A/N Hi there c:

So I have prepared this story to be very angsty and possible violent and/or gruesome in some way or another. It's soft, but it's dark. I don't really have a lot to say in this author note, other than the fact that I know that they might seem out of character sometimes in my stories, but I try my best. (:

I'm writing like three other stories at the same time as this. I'll probably end up being that kind of author, the one with five hundred unfinished stories that slowly get updated.

And now we finally get to meet you-know-who kekekeke n.n

Warning:

Title: The Boy In The Staircase

Disclaimer: Characters not mine, idea mine

Rating: T

Enjoy!

"Fine. But please, don't scare him."

Don't scare him? What? Who? What did she mean by that?

Tetsuhiro looked down at the little brass key in his palm that she had handed him. It was attached to a thin black string, like it was a means of keeping the key safe, making it easier to see it if they ever lost it. Why was this key so important that they did this? He had seen the key cabinet in the pool room and none of the other keys were on strings. What made it so special? This door?

"Don't scare who?" Tetsuhiro mumbled and turned around, but by the time he did, Jessica was gone. Oookay. She was acting strange… did I offend her? I hope not. I never had enemies… everyone at school always liked me…

Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, he bit down on his lip and reached for the handle. Shaky fingers slid across the brass as the key grinded against the lock. It fit perfectly; it was indeed for this door. Why was Jessica so shaken up about it though?

Taking a deep breath and double checking that nobody was around to watch him and yell at him, he turned the key in the lock, and pulled the door open an inch.

He didn't want to jerk it all the way open so suddenly, in case something shocking decided to come flying out at him. Well… that part was probably an exaggeration… what kind of strange things would be kept in a hall closet?

His muscles worked slowly and anxiously at pulling the door all the way open, and it was a little creaky, so every movement made him cringe and hope that nobody heard him. Taking a step inside, he exhaled.

It looked like a bedroom; it was a small, octagonal room with a big double bed to the right which stretched towards the left wall, another little open room in the back which looked like a bathroom, a desk in the far left corner with a lamp and papers scattered all over it, a wooden chest to his right on the floor, and a tall lamp and recliner in the far right corner. Was somebody living here?

Please don't scare him… this was a male's bedroom?

He felt inclined to feel the thick, brown bedspread, running his fingers across the soft, ridged fabric. The ceiling was inclined and sloped with the movement of the stairs, making it lower by the door and higher by the back wall.

"Whoa…" He mumbled to himself, peering up through his dark bangs as his feet carried him over to the desk. His fingers drafted across the papers, staring intently at the designs and words drawn on them in pencil. It looked like a children's book, with scribbled color-pencil words and sketches of animals and insects. What the…?

"What is this place…?" Tetsuhiro looked up and his eyes scanned across the walls. There was a large drawing of the solar system above the bed's headboard, and then there was a drawing of the food chain above the desk, and a drawing of the process of cell division by the back door. They were very intricate drawings, done in pencil and crayon, and were surprisingly accurate for what looked like children's designs. Did the landlord have a son? Tetsuhiro knew that the man was a science professor, but what would he be doing making children's drawings? He must've had a son; there wasn't any other explanation for it.

"Hello?" He called out, looking around the room for any signs of life. "Does someone live here?"

Tetsuhiro noticed a painting easel in the right corner by the chest; how hadn't he seen it before?

Walking over to it, he noticed that the person had painted a very detailed portrait of what looked like an oasis, with shining blue-white water and blurred shadows of koi and wet, mossy rocks. It wasn't a professional painting, but it was impressive to him. He whispered to himself about who painted it, wondering if Jessica could've done it.

Stepping back, he noticed the way the canvas was shining; the paint was still wet. It was fresh.

"Who is in here?" Tetsuhiro called out softly. "Don't worry, you can come out." He listened for any movement, but couldn't hear any. "I like your painting. It's very pretty. Did you make it yourself?"

He heard a soft rustle behind him, like the movement of clothing, and he turned around. Was somebody in here? They must've been; where were they?

Looking towards the bathroom door, the thought that he hadn't checked the bathroom yet crossing his mind, he took a careful step forward. The wood in that specific path was creaky and weak, and it echoed loudly. He cringed, body locking up.

His eyes had just looked up, and he barely registered the sight of long blonde hair and scary eyes before he felt a dull yet sharp pain ripple through his arm. The blow made him slightly disoriented and he slouched down to his knees, hand rising to squeeze his bicep where he was hit. Pulling back, he didn't notice any blood; what the hell? What was he hit with that hurt but didn't make him bleed?

Raising his head, he noticed a figure standing nearly eight feet from him, just outside the bathroom door. It was a boy, with long blonde hair that cascaded over his shirt to his waist and long, slender legs. His face was turned in a dark expression, and his eyes were squinted and narrowed, almost as if he couldn't see him properly. He was wearing a long-sleeved blue sweater that was way too big for his lean body, the hem reaching almost to his knees and the sleeves cuffed to accommodate his hands, and slouched white calf socks.

"Who the fuck are you?" His voice was soft yet gravelly, and it didn't sound all that deep. How old was he? Was he the one who was living here? How long had he been here?

"I… I live here now." Tetsuhiro mumbled, slowly and cautiously standing up. "This is my house now." The boy was holding a small gun between shaky hands; did he shoot him? But then why wasn't he bleeding? "Is this your room?"

"You don't belong in here." The boy mumbled, avoiding the question. "Who let you in here?"

Tetsuhiro cocked his head. "Jessica did. She gave me a key to this room. See?" He pointed behind him to the door, where the key was still nestled safely inside the doorknob.

The boy tightened his lips. "You shouldn't have come in here."

"I just got curious, I apologize." Tetsuhiro raised his hands. "I didn't mean to intrude upon you; I'm not a bad person."

"Fuck you." The boy spat out. "You're all bad people." Well, he had a sour mouth.

"We all? Who is this 'we'?"

"You, and that sick man, and every other person that went along with him."

What was he talking about? That sick man? What sick man? "I have no idea what you're talking about." He tried stepping forward a bit to ease the boy's fears, but Tetsuhiro had another thing coming.

The boy jerked back and cocked his gun, left hand wrapped protectively around the bottom. He raised it higher, probably aiming for Tetsuhiro's head. "Don't you dare take another fucking step!"

"Whoa, whoa…" Tetsuhiro whispered. "Please put the gun down-"

"No. Leave now or I'll blow your brains out."

"Okay, okay, calm down." Tetsuhiro took a step back, and the boy backed off a millimeter. "I just wanted to see what was in here. Are you alright? Who are you?"

"Get out." The words were sharp and were blended into a deep growl.

"Can I know your name?" His voice was gentle, his hands reaching ever-so-slowly out to try and touch the boy. All he wanted to do was just run his fingers comfortingly through the long blonde strands, just coax him into relaxing, tell him that he wasn't in any danger –

"Don't touch me!"

Another shock of pain erupted in the right side of his abdomen, the sound of gunfire echoing through the small room.

"Ah... sorry…"

The boy cocked the gun again and stepped forward, aiming it down at Tetsuhiro's head. "Get out. Now. You don't belong here."

"Can I just know your name? I promise I won't hurt you-"

"Five seconds. Get up and leave; you have five seconds."

"I don't want to hurt you. My name's-"

"I don't fucking want to know who you are!" The boy barked at him. He was surprisingly violent for being so attractive and thin; Tetsuhiro thought he was ridiculously cute and just wanted to gather the boy in his arms and hold him. He wondered how old he was. "This is my room and you invaded my privacy!"

"How old are you?"

"Why the fuck do you care about me? Leave my fucking room before I blow your brains out!"

Sighing, Tetsuhiro stood up straight and backed up towards the door.

"I'm very sorry for disturbing you. I'll lock the room back up and leave you be."

Eyeing him up and down, the boy took a wary step forward, slightly jerking the gun in the direction of the door.

"Move."

Tetsuhiro felt the end of the gun press against his chest; this kid really was serious. He wasn't all that scared of him; he had lived with his father all his life, and plus whatever it was that the boy was shooting him with wasn't lethal so he didn't feel like he was in any real danger.

When the boy flicked his wrist to jerk the gun and signal for Tetsuhiro to leave, the black-haired male caught something out of the corner of his eye. He ignored the angry stare and squinted, trying to notice that flash of whatever it was to appear again.

He had seen something inside the boy's sleeve, something on his arm. What was that?

"What's on your arm?"

He noticed the way the boy suddenly became touchy and shifted around, unusually antsy. It looked like his guard had been broken and he was now afraid of something..

"What do you mean? N-nothing's on my arm. Now get out before I-"

The boy wasn't able to finish his sentence when Tetsuhiro suddenly reached for one of his wrists, trying to push back the cotton sleeve as gingerly as possible in case it was a flesh wound that he was suffering from.

"What the fuck are you doing, you freak?! Get off me!" The boy jerked his hand back and fired the gun a few more times, pricks of pain igniting across Tetsuhiro's body. He cocked the gun and slid a couple more shots into the barrel. Was he using a BB gun? Is that why Tetsuhiro wasn't bleeding?

"I don't mean to hurt you." Tetsuhiro widened his eyes, taking his hands back and holding them up. "I don't want to hurt you. Believe me. I just… what's on your arm? Are you in pain?"

"That's none of your fucking business." The boy grumbled. "Why don't you listen to instructions? I said to leave."

"I could bring you some gauze and ointment-"

"I said leave!"

He heard a shot dance off of the wall next to his head, and he backed off exponentially, hand resting on the brass knob. The boy flicked the gun again, ushering him out.

"You need to leave now. You don't belong in here."

"Alright." Tetsuhiro tried to force his lips into a gentle smile, sliding the brass key back out of the lock and pulling the door shut. "My name's Tetsuhiro… by the way. Morinaga Tetsuhiro."

"Leave me alone."

Nodding and appreciating his innocent plea for privacy, he shut the door tight, key grinding back into the handle and turning into the locked position. He couldn't help but sigh. This house was suddenly so much more than he or his father had been prepared for. Should he tell his father about this when he got home? No… that would be bad. He would probably have the boy killed or else kill Tetsuhiro for disobeying his orders to not go snooping around where he shouldn't.

How long had this boy been in this room? Why had nobody mentioned that there was another person living in this house? Why was he in a bedroom under the stairs, of all places? Who had brought him here? How old was he? What was his name? Why didn't Jessica want him to go into the room? Because there was a boy in there? What was so special about him that she wanted to keep him secret?

Rubbing his face, he looked down at the stringed key in his palm. He would ask Jessica who that boy was. Why the hell was he here and nobody was told that he lived here? Was he some sort of prisoner? Did he used to be a maid just like Jessica and the other females? But then, why was he in a room under the stairs? Did the landlord know about this boy being here?

He was a rather adorable person, just the type that Tetsuhiro would've gone for back in school. Tall and lean, pretty face, beautiful cat-like eyes, prominent cheekbones, an angular jaw, nice voice, nice attitude. Well, nice in the sense that it was really sexy to him. He had had his share of bratty relationship partners before, but none that willingly shot him with a BB gun. This kid was entirely something new.

He wanted to go back inside and wrap his arms around the boy and kiss his head and tell him to calm down and that Tetsuhiro wasn't a bad person, but it wasn't the moment for that. Surely he would need time to cool down from being so riled up.

Tetsuhiro bit his lip and swung the key around on the string. Somewhere upstairs, he heard the faint sound of heels clicking on carpet and looked up. Jessica was descending the staircase above him at a rather rapid speed, and her face was contorted with worry. What happened?

"Young Master, are you alright?" She instantly clasped her hands around his wrists. He cocked an eyebrow.

"Huh? I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Tetsuhiro smiled. He was happy that she had let him into the room. Whether or not the boy living in there was a bad thing or not, he was happy that she had listened. At least he wasn't deafeningly curious anymore.

Jessica pursed her lips. "I heard the gunfire. I suppose he didn't take nicely to you?"

She knew about him having a gun? Had she been the one that gave it to him? Why didn't she warn Tetsuhiro beforehand?

"Not really." Tetsuhiro chuckled, rubbing his arm. "It hurt, but it didn't make me bleed."

"How many times did he shoot you, Young Master?" Her hands had gone to the waist of his shirt where she began pulling it up over his head. It hurt him, but with some maneuvering they managed to get the fabric off. She ran her finger over the red, unbroken welts; surely the boy must've been close to him for the wounds to be this deep. They really were at the edge of bleeding; any closer and Tetsuhiro's skin would've burst in multiple spots from the impact. She could see where the skin had broken, deep enough for it to get infected if not cared for, but not deep enough to bleed.

"I think five or six times. Most of them were on my abdomen, but some of them got my arms."

Jessica inhaled through her teeth, fishing around in her dress for a cloth and a small bottle of all-purpose cleaner. Unscrewing the top of the bottle, she poured a tiny bit on the cloth before running it over Tetsuhiro's taut abdomen. "The welts will bruise. Luckily you weren't in close enough range to get seriously hurt."

"Why did he have the gun anyway?"

"Ah…" Jessica laughed nervously. Her face twitched continuously, and she was trying to shake her head enough to make her hair come loose from its plait and hang over her face so she could hide in it.

"How long has he been here?"

She was quiet, trying her hardest to avoid the question as best she could. She bit down on her bottom lip and scrubbed the welts a little bit harder.

"What was on his arm? I saw something on him beneath his sleeve. Is he okay?"

Again, no reply. Just cold cleaner on his naked skin and her stifled breathing.

He was getting annoyed. "Why aren't you answering my questions?"

"Young Master…" She whispered, pouring a little bit more of the blue cleanser on cloth. "We need to have a long talk after I'm done tending to the wounds. I'll get some bandages and ointment and put them on you so the welts don't get infected. I suggest you refrain from putting any clothing on until the cleanser has dried; it's a liquid muscle relaxant that you apply on the skin, so it'll help with the pain." Tetsuhiro hadn't really registered the distant throbbing pain in different places of his body until now.

"Is he going to be okay?"

"He'll be fine, Young Master." She folded the cloth up and tucked it back into her dress pocket, wiping her moist hands on her apron. "He's always had a sensitive temper, so it's no surprise that he didn't take a liking to you."

"Does my father know about him?"

"…No." She turned around and walked into the kitchen, and Tetsuhiro could hear her rifling through the cabinets. The distance made him raise his voice when he spoke.

"Does the landlord know about him?"

"Yes…"

"What about the other maids?"

She sighed and came back out of the kitchen with a small white box and a white tube. "How about we just wait until I'm finished so that we can sit in the billiard room and talk? Hm?"

"Alright."

The ointment felt nice and smelled even nicer. Tetsuhiro liked the sensations it gave him; at first it was freezing cold and tingly but then it slowly warmed and he adjusted to it. Jessica's fingers were gentle and comforting just like a mother's, and he couldn't help but sigh in relief. Come to think of it, that muscle relaxant cleanser worked awfully fast; the pain had started to go away and he didn't feel like his body was so locked up anymore. He made a mental note to go back into the room later when the boy was asleep and collect the loose BBs as well as the gun. He would probably get hit for it if he went back in a third time after that, so he decided that the second time would be the last.

He wasn't sure how long he would be able to last with his proposition. Now that he discovered something new, he wanted more and more of it until he couldn't have it anymore. Seeing the boy only two times at the risk of his physical well-being? He wouldn't be able to keep that up. The newness was too much, and even as he stood in the foyer half-naked with a female rubbing ointment on his abdomen, he was having sensual thoughts about the boy.

How old was he? If he was around Tetsuhiro's age, then surely he would've been mature enough for any advances. Did he know what sex was? Had anybody ever taught him about the birds and the bees before? What was Jessica to him? Was he straight? Gay? Had he ever been in a relationship before? Had he ever had his first kiss? Did he ever have a fling with any of the maids that used to be here? There was so much he wanted to know that it almost hurt him.

"Alright, Young Master," Jessica's soft voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "You're all bandaged up. Let's go sit in the billiard room and talk. Come on."

Jessica was antsy; the Master had told her to never, ever reveal to the boy to the world until he was eighteen years old. She was told to never tell anybody of his work or what he was doing with the boy, but she couldn't help it. Tetsuhiro was just an innocent, spunky teenager, and she remembered exactly what it was like to be that age; lonely, thirsty for communication, and full of hormones.

She knew that the Master had told her to never say anything to the boy about the outside world, to never show him anything about the outside world, and to never tell the outside world about him. It was a threat, and it was putting her entire career and family at stake. She had kids to take care of, a family to raise, and without money, she couldn't raise them.

She felt extremely bad for turning Tetsuhiro down, because she knew that he really did nothing wrong. He was curious, and even she knew what that was like. She had been curious at that age, too, but it had ended with severed friendships and heartbreak. This was his battle now, and if he wanted to fight it, then so be it.

"Okay…" She paced back and forth in front of the couch, where he currently sat staring at his fingers. "Where do you want me to start?"

Tetsuhiro raised his head and looked at her with innocent puppy eyes. "Who is he?"

She sat in the arm chair, smoothing out her dress. The words felt abnormally thick coming out, as if her tongue was blocking them from being expelled. Her throat was dry and she swallowed before speaking. "Souichi."

…Souichi. That was his name?

"Does he have a last name?" Tetsuhiro asked, cocking his head to the left slightly and ruffling his hair.

Jessica shook her head. "Nobody ever told me if he did. It never bothered him. He likes being called Souichi, so we just went with it and left it alone."

He chewed on his lip. Souichi… Souichi… the name felt like expensive wine on his tongue, something he felt he could never get tired of once he had a taste. It was a cute little name, and it seemed to fit his appearance. It was beautiful with a hint of threatening, just like he was.

"How old is he? And, how long has he been here?" His body leaned forward of its own accord. He would willingly gossip about the beautiful creature that was Souichi all day if he could. He felt a pang of guilt; he saw how much Jessica was practically pushing the information out of her like it was a tapeworm.

Jessica swallowed, showing how nervous she was. "Well… that's the thing…"

"Did… did something happen to him?" He didn't like the tone of her voice; was he alright? Was he deathly ill?

"He… was rescued… by the Master." She said without looking at him. Rescued…? "When he was five years old, the Master had been on a business trip up in northern Nagoya. Souichi was there with his parents at the expo, and they were doing a report on reactions between everyday materials, like sand or sugar or rocks. His father was an insect enthusiast, and his mother was a top-of-the-line chemist. I even had the luck of meeting her once or twice in her lifetime. Of course, at that age, I was young, so I didn't understand much of what they talked about. They were extremely intelligent and friendly people; you just had to love them."

So that's where all the scientific paintings in the bedroom came from. The solar system, the food chain, they were all things that kids shouldn't have learned yet were plastered across his bedroom walls in intricate designs and patterns.

"So…" Tetsuhiro started, furrowing his brow under his black hair. "What happened that he was… rescued?"

"Something went wrong that night," Jessica continued, "and nobody was really sure what caused the problem. One of the reactors had exploded, nobody really knew how or why, and the room had caught fire. The Master had called the fire department and had told everyone to get out, and most of them did. Souichi's parents had been trying to pack away their equipment as fast as they could so they could save as much as possible, but the building was collapsing around them. They had gotten trapped under some rubble and had burned to death in the fire, all while Souichi watched."

"Oh my God…" He couldn't describe the pain that flooded through him in that moment even if he tried. He couldn't put a name to the guilt he felt. He couldn't imagine the amount of emotional trauma that the boy had gone through, and it was impressive that he was still so sturdy and held together. It was no wonder the blonde boy had been so offensive with him. He had no idea that Souichi had gone through that, had no idea that that was the reason he said he hated people so much. But wait… he said he also hated "that sick man". Who was that sick man? His father? If it was then why didn't he mention his mother as well? No, it couldn't have been his father… was it the landlord?

"The Master," Jessica cleared her throat, "as I told you before, rescued women in times of agony and despair. You're probably wondering why he had taken Souichi if he wanted women. Well, the boy had always resembled a female to him and it made no difference. Plus, he had been friends with the child's parents, and he couldn't just let Souichi rot away without a family like that."

So he had been here since he was five. How old was he? Maa, he'd probably find that out if he asked him himself. He wondered if Jessica even knew how old he was; would she?

"He had been here all this time…" Tetsuhiro mumbled to himself, staring at his hands.

"I apologize deeply for him striking you." Jessica reached over to gently run her fingers across one of his hands and smiled slightly. "We all knew about him. All of us that worked here knew about him. And when the other maids were here, Ellie got along with him the best. We all assumed it was just both of their bad tempers coming together in harmony, which it probably was. She hated everything, and so did he. She didn't like him feeling helpless, though, so she gave him that BB gun with reusable BBs. She knew he wouldn't really have much to do with it, but it gave him a sense of protection. That's why he shot at you; he didn't know who you were and felt threatened."

"But then… what was on his arm? Did he shoot himself?"

She bit down on her lips. "I can't tell you that information. He's asked me to never tell anybody."

Oh.

He knew that Jessica most likely wouldn't know his most personal information, like his full name or his sexuality or his exact age and birthday, so he shoved those aching questions to the back of his mind for now. Something still didn't add up, though. If he was really just this innocent yet emotionally scarred kid like Jessica played him out to be, then why didn't anybody tell Tetsuhiro and his father that the kid had lived here? Why didn't anybody mention that there was a violent teenager living underneath the stairs? Why?

He looked at her. "Why didn't anybody tell us he was here?"

She cocked her head and furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"When we moved in," Tetsuhiro explained, "my father and I were given a complete verbal tour of this house. Not just by you, but by the landlord, also. He told us where everything was, although you definitely helped by physically showing us. We had been given full blueprints to the architecture of the house in case we ever wanted to renovate. Why wasn't there a room marked on the staircase if there's a person living in there? Why didn't he tell us?"

She was silent. Something just wasn't right here. Why was she being so stingy? It was just a question.

"Jessica." His voice was flat and forceful. "What is going on in this house?"

She looked up at him with dark, frightful eyes. "T-the Master…"

"What about him? Why won't anybody tell us what the hell is going here?"

"Souichi is in danger." She spat out before she could think it over twice.

Danger? What the hell did she mean by danger? What kind of danger could somebody who lived alone with a female maid in a completely isolated room be in?

"What do you mean he's in danger?"

"The Master…" She stood and bit her fingernails. "He… there's a reason he brought Souichi back."

"Yeah, you told me. He resembled a female."

"No…"

Now she was lying to him? Okay, this needed to stop, and it needed to stop now.

"Why are you lying to me, Jessica?" He asked in a hurtful voice. "I just want to know who he is!"

"He's in danger, Tetsuhiro." She knelt down and took both of his hands in her smaller, manicured ones. "I was so grateful that somebody your age had finally moved into this house, but I couldn't tell you that. The Master had threatened… that… if I ever told anybody… I'd lose my job, but… I've loved Souichi like a son for as long as I can remember… and I would do anything for him…"

"What does this have to do with me?"

"You need to get him out of here."

"What?"

"The Master is sick." …So the landlord was "that sick man"? Slower and slower, bit by bit, everything seemed to begin to fall into place and make perfectly clear sense.

"Sick… what kind of sick?"

"He's twisted. He… he thought it would be a good idea to raise people… up from when they were very little… completely isolated from the outside world, and then just… just release them into the world on their eighteenth birthday. He tried it with the other maids, he tried it with Jaehee, and he tried it with me. And now Souichi is his new pet."

Pet?

"You need to get him out of here. I don't know what will happen to Souichi if the Master frees him suddenly. The boy is already so emotionally unstable, and the sudden loneliness of being outside of his room would shatter him. You need to get him out here, somewhere safe, somewhere where he won't be found and somewhere that he's comfortable with. I advise you to let him cool down for the night, as he got awfully hyper earlier, and try talking to him again tomorrow. I can come in with you and explain the situation and that you're not a bad person, but I need you to do this for me and him."

"But what about the landlord?"

"If it costs me my job, then so be it. Jaehee can work and I can take over watching the kids. She is my best friend, after all." She smiled up at Tetsuhiro, softly caressing his face. "Souichi needs a best friend more than he needs anything else. I don't expect him to anywhere near start liking you tomorrow, but please, just try for me."

It was all she said before pushing Tetsuhiro's hair back, kissing his forehead, and walking out into the foyer.

He slouched back in his seat; Jesus Christ, how had he gotten himself into this situation? He felt so guilty; he had been having sexual thoughts about the blonde boy earlier without realizing that that could potentially be putting him through even more emotional trauma. Was he really that heartless of a person?

He needed a friend; no, a best friend, and Tetsuhiro could completely sympathize. He thoroughly understood how alone the boy must have felt all these years, how alone he must've been feeling right now. He couldn't imagine how many nightmares the boy probably had, how many tears he probably shed. How was he so strong through all of this?

Tetsuhiro remembered when his mother had died. He had loved her with every cell in his being, and when he discovered of her death, he hadn't gone to school for a little over a week and had barely eaten. It was the worst state of depression he had ever experienced in his life, and it hurt more than any physical pain in the world could. He had never felt so completely alone, had never felt so helpless. It was soon after that he started dating, needing somebody else's company. Then he met Hiroto, and everything calmed down. Yes, Souichi needed a best friend. He needed a best friend that was what Hiroto was to Tetsuhiro. And Tetsuhiro would more than welcome become that best friend.

He craned his neck to peer at the wooden door on the side of the stairs. It was always quiet in there; what was the boy doing? Did he talk to himself? Did he sleep a lot? What did he do in his spare time?

This wasn't a game to him; this was determination. He was determined to find out what exactly the boy was to the landlord, and what exactly the landlord was to the boy. He was determined to win over Souichi's love and affection, even if it killed him in the long run. This was determination, and he was determined to learn more about the boy in the staircase.

A/N So yeah. An update, lol.

This really wasn't that easy to write, believe it or not. It seems too naked to me, but maybe I'm just paranoid.

While I'm writing this, I'm writing Puppet, I'm writing Animal Magnetism in the Chronicles of Vladimir Todd page, and I started a new story that I'm working really hard on. I was thinking of posting the first chapter just as basically an introduction to the story, and it will be a way of seeing if you guys like the idea of what the story is, or if you don't. So please, just give me encouragement c:

Aaaand the wonderful SOPA is back trying to overrule the government. Did you know they're trying to make, and I quote, "Drawing fan art, writing fan fiction, singing song covers, or having music playing in the background of a video." Illegal and punishable by jail time? Do they understand how many living people that makes up? Basically, take every single fandom in the world; Doctor Who, Supernatural, yaoi fandoms, and pretty much every anime in the world has a fandom. Arresting all of those people, would be like emptying all of America. I hope there's free wifi in jail.

Sooo, yeah, favorite, follow and review please ^_^

Kamsamnidaaa.

-Brittany