Yuki woke up at eight o' clock the next morning. The sunlight streamed in through the open window, hitting Yuki directly in the eyes. He rolled over to Shuichi's side of the bed. He smelled the familiar strawberry scent and opened his eyes. He was holding Shuichi's pillow and nothing else. Shuichi was gone.
"Shuichi, where are you?" Yuki called out.
There was no answer.
"Shuichi?"
Again there was no answer.
He got out of the bed and checked all the rooms. Well, almost all, anyway. He didn't bother to look in his study. He told Shuichi not to go in there, so he figured the brat would've listened. But, considering all the rooms were empty, he went in.
The light from the laptop lit up the study. From what he could see, still no Shuichi. He walked over to the laptop. A little message in green scrolled across the screen:
Yuki, I know I'm not supposed to play with your laptop, but my pen was out of ink. Please don't kill me. I'm going to N-G for a meeting about our new concert so I won't be home until late. I'll take off early if I can. Wait to have dinner with me! I love you much! Shuichi.
"Silly Shuichi," Yuki said to himself. He went to kitchen and found dishes in the sink. Had Shuichi woken him up, he would've been happy to eat with him. Maybe he'd make the little baka something special tonight. Yuki got a glass of water, holding it up to look at it closely. Maybe there really is something in the water…
-
"Laliho!" Shuichi threw open the door, as happy and as hyper as ever.
Hiro and Suguru were seated watching the news. Shuichi took the seat at the head of the table and shifted his gaze to the television.
" Two more bodies have been discovered the last three days. These deaths are similar to those that happened earlier this month. That is a total count of five bodies in three weeks. Please, pay close attention to your surroundings. More at eleven."
"Bad thing is," said Hiro, " the killer is just running around like a kid at the park. The police have no suspects, so there's someone lurking around, waiting."
There was nothing funny about what Hiro had said, but it caused Shuichi to laugh.
"Who wants to be the killer is K? You know how trigger-happy that guy can be. What are you staring at me for….?"
Suguru looked down at his hands. Hiro turned his head away and mumbled something under his breath. Shuichi felt something cold and hard on his temple.
"Are you calling me a murderer, Shindo-san? Hmmmm?" It was K, no doubt.
Shuichi let out a whimper. "Oh no! K-sama, it's just that, well…I….you…uh…no comment?"
The gun was removed (Thank God, Shuichi thought) and K laughed (What the hell, Shuichi thought).
The other two laughed as well. They took it as a joke. Shuichi just sat there, finding no humor in the whole situation. Yeah, K was just being funny, but Shuichi was thinking of the news.
Murders………?
A killer on the loose………?
That feeling………?
That strange and uncomfortable feeling of being watched………
"Shuichi? Hey, snap out of it, man!"If I'm in danger, Yuki will protect. He loves me. He'll make sure I'm safe.
"Shuichi!" Hiro whacked him on the back of the head with an empty CD case.
"What, goddamnit, what!" Shuichi yelled. He shocked himself as well as everyone else.
Hiro took a step back. "What's up with you today, Shuichi?"
He shrugged. "I don't know, it's just that I don't….I just don't feel…I wish just thinking, okay? It's nothing. Sorry I snapped on you like that."
Hiro didn't like how his friend was acting. Something was wrong, but he wasn't going to pressure Shuichi to tell him. If he needed help, he'd tell someone. Most likely Yuki. "If you say so," Hiro said, fighting off the urge to make Shuichi tell him.
-
Their meeting went well. They were to have the concert in a month. After that, they were planning a tour for the end of the year. They weren't sure how that would go, so just in case something popped up and the tour would be cancelled, they made sure that it didn't somehow find it's way into the media until later on.
At eleven, they were all watching the news. Shuichi was ready for it to be over and get home. He hadn't called Yuki or anything. I hope he's not mad, Shuichi thought.
Hiro turned the volume up and told everyone to be quiet.
" Five bodies have been found this month. All victims had been males in their late teens and early twenties. All murders had been linked to one another. Investigators are trying their best to solve the case. They believe the murder weapon to be a knife, but autopsies are looking into that. No other evidence has been found to link anyone to the case. If you have any information, contact"—
K turned off the television. "Some story, huh?"
Shuichi's friends started talking, but he found no interest to communicate with them. He still felt so strange. Something didn't feel right anymore. He grabbed his bag from beside him and stood up. "I'm gonna go, you guys. It's really late. Yuki's probably worried about me. I'll talk to you later." He left without saying goodbye.
Shuichi headed out the door, pulling his coat tightly around him. The winds were cold and felt like icicles when it blew into his face. He was halfway home when he heard someone behind him. He turned around. He dropped his bag and screamed.
-
Yuki had already eaten three hours earlier, unable to wait any longer. But he hardly ate anything at all. He was worried. It was fifteen until midnight, and there had been no word from Shuichi. He did say he might stay late, but Yuki didn't think he meant this late.
Yuki picked up the phone and called N-G. It was Hiro that answered the phone.
"Is Shuichi there?" Yuki asked.
"No, he left about thirty minutes ago. Why?"
"He's not here. Did you know if he was stopping somewhere?"
"No, he said that he was coming straight home. Don't worry, he'll come."
"Yeah. Bye."
Yuki hung up the phone. This wasn't like Shuichi at all. To his surprise, he could feel the hot tears on his cheeks. This kid was really growing on him.
-
Shuichi's scream pierced the night. A hand shot out from the darkness and covered his mouth. Shuichi struggled to get free. He managed to get loose and broke into a run.
The man from last night at the restaurant was chasing him. Shuichi was almost at the corner. He was running faster than he'd ever ran before in his whole life and-
-WHAM-
he fell to the ground, his head bleeding.