The bed had a lumpy mattress and starchy sheets, but after spending nearly two hours trekking through a frozen forest, lying under the sheets felt like heaven. Nagisa pulled out the hotel brochure and skimmed through it, wanting to take his mind off things. He suddenly felt lost without Karma here.
Karma wasn't gone, not really, he was literally in the shower attached to the bedroom, Nagisa could even hear him singing faintly. But right now, he felt anxious when he wasn't right next to him. That probably wasn't healthy, but having attachment issues wasn't one of Nagisa's main concerns right now. Like Karma had said, the inn really was in the middle of nowhere. The elderly lady at the reception hardly even looked up at him when he'd gotten his key. Nagisa had gone up to the reception himself while Karma hid around back, but looking back that probably wasn't even necessary.
This was the first time Nagisa had been alone with his thoughts since this morning. Since Karma had told him that. About what the Chairman had done. Since then, he hadn't had a chance to think, he and Karma had been running from their problems in a very literal sense. But now, he had time to reflect and that was the opposite of what he wanted.
The small, logical voice inside his head told him what he was doing was very stupid. Running away from the police would only make it worse when they're actually caught, and sneaking across the border on a cargo ship successfully was probably close to impossible. But Nagisa desperately wanted to believe Karma, that there really was a fresh new start away from all this.
Nagisa was sick of being a victim in every aspect of his life, he was done making his own stupid decisions, he was following Karma's lead now like he should of done from the start, and not thinking about anything.
'Your mum is probably heartbroken. She's probably killed herself for real' the tiny voice in his head said, he started reading the brochure more aggressively, blocking it out.
"Ugh. I think the shower-water might actually be colder than wandering around in that forest." Karma groaned as he stepped out the bathroom, towel around his waist. Nagisa sat up in bed and smiled.
"Here. Let me re-do the bandage." He said, his anxious feelings subsiding slightly now Karma was here in front of him. Karma sat down on the bed next to Nagisa, the hair on the nape of his neck was still wet sending rivulets of water down his back.
Nagisa pulled out the first-aid kit. The wound was pretty small, but it looked quite deep. The skin around it was turning an angry red colour.
"So I was thinking, there's a few cross-country buses running. We could hop on one to Fukuoka. There's ferry's there that go straight to South Korea." Karma said, before sighing. "Damn. You know. If the police weren't already after me, we'd be at the airport now. Oh well. South Korea is probably more culturally similar than Belize."
"They are the plastic surgery capital of the world. We could both change our identities there." Nagisa added. Karma laughed.
"I don't want you to change your face, Nagisa." He said. "I'm sure they'll stop looking for us after a few days. It's not that serious".
Karma had been almost obscenely positive about this whole thing, and Nagisa had a sneaking suspicion Karma was doing it to protect him. Karma flopped down on the bed, and Nagisa cuddled into him, trying to pretend this was some sort of fun couples trip and they weren't on the run from the law. He felt safe in the other's arms.
"What should we do when we get to South Korea?" Nagisa asked, as Karma played with his hair.
"Hmm... well, we'll have to find somewhere to live first. Maybe somewhere just outside Seoul, were it's not too expensive. Then we'll have to get jobs. I could probably be a labourer, and you, you could work in some tourist cafe somewhere, since your English is pretty good. We'll start picking up the language pretty quickly, and maybe after a few months we could get a cat or something- "
The way Karma spoke made it sound like a fairy book story rather than an actual plan, but Nagisa listened until he drifted asleep, entrenched in this imaginary world were he and Karma will get their perfect happy ending.
In the early hours of the morning, Nagisa woke up with a start, feeling frantic. His heart was racing and he was drenched in ice-cold sweat. He knew he had been having some sort of nightmare but he didn't remember exactly what.
"Nagisa- Nagisa are you okay?" Karma asked, eyes bleary as he woke up himself. Nagisa shook his head.
"Karma, I think it was a punishment."
"What?"
"What happened to me. I think I deserved it. I knew something wasn't right with Gakushuu and I never did anything about it." Nagisa gasped out, holding his head in his hands. "I was just so happy to have his attention, I ignored so many red flags, the marks, the bruises, his behaviour-everything- I was the only person who could of helped him and I did nothing.. all that time."
Karma had hold of both of his shoulders. "Nagisa. Nagisa calm down." He was saying. "It wasn't you're fault Nagisa. You were a kid yourself, there's nothing you could of done."
Nagisa wanted to argue with him, but he couldn't speak anymore, he could hardly breath. His breaths were rapid and desperate and tears were dripping from his eyes, he felt like he was dying.
Karma held him until he calmed down. "Nagisa. You're okay. It wasn't your fault." He whispered soothingly. Nagisa wished he could believe him.
"So. The assailant was around six foot, blonde, and roughly forty years old, correct?" Karasuma said to him. Gakushuu nodded.
"Yes. And he had a Russian accent." Gakushuu said. Karasuma nodded.
"Okay, Gakushuu, thank you for this information." He said, closing his notebook and standing up. "I'm going to head back to the station now and share this information with the others."
"So, will you be letting Akabane go?" Gakushuu asked. Karasuma sighed.
"Akabane has yet to be apprehended. He'll still be brought in for questioning." Karasuma said.
"But I've told you it's not him. My Dad was probably just confused, he is in a coma." Gakushuu said, meeting Karasuma's intense stare.
"It isn't just your father who has named Akabane as a suspect; we've had calls from several members of the public who believe he's the man breaking into your house on CCTV." Karasuma explained to him. "I'm going to be frank with you, Gakushuu, he is suspect number one right now."
"So you don't believe me?" Gakushuu accused, glaring at him.
"I can assure you I'll take what you've told me very seriously and we'll be asking the public to be on the look out for the man you described." Karasuma said to him evenly, still sounding completely calm and professional. He paused for a moment, as if he was thinking what to say. "You seem like you really don't want it to be Akabane who did this crime. Why is that?"
"I just don't want an innocent man to go to jail." Gakushuu said. It was the first honest thing he'd said in a while. "That's all."
"Gakushuu, I'm not saying this to be patronising, but sometimes when we go through a trauma, our brain can do things to protect itself." Karasuma explained to him. "That was probably why you couldn't remember the attack at first. Now, it seems that for whatever reason, you don't want Karma Akabane to be the one attacked you, so- and I'm not saying this is what happened- but it's a possibility that the brain supplied you with a false memory to protect you from that knowledge."
"Oh? So I'm just crazy now?" Gakushuu growled. Karasuma shook his head.
"I don't think that at all, Gakushuu, but I just want you to be open to the possibility of your brain creating a false narrative, after all, you do have some memory loss." Karasuma replied, still the model of professionalism. "I don't want you to worry about it either way. Now. Is there anything else you want to tell me?"
Gakushuu and Karasuma locked eyes. Gakushuu felt as if the man's penetrative state could see right through him.
"No." Gakushuu said, looking down. Karasuma nodded.
"I think you've been through enough this evening. You should rest. Thank you for all your help today." He said, before walking out of the door.
As soon as he left, Gakushuu snatched the closest thing to him- a cup of juice- and hurled it across the room with as much force as he could muster. It bounced off the wall, the flimsy plastic splitting and orange liquid splattering everywhere. The brain making up lies to protect itself from trauma? He'd never heard of something so stupid! Why did his brain never do that? he could remember clearly all the traumas he had been through.
Angrily, he snatched up a wad of tissues and started cleaning up the juice. He'd really fucked things up for Karma now, just like his father, all he was capable of doing was spreading misery. Dr Otori walked in and saw what he was doing.
"Gakushuu- you should be on bed rest!" He said, looking down at the juice. "You don't need to clean that up, just press the buzzer next time, here- "
Dr Otori helped him from the wheelchair to the bed, even though Gakushuu was perfectly capable of doing so himself.
"Thanks." Gakushuu said, feeling like a kid. Not for the first time he found himself wishing Dr Otori could of been his Dad.
"Just try to get some rest, okay, Doctor's orders." He said, before glancing up at the clock. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Gakushuu waved him off, wondering if the doctor would be so nice to him if he knew all the things that he'd done. With both the doctor and Karasuma gone, he felt strangely lonely.
Gakushuu didn't have any books or even his phone with him, so he switched on the TV, preferring it to being alone with his thoughts. There was some kids anime on that he vaguely recognise, about an orange ninja fighting bad guys. Gakushuu had never watched a lot of TV even when he was a kid, it wasn't exactly a productive use of his time. He wasn't even sure exactly what the story of the show was, but he watched it intently, letting his mind go blank.
The show finished on a cliffhanger just as one of the nurses walked in.
"Hey sweetie, my name is nurse Ruka, I'll be looking after you tonight." She said to him with a smile. She was a matronly middle aged woman with smudged lipstick and a kind smile. "I just need to take your observations before you go to sleep, okay? And I've brought you some toast too."
Gakushuu smiled and thanked her. Nurse Ruka spoke a lot as she did his obs, which suited Gakushuu just fine, because he didn't need to say anything besides the occasional nod and hums of agreement. It struck him that he was acting very different from usual; normally he'd be the one dominating a conversation, all charm and smiles, but right now, he just didn't have the energy.
The slew of adverts finished and then the news was on. He tuned out Nurse Ruka's voice and listened. Some foreign-affairs ministry had been caught in a scandal with an idol he'd never heard of, that seemed to be the headline news. Another middle-aged politician caught having an affair with a girl half his age was hardly ground-breaking, but the fact she was a celebrity herself made it a little more interesting.
"Mr Sakamoto has denied being romantically involved with Nijimin completely- " the news Anchor said, finishing off the story. "In local news, the police are continuing the manhunt for seventeen year old Karma Akabane."
Gakushuu froze as a picture of the red-haired boy flashed up on the screen.
"He is wanted in connection with a home invasion than left two males- one of them a minor- in critical condition in hospital." The news anchor continued, as Karma's face smirked at Gakushuu from the TV screen. "It has been reported that he attacked two police officers when they attempted to apprehend him. He is considered extremely dangerous, members of the public are asked not to approach him, but to contact authorities immediately if they see him."
He attacked police officers? What the hell was he thinking?
"Police have reported that they believe another male, is travelling with him. Police have not confirmed the identity of this man."
Gakushuu grit his teeth; What was Nagisa thinking, going on the run with that idiot! The news anchors started talking amongst themselves about increasing rates of teen delinquency.
"Honey, your pulse!" Nurse Ruka exclaimed, as it suddenly rocketed. She turned towards the TV, apparently recognising what they were talking about, because she grabbed the remote and switched it off. "That's not something you should be watching."
"It's the only way I can keep up with what's happening, apparently." Gakushuu huffed. What the hell was Akabane doing? Going on the run, attacking a police officer, taking Nagisa with him? Gakushuu was certain that no matter how many lies he told about Russian home invaders, he wouldn't be able to get Akabane out of this mess.
Nothing is ever easy for the characters in this story lol.
Replies to reviews
Feb3rd guest: Sorry for shooting Karma lol, at least it is nowhere vital.
Feb4th guest: Yeah Gakuhou really doesn't deserve any better than that in this story. Thanks for commenting!
Feb4th guest 2: Thanks for the kind words :).
