Notes: Oh, wow! What a pleasant surprise! Three new reviewers joining us, I'm so happy! Thanks so much for the feedback, Toa Kaoru, fate-star and Ahria. I agree that there's a sad lack of Galileo fanfiction out there - Yukawa and Utsumi totally deserve more love. Toa Kaoru: Very good question. I actually only managed the first few paragraphs of that chapter... heh heh. If you're really curious I could totally post that here later as an appendix of sorts... but personally, I didn't think it was my best writing XD
This chapter may have a bit of a sudden change of pace but I decided to go with it, since I wasn't meaning for this to be a really long story anyways. I suppose you could say that we're approaching the climax. I think this fic is where I show how much I'd love it if the television series has more intensity sometimes, but if I had it my way I don't think any of the characters would last very long ^_^"
Pitfall
Yukawa hadn't slept well last night. He yawned and rubbed at his eyes as he sat in front of his laptop and tried to force himself to focus. It was so difficult – a research report didn't seem to be quite so urgent for him any more. Usually, the lab was such an enjoyable place to be for him, especially with the cool autumn breeze blowing in and out of the windows, but at the moment Yukawa would rather be somewhere else, doing something he felt was more productive. Oddly, he had no strange feelings about being back in his usual spot in the 13th laboratory, even if he had what should have been the most traumatizing experience of his life only several metres away. He thought that the fact that he had already been ambushed here was all the more reason it wouldn't happen again – not in the same place.
Kuribayashi and his students seemed to feel differently, however. They kept casting him nervous glances – as if they were worried about – what? What exactly did they think could happen to him? Yukawa couldn't bring himself to tell them off, but he still disliked this awkward kind of attention. In the end, he resorted to staring at his laptop screen so hard that he wouldn't have been surprised if a hole got burned into it. Yukawa stayed this way until Kuribayashi finally tapped him on the shoulder two and a half hours later.
Hesitantly, he said, "Sensei… you're supposed to have a look at the students' reports on that experiment…"
Yukawa blinked. It seemed like ages since he last heard that word. "Which experiment?"
"You know, the one you had me come in early to prepare for – we did it a couple weeks ago without your supervision."
"Ah." Yukawa frowned. He was rather annoyed that he hadn't been there to oversee the experiment – it was much harder to mark reports if he hadn't been there himself. It didn't help that he would have to rely entirely on his left hand for any writing he had to do… Sugiyama's attack had inconvenienced Yukawa in more ways than one. He'd never been this behind on work in his entire career before. "Why couldn't the psychopath have chosen a time when we didn't have such an important lab to do?"
Kuribayashi just uttered a nervous laugh. "I agree, Sensei." After an awkward silence, he asked tentatively, "Should I have them give you their reports?"
Yukawa sighed and leaned back in his chair, putting his hands on top of his head, and winced when the movement stretched his abdomen a little too far. To his utter dismay, Kuribayashi seemed to have taken this as an affirmative answer, for some unfathomable reason. He suddenly rushed to the door and began to usher the students in – in a flash, Yukawa found himself surrounded by students, all looking very uncertain but trying to hand him papers, all the same. He pressed his lips together, flexed his left fingers, and took the first report, from Murase.
"Utsumi, go home and get some rest. You look like you've been through hell."
Utsumi protested, "Kusanagi-san – I want to help –"
"You won't be quite as helpful as you are now when you're dead on your feet. Now go; you've done enough for the day. I can take over. Ok?" Kusanagi just waved his hand and spun in his chair so that his back was facing her.
Utsumi sighed. It wasn't often that Kusanagi, normally so easygoing, held so firm about an issue – when he did, it was usually better to do as he said. Utsumi, grumbling the whole time, packed up her bag. It was true that she had been working herself harder than she'd ever done in the past couple weeks, and it was also true that she was impossibly tired. But she couldn't bring herself to rest when there was a crazy like Sugiyama on the loose. Did she look so noticeably drained? Perhaps it was time for her to hit the gym more often and build up her strength for times like these…
"I'll see you tomorrow, then, Kusanagi-san." Utsumi muttered as she left.
"Yep. See you." Kusanagi grinned at her.
In the drive home, Utsumi's phone bleeped noisily. It was an email, from Yukawa. He was telling her that he wanted to discuss something with her, and that he'd drop by her apartment on the way home from his last lecture of the day. She already felt the anticipation making her spine tingle – had he been able to figure something out? Utsumi was also looking forward to seeing Yukawa again – she wanted to ask him about his first day back at work, and possibly tick him off with her nagging. It was always an endless source of amusement for her. And admittedly, it did cheer her up greatly every time she talked with him, even if he was possibly one of the most irritating people in the world.
Yukawa was becoming increasingly distracted. He was already feeling the toll of a full morning of regular work – at this moment, he wished for nothing more than the softness of his bed at home. The dull ache in his stomach was becoming more and more noticeable. He felt so fatigued, even if he had really not done anything more than marking papers all morning…
To make matters much worse, Yukawa realized that he had a lecture to give in five minutes – he had completely forgotten about it. Cursing under his breath, he gathered up his materials as quickly as he could with his bad hand, and shoving it all into his briefcase, hurried out of the laboratory. By the time Yukawa reached the lecture hall, he was exactly on time and very out of breath. He'd just managed to make his wound hurt more through overexertion, but there was nothing much he could do about it, as he had a hall full of students waiting for him to begin. He got the same kind of furtive looks he'd been getting all morning as he made his way to the podium and blackboard. It was his first day back since his incident, after all. Yukawa was almost getting used to this, almost as he was getting used to constant physical discomfort.
Yukawa mentioned nothing about his absence, despite the obviously inquiring glances his students were giving him. So many eyes were trained on the cut on his face. It was likely that none of them knew more than the basic fact that Yukawa had suffered injuries at the hands of a criminal. He wanted to keep things this way, so he'd requested Kusanagi to keep things under wraps. So far, it seemed like he was doing a good job with it, much to Yukawa's relief.
The lecture progressed as normally as any other. A glance at the clock on the wall told Yukawa that he just needed to hold out for twenty-five more minutes – then his day would be over, and he could finally get into a bed again. It was at around this time when someone quietly came into the hall from the back, and sat alone in the very back row – a man. Yukawa paused in midsentence, and stared.
He was quite sure that last time he checked, Sugiyama Kotarou wasn't enrolled in any of his lectures. Yukawa felt a bit ill, and froze for a split second. However, Yukawa being Yukawa, after a fleeting rush of surprise and perhaps a little fear, he forced himself to stay calm. He continued with his explanation on quantum mechanics, as if nothing had happened, as if everything was fine. As if a sadistic criminal who was obviously targeting him wasn't sitting fifty metres away.
Sugiyama was wearing that familiar grin again. He gave Yukawa a little wave, and when he glanced his way, his smile just got wider. Yukawa's mind was racing furiously. What was this? What could have possibly prompted Sugiyama to show himself in a public university lecture hall in the middle of the day? Yukawa had a feeling that Sugiyama wasn't here because he wanted to learn quantum theory. Sugiyama just sat there like that until there was five minutes left in the lecture. He made a motion with his hand to catch Yukawa's attention. Yukawa began to assign readings to the students for the next lecture. Sugiyama made a sign with his hand in the air, beside his ear – phone. Then, slowly, deliberately, he drew his finger across his throat. With that, Sugiyama stood up, waved again, and left.
Yukawa dismissed his students early.
Almost as soon as the last few disappeared, Yukawa felt his cell phone vibrate against his leg in his pocket. He took it out to see a single text message, from an unknown sender:
You didn't get my note, did you?
And then, barely seconds later, another message arrived. It was an address, with a postscript at the end. Complete with admittedly cute emoticons.
We'll meet you here in five minute's time, if you don't mind. Do come by yourself – a little privacy can't hurt, no?
Yukawa got a sinking feeling when he noticed the use of the pronoun 'we'. This was bad. He had no idea what Sugiyama was going for any more – but this was very bad. Who could this third person in question possibly be?
"No…" It was so painfully obvious. He knew this address. He'd only been there once or twice at the most, but he knew it so very well. Abandoning his briefcase and any thoughts of returning to the laboratory, Yukawa sprinted to the other end of the lecture hall. He no longer cared whether he tore open his wound again or not. There was something so much more at stake.
As he rushed through the hall and to the exit, he pummeled right into Kuribayashi, who was carrying a stack of papers, presumably for him. The sheets flew everywhere as both men were sent sprawling. Kuribayashi yelped in surprise, his eyes widening further when he saw that it was Yukawa. "Sensei? What are you doing?"
"Not now, Kuribayashi-san." This was all Yukawa could manage before he picked himself up and went running again. He made his way out the university campus and through the streets, ignoring the strange looks pedestrians were giving him. He felt the protests of his body already but pushed himself on – his destination wasn't so far at all. In fact, that was probably why Sugiyama had seen it as such a golden opportunity…
Yukawa could feel a sheet of sweat covering him by the time he could see the familiar building – Utsumi Kaoru's apartment. He remembered being surprised to learn that she lived so close to the university. What had only been a coincidence was now something much more deadly. His lungs were begging for more oxygen but his damaged abdominal muscles made breathing deeply difficult. But this didn't matter, not right now. Getting closer, Yukawa was finally able to spot what he had dreaded. Utsumi was waiting for him expectantly at the front steps. She seemed to see him, and waved.
"Utsumi-kun! Run away from here!" Yukawa cursed his voice for not being able to project farther. Why couldn't sound travel as quickly as light did? Why? "Get away!"
Utsumi shouted something back. It sounded like a 'What, Sensei?'' She started coming towards him. She seemed to notice that something was wrong.
Yukawa already knew that this situation was futile. Sugiyama had planned it cleverly – this wasn't a particularly complex trap but it was one that was probably going to serve its function all too well. Was this panic Yukawa was feeling? Could he possibly still turn the tables on Sugiyama?
Yukawa screamed Utsumi another warning, no longer even a coherent sentence. It was already too late. When she turned, she was immediately grabbed by a pair of waiting hands that was behind her. Her cry was muffled by them, and she was pulled into the alleyway next to the apartment building. Out from the same place, Sugiyama emerged, and approached Yukawa with a casual, confident air.
Yukawa whispered, "You scumbag."
Sugiyama just smiled again. "You know that I take that as a compliment, right?"
"Let her go. She has nothing to do with this."
"Oh, how would you know, Yukawa?" Sugiyama sighed dramatically. "I really would love to tell you about this little experiment but as you are our subject, there's only so much you can know until its conclusion."
Yukawa could see Utsumi struggling in the hands of Sugiyama's burly henchmen, her eyes wide with terror. They were also pleading for him to escape. He wasn't going to do anything of the sort – he couldn't just leave her here like this. He had to do something. And then Yukawa saw that they were dragging her off. There was a quite well-concealed black van in the shadows cast by the setting sun.
Sugiyama was barring his way, his hand in his pocket. There was no doubt that it contained a weapon. Yukawa felt a sudden unbearable urge to punch the grin off his face but knew that it would be very, very foolish. For a moment, the pair faced each other, neither of them not moving a single muscle. This brief silence was shattered by the sound of someone starting a car. Yukawa's head immediately turned to the source of the noise – the van. They had Utsumi in the van. They were going to get away with her.
"How do you feel about her, Yukawa?" Sugiyama said softly, mockingly. "How do you feel about Utsumi Kaoru?"
"Stop this." Yukawa looked into Sugiyama's eyes – shiny, black and glinting with madness. "I still don't know who you are or what you want, but stop this now."
Sugiyama looked rather disappointed. "I'm sorry, Yukawa, but I'm not going to have my fun taken away from me so soon. If you want her," he grinned widely again, "come get her yourself." Before Yukawa could react, Sugiyama had thrown a sudden roundhouse punch to his face. He seemed like an experienced fighter, or at least someone who knew how to exert maximum force with his fists. The knuckles connected with his cheekbone and Yukawa saw stars, staggering against the wall behind him; when he had finally regained control of his vision and balance, he was able to catch a glimpse of Sugiyama gaily hopping into the car as it began to speed off.
"Utsumi!" Yukawa broke into a sprint after the van. Pain was now stabbing at his gut and his head was still throbbing from the punch it had received seconds before. He didn't make it far before the car disappeared around a corner. His exhausted body finally giving way, he let himself sink to his knees. Yukawa dimly realized that he was sitting in the middle of a sidewalk with pedestrians still going about their business. He couldn't care less for that at the moment.
"Yukawa-sensei?" Yukawa's head jerked around at the voice calling his name; it was Kuribayashi, his face red and panting heavily. Curious bystanders were looking on furtively. "What's going on? I looked all over for you – " He stopped when Yukawa looked away from him again and stared at the corner where the van had disappeared. "…sensei? Are you all right?"
The street seemed to be completely still. Yukawa finally caught his breath and opened his mouth. "He took Utsumi, Kuribayashi-san." The professor was still refusing to look at him, but his voice was as monotonous as ever. Or so Kuribayashi first thought – it was only a moment later when he detected the faint tremble in it. He didn't miss what Yukawa added quietly, "I want to kill him."
