Hey everyone! So sorry for the delay again! Here's chapter 5, Enjoy!
5
Hotsuma gets home late, but fortunately, his parents are still not home, so he had no explaining to do.
He goes to his room to changes into pajamas and falls on top of his bed. He looks around his room which is large and spacious. A TV in the corner attached to some video games. Huge dressers for clothes, even though he doesn't care much about what he wears, as long as it's comfortable. It's always kept clean and neat, thanks to the cleaning people that come weekly. He never appreciated what he had before, but after seeing the dingy homes the cirque troupe lives in…
He rolls over, with his face in the pillow and takes in a deep breath. Thoughts of Shusei run through his mind as he falls asleep.
He can't tell what's happening all of a sudden. He feels like he's on the verge of dreaming, but he's wholly aware he hasn't fallen asleep yet.
In his mind he sees himself standing alone somewhere. He doesn't know where he is, but that doesn't matter. A single tear falls down his cheek. The deep sorrow he felt within his heart is too much.
No…
He sees himself brace his feet on the ground and summon the last bit of courage his torn soul can muster.
Die, Renjou Hotsuma.
NO!
He watches as his body becomes engulfed in flames.
He calls out to the other Hotsuma, who doesn't hear him.
No! Stop! What are you-
"Hotsuma!"
Both of his selves look towards the direction of the voice. Their eyes widen at the smaller frame trying to pull him from the hellfire.
It's you…
"Idiot! Let go of me! You'll burn too!" The burning Hotsuma calls out.
"I won't let go! If you do this we can't ever be together again! If you still wanna die-"
"Take me with you!"
Take me with you!
Hotsuma covers his mouth in shock, as he realizes he finished the brunets words with him. How did he know? How could he finish Shusei's sentence? How did he know what he was going to say?
The flames surround both boys.
The real Hotsuma became weaker and more tired. The last thing he hears before he falls asleep is screaming.
One in pain…
…The other in horror.
…
Shusei wakes up around 10 in the morning. The smell of breakfast fills the area and it starts to get noisy. The other actors and workers always had a small breakfast prepared in the morning, enough to feed everyone.
After falling asleep in his ringmaster uniform and he decides to change into plain black pants and a t-shirt. He'll take the uniform to get it cleaned and ready for the next show. He doesn't need to be scolded by his boss again.
He walks outside, it was a beautiful morning, but ruined by all the garbage that was left from the previous night. He stopped in one tent to drop off his jacket and vest, the same tent that sews costumes and other accessories. The cirque is very independent. Anything they needed, they made.
He finds a large wooden table where a few of the actors and stage help are eating. They all wish him a good morning, which he returns. He finds a spot to sit even though he doesn't plan on eating. Shusei sits next to Steele, whose real name is Goro, but everyone calls him by his stage name, which he doesn't mind. His gray hair is messy, but it matches his personality better, he's a lighthearted guy. Everyone had full plates of food in front of them. Everything from Japanese food to Western food.
"So, " Steele started, "Who came to visit you last night?"
Shusei looks over raising an eyebrow.
"That blond kid." He specified, "Seemed kind of urgent."
The questioning look stayed on Shusei's face.
"You don't know?" Fortunately, Steele is good at one sided conversations, "Some kid insisted that he see you. Wouldn't leave me alone until he did."
"Did he go to my tent?"
"Yeah, I'm guessing you were gone by then, huh." He took another mouthful of food.
"Yeah. How did he know where my tent is?" Shusei asked.
"Oh, sorry 'bout that." Steele said.
Shusei brushes his hair back and sighs. Well, that explains who was there last night. What did that kid want with him?
"Did he say what he wanted?" Shusei asks.
"Nope. Just said he needed to see ya." Steele said, "Don't worry about it. You know how people are. Probably wanted his fortune read."
Shusei wanted to know more but got the feeling that's all Steele knew. For now he pushes it out of his mind.
He looks down at the table and sees a hand push a plate of food in front of him.
"You look unwell, Shusei, eat something." Steele said.
Shusei thanked him but declines the food, but Steele insisted and in the end, Shusei gave in and had a few bites of toast. He stays a few minutes longer, just listening to everyone talk about last night's show. Most thought the show went great, but a few perfectionists wish they had done better.
Shusei gets up to leave but before he gets far a hand ruffles his hair.
"Take it easy, kid. You look like a ghost." Steele laughs through his genuine concern for Shusei.
"Yeah." He gently moves Steele's hand aside and heads back towards his tent.
He's feeling nauseas and just wants to lie down. He can't deny it any longer, he's really sick. Shusei can barely feel his legs carrying him and his vision is getting blurry. He just makes it back to his tent where he falls to the ground and passes out.
Before he loses consciousness completely, he thought he heard the sound of rain drops…
It was raining hard.
The sound of raindrops hitting the trees fills the air.
Shusei stands in the middle of a clearing, holding back tears. He's angry, hateful, and above all else, hurt. To think the only person in the world he's ever trusted with everything, his heart and emotions, dreams and desires, would leave…
Abandon him.
Even hate him.
It's unbearable.
Especially when that person was all he ever had.
He looks up towards the sky as if seeking an answer. The rain only blinds him.
A silhouette appears in the distance…
….
Back at Hotsuma's house, he woke with a start, still unsure whether his fiery dream was real or just a dream.
What the hell?! What the hell was that?!
He's panting and his heart is racing.
A dream…It had to be. But…it seemed so real.
He falls back in bed. He's too panicked to do anything else at the moment. Hotsuma starts taking deep breaths to try and regain composure.
Those flames…they felt like…me…
An annoying ring startles Hotsuma's in his already anxious state. He considers not answering, but figures the distraction will help.
"Yeah?" Hotsuma answers uninterested, only a slight pant left in his voice.
"Hey," It's Kazuki.
"Oh…"
Kazuki laughs, "What happened last night? Everything ok?"
"Oh yeah, sorry 'bout that," Hotsuma has a hard time focusing, "Thought I saw someone I knew."
"That all?"
"Yeah."
"The others were kind of mad you bailed like that." Kazuki said.
"Sorry." Hotsuma can't see why they'd be mad, they don't know each other well. Hotsuma checks the time and notice it's getting late. He has to leave soon, "Hey, I gotta go."
"Wait-"
Hotsuma hangs up. He is too preoccupied to worry about Kazuki and the others. He throws the phone into his pocket on the way out the door, which he makes sure to lock.
He comes to the trail that he took with the others yesterday. In his mind, he tries to map the trail that leads to the cirque. He didn't pay attention the first time; he didn't think he'd go back. He takes it at a slow pace, not risking getting lost. Some of it looks familiar, but in the dark, he isn't so sure.
Eventually he loses his way and wanders off the trail. It's hard for him to walk and he spends a lot of time fumbling through the dark. Even though he's lost, he doesn't worry too much. Hotsuma felt like he was being pulled in a certain direction, like instinct, he couldn't fight it. It wasn't the same path they followed yesterday, but he knows he will find his way.
Hotsuma stumbles upon a paved road.
Weird.
"Why's there a paved road here? There are no houses down in this way." He spoke out loud the break the silence.
The path wanders towards the cirque so he decides to walk on it. Hotsuma follows it for a few minutes when he spots lights up ahead. He thinks he found the cirque camp grounds, but realizes this light is different. He quickens his pace to discover what it is.
Hotsuma stops suddenly, shocked at what he sees.
A mansion?!
A huge stone mansion lies off to the side of the road. The size of the building was incredible. Even through the dark he could see the balconies and turrets. The whole castle looks immaculate and the gardens are well kept.
Hotsuma still can't believe how this mansion stays here and no one seems to know about it. He's sure he would have heard something about it from the people at school.
He feels like his lost in time. For a moment Hotsuma forgets what he's even doing out at this hour. His feet carry him towards the castle, like he's being called. Hotsuma shakes his head furiously to snap himself out of this trance he's been pulled into.
What the hell?!
Hotsuma backs away from the castle. He shouldn't be here anyway.
The Cirque shouldn't be much further.
Even though his determination is strong, Hotsuma has a hard time tearing his gaze from the castle. He forces his feet to keep moving forward towards the cirque and eventually the lights of the mansion turn into specks of light in the distance. Once the castle was completely out of sight, his focus returns, completely to Shusei. This time his quick walking pace turns into a sprint.
The darkness no longer bothers him and before he knew it, he could hear the faint sounds of the circus.
It doesn't look familiar from the first night as he got sidetracked by the mysterious mansion. He appeared around the back of the circus, where people weren't meant to be. He was going to walk around to the front to enter but realizes he forgot his wallet at home and has no money to pay for admission anyway. It's not like the fence is high. One running jump is all it takes to get across. As soon as he lands, he looks in all directions to make sure no one sees what he just did.
He checks the time on his cell phone.
"Shit." He mumbles to himself. The show started 15 minutes ago. The boy will already be on stage, and now Hotsuma has to wait until the end to find him. He won't be able to sneak in the main tent without getting caught.
Even so, what else can he do? He runs over to the main tent.
…...
Inside the tent, the crowd is getting restless. The actors and performers are waiting to go on stage, but the host has yet to arrive.
"Should someone go check on him?" Ayame, a contortionist says out loud.
"We don't have time. I am not getting yelled at by Tanaka because of him." Another performer said.
"Hope he's alright." Steele says.
"What's going on?" A quiet voice said from behind the others. With that tone, he might as well have screamed, "Where is Shusei?"
The whole cast tenses at the sound of the voice. They turn around and see a very angry cirque owner looking for answers.
…...
Hotsuma arrives at the tent but hasn't figured out how to enter it yet. He stays close to the tent walls, still feeling paranoid at having entered cirque grounds without paying.
He holds his ear up to the tent in an attempt to hear the boy's voice. Instead he hears the sounds of people complaining.
Sounds like it hasn't started yet.
Over the sounds of people talking he hears another familiar voice. A cold and angry voice.
From the outside, he follows the sounds until he is directly opposite of the voice. Even though he can't be seen, Hotsuma feels vulnerable and stays completely still. He zones out all of the other voices and concentrates on the one he knows belongs to the man he met the other day. Hotsuma gets the chills, when he recalls the man touching him on his shoulder.
There's just something about him…
"Where the hell is Shusei?" Tanaka says to everyone.
"We don't know. We haven't seen him since breakfast." A voice Hotsuma doesn't recognize answers in a scared tone.
"That bastard…" Tanaka mumbles.
Everyone else stays quiet.
"Hmph." He grunts when no one says anything, "You are all worthless. Fine. I'll go find him."
"What an asshole…" Hotsuma can't help but to say to himself. A shred of fear makes its way into Hotsuma's mind. He feels so sorry for Shusei, for he has to deal with this man all the time.
Shusei…
Hotsuma is overcome with panic.
Where is he?
Hotsuma backs away from the tent. He doesn't know where Tanaka is now and doesn't want to risk being spotted by the man. He backs away and starts running towards the performers tents.
Hotsuma knows he has to find the boy before the man does. Otherwise he fears for Shusei's safety. That man cannot be trusted.
If he's not at the main tent then he may be back in his own tent.
Hotsuma has to find him before the owner.
He remembers the walk he took with Steele and follows it exactly. In front of him are a line of tents, all of which are seemingly empty. The larger tent at the end is Shusei's and regardless of any one else who may see him, Hotsuma runs over to the tent.
He pulls apart the tents entrance…
And sees the ringmaster unconscious on the ground.
I'm so sorry for the delay! I've been beyond stressed lately and haven't found the time to fix this chapter. I've been dealing with chronic injuries, long days at work amongst other things. Even if there are large gaps between my posting new chapters just be assured I have no intention of abandoning this story! I appreciate your patience!
( Also, anybody have any idea when the Uraboku manga volume 7 comes out in English? )
