AN: Thanks for the reviews again! I'd really like everyone's honest opinion about this chapter.
The Pygmalion Effect
Chapter 4
Rikuo yawned and stretched out his long arms above his head as he turned away from the Green Drugstore's front window. The sun had gone down long ago and left an eerie quiet in the empty store. The street was not empty and it hinted of Friday night parties. Lights illuminated cars and pedestrians heading to the nearby clubs that littered the city. Even if Green Drugstore were in one of the most respectable neighborhoods, it was not shielded from the secrets of nightly adventures. Friday night, just before the store closed at seven, the most popular product sold was, of course, condoms. Those annoying but necessary things were Rikuo's favorite thing to stock simply because he could use them to make Kazahaya blush in various shades of red and pink. When Kazahaya got his hands on condoms, he usually made quick work of them and Rikuo was left without his fun.
His fun, his little Kazahaya, was missing. Kakei had told Rikuo earlier that Kazahaya was being "difficult" and that he had sent him away with instructions to take the day off to calm down. While Kazahaya's temper was fierce, it was usually brief; however, the boy had been gone for about six or seven hours and it was nearing midnight. Rikuo was afraid to lock up the store for fear of locking Kazahaya out, but then he remembered the back door and the fact that Kazahaya probably had his house key with him. Still, the boy could be remiss about certain things. Rikuo's hand lingered over the store's front lock before turning the key and dead-bolting the door. He looked out the windows with a backwards glance in a futile hope of seeing Kazahaya.
--
Saiga, who was in Kakei's office, fell in and out of unconsciousness before Kakei shook him awake.
"I'm sorry to wake you, Saiga." Kakei smile barely covered a painful grimace.
"I was having trouble sleeping. Are you still hurting?" Kakei nodded and sat next to Saiga. He threw his thin glasses on the coffee table and buried his head in Saiga's warm neck. Not even this pleasant position could take away the pain in his head.
"You've had this headache for a few hours now, Kakei. Maybe you should go to the emergency room." Kakei moaned negatively and said, as he had several times that night, that it was just stress and fatigue.
"Kakei, come on. This is more than just a migraine. You were crying because it was so bad."
"It's fine, Saiga."
"No," Saiga said more firmly. "You were blacking out, too."
"Take me to bed, Saiga." Kakei barely got the words out. Saiga sighed and pulled Kakei up without much effort. Even now his vision was coming in and out like a flickering light bulb. Each flicker was a sharp pain that settled at the back of his head and stabbed forward through his body. His hands were shaking. Saiga lifted the smaller man into his arms just when Rikuo politely knocked and peeked his head through the office door.
"Kakei?" he questioned. His response was a soft, unconscious moan.
"What's wrong?"
"He's had a few bad migraines today. Never this bad though." Rikuo followed Saiga through the back hall of the store and to Kakei's private apartment. He had only been back here twice and those visits were brief and only revealed the kitchen and den. Saiga took Kakei into his bedroom while Rikuo respectfully remained in the den.
When Saiga returned a few moments later, his face was drained of blood.
"You don't look so good," Rikuo said bluntly. Saiga shrugged, got a beer out of the fridge, and fell in a heap on the sofa.
"Do you know where Kazahaya went?" Saiga took a large swig of the drink and looked dumbly at Kakei's bedroom door.
"I dunno. Are you going to wait up for him?"
"I don't have much of a choice. Maybe I should go look for him."
"I'd come with you, but…damn Kakei won't go to the hospital. I'll be up all night watching to make sure he doesn't die in his sleep." Another sip brought the bottle to near empty. With one last swig, Saiga finished and told Rikuo to do whatever he needed to do. Rikuo nodded and left the apartment.
What I need to do is give Kazahaya a good ass beating.
Rikuo got his house key and left the store, locking it behind him. The dark night stretched out before him. Passing people ignored them, just as he ignored them. His singular target was a beautiful boy. Golden brown hair. Pretty liquid eyes. Cat-like. Loud. Mysterious. Vulnerable. Thoughtful. Heartbroken…Lost.
Here I go with adjectives again, Rikuo thought. Damn, I'll never find him.
Several blocks later, Rikuo was left Kazahaya-less. The feeling of not knowing where he was made Rikuo's heart beat with uncertainty.
This must be what a parent feels when something happens to their child.
--
Sleep was hard that night. Rikuo awoke more tired than he had ever felt in his life. He lay in bed for a moment and sensed the hollowness of the apartment. Kazahaya had not come back. He showered, dressed, skipped breakfast, and as he left gave a small peek into Kazahaya's room to remind him that the boy did indeed exist, that he wasn't some strange beautiful figment in his mind. There was the unmade bed, so like him, a pair of his shoes, and his work apron tossed carelessly at the end of the bed.
Rikuo took each step downstairs carefully. Saiga was already at the counter and it seemed the shop had been unnecessarily opened a few hours early, or perhaps it was his own imagination. Saiga pushed his sunglasses up a bit and took an uncertain puff of his newly lit cigarette. Saiga left it in the ashtray where it smoldered itself out of existence. The man was quiet and said nothing as Rikuo went to Kakei's office and then reappeared a moment later to work.
The air was ripe with anxiety. Where was Kazahaya? Kakei did not know, but he had not slept because of his intense headaches. He woke between fitful moments of half sleep to find Saiga watching with a calm expression that belied his concern. When Kakei finally gave up on sleep, he made it his purpose to find Kazahaya. A round of phone calls to all the local hospitals yielded nothing. The police were utterly useless. None of his strange acquaintances could see anything through magical avenues. Kakei wanted to read his own precognitive abilities as prophetic, for in trying to see Kazahaya's future for the past few days, nothing had appeared but blackness, and here he was...missing.
Lost in perpetual darkness.
Kakei hung up the phone and dialed again like he had for the hundredth time this morning, and as convenience dictates, this phone call was most fruitful.
"Yes!" he said with a muted excitement. "Yes, with light brown hair, greenish brown eyes...yes...Kudo. Kudo Kazahaya. How? Okay, but...when?" Kakei stifled a gasp. "That was this morning." There was another pause in which the receptionist on the other side explained the situation. "No, last night. He was missing for several hours. Thank you...yes, I'll be there as soon as I can." Kakei let the phone slip back to the receiver.
He managed to keep a straight face when he came to Saiga at the front desk.
"Where's Rikuo?" he asked softly. Saiga slowly took out his cigarette and threw it in the ashtray, his eyes on Kakei in evident concern. Kakei shuddered when he felt Saiga looking right through him.
"Kakei?"
"I found Kazahaya. He's at Mercy Hospital." Kakei bit his frowning lip. "I have to go immediately." Whatever emotion Kakei was feeling suddenly melted away and was replaced by calm determination. His eyes lit with a fierce fire. "Get Rikuo," he ordered. "I'm closing the shop for the rest of the day." Saiga locked the front doors.
Later Saiga wondered how many people had come to the shop while they were gone.
Rikuo seemed to take the news well. He was expressionless when they entered the hospital. Kakei seemed to feed off his mood. Saiga stayed by his side like a living walking stick. None of them liked hospitals, not even Mercy Hospital which was the top facility in the city. It just smelled like a hospital. Overwhelming. Death and dying. Blood.
"Kudo Kazahaya, please," Kakei said to the receptionist. She nodded and pulled up the name and gave them the room number.
"You'll have to wait in the waiting rooms. Visiting hours are strict in the ICU," she added with a tender, sympathetic smile. They went to the fifth floor and sat quietly with a few other people who were waiting. Simply waiting. That's why they called it a waiting room. Rikuo was nervous. He wanted to see Kazahaya, but not like this. His eyes darted to the clock and to the posted visiting hours. Half an hour. What if something happened between now and then? What had happened to his Kaza? Who are all these people? Why is that boy over there looking at me like that? He just turned away…yeah, I caught you looking.
Rikuo frowned at the boy who had been casting stares at him. The boy next to him had a hard, handsome face, the kind of person who was too vain for his own damn good. The other one, light hair and seemingly sweet, the one with the stare…his leg was fidgeting, and his friend laid a hand on his knee to stop the conspicuous movement. Not that anyone really cared if someone was jumpy. It was the waiting. Everyone moved when the time ran down to the half hour…except the two boys. The dark hard one started to get up but the other twitchy guy stopped him with a nervous guilty expression. Rikuo barely saw him whisper something into the other's each before leaving the waiting room.
His stomach was full of rotten butterflies. This wasn't like Christmas morning. The gift was going to be a bad surprise with torn paper and an ugly bow. The ICU receptionist told them where Kazahaya was. The doctor was making rounds as well, so they were sure to get details. Details filled in the cracks like glue. Rikuo didn't know if all those little parts would make him feel better after seeing Kazahaya. He had to consciously think of Kazahaya in a myriad of conditions. Bad, good, worse, worst.
Simply sleeping. The room was bathed in dull grey light from the curtains and the bleak cream painted walls. A florescent lamp whose only purpose was to give the doctors light was casting harsh glares on Kazahaya's fine white skin. His head was turned towards them but unaware. A few IVs cut into his skin necessarily and were ready for any drugs if need be. He did not look sick.
Kakei and Saiga were already by his side and touching him. Rikuo was afraid to touch him, but he forced his hand to Kazahaya's limp fingers.
Yes, he is here and yes he is alive and warm.
Rikuo smelled chlorine. Kazahaya's hair was messy.
"You must be Kudo's friends?" A honeyed voice, unmistakably female and commanding, entered the room. Kakei answered yes and found it in himself to smile at the beautiful doctor.
"I'm Dr. Tanaka Aiko. Let's have a look at him then." Tanaka did just that and very quickly.
"He's doing very well. The drugs are making him sleep."
"What happened?" Rikuo asked coldly.
Tanaka looked at her chart before pulling over a chair. She sighed.
"This will be particularly hard news, but to begin with, Kudo was brought in around three o'clock this morning with a very, very severe concussion. There was a fracture on the back of his skull. The boys who brought him in said he slipped and fell on the edge of a pool before he fell in the water. He's damn lucky people were there to pull him out or he would have drowned." Tanaka's mouth grimaced unattractively. "When he got to the emergency room, the doctor's there said the wound looked a little old like it had had time to swell and bruise. They checked him over and found that he had been drinking and that an unknown drug was in his system. It was helping the concussion but not him and it put him in a light coma for several hours." Tanaka paused to let the visitors ask any questions, but when the three remained silent, she continued.
"The ER doctors took a sample of his blood to the lab to try and identify the drug as soon as possible so that our drugs would not react negatively. The results came back quickly for something called GHB…a type of date rape drug." Her voice trailed off to judge the men's reactions.
"Rape?" Rikuo mouthed silently.
"GHB can be a liquid or a dissolvable pill. Alcohol helps, makes it worse. The effects can range from nausea, relaxation, dizziness, total unconsciousness, seizures, even coma or death. Whenever we find drugs like this, and there are more than just GHB, we always do a rape kit."
"And?" Saiga said. His dark voice contrasted with Tanaka's light timbre. Her only response was a nod. A yes. She got up from her chair. "The police," she began, "have already taken the evidence. He was in a coma and the boys who brought him in left as soon as they did with only an explanation of what happened. We didn't know who he was. I'm glad someone is here to be with him." Tanaka went to the door and said in barely contained anger. "I believe they risked his life by first giving him the drug and then by keeping him while he was injured to do what they did. I will do everything in my power to keep him safe." Kakei smiled at her.
It was the only real smile anyone would see for a long time.
Kakei wanted to know how they found Kazahaya's name.
Saiga was ready to kill.
Rikuo already knew who to kill.
The two mysterious boys in the waiting room were gone.
tbc.
GHB (gamma hydroxybutyric acid) one type of drug seen in drug-assisted sexual assaults.
