Chapter VI: the Revelations
"Right, and pigs can fly," Akira sighed, lifting both hands lightly.
Yuya moved the phone closer to her mouth. "Akari, is this serious?"
"People… I'm serious! Geez, seems like nobody believes that I can be serious… Sanada just called me seconds ago… Hotaru is going to be released from jail, tomorrow morning! That's why he asked me to call everyone, while he went to the airport, to take the first flight to Hokkaido…," Akari's voice came out from the phone's loudspeaker.
Yuya and Akira stared at each other, their facial expression clearly told that they still cannot accept this fact. Akira immediately moved the phone closer.
"Look, I don't get it. I thought we're not bailing him out? Or is there something that I don't know?" Akira asked, his hand on his hip, looking slightly pissed.
"Yes, Akari, why so sudden?" Yuya interrupted from behind Akira's shoulder.
"No, no, no! We didn't bail him out! He's released 'cause they've found a new evidence… like, a really strong one… and it proves that indeed, there's another suspect other than him!"
Silence fell in to the room.
Yuya's jaw dropped. "Really!?"
"Yes! So right now he's no longer a suspect! His status is being changed into witness, they said… so that's why he's going to be released," Akari continued. Though it cannot be seen, but it seemed that he was smiling gladly when he said this.
"But what is this evidence? How come it became so strong?" Yuya's instinct as a journalist just will not let it go easily.
"Um… don't know. Sanada didn't tell me…," Akari answered.
Yuya lifted her head, and her sight immediately fell into Akira, who was standing in front of her. He was holding his iPhone but it seemed like his mind was not really there; he stared blankly at it and his lips looked doubtful.
"Akari… does this mean that Hotaru is innocent?" he finally asked.
"Yup! See, told ya before…," Akari answered cheerfully. "Yuya, isn't it amazing? He's finally going to be released! I'm so grateful…."
Minutes went by since Akari ended up their conversation, yet Yuya still stood there, motionless, clutching Akira's phone dearly in front of her chest. She did not say a word, but the look in her face was the look of someone who just had all her dreams came true. Full of joy, she sighed, and turned herself towards Akira. "Isn't this a great news?"
But her smile faded as she found him sitting on the edge of the couch, hugging his own legs. He looked restless. And when he lifted his hand to scratch his head, Yuya got this impression that he was going to rip it apart.
She moved closer to the guy as soon as possible. "Are you okay?" asked Yuya, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"Yuya, all these times, he wasn't guilty…," he muttered. His hands was trembling when Yuya touched them.
Yuya shook her head, stared at him with glassy eyes.
"And I… I actually want him to stay there! Gosh, I was such a jerk…," he covered his face with his hands, looking desperate. Yuya immediately pulled him in to her hug.
"I don't even know the truth…," his voice became weaker.
Yuya rubbed his back lovingly. "Ssst… calm down, Akira! You didn't know it…."
She moved herself away from him. "It's okay to make mistakes when you don't know… but now, you've known the truth, right?"
He slowly nodded. "But I still can't believe it… What kind of friend am I…. Gosh, I feel horrible!"
His words were silenced as she pulled him into her hug again. "Ssst… say no more!"
Yuya slowly whispered to his ear. "Now you know why I always insist on bailing him out, right? I always had these feelings…."
"Honey, I'm home!"
There was a sound of a door being opened hastily, followed with the sound of it being slammed. With a start, Akira lifted his head. Yuya also turned her head to the direction of the entrance door.
Standing in front of the door, was this stunningly pretty young girl. She carried a guitar case on one hand, which she then put on the floor, and Akira's home keys on the other hand. The clothes that she wore was this long-sleeved, stripy black-and-white T-shirt, with matching black vest and some long necklaces. She also had a very short jeans, which complemented really well with her long legs, and a dirty, old white Converse. Her short blonde hair was messy, but looked great on her, and she had these dark-colored make-up on her eyes.
When she got in and found out that her boyfriend was sitting in the couch, hugging a girl that she does not know, her first reaction was to bawl her eyes out. Then she took a deep breath, and even Kyo's ancestors would realize that it would be much better to stay away.
"What are you doing?" she asked, dropping her heavy backpack on the floor.
Akira quickly got up, and moved into her direction. "Look, I can explain… It's not like what you think…"
"Then what is it!?"
"Um…," Akira looked dead-confused. His hands were on his head, looking as if he was going to rip it apart. "You see…."
"Yes, I see it! I was working my ass off, performing in a live house, in such a late hour… while you stay at home, hugging a slut!"
"Don't call her a slut…!"
The two soon got into a horrible fight. Yuya, feeling guilty and ashamed, soon grabbed her things away and walked out of the living room, intending to leave Akira's place. "Um, gotta go. Bye, thanks, Akira."
"No! Yuya! Wait!" Akira pulled her hand, trying to stop her from going, as she opened the door to leave.
"I've to go, Akira!" she sobbed, pulled her hand away, and ran as fast as she could.
"Yuya! No…."
"Hey! I'm not done yet!" Tokito yelled, pulling Akira back into the house.
Yuya made her brother confused when she arrived into the house by refusing to explain why she came home with tears on her eyes. She then slammed her bedroom door shut, throw away her futon on the floor, and cries the night away.
I can't believe this… we finally got Hotaru out of jail, but why this has to happened?
I feel so bad… bet I've got Akira into trouble…
Her sobbing went even louder as these thoughts came in to her head.
Why do these guys could never get themselves out of trouble?
The night grew on while she cried herself away.
xxxXXXxxx
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep
Tenro barked as it heard these noisy sounds coming from his owner's Blackberry. He ran around the squeaky clean wooden floor, trying to get the attention of his owner, and when he realize his effort was useless, he took the liberty to jump into his owner's bed, and made an even greater effort to wake him up.
The wolf-like dog licked Kyo's sleeping face. The guy soon groaned, and stirred himself in his sleep, trying to get away from the dog's lickings.
"Tenro. Stop it."
The dog barked, and tried to bite one of the many pillows that was put randomly around Kyo's body. But luckily Kyo managed to pull the pillow away before it turned into a feathery mess.
"I'll kill you!"
The dog barked once again, a rather desperate one this time, and Kyo finally realized that his phone was ringing. He soon picked it up, and began to talk, with his eyes still closed.
"Yes…?"
"Kyo!"
His eyes soon blinked open. At first, there was this surprised look on his face. Then, slowly the look changed into a smirk. Or was it a smile?
"So. How's it going?"
"Not bad. Just had breakfast. Akari made it for me."
"Really… so, he stayed to accompany you?"
"Yeah. Everyone's here."
This time Kyo actually smiled. He scratched his head lazily. "Okay. I'll be there soon."
"Alright, Kyo."
He then hung up, and put his phone on his bed. Sighing, he watched his surrounding lazily. Then he got up, kicked this dark grey duvet that has been covering his naked body from below his chest, and left his bed.
He walked around in his super luxurious, trendy, minimalist-styled bedroom, and stopped before his working desk, where his laptop and two blocks of black-colored candles were. There was also this water jug, that looked like the ones in hotel suites, and he poured the contents in to a glass. After a sip, he sighed, and carried the glass to the window.
He was soon greeted by the sight of another apartment building which located on the other side of the street. A young lady, who was having her breakfast in front of the window of her apartment, immediately fainted at the sight of a nude Kyo. Of course, Kyo did not care, it was not his fault if he was so good-looking. So he just took another gulp from his glass, and continued to stare at the street below.
"So… after all… we were right. I was right."
He smiled in satisfaction and finished the contents of his glass.
Hotaru just ended up his conversation with Kyo, and he threw his mobile phone to this bed behind him that he used to lean his body on. A scream was soon heard. "Hotaru!! Would you be careful with that!? It hit me!"
"Really?" was his simple answer.
Akari laughed. "Oh… two days out of jail and Ho-chan had returned to his usual manner!"
With a proud look in his face, Hotaru wrapped his body with a blanket, and curled himself on the floor. Everyone soon laughed at this child-like behavior.
It was only two days after Yuya received the news of Hotaru's release from jail, and right now everyone is gathering in Hotaru's apartment, ready for celebration and maybe some catch-ups. Even though Hotaru's apartment is in Western style, but all of them had to sit on the floor, as Hotaru had nothing in his place but a large unmade bed, his bass guitar completed with its amplifier, an acoustic guitar, and a television set. So they set up a circle right in front of his bed, with him as the center of the attention, while Bon tried to have a taste of his bed by laying on it (which resulted in him got hit by a flying mobile phone).
"So, Hotaru… please, do tell us… how did you get out of jail? I almost die of curiosity," Kosuke said, looking very hopeful.
Sanada lit his cigarette. "Oh, it's a story of Christmas miracles."
"Duh. Spring's just started. Christmas was like… half a year away, if I'm not mistaken," Sasuke, Hotaru's sound technician, replied with this sulky look in his face.
"Hey, don't tell me that you're not sure when Christmas is," Bon shouted.
"I do know when Christmas is!" Sasuke crossed his hands in front of his chest.
"Oh yeah?" Bon got up slowly. "So, when is it?"
"It… it's still many months from now!" Slowly, Sasuke started to blush.
Bon made this scary, screeching laugh. "What month is it exactly, boy?"
"Come on, guys… this is stupid," Akari muttered, munching on pizzas, while Yuya, who sat beside him, ROFLHAO. "And you… what's with that laugh?"
"I… can't help it… it's damn funny!" Yuya continued to burst with her laughter. Ah… these guys. Always a great fun to be with.
Unfortunately…
She took a look around, and loses her laughter. Because not exactly everyone was there.
Kyo just woke up when Hotaru called him, but he said he is going to come, so there is no problem with him. But Akira…
Yuya rubbed her cheek sadly as she thinks of him. Everyone had tried to contact him, but he was unavailable. Which means he was the only one who is absent today, and it really gave Yuya the image that he was still disturbed by the Hugging incident. Or maybe even… Hotaru's release.
"Guys, do you wanna hear a great story?"
Hotaru got up, waving his blanket in a Superman-like manner. Everyone clapped and cheered, shouting, "He's going to tell the story of his release! Listen up!"
He then walked to the center of the circle with his flat, emotionless look. When he got there, he asked everyone a question, "So. Do you guys know what a sissy TV is?"
Everyone went silent. A snail could be seen moving slowly on the background.
"A sissy TV?" Yuya asked, looking confused. Her sorrow for not having Akira around soon disappeared into the air.
Hotaru nodded confidently.
"An electric version of Akari!" said Bon cheerfully, which soon replied by a kick by the said person.
"No, no… wrong!" Hotaru replied, waving his hands impatiently. "It's a kind of camera… people usually hang it on the wall, in crowded places… and it recorded everything that happened in that place."
Once again, everyone went silent. This time, a turtle could be seen in the background.
Yuya clapped her hands. "It's CCTV! Right!?"
The room soon filled with these angry voices, yelling at Hotaru ("Idiot! A sissy TV!? Go see a speech therapist!"). But as usual, he decided not to care, and go on with his story.
"So, one night, I ran out of Marlboros… so I decided to go to the ATM, to get some money. And my pocket was filled with money afterwards, lots of them. I went to a konbini to get my Marlboro, and a bag of chips for Yuya, and a can of Red Bull for Bon…."
Yuya lifted her eyebrows, realizing that he was talking about the night he got arrested.
"After that, I tried to get back to hotel. But I got lost. I was walking in a neighborhood, lots of houses around me. I continued to walk. But I was hungry, so I ate Yuya's chips and drank Bon's Red Bull," he continued.
"Great, thanks for the info," Bon muttered.
Hotaru took a deep breath. "Then, I heard the sounds of broken glass."
This time, everyone actually held their breath, listening attentively.
Hotaru nodded. "Yes, it came from a house beside me. So I checked it out…," Hotaru explained with his hands moving around, being very dramatic. "The walls were really high, so I go to the front entrance… jump over the gate…," he actually imitated the way he did it that time. "And go to the backyard… and found…."
Another deep breath from the crowd.
"A man," Hotaru continued. "Covered in black. And he had a mask on his face, only his eyes could be seen. And he carried… like… a big bundle. And he was climbing the wall. To escape from the house."
In the most dramatic way, Hotaru exclaimed, "He was the robber!"
"Okay. But how come you end up being the suspect then?" Bon asked critically.
"Stealing is bad, Bon," Hotaru replied, very matter-of-factly. "When someone's steal, other should stop him and gave him away to the police. So I tried to catch him… and I even tried to climb the wall. But the wall, you see, is covered with leaves."
"Oh… you mean… it had some kind of plants grow on it?" asked Tora.
"Yes! Yes… and my foot got stuck in it," Hotaru continued. "I tried to set it free… but the robber had already escaped. And that's when I heard someone screamed."
"Let me guess. That Shinrei guy," Akari said confidently.
"Correct! That shrewd with weird hairdo. He screamed at me, telling me that I was a robber… and he pulled my leg. I fell, and we rolled on the ground. And then he sat on top of me. And called the police from his mobile phone."
"Um… wait! Hotaru, I think your story is… great. Fantastic. But I failed to see the link between this story and… you know, the sissy TV," Tora interrupted.
Everyone soon stated their opinion, agreeing that the story had nothing to do with a CCTV. Meanwhile, Yuya sat with her head down, her facial expression looked as if… she just had a sudden epiphany.
She lifted up her head. "Hotaru… don't tell me, all of these scenes are recorded in a CCTV!?"
Hotaru lifted up his hand, and pointed at Yuya. "That's right!"
"And you're being released 'cause they've found a copy of the video… and it revealed that it wasn't you who did the robbery, and that you actually tried to stop the real suspect!?"
Hotaru's jaw dropped, and he had this surprised look in his face. "Y-yes… That's true… Geez. You're so smart, Yuya. No wonder you went to university!"
Just when Yuya almost jump to slap Hotaru, Sanada put off his cigarette, and finish the whole story. "So… it turns out that Mr. Shinrei's neighbor, the one who lives right behind his house… had a set of CCTV installed on his house. And one of the camera directly faces Shinrei's backyard. And it clearly shows how a ninja jump into his backyard, broke his windows, did some things inside… and came out with a bundle."
"It also revealed that when the ninja tried to climb the wall to escape, there was this skinny little guy running into the backyard. This guy, he was wearing a red hooded sweater, and he looked stunned when he saw the ninja…."
"I wasn't stunned," Hotaru interrupted, pouting.
"Okay, the ninja was also stunned," Sanada corrected. "Then little red riding hood bravely tried to stop the ninja, but he failed. And ended up being accused of the robbery. Luckily, the cops managed to laid their hand on a copy of the videos."
Everyone went silent at Sanada's explanations.
"Well, it makes sense now. That way, it's easy to think that Hotaru was the one who did it," Tora said.
"Yes… especially with the fact that he had exactly the same amount of money with the one being stolen, 'cuz he just returned from the ATM… remember I told you that?" Sanada said, pointing at Tora. Then he lifted both of his hands, and confetti started to fly around him. "But now everything's cleared and we have our bassist back!"
Sanada's smile was so big at this moment that everyone started to have crystals on their eyes. Akari was the one with the loudest sob.
"Hotaru!" he yelled and hugged the guy. "You… you nasty kid! You made Auntie Akari so damn worried!"
"Stop it, you disgusts me," Hotaru replied, but soon regretted it when Akari strangled him.
Yuya shook her head. "You, Hotaru. Everyone is dead-worried for you."
Akari suddenly turned her head into Yuya's direction. "But Yuya… didn't I tell you before…. Hotaru always managed to get out of troubles! So he would always be fine…."
Yuya gave away her warmest, most beautiful smile, which ended only when Kyo came of bottles of beer, and the day ended with an unplanned, wild party.
