Chapter 3. Shou's being pushed right to his limits. Can he cope? Read and see. And I've said it before; I'll say it again. I still don't own Moon Child, any of its characters, or anything else to do with it. They all belong to their respectful owners, no matter how much I wish. Just watch though, one day I'll bribe them, insert evil laugh here

-

The sound of the phone drilled through Son's dreams. Yawning and swearing, he swung himself out of bed and tried to stand up unsuccessfully. He heard Yi-Che move around, and called sleepily to her. "Go back to sleep, it's just the phone. I've got it." Curse whoever the hell had phoned at this hour. Son didn't bother trying to find a clock. He really didn't want to know. Grabbing the phone, he dragged it off the hook.

"'Lo?"

The voice at the other end was deep, with a Japanese accent. "Son?" It sounded panicked.

"Fuck, Shou, what do you want?"

"Where's Kei?"

"Oh, for the love of-" He was irritated now. Son had just discovered what he wanted to be woken up for least in the entire world, and it was Shou having fits over Kei. "How should I know? You're the one who lives with him!"

"But he's gone!" Son had never heard Shou the tough guy wail before. At any other time, interesting.

But now… He sighed in exasperation. Yes, it was annoying, but after what he'd seen of Kei's true colours, he didn't feel like relaxing while Kei was out wandering alone. "Well, where has he gone?"

A torrent of angry Japanese assaulted him, and he held the handset away from his ear, wincing. He caught the word 'baka' several times. Well, fair enough, it had been a pretty stupid question. "Okay, okay. Got it. You don't know. What happened when you went home? Was he there?"

A mumbled "Yes." At least, it sounded like 'yes'.

"What happened?"

There was silence on the other end.

"Shou?"

"I… um…" Shou sounded sheepish. Ah, this meant he'd done something stupid. Bring it on, tough guy. "I… was sort of… ignoring him…"

Oh please. This had to be a joke, or even better, a dream. No way was this for real. "Well bloody hell Shou. You don't exactly help yourself, do you?" He was definitely in a bad mood now. Maybe he just went for a walk or something, I don't know, to clear his head. If he's not back by the morning, then I'll help you, okay?" An idea occurred somewhere in his sleep-fogged brain. "Hey, all those things about vampires and sunlight, are they true?"

"Why do you think Kei didn't go to Yi-Che's big ceremony thing?" came the cool answer. Why was it that Shou found it perfectly acceptable to talk about vampirism, but went crazy every time Kei was out of his sight?

The statement sank in. Of course, realised Son. It all made sense. And when Kei had finally shown up to the ceremony, the sky had been clouded over with rain, and even so he'd worn that huge hooded cloak thing of his. And he never ate with them, and he only seemed to be seen at night… Damn, it all seemed so obvious now.

"Anyway," he resumed. "You feel any better?"

"Aa, I guess. Thanks, Son."

"Great. Now fuck off and let me sleep."

-

Shou was sitting on the floor, staring forlornly at the clock on the wall, which had just struck ten, when someone tried the door. But it was locked, so whoever it was that wanted to come in swore loudly in Chinese and hammered on it. Shou sighed. It was just Son.

"Hey, Son."

"Fucking let me in already!"

"Nice to see you too Son." But he got up anyway, and turned the key in the door. Son looked slightly dishevelled; he'd just got up.

"God, you look pathetic," he stated flatly.

"I don't think God'll take too kindly to that." He chose to ignore the insult. He was asking a favour, after all. He should be grateful Son had decided to help him in the first place. "Thanks for coming, Son."

Son made himself right at home, yawning and stretching luxuriously, before flopping onto Shou's bed. "Judging by your enthusiasm at seeing me, I'd say he's not back yet."

"No." Even Shou was surprised at how subdued he sounded.

Son's glance flickered, as if he hadn't taken Shou's distress seriously. Thinking back to his irritation at the phone call, he probably hadn't. But the flicker disappeared, and when Son spoke again it was as light as ever. "Don't be so depressed. Kei's a big boy, he can take care of himself." There was a note of comfort there. "He's immortal, right? And it's not as if he'll starve."

Shou looked up and gave him a weak smile, though he felt more like crying. "Thanks," he said quietly, and he meant it. Son looked taken aback.

"Anytime." He got up and put a hand on Shou's shoulder. "Come on, let's go and find him then. It won't do to have him wandering around snacking on people."

"I don't know what I'd do without you," said Shou honestly. "But Shou won't be eating for a while now. Two people in one day, that's more than enough to keep him going."

Son didn't miss a beat, though he still wasn't used to talking about Kei like this. "I'd still be happier if you were there to watch him."

"So would I," agreed Shou. For completely different, selfish reasons of course. He didn't want to be alone anymore.

"Shou?" Son's voice stopped him in his tracks. "Are we going?" He was standing expectantly by the door.

It took about five seconds for Shou to realise they weren't waiting for anyone. It felt strange, just the two of them, no Toshi, no Kei. He didn't think he'd ever done anything like this before without them. It wasn't as if he was never alone, just that when he wasn't with Kei (which was rare, as they were like shadows to each other) he always knew exactly where Kei was at any given time. So now he felt totally lost.

Son was patient while he gathered and straightened out his thoughts. He may have been impulsive and quick to anger, but he didn't like to see his friends hurt or upset. He was known to be slightly possessive, especially over Yi-Che, and now it looked like he was extending that level of protection over him too. Shou was thankful for the uncharacteristic show of tolerance. He'd never done it before; maybe it was because there was no one else around. Toshi wasn't here to take the piss, and the room was devoid of Kei's silent (yet to Son's mind, intimidating) presence. Not that it mattered, of course. The fact that he'd made the effort in the first place compensated for any ulterior motives he might have.

Ulterior motives? Shou had to smile in spite of circumstances. What, is he trying to seduce me?

"There you go," said Son. "Cheer up. Now come on. Give me the damn keys if you don't want to lock the door behind you, and I'll do it. Kei does have his own keys, ne?" Shou grinned, spotting a Japanese trait that Son had picked up from Toshi. Unlike Kei and Shou, who tried to speak Chinese as much as possible around Son, Toshi only ever made the effort at work, and then only because he liked the old Chinese guy he worked for. The young Chinese just accepted Toshi's refusal to speak Chinese as a quirk of his character. In fact, he enjoyed the challenge.

God, don't start thinking about Toshi.

Son was still waiting, and Shou looked him in the eye. "Let's go." And without a second thought, he covered the distance to the door in six firm strides, thrust his key into the lock and turned it.

"Hey, you didn't answer me," pointed out Son. "Does Kei have his own key?" Seeing Shou's nod, he added, "And he has it with him?"

Shou had thought of this. He'd made sure Kei had taken his key even before phoning Son. He nodded again, and pulled the door open violently. Son flinched as he heard the sound of the door hitting the wall hard. "Dammit Shou, chill!"

"Sorry," he said. "I'm just fucking furious with him for going, and worried sick about him at the same time. When we find him I'm not sure whether I'll kiss him or kill him."

"Great," said Son brightly. He made a mental note to stay on Shou's good side. There was a dent in the wall.

-

They didn't find him. Shou knew they wouldn't. They visited every childhood haunt Shou could remember, including the building (old and dilapidated when Shou was eight years old, and falling apart now) where Kei and Shou had first met. Every time they approached a place that looked familiar, Shou went into overdrive inside, but he feigned indifference to himself. If he hoped too much, Kei wouldn't be there. Bullshit, of course, but he'd worked himself up into such a state that he half-believed it. Whenever they investigated a place, only to conclude that Kei wasn't there, his heart sank a little lower, but it was coupled with a wild hope that maybe when he got home Kei would be there.

Son glanced uncomfortably at Shou, whose face was a stone wall to the turmoil inside. He didn't relish the thought of telling him to call it a day. They wouldn't find Kei. That was pretty clear now. He was just putting off the inevitable for as long as he could.

Luckily for him, Shou made the first move. "I guess we should quit."

"…Yeah," said Son, caught off-guard. "Sorry," he added, sincerely.

Shou shook his head, staring fixedly at the floor, blatantly avoiding Son's gaze. "Nothing to be sorry for," he muttered thickly.

Son let him go. If this carried on for much longer, he'd kill Kei himself.

-

Watch out for the next chapter. Will Shou have some kind of breakdown? Depends on whether I'm mean enough for that! Read on to find out. Reviews are welcomed, reviewers worshipped.