Chapter 4: Lost and Found

Shuichi could not look at Miraku, despite the smile that Miraku had throughout the whole time, Shuichi only felt more goosebumps. And it seemed that it wasn't only Shuichi who knew the feeling...

"Cut cut!!" Miraku commanded, though his voice still had that calm ring to it.

"Shuichi, it seems that you are a little uptight, is there anything wrong?" He smiled, sounding very concerned of Shuichi's dilemma.

"N-no, nothing... it's just that... uhm... let's have one more take?" Shuichi shook his head as he tried to convince himself what Sakano had told him before the start of the shooting...

"Do your best!" he recalled Sakano's cheer just before Miraku walked in.

"Yosh!" Shuichi closed his eyes then gave out a determined look. He noticed how Miraku's smile grew wider. Holding back the eerie feeling he felt as he saw Miraku again, then he nodded. (okay! / all right!)

"Okay Shuichi-kun," Miraku nodded back and brushed back his hair, "let's take it from the scene where you're walking through the Sakura trees, alright? Wait for my signal, and reach towards that camera." Miraku pointed at the camera suspended just above Shuichi.

Shuichi nodded, "I got it... okay, uhm..."

"And one more thing, Shuichi-kun," Miraku gave out a serious look that made Shuichi gulp, "since it seems that you are having a hard time at that scene.. I suggest that you try to imagine that you're reaching out for something that's very dear to you... Imagine that it is being taken away from you and your life depends on being able to retrieve it. I trust that you can imagine things pretty well, am I right? Alright then, let us start?"

Miraku looked at Shuichi, waiting for him to confirm if he had understood every word of the advice he gave. Shuichi thought for a moment... "Something very dear to me..." and then nodded.

"Alright, Sakura Scene, take 8!" Miraku proclaimed.

A loud click and the spotlights were on. Shuichi blinked for a moment and slowly started to walk around the stage, imagining that he was walking through the park... He tried to concentrate, but flashbacks suddenly filled his mind.

"Ah, my bad!" Shuichi dropped the paper containing the lyrics of his new song. He ran and suddenly came to a stop as a stranger picked up the piece of paper and read through it...

"I'll never forget those cold eyes..." Shuichi thought to himself as he continued to act and wait for Miraku's signal.

"You've got zero talent..." the stranger said bluntly, then tossed the paper. He turned around the walked away, not minding how much damage his words had caused Shuichi..."

"What were the chances that we would meet like that?" Shuichi continued to think, thoughts filling his head so fast. "What were the chances that we would stay together?"

"You liar..." Shuichi thought to himself as he saw Yuki standing at the back of the room, amidst the crowd... he said he wouldn't come...

"Does he even miss me as much as I do?" Shuichi looked up, and it seemed that instead of seeing the cameras and lights, he saw Yuki's face smiling back at him.

"Yuki!" Shuichi gasped, then reach out towards the vision and forgot everything. All he knew was that he saw Yuki again, and he wanted to reach out to him... then the lights slowly faded, and the vision was starting to vanish slowly. Shuichi, wide-eyed, reached out and chased the vision; trying to reach it like a child reaching for the moon... he knew he could reach it, if only it stayed a bit longer...

"YUKIIIIIIIIII!!!" Shuichi screamed as he reached out towards the vision, as the lights shut off and the vision disappeared totally. All darkness... pure silence... Shuichi felt completely blank.

"Bravo!!!" Someone screamed, and Shuichi realized that he was still in the studio. Miraku stood up and applauded, and the crew followed. "Maybe a little off, but I'm sure we can edit that scream part... Your timing was perfect!"

"It was?" Shuichi smiled, surprised that he had still followed Miraku's signal; he thought they would need to have another take. He sighed with relief.

"You have a natural talent for this, Shuichi kun," Miraku smiled and patted Shuichi on the back. Shuichi had not noticed that Miraku actually placed his arm on Shuichi's shoulder while congratulating him at the same time- he was just overwhelmed that they were finally done with the sequence.

"Shuichi!" a familiar voice called from behind.

Shuichi saw Hiro, whose eyebrow was raised. He noticed Hiro glancing at Shuichi's shoulder. Only then did Shuichi realize Miraku's arm-- and the goosebumps acted up again.

"So, how did it go?" Hiro asked Shuichi, his with a slight sound of annoyance, and glancing occasionally at Miraku's arm.

"P-pretty good..." Shuichi nodded.

Miraku slid off his arm. Hiro noticed the sly smile on his face, as if Miraku had just outwitted the smartest man in the world.

"We had to take it about 8 times, but Shuichi definitely had it going when he imagined Yuki..." Miraku said the name as if it had left a bitter taste in his mouth, but tried to conceal it.

"Oh... yeah!" Hiro started to explain, "Yuki and Shuichi... Shuichi can't live without him... yup...And to think Shuichi has only been here for less than a week!" Hiro gave out a laugh, "You ought to hear him when his talking to Yuki on the phone..." Hiro paused a moment as he noticed the momentary sadness on Shuichi's face.

"Oh really..." Miraku grinned. "I hope I get to meet this Yuki of yours someday."

Shuichi gave a respectful smile, but deep inside, he hoped that he wouldn't have to bump into Miraku again after the whole advertisement was over.

"Well then, shall we call it a day?" Miraku closed his eyes as he smiled again.

"Yup, I guess so." Hiro answered for Shuichi, "We might even finish thing whole thing much faster than we had expected." Hiro gave out a smile, shook Miraku's hand and walked out the studio with Shuichi.

The crew started packing up the equipment, as Miraku stood and just stared at the door of the studio... he gave out a sly smile and muttered something only audible for himself...

"On the contrary... we may have to finish a little off schedule..." And with that, he walked towards the crew and continued to direct them.

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"You looked like you two were having a great time back there." Hiro said sarcastically without looking at Shuichi.

Shuichi pouted, "I didn't know he was even beside me until you came in!"

"Oh... so you lost track of time... then you must have had a REALLY good time..."

"Hiro!!! You know I can't even look at him!" Shuichi screamed in defense. "I actually screamed out Yuki's name..."

Hiro raised a brow and stared at Shuichi as they continued to walk, "Excuse me???"

Shuichi looked back at Hiro, and suddenly realized how Hiro misunderstood his statement, "NOOOO!!! What the heck are you thinking?!?"

"What!? I didn't say anything! You're the one who's screaming his lover's name while another guy's completely taking advantage of the moment!!!"

Shuichi rubbed his arms, trying to soothe the goosebumps again. "Stop it Hiro! I just over-did the advice he gave me. He told me to imagine, so I did try to imagine something good..."

"Something good??? Imagine?!" Hiro's eyebrows raised again, different thoughts were filing his mind even faster than he could finish his statement.

"Yeah, he told me that I should try and reaching out and imagine that I was reaching out for something good... or at least something that meant something to me..."

There was a moment of silence...

"OHHHHH!!!" Hiro slapped his hand on his forehead, "So that was why you called out Yuki's- - ahhh!!! I get it now... Shuichi!!! Next time try making your sentences more complete..." Hiro's eyebrows met.

"I was!!! Wait a second... WHAT DID YOU THINK---"Shuichi gasped, "HOW COULD YOU!!!"

"Hey, hey, it wasn't my fault..." Hiro sighed, "What's say we just drop this conversation?"

Shuichi nodded wearily...

"Oh, there you are!" K greeted them. What took you so long?

"This studio isn't that small, K kun..." Hiro answered.

"Oh, oh, you're right, Ohohohohoooooo!!! Lucky I found you two. The others are outside, we'd better get back to the hotel. We still have to sort the groceries and discuss the whole commercial..."

"Alright... Shuichi?" Hiro agreed as he looked back at the weary Shuichi.

"okay..." Shuichi nodded.

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Yuki removed his glasses for a moment. He rubbed his eyes and gazed across the room. He started to feel the radiation from the monitor, after all, he had been typing for 5 hours already.

Yuki stood up and decided to eat first. He was already at chapter 15 of his latest novel, and he had reviewed his list of ideas on his notepad. But he could not help but feel distracted almost after every paragraph. He tried to dismiss it as writer's block, although he it only seemed that he was only fooling himself.

Yuki walked to the kitchen and noticed the Kumagoro-imitation stuffed toy on the table. No doubt, it was Shuichi's. He smiled. The thought of Shuichi taking self-defense-using-a-stuffed-toy lessons from his idol, Ryuichi seemed funnier every time.

He walked to the fridge and pulled out a can of beer- his other source of inspiration aside from the cigarettes and -yes- Shuichi. Walking back to his empty living room, he decided to sit down a moment and watch TV. He hoped that there was at least one show that would interest him.

Apparently, Yuki didn't find noontime soap operas interesting at all. With an aggravated sigh, he switched off the TV and decided to just blank out until he found the idea that would get him working on his novel again. For a moment, he was starting to get interesting ideas from his brainstorming...

The main character- a news reporter who is also an undercover agent for a secret society- unexpectedly bumps into his old friend and discovers that he had been the source of all the coincidences taking place for the past week. He discovers that it turns out that his friend had actually been his brother, whom he had been separated from at birth, and had now returned to tell him the news. It

turned out that a notorious gang had been after him for the undercover story he had been working on. But as his "friend" was about to reveal to him the true identity of the mafia head he had been investigating about, he is shot from behind by one of the mafia's gangmen. The main character finds out that his brother had been working for them the whole time just to gain information about his brother and to keep him safe...

Yuki rubbed his eyes, "How cliché," he spat, "If I keep this up, even Shuichi would not pick up any of my books... not that he reads any of my novels anyway..." Yuki blinked slowly, and meditated on the reason for his distraction.

"I wonder if the little runt is alright..." He talked to himself, then drifted further into his pensive mood.

Yuki was bothered by the calls, the incident. He had no idea why they were always cut short. He dismissed it as a fault in Shuichi's cellphone... after all, he always had a problem with that cellphone of his. But Yuki felt that there was something wrong, and try as he could, the feeling that something was wrong was stuck in his gut. He knew he had to do something about it... but he felt so helpless at the moment.

Yuki diverted his gaze to the stuffed toy that rested on the table. He stared at it for a moment, then suddenly stood up and headed for his room. He grabbed his coat, the car keys, and with a slam of the door, left the apartment.

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The car drove with monster speed, and came to a full stop right in front of the studio where Shuichi worked. Yuki looked up at the building, staring at it as if it held the answer to all the questions in his mind. Turning the engine off, he stepped down from the car and walked casually into the building.

Yuki walked confidently through the hallways, not minding the numerous staff and visitors who eyed at him. And although he seemed like he did not have a single care in the world, he felt his nerves shaking uncontrollably.

"I hope... he has the answer..." Yuki thought to himself as he pinned an unlighted cigarette between his shaky lips and inhaled deeply. It soothed him for a moment.

Yuki walked down the hall, and finally, came to a stop in front of a glass panel. It was no doubt that he knew who was recording his song inside the room. The final beat finally came, and the singer was back to his childish enthusiasm- completely different from the serious person during the recording session. Suddenly, the singer paused and looked straight back at Yuki, and waved.

Yuki raised his hand, trying to feel as calm as he could. The singer hurriedly rushed out of the room to greet him.

"Hey Yuki!!!" He cheered.

"Sakuma..." Yuki answered monotonously.

"What is Eiri-kun doing here? Shuichi san isn't here! Right, Kumagoro?" He motioned his stuffed toy, making it nod in approval.

"I wanted to talk to you... Is it all right?" Yuki said frankly, making Ryuichi look at him in question for a moment.

"Hmmmm..." Ryuichi looked back into the recording studio, where Noriko and Tohma were discussing. They paused and looked at Ryu and waved. "Actually," Ryuichi smiled back at Yuki, "we were supposed to finish the album today, but it seems okay for Tohma san and Noriko chan! Besides, any friend of Shuichi san's is my friend too!" Ryu smiled widely.

Yuki silently sighed in relief then returned to his serious expression, "Thank you..." he said softly, and the two walked out of the room.

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"The call was cut??" Ryuichi raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side as he chewed on the sandwich.

"Yes. Does that often happen? I mean, I'm sure Shuichi calls you up too." Yuki answered.

"Actually..." Ryu rested his pointer finger on his lips and looked to the ceiling, "I have tried to call Shuichi but his phone is always busy. And one time I actually got to reach him but he never answered the phone so I left a message... but Shuichi never called me back... come to think of it..." Ryuichi scratched his head with Kumagoro's paw, "Shuichi always answers my messages."

"Really..." Yuki replied as he stared into the far distance.

"But don't worry, Yuki kun, maybe Shuichi san is really busy, that's all. Being worried sick about him is not good for you! Shuichi san wouldn't want that. Right, Kumagoro?" Ryu motioned Kumagoro's hand, making him wave.

"Hmmm... maybe..." Yuki answered respectfully, as he continued to look through the glass of the coffee shop.

"Sakuma..." Yuki suddenly interrupted the awkward silence.

"Mmm?" Ryuichi looked at him with curiosity.

"Do you believe that dreams actually mean something?"

"Mmm??" Ryuichi widened his eyes, then after a brief moment, started to giggle, "Yuki san... it seems Shuichi has been far from you for too long!" He smiled, eyes closed, "But... seriously speaking..." Ryu looked away, paused a moment, and his expression suddenly turned serious. His eyes turned sharp, and the bright smile he wore had been replaced by an emotionless expression. He looked back at Yuki, who was also caught by surprise with the sudden transition.

"Dreams are powerful...to some, they may seem to be nothing more than a break from reality... but looking at them closely, you'd realize that the symbolisms they present are very true to the feelings you keep locked within you... They are the pandora's box of every mind, exposing the thoughts and feelings that reside in the deepest, darkest recesses of their soul. And yes, they definitely mean a lot of things to me..."

Yuki almost dropped the cigarette in his mouth. He felt as if the person in front of him was possessed.

Suddenly, Ryuichi smiled his childish smile and let Kumagoro wave at Yuki again, "And so... dreams should definitely be given a second thought, especially if you remember them clearly, hehe! You never know what they're trying to say... or is it..." Ryu scratched his head, "You never know what they mean... uh... what they mean, you'll never know..." He paused, then smiled widely, "You get the idea, right Yuki san???"

"Y-yeah..." Yuki blinked, deeply inhaled on his cigarette, then let out a long stream of smoke, "Thanks Sakuma..."

"Anytime!" Ryu smiled as he munched on his sandwich again.

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Shuichi stared out the window of the car. Again, he felt distressed by what had happened earlier. He wanted to take a shower the moment they got back to the hotel.

K continued to hum to himself, keeping himself unusually happy for the whole trip. Obviously, traffic was a lot lighter than it had been when they were on their way to the studio.

Hiro noticed Shuichi's silence, and nudged him. "Hey, you okay?" He calmly asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay... hehe." Shuichi smiled back at his friend.

"Don't worry about it... I made it on time, didn't I?" Hiro smiled back slyly with his catty smile.

"Yeah... good thing you did... I can't imagine what would have happened if you didn't come to check up on me!" Shuichi shivered and grimaced.

"Maybe he would have placed his arm around your waist without you knowing it... and then maybe..."

"STOPPPP ITTTT!!!!" Shuichi covered his friend's taunting mouth. "I don't want to have nightmares!"

"Hehehe, just kidding, Shuichi! Oh hey, what's say I treat you to some hot chocolate?" He raised an eyebrow and smiled at his friend whose eyes suddenly lit up.

"Only Shuichi??? What about us??" K interrupted as he looked at HIro with the help of the rear view mirror.

"Hahah! Sure, sure, we deserve it!" Hiro smiled widely as everyone cheered.

K slowly parked just in front of the first coffee shop he saw. They all got down, not forgetting to wear their extra-dark shades.

Shuichi was last in line. He kept looking around, just as any tourist would. And he noticed a convenience store right beside the coffee shop... and the whole rack of Pocky- in every different flavor- through the shop's window.

Shuichi squealed in excitement. "Hiro!!!" he tugged at his friend's sleeve, "Could I pleaaaaseeeee buy pocky??? I'll follow you guys... promise!!!" He let out his puppy-dog-eyes bit, and Hiro -though he tried not to- instantly fell for it.

"Sure, sure, I'll order for you. I can't believe how you finished those three packs of Pocky K bought for you today!" Hiro looked at him in disbelief.

"Heheheeee.. I was depressed!" Shuichi chirped, "Well then, I'll se ya guys!!!" Then he skipped to the convenience store right next to the café.

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Shuichi drooled at the whole line-up of Pocky, all in different flavors.

"Strawberry, chocolate, orange chocolate, almond..." he mumbled as he looked at each pack and took one of each flavor.

Finally, Shuichi walked up to the counter and placed the basket, surprising the drowsy saleslady with the mountain of Pocky.

"Good m—I mean, Good afternoon, sir!" She greeted as she breathed in deeply then started to run the boxes through the machine at break-neck speed.

Shuichi was amazed at the sight.

"Hey mister," Shuichi felt a tug on his shirt. He looked down and saw a kid- looked like he was around 13 years old- who eyed at him suspiciously.

"You look familiar... are you a movie star??" He asked curiously.

Shuichi shook, looked hastily around to see if there was anyone else there- fortunately, nobody was there but the three of them- and shook his head nervously, "N-no!! where'd you get that idea? He-hehehe—hehe..." He mechanically chuckled, then gulped. "I hope he believes me.. I don't want another beating!" Shuichi thought to himself as he looked at the child.

"Oh... alright... maybe just my imagination." The kid answered then walked out of the store. Shuichi finally exhaled, feeling his pulse going back to normal once more.

"Okay... that'll be..." the saleslady woke Shuichi up and told him the enormous amount he was about to pay. Shuichi simply smiled.

"Anything for the love of Pocky!" he hummed, as he reached for his wallet...

The saleslady watched Shuichi as he patted his pocket, then started to hasten in his search for his wallet.

"Well?" she asked irritably.

"U-uh, one moment please..." Shuichi answered. He went through the pockets again, then finally realized...

"I'VE BEEN ROBBED!!!!!!!"

Shuichi held his head in despair, running around in circles and screaming as if it was the end of the world. He looked at the mountain of Pocky he was about to purchase, when suddenly the image of the child earlier came into his mind.

"T-the Kid!!!" He screamed as he turned around to face the door, then looked back desperately at the saleslady.

The saleslady raised a brow and answered, "Lemme guess..." she pointed to her head and looked at Shuichi in a as-a-matter-of-fact-ly manner. "You look like a movie star?"

Shuichi nodded, his wide eyes spilling out buckets of tears.

"That kid... good luck in finding him again, I hear he roams around every shop... and no one even notices!" the saleslady shook her head in disapproval.

Shuichi sulked, then thought that maybe Hiro would lend him that big an amount of money. He shook his head. But then, Shuichi realized something...

"The lyrics!!!" He shouted at the saleslady, who was taken aback and didn't understand what Shuichi was talking about.

"The lyrics are in that wallet!!! OH NOOOOO!!!" Shuichi was talking about the piece of paper that seemed to have led him to that fateful event that he met Yuki... and it definitely meant more to him than a mountain of Pocky!

"Wait here!!!" Shuichi commanded the saleslady- who was still shocked and stumped by what Shuichi was talking about- and dashed out of the shop, and ran down the street.

A cloud of dust went by the coffee shop. K looked out the window, blinking at the trail of dust... it seemed all to familiar, although he had no idea where he had seen that before. He shook his head then called Hiro who was standing at the counter to order.

"Hey Hiro, extra marshmallows for me, okay??" He smiled widely as Hiro replied with a thumbs-up.

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Meanwhile, Shuichi was dashing down the street, tracking down the kid who had taken his wallet.

" Movie star! Hmph!!! When I get my hands on that kid.." Shuichi muttered furiously as he gained more speed.

Shuichi was about to turn a corner when he suddenly saw a streak of brown, then amethyst-colored eyes, then a startled face that screamed. But before Shuichi could brake...

KABLAMMMMM!!!

"Ow... Ow..." Shuichi winced as he rubbed his head then realized that he had bumped into someone. He saw the sunglasses he was wearing, now shattered on the pavement. He realized how careless he had been, and immediately stood up.

"I'm so sorry!!! So very sorry!!!" He chanted as the brown-haired man patted his cheek.

"I-it's all right... I'm fine..." He stood up then patted his dark-colored clothes. "Are you all right??" He smiled, and unexplainably calmed Shuichi's raging emotion for a minute.

"Y-yeah, nothing serious! Hehe!! I'm so sorry!!!" Shuichi realized that he was still in pursuit of the child, "Hey!!! Uhm, did you happen to see a kid pass this way???" Shuichi gave a few details on how the kid looked like.

"Oh! Hehe, yeah, he went that way," the man pointed down the street, and before he could say anything more, Shuichi flooded him with thank you's and ran in a flash.

"Hehe... funny kid..." The man chuckled as he watched the trail of dust down the street.

"Tsuzuki!!!" a voice called out, and a young boy with blonde hair ran towards him.

"Oh, hey Hisoka!" Tsuzuki smiled, "What's up?"

"What do you mean, 'what's up'?!" He yelled back, "How could you just run like that?! I had no idea where you went!"

"Oops," he smiled sheepishly, "I just thought I felt something, so I decided to follow it..."

Hisoka raised a brow, "Well, did you find anything?" He asked in a irate tone.

"Well... I bumped into someone... and I guess I lost track of it... ehe..." Tsuzuki smiled sheepishly again.

"Great..." Hisoka answered sarcastically as he folded his arms across his chest and looked away. The silence made Tsuzuki nervous for a moment.

"Do you even know how this Shindou Shuichi looks like?" Hisoka replied, gazing right into Tsuzuki's eyes, as if he were commanding him to say everything he possibly could.

"Well... chief told me that he was famous so... I thought..."

"Great... You don't have the slightest idea..." Hisoka was turning red with fury, but looked away and kept the rage bottled up.

"H-hey!!" Tsuzuki raised his hands in defense, "we don't exactly have TV's or Radio's over at Meifu, ya know."

"Whatever, let's just keep searching. Muraki's up to something, even as we speak! I'd hate to think what would happen to that singer..." Hisoka's voice trailed off.

"Hey, hey, Hisoka..." Tsuzuki patted Hisoka and smiled as they started to walk, "Think positive! At least we know that Muraki's using an alias... and it's nothing very creative either..."

"Miraku..." Hisoka sneered then chuckled, and they continued to walk down the road.

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Shuichi dragged his feet. He had used up all his stamina, and the kid was still nowhere in sight. He sat down by the sidewalk and rested his head with the palms of his hands.

"Yuki..." Shuichi said softly as he thought of the lyrics that was kept in the "secret compartment" of his wallet. Obviously, the kid would find that compartment in no time. Shuichi felt helpless, as if a part of him had been taken away from him. He was like a child whose toy was confiscated. And to him, those lyrics seemed to be the only connection and reminder of Yuki that he had left, since he barely got to talk to him anymore after the phone incident. Shuichi buried his head, curling up as he sat on the sidewalk, and started to cry- sniffles and silent sobs that he hoped would not catch as much attention.

Shuichi felt a bit of relief in that moment of sobbing; he was finally alone. And although he had just lost something very important to him, he felt a bit of hope within himself. He tried to comfort himself by telling him that the person who gave those lyrics their sentimental value was still waiting for him back at home.

"What's wrong?" Shuichi heard a soft voice ask, and he found himself drawn to look at who it was.

Shuichi looked up at a blonde-haired man with spiky hair. He had gentle, brown eyes that soothed Shuichi's soul. His warm smile comforted Shuichi even without the need for words. Shuichi could only gaze at him with his wide, tear-stricken eyes.

"Oy, Ginji!" Another voice called out, and Shuichi looked toward the source. It was a man with brown hair, a complete opposite of the first man. He looked confident and somewhat arrogant. But what drew Shuichi the most were his sapphire-blue eyes. Shuichi had -for a moment- forgotten why he had been crying.

"What is it Ban chan?" Ginji answered cheerfully. It reminded Shuichi of Ryuichi.

Ban looked at Shuichi, and then at Ginji with a "not-again!" look, then he sighed and replied, "What's the problem?"

"Oh, hehe! That's what I was about to ask!" Ginji then looked back at Shuichi.

It had suddenly dawned on Shuichi that this had not been the first time that he had seen them. He recalled the two people who seemed to be fighting over something on the sidewalk... (recall chapter 2 ;)

"I-I..." Shuichi stuttered, it seemed like a comical coincidence. He wanted to laugh at the irony, it was just too much!

"Hi, I'm Amano Ginji, and that's my friend, Mido Ban..." Ginji smiled as he held out his hand, took Shuichi's hand then carefully pulled him up.

"I'm..." Shuichi paused for a moment, then thought that they didn't look like they would be interested in an autograph, "Shindou...Shuichi..." He paused to see their reaction.

"Oh! Really? That's great!" Ginji smiled.

"Wait a sec!" Mido interrupted then walked towards the two, "You're the singer, right???" He asked with a raised brow.

"Uhm... yes..." Shuichi waited for a violent reaction.

"Oh! What a coincidence!" Mido simply grinned, "If I may ask... what's a singer like you doing moping on the sidewalk?"

Shuichi gulped a moment, "I lost my wallet... I was robbed by a kid."

Mido sympathized with a whistle, "All your money, huh?"

"Yeah... but..." Shuichi bowed his head.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Ginij asked with concern.

"Inside was something that was really important to me... my song lyrics, actually. And now, I've lost it..." he sniffed.

Ginji glanced at Ban. Ban gave him a "please-don't-look-at-me-like-that" look and sighed again.

"We can help you!" Ginji cheered.

"Huh? But that kid must be on a train by now... I dunno... Maybe I should just give up... But thanks for the offer anyway." Shuichi tried to smile.

"Heh... you have no idea who you're talking to, "Mido grinned, and Shuichi looked up at him, wondering what he could possibly mean, "We are the GETBACKERS!!! We can get back anything! Success rate, 99!"

Ginji nodded in approval.

"Getbackers?" Shuichi repeated, as if he couldn't believe the name.

"Yup! We'll get your wallet back... or die!" Ginji smiled.

"Die... uhuh..." Ban hesitated, but then decided to agree with Ginji.

"99 success?!" Shuichi suddenly realized what a big number that was, "You'll help me find my wallet?!?" his eyes lit up.

"Definitely!" Ginji smiled back.

"But..." Mido interrupted.

"But what?"

"I hope you'd consider it a fair bargain if you'd help us find a place to rest or at least give us a meal." Mido smiled.

"Ehe... actually, we spent all our money too, and we can't get back to our friends who left ahead of us..." Ginji smiled shyly.

"I can't believe Heavn took our wallets..." Ban mumbled.

"Hey hey, we're not sure if it was heavn chan.."

"Don't try to defend her, she was the only one who held all our stuff!"

Shuichi watched as the two exchanged opinions, which gave him enough time to decide.

"Sure! I'll help you guys out!" Shuichi smiled.

The two pause in the midst of their argument then stared at Shuichi. Their faces lit up with joy and they extended their hands for a handshake.

"DEAL!!!" They chorused as Shuichi shook their hands.

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"I wonder where Shuichi is..." Hiro thought loudly as he held the barely-consumed hot chocolate in his hands, "He wasn't in the convenience store next door."

"Don't worry. He'll be all right... Though I think it would have helped if he brought his phone..." K answered as he held Shuichi's cellphone and took a sip from his mug.

Hiro sighed as the others tried not to worry by taking sips from their hot chocolate, and often glancing at the untouched hot chocolate with extra marshmallows on the table...

Author's note: Whew! It's been eons since I've updated! But I hope this chapter has finally cleared things up. :D Yes, Miraku IS Muraki... and the two other series included in this crossover is Yami no Matsuei and Getbackers! Whew, I had no idea how to piece the two together but now, I finally did! Thank goodness. Don't worry, I'll work on the next chap ASAP! This story is really starting to interest me, and your comments are one of the things that I really look forward to! Well then, till this chap for now, and thanks for those who commented and read the last chapters! :D :D :D gives everyone kumagoro cookies