Just so you all know, I was cringing when Shigure "reveals" the host's name (that's why he is, too, ha-ha). I hate puns like that, and this one is extraordinarily lame. I apologize...
--
Eight Little Indians...
"A killer? Are you sure this wasn't just an accident?" But Rin didn't sound so sure of herself as she questioned Hatori's logic.
Hatori nodded. "I'm almost positive."
"B-But who would want to Kill Yuki-kun?" Tohru wiped at her eyes ineffectively and tried to avoid looking at his bed.
"Isn't it obvious?" Kyo was still laughing, but he managed to talk through the rising and increasingly hysterical laughter. 'We're invited to this island, we can't get off, and two of us are already dead. It's our mystery host." Now tears were rolling down his face as well, but not because he was upset.
But what he was saying wasn't sinking in. Everyone was looking at him, horrified. How could he be laughing still, or at all? There was a possibility... The other seven were thinking of it, even if later they would deny it... Was it him? They hated each other...
"Get out! Go in the other room until you can control yourself," Akito ordered, pointing to the door. Kyo, unable to disobey his God, rose unsteadily to his feet and stumbled to the door, no one offering to help him.
Kureno shut the door behind Kyo and a stunned silence fell over the room. "Do you think..." Shigure uncertainly looked around, and when no one replied he forged on, "I mean, Kyo hates Yuki he might've-"
"N-No! Kyo-kun would never do something like that!" Tohru sniffed.
"Kyo doesn't seem that stupid..." Rin agreed. "I mean, Ritsu just died. And he could have had any chance to kill Yuki, they lived together."
"But he has this "mystery host" thing to-" Shigure stopped short and his face twisted unpleasantly. "Oh, no way. That's too..." He let out a small groan and shook his head.
"What?" Akito demanded. The six watched him curiously, thinking he had realized something important.
"Kyo said our "mystery host." Do you get it?... Miss Terri, Mystery. Don't you think that's just too much of a coincidence in our present situation?"
"I think..." Kureno said after a pause, "you're right."
"That's weird..." Rin frowned and nodded. "You must be right, though..."
--
Meanwhile, the banished Cat was really trying to control himself. He didn't mean to start laughing, and he wanted to stop, but something was just sending him into hysterics. He wanted to stop- His stomach was aching, he knew his laughing must have been upsetting Tohru, and nothing was even funny. For God's sake, Yuki was dead.
Of course, Kyo knew why he was laughing. He was the Cat, Yuki was the Rat. They were natural enemies. The Curse was making him act like this. Still, he couldn't lie to himself, he wasn't sad that his long time rival was dead... He was happy, even, but not this happy.
He forced himself to take deep breaths until he was down to a small chuckle, and then managed to stand up. He had only managed to step outside of it before he collapsed. Finally, with one last breath, he was calm again. He wiped his face and rubbed his eyes, trying to stop himself from noticing the real, not-forced-by-the-Curse bit of happiness that he was feeling.
"I think we should go around the island and check for our mystery person." Kureno and Shigure exited the room first, Kureno trying to make suggestions, and Shigure looking at Kureno like he was something disgusting.
"Hm, maybe." Shigure said dissmissively. They passed Kyo and didn't even glance at him.
Neither did Akito and Hatori when they left.
Not Haru, not Rin, not even Tohru looked at him.
In fact, all of them were looking pointedly away from him. He couldn't really blame them, but still...
"Tohru!" He let her get almost around the corner before he decided to chase her. She turned and Rin and Haru stopped as well. When Kyo saw she was still crying, he felt horrible. Tohru was the only one he cared about upsetting, so if she was sad about the damn Rat dying... He could act like he wasn't happy and apologize.
"What do you want?" It was Rin who answered him. She looked angry- She was angry. Tohru was sobbing, and Haru was in shock over what had just happened, and now the guy who laughing through the whole ordeal wanted to talk. She felt like she had to protect those two right now, they always protected her, and Kyo was presently the biggest threat... To their emotional well being, at least (but as far as Rin was concerned, Kyo could be the one who killed Yuki).
"Suddenly I'm the enemy here?" Kyo glared at Rin and crossed the room so he was standing in front of her. "Do you think that I-"
"I-It's fine," Tohru said quickly. "Kyo won't do anything... Right?" She looked towards him, but wouldn't meet his eyes.
"No! Of course not." With one last, distrustful look, Rin put her arm around Haru and steered him away.
When they were gone, Kyo looked at Tohru and she looked past him, tears still rolling down her face and hiccuping or sniffling every so often. "Look, Tohru, I didn't kill Yuki. I was laughing because of the Curse. I know this isn't funny."
"I never thought you... Killed him, Kyo-kun," Tohru lied.
"Oh, good," He mumbled, looking away from her. "I hated Yuki, but I'm not happy he's dead," he lied.
She nodded and they both pretended to believe the other.
--
Traveling in Devon...
Shigure sighed dramatically and opened an umbrella, stepping out from the porch into the heavy rain. Hatori followed suit, opening his own umbrella and looking through the gloom. "We're going to need some flashlights."
"I have some," Kureno joined the two and handed them each a flashlight.
And they searched. And searched. The island wasn't very big, but their efforts were hampered by the rain. A few hours later, after looking by the water, the woodpile, the woods, ect., they gave up.
"Do you think they're in the house?"
Shigure gave Kureno an Are-You-Stupid look and shook his head. "The house is big, but we would have seen another person, I'm sure. Unless you're saying the killer is one of us." He added the last sentence quickly, catching Kureno off guard.
"No," he assured Shigure and Hatori who were both watching him intently. "No. I just thought that since we couldn't find anyone, and the house is big... Never mind."
They three started the walk back to the house and Hatori sighed, lighting a cigarette and holding it out of Shigure's reach, remembering the last time on the boat. "Hey, Shigure," he said when the house came into view, "do you think that's something?"
"Huh?" Shigure and Kureno stopped, but Hatori waved him on.
"It's fine, you can keep going. We'll yell if we need any help, but it's probably nothing." Kureno hesitated but then kept walking to the house.
"What was that?" Shigure asked, looking around for the "something" Hatori had mentioned.
"Oh, there's not really anything, but I have something to tell you I don't want anyone else to overhear."
"Oh, I already know about your undying love for me."
Hatori took a drag of the cigarette and didn't look amused. "You have to joke now? But, anyway, Yuki's medicine was switched with something else. It makes him drowsy, but not enough so he would let someone smother him."
Shigure frowned. This kept getting more and more complicated. "Why are you telling me?"
"Because some sleeping pills were missing from my medicine bag. So Kureno's theory of the killer being in the house, or even one of us, might not be too far fetched."
--
One Said He'd Stay There...
"I don't think we're ever going to get off this island," Rin sighed, staring off the porch into the ever falling rain.
Haru nodded slowly in agreement. He had been depressed since the morning, and of course he would be. Yuki was his best friend, and in a way his first love. But now he was inconsolable. At first he had been crying, but he was now just sitting on the porch and staring straight ahead. "Maybe it's better if we don't." He didn't want to have to think of going though every day without Yuki.
"Don't say that, Haru," Rin said softly, putting an arm around him and trying not to show how much that simple statement scared her. It wasn't like him to give up, and she was afraid he was going to.
--
"I'll make lunch." Kyo put an hand on Tohru's shoulder and she jumped.
"Oh. I-It's only you, Kyo-kun," she squeaked, taking a deep breath. She was being silly, she knew, but now, besides being upset, she was on edge, too. "Are you... Are you sure?" She had to be able to act like she was calm, collected, and getting over her grief, even if she wasn't. Just like when her mom died.
Kyo nodded and then assured her, "Don't worry, I won't poison the food." But she couldn't tell if he was actually assuring her, or if he was joking.
So Kyo went into the kitchen and Tohru wandered away, wondering what to do now.
"You, where's the Cat?" Akito stopped in front of Tohru and glared demandingly at her.
"Oh, Kyo-kun? He's making lunch." Akito had sure collected herself quickly, she was walking around with the same air of superiority she always had.
"You let him cook for us?! He probably just killed Yuki, and now you're letting him make us food?" Akito swept past Tohru in the direction of the kitchen, and Tohru protested feebly.
"I don't think he killed anyone..." It was no use, she was already gone.
--
Then, suddenly, something happened. Five people felt it, and knew they had to be at the porch. The truth was, they all knew what had happened before they got there, but didn't want to believe it. Tohru and Kureno heard the commotion and followed everyone.
"Haru! Oh, Haru!" Rin couldn't control herself. As much as she hated showing emotion in front of other people, when she saw Haru laying on the ground surrounded by a pool of blood, she ran over and kneeled down next to him, and started sobbing. No one went and comforted her, or even moved. Who would kill Haru? Who even had any motive?
"I guess Kureno was right," Shigure said softly, staring at the grim scene in front of him, "the killer has to be one of us."
And Then There Were Seven...
--
Meh. I don't like the ending of this one very much, and I know I haven't made the deaths very hard to guess so far, but the next one should be unexpected... I think I'm still doing pretty well with hiding the identity of the killer, though... Tune in next time!