Grasper's a/n: Big warning! Ryuichi is VERY OOC in this chapter; so do read
at your own risk! ^^
"Ryuichi, would you just listen to me!" Noriko cried, pulling her band member back by the arm. "Please!"
Ryuichi had gathered several painful headaches all in one spot from weeping all day, something he hadn't done in a long while.
He shoved her back. She gasped loudly in shock at his fierceness.
"I've been listening to you all day! Can't I just have some peace and fucking quiet for at least a couple of hours?! Okay, I fucked up, I fucked up and I killed my friend! I killed my fucking best friend because I'm an asshole, okay?! Did you come in here just to be a nagging bitch about it Noriko, huh?!" Noriko's mouth dropped. Somewhere out of the blue, Ryuichi picked up a new attitude.
"Ryuichi!" she cried with surprise.
"Get OUT Noriko! Get the fuck out of my sight! I'm sick of you trailing behind me every time I want to get some damn peace! Tohma's dead, okay, he's fucking dead, he's not coming back! If he had gotten those lyrics like I wanted and didn't worry about Shuichi, he'd still be here, and you know what we'd be doing right now Noriko, huh? We'd be practicing, that's what the hell we'd be doing right now! But no! Of course not!!"
He kicked the closest thing towards him, which so happened to be the concrete wall. With a piercing series of screams, he punched the wall with clenched fists, screaming out how much he hated Tohma with tears shooting out of his eyes.
"Goddamn it, why?! What the fuck have I done?"
"Ryuichi..." Noriko started in a soft tone, "you didn't do anything wrong. Tohma left hear last night downhearted because of other reasons. He went to Yuki Eiri's house last night because he wanted someone to love him. He didn't think Mika-chan did, so he looked to other sources. Ryuichi...everyone wants to be loved. Tohma did too...more than we know. No one fulfilled that wish for him...and so he took the only way out he could think of. I guess he felt as if he were a burden to everyone."
Ryuichi gave the wall another weakened punch.
"That's no damn excuse! I would have loved him if he wanted me to!" He covered his face with his hands. "Noriko...please leave me."
Noriko would have, but she didn't trust Ryuichi alone. The way he was strangely behaving and acting like Tohma was his existence; he might try and take his own life as well.
"I won't take the chances, Ryuichi. I'm sorry, but...I can't. I won't go unless I know for a fact you're going to be okay."
Ryuichi grinned weakly at Noriko.
"You mean...you think I'm going to commit suicide like Tohma did, don't you? Do you really think that of me?"
Noriko didn't hesitate. She nodded.
"I do, Ryuichi. You're changing right before my very eyes! I know Tohma was our band mate and he'll be sadly missed, but—"
"You just simply don't care because it wasn't your fault. I see how you play this Noriko, I see how you are. You don't care about a damn thing as long as you're not to blame for it!" he shouted, standing.
Noriko's eyes followed him.
"That's it, isn't it? Tohma would be very displeased with you right now!"
Noriko sighed, lowering her head.
"You're overreacting again Ryuichi. No matter what I try to say to you, you'll find some twisted way to turn it all around and shoot it right back in my face!"
"There you have it! Leave me alone. Don't follow me!"
Ryuichi stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Noriko never went after him.
__________________
"It's getting late. You really should be getting home, Mika," Eiri whispered to his sister as they walked slowly to the park, spending time together for perhaps the first time in a long while.
She chuckled dejectedly, still clenching the black hat in her hands.
"I have no reason to go back home, Eiri. Everything would just remind me of Tohma. Even though he didn't love me as much as I loved him, it was still worth it...all those years we were together."
The two stopped in the exact same place Tohma fell from. Mika looked over the side, her stomach tightening.
"They say this is where it happened...right here." She held the hat close to her heart. "Even though he wanted to die, he must have been so scared!"
Eiri embraced her as she sobbed forcefully onto his shoulder.
"Oh Tohma...I loved him so much! I know I said I was going to forget about him, but I just can't!"
Eiri brushed his fingers lightly through his hair.
"I know you did, Mika, I know. He loved you too."
"How do you know?" she sobbed.
"Because he told me. He would always tell me how much he did. He just said the same thing you're saying. He didn't think you felt the same way."
"What?" she questioned, backing away. "He said that?"
Eiri nodded. "He did."
She lowered her head. "How could he think that? I gave him my share. I let him make love to me whenever he wanted to. I let him vent out his anger at times whenever he needed it. I see no reason why he would think that way!"
Eiri dropped his cigarette to the ground and crushed it lightly.
"I'm sorry Mika. I don't really have any fond memories of Tohma. I was still just a child."
Mika sighed and looked off the bridge.
"I guess I just have to let him go then, unanswered questions and all. Maybe it's best that way."
It was a little after dark at this point and getting rather chilly.
"Come on Mika, I'll take you home."
Mika was about to step away when her hand brushed across something wet on the railing. Looking at her fingertips, her eyes went wide.
"What is it?" Eiri asked.
"Eiri..." she breathed, rubbing the sticky substance on her fingers with her thumb. "It's blood."
__________________
Suguru and Shuichi had fallen asleep where they sat, spent from a day's worth of crying. Hiro and K were the only ones awake, but very tired as well.
"I think we should leave," K said in a voice just above a whisper.
"I guess the Battle of the Bands is out of the question for both groups, huh?"
K gave a tiny nod. Hiro's nod followed it.
"Even if we were still going, we wouldn't be prepared," he said, looking over at Shuichi.
K scooped up Suguru's tiny frame into his arms, while Hiro did the same to Shuichi and left the studio for what would be a long time.
_________________
Hiro took the sleeping Shuichi to his place and laid him on his bed. He was still confused about their relationship. Were they still friends? Everything just seemed like it was going so fast. Just like that, their competition entry was thrown out and Nittle Grasper lost a band member and a very good friend. The incident already had gone universal and probably left a lot of the world in tears, asking themselves why. There would be a lot of questions to be left unanswered.
Hiro slithered in beside Shuichi and tried to put his mind to concentrate on one thing and one thing only and that was Shuichi. He listened to his friend breathe calmly as he slept. Everything seemed to be crashing down now. Without warning, everyone's life was ending.
He draped his arm lightly around Shuichi and fell asleep with his head beside his.
___________________
"Mika, wait!" Eiri called as Mika ran as fast as she could down the street wearing high heels.
"Suicide my fucking ass!" she called back. "I never believed that for a minute! He was murdered Eiri! Some one killed my husband and they're going to be brought down!"
"You're overreacting!"
"I don't need your help!" she countered. "I've been doing fine with you for the past few years, don't change on me now!"
Eiri stopped running while Mika continued her fast pace. She was going to get nowhere at night. Eiri sighed and walked the opposite way back home.
Mika knew the truth. By the time she got urgent help and nearly dragged witnesses up to the bridge, there were no traces of blood anywhere to be found.
"Ryuichi, would you just listen to me!" Noriko cried, pulling her band member back by the arm. "Please!"
Ryuichi had gathered several painful headaches all in one spot from weeping all day, something he hadn't done in a long while.
He shoved her back. She gasped loudly in shock at his fierceness.
"I've been listening to you all day! Can't I just have some peace and fucking quiet for at least a couple of hours?! Okay, I fucked up, I fucked up and I killed my friend! I killed my fucking best friend because I'm an asshole, okay?! Did you come in here just to be a nagging bitch about it Noriko, huh?!" Noriko's mouth dropped. Somewhere out of the blue, Ryuichi picked up a new attitude.
"Ryuichi!" she cried with surprise.
"Get OUT Noriko! Get the fuck out of my sight! I'm sick of you trailing behind me every time I want to get some damn peace! Tohma's dead, okay, he's fucking dead, he's not coming back! If he had gotten those lyrics like I wanted and didn't worry about Shuichi, he'd still be here, and you know what we'd be doing right now Noriko, huh? We'd be practicing, that's what the hell we'd be doing right now! But no! Of course not!!"
He kicked the closest thing towards him, which so happened to be the concrete wall. With a piercing series of screams, he punched the wall with clenched fists, screaming out how much he hated Tohma with tears shooting out of his eyes.
"Goddamn it, why?! What the fuck have I done?"
"Ryuichi..." Noriko started in a soft tone, "you didn't do anything wrong. Tohma left hear last night downhearted because of other reasons. He went to Yuki Eiri's house last night because he wanted someone to love him. He didn't think Mika-chan did, so he looked to other sources. Ryuichi...everyone wants to be loved. Tohma did too...more than we know. No one fulfilled that wish for him...and so he took the only way out he could think of. I guess he felt as if he were a burden to everyone."
Ryuichi gave the wall another weakened punch.
"That's no damn excuse! I would have loved him if he wanted me to!" He covered his face with his hands. "Noriko...please leave me."
Noriko would have, but she didn't trust Ryuichi alone. The way he was strangely behaving and acting like Tohma was his existence; he might try and take his own life as well.
"I won't take the chances, Ryuichi. I'm sorry, but...I can't. I won't go unless I know for a fact you're going to be okay."
Ryuichi grinned weakly at Noriko.
"You mean...you think I'm going to commit suicide like Tohma did, don't you? Do you really think that of me?"
Noriko didn't hesitate. She nodded.
"I do, Ryuichi. You're changing right before my very eyes! I know Tohma was our band mate and he'll be sadly missed, but—"
"You just simply don't care because it wasn't your fault. I see how you play this Noriko, I see how you are. You don't care about a damn thing as long as you're not to blame for it!" he shouted, standing.
Noriko's eyes followed him.
"That's it, isn't it? Tohma would be very displeased with you right now!"
Noriko sighed, lowering her head.
"You're overreacting again Ryuichi. No matter what I try to say to you, you'll find some twisted way to turn it all around and shoot it right back in my face!"
"There you have it! Leave me alone. Don't follow me!"
Ryuichi stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Noriko never went after him.
__________________
"It's getting late. You really should be getting home, Mika," Eiri whispered to his sister as they walked slowly to the park, spending time together for perhaps the first time in a long while.
She chuckled dejectedly, still clenching the black hat in her hands.
"I have no reason to go back home, Eiri. Everything would just remind me of Tohma. Even though he didn't love me as much as I loved him, it was still worth it...all those years we were together."
The two stopped in the exact same place Tohma fell from. Mika looked over the side, her stomach tightening.
"They say this is where it happened...right here." She held the hat close to her heart. "Even though he wanted to die, he must have been so scared!"
Eiri embraced her as she sobbed forcefully onto his shoulder.
"Oh Tohma...I loved him so much! I know I said I was going to forget about him, but I just can't!"
Eiri brushed his fingers lightly through his hair.
"I know you did, Mika, I know. He loved you too."
"How do you know?" she sobbed.
"Because he told me. He would always tell me how much he did. He just said the same thing you're saying. He didn't think you felt the same way."
"What?" she questioned, backing away. "He said that?"
Eiri nodded. "He did."
She lowered her head. "How could he think that? I gave him my share. I let him make love to me whenever he wanted to. I let him vent out his anger at times whenever he needed it. I see no reason why he would think that way!"
Eiri dropped his cigarette to the ground and crushed it lightly.
"I'm sorry Mika. I don't really have any fond memories of Tohma. I was still just a child."
Mika sighed and looked off the bridge.
"I guess I just have to let him go then, unanswered questions and all. Maybe it's best that way."
It was a little after dark at this point and getting rather chilly.
"Come on Mika, I'll take you home."
Mika was about to step away when her hand brushed across something wet on the railing. Looking at her fingertips, her eyes went wide.
"What is it?" Eiri asked.
"Eiri..." she breathed, rubbing the sticky substance on her fingers with her thumb. "It's blood."
__________________
Suguru and Shuichi had fallen asleep where they sat, spent from a day's worth of crying. Hiro and K were the only ones awake, but very tired as well.
"I think we should leave," K said in a voice just above a whisper.
"I guess the Battle of the Bands is out of the question for both groups, huh?"
K gave a tiny nod. Hiro's nod followed it.
"Even if we were still going, we wouldn't be prepared," he said, looking over at Shuichi.
K scooped up Suguru's tiny frame into his arms, while Hiro did the same to Shuichi and left the studio for what would be a long time.
_________________
Hiro took the sleeping Shuichi to his place and laid him on his bed. He was still confused about their relationship. Were they still friends? Everything just seemed like it was going so fast. Just like that, their competition entry was thrown out and Nittle Grasper lost a band member and a very good friend. The incident already had gone universal and probably left a lot of the world in tears, asking themselves why. There would be a lot of questions to be left unanswered.
Hiro slithered in beside Shuichi and tried to put his mind to concentrate on one thing and one thing only and that was Shuichi. He listened to his friend breathe calmly as he slept. Everything seemed to be crashing down now. Without warning, everyone's life was ending.
He draped his arm lightly around Shuichi and fell asleep with his head beside his.
___________________
"Mika, wait!" Eiri called as Mika ran as fast as she could down the street wearing high heels.
"Suicide my fucking ass!" she called back. "I never believed that for a minute! He was murdered Eiri! Some one killed my husband and they're going to be brought down!"
"You're overreacting!"
"I don't need your help!" she countered. "I've been doing fine with you for the past few years, don't change on me now!"
Eiri stopped running while Mika continued her fast pace. She was going to get nowhere at night. Eiri sighed and walked the opposite way back home.
Mika knew the truth. By the time she got urgent help and nearly dragged witnesses up to the bridge, there were no traces of blood anywhere to be found.