bellows in her face, his fingers twsiting her slender arms violently.

"Eiri, stop it!" shrieks Mataki, her heart racing, a long ringing in her ears. "Why are you hurting me?"

"Where's Cossette?" Eiri yells, then he winces, and says, "Where's the glass!"

"Who is Cossette?" cries Mataki, tears in her eyes. "What glass?"

Grinding his teeth, Eiri releases her and backhands her across the face, her head hitting the wall. "Stop pretending!" he growls. "What did you do with the Venetain glass that was in the desk?"

"Th-the...desk?" whispers Mataki. She trembles underneath Eiri's strength, her voice clotted by fear and misery. "I..." Mataki hesitated. She was afraid of telling the truth. But when Eiri reached up and grabbed her hair, she cried out, "I sold it!"

Eiri's eyes widened. "Wh...what...?"

"i sold it..." she answers again, sobbing. "I sold it..."

"No..." Eiri's eyes close as he tries to think- then snap open. "Mataki- who? Who did you sell it to?"

Mataki shook her head, not remembering. "I..I dont know.." she whispers. She tried mustering up her strength. "Eiri..." she says, staring up at him. "What the hell is wrong with you...?"

The rain begins to fall.

Eiri looks up at the dark sky, and his hands fall from Mataki's body. She leans against the wall, panting from nerves, and Eiri falls to the ground. He brings himself to his knees, and stares down at the sidewalk, the rain drinching them both.

A wind blows across the world, stirring bits of paper and dust.

Mataki watches the dust, and says quietly, "Muraki..."

Eiri looks up at her, slowly.

"His name is Muraki." Mataki meets Eiri's eyes evenly. Then she turns and runs away.

Eiri rises to his feet, and wonders where to go next. He looks down the street, and watches Mataki vanish down an alley. Lightning flashes once. Twice.

Eiri's eyes close as his heart begins to ache harder. "Cos...sette..." he moans.

The clouds slowly parted, revealing the sun once last time; Eiri looks up when he feels the warmth of it's rays on his skin, but by now, the sun is already gone.

...

Tsuzuki arrived at 7pm sharp; right on time.

Muraki strides over to the door and opens it, jsut as the young man began to knock. "Good-evening, Mr. Tsuzuki."

"Why did you invite me?" snarls the other man, his purple eyes gleaming.

"Right this way," Muraki says pleasently. He turns and guides his guest across the house, and shows him the lavish set-up of the dinner table. Muraki could not help but feel pleased with himself when he noticed Tsuzuki's eyes widen in shock and excitement at the arrangment of expensive foods.

In a large white bowl are the boiled vegetables, of which surround a sweet, browned lamb. In two other bowls are a serving of lemon cake, with a small green garnish on top.

A Venetain glass sit on either side of the table, next to an empty plate.

"Muraki..." says Tsuzuki, feeling awkwardly blessed.

"Please," Muraki pulls out a chair. "Have a seat."

Tsuzuki walks into the room and removes his jacket, hanging it on the coat-rack conviently placed beside him. . He sits down, and looks at Muraki dryly. Awed, he busys himself by holding the Venetain glass up, admiring it's colors.

An elbow on the table, a fingertips restong under his chin, Muraki stares back with a small smile.

He puts the glass back on the table, and blinks. Tsuzuki looks down at his empty plate, then across the table. His mouth begins to water, so he reaches for a roll, hungrily.

"Shall we bless the food?" asks Muraki sweetly, clasping his fingers together.

Tsuzuki blushes, and bows his head, eyes closing.

"Dear God..." Muraki says. He smiles, staring only at the man across from him. "Thankyou for allowing Mr. Tsuzuki to come over for dinner. And thankyou, God, for answering my prayers. Thankyou for this food you allowed Man to slaughter; may it bring nourishment to our bodies. It is in your Name and your Son's that I pray, amen."

When the young man looks up from bowing, he catches Muraki's eyes, and looks back down.

"Guests eat first," Muraki states. He waves a hand at the food. "It's getting cold. I'd hate for my guest to eat cold food, simply because he refuses to eat first."

Tsuzuki grabs a knife from the table and carves off a piece of lamb, then uses a large spoon to gather some vegetables onto his plate. He adds three rolls to his plate, and slides his precious bowl of lemon cake closer to himself. Then he starts eating.

Muraki smiles, and watches him eat. Once Tsuzuki looks like he's struggling to swallow his food, Muraki stands up from the table, saying, "Would you like some wine, Mr. Tsuzuki?"

Nodding, Tsuzuki swallows a hard lump of bread, and forks carrots into his mouth, huger consuming his will to act civilized.

Muraki walks back over with the bottle of 1960 Quinta Do Noval, and runs his fingers up and down the bottle, saying, "This is an excelent wine. I've been personally saving it for fifty years- do me the honor of drinking it."

Gagging on a piece of meat, the other man can only nod. He reaches out urgently for the wine, but Muraki uncorks it and pours it himself, letting the deep, red liquid fill the colorful Venetain glass.

"Tell me, Mr. Tsuzuki..." Muraki says quietly, his tone surprisingly sad. "Do you enjoy my company?"

Tsuzuki chokes and grabs the wine the minute Muraki turns away. He downs the wine quickly, his throat burning at the unfamiliar taste. He then starts to cough. Once he recovers, Tsuzuki sighs, wearily. A napkin dabs his face gently, and Tsuzuki looks up sharply at Muraki, who stands at his side and wipes the crumbs and drops of red from his face. Tsuzuki shoves his hand away.

Muraki returns to his seat and pours himself some wine, saying, "This wine is quite good, don't you agree?" he sips it, his eyes glinting dangerously. "But I don't suppose you enjoyed it, since you swallowed it so fast."

Tsuzuki watches as Muraki carves himself a piece of lamb, and starts eating. Looking back at his crowded plate of food, the younger man looses his appitite.

...

Eiri found himself forced to ask people who, and where, Muraki is. He asks a woman selling fish in the rain, asks a man selling umberellas, and went into local resturants, asking the waiters. But no one gave him useful information.

Walking down to some apartments, he began knocking on random doors, asking if Muraki was there, then apologising, and acting like he "had the wrong address."

...

"I invited you over for dinner so we could get closer together," explains Muraki as Tsuzuki puts on his jacket. "But I have something to show you."

Tsuzuki casts his eyes over the spread of half-eaten food, and the mess they had created. He wondered if he should stay and help clean up, but then decided against it.

"What?" asks Tsuzuki.

Muraki, to the other man's curiosity, walks over to the sink, where he pours out his expensive wine. He rinses it out, while Tsuzuki sighs, impatient. Muraki walks back over and offers him the Venetain glass. "Look into it." he tells him.

"What...?" Tsuzuki takes the glass. "Why?"

"Please." Muraki's eyes narrow slightly. "Do as I ask. For once."

Tsuzuki frowns and looks into the glass. He turns it's glowing colors around, and traces it with his fingers. "Um..." he mutters. He holds it to the light, "I don't...see-" and nearly drops it- he grabs it hastily by the handle, swearing lightly.

Muraki reaches out and plucks the glass out of Tsuzuki's hands, saying, "Damn it, Tsuzuki, be careful!"

"I'm sorry!" snaps Tsuzuki, he straightens his tie, and glares at the white-haired man. "What was i looking for?"

Muraki doesnt answer. He stares into the glass, and sees a little girl staring back. "Nothing..." he says quietly, a smiling spreading over his face. "You may leave, Mr. Tsuzuki."

Tsuzuki obeys, saying, "This was such a waste of my time!"

The door slams loudly, but Muraki begins to chuckle. "I have you all to myself, don't I?" he asks the glass.

A girl with yellow-gold hair looks up, her blue eyes shining. She smiles.

Muraki smiles back.

...

Eiri did not want to give up. but hours pass, and he became exsaulsted. He soon fell asleep on the sidewalk.

He was found by his aunt, who had a few strangers help carry him back to the antique shop- where he belongs. They let him sleep until the next morning.

Mataki never spoke a word about Eiri's strange behaivor. She didn't even arrive at the shop. According to Eiri when he woke up, they "broke up," and he was too miserble to go home right away.

His aunt sympathized, and had the boy drink some green tea when he woke up at noon. She gave him the week off. But the boy insisted he stay.

Not even an hour passed before Eiri began pacing the shop, his thoughts lingering on Cossette. "Aunt?" he asks, looking over at her, who sits in For-Sale rocking-chair.

"Yes?" she asks, her large feet pushing herself back and forth in a slow, creaking motion.

"Do you know who Muraki is?" asks Eiri.

"Who is that?"

"A man came by here yesterday, and he bought..." Eiri's eyes close. "...he bought some Venetain glasses." says Eiri, a hot shiver passes over his spine.

"And?" presses the old woman.

"And he didn't pay the correct amount." lied Eiri. "i need to find him and make sure he pays."

"What? A thief?" gasps the Aunt. "Well, well...we cant have thieves in our shop!" the lady rouse from her chair and walks to the computer desk, and says, "You should have a list of costumors and their purchases in here."

"Yeah, but i need his address." says Eiri, following the woman.

She types something ontot he computer, and says, "Is that him?"

Several dozen links appear, all starting with the name Muraki. Some are young men advertising their products, others are Facebook or Youtube accounts. Eyes narrowing, Eiri reaches out and takes the mouse, moving the pointer across he screen. He adds into the search bar, "Venetain glasses." and clicks enter.

The results change drastically: Muraki is selling fish, Muraki has a new favorite video, Muraki hates dogs; there are stories and videos based on dozens of other Muraki, but nothing good comes up.

"Damn it!" Eiri growls.

"Eiri!" snaps his Aunt. "Such lanuage!"

Eiri turns away and paces the floor. He sees his sketchbook on a table, and his heart clinches. Cossette... he thinks passionately. Will you be waiting for me when I find you?

"If it's that important, why not ask the operator for his phone number?" says his Aunt.

Eiri nods, and leaves, going outside. He flips open his cell phone and calls the operater. The woman on the other end of the world, tells him two different numbers local to him. Eiri writes down both, thanks the lady, and hangs up.

The first number is "temperaroly out of service."

He tries the other.

"Hello?" says a soft, male's voice.

"Muraki?" says Eiri, uncertainly.

"Yes?"

Eiri's heart quickens. "I need to speak to you in private about the glass you bought at the antique shop yesterday morning."

"Certainly," comes the imediate repsonse. "When will you be stopping by?"

Eiri and muraki short-talk until he gets the address and time to meet. Eiri hangs up. It's not his fault he go hold of Cossette... he tells himself. I shouldn't be mad at him. It's Mataki. Mataki is the fault of all of this. When I meet him tomorrow, I will get you back, Cossette. I will never let you go.

...