Authoress a few inches to the left...there!

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START CHAPTER

"You broke into my house with a gun?"

"Yup."

"You broke into my fucking house with a gun?"

"It wasn't exactly breaking in. The window was unlocked."

Shuichi sighed and glanced down at Alira. "How many times do people around here have to scare her?"

Yuki sighed too. "At least Tatsuha hasn't stopped by for a visit."

Alira sat bolt upright as soon as she woke up. "There's a guy with a gun! Someone, call the police!" When she saw K, she became even more hysterical. "That's him! He's got a gun! Help!"

"Umm..." Shuichi seemed to be at a temporary loss for words.

"Shut up," Yuki snarled. "Since I'm up, I'm going back to work. Anyone who bothers me dies slowly and painfully." He exited the room.

Alira kept a watchful eye on the blonde American with a gun. He made her nervous, and for good reason. After all, she wasn't exactly accustomed to guys running around with guns.

"It's okay...he's kinda my agent. Alira, this is K. Don't be worried about the gun. He hasn't shot anybody yet!" Shuichi had seen how closely she was watching K, and felt the need to explain that the rather imposing man wasn't really a threat.

Alira nodded to K instead of shaking his hand. "That's reassuring."

It was very late by the time she actually went to bed, but Alira pitied Shuichi more. K had shown up to take him to the recording studio early ("This is early? You didn't even let me get any sleep!"), leaving her alone in the house with Yuki. Since he was working on his book, she decided to leave him alone for a while.

She instead went to sit on the couch before the TV to watch some mindless entertainment when a police message interrupted the program.

"We interrupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin! Teizo Montosuwa, head of Montosuwa Electronics, has just reported that his daughter is missing. Alira Montosuwa, eighteen, disappeared a few days ago and there has been no sign of her yet. She was last seen wearing a black tank top and jeans. Her hair is black and her eyes are hazel."

A picture of the still black haired Alira appeared on the screen. Her breath caught in her throat. She was a wanted girl.

"He is offering a substantial reward to anyone with information on her whereabouts. She is considered dangerous and emotionally unstable. She left her house after taking a decorative katana and a butcher knife. If you see any sign of her, keep your distance. Please call the police immediately. We will now return to the scheduled programming."

Alira turned off the television and sat in the dark. She didn't quite know what to do.

"Wanted by the police?"

Her heart sped up and she turned her head to see the speaker, who looked furious.

Yuki was standing in the doorway, his eyes fixated on her. He had been making a habit of showing up at the most inconvenient times and places lately.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to hear the cops want you."

"It's not what you think, Yuki," she began.

"Shut up. Why are they after you? Did you do something illegal?"

"Yuki-"

"Answer my fucking question. If I go to jail because of you, I'm going to make it for a good reason. A reason with a punishment of twenty-five to life. Answer me."

Alira frowned and bowed her head. "I ran away from home."

Yuki scoffed. "You're eighteen. It's not illegal."

"When you're the daughter of a powerful businessman it is. I...got into an argument with him about how my mom died. My dad was drunk, so I always blamed him for it. That was the first time that I shouted it at him, though."

"And he got pissed off?"

She nodded. "He hit me a couple times, then told me that it was my fault she was dead. I couldn't take it anymore, so I left. He wants me to go back to benefit him. There's a rival company owner with a son my age. Dad wants me to date that guy so he can be on friendlier terms with the other company."

"That, on the other hand, is pushing it a little."

"I don't have a katana or a knife. We don't even own a katana," she offered as a further defense.

With a wave of his hand, Yuki snapped, "Go to bed. It's late."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"You're a fugitive in my fucking house, so you'll do whatever the hell I want to," he snarled. "Go to bed."

She frowned at him before standing up obediently.

"Who took you to fix your hair?" Yuki asked suddenly.

Alira felt around for the light switch so she wouldn't fumble her way around in the dark. "Hiroshi Nakano."

"Don't get any ideas about him," Yuki warned, clearly still angry about K coming through a window with a gun. "He has a girlfriend already."

Finding the switch, Alira turned the light on and swept past him on her way out, not replying. As a Bad Luck fan, she already knew the romantic lives of all members. She knew about Shuichi's a bit more than the others, but that was to be expected.

Still, she couldn't help but think about Hiroshi as she drifted off to sleep that night before the police report. He was truly a great person. He barely even knew her when he took her to the store to fix her neon purple hair. He was attractive. He could play the guitar, something she had always thought of as a perk. Most of all, though, was the glaring fact that he already had a girlfriend.

Tossing that thought aside, it was time to worry about Hikaru or any of the police catching up to her. She knew that if she was found living in Yuki's house, all the people she had come to enjoy the company of could be tossed in jail.

The judges would never listen to her if she was put on trial, and the only people she had to testify on her behalf were a two rock stars and a novelist. If the jury wasn't already biased, chances are that one or two homophobic people would vote against her just for bringing a gay man to the stand.

Right then. I'll just dodge the cops for the rest of my miserable little life. That sounds like fun.

She could hear Yuki walking into his bedroom, meaning she could hear him swear when he stumbled over something. Odd. She had never thought of him as the type that would ever trip over something.

I've missed so much school, she realized abruptly, suddenly overcome by a wave of dread. What if I don't graduate?

She was so concerned she didn't even notice she had started talking out loud. "What if I never go to college? I'll be stuck making fast food for the rest of my life, living on the streets. I don't have a future anymore because of all this. I'll go to jail. I'm never going to get married. For that matter, I'll never get a boyfriend either."

In his room, Yuki had just gotten comfortable when he heard Alira talking to herself. He squeezed his eyes shut, and flung off the covers. He went to her room fairly quickly and shoved the door open.

"What the hell are you ranting about?"

"I don't have a future now," she replied softly. "I'm a criminal."

A sudden weight on the side of her bed caused her to jump a little. Yuki placed a hand to his forehead. This was weird. "You...have a future. You're not a criminal because you haven't done anything wrong."

"Yuki?"

"Hmm?"

Alira had her back to him and her eyes shut. "Will you testify on my behalf when I go to court?"

He paused. "If you go to court, I will."

Another pause. "Yuki?"

"What now?"

"Is Ayaka nice?"

Yuki nodded a few times, not seeming to realize her back was to him, before he replied, "Yeah."

"That's good." He saw that she was smiling a little.

"Why do you ask?"

"I just wanted to make sure Hiroshi was happy," she answered quietly.

Yuki sighed and yanked her hair lightly. "If you're that in love with him, make your move."

She didn't flinch when he tugged her hair, but did when he finished talking. "He's taken."

"So was I when I meet Shuichi. Ayaka had been my fiancé."

"I don't want to interfere with any other relationships. My being here has already screwed up the one between you and Shuichi," she remarked, turning to face him and sitting up. "I just want him to be happy."

Yuki stood up again. "Whatever you say, but you'll be unhappy in the long run. If you're better now..." She blushed a bit. "I'm headed back to bed. Everyone wants to disrupt my sleep tonight."

"What do you mean?" Alira called slyly as Yuki headed down the hallway. "Shuichi isn't home yet."

"You're a pervert," he called back.

She grinned. "That's what my friends in America thought too."

"They were right. Goodnight."

"G'night."

Despite all the publicity and the hype, he's really no different from any other guy. Even if he is hot, Yuki's heart belongs to someone else. I'm glad he and Shuichi are together, though.

They're both happy this way.

She smiled as she lay down to go to sleep. Maybe Yuki is right. Maybe I do have a future. Things can only go up from here.

-In the police station-

"Sir! A woman just called in to report a sighting of Miss. Montosuwa!"

Hikaru nearly dropped the file he was holding. "Really?"

"Yep. She saw her in the park."

"D-did she? Was she...with anyone?"

The other officer scratched his head and looked at his notes. "She said Alira was with an attractive young gentleman, probably her boyfriend."

Hikaru smiled at being called an 'attractive young gentleman' before saying, "The park? That doesn't really help. We have no idea where she's staying."

"Sounds like someone's protecting her."

Hikaru's eyes fell upon the magazine a female officer had left on the chair by his desk to see a full color picture of Yuki Eiri and Shuichi Shindou kissing.

"Did Seiko leave that there?"

The other officer stood up to what his boss was pointing at before nodding.

"Throw it out or something. We need to get to work, and that magazine isn't helping. Where could she be staying?" Hikaru asked, oblivious to the truth inches from his fingertips.

END CHAPTER

School is evil. So very, very evil.

My teacher, Mr. Talks With Hands, gave us a lot of homework. Jerk.

Authoress out.