Miku paced back and forth. Her breathing was faulty. Her eyelids were wavy. Her hair was nappy, tied back in a messy ponytail.
Anger. Confusion. Fear. Concern. Worry. Uncertainty.
These are the things she was feeling. It was past midnight now. She'd stayed up. She had been waiting and waiting.
Alex never came back.
No one knew where he was either. Not even Kathy, who always knew where her client and friend was. That was especially concerning. No police weren't involved yet, but Miku was considering calling them anyways.
Miku had been following the news about Alex's trial. The news on the verdict hadn't been released to the public yet, but Kathy had texted her the news.
Alex was found not guilty of all charges, and the judge fined that mother for harassment, half of what Alex had stipulated.
So why has he disappeared?
Miku looked at her phone again for the 400th time. Still no text message or phone call from Alex. It was bad enough that he was missing. It was worse that he had reassured no one, especially her, that he was okay.
Miku sat down on her bed and rubbed her eyes. Her eyes teared up a little in a combination of her worry and the pulling numbness of sleepiness. She laid her head down, and fell asleep without realizing it.
She quickly pulled her head up and looked at the clock. It was 3 in the morning. She'd slept for three hours. She rubbed her eyes again. A silhouette caught the corner of her eye. She turned her head and jumped with a gasp.
Someone was sitting at the edge of her bed! She turned the lamp on, reaching into her cabinet for her pepper spray. She pointed it at him, but stopped.
He recognized the person's hair.
"Alex?" She asked softly.
He didn't answer, which worried Miku. She could smell a stench on him that smelled faintly like the spray of a skunk. She slowly walked around the bed, sitting down by him.
"Baby?" She asked softly, putting a hand on his cheek.
He turned with her hand and looked at her. His mouth hung open sleepily, and his eyelids hung low. His eyes were red and spotty.
Miku was horrified.
"What happened to you?!" She exclaimed. Alex put a hand on her cheek, blinking a few times.
"It was just a dance..." He muttered in a slur. Miku laid him down on his back, holding him lightly. He soon fell asleep on the bed.
Miku pulled away from him, and suddenly began to sob. Seeing him like this made her heart sink, and she feared where he had gone that had left him in such a condition.
She walked to her side of the bed and grabbed her phone. She quickly texted Kathy that Alex was back. She got no reply, so she went to sleep.
Miku was up early that morning, still unable to sleep. She got dressed in a hoodie and sweatpants. Alex was still passed out on the bed, his suit sloppy and wrinkled.
Miku stared at him for a while, considering what she should do. What she really wanted was to punch him and scream at him for disappearing, but she knew that would not work well for the relationship.
But still, she felt betrayed. It was like he had left the world and abandoned them for a night. Except he hadn't left the world. He had gone somewhere. Somewhere bad.
And he'd done it on purpose.
There was a knock on the door. Miku opened it. It was Kathy. "Where is he?" She asked. Miku stepped aside, and she walked in.
Upon seeing Alex, she gasped in horror. A hand went over her mouth. "Oh no." She exhaled. She took a moment to recollect herself, swallowing hard.
"He was like this when he got here. I didn't see him enter, but when I woke up at around 3 this morning, he was just sitting on the bed." Miku explained.
Kathy rubbed her forehead, exhaling again, "I was worried this would happen." Kathy sighed.
"What do you mean?" Miku asked, glancing up at her with concern.
"The smell. How he looks. I've seen it before... The last time this happened. This godforsaken court battle." Kathy grumbled angrily.
"He's gotten like this before?" Miku asked softly, afraid of what the answer would be. Kathy nodded her head.
"Yes... He came to the studio one day in a taxi, several days after the court battle ended. He was so drunk he could barely walk... He'd gone to a club." Kathy explained slowly, trying to keep her emotions at bay.
Miku pressed her lips together and nodded slowly. Somehow, that made her heart sink even lower than it already had.
Alex began to stir a little bit. Miku reacted first, going by his side and helping him to wake up. As he became more and more awake, Miku helped him to sit up.
Alex groaned, rubbing his eyes. He gradually opened them. He felt sluggish and slow, and he had a numb pain in his head.
"Ugh...my head hurts..." Alex groaned, resting his head against Miku. She held him. He sighed. "Miku?"
"Yes. I'm here." Miku said softly to him.
"Alex... Where were you last night?" Kathy asked, sitting on the bed by his feet.
Alex rubbed his head, fixing his messy, nappy hair. "I don't remember that well. I remember...dancers. People drinking." Alex recalled vaguely.
"You went to a club." Kathy exasperated.
Alex nodded slowly in agreement. "Yeah, I think so." He said.
"What were you thinking?" Miku demanded, her anger resurfacing as Alex sat up on his own. Alex sighed.
"After the trial, I wasn't feeling too good. It was...exactly like the first trial. I needed to be alone, so I got an Uber and went out. I barely remember it. I don't know much of what I did, but it must've been really extreme." Alex sighed, rubbing eyes.
Alex finally got up, pacing a bit. Miku sat quietly. Kathy got up, not saying anything either. Alex rubbed his forehead.
"Could I have some privacy please?" Alex asked.
"Sure." Kathy said, getting up. She gestured for Miku to follow. She shook her head in confusion. She took her hand and walked out with her.
Miku glanced back at her boyfriend, who was pacing a bit with his hands back on his hips. The door closed behind her.
"Why did you do that? We're not gonna leave him alone, are we?" Miku asked in surprise.
Kathy nodded. "He's okay. He just needs time to process things. I'd rather not push him too much. After all, he's an adult now, and while I worry about him like he's 16, he can make his own decisions." Kathy said.
Miku's eyebrows furrowed in surprise. "What? So you're not gonna ask any questions?"
"No, I will. Believe me. But you have to remember how this affects him. He's crushed, just like last time. I just..." Kathy broke off, unsure what to say.
"Let me back in." Miku said.
Kathy hesitated, but finally, she handed Miku the keycard to his door. She took it. Kathy left her. Miku turned to the door.
Feeling a growing pit in her stomach, Miku slowly slid the keycard into its slot. The light turned green when Miku took the card out. She slowly turned the knob and opened the door.
She entered quietly, peeking inside and not saying a word. She found Alex sitting on the bed again, motionless and expressionless as tears fell in small streams from his red eyes.
Miku's lip trembled a bit as she walked to him. He said nothing. She say by him and hugged her arms around his head, bringing it under her chin.
He began to sob quietly...
Alex stopped being himself.
It was scary to Miku. The next day when they woke up together, it was like he had no more emotions.
He didn't kiss her good morning. He didn't even smile when he hugged her. At breakfast, he hardly said a word. On the flight to Japan, he held her hand, but stared out the window the whole time.
It was the look in his eyes. The way his eyelids always drooped down halfway. How he always had a long face...
He looked cold. He looked dead.
Of course, Miku stayed with him, just hoping it'd pass, and pass quickly. Sure it'd only been a day, but it was definitely not something that Miku wanted to stick around.
The plane had landed on the strip now. When the doors came in and the stairs came out to meet them, Alex and Miku walked out and found their friends waiting for them at the bottom by Miku's limo. They were smiling and waving.
"You guys are finally back!" Gumi exclaimed, hugging them both when they got down.
"We followed everything on the news. Congrats on the win." Len said with a not, patting Alex's shoulder.
Alex nodded, glancing at all of them with an unchanging expression. "Thanks guys. I appreciate it." He said before stepping into the limo and sitting down.
The others were silent for a bit. Rin was the first to speak up. "He doesn't look good." She said.
Miku shook her head. "No. He's been like that all day. He was a mess when he came back from trial. He went to a club and did who knows what, and then the next day, it's like he doesn't have any emotions, period." Miku sighed.
"Woah woah. He went to a club after the trial? I didn't here anything about that." Gumi shook her head.
"Neither did we. He didn't come back until around 3 am." Miku said.
"What?" There was a general confusion amongst all of them.
They all got in the limo. Alex had a glass of champagne in his hand and was sipping from it slowly. They all sat close to him, doing their best to be comforting just by their presence.
It was a quiet ride back to the hotel.
"Alex, please don't drink too much?" Miku asked him softly as they neared the hotel.
Alex glanced at her and nodded silently. The limo pulled up to the hotel, and they all stepped out.
Kaito was waiting for them in front of the hotel.
"Welcome back." He said as they came out. Miku began to seethe. Alex said nothing.
"I'm glad to hear all went well." Kaito said with a faint smile, resting his hands in his pocket.
"Thanks." Alex said quickly.
"And all is well, right?" Kaito asked.
Alex approached Kaito, eye to eye with him. "Yeah. It is." He said, his expression still unwavering.
"Glad to hear it, partner." Kaito said through clenched teeth.
"What brings you out here, Kaito?" Miku asked, clearly just as unhappy to be part of the conversation.
"Just came to see how my favorite pop star and her manager are doing after such an exhausting trial. I'm sure you must be feeling really drained right now." Kaito said to Alex.
Alex's lip tugged to one side. "She's not your concern, Kaito. I suggest you focus on the Vocaloids that haven't slipped through your fingers yet and not on the limited profits you'll make off our legal agreement.
"Now piss off." Alex said.
Kaito's head tugged to one side. Miku could see that had affected him more than his pride would allow him to show.
"Very well. I do hope you two recover soon," Kaito turned his direction to Miku, "And that you start making music again." And with that, he left them.
Without a word, Alex linked his arm with Miku's and they entered the hotel.
"Nice job handling Kaito." Miku complimented.
"I'll smash his head into the wall next time he tries that."
Miku swallowed. She said nothing. Her grip on his arm loosened a little bit. He did nothing to stop it. They walked into the elevator, heading up to the penthouse.
"Alex?"
"Yeah?"
"You love me, right?"
"Mhmm."
"Could you please say it?"
"I love you." Alex said with no hesitation. That reassured Miku. But still, it was said in the same tone as he said everything.
"Maybe I should be more patient with him." Miku decided in her head.
Making that decision made it a lot easier for her to be there for him that evening. Even though he didn't say much, she was gonna make sure he knew that she still loved him...
And she was still gonna care for him.