This'll be the start of a multiparter. I'm unsure of the number of parts it's gonna be in, but I hope y'all enjoy part 1 nonetheless.
Lucas knocks on Ness's door. Lucas starts to fix his collar as the door opens. He stops when he sees Ness in his own black tuxedo. Ness takes a long deep breath before breathing it out. Lucas-in his own black tuxedo-looks into Ness's house. He sees his mom and sister dressed up in some white dresses. "You guys ready?" Lucas asks. Ness nods. "Good, our car is the third from the last, I'll see you there." Ness nods and looks into his house as Lucas leaves. Ness sighs when he walks to the couch to put on his shoes. Tracy walks over and sits next to him.
"You doing alright?" Tracy asks. Ness nods, but Tracy can tell he's lying. "You don't have to go, you know Lucas will understand."
"I can't just abandon TL, he's my friend….I have to go to his funeral," Ness sadly says. Ness's mom puts her hands on both of her kids. She gives a small massage to both.
"That's your final decision?" she asks. Ness hesitates but nods eventually. Ness finishes putting his dress shoes on. "Well, lead the way." Ness nods and exits the house. There he sees the funeral procession. They're waiting for him and his family. Ness sighs then walks down the line of cars and soon makes it to Hinawa's car. Lucas is standing against the car and opens the door for Ness and his family. Ness's mom takes the second seat in the middle, while Tracy, Ness, and Lucas take the seats in the back. Claus ensures to close the door. He looks back at Lucas. Claus doesn't say anything, he just gives a somber look before looking back.
Once the first car moves, the others follow. No one in the car talks. Lucas is just looking blankly at the ground. Tracy, who's sitting on the left side, nudges Ness, who's in between Tracy and Lucas. Ness nods. He looks at Lucas, who's still looking down at the ground, gripping his wrist tightly. Ness opens his right hand and movies it between the two of them. Lucas faintly looks at it, before putting his left hand in it. Their hands grip each other tightly. Before Ness realizes what his hand subconsciously did, Lucas places his head on Ness's shoulder. "Ness…" Lucas quietly says. Ness doesn't say anything, but that's exactly what Lucas wants. Lucas doesn't end up saying anything more, he just closes his eyes. Ness looks down at him and sees some calm tears falling down. Toon Link and Lucas were close friends, and Ness knows this. But despite that, Lucas has been able to stay rather calm. Seeing Lucas's tenacity inspires Ness. The procession continues for a while longer.
The procession slows down when they enter the cemetery. Ness slightly nudges Lucas awake. Lucas picks his head up and rubs his eyes. Ness can't help but find the way he did it to be a little cute. Ness shakes his head. Hinawa looks back from the front. "You all ready?" she asks. Everyone stays quiet for Lucas to answer.
"Y-yea, I'm ready." Hinawa nods. Everyone exits the car and follows the others to the dugout area. They place the coffin on the ramp to lower it. Before that, however, the local priest walks to its side. He talks about the idea of death and how God reacts to it. Lucas rolls his eyes.
"Now then, we'll have his best friend give a Eulogy," he says. Lucas looks down at the ground to calm himself down. He then walks forward. He stops to look at the closed coffin, allowing some more calm tears to hit the ground. He sighs before turning to the other suited people.
"Link, we called him Toon Link or TL for short…" Lucas gives a small chuckle, but everyone can tell it's rooted in sadness. "He and I came into Smash High at the same time. He showed me how to be more outgoing, he showed me what a true friend was. If it wasn't for him, I would've never met my current crew. I knew I could tell him anything. Even though he was bitchy at times, that's what made him resourceful." Lucas turns to the coffin. He tries to rub the sadness from his eyes but fails. "TL...I'll be sure to do the thing we promised...bye TL." Lucas hesitates to walk away from the coffin. Ness extends his arms on either side of him, inviting Lucas into a hug. Lucas grins as he collides into Ness. Ness wraps his arms around Lucas.
"You did good Luke, you did good," Ness compliments. Lucas detaches away from the hug to watch the coffin be lowered into the ground. Hinawa led everyone to the funeral house for the wake. Everyone starts talking to friends or family, but Lucas just sits. He's just giving himself some time to think about everything.
Ness is hanging out with his and Lucas's other friends. Ness shakes his head. "Ness?" Red questions. Ness looks up at his group. Red, Ninten, Claus, Paula, Kumatora, Popo, and Nana. "You doing alright?" Ness nods.
"Yea, it's just…" Ness starts.
"You're worried about Lucas?" Claus asks. Ness nods. Ness looks over at Lucas. Lucas is gripping his wrists tighter. He's even slightly stabbing his nails into his skin, causing red indents to form.
"Should we tell him?" Red asks. Ness looks at them.
"Tell me what?" Red looks over at the others. They nod, causing Kumatora to walk away. Everyone waits for her to come back, and when she does she has a gift. The gift is in a simple brown box. The box isn't very big. On the box, it has Lucas's name. Kumatora hands the box over to Ness. Ness takes it but holds up a confused face.
"TL left us all something. Technically we're not supposed to open them now, but Lucas might appreciate opening it with you," Red says.
"What's in it?"
"Some of his possessions, we don't know exactly what though," Popo says. Ness looks around at the group for final confirmation. After receiving their unnecessary consent, Ness walks over to the couch Lucas is sitting on, and sits slightly away from him. Ness looks at Lucas's face, but sees nothing. Lucas's face is blank. No emotion in his eyes, no tears, no tilted eyebrows, not even a frown. Ness looks down at Lucas's hand. His gripping started to turn into scratching and his wrist seems to be on the verge of bleeding. Ness hesitates to put his own hand on Lucas's hand, but when he does, Lucas stops scratching. Instead, Lucas flattens his hand to allow for Ness to hold it. Lucas turns his head toward Ness.
"Yea?" Lucas asks. Ness lets go of Lucas's hand to grab the long box. He puts it on his lap. Ness pats the box.
"TL gave this to ya, wanna open it with me?" Lucas struggles to smirk. Despite the struggle, it's not forced. Lucas grabs the box and places it on his own lap. Ness sits closer to Lucas, allowing his left leg to connect with Lucas's right. Lucas forces the tape off and opens the box. Inside they both see Toon Link's sword. Lucas chuckles as he grabs it by its handle. He touches the flat part of the blade.
"I could never tell if this thing was real or fake?" Lucas says, seeming slightly out of the dumps. Lucas turns the sword to look at the other side of the blade and sees Toon Link's engraving. "TL...he hated me for starting that nickname...he's gonna hate me more for keeping on with it." Lucas chuckles for a little while. Lucas looks at Ness. "We don't have to worry about TL anymore, right? He's in a great place right now, right?" Ness takes off his hat and places it haphazardly on Lucas's head. The hat is slightly covering Lucas's eyes. Lucas giggles as he places the sword on the ground, letting it lean against the couch. He lifts the cap up.
"You don't have to worry about him. You know damn well he hates anyone worrying about him." Lucas's giggles get more joyous. Lucas slowly wraps his arms around Ness's neck. "You're not trying to kill me, are you?" Lucas giggles cutely. He places his forehead on Ness's chin.
"Of course not...I just want to know you're real." Ness adjusts the hat on Lucas's head for a reason he doesn't know.
"Did I pass your test?"
"Of course you did, passed it with an A+."
"Damn, never got that before." Lucas finally outright laughs. He doesn't keep any of the laughter in. It's not a small giggle or a short chuckle, but a satisfying laugh. Lucas looks up at Ness. Lucas removes one of his hands from Ness's neck to grab the sword and holds it between them. Lucas sees himself in the reflection.
"Man, you didn't tell me my eyes were red." Lucas breaks this moment up and puts the sword back into its box. He looks over at Ness. "Thank you, Ness." Ness winks, proud that he barely had to work to make Lucas happy once more.
A few days pass. This is the first day back for Lucas, he was exempt from school for obvious reasons. Ness is waiting for Lucas in Lucas's kitchen. Flint, being the best cook, is making breakfast for all three boys. Eventually, Claus and Lucas come down. Lucas walks faster the second he sees Ness. He sits next to him. Claus rolls his eyes as he sits in the seat opposite Lucas. "You're just one big fanboy, you know that?" Claus asks.
"I am not, I just like his company," Lucas crosses his arms. Claus chuckles.
"More like you wanna see his little friend," Claus winks.
"What was that?"
"Huh, oh nothing, don't worry about it." Claus looks next to him and sees Flint holding a plate toward him. "Thanks, dad." Claus gets up and finds a white box on the kitchen counter. Inside are bags of plastic utensils. Claus grabs three plastic forks. He gets back to the table and slides them to the other two. For breakfast they have waffles. Claus pours some syrup on the whole waffle. Unlike Claus, Lucas likes to have his waffles in little pieces before pouring the syrup on it. Lucas grabs the waffle, to break it apart with his hands, and feels the heat from it. He drops it back onto the plate and shakes his wrist to cool it down
"Lucas, it just came out of the waffle iron, of course, it's hot," Flint says. "Boys, want any milk?"
"Yes please," Ness says. Claus just shakes his head because his mouth is full. Ness pulls Lucas's plate toward him and starts breaking apart the waffle.
"Is it hot?" Lucas asks.
"Not even close," Ness clearly lies. Lucas laughs when he sees Ness's fingers shaking from the heat. Ness, to his own pain, finishes breaking apart the waffle. He slides the plate back, holding back some painful tears. "That was...easy."
"Huh, so you're trying to do the same as Lucas...interesting," Claus says, stabbing his waffle with the fork. Ness looks at him and sticks his middle finger at him. Only then does Ness see how red his fingertips are.
"Why don't you suck this for a change?"
"If I did Lucas would get jealous as hell. I don't really wanna deal with a jealous Lucas."
"Hey…" Lucas stands up for himself. Claus just chuckles. The three of them eat their waffles in relative silence. The only noise being from Flint washing the dishes. Soon another noise invades the slight silence. This noise is Hinawa walking downstairs. She hangs up the phone as she walks into the dining room. She messes with Lucas's hair as she walks over to help Flint with the dishes. Using the sound of the water to their advantage, they whisper to each other. Lucas is able to notice things like this. He's also learned how to read lips. With this talent, he can tell they're talking about him. "Mom? Dad? Why're you talking about me?" The two adults flinch before nodding to each other. Flint turns the water off and both of them walk to the table.
"We were just saying; maybe you should stay home," Hinawa says.
"Why? I could've gone to school the first day, why shouldn't I today?"
"The police believe that some high schoolers may know what happened to Link—to Toon Link," Flint says. Lucas looks down, then shakes his head.
"So they're questioning everyone, even Lucas?" Claus asks. Hinawa nods.
"I was just talking to the school. Palutena said she'll cover for you today," Hinawa brings up. Lucas shakes his head.
"TL wouldn't allow me to back down like this, I'll be fine," Lucas owns up. Lucas looks over at Ness as if he has the answer to his question. "Right?"
"I'm sure you'll do fine," Ness says.
"Yea," Lucas nods. He smiles and continues eating the food. Hinawa faintly nods.
Later on, the boys are at lunch. Lucas is able to get free lunch, which Lucas doesn't really enjoy. He walks to his table with the food. He sits down with a sigh. Ness just looks at him, knowing why he sighed. Ness reaches over and steals Lucas's small bag of fries. He smirks when he sits back. "Mine." Lucas grins. They eat with each other for a little while, talking about whatever comes on their mind. That's when Ness sees a rough-looking man enter the lunchroom. He's in a cop uniform. "Lucas…" Lucas turns to look at what Ness is looking at. When he sees the cop walking his way he just looks down. "Are you ready?" Lucas nods.
"I'll be fine." Ness reaches forward with his hands open. Lucas puts his own hands in Ness's and a grin grows. Before any more words are shared between the two, the cop comes over. Lucas looks at him and sees the name tag says Snake.
"Lucas?" he asks. His rough voice sends some chills through Lucas's spine. Lucas lets go of Ness's hands.
"Yup."
"I have some questions, will you come with me?" Lucas stands up with a nod. Snake starts to walk away, but Lucas looks over at Ness one final time. Ness gives Lucas a thumbs up. Lucas finally starts to follow Snake.
They walk to a very far room. It's a small conference room used mostly by the student council. Lucas sits at the long side of the table, while Snake sits opposite. Snake reaches to a few papers that were already here. "Alright, well, I heard you and Link were good friends." Lucas nods.
"He was one of my best friends." Lucas looks down and holds his right wrist. He starts to aggressively rub his wrist. Snake sees this and sighs.
"I'm sorry for having to question you, I really don't feel it's too necessary to question you." Lucas looks at the papers in front of him.
"It's ok, just ask away." Snake puts the paper down, ensuring Lucas can't see what's written on the front.
"Are you sure?" Lucas nods. It takes a little bit for Snake to think of appropriate questions to ask him. "Well, did Link's attitude change before it happened?" Lucas looks down at his red wrist. He stops rubbing it.
"I don't think so...wait…" Snake's eyes widen.
"What is it, do you remember something?" Lucas looks up at Snake.
"His attitude never changed...but I remember him talking about getting a strange envelope." Snake picks up the paper and starts writing down what Lucas said.
"Did he say what it had in it?" Lucas shakes his head.
"He said he didn't open it and tossed it in his closet since he missed his trash can...then two days later it happened." Lucas's eyes start to tear up and he resumes rubbing his wrist aggressively. Snake writes some more stuff on the paper then looks at Lucas. He feels bad for bringing the memory of Toon Link's death back to him.
"I apologize. This'll be all." Lucas nods as he stands up. He leaves the room. Snake doesn't hesitate to leave himself, but instead of grabbing another student to question, he leaves the school. He enters his car, which is black and drives to the station. He exits the car and walks into the station. He sees his fellow detectives working hard at their stations. Snake walks to the back of the station to the chief's door. He knocks on it, and within a few seconds, the chief opens it. The chief's name is Samus Aran. She's a tough lady that doesn't allow anyone to get to her. She crosses her arms.
"Yes, David?" She asks.
"I have some pretty good intel. We could need—"
"Before you continue, there is something I need to tell you." Samus walks into her office. She sits in her chair and allows Snake to enter. He opens his mouth to speak, but Samus holds up her index finger to shut him up. They wait a little longer in the uncomfortable quiet. Soon someone walks in. Snake looks at him. He sees the person is definitely a high schooler. This high schooler has black hair, and rather thin glasses. The high schooler looks at Snake. He bows slightly.
"Hello," he says. His voice is deep for it to come from a young-looking boy. Samus looks between the two.
"David, this is Ren Amamiya. Ren, this is David...you guys are going to be partners in this case."
"WHAT, but he's a high schooler," Snake protests. Samus stands up.
"Yes, we're trying to catch a high school-aged killer who is killing other high schoolers. What better way to figure that out than have a high schooler help us out." Samus looks at Ren. "I'm sorry Ren." He waves it off. He looks at Snake. He extends his hand.
"I see your code name is Snake, so you can call me Joker," Joker says. Snake begrudgingly grabs his hand and shakes it.
"Now then, David, you said you had intel." Snake nods. Joker pulls out a small notepad and leans against the wall.
"Well, Link's best friend had said that Link received an envelope. But he seemed to pay it no mind. It's not much but it's a starting ground," Snake explains. Joker nods to himself. He pushes his glasses up.
"Who is this best friend?" Joker asks.
"Lucas Cross, you going to go ask him something?"
"Maybe, who knows."
"Well, if you do, be considerate." Joker nods. He writes something down on the notepad.
"Will you need a warrant?" Samus asks as she picks up the phone. Joker puts up his hand.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure Link's parents will allow us to check his room. They probably want to know what happened more than us." Joker pushes himself from the wall. He walks over to the door. Before leaving, he looks back at Snake. "Well, we have a case to solve. I'll see you by the car." Joker walks off. Snake sighs. He looks back at an already annoyed Samus.
"Why do I have to work with that cocky bastard?" Snake asks.
"Don't worry. It's just for this case. After it you two won't even need to bat eyes at each other," Samus says. Snake nods and follows Joker.
Lucas leaves the school, proud for the weekend to be upon him. He walks to the small park that is across the street from the school. There he sees Red and Ness talking to each other. Lucas hurries himself to get there. When he does he stops and tries to catch his breath. He hunches over, breathing heavily. Red pats his back. "Man, your rust is showing," Red chuckles.
"Sh-shut up," Lucas heaves.
"You really are out of breath," Ness says. Lucas gives one more powerful heave before standing up straight.
"I thought Popo was supposed to be here."
"He was, I don't know what's keeping him," Red says. He looks around the park but doesn't see him. He just sees the few little kids playing, and the occasional high schooler chatting or kissing their significant other. "He might've gotten detention again."
"I hope not, we're supposed to meet Ana at the arcade. She'll kill Popo for missing out," Ness says. The three of them wait for a while longer. They finally see Popo walking their way. The three of them stand up since their feet had started to hurt by standing for so long. They see something is in Popo's hand. Popo makes it to the others.
"Sorry I'm late, Palutena wanted to give me a stupid lecture about ditching class and how it's bad," Popo says.
"Isn't it bad?" Lucas asks.
"Who the fuck really cares?" Popo shrugs. Lucas eyeballs the envelope in Popo's hand.
"What's that?" Popo brings up the envelope. It has Popo's name very poorly and shakily written. Lucas notices a few things about this envelope that sticks to his brain. There is no address written on it, nor is there a stamp.
"What's in it?" Ness asks.
"I dunno, probably some stupid meeting they want me and my family to attend. I'll read it later."
"We should probably be going before—" Before Red can finish his sentence his phone rings. He picks it up and sighs. "Crap, we're dead."
"How come?" Red shows everyone that the caller is Ana. The others gulp. Red swallows his fear and answers it. Ana stays quiet while he puts the phone to his ear.
"WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GUYS!" she screams at the top of her lungs.
"I'm sorry but—"
"IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR ASSES HERE IN FIVE MINUTES, CONSIDER YOUR ASSES FUCKED." She hangs up. Red doesn't need to say anything to the others for them to know what's going on. They all start running toward the arcade. They eventually make it to a quaint neighborhood that they have to pass in order to get to the arcade. Lucas quickly slows down, and the others know why. This neighborhood is Toon Link's. Lucas stops in front of Toon Link's house. He just stares at it. Ness walks over to Lucas.
"Luke?" Ness questions.
"Go on ahead, I'll be there eventually," Lucas says without moving his head. Ness softly pats Lucas's back and runs to the others. Lucas walks over and sits against it. He tears up, remembering their first day of school together. Lucas was quiet, but Toon Link wasn't. Despite this key difference, Toon Link befriended Lucas. Not only did Lucas get befriended, but he was taught how to be more outgoing.
Before Lucas gets deeper into his thought, the front door opens. When Lucas looks he sees Toon Link's adopted brother, who also happens to be named Link. He's often called Young Link, or YL for short. Lucas stands up and walks over to Young Link, who's holding an envelope in his hands. Young Link soon notices Lucas. "Oh, Lucas, been a while," Young Link says in his very young voice. Lucas nods.
"Yea, how you been?" Young Link shrugs.
"Hanging in there, yourself?"
"Been better, that's for sure." Lucas soon sees the envelope in Young Link's hand. Young Link notices Lucas's glance and brings up the envelope.
"We were cleaning TL's closet and found this. I was gonna throw it out."
"May I?" Lucas asks, holding his hand toward the envelope.
"Huh, oh sure." Young Link gives Lucas the envelope. This looks exactly like the one Popo has, the only difference is that this one has "Toon Link" written on it. Lucas places the envelope in his backpack and looks at Young Link.
"YL?"
"Yea?"
"What're you gonna do with his stuff?"
"Um, if it seems important, we'll keep it. But if it's not, we'll throw it away. Why?" Lucas shakes his head.
"I gave him a light blue box before it happened. If you find it, can you keep it safe?" Young Link nods.
"Of course." Lucas chuckles, which quickly turns into a grin. Lucas gives Young Link a friendly side hug.
"I've gotta head out, I don't want Ana to be pissy again."
"Ah, you should hurry then." Lucas lets him go and runs off. Young Link watches Lucas run off. He turns back toward the open door and walks toward it.
"Excuse me, kid?" a deep voice asks. Young Link turns around and sees two people in a black car.
"I'm not a kid, I just look like a kid." The driver steps out and Young Link recognizes him. He was questioned by him earlier since he's Toon Link's adopted brother after all. The man, Snake, walks over. Joker then leaves the car to join Snake. Young Link backs up due to a sudden fear of the two people walking his way, despite knowing Joker is just a high schooler.
"Is your father here?" Snake asks. Young Link nods. He steps back into the house and looks back.
"Dad?" Young Link calls out. Not that long after he comes out. The blonde, often regarded as a pretty boy, walks to Young Link's side. He has a blue tunic on and has beige pants on.
"Detectives? What do you want this time?" he asks.
"What's your name?" Joker asks.
"Link, but that's not why you came."
"Wait, so you have two kids named after you?"
"They're both adopted." Joker opens his mouth to say something, but Snake puts his hand on Joker's shoulder. Joker clears his throat.
"Sorry, I got distracted." Snake disapprovingly shakes his head.
"We came to look around his room, if you allow us of course."
"Of course, come in." Link and Young Link walk into the house to allow for the detectives to enter. Link starts leading the others toward Toon Link's room. Toon Link's bedroom is on the first floor, almost on the complete opposite side of the house. They eventually make it to the door. The detectives enter first. "We're cleaning it so I doubt you'll find anything of use." The detectives look around the half-cleaned room. It's almost too perfect with how exactly half of the room is clean while the other is a mess. Joker sees a photo on the far dresser. He walks over and picks it up. It's a group photo. Young Link walks over.
"That's his pride and joy," Young Link says.
"Kinda like a treasure?" Joker asks.
"Um, I guess it was like his treasure."
"Who are these people?"
"His closest friends."
"Can you give me names?" Young Link nods.
Over by the empty closet are Link and Snake. Snake looks in the closet, still hoping to find something of use. He sighs when he sees nothing, more importantly, the lack of an envelope. "Was there something specific you were looking for?" Link asks.
"We believe he had an important envelope that could help us," Snake says.
"An envelope?" Link taps his chin before realizing what he told Young Link to do with it. Link turns to Young Link, who's walking their way. "Hey, what'd you do with that envelope I told you to trash?"
"Gave it to Lucas," Young Link says. Snake looks down. He shakes his head.
"Do you know where he lives?" Snake asks. Young Link shakes his head. Joker walks over with a sad face. "Nothing?"
"Nope," Joker quickly says.
"Welp, we'll be out of your hair. Good luck." Link nods, The two detectives walk out of the house and into Snake's car. Snake sees Joker in very deep thought. "What's wrong, Ren?" Joker jumps slightly.
"Oh, nothing, don't worry. Come on." Snake hesitantly nods and starts the car.
Lucas makes it to his house after a long day at the arcade. Lucas enters the house. He walks upstairs to his room. His room is located in a small hall. His room happens to be right in front of Claus's room, with the hall separating them. Lucas crawls into his bed and happily sighs. He reaches into his pocket to grab his phone. He pulls up Ness's contact to text him.
Lucas: Hey
Ness: Heyyy
Ness: Did you get home safely?
Lucas: You worry too much.
Ness: Well, I'm not the one who walked right into a crane machine that I was standing next to the entire time.
Lucas: You're never gonna let that go, huh?
Ness: Not 'till I die.
Lucas: Wonderful.
Ness: Anywhosan, I'm sorry again that I wasted all your money.
Lucas: I still don't know how you lost out on 50 bucks, and on a damn crane machine nonetheless.
Ness: I swear those things are rigged.
Lucas: Then why keep going?
Ness doesn't respond. He doesn't have an answer. Before either of them can text the other, there's a knock at Lucas's door.
Lucas: I've gotta go, I'll be back.
Ness: Don't keep me waiting, Arnold.
Lucas rolls his eyes and turns the phone off. He walks to the door. He opens it to see Claus. Lucas steps back. "Claus, hey," Lucas says.
"Lucas, did you do anything wrong?" Claus asks.
"Why?"
"Two detectives came over asking for you." Lucas walks back toward his bed.
"Yea, I robbed a bank," Lucas chuckles to himself.
"You better have gotten me some cash." Lucas rolls his eyes as he plops into his bed. Claus pops his head in. "Anyway, I just thought you should know about that."
"Thanks." Claus nods before he walks away. Lucas thinks about contacting Ness again, but then the envelope kicks back into his head. He slides off the bed to get to his backpack leaning against the small closet's door. He opens it and grabs the envelope. Lucas stares at the name as he sits back on the bed. He finally turns it around and sees the one thing keeping the envelope shut, a wax seal. This wax seal is red, with a cross visible. Lucas opens the upper shelf in his nightstand and grabs a pocket knife. He flips up the blade and places it next to the seal, hesitating to cut it open. With a single breath, he cuts it. The envelope seems to also hesitate to open. Lucas forces it and sees a blank paper inside. He grabs and unfolds it. He sees there's writing on it. Just like the name on its back, this penmanship is horrible. Despite the poor handwriting, he's still able to read it.
"I trusted you. All you did was betray me. You were just feasting on me like the pest you are. I swear you'll regret it, however, you will have a chance to live. Just make it up to me. If you can, I'll spare you, but you only have two days...counting today. If you don't, you'll be squashed, just like a pest. Good luck." Just reading the note is able to bring tears to his eyes. He sees the little signature in the lower right. L, that's all. Lucas tilts his head. Lucas takes a picture of the note, then places it back into the envelope. He puts the envelope on the nightstand. He pulls up Ness's contact and instantly sends the picture.
Ness: What's this?
Lucas: Toon Link received this note, and guess what happened.
Ness: …
Ness: So the cops lied, it wasn't an accident.
Lucas: Why would they have detectives looking into it anyway?
Ness: I never thought of that.
Lucas: Ness…
Ness: What is it?
Lucas looks at the envelope on the nightstand. Something inside of Lucas snaps. He feels he needs to find out who killed Toon Link. He needs to find out who targeted his best friend, even if it means intruding on police matters.
Lucas: I'm going to find out who killed TL.
Ness: Luke, that's too dangerous.
Ness: But, I guess I won't be able to stop you. Let me help you.
Lucas: We can get into deep trouble, you willing to do that?
Ness: I'm supposed to be the man in this relationship, so I need to help so I can keep protecting you.
Lucas: You make it sound like we're together.
Ness: Well, let's talk about it tomorrow.
Lucas: KK, nighty night.
Ness: Sweet dreams.
Toon Link is on the phone. He's walking down the street. The large full moon brightens the night. This part of town is usually quiet, with not many people visiting this street of stores and other venues. Today is one of those quiet days. The only noise being from the distant Cicadas and Toon Link's own voice. "Yea, I get it—No don't worry Lucas. Everything is fine." Lucas is freaking out because Ness had just asked him to go to a special carnival. To Ness, it's just a fun hang out session, but for Lucas, it's more of a date. "You don't need to do anything special, if it is a date then he's doing it to hang out with you, not some shitty version of yourself." Lucas had told Toon Link about his crush on Ness. No one else knows, not Claus, not Toon Link's brother, especially not Ness. "Lucas, get some sleep, you'll feel better in the morning. And don't worry, I'll come over tomorrow to help you prepare...Night." Toon Link hangs up the phone. Toon Link stops at the crosswalk. He places his headphones into his ear and puts the song "Middle Finger" on. He places the phone in his pocket. He sees the light turn red and the cars stop. He looks both ways twice before crossing. When across, he sees his prized sword on the ground. The sword is very far from him. Toon Link looks around, trying to see if someone is near. When he doesn't see anyone he rushes over to grab it. He bends down to pick up the sword but then hears a whistle. He hears it come from above him. He doesn't get to look all the way up because a large, heavy garbage can-used mostly at the back of schools and restaurants-falls onto him. This snaps his neck and crushes his skull.
Lucas shoots up. He quickly realizes how sweaty he is. He tries to get out of his bed, but when he does he falls from a strange lack of energy. His hard coughs worry him more. He's able to stumble out of his room and into the bathroom at the end of the hall. He pulls himself to look in the mirror. There he sees just how sweaty he truly is. He looks down at his hand and realizes they are red. They're almost completely red. He turns the water on and splashes his face with it, he then drinks some. He takes a second look into the mirror. It doesn't really help him that he just splashed water in his face. He looks down at his hands and this time sees something else. His hands are normal. They're his normal skin color. He's still very low on energy, but he doesn't really feel like going to bed. He's able to stumble into his room to grab his phone.
Lucas: Ness? Please wake up.
After texting that, Lucas places the phone aside, not expecting a quick answer. He's about to sit in his bed when his phone-on the nightstand-rings. Lucas picks it up. "Lucas? You alright?" Ness asks, concerned. Not a single hint of drowsiness is audible in his voice.
"Ness…" Lucas simply says.
"Oh, it happened again? Alright, I'll head over."
"Please hurry?"
"Of course." Ness hangs up. Lucas puts his phone in his pocket before shakily walking to his shoes. He puts them on before walking down the stairs and out of the house. He sits on one of the few steps up to the front door. During this time he slowly regains his energy. He soon sees Ness's car come down the street. It slows to a halt in front of Lucas. Lucas stands up as the passenger's window opens. "Yo, what do you do for ten bucks?" Lucas rolls his eyes.
"A high five." Ness chuckles as he opens the passenger's door from the inside of the car. Lucas sits in. After closing the door and putting on his seatbelt, he turns to Ness. "Thanks for coming out so late."
"Don't worry, I was pulling an all-nighter anyway." Ness starts the car up. He starts to drive.
"Watching Digimon again?" Lucas leans against the armrest, feeling the air coming from the window that's still open.
"Of course, I need to finish the season."
"You've already finished it nine times." Lucas sticks his other hand slightly out of the window. He watches as the wind moves his hand up and down.
"Well, I wanna make it a good and even ten." Lucas pulls his hand into the car.
"You amaze me sometimes."
"Thanks." Lucas looks at Ness's proud face.
"Not in a good way." Lucas then sees Ness's face turn from proud to somber. Lucas just giggles.
They drive for a while longer before making it to their destination. Lucas steps out, looking at where they are. It's a small river. The car itself is parked in the grass, a little off the main road. Lucas shuts the door and walks forward, falling from still not having enough energy. Ness runs over and helps him up. Ness walks Lucas toward the river. They step through the river to get to the other side. Ness continues to walk Lucas through the forest. They soon make it to a clearing. This is a circle in the forest that has no trees and has a single sunflower growing in the middle of it. Lucas gets away from Ness and walks over to the flower. He sits down, allowing the sunflower to be in between Lucas's legs. He lays down, seeing the half-moon perfectly in the circle of sky visible. The moonlight shines on him and the flower. Lucas soon closes his eyes. Ness just watches as Lucas soaks up the rays of the moon. This somehow calms Lucas down. Ness doesn't know why, but he doesn't really bother to ask. Ness sits against a tree and watches Lucas. Seeing Lucas's grin for being in the moonlight makes Ness smile. Ness rests his head back against the tree and looks at the leaves above him. "Lucas?" Ness questions.
"Yea?"
"That dream you have, is it really how he died. They never told us the details."
"..."
"I'm sorry to bring it up. I'll just go wait in the car." Ness stands up to walk away but gets Lucas's hand in his left hand. Ness shoots around. "When did you—"
"Come on, I'm gonna show you it." Lucas walks toward the clearing, still holding Ness's hand. Once in the clearing Ness looks up and sees the dark but clear sky. The moon slowly comes into view. The further they walk, the more center the moon is. When they stop, the moon is nearly in the middle of the circle. Ness looks down and sees Lucas stopped a little further than the sunflower. "Lay down with me." Ness nods and they lay down, ensuring the sunflower stays between the two. They are still holding hands, and Lucas's grip on Ness's seems to grow. "Yea, he was crushed by one of those stupidly large garbage cans."
"Yikes." Ness stares at the half-moon. Something about the white glow mixed with the dark sky amazes Ness. There isn't even a single star in sight, just darkness and the one beacon of light, which is only half visible. "The moon is beautiful." Lucas's grip tightens. His nails even slightly dig into Ness's wrist. Ness flinches a bit but allows Lucas to continue.
"It is…" Ness looks over at Lucas. Lucas's eye has a faint glimmer to them as he looks up at the moon. Lucas soon moves to look at Ness, yet his blues eyes don't lose the glimmer. "You'll really help me with this?"
"Yea, I'll be your little slave." Lucas gives a cute chuckle. He looks back up at the sky, with the glimmer seemingly growing. Ness soon does the same.
"You have no idea what I'd do if that's the case, you'd definitely see a different side of me."
"You're quite frisky." Lucas's grip loosens. He starts to rub the small indents he made.
"Ness…"
"Hm?"
"Um—Nevermind, let's just get back." Ness nods. The two of them stand up. They walk back to the river, across it, and then in Ness's car. Ness starts it back up then starts to drive. "Thanks again for being my free uber."
"You still have to give me that high five."
"You still have to give me those ten bucks."
"Touche." They quickly get back to Lucas's house. Lucas looks at Ness and doesn't have to say anything for Ness to know what he wants. Ness leaves the car as Lucas does the same. Ness then escorts Lucas up the four steps to the door. "There ya go, madame," Ness says as he does a playfully proper bow. He starts to turn around but Lucas grabs Ness's arm before he can get out of reach. When Ness looks back Lucas kisses Ness's cheek. Before Ness and realize what happened Lucas enters the house. Ness shakily moves his hand up to feel his cheek. He grows a grin and sees Lucas's worried expression from a nearby window. Ness looks at him. Ness just gives another bow before going back to his car.
Ness then drives back to his house. When he enters he sees his mom sitting on the couch near the door. She's just looking at Ness. Ness looks down and closes the door. He tries to calmly walk to his room. "Ness?" she asks. Ness stops. "Where were you?"
"I…"
"Answer me."
"Lucas was having some trouble, he needed my help." Ness's mom stays quiet as she walks over to Ness. Ness turns to see her. Ness's mom kneels to be at his eye level.
"Next time, tell me. With what happened to Link I was worried." Ness's mom starts to tear up. Ness rubs his neck.
"Sorry, mom." Ness's mom shakes her head. She pulls him into a hug.
"I don't want what happened to Link to happen to you, just tell me when you're leaving and almost home, just so I know you're safe." Ness's mom sniffs. Hearing this sniff makes Ness's eyes water. Ness's mom lets go of Ness. She rubs Ness's cheek and grows a smile. "But I'm still happy you're doing this for Lucas, he needs you." She kisses Ness's head before standing up. "Well, head to bed, it's late. I'd rather you not sleep through the entire day once more." She pats Ness's shoulder and walks away. She opens the door to her room-which is the first door on the right from the entrance of the house-but stops, knowing Ness has something to say.
"Love you, mom," Ness says quietly.
"Love you too hun." She enters her room, leaving Ness to smile. He shakes his head and walks to his room to prepare for bed. He knows from tomorrow on, everything will be different. He's going to help Lucas investigate Toon Link's death. There's just one thing he wants to ask Lucas. Ness gets into his bed after a hot shower and pulls up his phone.
Ness: Lucas?
Lucas: Yea?
Ness: Wow, you responded fast.
Lucas: Well, sleeping is kinda hard for me.
Lucas: So, what'd you want?
Ness: You think we can get the others to help our investigation? We could use a bigger team.
Lucas: I dunno, would they be down for it?
Ness: TL was a friend to all of us, I'm sure they'll be willing to help.
Ness: And even if they won't, I'm sure they'll keep this a secret.
Lucas: You sure?
Ness: Think about it. We could use the help. Usually, cops work in large teams, in that case, so should we.
Lucas: …
Lucas: Ok, let's talk to them tomorrow.
Ness: Cool
There is a long silence between their texts. Both boys don't really know how to end the conversation. They also don't know how to address what Lucas did.
Ness: Luke?
Lucas: Man, choose a name. Lucas or Luke.
Ness: Luke?
Lucas: Yea?
Ness: If you ever wanna kiss me again, just tell me. I wanna be prepared next time.
Lucas: Sure thing, now head to bed. Don't pull another all-nighter.
Ness: Aww, you're caring about me.
Lucas: Fine then, no kiss for you.
Ness: Fine, fine. Good night Lukey.
Lucas: CHOOSE A GODDAMN NAME!
Ness: Hehe
Lucas: Night Ness.
Ness giggles as he turns his phone off. He places it on the floor to allow it to charge. He looks up at the roof and smiles. He's thinking about what other names to call Lucas, just to make him mad again. That's when the thought of the investigation worries him. He's not worried for himself, or even for the others. He's just worried about Lucas. He's worried Lucas will find an answer he doesn't like, or maybe even find something out about Toon Link that he shouldn't. But worst of all, find nothing at all. Ness knows Lucas will be extremely disappointed, and due to this possibility, Ness is worried. He doesn't want to see Lucas sad anymore. From now on, he's taking up the job to ensure his happiness. Even if it's to his detriment.