AN: Adamoli Daisuke is really called, Adamoli Danilo, but Yuma always calls him Daniro, and he dislikes it, so they changed his name to Daisuke.

And I'm having a writers block.

Chapter 25 – Plot thickens

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

The knocks on the door were violent, and a sleepy 21 year old man walked down his stairs. Who could be at that time? The bakershop was closed, so he had no idea what they could want from there. When he opened the light of the bakershop, by the door he saw two of his costumers and a blue-haired male knocking at the door. He frowned and looked at the clock. It was three in the morning, what could they possibly want at three in the morning? In answer to the knocks, he pointed at the closed signed, but one opened way through the other two, a brunette with long hair, wearing sunglasses at night, and knocked at the door again full force, showing him a revolver.

He's going to shoot through the glass. He thought and quickly ran over to the door and slowly opened it, leaving the chain on.

"The store's closed."

He recognized the man, the two brunettes, one with 176 and the other with 193 centimeters tall were Vaytoo Yuma and Adamoli Daisuke, respectively. They were clients of his, especially Yuma who adored pies. The other one however, the one with blue hair he didn't know him.

"You can either open the door and let us in, or we can kick it off," Yuma threatened. "Open the door, we need to talk."

"Look, Yuma, I don't know how you Italian yakuza's work, but I don't have to do anything for you."

"Dai," Yuma called.

The tallest man, a clear foreigner walked over. He had short brown hair and blue eyes and looked quite threatening. He was quite handsome though and wore a clean black suit with a green shirt under it. He walked in front of Yuma and without warning he just shoved his foot against the door, forcing it open. The chain that held the door broke and the baker was thrown back. He looked scared at the foreigner as he entered followed by Yuma.

"I'm calling the police!" He threatened scared.

"I'm an Italian yakuza," Yuma reminded him. "I don't need to worry about the police."

"I'll… I'll…"

"You'll get up, make us tea while Daisuke fixes your lock," Yuma instructed. The man looked at the large foreigner and got up walking to the kitchen.

"Italian yakuza?" Kaito asked behind Yuma. "I know you're a yakuza, but Italian?"

"My grandmother was italian," he explained

"You told him that?" He asked looking at the baker as they walked to the kitchen while the man was making tea them tea.

"He didn't need to! A rival group once attacked me because he came to this shop!" Takeo answered boiling the water. "I made him explain it."

"You're my friend," Yuma explained.

"Great friend you are! You kicked my door in and threatened me."

"Do you know Kamui Gakupo?" Yuma asked without further delay.

"Kamui… Ye, he's been in the news for months," he said grabbing the tea.

"That's why we're here," Yuma explained. "The man we believe may have kidnapped Gakupo, has been using your name."

"W-what!?" Takeo almost yelled. "Wait, I didn't take Gakupo!"

"We know you didn't," Yuma explained. "I was with you the day he vanished."

"Oh… Okay," Takeo rubbed his head and served them the tea sitting at the table. "Sugar?"

"No thank you," Kaito answered taking his tea. The less sugar he consumed, the better, he felt electric enough without it.

"What do I have to do with it?" Takeo asked all of a sudden.

"Do you know him?" Yuma asked. "Know, know. I know you're from Osaka."

"Hey, just because I'm from Osaka doesn't mean I come from the same village as Gakupo."

"How do you know Gakupo comes from a village?" Kaito suddenly asked. "The company page about him only states he comes from Osaka city, not from a village."

The man flinched and scratched his head trying to conjure up a story. Yuma narrowed his eyes and the guy looked around. It was very strange the fact that he felt the need to hide it from them. They frowned more and finally he gave in with a loud sigh. Sitting down he explained.

"I knew Gakupo," he confessed. "We were childhood friends."

"Convenient," Yuma started and crossed his arms. "Isn't it convenient that you knew Gakupo, came to live in Tokyo where Gakupo lives, work right next to his workplace and the stalker was even using your name?!"

"Hey! I have nothing to do with what happened to Gakupo!" The baker yelped.

"Then please do enlighten me," Yuma requested crossing his legs and leaning back. Kaito looked at him and for a second, he couldn't help but think that Yuma sounded and looked awesome.

Takeo sighed and started explaining. "As I said me and Gakupo were childhood friends, we were a little gang, me, him, Hisao, Iris and so on. We kinda made a promise with each other, we'd all go together to college and graduate together."

The man chuckled reminiscing those times; a weak sad smile crossed his lips. "Gakupo broke the promise. On our second year, when we went home in winter holidays, suddenly, for no reason at all, Gakupo quitted college and ran away from home the day after New Year. His family refused to talk about it. Iris later told me he had a fight with his parents, and Gakupo ran away and moved to Tokyo to study music and arts."

"That's pretty much it," and he shrugged it off. "He quitted college, and we never talked again after it."

"You're going to tell me you work right next to your childhood friend's workplace and you never met him since?" Kaito asked.

"No!" The guy answered. "I mean, Gakupo's a star now, he doesn't even recognize me anymore. I crossed path's with him, several times! Even bough chocolate pie and cakes from here every now and then, and not once did he recognized me. I also didn't say anything…"

That was odd, Gakupo was not one to forget people so easily. Could it be that due to what happened Gakupo had chosen to pretend not to recognize the man? That seemed possible; Gakupo was very self-conscious and very aware of others.

"I just came to Tokyo because Noah found me a really good job, it had nothing to do with Gaku…"

"Noah?" Yuma suddenly asked causing the man to flinch. "You know Hideki Noah?"

"Ye, he works in the company," Takeo answered scratching his head suddenly confused.

"Why would he contact you because of a job offer?"

"We're from the same town… Wait. You think Noah has something to do with what happened with Kamui?! Noah would never do that! He's a nice guy! He probably doesn't even remember Gakupo! He thought Gakupo was a girl!"

"He thought Gakupo was a girl?"

"We all did! Most of us only found out he was a boy he was already twelve! Hideki had already left the town by then!" Takeo continued, placing his hands on the table.

"He left the town? And how did you maintain contact with him?" Yuma asked.

"His parents were my godfathers, so they kept in touch with my family. So did I," he answered brushing his head. "But we really started meeting only when I came to Tokyo. But I talked often with him. I know Noah! He may look big and scary, but in reality he's a really kind person! He'd never do anything to harm anyone."

"When did you move here?"

"Three years ago, more or less, Noah was waiting for me," he answered. "Why?"

Kaito and Yuma traded looks and frowned. "Scapegoat."

"Where are Noah's parents?" Kaito asked looking at Takeo. "Have you been talking with them?"

"They died a three years ago in a car crash," he answered. Kaito blinked and clenched his legs.

"So we can't contact them… Do you know if Noah has a girlfriend? A family member? Anyone else we can talk with?" Yuma asked getting up.

"No, not that I know," Takeo brushed his head again. "Look, I can give you his address, if that helps."

He got up and grabbed a piece of paper scribbling a street name and number on it. He handed over to Yuma who carefully studied it. He sighed annoyed and handed it to Kaito who memorized the address almost instantly. It was the same address they had given Otome before.

So there was nowhere else.

"Boss, I'm done," a voice called, and Daisuke came in cleaning his hands on a tissue, the jacket of his suit gone.

"Thank you, Takeo, we'll be leaving," Yuma said and bowed down at the man respectably.

"I'm sorry I can't help you more…"

The man cursed a bit but finally greeted them goodbye and good luck. A silent Yuma and a tired and broken Kaito walked out. All that resulted in nothing, all they were able to discover was that the man knew Gakupo before he even became a Vocaloid. But other than that, little was left to uncover. The man had told them everything, yet, Yuma, being his paranoid old self, called his clan to send a couple of men to keep their eye on Takeo. Now, they only had to wait for Otome and hope he had found something more productive than the two of them.

Yuma asked Daisuke to drive them home, Kaito and Yuma sitting on the back seats of the black Mercedes with darkened glasses. They said nothing, everything was silent, until Yuma's cellphone started singing: You would not believe your eyes if 10 billion Kagaroos came out of your closet and ate your food!

Yuma flushed red and without losing his composure, Kaito simply stared baffled. Yet, Yuma quickly picked the phone.

"Vaytoo Yuma?" He answered. "Otome, yes, I'm with Kaito now. I'll turn on Free-hands now."

"Yuma, me and my men are at the address you gave us." The inspector's voice was heard.

"Did you find anything?!" Kaito quickly asked, hoping he'd be heard.

"We did… We found Hideki," the inspector answered. Kaito and Yuma quickly traded relieved looks, he had been caught? But the inspector continued. "There's only one problem… We found Hideki dead, inside a freezer, with his head missing…"

"WHAT?!" Both Kaito and Yuma yelped, Kaito jumped in his seat and scooted closer to the phone.

"Please elaborate, inspector," Yuma asked.

"We broke into the house after gaining a warrant, the house was empty and there were signs of a struggle. We found the kitchen bloodied and Hideki Noah's body clumsily stuffed in the freezer."

"You think it was the stalker?" Kaito asked.

"I don't think, I am sure…" The inspector answered. "Hideki has been dead, according to the forensics, for three years now… This man, the stalker, I believe he has been impersonating mister Noah ever since. Also… Mister Kaito, be careful… the man, Hideki, he has short blue hair, identical to yours… His head was removed recently, very recently. Why do you think that is?" Though the question gave out the idea that the inspector already knew why.

"Reassurance," Yuma mumbled looking at Kaito. "He took Len probably to blackmail Gakupo, but Gakupo's stubborn and strong willed… He's coming for Kaito next, and if he can't get Kaito…"

"Unless he deformed the entire face, I can't believe he'd fool Gakupo with that," the inspector answered. "Unless he's planning to get something from Kaito."

"Inspector…" Kaito started. "I think that man knew Gakupo from his childhood…"

"Why do you say that?"

"He's not Hideki," Yuma pointed out.

"For him to know about Takeo and Noah, he had to know Gakupo before also. How else would he have known?"

"I shall contact mister Kamui's family," the inspector informed.

"I'll go with you inspector," Yuma said.

"Me too."

"No, you won't," Yuma countered Kaito. "You look exhausted, I'll leave you home, you need to rest. Inspector, thank you for the information, please wait for me, I'll head there, let me just leave Kaito home," and he turned off the phone. "Daisuke, Vocaloid Manor."

"Yes, boss."

xxxXXXxxx

It was silent. It had been that way for hours, or maybe days. He wasn't sure how long. The worst was the endless waiting. The room was dark, completely pitch black. There was a crack of light however, timidly seeping under the door, but not enough to light up the room even a little. However, he was aware of his surroundings: that small storage area, shackles on the wall adjacent to his, a table in the middle, and on his left was the door and shelves. The room had red stone walls, the ground was cement, and the room smelled of humidity and dirt, under the unbarring stench of human blood, sweat and urine.

The Vocaloid just sat against the wall, humming to himself a song. It was Iroha, a song he never sang, but he recorded a video for it when Rin sang it. She blushed so wild, the little blond samurai girl, he knew the little girl had a crush on him, but he only saw her as a little sister. He didn't knew the words, he just knew the melody, it made him think of better days, it made him feel strong. He didn't knew how long he spent there, just humming. He heard his stomach hurl and turn against his will. He had thrown up in the corner of the room, the same place where he peed sometime during that day (or night). His neck hurt from him pulling the chain too much in an attempt to get even remotely close to the door, but with no avail.

A long sigh escaped Gakupo's lips and the Vocaloid looked up at the darkness of the ceiling. The hours went by and Gakupo started panicking, tears running down his cheeks. He wanted to leave he wanted to make sure Len was alright. Was the stalker going to keep his word? Would he let Len leave?

Eventually he drifted to sleep, in and out, tormented by breathtaking, excruciating nightmares. Dreams of himself, a monster, filthy, dirty and degraded like a corpse raping and taking Len's body against his will, and he couldn't control himself. In his mind he was begging his body to stop, but it did not hear him. Nightmares of him running and running endlessly by a forest of corpses, where the bodies of his friends, the body of his lover, hang from bleeding trees just for him to admire while his master chased him yelling for him. Dreams of himself, in the water, the sea, being held down over the edge, just floating, and there was the sea, rocks and waves bellow, a madman staring at him choking him, letting him fall. He woke up several times, sweating, crying, yelling, his entire body trembling, shaking uncontrollably and as quickly as he woke he would drift back away.

The time went by. He wasn't sure how long, he slept, dreamed, woke up, yelled and cried. He peed in the corner a couple more of times. He felt excruciating hunger and thirst, his lips were cracked, he felt dizzy and lightheaded. Some of those days, or hours, the door was suddenly open, and before he could even look at it, someone threw a bottle at him. Inside, it had water, but it was not enough.

Finally, after some time, the door was open and the stalker returned.

"You look awfull," the stalker said.

Gakupo stared at him, he had no mask on, but the darkness wouldn't let him see the man's face. The Vocaloid looked down, he was sitting against the wall, his legs crossed.

"I'm hungry, master," Gakupo mumbled, his voice chipped and frail, like it would break at any given moment. "I'm thirsty…"

The stalker walked into the darkness, he was wearing a white shirt and black pants. He was clean, and Gakupo could pick up a soft and shy scent of cologne, expensive cologne. Black Excess for men, he was sure. A sad smile picked his lips, it was his favorite perfume.

"You're thirsty?" The stalker asked.

"Yes master… I'm thirs… thirs…ty…" Gakupo answered, his voice breaking midway.

Bowing down, the stalker stared straight at Gakupo. Despite his efforts, he could not see his face. The man got up again and Gakupo heard him unfasten his belt and pull his zipper open, clothes rustled and Gakupo looked away in fear and horror. What was he going to do to him?

"You're thirsty…" And the stalker chuckled, a low demented rumbled that sounded anything but amused. Much for the contrary, it almost sounded as if the man was harboring sadistic intentions. "How lucky of you then, my star… I have a bladder filled to satisfy your thirst."

The Vocaloid's eyes widened in horror the moment he realized what the stalker said.

"M-master… I… m-master," Gakupo started trying.

"What? Not thirsty?" The stalker asked, still chuckling.

"N-no, master… not that… I…" Gakupo tried, he looked around. Think Gakupo… Think… He ordered his mind, but all he could do was shake and tremble as he started panicking.

"WHAT?!" The stalker yelled. The purple haired male yelped and started crying, babbling out nonsense, trying to excuse himself to the monster before him.

However, the stalker was not amused. He grinned deviously as he pulled back his trousers up. As he redid his belt, the vocaloid slowly calmed down, still whimpering… Always whimpering, That annoyed him, he wanted his warrior filled with strength.

"You're useless," the stalker said displeased and walked forward.

He grabbed Gakupo by his hair and pulled him to his knees. The vocaloid yelped covering his face and babbling again. The man grunted annoyed and slapped the younger man across the face, causing his to yell a sorry with a broken and chipped voice. He slapped him again, another sorry, and again, and another, and again and again and again. He kept slaping the younger man, and it felt remarkably satisfying, he just desired to do it more and more. Once satisfied, he stopped, Gakupo was now on the floor covering his face, crying, babbling out repeated sorry's, his face red where he had been hit. The stalker grinned.

"Disgusting," he said, shaking his head. "I'll ask you again, are you thirsty, my star?"

"No, master," Gakupo answered trembling. "I'm sorry for troubling you! I'm so sorry."

The stalker grinned. "My beautiful star… Did you know something?"

"W-what master?" Gakupo asked, slowly looking at the stalker, fear reflected in his eyes.

"I still have Len."

Gakupo widened his eyes horrified. "What?! Master! You said you'd let him go!"

"I said I'd spare him the pain, I never said I'd free him," the stalker corrected and he leaned down on Gakupo. "You know, my star… Looking terrified makes you particularly sexy in my eyes, my Lisianthus."