"What do you mean something happened to Ryou? He does this all the time."
Yugi and Jonouchi were sitting below a tree in the shade, tearing into some sandwiches. The sky had finally cleared and they had taken advantage of the good weather to sit down and eat lunch in a public park. Yugi had brought the food since Jonouchi's dad hadn't filled the pantry that week.
Jonouchi was now picking lint off his uniform, comically paralleling the patches of dirt and the barely faded ink stains that adorned it. He looked over to Yugi, who had stopped eating and had a worried expression painting his face.
"Yugi, he does this all the time. I really think you're overreacting." He repeated.
"Yeah, maybe for one or two days. But never three at a time."
Jonouchi smiled and shoved Yugi's shoulder, but his worried expression stayed fixed.
"You're paranoid."
"No! Seriously. I'm worried."
Jonouchi lifted his hand to playfully swipe at him again, but stopped himself when he saw that Yugi was now nervously twisting the fabric at the front of his uniform. He sighed and put down the sandwich he had been holding in his other hand.
"Sorry."
"It's ok."
They both sat in silence for a bit and watched some students who had also come outside to enjoy the sun. They had been tossing a ball back and forth, but one of them had lost his balance and ended up skidding across the ground on his butt. His friends were all laughing as he tried to wipe the dirt off his pants, embarrassed.
Despite the beautiful day, Miho, Honda and Anzu had stayed behind. A math test was coming up, and Anzu had offered to help the lot of them study for it. She absorbed all of the new information very easily and had saved them from failure before. Yugi felt too off to attend this time though and Jonouchi, detecting that something was wrong, had turned down the offer as well to keep him company.
"Would it make you feel better if we went over to his place after school?"
"Huh?"
"We could go check on him, y'know? See if he's doing alright."
Yugi thought for a bit.
"I don't want to bother him though."
Jonouchi side eyed him.
"Yugi, when has Ryou ever been angry with any of us? Worst case he'll tell us he's alright and just wants to be left alone."
"Yeah. Ok, fine. You're right."
The rest of lunch was uneventful. Jonouchi tried to talk about school and the games they had played the night before, but Yugi was having a hard time carrying conversation. His heart just wasn't in it. So, they contented themselves with doing some more people watching instead. Other kids filtered in and out of the park, playing games or just plain messing around.
When they were finished with their food and some time had gone by, they started packing their stuff away and getting ready to go back to class. The walk back to school was a little less quiet, as they ran into a few people Jonouchi knew.
Yugi's mind instantly snapped away from Ryou when he saw Ushio standing by the school's open gates. They hadn't seen the hall monitor since the ink incident and he really wasn't in the mood to be reprimanded right now.
He held his breath and tensed as they passed Ushio, who did nothing but nod them into the school grounds. It looked like he must have also had something on his mind, because it seemed like he had already forgotten their little escape.
After a quick stop by their lockers and a shoe swap, it was time for class.
Gym was easy enough to get through. Yugi was small and usually found keeping up with the rest of the students hard, but this time, he welcomed the distraction. They mostly ran track and it was hard to worry about anything when you were concentrating on not sweating out most of your body weight.
The bell marking the end of class came too soon. Despite the exhaustion, he almost wanted it to last forever. Anything but what came next.
Anxiety gripped him when he walked through the door and sat down for math class.
This time, when Mr. Taniguchi called Ryou's name and didn't get an answer, he furrowed his brow and scratched the sparse stubble on his chin. Smacking his clipboard against his open palm, he surveyed the students in the room.
"Has anyone heard from Ryou?"
There was no answer.
Mr. Taniguchi raised his eyebrows as if to say Typical and crossed Ryou's name off the list for the third day in a row.
Yugi was surprised when he felt a sudden boiling rage building behind his chest. Was he the only one who cared about his friend's sudden disappearance? No returned calls, no heads up, no letter. Nothing. Had the school even tried to contact him or his parents? Maybe they'd given up. Yugi forced himself to calm down when he heard the pencil he had unconsciously been wrenching between his hands start to crack. Seething at his desk wouldn't make Ryou appear. Plus, they were going to check on him right after this. Maybe Jonouchi was right. Maybe he was overreacting. He hoped he was.
Mr. Taniguchi went around passing out papers. He explained that as the lessons before had mostly been lectures, it was time to put the things they'd learned into practice. He reminded them of the upcoming test and the importance of doing the work to help them prepare for it.
Even with all the equations in front of him, Yugi found it difficult to tear his gaze away from the empty seat beside him. He occasionally stole a glance at Honda and Miho to distract himself, who actually seemed to be trying to do their work for once. Anzu's tutoring must have helped.
When the bell rang and they were let out, Yugi immediately shot out into the hallway and looked around for Jonouchi.
"Wow. I can't believe I understood what I was doing for once."
Honda, schoolbag casually slung over his shoulder, was strutting out of class with a big smile on his face. Miho was following closely behind with a similar expression.
"Right? I feel like a whole new woman."
They were ignored. Yugi was looking through the hall, antsy to catch a glance of Jonouchi.
"How about some burgers to celebrate, Yugi?" Honda asked.
Yugi kept franticly looking around, hope rising when he caught the back of a blonde head, but falling when he realised it wasn't who he was looking for. When Honda didn't get an answer, he bent down to Yugi's level and spoke a little louder.
"Earth to Yugi? Burgers? You want some?"
Yugi absently shook a hand in Honda's face, who backed away, looking insulted.
"Can't. Going to Ryou's."
Honda mellowed out and what could only be described as relief seemed to wash over him. He nonchalantly tried to hide this, but it was clear that he had started to worry about Ryou's absence as well. He coolly leaned up against the wall and gained a sudden interest in staring really hard at his outstretched hand.
"Oh. So, you guys were finally able to get a hold of him."
Yugi, completely oblivious to Honda's own worry, tried to keep himself from blushing with embarrassment when he answered.
"Uh. No. I just… uh. I'm just worried. Jonouchi said he'd come check on him with me."
"Oh." Honda's disappointment was noticeable.
Miho reached over and kindly patted his back.
"Do you want some company? We can come with." She asked Yugi, who was still scouring the halls for any sign of blonde hair.
Yugi was torn from his search for a moment, surprised that his friends didn't have anything to say to him about how he was exaggerating. Maybe he wasn't the only one who cared after all.
"Sure. You guys can come over and play some more games after too, if you want. Ryou can come too."
Yugi hoped saying it out loud might make it a reality.
As they made their way down the hallways and staircases, he was starting to think he'd been forgotten. But when they made their way to the lockers, they finally spotted Jonouchi and Anzu, who had already switched out their shoes and looked ready to go.
"Hey Yugi. Is it alright if Anzu comes too?" Jonouchi asked, as the group started to switch out their own shoes.
"Of course. You know were going to Ryou's right?"
Yugi wanted to make sure Jonouchi had been clear about where they were headed. He wouldn't blame Anzu for saying no. It had been a busy day and the trek was quite a bit further than Yugi's place or Burgerworld.
Anzu smiled. "Jonouchi filled me in."
When everyone's shoe business was sorted, they set off.
The walk to Ryou's apartment was pleasant. It was a sunny day, but it wasn't too hot or bright.
Yugi usually didn't come this way, so there were all kinds of shops he rarely saw. An array of cool things was being displayed in the store fronts, but he was too nervous to really give any of them a second glance. Maybe once they had made sure Ryou was alright, he'd come back and check them out. After all, you could never have enough games.
Eventually, they found themselves outside the right apartment building. It wasn't terribly impressive, but it wasn't run down either. It looked comfortable. Good for what it was meant for.
They stood there for a while, not sure what to do next, when Jonouchi finally broke the silence.
"So, how're we gonna get in?"
Everybody shrugged except Anzu.
"Ring someone and hope for the best?" She suggested, unsure.
Just as they were about to go up to the building's call panel to hit random buttons. An old woman rounded the corner, pulling a grocery cart. Jonouchi held out his hand to stop them and pointed at her. They all stood back and waited as she slowly walked up to the building's door and pulled out her bag. She rummaged inside for a while and eventually pulled out an old looking key. She pushed it into the keyhole and leant up against the door, trying her best to get it open. It barely budged. She sighed in frustration.
Honda was the first to break off from the group and quickly ran up to the door and propped it open for her. "Please, allow me."
The woman smiled widely.
"Oh, thank you, dear. This door always gives me so much trouble. We really should ask the owner for a button some time."
"I was thinking the exact same thing." Honda answered, beckoning the rest of the group forwards as the woman slowly rolled her cart into the building.
They all tried to inconspicuously wait in the lobby as the woman rounded the corner and the familiar ding of an elevator being called was heard. Thankfully, no one else came in, so they were free to dig into each other and discuss.
"Wow, Honda. Didn't know you had it in you." Jonouchi teased.
"Yeah, well we better hurry up before I don't have it anymore and I lock you out myself."
The inside of the building was nice, if not a little dull. The walls were a faded beige and void of any windows. Yellow lamps peppered the hallway here and there, offering just enough light to see. The floor was old grey carpet, but it looked as though it was maintained frequently, because it was clean.
Yugi led the way. While it hadn't been often, out of everybody present, he'd been to Ryou's apartment the most and knew the way there. They opted to take the stairs to kick up the least amount of suspicion. A bunch of unfamiliar teenagers crammed into an elevator might alert some of the nosier residents.
They pushed through a heavy swinging door and made their way up the concrete stairs. Yugi led them out onto the sixth floor. Unit 601 was just a few meters away from where they had come out.
Ryou's apartment door was just like all the others. Except for the kitschy fluffy white welcome mat on the ground in front of it. Had he not been so nervous, Yugi might've poked fun at it, it looked like a dirty cat.
When he walked up to the door, he felt like time slowed down. None of his friends said anything as he raised his fist. He waited a bit. Put it back down. Lifted it again and took a deep breath.
He knocked twice.
Waited.
No answer.
He knocked again.
No answer.
Beads of sweat had started to form on his forehead. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. Ryou was going to answer and Yugi would stop worrying and he'd invite him over to play games and he'd come to class and Mr. Taniguchi would stop crossing his name out on the attendance list.
He knocked one last time and called out.
"Ryou?"
Still no answer.
"Have any of you tried to call him since we went to Burgerworld?" Yugi asked, trying to mitigate his stress by closing his eyes and rubbing one of his temples.
They all shook their heads.
Yugi thought for a bit. What he was about to suggest wasn't ethical, but sometimes bad stuff was justified. Like when your friend had gone missing for three days.
"Jonouchi. This is going to sound crazy, but do you have your lockpick?"
Jonouchi had a history of hanging out with the wrong crowd. His dad was a drunk who didn't do basic chores and that usually meant there was rarely food in the house. So, his son had turned to finding alternatives. Since he had found his current group of friends however, Jonouchi had learned that it was alright to ask for help. He had left a teenage life of crime behind, but he still kept some of his old tools on him just in case. You never knew when the time would come where you'd need something a little more out there.
And it looked like this was one of those times.
Honda immediately cut in. "Wow. Yugi, that is like, mega illegal. Are you crazy?"
"I know." Yugi had had it up to here with Honda's obsession with laws and rule breaking. "It's almost like there's a reason I want to do something mega illegal right now, Honda."
While they both argued about how crazy his idea was, Jonouchi tried to discreetly side eye the corners in the ceiling. As far as he could tell, there were no security cameras. He sighed.
Old habits died hard.
Anzu and Miho were already enraptured watching Jonouchi get halfway through picking the lock to the apartment when Honda noticed what was happening.
"What're you doing? Do you want to get arrested?" He hissed, looking up and down the hall for anyone who might see them.
"Listen Honda, if Yugi thinks something's up, I trust him. This whole thing is weird."
Jonouchi was now visibly biting his tongue, trying his best to hit the pins in the keyhole. He kicked up the welcome mat and folded it onto itself under his knee for leverage. It was taking him a little bit longer than he had anticipated.
"Sorry. I haven't done this in a bit. Out of practice."
Honda let out an exasperated sigh and pressed his hand to his forehead.
"I can't believe you're apologising because you're having a hard time breaking into someone's house."
Even Miho seemed to have grown tired of his moaning, because she quietly snapped at him.
"Honda, shut up and let him do his thing. You're making noise for nothing. You're gonna get us caught."
Taken aback by Miho's sudden aggression, Honda stopped talking, but he was still clearly angry that they hadn't listened to him.
The silence while Jonouchi worked was heavy. Yugi half expected someone to open the door from the other side or for someone to see them, but it never happened. When the lock finally clicked open, they felt no relief.
"Want to do the honours? Half a crime each?" Jonouchi smiled and shoved Yugi a bit, trying to relieve the tension.
Yugi audibly gulped. At this point he wasn't even worried about breaking the law. He was just scared of what he might find on the other side of the door. He tried not to let the five million possibilities bouncing around in his mind bother him as he reached over to turn the door handle.
Everybody held their breaths. Even Honda was quiet as the door slowly, but loudly creaked open.
Inside? Nothing impressive. The small entrance hallway was so spotless that the light from the hall was reflecting off the hardwood floor. From what they could see from where they stood, the rest of the apartment looked normal too, but it was hard to tell, because the blinds had been pulled down.
"Awesome. See? Nothing wrong. Let's go." Honda broke the silence, wringing his hands.
He started to turn away but Jonouchi caught him by his shirt.
Yugi pushed his head into the apartment and tentatively called out.
"Ryou! Are you there?"
No answer.
Slowly, he stepped into the apartment. When he didn't feel his friends' presence behind him, he turned around. They were all standing in the doorframe, looking like deer in the headlights. He waved them in.
"We're gonna get caught if you just stand there. Come on." He whispered hurriedly.
Once everyone was in, they closed the door and took off their shoes. They all had a fright when Miho nearly fell after slipping on the floor, but Anzu caught her before she could hit the ground.
When they walked out of the entrance and into the rest of the apartment, the unmistakeably strong smell of cleaning products burned their nostrils. Yugi was immediately struck by how eerily clean the kitchen and living space both were. Ryou wasn't a dirty person, but he definitely wasn't the most organised. The few times he had come over, there had been all kinds of things strewn all over the place. Board games, books, DVDs, art supplies. If you could think of it, it had probably ended up on Ryou's floor, couch or coffee table at some point.
The only thing out of place was a lone half empty bowl of rice on the kitchen counter. When Yugi got closer, he could see some of the contents had spilled out, almost as if it had been eaten in a hurry. Hesitatingly, he stuck a finger in it. His suspicions were confirmed. The rice was cold and rock hard. It had been there a while.
Just to be safe, he called out again, but he wasn't expecting an answer this time.
"Ryou!? We're in here! Are you there?"
And sure enough, no answer came.
"This smell is making me dizzy. Miho, come help me open the windows." Anzu, who had been looking like a lost puppy a few minutes ago, strutted confidently over to the blinds.
Yugi decided to check behind the counter. He opened the cabinets under the sink and was met with more overwhelming chemical smell. Empty and half used cleaning products were sitting around underneath, some of them open and spilled.
"No wonder it smells so bad."
He did his best to close the bottles he could find the caps for.
"Uh. Guys?" Anzu's unsure voice suddenly echoed through the apartment. "I don't think this is normal."
Yugi quickly closed the cabinets and walked over to where Miho and Anzu had opened the blinds. His heart sunk. Nails had been haphazardly driven into the window frame to keep it from being opened. A weird black grainy liquid was smothered all around, occasional fingerprints pressed into it. If Ryou had done this, he was in a hurry, because he had left the hammer he'd done it with on the sill. Yugi considered grabbing it to pry the nails out, but thought better when he saw that the handle was covered in the same liquid that was all over the frame.
"What is this stuff?" Miho whispered, barely audible.
Yugi stared at it, trying to push back the fear and nausea he felt rising in his chest.
"No idea."
Turning, he took in the rest of the apartment. From where he stood, nothing else looked off.
"We should check the rooms." He decided, making his way towards the hall that branched off from the main area. There were three doors. He took the first one on the left.
Inside was a very normal looking bathroom. It was somehow cleaner than the room he'd just come from. The showerhead was hung up, the sink was spotless and a full unused roll of toilet paper was in the holder. It made him feel like he had walked into an apartment showing.
He backed out into the hall and saw that everyone had crowded around one of the open doors. Miho looked over her shoulder with a grave expression on her face. "You should see this."
When he walked up to Ryou's bedroom and peered inside, he felt his heart drop out of his stomach.
Inside, all four walls were covered in nonsensical scrawling. Ripped up pages torn from books that were scattered all over the place covered the room from top to bottom. Odd black and white clumps littered the floor.
Cautiously, Yugi slid passed his friends into the room and knelt down. Upon closer inspection, he realised, to his horror, that the clumps were mats of Ryou's unmistakable white hair mixed in with more of the same liquid they had seen covering the window frame.
He tore his gaze away from the eerie mess on the ground and turned his attention to the walls. Surprisingly, the scrawling wasn't all nonsensical. Every now and then, between random jittering scribbles and lines, Ryou had drawn what looked like centipedes in thick black paint.
Carefully, Yugi stepped around the papers and clumps of hair to get a better view.
It looked like halfway down his unconventional canvas, Ryou had opted to abandon the paint and had started carving the insects directly into the wall. It wasn't long before Yugi realised that the centipedes seemed to be marching down a path that led behind Ryou's bed. He swallowed uncomfortably.
He turned back to look at his friends, who were still standing frozen and scared in the doorway. They hadn't made a sound since he'd gone in.
"Can you help me move this?" He motioned towards the bed.
Miho was the first to enter, followed cautiously by the others, all doing their best to avoid the mess on the floor.
Together, they pulled the bed back.
Behind it was something even more bizarre. As opposed to the amateurish bugs above it, an image of a room had been very meticulously painted and carved into the wall right above the baseboard. How Ryou had managed to depict a complicated layout with textures to match with nothing but a knife and a bit of black paint was beyond them, but if he had put this much effort into it, it must've been important.
Yugi stepped back, completely lost. This didn't make any sense.
"That's… the boiler room." Honda's voice ripped them all from their confused silence.
"What?" Anzu asked incredulously.
"The boiler room. At school. I clean it sometimes. It looks exactly like this." Honda's usual complexion seemed to have gone slightly green.
Yugi stood rooted to the spot, transfixed. Through the horror and fear, he could feel the start of a plan forming.
It looked like their rule breaking wasn't quite over just yet.
Chapter 2 Notes
This is the longest chapter I've written for anything so far. Don't have any notes apart from that for this one. Thanks for reading!
