Caught Unaware
Chapter 6
By: Max*the bishie deliverer
Disclaimer: Check chapter 1, please.
A/N: Reformatted.
~*~*~
Some say that if you can smile through tears, then you're stronger then you look.
Others would say that you are weak when you cry.
Those are typically male, but if you're Nasuti Yaguy, then you're an excellent actress.
One who stood in front of her class with her normal, gleaming smile, despite the dull ache in her cheeks. The events of last night did not end when Ryo smacked her. The night ended when him and Seiji politely excused themselves from the shocked group to Kami knows where. After a few accusations that were tossed amongst the group to think about, she had escaped to her bedroom and cried herself to sleep.
Mahogany eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she unconsciously frowned in thought. Jade eyes closed as her mind brought back the vivid images. Yes, painful, but true and she knew for a fact that the truth hurt. Especially when it came from the ones that knew her the best. But there was one thought that had plagued her through the night and into the day. Why did they act like that, especially with Darrien?
The thought-of student's ears burned as he looked up from his work. Last night went horribly bad, his reaction at least. His opinions of the younger males had been harsh, but since he went home and thought about it, his first impressions were exceedingly better then beforehand. Picking up his pencil, he thoughtfully nibbled on the eraser as he mulled over his previous acquaintances.
The first one that came to mind was Ryo. Darrien could tell that he played the over-powering, over protective sibling in the group, but his protectiveness may have blinded him to what was best for his "'neesan." Following close after Ryo was Shuu, but Darrien didn't dwell on him long. Only long enough to pick up on the fact that Shuu did not like him at all. He might have gone far enough to say that the younger boy hated him.
Hate is such a strong word.
The next one on his mind was Shin, who appeared to be no real problem should Darrien want to succeed in a relationship with Nasuti. The boy, well that was the wrong adjective to employ, seeing as it was painfully obvious that he was the oldest of the five, was mature enough to realize that everyone had their own mind.
But the other two, Touma and Seiji, he'd have to watch.
Touma was smart.
Even as a college freshman, the blue-haired young man outdid even the graduating valedictorian in their GPA. He was the envy of the campus, Darrien himself, and apparently the sensei's closest confidante.
Now Seiji, he was the main problem.
Subconsciously nodding, he gathered more evidence as to why he thought this way. With the young man's classic features, females generally considered him to be highly attractive. The student was almost positive that the young lady realized this also, and was not immune to it. On the outside, he gave off a cold, aloof aura, but behind the icy exterior, laid the soul of a lover who needed to break free of the emotional restraint.
I should have majored in psychology. He mused with a smirk.
A knocking on the door shattered the room's silence five minutes later.
Dusky lashes snapped open as Nasuti turned her head toward the sound. "Come in, onegai."
Touma poked his head into the room, his mouth set in a thin line. Entering, he bowed apologetically. Worry pervaded his words as he asked a student to turn on the television set back into the wall.
The announcer's words hit each and every person in the room, hard. As they learned of one of their fellow student's raping and consequential death, the hushed whispers started and then died suddenly. Some did not know Ming Takuri, some did, but all students, silent in respect, agreed on one thing.
That whoever killed their classmate, they would die and rot in Hell.
~*~*~*~
Damien crept into the silent house and could barely contain his glee. For three months, he had been observing this place and learning the occupants' routines. Now, with his most obvious threat dead and gone, he could now finish what he had set out to complete in the first place.
Making Nasuti Yaguy his and his alone.
The first step creaked as he mounted the stairwell, knowing that one of the rooms held his beloved's essence, the very thing that he craved the most. Cresting the second floor, he licked his lips in sheer anticipation. Soon, his lips would be coated with the taste of her, the one that he desired, needed, wanted to the point of insanity.
He walked with purpose, thick carpet soaking up his footsteps. Passing a few doors, he happened upon the last one on the right. He stopped, notably shivering out of excitement. Damien reached out his hand tentatively, watching his fingers flex in preparation to grab the offending knob. Grasping the copper opening device, he flung the door open wide and sighed.
The room was a woman's room by appearance alone. White curtains adorned the windows, which were currently closed. They didn't offer total darkness, but full natural light. Perfect for what he had in mind to do here.
Midnight blue eyes roved over the four-poster bed, covered in white. He ran a hand along the comforter; reveling in its silkiness and making him wish things that shouldn't happen yet. He would let her come to him, slowly, but fast enough to keep him slightly sane. A callused finger touched a sateen pillow sham and jerked itself away, not wanting to disturb the purity, purity that was disturbed anyway by a garment of pale pink gauze.
The very same garment that was found in the trash, the same gift that he had spent so much money on, only to be thrown away.
A black canvas bag soon followed as he began to spread the pictures, photographs that only the depicted would recognize.
Then came what he thought was the best part.
He had worked for four hard years to buy the remote-controlled camera. It was an excellent piece of equipment, small enough to hide behind a few books on the bookshelf, but strong enough to broadcast the color pictures and sound from a distance of up to a mile. Although, he planned on being close by when his love called out for him in distress. After he set up the camera, he reached into his bag and pulled out a long, slender box, which had a scarlet ribbon tying it closed. He loosened the ribbon and then threw the box onto the bed pillows. Glancing at his wristwatch, he realized that the hour of Ming's death announcement was upon him.
He exited the room; his bag in hand and made a hasty retreat, one that had been monitored by a pair of knowing brown-eyes.
~*~*~*~
"She's dead?" was the question all over the campus of Sengoku University, including the professors, who approached and interrogated Nasuti to no end.
"Wasn't she one of your best students?"
"She was the only female in your class?"
"Who do you think did this?"
"How do you feel?"
"May I have a moment of your time, Yaguy-san?"
No one apparently noticed the police detective standing quietly in their midst. When they did, however, several female mouths stood open.
Nasuti instantly recognized him; he was an older version of Seiji. "Date-san, you want to go outside?" She knew that like his son, the elder Date was slightly uncomfortable around a crowd of people, especially those with estrogen in their veins.
He nodded, his hand leading the way. They stepped into the deserted hallway before he spoke, "You do have a way home?"
She looked at him, attempting to decipher the meaning behind his question. After coming to a blank, she nodded slowly.
"Who?" The question was pointed and rather disconcerting.
"Seiji, but I drive him." Liar! She could have kicked herself for lying about his son driving under the legal age, but she really didn't want to get Seiji into any more trouble then he already was for not going home for Christmas.
He waved her deception aside. "He picks you up, he's told me. No need to lie, it doesn't suit you. Now, regarding your student, you are aware of what has happened?"
Another nod led him to continue.
"Have you wondered why it was her?"
"No?" She had no idea of where the conversation, the term used loosely, was headed.
"Because-"
~*~*~*~
"'She looked like me,' he said," She reiterated to the guys, before heading off to her bedroom.
Shin followed, heading to his own, before a shrill scream ripped through the hallway. "Nasuti, dajiobu?" He asked breathlessly, aquamarine eyes trained on the young woman standing next to her bed, clinging to a nearby post.
"What the hell-" came a hot-tempered Ryo from behind him. "Whoa."
She looked up, catching sight of the pictures.
A wave of nausea hit her as she looked at her bed.
The negligee that she knew was suppose to be in a garbage dump somewhere, was sitting on her bed, amidst several pictures of herself. The pictures themselves were sickening; some were even of her in stages of undress in the privacy of her own home. The very thought of someone so close, made her queasy, enough to make her stomach flip in angry response. She sank to her knees and closed her eyes.
The five Troopers looked away as the sound of a sheet being ripped in half filled the room.
~*~*~*~
The glass on the monitor shattered when an enraged Damien Managanita hurled the remote into it. "That whore!" He stood up, quickly flipping the chair to the floor.
All of his time spent, wasted.
All of his money, shipped south.
All of his love gone.
He was tired of waiting for her; it was time to take action. He wanted her now, not next week, not next month, but now. He watched the fragmented screen show the other brunet cleaning up her mess and the blond helping.
"Him," he spoke acidly. "It's his fault that she's upset," He spat out, not caring if anyone heard him, let them all call the authorities, he'd have more fun skinning them. Hearing a few words that were meant to come from his mouth, he growled and then picked up the entire monitor. With a grunt, he threw it into the nearest wall and watched as it exploded into flames, flames that reminded him of his soul, burning with passion only for his beloved.
The flames caught onto a few of his photos, crinkling the paper into an ashen mess. The ink caught aflame and spread, consuming his computer desk and the photos that adorned it.
He let it burn.
The living room went red and orange with the blaze, quickly eating up any and everything combustible.
"She will be mine. She is mine. I'll make her mine. I'll kill him; get them all out of the way. She will be mine," He yelled to the apartment, the one that held so many memories.
"No more from this place," he said as he turned his back, the heat of the flames pulling him back to reality. Breaking into a run, he pulled a nearby fire alarm and headed for the escape stairwell.
~*~*~
All of the house's occupants jumped with the phone rang. Shuu stood up, scowling at the annoying noisemaker as it rang incessantly off the hook. He groaned when he answered, his voice gaining more vitality as he realized who the caller was. "Hey, Seiji! Your 'kaasan says 'Happy early birthday'," he said, holding his hand over the mouthpiece.
The addressed buried his face into the couch pillow that Shin was leaning on. "Good ole' mothers," he muttered, not really caring about anything.
Why should he, when apparently no one else did?
Birthday? Seiji's, damn. Nasuti's mouth dropped. She knew that she had forgot something. No wonder he's so guarded. Moaning from her sick stomach and from guilt, she stood up and looked at the couch, where Seiji was seated, jade eyes saddened. "That's next Saturday, ne?"
He looked up at her, somewhat confused, but then gladdened that she remembered. "Yeah, it is."
She bit her lip and turned to the others, "Well, I'm going to be in my office, its bedtime."
Her announcement was met by several refutes, mainly amounting to the fact that she actually needed it and being patronizing.
Ryo stood up, towering over her as always. "What if your room is being watched?"
She looked at him incredulously. "If you even assume that I'm going to sleep anywhere, you're gravely mistaken. Not when a madman is on the loose."
"Nasté does have a point, Ryo." Touma stayed seated from his armchair. "She can't sleep in her room anyway. Think about it." He returned his gaze to the night sky, a thoughtful look on his face. "Probably the same bastard who killed Ming." Byakuen, who wouldn't respond anyway, only heard his last words.
Shin stayed silent, as well as Seiji, but he watched the questioned professor inch her way to her office. He grimaced when he felt a weight shift in the cushions Seiji was getting up. Guessing at Korin's intentions, he pulled on his arm, shaking his head. "Let her."
"But-"
"It's only going to set her off." The Trooper of Trust spoke forbiddingly.
Seiji blinked but held his tongue. Shin was right. Right now the lady of the house was testy and stressed. It's going to be one hell of a birthday. He thought morbidly. He knew that he would regret that thought later.
~*~*~
Sleep.
Sleep is a natural, periodically recurring physiological state of rest, characterized by relative physical and nervous inactivity, unconsciousness, and lessened responsiveness to external stimuli.
Sleep is good.
Good only when you get enough of it. Nasuti thought as she sat at her computer and turned it on. Watching the monitor, she yawned and shook her head. "No rest for the weary," she intoned wryly, smiling, as the desktop appeared onscreen. She loved computers. If she had not filled in for her grandfather, Nasuti would have definitely gone into computer programming. She yawned again and rubbed her eyes, fighting sleep.
"This is pathetic," she said to no one, turning on a desk lamp and then flipping the room's central lights off. A few years ago, pulling an all-nighter was not hard; she slept with one eye open anyway. But now, she blinked and moved the keyboard aside. A few winks and I'll find something to do. That was before she closed her eyes and succumbed to the Sandman.
Sleep is a natural process, one that promotes healing, where the healing is needed the most.
In the hallway, a white tiger plopped to the ground in front of the door. It was Byakuen's self-appointed duty to protect the Troopers and friends.
Especially when they were too fatigued to protect themselves.
~*~*~
To be continued…