The door to Akihiko Usami's apartment swung open. "I'm home," was the hoarse salutation of the man entering the apartment.
Welcome home, he thought to himself as he kicked off his shoes. Surveying the living room, he flopped onto a section of the pink couch. A smirk seemed permanently glued to his face, but it did nothing to hide his trembling hands, nor thumping heartbeat. He ran a lacerated hand along the pink cushion feeling its material, imagining a warm spot where its owner may have sat, cross legged, chatting away merrily.
Sumi wanted to do more than chat.
Having grown impatient on his pink perch, he stood and walked into the kitchen. He ran his hands along the countertops, touching a coffee mug sitting upside down near the coffee pot. Sumi's hand caressed the mug, considering it carefully, as if it were precious bone china rather than cheap earthenware. He put it back gently in its place and walked past the dining area and he stepped down into the entertainment area. It was complete with a flat-screen television and couch. Sumi sighed, thinking the apartment was unnecessarily spacious.
The lower level of the penthouse was surprisingly bland. Nothing out of place, nothing out of the ordinary. He wanted to be closer. Wandering to the staircase, Sumi stripped off his coat and shirt. He trailed one hand down his chest, tweaking a nipple, and placed his other bloodied knuckle hand on the stair railing. The railing the object of his one-sided love touched everyday. It was all Sumi could do to keep from leaning over and licking that railing. Instead, he caressed it as a lover's body while he ascended the stairs.
Door one: Akihiko's study. Sumi breathed deep, the smell of stale cigarettes in the air. Gingerly he sat on the computer chair next to the desk, imagining the award-winning author toiling away. He set his head upon the desk and tried in vain to slow his rapidly beating heart. A bloody hand rested on his crotch, applying firm pressure. He wanted to make this newfound feeling last as long as possible. Sumi's fingers glossed over the numerous titles on Akihiko's bookshelf and shivered in delight. Close, much closer.
Door two: a bed, a collection of bears, a train track. Sumi considered for a moment, crotch swelling painfully, and decided to leave this room for last.
Door three: another bedroom. Walking in, Sumi glanced at the picture in a frame on the study desk. Misaki and his brother. With a sneer, he knocked it to the ground. "Fucking brat," cursed Sumi. What right at all did Misaki have to live here? To monopolize his love? He'd never stood a chance; Misaki had infected Usami-sensei long before he had met his idol.
Jealousy boiled within his belly. Before he knew it, he found himself trashing the room. A computer tower lay in pieces at his feet, a pillow torn to shreds, pictures and posters ripped from the wall. Had the study desk not been bolted to the wall, Sumi likely would have overturned it. Instead, he settled for throwing the computer chair against the wall, breaking a leg off in the process. Rage sated for the time being, Sumi exited the room and went to search through doors number four and five.
Door four: the room was simply filled with teddy bears to the point that Sumi could barely set foot inside. Every inch of wall and floor space was covered with every imaginable size and color of bear. He reached out and touched the nearest, a crème colored bear dressed in a fairy costume. He flipped it over to look at its tag; an import from Vermont. Delicately, Sumi took the bear by the hand and hazarded a question, "Shall we proceed?"
Door five: As Misaki had described, the last room was filled with a half put-together Great Wall of China model and marimo. Sumi wondered at the sight of the marimo, their green, velvety circular bodies floating within the jars in the bookcase; he stood there, imagining Usami-sensei putting together the pieces of the Great Wall model. The whole apartment reeked of him. Sumi grimaced. No, not just Usami-sensei, but Misaki as well. The two of them together. Shrugging away the thought, he walked back towards room number two, Akihiko Usami's bedroom.
The closest he had ever been to the man he held dearest, the object of his obsession.