I just finished reading Shakespeare's 'Titus Andronicus'. It was sweet. Like Shakespeare and a slasher flick all in one. Read it if you get a chance, or watch Julie Taymour's excellent film of it. At any rate, back to this. I realize I left people on a cliffhanger, but that was actually intentional this time. Thanks to all reviewers.

Disclaimer- Not mine.

Chapter 10

Yuki and his mother were completely still for a minute, cold calculation in Yuki's eyes, iron intent in Mrs. Toyama's as she held her gun to her son's face. Takenaga stood frozen at the door, staring at this chilling tableau. There was no way this could end happily. Suddenly, Yuki's eyes widened and jerked to the door.

"You're supposed to be dead," he said frightened. "I tore out your eyeballs myself! Stay dead, Ranmaru!"

Takenaga looked behind him alarmed and saw Kyohei holding a flashlight. It had always been easy to mistake Ranmaru and Kyohei for each other, and even more so in the dim light of the neglected mansion. Yuki's guard broken down, his mother took the oppurtunity to land a crushing blow to the back of Yuki's neck, get off the bed and stand beside Takenaga as she got her cell phone to call the police.

"I saw the note you left me, and decided to tag along," Kyohei said, and looked around. "I guess it was a good thing I came when I did."

"Yes. Definitely. I'm sorry, Toyama-san," Takenaga turned to Mrs. Toyama. "I froze up."

"It's all right, Oda-kun. I should apologize. I didn't mean to pull my gun like that," Mrs. Toyama said as she dialed the emergency number. "I wasn't prepared to see him like this, and all this emotional stress has effected my reasoning. I should have called the police as soon as we confirmed his position. Hello? I have found Yukinojo Toyama..."

Kyohei looked at Mrs. Toyama for the first time since his arrival, and said (after she finished her call), "You must be Yuki's mother. I am honoured to meet you, Toyama-san."

"As am I, Takano-kun," Mrs. Toyama said decorously, and looked at her immobile son with sad eyes. "I suppose they will have to put him in a higher security cell now."

They waited until the police and an ambulance came, and then went back to Kyohei and Takenaga's apartments. Mrs. Toyama could no longer avoid telling Kyohei and Takenaga the whole wretched story, and said, "I want to begin with apologizing. I've known that Yuki was this ill longer than he's known, probably. I should have given him more help."

She sighed and looked away from the boys before continuing.

"I once had three sons. Yuki was my youngest. Isamu was my middle child. And Ryota was my oldest, seven years older than Yuki. Yuki idolized Ryota. He wouldn't do anything without Ryota's approval. I wasn't worried, though maybe I should have been. It often happens that boys look up to their older siblings as role models. Yuki always told me that he wanted to be like Ryota when he grew up. One summer, though, the summer Yuki turned six, Ryota got into an accident, and he died after a week in hospital. Yuki wasn't the same after that. It was as though he had died with Ryota. He became extremely isolated from the rest of his family, particularly Isamu. That's when he made Hiro-san."

"He made him?" Takenaga asked. He could not believe that Yuki had brought the curse of Hiro-san on himself.

"Yes," Mrs. Toyama confirmed. "He was so miserable, and lonely. I don't think he could stand the sadness without a companion who could perfectly understand him. Hiro-san could relate to him, of course, and soon Yuki would talk only to him. I was concerned, obviously. I sent him to a psychiatrist who had him undergo several sessions of hypnosis therapy. It seemed to work then, but I know now that this only succeeded in seperating their personalities even further, and repressing Hiro-san for a temporary amount of time."

"Yuki appeared relatively normal for the next few months, but on New Year's Eve two years after that summer, he had a bitter fight with Isamu, saying he should have died instead of Ryota, and stormed up to his room. The next day, I found Isamu dead in his bed. He had been strangled with a neck tie."

Takenaga and Kyohei stared at Mrs. Toyama in disbelief. Yuki had killed his own brother? The statement was completely uncomprehensible.

"Yuki had no memory of the incident, but at one of his hypnosis sessions after Isamu's death, Hiro-san reportedly emerged and attempted to strangle the therapist," Mrs. Toyama said. Her voice was now trembling. "Yuki luckily came to himself before he killed his therapist, but he realized he had killed Isamu, and as a result he buried Hiro-san deeply in his mind. I thought this was good, but it appears that the more repressed Hiro-san is, the more violent and overwhelming he will be when he does re-emerge, as he inevitably will. He apparently likes attention, and when he is denied it... well, you saw what happened."

Here Yuki's mother took another deep breath, and quickly continued.

"I was foolish. I kept him on therapy for a few more months after Hiro-san disappeared, and took him off when I thought it was all behind us. I never knew that he would kill like this. Yuki actually sent me an e-mail early into this relapse that said he was afraid of 'losing himself' again. He didn't tell me that Hiro-san had actually begun talking to him in his head. I replied his e-mail saying that he was being over-cautious, but the truth was I didn't want to believe that Hiro-san was back. I ignored his plea for help, and I have condemned many innocents because I did that."

"Oh God," Kyohei breathed. His eyes were bright with tears, and his hands were clenched into white-knuckled fists. "He lived... all that..."

Kyohei bit his lip to stop himself from sobbing out loud. Takenaga just sat there, stricken dumb by the horrid story Mrs. Toyama had just told them.

"Why didn't he tell us?" Takenaga asked.

"Why would he?" Kyohei asked. "I wouldn't have, if it were me. Who wants to admit they have another personality that killed their brother?"

"Takano-kun has insight," Mrs. Toyama said wearily. "Though I never forbade him to tell others about Hiro-san, he was ashamed of it, and never liked to face the problem willingly."

She looked at the time. It was 10:45.

"You must be tired. I have yet to check into a hotel, so I suppose I'd better do that now."

"Stay with us, please, Toyama-san. You are Yuki's mother after all. It wouldn't be proper of us if we didn't offer you a place to stay while you're in Tokyo. Besides, you're tired. You shouldn't be walking around the city at night looking for a hotel when you've come all this way," Takenaga said softly.

"Thank you very much, Oda-kun. I hope it's no trouble to you both, though," Mrs. Toyama said gratefully.

"There's a spare room. I'll sleep there. The actual bedrooms are nicer," Kyohei offered, and stood up to show Mrs. Toyama to his bedroom.

"Thank you again," Mrs. Toyama smiled. "Yuki has a good choice in friends."

So that's the whole story of Yuki's past. I can't get through without doing that, and I hope it satisfies any curiousity you might have had. The next couple of chapters are probably going to wrap things up, and then I can get on to other fanfics for Wallflower! However, I need a stimulus to keep this going. R and R!!