"Hiro...?" Suguru whispered, not believing what he was hearing. His own sudden infatuation was involved with the murder of his cousin! Tears nearly welled up in his eyes as just the thought alone.

"No...it's not true!" Hiro protested, meeting the stare of each of the six detectives that surrounded him to be sure he wouldn't flee from the scene. Finally, his eyes stopped on Suguru with panic. "Suguru, I wouldn't have done it! You know that! I'm not that type of person! You guys have no proof! Show me proof that I'm an accomplice!"

The detective hovering over him pulled out a handheld tape recorder and pressed the play button as if he was preparing to do this from the start. The voice recognized immediately on the tape was Tachi Aizawa's.

//"So you're turning yourself in for the murder of Seguchi Tohma ... Aizawa- san?"

"I do apologize," came Aizawa's recorded voice, sounding as clear as day. "My accomplice and I...we were having a bit too much to drink that night and Seguchi-san had given us a problem that same day..."

"You say you had an accomplice...?"

"That's true. Hiroshi Nakano. He supplied all the weapons used, even the gun that was tightly clenched into Mr. Seguchi's hand after he was shot in the heart and fallen to the lower platform. I'm turning myself in, because I have nothing to hide. I faced Mr. Seguchi first and threatened to kill him, but when I couldn't do it, Hiroshi knocked me out of the way after calling me fowl names and relished Mr. Seguchi begging for his life. He didn't hesitate to pull the trigger afterwards, sending Mr. Seguchi flying over the railing and screaming until he hit the bottom. Afterwards, he walked down and with such perfection and slipped the gun in his hand, making it look like an accident. It wasn't. I was there. I assure you, I had very little to do with the scene, but it was my idea. I do apologize. It was one huge mistake. I know that doesn't make up for all the hearts that are saddened by the loss and I'm willing to accept any punishment necessary and I hope the same is done to Hiroshi..."//

The detective stopped the tape and shoved it back into his back pocket. Hiro was nearly crying.

"Hiro...you..."

Suguru's lament alerted him.

"He's lying! Do you think I would have done that, Suguru?! Tachi's setting me up! I didn't do anything!"

"Then if you have nothing to hide, kindly come with us."

Hiro didn't move. He wanted to stay with Suguru, even if Suguru did think he was guilty. To his utter shock, he looked over just in time to see a female member of the squad talk quietly into Suguru's ear. He had no idea what she had said, but it had gotten Suguru to his feet and walking away slowly.

"Suguru!" Hiro yelled. "How could you believe this?! You know what type of person Tachi is!"

"Alright, that's enough," the detective with the evidence had said and slapped cuffs onto Hiro's wrists tightly. Suguru didn't seem to care the slightest as Hiro still called out after him, all the way up until he was thrown into the back of the cruiser and off to the same destination.

____________________

"You're the Bad Luck guitarist, aren't you? Thought I recognized you from somewhere," the detective in the passenger side had said as they drove off at proper speed to the nearest police station. Hiro had no idea what was going to be in store for him. If this got out, his reputation, and the rest of the band, was shot. He had wondered if Shuichi was down at the station too. He would stick up for him, without a doubt.

"Why would you want to murder someone? It just doesn't make any sense."

Hiro hung his head low. "Because I didn't murder anyone," he said in a little voice. "I wouldn't. Tohma was the president of the studio and a dear friend to us all. If Tachi had any accomplices, it wasn't me."

Hiro had said this from the bottom of his heart. He foresaw now, himself in a cell the rest of his life, Shuichi and Suguru turning their backs on him, never wanting anything more to do with him...all because they believed a lowlife like Aizawa Tachi rather than the words from their friend and colleague.

Shuichi's not like that, I'm sure of it. We've argued in the past, but that doesn't mean he'd disband our friendship! I refuse to believe such a thing.

"Hmm...well we'll see what your friends have to say when we get there."

When they had gotten there, it was no surprise to Hiro that the media was already on it. The second he was pulled out of the car, a dozen cameras at once shot pictures of him staring at the ground helpless to voice any more opinions.

"Mr. Nakano, is it true that you're behind the murder of Seguchi Tohma?" a female reporter asked, running up to him while the pictures were still being taken.

This can't be happening, Hiro thought. Tears formed in his eyes. I'm not here right now. Please, oh gods please, wake me up. Tell me this is just one huge sick joke and I can wake up at any point. I would never do this. Shuichi...Suguru...you mustn't believe it either. Please...no.

Hiro never looked up once until he was inside the station and the door shut behind him. He was taken to a white room with no windows and a table with a single chair in the middle. The detective ordered him to sit and wait until further notice. They left, locking the door behind him. It could take minutes, maybe hours until someone came back to question him. He knew what was coming next and it worried him greatly. He was innocent! That was that!

He lowered his head again and let out a single sob and a shuddering gasp, allowing a lonely tear to slide quickly down his cheek. This was it...the part where he would never see the outdoors again and wear grimy, dusty clothes and have to work forcefully without good food or hygiene. All because of a jerk like Aizawa who, for some reason, had a grudge against him. He could voice the fact that he didn't commit the crime over and over again and have a perfect alibi, but the justice system didn't work like that around here, especially to teens. As long as they saw people behind bars, they were happy.

His head snapped up when the door had been open. Two detectives had entered the room, tightening Hiro's stomach.

"Recognize these?" the detective that drove him here asked, tossing down various Ziploc plastic bags, each one of them having a weapon of some kind in them. Hiro answered truthfully that he had never seen them before.

"That's funny, because we found them in your apartment, scattered all around the place just now."

Hiro was over outraged. "What right did you have searching through my apartment?!"

He had exposed a warrant. "So you admit these weapons are yours?"

"No!" Hiro cried, standing up so fast that the chair was knocked over. "Someone's setting me up! Goddamn it when I tell you they aren't mine, they aren't mine! Knowing Aizawa, he waited until I left to plant those, framing me!"

The detective in the corner exposed his gun as a warning for Hiro to calm down.

"There's no reason to fight...your fingerprints are all over them. If you come quietly, there won't be any cause for concern."

"How do you know what my fingerprints are? Tell me, I would like to know!" Hiro said straight away after he had finished his sentence.

He was immediately blown off and told his rights without a fair shot. He was as good as dead.

Next chapter: The Inquiry. Everyone gets together and forms a pack against Hiro's word, leaving the guitarist going solo.