A/N: My thesis is back to me so I'll go nuts in a matter of days. Before that, here's the next chapter. Enjoy, readers!

For sd4ianto, it's the same plane. You'll see what I mean.

CHAPTER TEN

After the commotion subsided, Shingyouji drove Mio home and met his foster family. He went to the PD a few hours later, his expression troubled. Ishikawa could understand; such near-death experience of someone beloved would bother everyone.

"Do you have anything to say, Shingyouji-san?"

He nodded and Ishikawa brought him to the interrogation room. "You know, Detective, Mio-chan wanted so hard to come with me. I can't let him."

"Why is that?" Ishikawa inquired, out of curiosity.

"Mio-chan doesn't deserve to know this. It's better to remember Yoshizawa-senpai as… a good guy. He doesn't need to know that his brother was killed."

Ishikawa's suspicion kicked in, and she frowned. "How do you know he was killed?"

Shingyouji sighed, as if knowing it was time to spill the truth. "I'll tell… but please, Detective. Just answer the question."

The detective relented. "We got the guy who stabbed him, but he claimed that Yoshizawa was still alive when he left him, so we can't arrest him for murder. But he's still going down for physical assault, and that's the least we can do for now. Do you know something about it?"

"Is that how he died? Stab wounds?"

The detective took a folder stored on the table near the door. She pulled out the autopsy result for Michio Yoshizawa and handed it to the man, who read it with a frown. "We found it was the reason he died. But if he was still alive after the guy left him, it was possible that he died of blood loss from the wounds. Unless… the person who'd found him let him die there."

"It's not like that." Shingyouji took a deep breath. "He should've gone to the hospital."

"What?"

When Shingyouji didn't reply, the detective finally put two and two together. "It was yours, right? That restaurant. You've owned it since you were still in Shidou. And that was the place they were going to rob. Am I wrong?"

It was when the man finally answered. "No. I live upstairs, and I was there when it happened. Yoshizawa-senpai only came there once when Mio-chan stayed in my place, so I guess… when it happened he didn't know where he was. I think… the plane made him realize that it was my restaurant he was going to rob."

"Why do you have that plane on the first place?"

"I heard about Yoshizawa-senpai being robbed a few days before," Shingyouji explained. "I know he wouldn't be able to buy that plane Mio-chan always told me about, so I bought it for him. I wanted to surprise both of them."

"You were home but why didn't you take care of his siblings?"

"I was celebrating with a friend. The Prince role was finally over, and at that day I was off limits."

"With 'friend', do you mean your senior Arata Misu? The one guy you've lost contact since he left for the United States?"

"Yes, that one."

"I see." Ishikawa stood and pulled out another paper from Yoshizawa's case folder. It had Shingyouji and Misu's name written on top. "It's quite interesting because you keep making international phone calls to that country. You don't lost contact with Misu, you never do. Why did you lie about it?"

"Are you even allowed to trace that?" Shingyouji asked, his eyes narrowing. Still, he looked like a cornered animal.

Ishikawa gave him a slight smile. "It's my turn to say this: just answer the question."

Shingyouji didn't and he looked down at the table, at the international calls he'd made since Misu left for America. So Ishikawa leaned forward on the table, forcing an eye contact. "Did something happen that night? Did Arata Misu kill Yoshizawa?"

It seemed to catch Shingyouji's attention. "Of course not! Arata-san would never hurt anyone!"

"Why are you so sure?"

The man gazed at her. "I'll tell, as long as you keep Arata-san out of this."

"Depends on what you have to show me."

"Please, Detective, please. The nightmares are enough, he doesn't need you—"

Ishikawa cut his rants. "If he didn't do anything, we don't need to take him in. What happened, Shingyouji-san, that you're so persistent in protecting him?"

"Because…" Shingyouji closed his eyes. "Because… Yoshizawa-senpai… it was me." He opened them again, and Ishikawa saw fierce determination behind them. He looked foreign with that expression, since he never looked like that since Ishikawa met him. She realized that this man was moved by love he had for his senior.

"And to answer your question, Detective, I'll do whatever it takes to protect Arata-san."

Shingyouji was together with Arata-san a day after the performance. They were celebrating the end of Founders' Day together. It was relieving for both of them. Shingyouji knew Arata-san was glad that the play—and the day in general—were over. Arata-san was a possessive master and Shingyouji wasn't interested to see his boyfriend socializing with other people, too, despite his position in the student council.

"How's the restaurant going?" Arata-san asked after Shingyouji was back with a bowl of popcorn. In order to celebrate, Arata-san bought some snacks and Shingyouji rented a few DVDs from the nearest film rental. Now was the fourth movie for the night, something about historical drama that Arata-san always liked. Shingyouji reoccupied the place next to his boyfriend on the sofa and put the popcorn between them.

"So far so good," Shingyouji replied. He and Arata-san had decided to open a small restaurant just to be independent from their parents. Being a rich son had its advantages; they had a lot of savings. In Arata-san's case, it was enough to pay the tuition until the graduation day and start a business.

Shingyouji didn't want to live with his parents anymore, while Arata-san left a place he was forced to call home. He was now living on the second floor of the restaurant, with Shingyouji. Sometimes Shingyouji did go home, just to assure his parents that he was okay living alone. But they never knew he co-owned this place (hell, they even didn't know where this place was!), and for that he was grateful.

Nobody ever searched for Arata-san, and it was a good thing for Shingyouji's boyfriend, too.

"You're keeping the money safe, don't you?" Arata-san suddenly asked, cutting off Shingyouji's train of thoughts.

"Of course!" Shingyouji was offended for some reason. He had to admit he was careless sometimes, leaving the money in the cashier machine so Arata-san had to retrieve it in the middle of the night. But today was different; Shingyouji made sure he took it and saved it in his room. He didn't want to disappoint his master in days like this.

"Just asking, pet. No need to be snappish," Arata-san grumbled, putting his hand on Shingyouji's head. He messed up his hair, just like one would do to their pets. Shingyouji groaned playfully and leaned his body against his boyfriend's as they continued to enjoy the movie.

It was forty-five minutes of the movie that Shingyouji felt the urge to pee. "Arata-san, I need to go to the toilet."

With an audible grunt, Arata-san put down his hand from Shingyouji's shoulder. He didn't even look away from the screen. So Shingyouji stood and left for the bathroom. He was halfway there when he heard a rustling sound from downstairs.

Shingyouji stopped walking. The sound stopped, leaving the movie as the only source of voice. The first-year continued his walk towards the bathroom when the sound was heard again. He frowned and glanced at Arata-san, who was so immersed at the movie he didn't even move. So, he picked a flashlight—he still forgot where the lamp's switch sometimes—and sneaked out their room.

"Who's there?" he called quietly in the darkness. He shouldn't be scared; he was a Kendo athlete, after all. He could defend himself just fine. Besides, Arata-san hated cowards and Shingyouji wanted to protect him at all costs.

"Who's there?" he repeated, slowly stepping down the stairs.

And that was when he saw it.

Two people, a muffled scream, and one of them running away. The one left behind slumped against the wall, right before Shingyouji's eyes. Blood smeared against the nice wooden wallpaper Arata-san had chosen.

"Wha—" Shingyouji rushed towards the body, his flashlight turned on since the dim lamps weren't much help. "Who are you?" he asked worriedly, falling to his knees next to the wounded person.

"Shi—shing—"

Shingyouji recognized the voice, and when he directed the flashlight at the face, he couldn't help but to gasp in shock. All reason vanished from Shingyouji's mind, and all he wanted was to get this guy to the hospital. "Yoshizawa-senpai! You're hurt!"

"Shingyouji," was the hoarse reply, no louder than a whisper. Shingyouji flashed the light and saw blood on his stomach.

"We need to get you to the hospital, Yoshizawa-senpai!"

Yoshizawa-senpai shook his head, much to Shingyouji's surprise. "Stay, s-stay, pl-please. I… I won't b-be long."

The first-year knew what he meant. "No, senpai! No! Remember Mio-chan? And Miya-chan? Hang on, I'll call the ambulance!"

"No!" Yoshizawa-senpai's sudden exclaim stopped Shingyouji from what he intended to do. "N-no, Shing-shingyouji, it's… it's fine."

"Yoshizawa-senpai, you have to go to the hospital. Mio-chan and Miya-chan need you."

"I-I've gone… too far, Shingyouji. They don't n-need me."

"You're wrong. They love you," Shingyouji insisted. "They'll love you no matter what, Yoshizawa-senpai."

Yoshizawa-senpai coughed, and blood was now trickling down his chin, too. Shingyouji watched him in horror. "N-no, Shingyouji. They'll h-h-hate me when they know. I-Izumi's right, I've… I've gone t-too far. I'm… I'm sorry, Shingyouji."

It was when Shingyouji realized why Yoshizawa-senpai was there in the first place. "It… it doesn't matter, Yoshizawa-senpai! We need to get you to the hospital!"

"Shingyouji," Yoshizawa-senpai pleaded, clutching Shingyouji's hand all of a sudden. "P-promise me."

Shingyouji knew it was time. "What is it, Yoshizawa-senpai?"

"Y-you love Mio-chan, right? He's… he's your favorite."

"Yeah, senpai. He's like my little brother." Tears were streaming down Shingyouji's face now, knowing full well what was going to happen. "He needs you. Your sister needs you. Both of them need you, so hang on."

"N-no, Shingyouji. Promise m-me… you'll t-take care… of them."

"What?"

Yoshizawa-senpai only stared at him before continued speaking. It was obvious that even breathing was a struggle, but Shingyouji knew he needed to say something before he left the world. So he let him stutter whatever he had in mind. "Little M-Mio loves planes."

"I know, I know. That's why I bought that plane for him. I want to surprise him. His birthday is tomorrow, right? You need to be there, senpai!"

"Thank… thank y-you."

"It's okay, senpai. You don't need to worry about buying that plane for him now. I've taken care of it."

Yoshizawa-senpai nodded and coughed, getting more blood down his chin. "T-take care… t-take c-c-care… of h-him."

They were his last words. It was already June 5, 2005 when he died in Shingyouji's arms, as the clock chimed, telling the distraught boy that it was already 1:30 in the morning. Shingyouji bowed his head and cried. He didn't know how long he did so, but when he looked up, Arata-san was already there. Shingyouji never saw him looking that… weird. He looked like he was angry and sad at the same time.

"A-Arata-san—"

"Clean up, Shingyouji."

"What?"

"I heard everything. And you heard me. Clean up, pet."

"Arata-san—"

Arata-san grabbed Shingyouji's shoulders and dragged him a bit away from the body. He knelt in front of Shingyouji, his eyes were as serious as before. "Listen to me, Shingyouji. This is our new life, and I'll do anything to keep it."

"B-but, Arata-san, he's your friend too!" Shingyouji protested.

"Which is why I'll take care of him," Arata-san replied. He cupped Shingyouji's cheeks and kissed his nose. "Don't worry, Shingyouji. It's a master's job to worry about things."

With that, he stood and ran upstairs.

"And that was how it happened." Shingyouji ended his story in a hollow tone. "It changes our lives forever. I never want Arata-san to leave, believe me I do. But he was no longer the Arata-san I know and it was even worse to let him stay here. So, when the offer to study abroad came, I forced him to go. Took me almost a year to convince him, but I'm glad to know that he's doing well there."

"What happened to him?"

"He was… depressed, for lack of better word. Yoshizawa-senpai's death, and then he found out about Takabayashi's… he was never the same again."

"What did he do, Shingyouji?" Ishikawa asked. When Shingyouji didn't answer, she repeated the question. "What did Misu do?"

A sigh. "He… called the only person in his school year… who had a car."

A/N: The next one is the last chapter. Whoa, I can't imagine this is coming to an end. Makes me a bit sad, y'know. Thank you soooo much for reading this far!

I have this headcanon that Misu likes to kiss Shingyouji's nose when he's distressed XD

Reviews are much appreciated! ^^