"Tohma wouldn't commit suicide!" Mika cried into the phone at the only
person she could reach the next
morning, which so happened to be Suguru on her cellular, who ended up
staying overnight with K.
"And I'm not crazy either! I know what I saw! Eiri was with me!"
Suguru, who was still as much disturbed as Mika, couldn't handle the yelling and screaming. His hands shook so much that the phone nearly slipped out of his hands.
"Please Mika-san, I can't take anymore of this..."
"Do you believe that he would have done that?! I'm about to blame anyone I can get my hands on right now! Until I find some answers, I'm not letting this go!"
And with that, the phone slammed down in Suguru's ear. He hung up, struggling not to cry again.
A pair of strong arms wrapped around his torso and was sealed into another body for support. Suguru leaned back into the warm touch.
"Don't worry Fujisaki-san, we'll get this figured out," the American said.
Feeling someone care made Suguru reach tears again. The cell phone slipped from his hand and fell to the solid oak floor, nearly breaking.
"Why?" he sobbed lightly. "Why would someone kill him? Who has a grudge against him?!"
Unfortunately, no one knew the answer, although it couldn't get anymore complicated. They took the hard way out.
"I don't know," K said, not able to think of anything at the moment.
"Poor Ryuichi, he must be taking it hard, huh?"
K gave a deep sigh.
"Well...all hopes of reviving Nittle Grasper are gone. That and he blames himself. I never thought I'd see this side of him. Every other word out of his mouth is 'go the fuck away' or 'leave me the hell alone'. He's no longer that energetic, loveable singer the world knows."
"How's Noriko-chan handling it?"
K shook his head.
"She's dealing, and also trying to get Ryuichi to believe he didn't do anything. He won't listen. If we don't get him help soon..."
Suguru gasped and turned to face K.
"K...don't say it!"
K nodded sadly.
"He just might."
"Can someone like Ryuichi really turn into something like that? Psychotic?"
Suguru hated to use such a term for him, but nothing else seemed to fit. He would lose his mind, wipe out everything around him, then end up killing himself.
Suguru reached for his jacket and threw it on.
"I need to talk to him."
_________________________
Ryuichi grew up right before everyone's eyes. No one even pictured something like Ryuichi, immature and loveable, turning into some serial killer and destructive psycho. With two things on his mind: the incident being his fault, and Tohma being nothing more than his best friend, his mind went blank and formed a monster.
Suguru knocked on his front door, only to be met face to face with Noriko.
"Noriko-chan! I need to talk to Ryuichi!"
Noriko shook her head sadly, not moving.
"He's locked himself in his room. The only thing I've been able to do was talk to him through the door."
Suguru bit his lip and pushed Noriko to the side.
"I don't care!"
He had been in there plenty of times before with Tohma.
"Sakuma Ryuichi! Open this door!" he yelled and pounded with his fist after trying the door and finding it locked.
"Leave me the hell alone!"
Suguru sighed. K was right.
"I'm not leaving! I'll break this door down if I have to! We're worried about you Ryuichi-san! You're changing right before our eyes!"
"You didn't kill your best friend!" he hollered back in a cry that gave away the fact that he'd been crying the whole time and probably had one hell of a headache.
"You didn't kill him either! Think about it! If anyone is to be mostly saddened, it's me! He was my cousin!"
"Family blood or the title of a best friend. It doesn't change the way I should feel! Get out of here, Fujisaki!"
Suguru's lip trembled. He bit it and couldn't prevent burning tears from building up in his eyes, soon begging for release.
"Please...Sakuma-san," he said in a voice just above a whisper. "It will do you good to talk to someone about it. Talk to me, Ryuichi, please...I'm so worried."
Suguru didn't think he could get any more desperate. Silence grew thick. Soft footsteps were being heard inside, approaching the door. Suguru was alert and looked up. The lock was played with and the door slowly opened. Suguru looked eye to eye with Ryuichi. His eyes were dreadfully puffy and bloodshot. The white part of his eye was deep crimson and the front of his face was stained with dry tears and newly forming ones. In his arms, he carried his precious Kumagoro.
"What do you want?" he asked in a delicate voice.
"Can I come in?"
Ryuichi stepped aside and Suguru entered slowly. He looked up and stared at the room he had stood in. Ryuichi's once beautiful room was now obliterated with just about everything he owned thrown around.
"What?" he asked again.
Suguru sat on the corner of his bed, exhaling noisily.
"Ryuichi...how much longer do you think this could hold out? I mean.this?" he asked, gesturing his hand out to any random point in the room. "You need to have some form of contact with the outside world!"
Ryuichi's back turned to Suguru. "If I hadn't been so careless...Tohma would still be here. He wouldn't have killed himself!"
Suguru stood and placed his hand tenderly on the sobbing boy's shoulder.
"Ryuichi...if it makes the situation any better...Tohma didn't kill himself."
Ryuichi spun to him with wide eyes.
"Mika-san called me this morning...we think he was." Suguru hung his head, "....murdered."
Ryuichi jumped back like he was being shot at.
"I think she's right! Tohma...he had too many things going for him! He was happy right until the end! Mika-san said she had evidence, but the evidence is gone. I believe her though. He's my cousin and closest
living relative...he would have talked to me, or Mika-san at least."
Suddenly, the whole world got smaller and smaller as Suguru felt his chest tighten. White lights flashed passed his eyes as his eyeballs felt as if they were being pushed on. It got to the point where to forced him to his knees and sharp gasps escaped his lips. The very last thing he had thought he heard before his world drew a blank was Ryuichi screaming his name.
"And I'm not crazy either! I know what I saw! Eiri was with me!"
Suguru, who was still as much disturbed as Mika, couldn't handle the yelling and screaming. His hands shook so much that the phone nearly slipped out of his hands.
"Please Mika-san, I can't take anymore of this..."
"Do you believe that he would have done that?! I'm about to blame anyone I can get my hands on right now! Until I find some answers, I'm not letting this go!"
And with that, the phone slammed down in Suguru's ear. He hung up, struggling not to cry again.
A pair of strong arms wrapped around his torso and was sealed into another body for support. Suguru leaned back into the warm touch.
"Don't worry Fujisaki-san, we'll get this figured out," the American said.
Feeling someone care made Suguru reach tears again. The cell phone slipped from his hand and fell to the solid oak floor, nearly breaking.
"Why?" he sobbed lightly. "Why would someone kill him? Who has a grudge against him?!"
Unfortunately, no one knew the answer, although it couldn't get anymore complicated. They took the hard way out.
"I don't know," K said, not able to think of anything at the moment.
"Poor Ryuichi, he must be taking it hard, huh?"
K gave a deep sigh.
"Well...all hopes of reviving Nittle Grasper are gone. That and he blames himself. I never thought I'd see this side of him. Every other word out of his mouth is 'go the fuck away' or 'leave me the hell alone'. He's no longer that energetic, loveable singer the world knows."
"How's Noriko-chan handling it?"
K shook his head.
"She's dealing, and also trying to get Ryuichi to believe he didn't do anything. He won't listen. If we don't get him help soon..."
Suguru gasped and turned to face K.
"K...don't say it!"
K nodded sadly.
"He just might."
"Can someone like Ryuichi really turn into something like that? Psychotic?"
Suguru hated to use such a term for him, but nothing else seemed to fit. He would lose his mind, wipe out everything around him, then end up killing himself.
Suguru reached for his jacket and threw it on.
"I need to talk to him."
_________________________
Ryuichi grew up right before everyone's eyes. No one even pictured something like Ryuichi, immature and loveable, turning into some serial killer and destructive psycho. With two things on his mind: the incident being his fault, and Tohma being nothing more than his best friend, his mind went blank and formed a monster.
Suguru knocked on his front door, only to be met face to face with Noriko.
"Noriko-chan! I need to talk to Ryuichi!"
Noriko shook her head sadly, not moving.
"He's locked himself in his room. The only thing I've been able to do was talk to him through the door."
Suguru bit his lip and pushed Noriko to the side.
"I don't care!"
He had been in there plenty of times before with Tohma.
"Sakuma Ryuichi! Open this door!" he yelled and pounded with his fist after trying the door and finding it locked.
"Leave me the hell alone!"
Suguru sighed. K was right.
"I'm not leaving! I'll break this door down if I have to! We're worried about you Ryuichi-san! You're changing right before our eyes!"
"You didn't kill your best friend!" he hollered back in a cry that gave away the fact that he'd been crying the whole time and probably had one hell of a headache.
"You didn't kill him either! Think about it! If anyone is to be mostly saddened, it's me! He was my cousin!"
"Family blood or the title of a best friend. It doesn't change the way I should feel! Get out of here, Fujisaki!"
Suguru's lip trembled. He bit it and couldn't prevent burning tears from building up in his eyes, soon begging for release.
"Please...Sakuma-san," he said in a voice just above a whisper. "It will do you good to talk to someone about it. Talk to me, Ryuichi, please...I'm so worried."
Suguru didn't think he could get any more desperate. Silence grew thick. Soft footsteps were being heard inside, approaching the door. Suguru was alert and looked up. The lock was played with and the door slowly opened. Suguru looked eye to eye with Ryuichi. His eyes were dreadfully puffy and bloodshot. The white part of his eye was deep crimson and the front of his face was stained with dry tears and newly forming ones. In his arms, he carried his precious Kumagoro.
"What do you want?" he asked in a delicate voice.
"Can I come in?"
Ryuichi stepped aside and Suguru entered slowly. He looked up and stared at the room he had stood in. Ryuichi's once beautiful room was now obliterated with just about everything he owned thrown around.
"What?" he asked again.
Suguru sat on the corner of his bed, exhaling noisily.
"Ryuichi...how much longer do you think this could hold out? I mean.this?" he asked, gesturing his hand out to any random point in the room. "You need to have some form of contact with the outside world!"
Ryuichi's back turned to Suguru. "If I hadn't been so careless...Tohma would still be here. He wouldn't have killed himself!"
Suguru stood and placed his hand tenderly on the sobbing boy's shoulder.
"Ryuichi...if it makes the situation any better...Tohma didn't kill himself."
Ryuichi spun to him with wide eyes.
"Mika-san called me this morning...we think he was." Suguru hung his head, "....murdered."
Ryuichi jumped back like he was being shot at.
"I think she's right! Tohma...he had too many things going for him! He was happy right until the end! Mika-san said she had evidence, but the evidence is gone. I believe her though. He's my cousin and closest
living relative...he would have talked to me, or Mika-san at least."
Suddenly, the whole world got smaller and smaller as Suguru felt his chest tighten. White lights flashed passed his eyes as his eyeballs felt as if they were being pushed on. It got to the point where to forced him to his knees and sharp gasps escaped his lips. The very last thing he had thought he heard before his world drew a blank was Ryuichi screaming his name.