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Chapter 5

The Scandalous Night

:-:

'What Sousuke catches the next are faint traces of tears on his cheeks.'

—from Chapter 5

:-:

"What now? You wanna tell me your bullshit about caring?" Rin snaps at Sousuke, settling himself on his motorcycle. "No need to bother yourself, Sousuke."

"Stop being a jerk, Rin." Sousuke grunts. When Rin is in his state of anger, it will take a huge amount of patience for Sousuke to not punch him on the face. He starts the engine of his vehicle and tightens the helmet strap over his chin. "You go to Nanase's. I will visit Makoto's house. I don't know where the hell Nanase lives, so don't argue."

"Tch. Fine. Sousuke," Rin turns to him, lifting his helmet up, "take care." Rin says it while baring his shark teeth, but it is enough for Sousuke to extinguish his own flame of hostility.

"You too." Sousuke answers with a sulk. His vehicle runs off, leaving Rin way behind. Tonight, he breaks almost every traffic rule, but Sousuke no longer cares. He speeds off in an average speed of a hundred kilometers per hour, but eventually he slows down.

"Shit."

He curses even more when he fails to remember the exact location of Makoto's house. He knows Makoto lives in Minamikagaya, but where again is Minamikagaya? Sousuke fights the urge to crash his motorcycle to an innocent tree in his own frustration over his poor sense of direction. He pulls out his cellphone and punches the application he usually uses for direction with much more force than necessary.

Sousuke awkwardly types 'Minamikagaya' on his application without slowing down his motorcycle, shifting his attention back and forth between his cellphone and the road. Imagining what may be happening to Makoto puts Sousuke in panic. What if whoever hired the two people he had arrested several days ago is involved in this? What if he or she hired another people to harm Makoto? What if Makoto is kidnapped? What if he's murdered?

In his state of fear, Sousuke almost crashes on a speeding car and receives and angry, blaring sound from the car horn. Sousuke replies the horn with series of curses. After the map is opened and the application is ready to guide him, Sousuke accelerates his motorcycle again.

:-:

Rin stops in front of a nice-looking apartment. Haruka is lingering at the lobby. His usual calm expression has turned frantic. His brows furrow in worry, and he keeps pacing back and forth across the lobby, sitting and fidgeting, standing back up again, eyes constantly watching the glass entrance doors.

The moment Rin rushes in, Haruka is sitting on a single sofa at the lobby. He quickly stands up and approaches Rin. "Rin, Makoto is..." His hand runs over his dark blue hair, clutching it with force.

"Calm down, Haru. Has he replied to your email?"

Haruka shakes his head. "No. Not yet."

Rin nods and pulls Haruka toward the door. "Let's go. Make sure your helmet's tight."

Haruka has explained everything to Rin over the phone. Normally, Makoto will reply to his emails as soon as possible. Yet today, Haruka hasn't received a single reply after small conversations he had with Makoto at around seven o'clock. Makoto's last email explained to him that Makoto is going to his usual pet store to buy canned foods for Mizu and Sora. Haruka thought that Makoto is probably busy, but after the clock passes half to ten, Haruka decides to make a call to the local pet store.

The answer wasn't satisfactory. The store owner informed him that Makoto didn't come to the store at all, and she has tended the store since six o'clock. Haruka has attempted to call Makoto a dozen times already, but all of his calls instantly entered the voice mail. Haruka's next shot was to call Makoto's neighbor.

"I'm sorry, Haruka-chan." Makoto's neighbor is a friendly old woman named Tamura. "I didn't see Makoto-chan comes home since he left. His home is still a bit dark, but there's light visible from the front window. Perhaps the light is for Mizu and Sora."

And then, Haruka has asked Mrs. Tamura to ring Makoto's house. Mrs. Tamura gladly did it for Haruka, and received no answer from the door. "Last time I saw him, Makoto-chan is being pulled by someone inside a car." Mrs. Tamura informed him later. "There were people inside the car as well. They looked threatening, like some delinquents. Bad people, Haruka-chan."

That piece of information might have driven Haruka close to insanity, until he finally called Rin. Haruka opened up their conversation with four alarming words: 'Makoto has been kidnapped'.

"No, Haru. There's a possibility, but perhaps Makoto is just going somewhere without telling you. Maybe they're his friends." Rin tries to calm him down while starting his motorcycle engine. Rin is doubting his own words, but it is necessary to ease Haruka a little.

Haruka sits down behind Rin. His worried expression hasn't changed. Without another word, Rin drives the motorcycle toward Makoto's house.

:-:

His throat is burning. It feels so dry after all his growls. Makoto has kept his voice raspy throughout his singing, and the crowd loves it. He throws away all his other thoughts and decides to hypnotize himself to a state of trance, to keep singing instinctively until it's over. He's barely conscious of what he's even doing. All thanks to vodka, probably. He will just keep doing whatever it is as long as the crowd loves it. As long as they cheer on him and jump with the music, Makoto cares for no other.

Makoto has reached the first chorus of Dried Up Youthful Fame, and his body has been sweating all over. His face flushes, both his neck and cheeks burning. Why is it so hot in here?

Suddenly, all Makoto wants to do is sleep. He is indeed sleepy and tired. At this hour, usually he's already asleep, and he's not a morning person. Life as a singer has been harsh and exhausting, and he loves every hour of precious sleeping, where he can no longer care about the world. It is the time when he can enter a different, nicer realms called 'dreams'.

Finally, Makoto sings the last line, and the song ends. Cheers and applauses follow after. Makoto breaths a 'thank you' with his hoarse voice, flashing his stage smile, and bowing a little. He can't see most of the faces watching him. The lights are blinding, coloring his vision in white.

The costume he has borrowed from Mamoru makes him uncomfortable. It exposes a bit too much of his body, more than he prefers, and it is a bit tight. He felt okay with it after he drank all of his vodka and before going on the stage. Now, with so many people watching, he has a strong urge to cover himself. His arms have tried to embrace his own body, but Makoto's brain commanded them not to do that.

He doesn't really know why he hates this kind of costume so much. Perhaps it's because he has been experiencing lots of gazes, most of them uncomfortably lustful. More often than not, those gazes make him feels naked, like a gaze alone can strip his clothes away. Yet, if he wants to sing with the help of Mamoru, he has to follow whatever dress code Mamoru assigned him.

Makoto turns his body to quickly go off stage. Both flattery and embarrassment consume him, but Mamoru has climbed on the stairs, grabbing his bare arm as if to prevent him to go away, and stealing his microphone.

"Give more applause to Tachibana Makoto!" Mamoru speaks over the microphone, "He's a good friend of mine. If you like him, he will be glad to give you more entertainments for the next weekends to come. Thank you for listening and we will see you again."

As the crowd gives more applauses and whistles, Mamoru turns to him, setting the microphone on its stand. "So, Makoto, more drinks?" He wraps his arm around Makoto's shoulders, pushing him a little toward the back stage.

"I..." Makoto's head already feels so light. "I don't know... I think I have enough..."

"That's no fun. Come on. You deserve more escape. You've done great on stage." Mamoru says. They has climbed down the stairs toward the back stage, leaving the crowds behind and letting another rock band takes control of the stage. Mamoru's band members start to crowd over them, exchanging jokes and fist bumps.

"Yo, Tachibana." The guitarist greets him with a grin, "Good work." He held out his fist. Makoto blinks at it for a second before holding out his own fist, bumping it against the guitarist's. "We should do a little celebration." The guitarist continues to say.

"Just do it here in this club. More drinks, everyone. Let's go." Mamoru answers, pulling Makoto with him.

"Um..." Makoto opens his mouth, "may I go get change...?"

"What for?" Mamoru huffs, "You don't like my costume?"

He doesn't, but Makoto isn't going to admit that.

"No need to." Mamoru practically glares at him, "Your face is red. Getting hot?" Finally, a grin curves on his mouth, "Then this costume will work best for you."

"Okay." Makoto closes his eyes, feeling more dizzy. All the alcohol smell, the cigarettes smokes, the luminous lights, and the blasting music are overwhelming to him. He likes to sing, but not in this kind of place. This isn't his place, but then again, he has no choice. His costume, his piercings, all these chains, and a black leather, short-spiked collar constricting his neck can be a shameful display in front of his family. He shudders the moment he imagines his parents, along with his siblings, Ran and Ren, seeing him in such state. Makoto won't ever allow that to happen.

Even if Makoto releases all the metal piercings on his ear and the collar, they will definitely leave some marks and holes. Sooner or later, Haruka will notice, and Makoto is still struggling to find good excuses for his best friend later.

Haruka isn't allowed to see him like this, or it will be the end of his new secret career.

:-:

Sousuke pushes the doorbell of Makoto's neighbor. He has tried the same with Makoto's house, receiving no more answer than a few scratching sounds on the door coming from Mizu and Sora's claws.

He impatiently stomps his foot against the concrete several times, waiting for the door to be opened. Finally, an old, sleepy woman comes out from behind the door. She stares at Sousuke for a while, from head to toe, and scrunches up her face disapprovingly.

Sousuke is indeed a mess with his bed head hair, casual jeans (he managed to change at least his trousers, as he couldn't just go out wearing only short boxers), a huge piece of thin fabric he calls t-shirt (a bit torn, with small holes here and there, the kind Sousuke wears only for sleeping and hasn't decided to dispose), and a jacket.

The woman's eyes glare at him almost the same way as Haruka's. How can two people be so similar in their ways of glaring? Sousuke won't be surprised if the woman introduces herself as Nanase. Sousuke clears his throat. "Excuse me. I'm a friend of Tachibana Makoto." He decides to not introduce himself as a cop, to avoid raising a panic alarm from the old woman.

Her wrinkled eyes squint in suspicion. "And what do you want from me? Makoto-chan is currently out." She's as unfriendly as Haruka. She must be a Nanase, or at least inherit the Nanase bloodline.

"That is why I'm here. I heard from Nanase that he's missing." Sousuke says, watching the woman in front of him. She's clearly still suspicious. There's something wrong with this woman, or probably with Makoto himself. She's a bit too wary, and Sousuke doubts her wariness is caused by his messy appearance alone.

"He's probably going out with his friends." The woman finally says, "I don't know where he is. Good night."

She's about to close her door in front of Sousuke's nose, but Sousuke's foot instinctively slides toward the door, preventing it to swing closed. "I'm sorry if I alarm you. My name's Yamazaki Sousuke," Sousuke pulls out his ID card and badge, "I'm a police officer from Samezuka Station. Tachibana Makoto has been reported missing."

The old woman looks up, seemingly surprised. She takes Sousuke's ID card and badge, staring at them. "These look genuine. You're not one of them, are you?"

"Them?" Sousuke raises his brow.

"The people who often stalk and terrorize Makoto-chan."

Sousuke should have expected it, but he is taken aback anyway. "Terrorize?"

"Yes. I'm sure they often blackmail him, too, but of course Makoto-chan refuses to tell anyone about it. Even Haruka-chan probably doesn't know."

:-:

He's heavily drunk.

This is bad, Makoto tries to tell himself, this is going bad. I have to go home. Forget about waiting to be escorted home. I will just walk, or use the taxi. Whatever.

A part of his dominating brain refuses to listen. Who cares? I will just sleep here. I can't risk having anyone see me drunk on the street. I'm tired. I don't care anymore.

He's surrounded by Mamoru's group of friends—the people he barely knows. They keep offering him more and more alcohol, teasing him whenever he refuses. He feels nauseous. He wants to excuse himself to the bathroom and throw up.

Makoto doesn't really register what's happening, but he's being touched. Those hands keep touching him more than appropriate. He hates it. He stands up and excuses himself to the bathroom.

The moment Makoto leaves his seat and walks awkwardly, someone slams him to the wall. His back crashes onto it. Unfamiliar hands lock both his wrists to his sides, pressing them on the wall. Before Makoto's drunk head tells him that he has to fight back, rough lips crash onto his. They suck his lips with force, tongue slips between his parted lips.

Disgusting.

Makoto's knee swings to the person's stomach. His wrists wriggle out of the person's grasps. He pushes whoever he or she is with force, causing the person to fall back. "What do you think you're doing?" He almost screams, "How dare you!"

There's no violence in Makoto's personal dictionary. Instead of beating the person to pulp, he runs away to the bathroom.

"Do you get the picture?" A somewhat familiar voice asks.

"Yeah. Tomorrow, he's done for."

Makoto makes it to the bathroom, turning the tap to full blast, and violently scrubs his mouth with the water. Seconds later, he throws up. All his foods and drinks make their way out through his throat, leaving almost nothing in his stomach. When Makoto looks up to his reflection on the mirror, it's not just the foods, but tears break out from his eyes as well.

:-:

"Why do you think he's in a club?" Rin shouts at Sousuke from behind, running his motorcycle as fast as he can manage. Haruka sits behind Rin, listening to their whole conversations.

"Tamura-san said he's with a gang of delinquents!" Sousuke answers with loud voice, "I assume they're actually rockers. Rockers may be singing at clubs."

"What the—where is that assumption coming from!?" Rin asks again impatiently, but he still follows Sousuke.

"Because—" Sousuke trails off. He feels like it isn't his place to share about Makoto's dream. He vaguely remembers Makoto saying something about wanting to be a rock singer, and maybe he has rocker friends, too. Who knows? It's the only place Sousuke can think of at the moment. Those delinquents have sleek black car, so Sousuke thinks that the brats have money. They won't perform in some random street alleys. They would have gone to at least a quite expensive club. If Makoto isn't in the local night club, Sousuke will assume he's indeed kidnapped.

The local night club is not too far away. It is an expensive club, and Sousuke has braced himself to pay a good sum of money from his personal savings. Good bye, new mattress. I will probably see you again in some months, probably a year. Fuck it. He thought he doesn't care, but he does care about his mattress after all. He has found himself envying over Rin's.

When they arrive at their destination, his precious money is safe.

Because Makoto is standing in front of the club entrance, head hangs low, arms covering his body. What surprises Sousuke the most is his whole appearance. Makoto is wearing sleeveless black leather outfit which is tightly wrapping his toned body. His legs are covered in bondage trousers with chains. A short-spiked black collar is secured around his neck. Similar spiked leather wristbands are covering his wrists as well.

It is not just Sousuke who's staring with his mouth opened. Rin's jaw is dropping much lower than his, and Haruka's eyes can't get more wide, mouth parted opened as well. "Makoto?" Haruka is the first to call the name, and Makoto immediately turns to them.

Goodness.

Makoto has piercings on his ear. A little bit too much piercings and too much metals. This appearance is completely out of Makoto's usual league. It's such a new sight to him. It isn't so bad, but it doesn't reflect the sweet, good-natured Makoto that everyone knows.

The brunet displays an expression of dread—like he's caught red-handed. He is heavily flushed—probably drunk. What Sousuke catches the next are faint traces of tears on his cheeks. Sousuke leaves his motorcycle behind and walks toward Makoto. He really doesn't know what to say.

Haruka has approached Makoto faster than Sousuke. "What is this...?" He asks, with tone and eyes much colder than what he's given Sousuke since the first time they've met.

His best friend shakes his head. "This... um..."

"You lied to me." Haruka says, looking indifferent, "And look what I've found? You in front of a night club wearing all these... these... things." Haruka's eyes move up and down, scanning Makoto's clothes. "You have your phone switched off. You left me hanging in worry. You freaked out Rin and Yamazaki... and me as well. I really want a good explanation, but what I'm seeing here can't provide any satisfying answer." His voice is lower and icier after each sentence.

"H-Haru. I... I'm sorry..." Makoto's voice is weak, a bit raspy, "I—"

"Explain later. Go home. Now." Haruka turns to Rin and Sousuke, "Rin, would you please escort him home...?"

Rin nods in silence. Sousuke clears his throat. "You look cold. Need a jacket?" Sousuke releases his jacket and drapes it over Makoto's shoulders. The brunet replies with a weak 'thanks', looking down again. He looks ashamed of himself.

Makoto will probably have a long talk with Haruka later. Sousuke doesn't want to put more pressure on him.

The ride is quiet. Haruka is now sitting behind Sousuke, and Sousuke isn't that stupid to not recognize his reason for letting Makoto on Rin's motorcycle. He surely hasn't won Haruka's favor.

Nobody dares to talk. Haruka is obviously pissed off, and silence is what Sousuke thinks he needs at the moment. After they arrive at Makoto's home, Mizu and Sora enthusiastically greet their master with sweet meows and little scratches on Makoto's bondage trousers. Makoto gives them a smile, exclusively forced for his two little kittens.

They are sitting down in silence inside Makoto's living room. The atmosphere is pressuring. Sousuke doesn't do much scanning over the room. It looks comfortable, though. He likes the simplicity of the room. It gives him a warm feel of 'home'.

Finally, Haruka takes a deep breath before saying, "Rin, Yamazaki. Thank you for your help, but I want a private conversation with Makoto."

"Sure." Rin quickly stands up, "Don't fight, you two. You never fight before, so I'm a bit worried. Me and Sousuke often have wars, but I really can't imagine you two fighting. And Makoto, don't do that again. I'm concerned about you. Are you okay? Do you have a fever? Because man—you're red all over."

Makoto smiles sheepishly. "We won't, and I'm—" Makoto hiccups, covering his mouth with his palm, "—fine. Thank you, Rin. I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble. Sousuke, thank you as well, and sorry."

"It's fine." Sousuke says, heaving. They all know Makoto's drunk, and that's probably another reason why Haruka looks so pissed.

They made their way outside Makoto's house, saying their goodbyes to Makoto and Haruka, and to Mizu and Sora. Sousuke doesn't talk to Rin even after they have arrived to their apartment. No 'good nights' are exchanged. Both of them fell to a deep sleep on their own beds.

:-:

"Shit."

Rin's curse wakes Sousuke up. Sousuke just remembers that it's Monday. He hasn't gotten enough sleep, and that fact pisses him off a little. Perhaps Rin is cursing about Monday, but that's not it. The moment Sousuke turns his body, Rin is gritting his shark teeth over something he sees on his phone.

"What now?" Sousuke grunts, sitting up on his bed.

"None of your—"

"Fuck that shit." Sousuke glares at him, "I have enough of that, Rin."

"Fine! Look at this!" Rin almost throws his phone to Sousuke's bed, but in that split second, he remembers how thin Sousuke's mattress is, and decides to hand his phone to Sousuke.

It was a picture of Makoto, and Sousuke is instantly disgusted. Makoto is wearing the same outfit he wore last night in that picture, passionately kissing another guy Sousuke doesn't know. Sousuke can imagine their tongues rubbing against each other from behind those colliding mouths. It drives Sousuke to jealousy and anger. It spoons him a taste of disgust.

He never thought Makoto is that cheap. Then again, he doesn't know Makoto that well. After what happened last night, he doubts a lot of his previous assumptions regarding Makoto's personalities. He should have known it. There's no angel-like person. It's possible that all those amiable smiles are fake. Why did he trust Makoto anyway? Someone like him must have a lot of personas, trained to please his fans.

"I can't believe this." Rin comments. Sousuke lowers Rin's phone on his lap.

He doesn't want to believe this, but he believes it anyway. "Where did you get the picture?"

"Some guy uploads it—seems like Makoto's dear friend that I never know until last night." Rin takes his cellphone, "It spreads all over the internet."

"Huh."

Makoto is not a damn slut? Pure-hearted? Angel-like? Don't make me laugh.

Sousuke's cellphone rings, indicating a new text message has entered his inbox. It was from Makoto.

'7.24 A.M.

Good morning, Sousuke. I want to say thank you for escorting me last night. I'm so sorry that I caused so much trouble for you and Rin. In case you're wondering, me and Haru are doing fine now, so don't worry! I hope we can meet up again later. Remember about swimming pool?'

Normally, he will be pleased with this kind of message from Makoto. He will immediately reply, feeling a surge of relief and smiling like an idiot, but now...

Now, he doesn't have that natural urge to smile. He doesn't care, let alone worry, about Makoto and Haruka anymore. Makoto even deserves all scoldings from Haruka. Now, he feels too lazy to reply, like it's taking so much effort. Sousuke decides to ignore the message and starts to get ready for work.

It takes almost a full day for Sousuke to finally send a reply to Makoto's message.

Just a simple 'sure'.

Notes:

For kanamexzero fan: you're welcome! Unfortunately, something bad did happen in this chapter. Thank you!

Reviews are very much appreciated! Thank you for sticking with this story. Until the next chapter!