The only things I own are the bodyguard, the detective, the psycho and the poem below. Yes, not only do I intend to torment you with lousy writing. I want to add in crappy poetry as well. evilgrin

Big wave to all my reviewers, thanks! I have to laugh at the people asking me about who the stalker is. Like I'm gonna' let you know, HA HA! You guys are great! If you want to know you're just going to have to suffer through my horrible writing. Sorry!

The words gonna', kinda', are not misspelled I added them in for my own enjoyment. I do know they are not real words.

In the darkness the monsters creep.
There is nowhere you can hide,
because they're not from someplace else,
but from somewhere deep inside.
It's the shadows of the human soul,
from where the monsters rise.

The next few days were hectic. The amount of stuff that needed to be ready for the concert tour had everybody in state of chaos. Shuichi was spending long hours practicing with the band. Every night he came home totally exhausted. Recording an album was one thing, but working up and rehearsing a routine for the stage was another matter.

Shuichi was also having a rough time adjusting to being guarded. As much as the singer loved attention, this was really too much. He wasn't a piece of china for crying out loud! He started to cringe every time he heard the word "safe". Every time he heard it uttered, he felt like lashing out at somebody. He really didn't want to be safe anymore.

Even with his schedule as bad as it was, Shuichi had started spending long hours working out at the gym. Yuki figured it was an attempt to blow off some of the frustration of feeling like a caged animal. It wasn't long before Shuichi started to get toned but his small frame wouldn't support much real muscle. Yuki had also started to notice other changes in his little lover. When Shuichi pounced Yuki he could feel he was a lot stronger and he was getting a lot harder to pin down during sex, which Yuki kinda' enjoyed. But Yuki noticed other things too, a small bruise here or a scratch there. In the middle of sex he would accidentally find a tender spot. When asked about it Shuichi would always brush it off or have some weird explanation.

Then there was the Chris thing. The two men had been a bit too chummy for Yuki's taste. They had hit it off all right. They actually had a lot in common. They were both idiots. Everybody got the short end of Shuichi's fuse accept for Chris. The two of them were hiding something, and Yuki resented the fact he wasn't in on their little secret. Yuki was willing to let this slide until one day.

It was one particular Wednesday that dawned miserably. The sky was a sheet of light gray and the rain was misty. It clung to everything dampening the ground, the windows, and Yuki's thoughts. He was still thinking about Chris's relationship with his baka. He decided he was going to have a talk with the bodyguard tonight when they got back from work.

That evening Hiro called looking for Shuichi.

"Hi, Yuki I need to talk to Shuichi."

"He isn't here Hiro, I thought he was with you."

"He's not? He left here two hours ago. I'll try his cell." Yuki cringed as he wondered if his fears were grounded after all.

"No Hiro. I'll call him. I'll have him call you as soon as he can."

"OK, Thanks Yuki."

With that Yuki dialed Shuichi's cell phone. Shuichi picked up, "Hello?" he panted. The singer was completely out of breath.

"Shu-chan, Hiro is looking for you. Where are you?" Yuki tired his best to sound nonjudgmental.

"I'm at the gym with Chris." Yuki winced. He knew the bodyguard had to be there at all times but that didn't mean Yuki had to like it.

"If you are at the gym then why do I hear cars going by like you're outside and why are you so out of breath?"

"Geeze Yuki, I'm just heading home now. What's with the 20 questions?"

"Brat, I just wanted to make sure you were safe."

"Yes, I'm safe" He snapped, but he immediately felt bad and softened his tone, "Yuki, I'm almost done here what do you want for dinner?"

"It doesn't matter, anything you can find on the way home will be fine." Yuki cursed himself for letting his mind run wild, but just what was it about Shuichi and Chris's behavior that just didn't feel right? Chris had hit it off well with Hiro and Suguru. He was great for a laugh and really loved to pick on Shuichi a lot. His favorite game was, eat Shuichi's food, and no matter how mad Shuichi got at him, Chris would just laugh. Shuichi's anger wasn't even real anymore. It was like no matter what Chris did, there was still acceptance, like the secret they had between them was bigger than the fights they got into. Yuki had noticed that flash in those green eyes again, a look, but was it one of love?

What if it was? Would Shuichi really fall for another man? It was bad enough he had to worry about losing Shuichi to the stalker, but to lose him to another man. No, Yuki wasn't going to let that happen. Not after all they had been through together. It hadn't started raining again until after night fell completely. Chris and Shuichi still weren't home yet. Yuki was really getting aggravated. He didn't like this one bit. Where the hell were they? He was staring out the window when he heard the door open. He turned and grumbled, "It's about time..." He stopped.

The sight that greeted him wasn't what he was expecting. Chris was there in the doorway with an unconscious Shuichi draped over his shoulder. Both of them were soaking wet and Shuichi had a nasty scrape on his upper arm.

"What happened?"

"Shh, He'll be fine. He just overexerted himself. He's ok. Just help me get him into some dry clothes." Chris dropped Shuichi into the bed and Yuki redressed him and bandaged the arm. Shuichi didn't even bother to wake up he looked so tired even wile he was sleeping. The kitten, sensing that his favorite person was home, wasted no time finding a comfortable spot on Shuichi's chest to curl up on. Yuki had just pulled the blankets over the both of them when he heard Shuichi mutter something that sounded a lot like Chris's name under is breath. 'Oh no' thought Yuki, 'that's it. I am having a talk with this guy now.'

Yuki walked into the darkened living room he could see the outline of Chris sitting on the sofa. He flicked on the light. Chris was nursing a reddening patch on his face. Yuki leaned against the wall and lit a cigarette. He stood there for a few minutes as the two men regarded each other before speaking.

Yuki gathered up what little self-control he had left and spoke first, "That's looks like it's going to be a nice black eye in the morning. Who gave you that?"

"Your little twerp."

Yuki was through beating around the bush, "I am going to have you fired if you don't tell me exactly what's going on."

Chris just sat there for a minute thinking, "He made me promise not to tell anybody." Chris sighed he seemed tired of the charade as well. "I have been training him to fight. He wanted to learn how to defend himself. He's been getting quite good at it."

"Teaching him to fight?"

"Yes, but what Shuichi doesn't know is that back in the states, I used to help out teaching a women's self defense class. Most of what I taught him came from those lessons. The rest is just a mix of marital arts and street fighting techniques." Yuki didn't know weather to laugh or get mad, but there were other matters to contend with at the moment. Still, the thought of Shuichi being a tough guy just made him want to laugh. He sort of understood Shuichi's desire to keep it secret.

"Tell me something else. How did you hook up with Brown and this investigation?"

Chris again took a wile before he answered this question. "Can I have a cigarette?"

Yuki resisted the urge to choke him and handed Chris the pack. He took one out and lit it after taking a long drag he started his story. "I met Brown wile he was investigating the last stalker murder. The American in the picture Brown showed you, that was my brother Mat. That fucking psycho killed him." Yuki stood there not moving just taking in what he was being told. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination or if Chris was actually about to lose it.

"Did I ever tell you how much Shindou reminds me of my brother? My brother was the lead singer in a band too. His band was called 'Approaching Zero'. They were just starting to get popular, before..." He paused and took another long drag on the Cigarette and continued." Mat and I loved anime so we both learned to read and speak Japanese. We were real close. Mat was an idiot too just like Shindou. Always crazy, always running in a million different directions at once."

"Does Shuichi know about all this?"

"Told him a wile ago. He got so mad when he heard what happened. I didn't think he could get that angry. I was almost sorry I told him." Chris paused to take another long drag on his cigarette. "Why do you think he didn't have me fired when I ate all his pocky?" He gave a half-hearted laugh, "Man, I hate those things."

"Then why did you eat them?"

"Because I was hungry and I knew it would piss him off." Chris said looking up at Yuki with a lazy grin.

"I'm sorry to hear about your brother."

"Yea, so am I." Chris's had started to sound so tired, "This psycho, he…he loves guys like Mat and Shindou. They're free. They throw their hearts around like the sun gives light. Guys like us we just sit around and feed off of them, soaking up the feelings we're too ashamed to spill." Chris pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to keep is composure before continuing, "After Mat was killed, Brown really tried to help the family any way he could. He was really there for us. Once we got word from the stalker that the next target was in Japan, it was almost like fate was giving me another chance at this guy, since I already knew how to speak the language. I guess Brown hired me so I would get the chance to see my brother's murderer caught, but that's not quite what I want. When I find out who the stalker is I'm gonna' kill the fucker. "

Yuki realized what he was seeing in Chris these past few weeks. It was love after all. The misplaced love for his dead brother. Yuki had moved around and sat down next to Chris. He realized the guy wasn't really a threat after all.

Chris continued, "I will not let that bastard touch Shuichi, he's going to have to kill me first."

"Me too." grunted Yuki.

The two men sat in silence, until the cigarettes ran out.

Maybe it was the exertion out in the rain, or the extra stress at work finally wearing him down, but whatever the reason was, that was the night Shuichi's nightmares started. Yuki woke up to a slight shaking in the bed. He looked at the sleeping form next to him as his lover started to twitch. Slowly it started to build as beads of sweat started glistening on Shuichi's furrowed brow. Yuki decided to wake him up, which turned out to be a harder task than he thought. "Shu, SHU, Come on Shu wake up." He shook his lover by the shoulder, but Shuichi continued to dream and now he was starting to make noises.

"Shuichi!" He sat his lover up, just as Shu let out a scream. It was not a scream of fear. It sounded more like a battle cry of sorts. Shuichi's eyes snapped open they were filled with a look of pure hate. Yuki knew that angry gleam; it was the same look he had seen in his own mirror. They were the eyes of a killer. Yuki pulled away startled, it was like he wasn't Shuichi at all. Suddenly Shuichi snapped out of it. He blinked a couple of times and his breathing started to even out. "Yuki, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Shuichi are you ok?"

"I'm fine. It was just a nightmare." He sighed as he started to lie back down. "Please don't make me talk about it."

"Brat, It was about the stalker wasn't it?"

"Yes, Yuki please lets just go back to sleep." Shuichi wined as the nuzzled Yuki's chest." I don't want to think about it anymore." Yuki put his arms around him. Hugging him tightly. He couldn't help himself from getting lost in the scent of strawberries, Shuichi's scent. As long as they were here, together nothing else mattered. "Shuichi, You know I love you, right?"

"I know, I love you too Yuki."

"Awwwww that's so sweet! I love you too Yuki" came mocking voice from the couch. Damn. Chris had heard everything that just happened.

"SHUT UP, CHRIS" two voices sounded back from the bedroom. They both heard Chris snickering on the couch.

I suffer from a bit of dyslexia, so my proof reading skills are lax at best. I really want to thank all of you who stuck with this story so far.

The next chapter is called "The Bird" it's a really disturbing chapter. The stalker is really the only one who gets to have fun in the next few chapters