WARNING: This chapter contains some graphic depictions of violence that may be triggering. Please read cautiously.

Chapter VII: Ashes

2 A.M. on a school night, voices screamed on the other side of the wall. Furniture knocked around, the sounds of a scuffle emitting from the other room. 14 years old at the time was Yuu crouched in a corner in his usual position: his arms wrapped around his legs, head buried in his knees, earbuds in his ears. His parents had found out about him wandering the streets and smacked him for it; put locks on his windows so he couldn't even escape on top of the apartment complex and watch the stars, waiting for the fight to pass. Though he tried his best to focus only on the tremolo violins rattling back and forth between his ears in Eleanor Rigby, he couldn't stop the sound of his own pulse beating through his mind.

"All the lonely people; where do they all come from?" he lipped, squeezing his eyes shut, ignoring the fight outside as best he could. "All the lonely people; where do they all belong?" Yuu's shoulders shook at the next sound of someone being slammed against the wall of his room, and he lifted his face from his knees when he heard his mother shriek. Then it was silent.

Crawling forward toward the door, Yuu carefully pulled the white earbuds from his ears, his teary, citrine eyes probing the area outside. There was no movement or sign of anything except the overturned furniture in the living room, and for a moment Yuu thought that perhaps his parents had taken their fight elsewhere.

But then he saw her: his mother lying on the ground in a pool of her own blood, knife in hand, his father standing above her, his face in his hands.

John Lennon singing faintly in the background, Yuu stood up, walked toward the weeping man. "D-dad...? What... what happened...?"

Without lifting his face from his hands, the man seethed, "I told you to stay in your room!"

"B-but I heard –"

Face red and voice sharp, he yelled, "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU HEARD! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO STAY IN YOUR ROOM!" With Yuu cowering beneath him, the man bent down to take the bloodied handle of the knife from the limp hand of Yuichiro's mother.

Yuu, fully registering her for the first time, felt bile rise from his stomach and burn all up his throat. He stopped himself from puking his school lunch all over the carpet with his hands, but was fixated upon the crazed man coming toward him with the kitchen knife gleaming in his palms. Though his animalistic instincts told him to be on the defensive at once, Yuu never thought his father would turn on him just like that. "D-dad, what're you...?"

The man screamed, wielding the knife, and that's when everything went black.

~Eco~

It was Monday morning when Yuu awoke with tears in his eyes, making them crusty and cold. Yuu turned his head, glancing at the clock to see that he still had forty minutes until he was supposed to go to school. He'd awoken before his alarm.

Yuu rubbed his eyes and sniffled as he sat up in bed, looking out to the darkness outside his window, only a small, lighter tint of blue to indicate the sun was coming up. I haven't had a dream about that time in a few months... What could have brought it on?

He went to the bathroom and washed his face multiple times as if to wash out the disturbing images from his past, but the freezing water did little to ease the anxiety that would be frozen within him for at least the next few days. As he dressed, pulling off his pajamas and then pulling on his white undershirt and then navy blue jacket and pants, he thought idly about what was for lunch to try to get his mind off the dream, but it was always there in the back of his mind, and always would be.

Sitting on his bed fully dressed, Yuu stared out the window, watching the sky become lighter and lighter, slowly filling him with the energy he needed to get through the day.

"Yuu, get up for school!" Akane bellowed as she opened his door. Seeing him already awake, he saw the surprise in her face. "Oh... You're already dressed?" Without waiting for him to reply, feeling a forlorn aura around him, she said, "Breakfast is ready and it's butter and toast, so hurry up!" Then she whisked out the door before she could ask why he looked so zombie-ish.

Yuu chewed on the bread and butter as he walked behind Akane and her friends. Eventually Yoichi and Shiho caught up with them as well.

"Yuu!" Yoichi greeted cheerfully while Shiho grumbled a "hi, Idiot Yuu."

"Hey, guys."

There was something vacant about Yuu's tone that Yoichi and Shiho caught onto at once. It had happened many times before.

"Was it another dream?" Yoichi asked.

Yuu nodded. "Yeah..."

Almost always it was left at that, since any of Yoichi's attempts to try to make Yuu talk about it were unsuccessful – and no one else could make Yuu open up like Yoichi could.

First class was math, and Yuu was prepared to tune out all of it when he noticed the empty seat a few rows in front of him. Where's Mika...?

Yuu expected him to appear a quarter of the way through class like he usually did. But an hour later when the bell rung, he still hadn't turned up. He didn't show up for next block either.

Or the block after that.

Or last block of the day.

Yuu walked home in a daze different than that of the morning. Mikaela had been tardy plenty of times, left school in the middle of the day, – this, Yuu was certain, even if that had been before they'd become friends, – but Mika had never missed a full day, or even the half days on Saturdays. His attendance was splotchy at times due to his involvement in the family business, but otherwise perfect just like his grades.

Maybe he finally caught a cold that was bad enough to make him stay home, Yuu figured, shrugging. He pushed Mika's absence and his dream out of his mind while he worked on his homework in his room, all the way up until bedtime.

But Mikaela wasn't at school the next day either.

Nor on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.

Yuu had long since gotten Mika's number and texted him a few times each day to try to see what was up, but Mika seldom answered his phone on normal days, and usually with only a few words. Snippets of their last conversation came to Yuichiro's mind, and Yuu was afraid he'd done something to make Mikaela stop coming to school forever. Maybe he was avoiding Yuu after... what he'd said in the bathroom? It couldn't be; Mika wouldn't let something like that get to him. And wouldn't that mean...

Before he could complete the thought, a more terrifying idea invaded Yuu's mind. Yuu recalled the dream he'd had on Monday and felt his chest tighten, his breath draw short. What if the same had happened to Mika...?

What if someone in his family committed suicide before his eyes, and another came at him with the intent to kill?

Something like that would be in the news, wouldn't it? Especially about an important family like the Shindos, right?

Yuu was about ready to swipe an address book from a public telephone booth and find out where Mika lived, but finally, the blond showed up to school on Saturday.

The moment Yuu saw Mika at his desk, Yuu ran up and pounced on him, barely realizing what he was doing. "Mika! You're alive!" he exclaimed joyfully, more or less choking back a sob.

When Yuu pulled away, he felt immediately that there was an air about Mikaela that was different today. He'd jolted and leaned back when Yuu hugged him too. "Oh, hi, Yuu," he mumbled, meeting his eyes but not really focusing on him.

Shinoa and Mitsuba walked in the classroom giggling at them, but Yuu didn't let them bother him this time as he frowned. Even as Mika turned his face to the papers on his desk, Yuu saw the grey circles under his eyes, his sluggish movements. "Mika, where have you been all this time?"

Mika looked up for a second, his blue eyes flashing with something unplaceable then, but only for a second. "Huh? Oh, I was sick," he said dismissively.

Yuu was reluctant to press further. Before he could, a flock of girls came up to Mika's desk to ask where he'd been too, saying they'd missed him. Mika gave them the same answer with his good-natured laugh and smile, and for some reason this only made Yuu's stomach churn. He retreated back to his desk without saying anything more.

At lunch, Mika stayed out in the hallway instead of sitting with everyone, saying it was to try to catch up on homework, so by the end of the day, Yuu knew something was up. He definitely didn't want this to become a common occurrence like with Mika avoiding him in the second week they'd known each other. While the teacher was grouping students together to clean their assigned parts of the school, Yuu made sure he heard where Mikaela would be.

"He probably just needs some space," said Shiho, after hearing Yuu's plan to confront Mika, but Yuu shook his head.

"I doubt it; even when things aren't going well, he usually doesn't let it get to him this much..." Yuu didn't know that for sure, or if this had happened before they'd become friends. Either way, he wanted to try to help Mika in any way he could, and confirm that whatever it was bothering Mikaela had nothing to do with what he'd said in the bathroom.

Amazingly, Shinoa and Mitsuba were able to remain quiet; Yuu had already threatened to tear their throats out if they made any jokes about him being gay for Mika around Yoichi and Shiho, to which the girls had replied, sly smirks and shadows over their faces, "The truth will out with time." Their constant teasing still annoyed Yuu to no end, but with Mikaela being absent and acting strangely, there was something more important on Yuu's mind.

The dreams about his past had returned far fiercer than before, and he hadn't heard Mikaela play piano since his birthday over a month and a half ago.

For his own sake and Mika's, Yuu wanted to get this resolved.

~Lagrimoso~

Mika saw him waiting at the entrance of the school with his book bag slung over his shoulder, and sighed inwardly.

Yuu fell in step beside the blond. "Hey, Mika."

"Hi, Yuu."

"I can't believe you missed so much! I'm sure you have a lot of schoolwork to make up."

"Yeah."

Yuu eyed the side of Mika's face carefully, but Mika gave nothing away. "So. What were you sick with?"

Mika shrugged, turning the other way a little. "I'm not sure."

"Well, whatever it was, it made you miss five whole days of school."

"Yeah."

Yuichiro exhaled loudly. They were getting nowhere this way. "Okay, what was it actually? Your family?"

Mika shrugged again, making Yuu a little irritated. "I guess that's part of it."

"Your parents came back about a month ago, didn't they?" Yuu remembered the half of the dialogue he'd heard between Mika and his butler in the bathroom.

"Look, Yuu." Mika stopped at the stoplight curb where they usually parted ways, finally looking at Yuu in the face. Even if there was an annoyed squint to his cerulean eyes and cold winter air blew blond locks around them, Yuu's heart flipped. Mika hadn't really looked at him for over a week, meaning no one had. "I thought we agreed not to ask the other about their parents, hm?"

"Yeah, but –"

"I have to be getting back," Mika said, already heading down the street in the direction of his house. "As you said, I have a lot of work to catch up on, so –"

"Mika? W-wait!" For a few blocks, Yuu jogged after Mikaela, who dodged through the sea of people as fast as he could to get away from Yuu. When Yuichiro got close enough to reach out for him, he grabbed Mikaela's arm. "Hold it right there, Mika!"

Mika turned around, taking his arm out of his hold with an angry twist. "Jeez, Yuu! You're so annoying! What do you want?!"

"I just want to know why you're being so unfriendly."

Mikaela scoffed, rolling his eyes – and his head – down the entire street in exasperation. "Okay, fine, it has to do with my parents. You satisfied now?"

Without waiting for an answer, Mika turned around and marched down the sidewalk, but even with the gears turning in his head, Yuu recovered quickly enough to stop him. Mika twisted out of his grip again.

"Just stop!" Mika yelled. "Why do you care so much?!" The few people who weren't watching their smart phones glanced at Yuu and Mika as they walked by.

"Because I don't want us to drift apart, Mika!" Yuu shouted, equally exasperated. "I don't know what kind of dealings you've had with people in the past, but I don't care about your family being rich and famous, okay?! I like spending time with you! I want to be your friend!"

Mika pulled his book bag farther up on his arm. "Well, you don't treat friends this way!" He was turning away again but Yuu had already caught hold of him. "What?!" he said so sharply that Yuu let go. His eyes lowered timidly, which made Mika stop.

"I just... I..." Yuu's face had gone red with a different kind of embarrassment as he sucked in a breath. The previous night's nightmare cycled through his head, causing him to tremble. His father lighting matches in the kitchen; the cupboards catching aflame. The carpet soaked with Yuu's blood and a lighting fire that swam before his eyes, beside his mother's corpse. Yuu really didn't want to talk about it. He never did. But... the only way he got through to Mikaela was when he was honest. "I have dreams," he whispered so quietly that Mika had to lean closer to make sure he heard the rest of what Yuu said. "Dreams about my parents. Dreams where I'm still with them, and everything is a question of when someone will get hurt, not if they will." Yuu stole a glance up at Mikaela, whose sour expression had been replaced by something akin to fear. Yuu rubbed his freezing hands together. "I used to use music to ignore the dreams during the day, but they always came back at night. Although, ever since I heard you play piano, Mika... the dreams, they..." Yuu fidgeted even more. "They went away. The dreams went away. I don't have them anymore. Or, I didn't, until you..."

Mikaela's fingers, warm and soft, found Yuichiro's, cold and trembling. Heat shot to Yuu's face at once and he almost combusted with the way Mika watched him with such concern in his bright blue eyes, as if he knew exactly what Yuu was going through. "I understand," he murmured. "I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

Yuu didn't realize he was crying until a gust of winter wind came by and he felt his face was even icier than before. They were getting weird looks, standing in the middle of the sidewalk with Yuu crying, Mika holding his hands. Quickly, Mika let go, and instead wrapped an arm around Yuu's shoulders as they continued to walk down the road. "My parents aren't violent like yours were," Mika said as they walked, getting Yuu's attention as he furiously wiped his face, "but they seek perfection in everything, and the punishment is always ugly when they don't get it. They won't let me do much aside from homework and upholding the Shindo Corporation, but... they wanted me to learn piano to help me get into a good college. I hated it at first," he said, much to Yuu's surprise.

"Wh-what...?" Yuu gasped, drying his eyes.

"Yeah, I didn't like playing piano. Not one bit," said Mika, laughing a little. "But then... it's something that's always been with me... Throughout all the bad, it's been the only thing that hasn't changed, except in a good way. And..." Mikaela glanced at Yuu, took his arm off his shoulders. "I guess it's what drew you to me?" he asked, hopeful.

Yuu sniffed once more and grinned at him. "Of course!"

Mika sighed in contentment. "Then all those painful lessons were worth it after all..."

Yuu perked up from what Mika just muttered to himself. He couldn't find anything to say in return.

Instead, Yuu relished the silence between them with only an occasional gust of wind, the sound of footsteps as they walked farther and farther from Inner Tokyo.

~Intimo~

Yuu wasn't sure whether or not to comment on the size of the mansion when they reached it. It wasn't large, dark, and menacing like something from a horror story or cartoon, but it was definitely bigger than any house he'd ever seen. The yard alone was bigger than the entire block of the Hyakuya Orphanage. The outside said it was definitely from the colonial era, when settlers had come from the West to colonize Japan, with tall white pillars and arches, and thick red and white bricks all along the outside.

Mika pushed the door open for both of them, and after they'd kicked off their shoes and hung up their school jackets, Yuu's deduction was further confirmed by the double staircase in the front, the spacious foyer that exited to what looked like the den and dining room to one side, library and study-slash-lounge to the other. Elegant furniture resided in each, Greek-looking statuettes on the stairs' landing, railings, and other table surfaces throughout the areas Yuu could see. They headed toward the library-lounge half.

"My parents are traveling again until the holidays," said Mika, "but my attendants are here. If they see you, there might be trouble –"

"My, my, this is a surprise."

Mika flinched at the voice behind them that came from the dining room. Yuu spun around to see a man with long silver hair, a long tailcoat with silky white gloves adorning his unearthly defined lanky stature and facial features. "Ferid, if Krul asks, we're working on a school project together," said Mika without turning around.

When the butler sneered, his expression was cat-like. "Oh Mika, do you expect me to believe that lie?" Something about the butler's patronizing tone didn't sit well with Yuu.

"No, it's what I expect you to tell her," said Mika, glaring at him.

Ferid bowed to them with a hand on his chest, the other wrapped behind him. "As you wish."

"Good. Come this way, Yuu." Mika held Ferid's ruby eyes with a hostile gaze of his own until him and Yuu had disappeared around the corner. Yuu was starting to wonder why he was there if he would only cause trouble, but the room after the library which they arrived in was none other than the music room. Its white, concave ceiling, circular walls, and windows on all sides indicated the room was made for nothing other than making and practicing music. Shelves, to the one wall beside the door, were full of it. And in the center was the sleekest, shiniest black grand piano Yuichiro had ever seen.

"I'm sorry, Yuu. You can't stay long, but I can at least give you something before you go." As Mika stepped up to the grand piano and propped its top open, he came to a halt in place. When he looked at Yuu, his face was a little pink. "Does it... does me playing piano really help your nightmares...?"

Yuu had already thought over every factor that could effect his anxiety, and found nothing to be more conclusive than Mikaela's piano. It couldn't be a coincidence. Of course, he enjoyed hearing Mikaela play piano for other reasons too. "Y-yeah, but, Mika... I don't want you to play for me just because of something dumb like that. I appreciate it, but you shouldn't so easily –"

"Don't worry, I want to play for you, Yuu!" Mika assured, grinning at him. Though Yuu felt ashamed for half-manipulating Mika to play for him with a sob story from his past, seeing Mika smile that way to Yuu and Yuu alone, – nothing at all like the fake smile he'd given those girls at school, – Yuu was even less likely to stop him.

Once Mika sat down at the piano and slid back the keyboard cover, he did something strange then. With both hands clutching the rim of the bench beneath him, Mika closed his eyes and put his head down. As Yuu waited, Mika's breathing and heartbeat became steadier. It was as if Mika had transformed into another person, for when he opened his eyes and set his fingers on the piano keys, the lofty music room stood completely still; the dust in the air ceased to move.

The first arpeggio alone lifted Yuu's mind from his body, followed by several others. This was a song Yuu had heard before, – from a movie, – though he couldn't remember which. It gave off that nostalgic feeling of youth and childhood, one inexplicable to him. With repeated notes and soothing tones, Yuu felt as if he was sailing, above the ocean, with the sky, not touching the water. He sailed over forests, his shoes only barely grazing the trees, the wind in his face, smelling pleasant, though it was rough. When the music turned, he was taken to a place that he never had been before: yet a place he could call home.

Mikaela's fingers found notes that were higher and more thoughtful, lonely, with a tenderness that made Yuu swell. Then the bass that was louder and more pronounced caused him to drift away in the eerie feeling of nostalgia once again. It grew louder, until the tempo changed, and the feeling of going to a place he never had been yet felt so much like home returned. The notes were louder, then soft, sending him back to the start... and onward from his childhood, Mikaela transitioning into the tender, lonely, and thoughtful notes so smoothly that Yuu barely realized it was happening. Then rhythm picked up, sending Yuu off through lands of all colors and sizes, chromatic scales that grew louder and more fervent with time, more energized, onto the destination that rose out of the earlier fervor, on and on, then pausing, stuttering, louder and louder, with a satisfying, yet open-ended bang.

Yuu wiped the tears from his eyes before Mika turned around and saw, but Mika heard his quiet sniffle before he lifted his hands from the piano keys, and smiled a little.

"I know that song," said Yuu, masking the wave of emotion he felt from Mika's playing from his voice best he could. "What's it called?"

"That was One Summer's Day by Joe Hisaishi," said Mika, who'd gone back to himself – well, mostly. "You probably heard it from Spirited Away."

"Oh yeah..." Yuu tried to remember when he must have watched the movie, but he couldn't.

Mika stood from the piano, closed the cover. "I'm sorry, Yuu, but you should leave now. I don't want someone finding you and giving you a hard time. You okay?"

Yuu was once again caught off-guard by Mika's knowing concern, which made his face light up. "Uh, yeah..." At the entrance door, Yuu muttered, an arm scratching his cheek, "Thanks for playing for me, Mika..."

"Of course, Yuu. See you on Monday."

When Yuu walked out of the mansion, into the cold, he staggered back.

What was that? He felt bad for using Mika just for his piano, but Mika hadn't seemed to mind it...

Crap! I forgot the reason I went there in the first place! To figure out what was bothering him! Yuu chided himself for his own idiocy. Warm relief flooded his veins when he recalled how Mika had said he wanted to play piano for him, how he'd smiled, and –

Wait a minute! Yuu couldn't take it, how Shinoa and Mitsuba seemed to be right about him. Arg, no! I can't give in to them! I'm not gay! I can't be, I mean, I'm only jealous of Mika and those girls because I wish girls gave me that much attention...

It definitely wasn't because Yuu wished Mika wouldn't waste his energy giving their classmates smiles that they didn't deserve. I do not like Mika in that way, but then... The way he smiled at Yuu, which made butterflies erupt in his stomach. The way he'd helped Yuu down the sidewalk while he was crying, brought him to his house, gentle, warm arms around him...

I can't take this. Yuu shook his head at how hot he felt. I've become weak. I can't take this anymore. He didn't know what to do. He had been having constant flashbacks about death and blood, his apartment and entire life going up in ashes, and yet his newfound conscience still came to him in the end.

He couldn't deny Mikaela's music had found its way into his heart, for better or for worse.

~Volante~

Once sure no one was listening outside his door, Yuu dialed the last number he ever thought he would call in his time of need. When the phone picked up, Yuu cursed himself. "Shinoa. I need your help."

Her laugh came through loud and triumphant. "Wow, Yuu, you finally cracked! You held on longer than I thought you would!"

Yuu's cheeks lit pink. "Sh-shuddup! That isn't what this is about!"

"Oh, it isn't~?"

"I need help figuring something out –"

Mitsuba spoke from the background, slurring and draining all the purpose out of Yuu. "Whoozat?"

"It's our little cherry boy," said Shinoa. "What do you need, Yuu~?"

He hung up right after that, being that he did not want to know if he'd called during anything like what he was imagining. Then he chucked his phone at the wall. Something cluttered and cracked.

"Yuichiro? Is everything okay in there?" called the Director from the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" he called back, fishing his phone out of the pile of clothes it had fallen. It was intact, but the frame of his vintage gold vinyl sure wasn't.

Then, gritting his teeth, he dialed the number again.

"Myes~?" crooned Shinoa.

Yuu said nothing, still trying to piece together the right words that wouldn't lead to an entire hour of teasing before he got the conversation he actually wanted.

"C'mon, just admit how much you care for your cute blond pianist."

Yuu blushed. "Dammit, Shinoa. You're not making this any easier."

I pulled this chapter out of thin air since I've been so busy and unable to set aside any time for writing, let alone come up with a good chapter plot. (In fact I have a bunch of work I should be doing right now. :D) I hope it was still good~?

Since I cannot message any of my anonymous reviewers back, I would like to personally thank you right here! To my Guests, I'm happy you are enjoying the slow romance, and Mikaela's piano playing is always very enjoyable to write! Shinoa is best at being blunt while also making it funny~ To the anonymous reviewer Mr. Shade, I'm glad you like this fic and enjoy my writing style, (honestly I'm making it up as I go,) and yas, I shall be using Mika's home situation greatly in this story~ Your elemental eye is fantastically perceptive~!

And of course, to everyone who has an account and continues to review! ^^ I guess you could say the latest episode of OnS inspired this chapter. (Fufufu.) Please don't forget to leave your thoughts on the chapter below~