Heeeeey gaaaaaiz~ How are you all doing? :3 I'm pretty good myself. This is yet another update to my story! You'll finally get to find out what happened to Shinobu and Dollie in the lighthouse!
Thank you guys for reading this story and leaving such lovely reviews! It means a lot to me!
Also, thank you to my proofreader and love of my life. 3 Without you this fanfic would be a mess.
A very angry thirty-five year old man was stomping down the sidewalk, blind to the people he was bumping into as he went. In his hand there was a very worn rolled up newspaper, his car featured on the front page. Sunk in a lake by his crazy ex, the car had taken two days to get back and was going to cost a small fortune to repair. From water damage to needing new parts, the car was out of commission for a good while.
Miyagi was on his way to his ex-wife's house, ready to demand answers about why she stole his car and drove it into a lake. He didn't feel the need to call the police about it, he didn't really give a damn whether anyone knew the truth or not, but he wanted to hear it straight from her. He wanted to know what her problem was.
He arrived at her house and wasted no time knocking on the door, so roughly that it hurt his knuckles. It didn't take long for Risako to answer, looking almost pleased to see Miyagi standing on her doorstep, even if he looked ready to kill.
"Yoh... Come inside." Her voice purred when she spoke his name. He waited for her to stand aside and stepped into the house. She shut the front door and started into the kitchen. "Why don't you come sit down? I'll get you a drink."
"No thanks. I won't be long." Miyagi gritted his teeth as he spoke, holding the paper out to her. She took it from his shaking hands and unrolled it.
"Is that your car?"
"I don't want to hear any bullshit Risako. We both know you're behind that."
"Alright..." She handed the paper back and smiled lightly up at Miyagi. "I'll admit, I might have done something like that. It was merely to get your attention and now that I have it I would like to talk."
"Oh trust me, we're going to have a talk." Miyagi threw the paper to the side in disgust and started towards Risako, backing her into the nearest wall. He placed a hand on either side of her head to make sure she couldn't get away from him while he said what he wanted to say. "I'm sorry if I'm not begging to have you back, but you need to cut this harrassing thing out. I'm too old for this. We need to both act like adults and stop this."
"Pinning a woman up against the wall is hardly acting like an adult Yoh."
"Shut up and listen."
"No youlisten." Now Risako was getting riled up, her voice changing from it's normal sultry tone. "I'm doing this for us Yoh. You and I make a good team and I think we should reconsider our divorce."
"You were the one who wanted it in the first place." The dark-haired man hissed, pulling away from her. "I'm not getting back together with you. I told you before that I have someone I like."
"Who? Shinobu? He left you Yoh and he didn't look back."
"Doesn't matter. If I don't have him then I don't want anyone." Miyagi meant every word. Even if Shinobu had left him and gone to live in Australia, even if they never spoke again, the older man knew that there would never be anyone that could fill the empty spot left behind. "If it's not Shinobu, then it's not a relationship worth my time."
"You're doing the same thing you did with your teacher." Risako spat, throwing her arms up into the air. "You cling onto the people that leave you and then you wonder why you're alone!"
"I'm not wondering anything! I'd rather be alone than try to replace those that I care about."
"You replaced me without any issues!" Miyagi turned to look at Risako, who's voice was now on the verge of screaming. "Things may not have been perfect between us, but I did love you! You didn't even give me a chance! I was your wife and every day all it was, was you sitting in your little corner staring at your teacher. You never opened up to me, never allowed me to try to ease your pain."
"You call sleeping around 'easing my pain'?" He shook his head in disbelief. "The reason I left you, other than the fact that we never really had much to begin with, was because you slept with other men."
"Maybe if you had cherished me a bit more-..."
"You don't even cherish yourself." With slow movements, Miyagi cupped Risako's face in between his hands, looking down at her seriously. "You have a lot going for yourself, but you don't stop to smell the roses. You use people to sully the parts of yourself that you hate. You're the one who needs pain relief and I'm not the guy who can give it to you."
"You're wrong." Risako's voice was dead-pan, but around the edges of her eyes little glimmers of tears were beginning to form.
"The guy you're with now seems like an okay guy. I've seen him around a few times and he's always on about you. One look at him and you can tell he's crazy about you."
"He's just dating me because I'm rich."
"Risako, you know that's not-..." Miyagi never got to finish, Risako tore away from him, grabbing what looked to be a suitcase. She tore open the front door right as a car pulled up. Startled, the dark-haired man started after her. She threw her luggage into the back and hurried herself into the passenger seat. Before the car drove off she rolled her window down and leaned out of it.
"I'm going to visit Shinobu. I'll be back in a couple of days." She didn't give him time to comment, simply hailed the driver and sped off, Miyagi staring after her.
The dark-haired girl didn't bother explaining. She simply slipped her bikini top off and grabbed one of Shinobu's hands, placing it over her exposed chest. She resumed her kissing as the door to the light room was opened and two figures walked in. Obscured by the bright beams of light from the lighthouse's lamp, Shinobu couldn't really see who had entered, but a sinking feeling in his stomach gave him a good hint.
"What the hell do you two think you're doing?" Collin bent down beside the two, looking uncharacteristically angry.
"What do you think?" Dollie asked calmly, peering up through her eyelashes at the blond. "Jealous?"
"Get up. Both of you." Seizing her top, the dark-haired girl stood first, looking very calm. She didn't seem disturbed at all by the harsh way Collin was speaking to her, or even the fact that she was half-naked. Shinobu however was confused and in a silent panic. He now knew what Dollie had brought him to the lighthouse for and why she had seemed so eager to have sex with him. "Do you know how much trouble you guys could have gotten in?"
Turning his back on them both, Collin walked over to the control panel and turned the light off, bathing them all in darkness. The second figure flipped on a flashlight and Shinobu recognized him as the guy who had egged him into dancing with Dollie. He turned another flashlight on and handed it to Collin, who was now having tremors of rage.
"So what, you thought it would be a good idea to go gallivanting off in the dark to a lighthouse?" He began, his voice icy cold. The blond began to pace, as if trying to think of what to say next. "You know how dangerous this place is? If you don't know what you're doing you can start fires or get electrocuted!"
"But I knew what I was doing-..." Dollie began, looking somewhat smug. Her expression changed when Collin turned on her, his expression murderous. He raised the flashlight in his hand, as if about to strike her, but instead he simply turned it in his hand so he could get a better look at Shinobu and Dollie. The gray-eyed boy, who had been silent since Collin's arrival, was now feeling unwell.
"Just shut up." Sounding exhausted now, the Aussie turned away from them and to the fourth person in the room. "Give me your shirt." The boy set his flashlight down and did what he was told, tossing his shirt over to Collin, who then threw it at Dollie. "You put that on and then you are going to get back to the house. Lucas will see that you get there."
"No." Dollie hissed, although she did pull the shirt on. "I'm not going anywhere until we talk!"
"There's nothing I have to say to you."
"Well there's plenty I want to say to you!"
"Dollie. Go." Collin growled, looking like he was about to go back into his earlier state of anger.
"You never answered me." Dollie laughed bitterly, her fists clenching. "Are you jealous?"
"Not in the way you want me to be."
"Who is she?"
"I told you before, there is no 'she' and even if there were, that's not why we broke up." They had obviously had this conversation before, because Collin sounded suddenly bored.
"Then why did you break up with me? We were perfect together!" She too began to pace, much like the blond had earlier, her movements more nervous. "Did I do something wrong...?"
"I told you before, I don't feel that way about you."
"Yes you do! Otherwise you wouldn't have asked me out!"
"I made a mistake." Collin's voice softened and he caught Dollie by the shoulders, turning her to face him. "I wish I could change how I feel, I wish I could make myself love you, but that's not how things work. No matter how close we get or how hard we work, I'm never going to be what you want. You deserve better."
"I don't." Dollie didn't speak again or look up at Collin, her eyes were locked on the floor as if it was utterly fascinating. She pulled herself out of his grip and turned to stalk over to Lucas. The two of them started down the stairs and after a moment or two Shinobu could see them out the window, walking back towards the house.
"Are you alright?" Collin asked, his blue eyes locking onto Shinobu, who was standing dumbly a foot or two away.
"What are you doing here?" Shinobu hadn't minded being saved from Dollie, but he couldn't imagine it had been easy for Collin to tear himself away from that cute red-head he had been playing with.
"I couldn't find you and a couple of people told me they saw you and Dolls heading up towards the lighthouse."
"What about that girl you were with? What happened to her?"
"You mean my baby cousin?" Collin looked confused at first, but then he put two and two together. "Dollie lied to you, she knows that, that's my cousin. What did she say?"
"That you like to play with people." Shinobu's voice was wavering, his throat felt dry all over again, like he had gone days without anything to drink. "Isn't that what you're doing with me?"
"No! Are you crazy?"
"Then why were you all over that girl?"
"I told you! She was my cousin! I was telling her about-... About us." Collin shook his head, turning his blue eyes out onto the ocean. "Dollie used you. She wanted me to see you two together and get jealous, so she could 'forgive' me and take me back."
"But why would she do that?" Shinobu's voice was a whisper now. It was all making sense now, though he wasn't quite sure what to believe. Collin turned his head to look at the honey-haired boy, his face showing concern.
"C'mere for a second."
The Japanese boy complied, stepping over to Collin. Gently the blond ran his fingers over the reddening mark on Shinobu's face from where Dollie had hit him. Looking more and more troubled, the Aussie pulled the smaller into a hug, murmuring apologies into Shinobu's ears, who didn't really understand much of what was being said, but liked the tone that Collin was using.
"I think I'm kind of falling for you." The blond sighed, giving Shinobu no time to give any sort of response. Instead he brought their lips together for a kiss, which got deeper and deeper with every second that passed. The gray-eyed boy knew the kind of kiss Collin was giving him, Miyagi had done it all the time, right before any kind of intimate moment.
Don't think about him. Shinobu told himself, doing his best to return the blond's kiss. Don't think about Miyagi.
"I want you." Collin sighed, sliding his hands slowly down Shinobu's sides to his waist. "Can I?"
"Yes." Shocked by the confidence in his own voice, the shorter boy pulled the Aussie to the floor. He had never imagined he would ever meet anyone that he would want in the ways that he had wanted Miyagi and yet here he was with a beautiful Australian boy, about to make love in a lighthouse.
The setting was perfect, the boy was warm and inviting, but Shinobu couldn't help but feel wrong as he allowed Collin to sweep him away.
Shinobu woke to the soft scent of clean sheets and the feeling of warm sun. His body was sore, but after a good stretch it wasn't as severe. His pale gray eyes opened to see that he was back at the beach-house, in the master bedroom, tucked in beside Collin. A rush of embarrassment came over him as he stared at the sleeping face of the Aussie.
That was not the only thing that threw the honey-haired boy for a loop. He couldn't remember the trip back from the lighthouse, or even the trek up to the master bedroom. He hadn't remembered seeing any guests and wondered if there were any downstairs. The only thing he found he could remember was the second round that he had so shamefully insisted on having.
I've really done it now... Shinobu thought with a grimace, sitting up. A sharp stab of pain shot up his back and he had to bite his tongue sharply to keep from making any noise that would wake Collin. The Australian was nowhere near as experienced as Miyagi and Shinobu had the aching backside to prove it.
Half crawling, half dragging himself, he made his way off the bed to the floor. The bathroom was only a couple feet away, and as long as he moved slowly, he was sure he could make it without causing too much damage. Using the door frame and the wall he picked himself up off the ground, gritting his teeth from the effort. After a small struggle he was sure it would be smooth sailing. All he had to do was soak in a hot bath for a bit and he would regain enough of his mobility to at least be able to function.
Lady Luck was not on his side. Collin was stirring on the bed, Shinobu's body was threatening to give up on him, and worst of all, something wet was now dripping down the smaller boy's legs. It was too late for him to duck into the bathroom, so he didn't even bother attempting. Gray eyes met blue and the two of them stared at one another for a long time. A weak laugh came from behind Shinobu's clenched teeth and he tore his gaze away.
"This is all a bad dream..." Shinobu griped, allowing himself to sink back down to the floor, where his pride was currently pooling around his feet. (Quite literally.)
"I dunno, I kind of like where this is going." Collin's voice drifted from the other side of the room, sounding far too sultry. "Do you need some help? What are you trying to do?"
"I want to take a bath."
"Give me half a moment and I'll get you in there." Untangling himself from the sheets, the blond rose from the bed, not an ounce of clothing on him. Shinobu choked on his own saliva and coughed, Collin smiled in mirth. "What?"
"Put some clothes on!" He demanded, his ears burning.
"What for? You saw me naked last night."
"Doesn't mean I want to see you naked every day from now on!" Shinobu simply loathed the way his voice had risen an octave or two and was showing no signs of stopping.
"Touchy little thing, aint'cha?" Moving laboriously slow, the Aussie found some clothes and pulled them on, catching Shinobu's eye every time the boy looked up to check on his progress. "Your tune sure has changed from the one you were humming last night."
"Last night I was drunk. Verydrunk."
"Is that what they're calling it these days?" Collin chuckled a little to himself as he walked over, kneeling down next to the gray-eyed monster on the floor. "You're all messy."
"S'cuz you came inside-..."
"You were the one who begged me to."
"I did not!" Squirming in horror at his roommate's words, he strained to remember if he really had done such a scandalous thing. While Shinobu pondered, Collin wasted no time in helping him to the bathtub. He hooked one arm up under the backs of the smaller's knees, his other arm snaked around his waist. "Don't pick me up! You'll get it all over you!"
"It's fine." The blond insisted, speaking in a more serious tone. It didn't last long and a crooked smile spread across his face. "Besides, I had lots of yours on me last night."
"We are no longer having this conversation!" Clamping his hands over his ears, Shinobu did his best to block out anything else that the 'that idiot Collin' could come up with. He was mortified enough without having some sort of kinky conversation first thing in the morning. "You really gotta work on being gentler!"
"Says the boy who demanded I 'thrust harder'~"
"I'm sorry I opened my fat mouth..." Shinobu's bath was a sulky one, spent drowning in a sea of Collin's snide comments about every little embarrassing thing had done the night before. The only thing he had enjoyed, though he would never admit it, was the heat of the water and the taller's large hands working soap through his hair. "H-Hey... We're dating now, right?"
"Kind of a dumb question Mate."
"Can't you just give me a direct answer?"
"Well..." Two blue eyes fogged with thought as Collin chewed over the question. "It depends on what you want. I'd like to go out with you, but if you don't like me then I don't see much point. It's really up to you."
Shinobu nodded some, his heart thrumming noisily in his chest. What did he want? He liked Collin, he knew that much, but he still couldn't quite see the two of them together. He still felt tied to the older man he had left behind in Japan and he wondered if he would ever be able to sever those ties. That, and if Collin was willing to wait around for him to do so. It wasn't likely that Shinobu was going to completely give up on Miyagi, at least not for a long while.
"I need some time to think about it." He decided, glancing at the blond to gauge his reaction. He had never seen his roommate look so upset, though he was trying his best to play it off. "I'm sorry if that's not the answer you wanted."
"Yeah, me too."
After a warm bath and a fresh change of clothes, Shinobu was feeling more like himself. He journeyed downstairs and was surprised to find the house clean, no signs of the party anywhere. No plastic cups, beer bottles, streamers, anything. The house was just as it was when they had arrived, if not a little bit cleaner. The icing on the cake however was the breakfast set out in the kitchen.
Both Collin and Shinobu were equally surprised to find a small banquet of foods set out for them to enjoy. A note came attached to the meal, from Dollie, no less.
"Collin, Shinobu, I'm sorry for last night's actions and I know this doesn't exactly make up for it, but I had to try. Enjoy your last day together on break and I will see you when you get back to school. I went home with a friend, so don't worry about me. Hugs and kisses, Dollie." Collin read the note in a deadpan voice, showing that he was still quite angry with the brunette. "This doesn't change much for me. What about you?"
"Well... Might as well enjoy breakfast. You have a whole day to think about what you're going to say to her when you get back to school."
"I guess you're right." Collin set the note to the side and returned to his chipper self. "Besides, I'm not one to turn down a good meal." The food, both of them had to admit, was pretty amazing. They ate as much of it as they could, storing the rest away for some form of lunch or dinner. Neither one was very good at cooking and they knew they needed to save whatever edibles they had on hand.
"What now? We have the whole day and night in this beach-house."
"We could always pick up where we left off last night-..."
"Is that all you think about?" Shinobu squeaked, his face flushing. "Seriously, what should we do?"
"Are you feeling any better? Your back and all, I mean." The taller's eyes were focused out on the ocean, a dreamy sort of look inside them.
"Yeah, I'm feeling alright. Why? What do you have in mind?"
"How would you like to learn to surf?"
"Excuse me?" Shaking his head furiously, Shinobu stepped back and away from the blond. "No way. I can barely swim! What makes you think I can surf?"
"It's not that hard." Collin insisted, taking one of the honey-haired boy's hands. He laced their fingers and smiled lightly at the hesitant boy. "I'll take care of you." Shinobu wasn't convinced, but he knew better than to argue. Collin never listened to much of anything he said anyways.
"Kamijou, I have a huge problem." Miyagi was practically sprawled out on Hiroki's desk. The Devil-Kamijou was clearly not amused and began to reach for a large book, intending to use it to bludgeon his superior to death. The older man scrambled away just in time. "I'm seri~ous!"
"You're always serious and it's alwayssomething stupid!" Hiro hissed, deciding his book might make a better projectile than bludgeon. He shut one eye and looked down the spine, attempting to aim right for Miyagi's head. He had had lots of practice with throwing things at his students, there was no way he could miss his co-worker at such close rage. Sensing the frontal attack, Miyagi ducked just in time to avoid a Literature shot to the head.
"You're such an abusive lover!"
"I'm not your lover! Now sit down at get to work Professor!"
"I can't grade right now! Besides, they're all F's anyways." The dark-haired man shook his head in disgust. His opportunistic summer class had actually turned out to be a bunch of failing losers, barley hanging on. "They don't pay attention, they make rude jokes-... The only student that had any hope was my ex-wife and I kicked her out of the class long before it really got into session!"
"What do you want me to do about it? Huh?"
"You could start by kissing my shattered pride better. Then perhaps you could treat me to drinks. Followed by an empowering encouragement speech, spoken from the bottom of your heart while you sit in my lap-..."
"I'd rather burn in hell." Kamijou hissed, bristling with annoyance.
"But Kami~jou! You don't know the kind of week I've been having!" Miyagi was now whining, having found his way back to Hiro's desk. "My ex-wife drove my car into a lake and tried to seduce me and Shinobu didn't call me once!" Thought he had been in whiny mode moments earlier, Miyagi couldn't help but lose his playful facade the moment Shinobu's name was mentioned.
The air in the office he shared with Hiroki changed instantly, as did the brunette's body language. He stood up and gripped Miyagi by the shoulders, pushing the older man into his desk chair. He returned to his own desk, but this time turned his own seat to face Miyagi. He wasn't sure why he felt so inclined to listen to his co-worker's relationship problems, but he did it regaurdless.
"He still hasn't called?" Hiro began, feeling a little awkward asking.
"No... I left a few messages on his phone, but nothing." Miyagi slumped a little, feeling a weight slam down on top of him, making his chest feel a little tight. "He's definitely the kind of guy who disappears for a while without saying a damn thing, but this is just ridiculous. He can't ignore me forever! Can... He?"
Miyagi wasn't used to feeling so unsure about things. Actually, that was a lie. With Shinobu things had always been so unstable, so unpredictable. He never knew what the boy was thinking or feeling. There were a few moments when Shinobu had come out to say whatever was on his mind, but the times were few and far between. Miyagi never knew if he was making progress or not, but he had never felt inclined to stop trying.
"Um... Hypothetically..." The brunette began, looking away so he didn't have to meet Miyagi's gave. "Let's say I have experience with this sort of thing. Let's say, hypothetically, someone important to me vanished for about a year. No calls, no letters, not even a goodbye. You can imagine I was out of my mind wondering what had happened."
"I mean, you can't just drop a life you've built with someone and leave like that. You have to give some kind of notice. Tell the person that you want to be alone or whatever, right?" Hiro's voice was beginning to grow quiet. From the odd look in his eyes, Miyagi could tell that in no way shape or form was his friend speaking in a hypothetical sense. "If he hasn't returned your calls or sent you any kind of word, there's a chance that he's set out to do something. He might not be able to openly tell you what it is just yet."
"He might be working really hard on a goal that he's trying to reach. Some kind of focal point that he's trying to get to. I could be totally wrong, but maybe Shinobu's trying to accomplish something. Maybe something good, maybe something not so good. Either way you have to accept things as they are. When he's ready to talk to you, if he ever is, he'll come find you. He just has to finish up what he's doing first."
"My, such convincing words. Are you sure this is all pretend?" Miyagi smiled a bit, reaching out a hand to brush some of Hiro's hair out of his face. The smaller man jerked back harshly, the wild look returning to his eyes.
"Of course not! Like I would ever be so pathetic to wait on someone like that!" With an indignant glare and a soft snort of anger, the Devil-Kamijou turned his back to his superior and started on the stacks of paper lining his desk. "If you're not going to grade any papers, then you can at least give me a hand filing all these. You were the one who mussed them up afterall."
"That's correct, I'd like to cancel my cellphone service." Making a very important phone call, in the middle of an airport terminal, Risako stood very still. She was just about to board her plane, but first she needed to take care of some loose ends. "That's right, the account name is Shinobu Takatsuki. ...The reason...? I have no more need of the service that you're providing."
"By this afternoon? Yes, that's acceptable. Thank you. You have a nice day too." With a snap, the dark-haired woman shut her phone, turning to get in line, now ready to board.
"I told you, you could do it!" Excitement was dripping from every word out of Collin's mouth as he spoke. With his guidance Shinobu had somehow managed to get on a surfboard and actually ride out a few waves. He was by no means ready to take it up as a hobby, but he had to admit, it was pretty enjoyable.
"I had a pretty good teacher." Shinobu murmured modestly, blushing a little at the stream of compliments coming from his roommate. They had just walked into the beach-house when a familiar noise filled the smaller's ears. He tried to remember where he had heard the noise before and then it hit him. It was his cellphone!
Rushing up to his room he yanked the device out of his suitcase and flipped it open. He noticed with a bit of a start that he had three voice mails. Collin appeared in the doorway of his room, an odd sort of look in the blond's eyes. Shinobu couldn't quite determine what it meant, but he didn't have a lot of time to spend trying to figure it out.
"Just wait downstairs for me." He tried to make his voice sound nonchalant, but it came out a little too hysteric. "Please?"
"Alright, just don't be long." There was a tenseness about the way Collin was speaking. He turned away from the boy with the phone and retreated downstairs, his heart sinking. He had easily guessed who it was who had called. Shinobu however could only hope it was who he thought it was.
"Miyagi." Waiting impatiently for his phone to connect to his voice-mail box, Shinobu held his breath. It had to be Miyagi, no one else really called him for anything. Certainly not his family. If they wanted to talk to him they would have called the school-line. "C'mon, connect already!"
"I'm sorry, your voice mail could not be retrieved. Service to your number has been disconnected. If you believe this is in error, please hang up and try your call again-..."
"Disconnected?" Staring at his phone in rage, the gray-eyed boy pitched it across the room, where it hit the floor with a dull thud and bounced. "That's just great." His heart had sunk so low that he was sure it had found a new home, hiding behind his liver. (Or other such nonsense.) He could feel it in every part of his being, the voice-mails had surely been from Miyagi. No one else would have left them.
"You hungry mate? I can heat up that food-..." Footsteps could be heard on the stairs as Collin climbed them. Shinobu quickly scrambled into a laying position on the bed, his back turned to the door. He knew it was bratty, but he didn't much care to talk to the Aussie. He shut his eyes right as the door opened. "Shinobu?"
The blond crept over to the small body curled up on the bed. His eyes took in the phone on the floor and the state that Shinobu was in. Shaking his head a little he grabbed some of the sheets and pulled them back, settling them over the 'sleeping' boy. He placed a very light kiss on the side of Shinobu's face and turned to leave the room, hesitating long enough to turn the lights off.
The darkness was a relief to Shinobu, along with the cool sheets nestled all around him. Through the windows he could see an ocean of stars in the sky, all dancing and sparkling around a full moon. They shined their light down into his room, basking him in their nighttime glow. He glanced tentatively over his shoulder at the little phone on the floor. Crawling from his little nest, he scooped up the phone in both palms and set his forehead against it.
It was his one connection to Miyagi, the beach-house didn't have any kind of land line. Along with the fact that somewhere in it's data, three voice-mails were lying in wait, no doubt preserving whatever message the older man had been trying to relay. As Shinobu slipped back into bed he tried to imagine what kinds of things the messages could have said.
They might have told the boy that he was missed. That he was all Miyagi thought about and how nothing in the world could replace him. How he wanted nothing more than for Shinobu to come home right away. A little out of character for the man, but not totally impossible. As he ran through a dozen or so imagined messages, Shinobu seeped into a heavy state of sleep.
Collin and Shinobu hadn't spoken much since leaving the beach-house. The blond had seemed irritated about something and the Japanese boy could only guess it had to do with his own behavior. He felt a tinge guilty, he had certainly lead his roommate on without a whole lot of real serious intent behind it. He liked Collin and they got along, couldn't that be enough for now? Did Shinobu really have to commit so soon?
He had a long ride back to the school to think about such things, which soon put him into a bad mood himself. He was practically singing songs of joy when the school parking lot came into view. Collin couldn't park his car fast enough, so Shinobu hopped out a little before it came to a full stop, standing back to avoid being run over. He was going to help unpack when a familiar figure caught his eye.
"Risako?" Jaw dropping a little, Shinobu ditched the blond and hurried over to his sister. She had clearly been expecting him, having made a little make-shift camp on the sidewalk. "What are you doing here?"
"We need to talk, but first, how are you?" Standing up, the dark-haired woman wrapped her arms around her brother and pulled him into an awkward hug.
"I'm fine. How are you?"
"Not so good I'm afraid."
"What's wrong?" Shinobu asked, turning his head up to face her. About this time his roommate had walked over to scold him, but stopped short seeing the look on Risako's face.
"What's going on?" Collin wondered, tapping one of the shorter boy's shoulders.
"This is my sister, Risako. Risako, this is my friend Collin." Recoiling a little at the term 'friend', the Aussie reached a hand over to take hold of one of the woman's hands, shaking it stiffly. "Now, what's going on?"
"You might want to sit down." Taking Shinobu by the shoulders, his sister steered him over to one of the nearby benches. She sat him down and took a seat beside him, fumbling around inside her bag for something. Collin took up a perch on the other side of Shinobu and peered curiously over him. Risako pulled out a rolled up paper and handed it delicately to her brother, a grim expression on her face. "Do you recognize that car?"
A numbness shot through Shinobu's veins, completely paralyzing him at the sight of the article on the front page of the paper she had handed him. He didn't need to read the article, the headline said it all. 'Car found in local lake, driver missing, presumed drowned'. His mouth opened to say something, but his mouth was like desert sand.
"Who's car is that?" Collin whispered, a little alarmed by the look on the shorter's face. The color had drained from his skin and he looked like a fish out of water, trying desperately to suck in oxygen. "Shinobu?"
"You found him though, right?" Voice a little choked up, brother looked up at sister in a desperate way, his gray-eyes searching hers with desperation. "You guys found him and he's okay. Right? You found... Miyagi... Right?"
Miyagi. The name rang in the blond's ears like some kind of siren. He felt a little sick himself and had to stand up and pace a bit. Shinobu turned to look at him, face like stone.
"Collin... Do you know something?"
"Not exactly." The Aussie confessed, his voice seizing up on him. "I... I might have neglected to tell you about a phone call you received from him a couple weeks ago."
"You did what?" From blank to furious, Shinobu jumped to his feet and latched onto the front of Collin's shirt, shaking him a little. "You had to right to do that! I could have-... I could have talked to him!"
"You don't know for sure that he's missing! Maybe he got out and just hasn't had a chance to come foreward yet!"
"You bastard! I'm sorry I ever got involved with you!"
"Shinobu, calm down some." Wrapping her arms tightly around him, Risako pulled her brother off the startled Australian. "Shh... It's okay. I didn't bring that here to scare you. We're all looking for him and I promise I'll keep you updated."
"I could have talked to Miyagi." Still in a fit of anger, Shinobu shook his sister off and turned away from both of them. Clenching his fists he snatched the paper up and started for his dorm room. Veins were throbbing in his head as he went, his mind burning with a million hateful thoughts, all aimed at the blond he had left behind. He had always known that Collin was bad news. He seemed decent on the outside, but he was messed up. "What kind of person answers someone else's phone and then doesn't tell them about it? Especially something that important!"
A few students turned to look at Shinobu, startled looks on their faced. They cleared out of his way, making no effort to stop his rampage. He finally reached his floor and his room. Wrenching open the door he walked inside, tossing himself down on his bed. He lifted the article up so he could look at it once more, hoping that he had made some kind of mistake. That it wasn't really Miyagi's car he had seen.
No such luck.
Exhaustion replaced fury and he took a few breaths to calm himself. He set the paper to the side and turned his back on it. He couldn't stand to look at it, at least not at the moment. He slipped his hand down into his pocket and drew out his phone, first dialing his voice-mail.
"I'm sorry, your voice mail could not be retrieved. Service to your number has been-..."
He snapped the phone shut and began to dial another number. A number he hadn't dialed for a long, long time.
"I'm sorry, your call could not be completed as dialed. Service to your number has been disconnected-..."
Shinobu shut his phone again and set it beside him on the bed. His head was whirling and he felt like he was on some kind of spinning ride that just wouldn't stop. His vision was beginning to fog up, giving his feeling of veritgo some extra steam. It was impossible, there's no way Miyagi would crash into some lake. He had no reason to even be anywhere near a lake, unless-...
"I never answered his calls. He must have thought the wrong thing and-..." Shinobu couldn't finish his own thought.
