Chapter 11
Despite being suspended for a whole month, the first two weeks went by in a blissful haze for Shuichi. Even if it did leave his ass sore, he didn't mind one bit.
Then again, he missed doing music.
"How long are you gonna play that keyboard?" asked Yuki, who was smoking a cigarette. "Doesn't that Fujisaki kid handle the keyboards?"
"Well, he isn't here is he?" said Shuichi. "And I'm trying to write a new song?"
"Why? 'Mizerable' is selling like crazy in Japan."
"Just 'cause I'm suspended and my newest song is doing great doesn't mean I should slack off." Shuichi jumped to his feet. "I will try my hardest so that Bad Luck conquers all!!!" he started laughing maniacally while a fire raged in the background.
Yuki used a fire extinguisher on him. "Please shut up."
"AGH!! It's cold!!"
"It's a fire extinguisher. It's supposed to be cold."
***
"Ah, hell."
Mika tightened the belt around her waist. As the days wore on her pants became smaller and smaller. Or maybe it was because she was becoming bigger and bigger?
She gave up on tightening her belt and went for her coat. Tohma had gone to work very early today. He had already left before she had woken up.
Does he know? she wondered, glancing at the mirror again. Or maybe he's just distant because he thinks he's losing Eiri.
That thought caused her to wince. The night before Tohma had called Yuki to check up on him. Usually their conversations lasted about five minutes. This was barely thirty seconds.
She shook her head as she pulled on her coat. She was wearing so much black lately that some people thought she was in mourning. That was completely far from the truth, though.
She smoothed out her hair and sighed. Tohma had been upset that Yuki didn't want to talk to him. She suspected that her brother knew that Tohma had lied to him about Shuichi. Nonetheless, she was going to go see Yuki. If Yuki was angry about it, she would have to try to play mediator.
Like she always did.
Shaking her head, Mika picked up her purse and headed for the front door. Looks like she would have to yell at her brother again.
***
"Hey, I know that girl!!"
Ryuichi, who was busying himself coloring on the floor, looked up. "Hmm?"
"I'm watching some rerun soap operas," said Tatsuha. "I don't know why, but this got my attention."
Ryuichi stopped coloring and crawled over. "Who?"
"That girl." He pointed to the screen. A girl with black hair and a flat face was doing some terrible acting. "Mayumi. She went out with Aniki once."
"I thought Shuichi goes out with Aniki," said Ryuichi.
"He is now," said Tatsuha, blushing over the fact that Ryuichi called Yuki 'Aniki'. "But he dated this girl years ago. She was only with him to get a part in this soap opera. But apparently her character was killed off so she's out of work."
"That's bad."
"Not really. She was a major bitch to me. To everyone in fact. I'm not saying I'm glad she's out of a job, but she didn't deserve the job. She wasn't even that great of an actress; that blonde supermodel acts better than she does."
Ryuichi nodded slowly. Then he grabbed Tatsuha hand. "Come color with me!!!"
Tatsuha brightened. "All right!!"
***
"A double date?!" Shuichi spoke into the phone.
Hiro laughed slightly. "Ayaka-chan is coming in from Kyoto. And Suguru finally got the gull to ask Ami out. We'll be meeting at Zenny's. Wanna join us?"
Shuichi glanced at Yuki's closed door. As the days passed Yuki was gradually gathering his memories. He still couldn't remember the New York incident, though his old attitude was resurfacing. Shuichi didn't mind, as it showed that Yuki was getting better. Sort of.
"I'll see you in ten minutes," said Shuichi.
"Hell, why not bring Yuki down?"
"I don't think he'd go for that, Hiro."
"True, true. Well, I'll see you in ten." Then he hung up.
Shuichi hung up. He headed towards Yuki's study and knocked. "Yuki?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to meet Hiro somewhere, so I'll be back later."
"All right."
Shuichi smiled as he shrugged on his coat. He left the apartment quickly, and in the hallway encountered someone.
"Hi, Mika-san!!" he greeted.
Mika forced a smile. "Is my brother in?"
"Yep!! He's working on a novel!!"
"Good. Bye, Shindou-kun." She walked past him and headed into Yuki's apartment.
Shuichi continued on his way.
***
"The Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music?" asked Suguru.
Ami nodded. "I'm only a junior in high school, but I've already sent in my application. I hope I get a call back from them."
"I'm sure you will!!"
"What did you put on your resume, Nayuta-san?" asked Ayaka.
As Ami rattled off all the things she's done with her violin, Hiro directed his attention to a bored Shuichi. "Bored?"
Shuichi snapped out of a trance. "Huh? Not really. I'm just thinking."
"About Yuki?"
"Yeah. He's gradually getting his memories back. And since he's gradually becoming an asshole again..."
"He might remember something that shouldn't be remembered?"
"Aa."
"Don't worry about it."
"I didn't approve of Seguchi-san manipulating his memories, but...I really don't want him to remember what happened in the past."
"Shuichi, even if no one wants to, the memories WILL come to him eventually. Even if they are bad, wouldn't it be better if he remembers then at a time when he's prepared for the memories?"
"I don't think he'd ever be prepared for those memories."
Hiro said nothing to this.
"And since I was first-chair in my school for so long, the producers of 'Early Hours' decided to give me a guest spot."
"Really?" said Ayaka.
"It was very brief; only for about five minutes. And you don't really see me in that episode; only the back of my head. But it was worth it as a made a good sum of money."
"My mom watches that show," said Shuichi. "If she likes it, it must be pretty corny."
"Most soap operas are. But the episode almost didn't air."
"How come?" asked Hiro.
"Well, one of the actresses kept having these temper tantrums. She was whining because she wasn't in a lot of shots in the scenes she was in."
"What was her character like?"
"A single mom working at the night club in the scene I was in. I heard how the stagehands couldn't stand her because she kept disrupting the set. But her character was popular with the audiences, so the writers killed her off dramatically."
"So she's a good actress?" asked Suguru.
"Not really. Her smiles were too faked and her temper was always out of control. In scenes where she was suppose to be happy she was miserable."
"Eek," said Shuichi.
"How did she land the job?" asked Hiro.
"Apparently she got it due to spotlight on her from a relationship," said Ami. "Some people wondered how she got into a relationship because of her personality."
"What was her name?" asked Ayaka.
"Um, ah...Mayumi-something."
"Do you think you can just walk out?!" a female voice boomed.
Everyone turned his or her heads. On a monitor a woman with black hair and a flat face was portrayed.
"That's her!!" said Ami. "That must be a rerun."
"THAT'S her?" said Hiro. "She looks like a psycho!"
Shuichi stared at the woman on the screen, the wheels in his head turning. Where did he see...?
"Oh, I remember!!" said Ami. "She went out with Yuki Eiri! You know, that popular writer? At the time one of his novels was becoming a bestseller and she used that spotlight to get the job!!"
Hiro raised an eyebrow, a 'why am I not surprised' expression on his face.
Shuichi continued to stare at the woman, trying to place her somewhere...
"Have you met her?" Ami asked Shuichi.
"I think so," said Shuichi. Then it came to him. "Oh yeah!! I met her when I-" he froze. That was the same day Yuki had been attacked. Immediately the images entered his brain.
["I-I'm sorry!!" gasped Shuichi, jumping to his feet to help the woman up. "I wasn't looking where I was going."
The woman forced a smile. She had black hair and was faintly pretty, but her face was too flat. "It's no problem. I'm in quite a hurry myself."
Shuichi nodded and started running past her. "Well, I gotta go!!"]
Why was she at Yuki's apartment? And didn't she have something...
He remembered the police saying Yuki had been hit with a blunt object several times. And Mayumi had something with her...a golf club, or something.
Realization dawned on him. "Holy shit!!"
"What's wrong?" asked Hiro.
"That girl!!" he pointed at the screen. "I ran into her on the day Yuki was attacked outside his apartment building!! And she had a golf club!!"
Everyone froze.
"Are you saying that Mayumi attacked Yuki?" asked Suguru.
"I'd believe it," said Ami. "Mayumi's temper is so terrible. She attacked a stage hand because they didn't bring her espresso fast enough."
Shuichi stood up. "How could I have forgotten that?! Shit, she might attack Yuki again!!"
"Why?" asked Ayaka.
"She didn't succeed in killing him last time!! I gotta go!!"
"Should I call the police?" asked Hiro.
"Even if it is true," said Ami. "There isn't any hard evidence that Mayumi will attack again. If you call they might not do anything."
Shuichi yanked out his cell phone. "I'll call Tatsuha-san and he'll call Seguchi-san and Mika-san!! They'll know what to do!!"
"I'll drive you," said Hiro. He turned to Ayaka. "I'm sorry-"
"It's fine," said Ayaka. "Just save Eiri-san, okay?"
They both ran out of Zenny's. Shuichi dialed up Tatsuha.
"Tatsuha-san, get in contact with Seguchi-san and Mika-san!! We just found out who attacked Yuki, and she's gonna do it again!!!"
***
"Why not make amends?" asked Mika.
Yuki puffed on a cigarette. "Onee-san, I respect Tohma. I really do. But it doesn't change the fact that he tried to manipulate me. And I don't like that."
"But he did it for a good reason-"
Yuki shook his head. "I'm not a child. Neither you nor Tohma have the right to decide what's good for me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
"But Eiri-"
A knock at the door interrupted her. Yuki stood up.
"Can you get that?" he asked. He headed back into his study. "I'm going back to work." He closed the door behind him.
Mika folded her arms over her stomach and shook her head. She didn't like how Eiri was returning back to his 'asshole attitude'.
"Do I look like a maid?" she fumed to herself, heading for the front door. "Certainly not..."
She unfolded one of her arms and reached for the handle. She didn't bother looking through the peephole as she opened the front door. "Can I-"
She never finished her sentence. She briefly saw a woman before a golf club filled her vision and slammed into the wrist wrapped around her stomach. It was a blow no doubt intended for her stomach. The woman had used all her strength in that swing, and Mika heard the bone shatter in her wrist. She opened her mouth to scream a warning to Yuki, but the woman raised the golf club and struck her in her left temple, silencing her scream. She crumbled to the floor, the blow to her head knocking her unconscious.
***
Yuki choked on cigarette smoke. What was that?
He had heard two strange thuds, followed by a loud thud. Then the front door closed.
He stood up and went to the door of his study. Opening it, he was greeted by a terrible shock.
A woman with black hair was there. One hand wielded a golf club; the other had a hold of Mika's wrist. She dragged Mika's unconscious body from the entrance hallway to the main area. Yuki was able to get a close look at his sister. He winced at the purple and blue mark on the side of her head with specks of blood running down her face. Her wrist was lopsided, and Yuki knew that it was broken.
"Yuki Eiri," she hissed, readying her golf club. "Your time has come."
Despite being suspended for a whole month, the first two weeks went by in a blissful haze for Shuichi. Even if it did leave his ass sore, he didn't mind one bit.
Then again, he missed doing music.
"How long are you gonna play that keyboard?" asked Yuki, who was smoking a cigarette. "Doesn't that Fujisaki kid handle the keyboards?"
"Well, he isn't here is he?" said Shuichi. "And I'm trying to write a new song?"
"Why? 'Mizerable' is selling like crazy in Japan."
"Just 'cause I'm suspended and my newest song is doing great doesn't mean I should slack off." Shuichi jumped to his feet. "I will try my hardest so that Bad Luck conquers all!!!" he started laughing maniacally while a fire raged in the background.
Yuki used a fire extinguisher on him. "Please shut up."
"AGH!! It's cold!!"
"It's a fire extinguisher. It's supposed to be cold."
***
"Ah, hell."
Mika tightened the belt around her waist. As the days wore on her pants became smaller and smaller. Or maybe it was because she was becoming bigger and bigger?
She gave up on tightening her belt and went for her coat. Tohma had gone to work very early today. He had already left before she had woken up.
Does he know? she wondered, glancing at the mirror again. Or maybe he's just distant because he thinks he's losing Eiri.
That thought caused her to wince. The night before Tohma had called Yuki to check up on him. Usually their conversations lasted about five minutes. This was barely thirty seconds.
She shook her head as she pulled on her coat. She was wearing so much black lately that some people thought she was in mourning. That was completely far from the truth, though.
She smoothed out her hair and sighed. Tohma had been upset that Yuki didn't want to talk to him. She suspected that her brother knew that Tohma had lied to him about Shuichi. Nonetheless, she was going to go see Yuki. If Yuki was angry about it, she would have to try to play mediator.
Like she always did.
Shaking her head, Mika picked up her purse and headed for the front door. Looks like she would have to yell at her brother again.
***
"Hey, I know that girl!!"
Ryuichi, who was busying himself coloring on the floor, looked up. "Hmm?"
"I'm watching some rerun soap operas," said Tatsuha. "I don't know why, but this got my attention."
Ryuichi stopped coloring and crawled over. "Who?"
"That girl." He pointed to the screen. A girl with black hair and a flat face was doing some terrible acting. "Mayumi. She went out with Aniki once."
"I thought Shuichi goes out with Aniki," said Ryuichi.
"He is now," said Tatsuha, blushing over the fact that Ryuichi called Yuki 'Aniki'. "But he dated this girl years ago. She was only with him to get a part in this soap opera. But apparently her character was killed off so she's out of work."
"That's bad."
"Not really. She was a major bitch to me. To everyone in fact. I'm not saying I'm glad she's out of a job, but she didn't deserve the job. She wasn't even that great of an actress; that blonde supermodel acts better than she does."
Ryuichi nodded slowly. Then he grabbed Tatsuha hand. "Come color with me!!!"
Tatsuha brightened. "All right!!"
***
"A double date?!" Shuichi spoke into the phone.
Hiro laughed slightly. "Ayaka-chan is coming in from Kyoto. And Suguru finally got the gull to ask Ami out. We'll be meeting at Zenny's. Wanna join us?"
Shuichi glanced at Yuki's closed door. As the days passed Yuki was gradually gathering his memories. He still couldn't remember the New York incident, though his old attitude was resurfacing. Shuichi didn't mind, as it showed that Yuki was getting better. Sort of.
"I'll see you in ten minutes," said Shuichi.
"Hell, why not bring Yuki down?"
"I don't think he'd go for that, Hiro."
"True, true. Well, I'll see you in ten." Then he hung up.
Shuichi hung up. He headed towards Yuki's study and knocked. "Yuki?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to meet Hiro somewhere, so I'll be back later."
"All right."
Shuichi smiled as he shrugged on his coat. He left the apartment quickly, and in the hallway encountered someone.
"Hi, Mika-san!!" he greeted.
Mika forced a smile. "Is my brother in?"
"Yep!! He's working on a novel!!"
"Good. Bye, Shindou-kun." She walked past him and headed into Yuki's apartment.
Shuichi continued on his way.
***
"The Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music?" asked Suguru.
Ami nodded. "I'm only a junior in high school, but I've already sent in my application. I hope I get a call back from them."
"I'm sure you will!!"
"What did you put on your resume, Nayuta-san?" asked Ayaka.
As Ami rattled off all the things she's done with her violin, Hiro directed his attention to a bored Shuichi. "Bored?"
Shuichi snapped out of a trance. "Huh? Not really. I'm just thinking."
"About Yuki?"
"Yeah. He's gradually getting his memories back. And since he's gradually becoming an asshole again..."
"He might remember something that shouldn't be remembered?"
"Aa."
"Don't worry about it."
"I didn't approve of Seguchi-san manipulating his memories, but...I really don't want him to remember what happened in the past."
"Shuichi, even if no one wants to, the memories WILL come to him eventually. Even if they are bad, wouldn't it be better if he remembers then at a time when he's prepared for the memories?"
"I don't think he'd ever be prepared for those memories."
Hiro said nothing to this.
"And since I was first-chair in my school for so long, the producers of 'Early Hours' decided to give me a guest spot."
"Really?" said Ayaka.
"It was very brief; only for about five minutes. And you don't really see me in that episode; only the back of my head. But it was worth it as a made a good sum of money."
"My mom watches that show," said Shuichi. "If she likes it, it must be pretty corny."
"Most soap operas are. But the episode almost didn't air."
"How come?" asked Hiro.
"Well, one of the actresses kept having these temper tantrums. She was whining because she wasn't in a lot of shots in the scenes she was in."
"What was her character like?"
"A single mom working at the night club in the scene I was in. I heard how the stagehands couldn't stand her because she kept disrupting the set. But her character was popular with the audiences, so the writers killed her off dramatically."
"So she's a good actress?" asked Suguru.
"Not really. Her smiles were too faked and her temper was always out of control. In scenes where she was suppose to be happy she was miserable."
"Eek," said Shuichi.
"How did she land the job?" asked Hiro.
"Apparently she got it due to spotlight on her from a relationship," said Ami. "Some people wondered how she got into a relationship because of her personality."
"What was her name?" asked Ayaka.
"Um, ah...Mayumi-something."
"Do you think you can just walk out?!" a female voice boomed.
Everyone turned his or her heads. On a monitor a woman with black hair and a flat face was portrayed.
"That's her!!" said Ami. "That must be a rerun."
"THAT'S her?" said Hiro. "She looks like a psycho!"
Shuichi stared at the woman on the screen, the wheels in his head turning. Where did he see...?
"Oh, I remember!!" said Ami. "She went out with Yuki Eiri! You know, that popular writer? At the time one of his novels was becoming a bestseller and she used that spotlight to get the job!!"
Hiro raised an eyebrow, a 'why am I not surprised' expression on his face.
Shuichi continued to stare at the woman, trying to place her somewhere...
"Have you met her?" Ami asked Shuichi.
"I think so," said Shuichi. Then it came to him. "Oh yeah!! I met her when I-" he froze. That was the same day Yuki had been attacked. Immediately the images entered his brain.
["I-I'm sorry!!" gasped Shuichi, jumping to his feet to help the woman up. "I wasn't looking where I was going."
The woman forced a smile. She had black hair and was faintly pretty, but her face was too flat. "It's no problem. I'm in quite a hurry myself."
Shuichi nodded and started running past her. "Well, I gotta go!!"]
Why was she at Yuki's apartment? And didn't she have something...
He remembered the police saying Yuki had been hit with a blunt object several times. And Mayumi had something with her...a golf club, or something.
Realization dawned on him. "Holy shit!!"
"What's wrong?" asked Hiro.
"That girl!!" he pointed at the screen. "I ran into her on the day Yuki was attacked outside his apartment building!! And she had a golf club!!"
Everyone froze.
"Are you saying that Mayumi attacked Yuki?" asked Suguru.
"I'd believe it," said Ami. "Mayumi's temper is so terrible. She attacked a stage hand because they didn't bring her espresso fast enough."
Shuichi stood up. "How could I have forgotten that?! Shit, she might attack Yuki again!!"
"Why?" asked Ayaka.
"She didn't succeed in killing him last time!! I gotta go!!"
"Should I call the police?" asked Hiro.
"Even if it is true," said Ami. "There isn't any hard evidence that Mayumi will attack again. If you call they might not do anything."
Shuichi yanked out his cell phone. "I'll call Tatsuha-san and he'll call Seguchi-san and Mika-san!! They'll know what to do!!"
"I'll drive you," said Hiro. He turned to Ayaka. "I'm sorry-"
"It's fine," said Ayaka. "Just save Eiri-san, okay?"
They both ran out of Zenny's. Shuichi dialed up Tatsuha.
"Tatsuha-san, get in contact with Seguchi-san and Mika-san!! We just found out who attacked Yuki, and she's gonna do it again!!!"
***
"Why not make amends?" asked Mika.
Yuki puffed on a cigarette. "Onee-san, I respect Tohma. I really do. But it doesn't change the fact that he tried to manipulate me. And I don't like that."
"But he did it for a good reason-"
Yuki shook his head. "I'm not a child. Neither you nor Tohma have the right to decide what's good for me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
"But Eiri-"
A knock at the door interrupted her. Yuki stood up.
"Can you get that?" he asked. He headed back into his study. "I'm going back to work." He closed the door behind him.
Mika folded her arms over her stomach and shook her head. She didn't like how Eiri was returning back to his 'asshole attitude'.
"Do I look like a maid?" she fumed to herself, heading for the front door. "Certainly not..."
She unfolded one of her arms and reached for the handle. She didn't bother looking through the peephole as she opened the front door. "Can I-"
She never finished her sentence. She briefly saw a woman before a golf club filled her vision and slammed into the wrist wrapped around her stomach. It was a blow no doubt intended for her stomach. The woman had used all her strength in that swing, and Mika heard the bone shatter in her wrist. She opened her mouth to scream a warning to Yuki, but the woman raised the golf club and struck her in her left temple, silencing her scream. She crumbled to the floor, the blow to her head knocking her unconscious.
***
Yuki choked on cigarette smoke. What was that?
He had heard two strange thuds, followed by a loud thud. Then the front door closed.
He stood up and went to the door of his study. Opening it, he was greeted by a terrible shock.
A woman with black hair was there. One hand wielded a golf club; the other had a hold of Mika's wrist. She dragged Mika's unconscious body from the entrance hallway to the main area. Yuki was able to get a close look at his sister. He winced at the purple and blue mark on the side of her head with specks of blood running down her face. Her wrist was lopsided, and Yuki knew that it was broken.
"Yuki Eiri," she hissed, readying her golf club. "Your time has come."
