Okay, here is the next chapter of the story. And I suck at coming up with restaurant names (especially Japanese ones) so dont make fun of me for the name of it. It'll only be mentioned a few times so its not the end of the world if it sounds stupid (which it does). And no update tomorrow, as I will be gone for most of today and tomorrow. But Sunday there will be a special Valentine's Day one-shot! Unless my plans change...then it might be a bit late....

Red Rose

Chapter 18

The next morning

"Tommy, are you ready to go yet?" Takuya asked.

Tommy jerked his head up, obviously snapped out of his daze. "Uh, what?"

"I just asked if you were ready to go yet," the older boy said, walking over to Tommy's room with Zoe close behind. "You know, go to your old house to pick up a few things?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry," Tommy mumbled, slowly rising to his feet.

Nana, who had been sitting on Tommy's bed beside him, gave her friend a concerned look. "Are you sure that you want to go? I mean...it's only been a day since...you know..."

"Nah, it's fine," he replied with a sigh. "I just want to get this done and over with."

Takuya uneasily shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "The uh...police said to just stay out of the kitchen. But you can go into any other room and grab what you want."

Tommy nodded numbly, his face tired and his eyes bloodshot. He had hardly slept during the night, and Nana had stayed with him until he finally had succumbed to sleep. He silently pulled his jacket on, his body feeling as though it had been hit by a truck.

"I already called your school to let them know that you and Nana will not be attending today," Zoe told him softly. "They were completely understanding and said that you can just make up what you miss during the week."

"Thanks, Zoe," he responded quietly.

Nana took his hand in hers and gave him a reassuring sqeeze. "You ready?"

After another sigh, Tommy nodded again, too tired to answer vocally.

"Okay, we're going to your house, but we have to do one thing before that," Takuya said. "I went through my finances and decided that I have plenty of money to buy a car. So instead of walking back to the house with all of your stuff, we can use the new car I'm going to buy."

"Gee, took you long enough to get off your ass to buy one," Kouji muttered from behind him. "What took you so long to get one anyway? You know that you have enough money for twenty friggen cars. Good cars, mind you."

Takuya rolled his eyes. "Unlike you, I don't mind walking, especially when everything is so close by. But I decided to get one just in case there's an emegency or if we have to go somewhere that's not within reasonable walking distance. Plus public transportation sucks when I have to use it...."

"Get something good," Kouji told him. "You know, not an old piece of crap like my grandfather drives."

"I'll keep that in mind," the brunette said dryly before turning to the others. "Okay, you ready?"

Zoe, Tommy, and Nana nodded unanimously, then followed him out the room. Kouji yawned, glancing at the clock.

"Quarter of ten," he mused. "Fuck that, I'm going back to sleep..."

"See ya later," Takuya said as he and the other three exited the house.

"Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out," Kouji replied with another yawn.

Takuya gave him a rude gesture, then closed the front door. Kouji dragged himself back to his bedroom, closing the door behind him. He then flopped himself down on his bed, falling asleep only seconds later.

As he slept, his brother was nervously pacing around in his own room. Kouichi only had fifteen minutes to think of where he wanted to take Kanae, and so far he was drawing a blank.

"I want to take her somewhere nice..but not too nice...and somewhere with good prices....but not too cheap either....dammit," he groaned. "Shouldn't be this hard to pick out a place to eat. But if I pick a restaurant that's too nice, she might run off and think I'm crazy for over-doing it. And if I pick somewhere too casual, she might bitch slap me for not caring enough about where I took her. Argh, why are girls so complicated?!"

He sat down on the edge of his bed, deep in thought for the next five minutes. Finally, his face lit up with excitement and he quickly stood up on the bed.

"I've got it! I know exactly where to take her-Aaaah!" He suddenly lost his balance and fell, crashing to the floor. "Ow...that hurt....But I know where to take her!"

Meanwhile

"Are you two ready to go?" Kakuzawa asked impatiently.

Masaki gave him his usual indifferent expression, though his eyes seemed to glow with a dark malice. "Yes."

"I know I am," Kanae said, her mood much better than Masaki's. "In two hours I'll be getting some information about that blond bitch."

"Try not to come off as too aggressive or pry too much," Director Kakuzawa warned. "Your association with this boy will be of great help, and I cannot allow you to-"

"Fuck things up?" She rudely intercepted, rolling her eyes. "Don't worry, Gramps. I won't."

Kakuzawa glared at her. "I don't appreciate you calling me that."

Kanae shrugged. "And I don't appreciate you callling me 'Number Fifty-One' either. But we can't all get what we want, now can we?"

The director's left eye twitched slightly and he roughly handed the girl her cell phone. He then angrily nodded his head towards the exit. "Just go. You know your orders and make sure you are back by the deadline."

"Yes, Gramps," Kanae replied sarcastically. "I promise not to go over my oh-so-late curfew."

Masaki pulled his hood up, before giving Kanae and expressionless look. "You ready?"

"Hell yeah, I am," she told him.

"Then let's go," the male Diclonius said, making his way towards the exit.

For once, Kanae followed him without complaint. She was excited about the aspect of being able to sit down and relax as oppose to wandering around for eight hours trying to find the girl.

"Too bad you don't get to go on a date, huh?" She teased.

Masaki carelessly glanced at her. "I'd rather do it the old-fashioned way and find her myself. It's convenient that you may be able to get some information, but if I happen to find her on my own, that would be a bit more....rewarding..."

"Why are you so hung up on this girl anyway?" Kanae asked, raising an eyebrow. "You've never even met her."

"Yes, but I did get a good look at her. I'll be able to recognize her from a crowd if we happen to cross paths. Also, although I haven't actually met her, she intrigues me," he replied.

Kanae pushed a lock of pink hair off her shoulders, letting it hang down her back instead. "Well, we'll know at 5:30 when we meet to go back to that godforsaken facility. I'll tell you what I found out, and you can do the same."

Just then, her cell phone rang, and she quickly flipped it open.

"Hello?" She asked, already knowing that it was Kouichi.

"Hey, Kanae. It's me," the raven-haired teen said. "I just figured I'd call you and tell you where we're going."

Kanae smiled. "And where would that be?"

"Well, can you meet me at The Golden Lily? At noon?" He asked.

"Sure can," she replied. "See you then."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye." Kanae hung up, a smirk curling on her lips. "This is going to be too easy."

Masaki kept his gaze straight ahead. "In the meantime, you'll need to kill about an hour and a half by the time we get there."

"Eh, I'll find something to entertain myself," she said nonchalantly. "Just don't expect me to waste my time trying to find the blond girl in the meantime."

"I expect nothing from you," he told her apathetically.

Kanae's amber eyes narrowed. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I don't expect you to be bothered with anything that you don't wish to do," Masaki replied. "Not that it makes a difference, seeing how either way you'll most likely get some type of information from that kid."

"Why bother looking for her today?" She shrugged without a care. "It'll just waste my time. I doubt that I'll find her anyway. Besides, you seem like a smart guy. I'm sure that you'll be able to track her down on your own today."

Masaki glanced at her. "We'll see."

Forty minutes later

"Yeah, this car is nice," Takuya mused to himself. "Kind of kicking myself for not getting one sooner."

He was driving down the street in his new black Mazda RX 8. Zoe was in the passenger seat beside him, while the younger teens were in the back.

"Don't be surprised if Kouji asks to borrow it," Zoe pointed out.

"Eh, I know he will," he replied. "Which is why I made sure to get full insurance in case he crashes the damn thing."

The four of them were now heading towards Tommy's house, only minutes away by now. Tommy's heart was racing a mile a minute, although he wasn't sure why.

There's nothing to be nervous about, he thought to himself. Kiyoto's dead, after all. I'm only going there to pick up some of my things...but why does it feel like I'm heading to my own funeral?

Nana looked at him, her eyes filled with worry. "Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Fine," he replied.

Takuya glanced back at him, then took a left down the next street. The next three minutes were driven in absolute silence, until Takuya finally asked Tommy a question.

"Is this the street?"

"Yeah, that would be it," the boy said. "And it's the third house on the left."

Takuya pulled into the driveway, then parked. He and the other three reluctantly exited the vehicle, staring at the house before them. Although it was neat and well-kept on the outside, it seemed to have a slightly ominous atmosphere about it.

After a long pause, Takuya looked at Tommy. "Are you ready?"

Tommy hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."

He led them to the front door, where he extracted a set of keys from his pocket. They shook slightly in his hands as he fumbled to find the right one. He finally located the key to the front door and pushed it into the lock. Tommy then unlocked it and pushed the door open, taking a minute to just stare inside at the place that used to be his home. No one said anything and waited patiently as Tommy mustered up the nerve to enter.

When he finally did, he walked inside quietly, waiting for the others to follow. Takuya gently closed the door, then looked at the younger brunette.

"Okay, the police said to just stay out of the kitchen," he said. "So you can go anywhere else in the house since there's still some evidence for them to look through."

"That's okay, I don't have to go in the kitchen anyway." Tommy glanced at Nana and gave her small smile. "You wanna see what my room looks like? Or my old room, I should say."

Nana returned his smile. "Yes, I do."

The two of them headed into Tommy's bedroom, leaving Takuya and Zoe alone in the living room. They scanned their surroundings, both of them uneasy.

"It's very clean and looks welcoming," Zoe speculated. "But there's something about it that I don't like."

"Yeah, kind of like when were were outside," Takuya added. "Has an eerie feeling to it. It's weird...."

Although they were not in the kitchen, they could easily see inside the forbidden area. It remained a mess from Kiyoto's attack and demise. Pots and pans were strewn about, and the stains of his blood had caked and dried onto the floor. Most of it was Kiyoto's blood, but the smear on the counter was from Tommy. They had known this from the police report.

Takuya shook his head in disgust. "What kind of person does this? People like Kiyoto make me fucking sick to my stomach."

"It's a shame," the blond said in a melancholy tone. "Tommy never deserved this. First he lost his father, then his mother marries a monster. And now he may lose her as well."

"Well, we don't know that," Takuya pointed out.

Zoe sighed. "We don't know, and hopefully that possibility does not occur. I was more so making a statement of what he's gone through."

Takuya considered it, then nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I see what you're getting at. There is a possibility, but as you said, hopefully it won't happen."

They walked away from the crime scene and began to look around the living room. There were a few framed photographs on the mantle, many of them with Tommy in them. They could see a large picture from when he was a baby, as well as his last school picture. In a few of the photos, an attractive woman could be seen with him.

"That must be his mother," Zoe said. "I can see the resemblence."

"Tommy could barely recognize her once we got to the hospital," Takuya told her. "She was a mess."

About ten minutes later, Tommy and Nana emerged from the bedroom, each of them carrying a large suitcase.

"Is that all you want?" Takuya asked, surprised.

Tommy shifted his suitcase from one hand to another. "Yeah, there really wasn't much that I wanted. I mainly took clothes and stuff like that. And a few video games that you guys can fight over as well."

"Well, if that's all that you want, then-"

"Wait." Tommy interrupted Takuya, walking over to the mantle. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. But there's one last thing I do want to get."

"Really? What is it?" Nana asked.

Tommy set the suitcase down and reached to the very top of the mantle, straining slightly to get the desired item. "I want this."

When he finally pulled it down, the others had a clear view of what he had retrieved. It was another framed photograph, though it had been out of their view, as it had been laid down. In the picture there was a young boy and a couple. The boy appeared to be about four years old, and was undoubtedly Tommy.

"It's a picture of me and my parents, before my father passed away," he explained. "Kiyoto wanted to get rid of all the pictures that contained my father in them. But I hid this at the top in the back so he couldn't see it."

Looking at the picture, Tommy resembled his father more than his mother. While he had inherited his father's dark brown hair, his mother's was a lighter chestnut shade with golden brown hi-lights. However, he had gotten his eyes from his mother, who looked as though she had never been happier.

"This means a lot to you, doesn't it?" Takuya asked, knowing the obvious answer.

Tommy nodded. "I would've let Kiyoto kill me before destroying this picture. I'm glad he never found it."

"Are there any more that you want to take with you?" Nana asked him.

"Nah, I've grabbed everything that I've wanted. We can go now," he told her.

Zoe's green eyes narrowed as she noticed yet another picture. "Wait a minute."

Takuya looked at her surprised. "Everything okay?"

"Tommy? Who's the guy in this picture?" She asked, pointing at it.

The younger boy glanced at it and made a disgusted face. "That would be the monster known as Kiyoto. Standing there in that picture with his arm around my mother like he owns her."

Zoe's face paled a shade at the answer. "So...that's Kiyoto, huh?"

"Yeah, that's him. Why, is something wrong?" He asked.

The blond didn't reply at first, her expression hard to read as she continued to gaze at the photograph.

Takuya put his hand on her shoulder, concerned. "Zoe, what is it?"

She finally looked up at them and sighed. "I've never seen Tommy's stepfather before, but after I looked at the picture, I recognized him. I knew who Kiyoto was...."

Meanwhile

Masaki walked down the road, passing by familiar buildings he had grown accustomed to seeing for the past few days. He had already parted ways with Kanae, as he did not want her to slow him down on his hunt.

I'll find that girl today, he thought to himself. I'll be damned if anyone gets in my way....

The Dicloniues was interrupted from his thoughts by a soccer ball hitting him squarely in the back. He turned his head slowly, his eyes dark.

"Haha! Idiot!" A ten year-old boy was sticking his head out the front door of his house. "Next time don't get in my ball's way!"

"Maybe you should watch before you throw," Masaki said in an icy voice. "Then maybe you won't hit anyone. And you shouldn't be randomly throwing things from your doorway."

"I don't give a rat's ass if I do hit anyone!" The kid taunted. "And no one can tell me to st-"

Masaki suddenly released his four vectors, slamming the door shut as hard as he could. The door closed on the kid's neck, slicing his head off completely. A few passerbys screamed as they noticed the decapitated head, not realizing what had just happened. A geiser of blood had squirted out of the stump, and it leaked out from inside the house, where the crumpled body now laid. Chunks of muscle hung from the bottom of the boy's head, as did the jagged part of the bone that had been broken from the neck. The boy's eyes were wide with surprise, and a dribble of blood spilled from his gaped mouth.

"Oh, my god! Someone call an ambulance!" A hysterical woman cried out.

"But I think he's already dead," her young son replied. "My teacher said that people can't live without their heads. Though I have heard of a headless chicken..."

Masaki grinned to himself as he left the crime scene, vaguely hearing someone in the backround calling 911.

"They never learn," he mused.

Yup, so Zoe knew Kiyoto and Masaki just killed an annoying kid. *sighs* Sounds like the perfect guy in my opinion ^_^ Anyway, find out how Zoe knows Kiyoto in the next chapter, coming soon! Please review and tell me what you think.