Ten Hours
My face paled again, my stomach wishing that there was anything left to throw up. But seeing as I had already emptied myself of everything I could possible throw up, I only gagged on air. That face… it was going to haunt me for the rest of my life. Why he agreed to go and I.D. the body for Mika he didn't know. No tears burned at his emotionless face anymore. He seemed like a book filled with many blank pages, all of them kept under lock and key.
Leaning back into my seat I sighed heavily, this was no nightmare… no dream. It was all really happening. I almost ripped my lip open as I bit into it, thinking about how much this pained me and a boy with pink hair flashed through my mind. I may have never liked the boy… but did he even know what Eiri had planned on doing so soon? Starting the car I only got about five feet before slamming on the breaks and stumbling out my door. Stomach acid again saying its hello's.
Another hour, and five more trips to the side of the road I made it home, home being NG Studios. I was in no mood for Mika, no mood for anyone at all right now, so, sleeping at the office it was… If I could sleep. As I entered the side door of the building, a movement to my right caught my eye. No one should be here; they all should have left over two hours ago. I rounded the corner quickly, stopping abruptly as a shuddering pink fluff caught my eyes. It was Shuichi, curled up in a corner crying. Even with all the time I spent disliking the boy, what was left of my heart almost crumbled when his eye caught mine. They were so hollow, so dead. I was pretty sure he hadn't stopped crying since he heard the news.
"S-seguchi… I'm sorry… I didn't think anyone would be here…" The boy tried to wipe his face clean as he stumbled over his words. I just stood there staring at him. My surprise must have been written all over my face, so I shook my head and cleared my throat as he stared back.
"Shindou-san, it's fine. You have done nothing wrong…" I bit my lip for a moment, the next words were not like me to say to him, not in this way of course. But… this was a right time to use them. "I don't believe I would want to go back to an empty home either, You may stay here as long as you need… I will ask K to start looking into getting you a new apartment… for now, just..." My heart cringed. His eyes were staring up at me widely. He seemed almost surprised that I was being so nice, so helpful.. but I guess that is to be expected. I cleared my throat again before I continued. "Just stay where you like. Come to my office in the morning and we will get some breakfast…" I tried to smile at him with one of my smiles, the ones I could use so easily to cover up my feelings. But this time it came out so weak, it was obvious I was trying. "I'll even call Ryuichi. He can come with us." Shindou nodded his head at me as a few more tears escaped his eyes. Turning quickly I headed for the elevator.
"Thank you, Tohma…" I barely heard his voice, but at least I heard it. His small thanks made me feel just the tiniest bit better. Quickening my pace, I rushed into the elevator, pressed the top floor button over and over again like a small child would, and wished that it really would make it go faster. When the doors finally released me from the metal cell, I nearly ran into my office, collapsing quickly onto the couch. I was weak from my body being so upset, tired, and in pain. So much pain… it was nothing an aspirin would help me rid, nothing that anything could help me rid.
Clutching one of the pillows tightly to my chest, I felt myself slowly begin to relax… until I realized this was the last place I had seen him alive… and I couldn't hold them in anymore, I just couldn't. My heart was already drowning in the thousands of tears I had refused to shed. So they screamed out of my eyes, streaming down my cheeks and onto the soft fabric of the couch. I made up excuses for myself, of course, no one was around, no one would know. It was ok to cry just this once… But the more I told myself those things, the harder I cried. I continued crying until my body finally passed out from exhaustion. The last thought that went through my head was my vow to never cry again. Ever.
Sitting up from the couch slowly, I clutched my stomach. It was throbbing, demanding that I replace what I had lost over the course of the day. I needed to go get some food, soon. Blinking a few more times and rubbing the sleep away from my eyes, it finally hit me What had woken me? Glancing towards my door I jumped slightly as I looked right at Shuichi Shindou. His head was peaking through my door, and his eyes staring right at me. When he realized I was looking at him, his head snapped up and back out the door.
"Seguchi! I am sorry if I woke you! You just said to come to your office in the morning! And I knocked so many times but you said nothing—" Shuichi continued to ramble on as I just sat there shaking my head for a moment.
"Shindou…. Shindou-san," He was still rambling on with his apologies. "Shuichi!" I finally yelled out, almost annoyed now. His voice stopped suddenly and I heard nothing else from the other side of the door. "You can come into the office Shindou…" The door opened slowly, and he crept through the doorway, his eyes never leaving the floor. "Give me a moment to call Ryu, and we'll head downstairs." Tearing my eyes away from the mess of a boy, my hands dug into my coat, in search of my cell. When they reached their target, I dialed Ryuichi's number quickly. I already knew he would go. He would drop anything and everything at the mere mention of Shuichi's name.
Plans were made, and Shuichi and I headed towards the elevator and out of the building. I could tell he was slightly surprised when I got into the drivers side door of my car. He was use to seeing me with my driver at all times, but, like I had told myself, I hadn't really wanted to be around anyone. He was silent as we drove, staring out the window as our world raced by us.
"SHUUUUUICHI!!!!!!" Shuichi was nearly decapitated as he exited my car. One second he was three feet away from the door, the next, he was flying back into the car, along with his assailant. Ryuichi had pounced him the moment he saw him. Both of them now sat on the ground, tangled together as Ryuichi stared down at Shuichi with sparkling eyes. "Shuichi! It's been FOREVER!!!" Shuichi's face slowly began to turn blue, seeing as Ryuichi was squeezing the life out of him. Walking up next to them I knocked my knuckles onto Ryuichi's skull, who, in turn, let go of Shuichi and looked at me with eyes full of tears. "Waaa! Tohma!! That hurt!!!" His crying stopped quickly as I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Ryu… He couldn't breath!" After more tears, more hugs and apologies, the three of us finally made it into the restaurant. It was a small, family run business, and their specialty was breakfast. I had come to this restaurant back in my high school days, before Nittle Grasper, and had bought the place a few years back when they were slowly going out of business. I hadn't told anyone about that, but I had continued to help them through out the years. In the end, I was very happy I had called Ryuichi. He kept Shindou clearly distracted from all that had happened. I even caught him smile a few times.
By the end of our meal, the two had decided to make their way back to Ryuichi's place to play video games. I waved them off silently and strode back to my car, not even sure of what I wanted to do. So, of course, I just ended up back at work, but this time it was alive and busy. I got quite a few stares, and raised eyebrows as I made my way through the halls. Most of them probably wondering the same thing I was; what the hell am I doing at work? I found myself outside Bad Lucks studio shortly. Peaking inside, I found everyone there, except Shuichi. Hiro looked distraught, like he hadn't slept at all the night before. In fact, all three of them looked that way. The door squeaked, giving me away. I found all of their eyes staring at me in just half a second.
"Shindou will be out for a few days. He has my permission for at least a week off." All of their eyes widened at me, K merely nodded his head. I was slightly surprised K wasn't going to argue with me. Eiri's death had been all over the news. He couldn't even turn the radio on this morning on the way to breakfast. "You may all take the week off, if you wish…" With my last words, I hurried from the room before anyone could say anything.
"Tohma!" I stopped half way down the hall and turned to find Nakano running up to me. "Is he alright??? I have been trying to call him all night! He hasn't been answering the phone at all! He didn't even call to tell me what happened!" Hiro was speaking so quickly, I could hardly understand him. He was almost as bad as Shuichi. As he paused, out of breath, I took the opportunity to answer him.
"Shindou is fine. At the moment, he is over at Ryuichi's. Shuichi stayed here in the studio last night, I can't tell you why he didn't answer your calls… He was just… a mess."