Sorry for the wait, but here ya's go. Read, review, and enjoy you lovely ducks.
"You shouldn't really be in here." Lee said, his arms crossed and his eyes hard.
"Yeah, I Know." Hikaru said as he leaned against the white hospital wall.
"You understand this could either go very well or very badly for your brother?"
"I get it. Let's just go in already." Hikaru insisted, his stomach tied in a not. They stood in the recovery wing of the hospital beside a patient room. Within the patient room, a man lay, sleeping and recovering from surgery.
"Alright." Detective Hakujo Lee stated gruffly before striding into the room.
Hikaru wasn't sure if Lee wanted him to stay out or not, so he took a chance and followed him in. Lee gave him a dirty look, but allowed it. Hikaru wasn't sure where he stood with Lee. The guy seemed to like Hikaru somewhat, but then again Hikaru kept noticing icy glares from the man. Maybe Lee hated Kaoru so much he couldn't help but dislike his twin.
Hikaru walked over to Lee and stood by his side, staring into the hospital bed before him. In it laid Dennis Harding. The man had been shot two inches to the left of his navel. By who, that was the question, the question that would decide Kaoru's fate.
That idiot better not have done something this stupid, he better not have, even if it was self defense. This would destroy his case.
A gun had been found feet away from Dennis Harding. The gun belonged to Dennis. Lee suspected Dennis ad been out looking to either threaten or kill Kaoru, perhaps for killing one of his associates in the alleyway.
Hikaru knew better. He knew that Dennis was bad news. And he suspected the man had gone out to kill Kaoru, to cover his tracks. Now more than ever he believed in his brother's innocence.
"This guy went out to kill Kaoru, Lee. He went out looking to erase evidence. It wasn't about revenge." Hikaru whispered.
Lee shook his head disbelievingly and glanced at Hikaru. There was pity in his eyes.
"Lee, I told you. I told you about this guy. My friend Haruhi heard him talking about Kaoru, and this guy was weird around Kaoru. He kept looking at him, making Kaoru nervous. And-"
Hikaru paused, thinking. He had remembered something. Something about the night of the alley murder. Kaoru had been scared. He had run from their bedroom. He had heard somebody in there with him. The window had been open. Open like somebody had climbed through. Why would somebody sneak in? Why? There was something there, something Hikaru was missing, something he could figure out if he could just-
"He's waking up." Lee said with a low tone. Hikaru's thoughts were cut short as Dennis Harding began to move in his bed. The man opened his eyes slowly. They were startlingly blue, Hikaru noticed. So blue they seemed to glow.
"Dennis." Hikaru said before Lee could stop him. "What happened?"
"Hush." Lee growled. "Give him time. The bastard got shot."
Dennis groaned and shifted under his blanket. The heart monitor sped up slightly. The man looked confused. His brows bunched as he took a deep breath and winced.
"The hell is goin' on here? Who are you?" Dennis mumbled, looking at Lee. Then he looked at Hikaru and his eyes got wide. Then they returned to normal.
"Thanks, kid." Dennis said softly. Lee and Hikaru shared a glance.
"For what?" Hikaru asked, moving closer to the bed. Dennis's eyes fluttered.
"Fer comin' back fer me. You could've left me. I would've died there." Dennis slurred, his eyes slowly closing. "I would've bled."
Dennis's heart rate became a little slower, the beeping becoming the only noise in the dimly lit room. The man was asleep once again.
"He wasn't found beside his gun." Lee said. "And he wasn't where he had been shot. There was a trail of blood, like he had been dragged."
"So…so you think Kaoru dragged him to the road? He saved him?"
"Maybe. That would mean he probably wasn't the one to shoot this man. Why shoot him to save him?"
"So it was that other guy? The psycho?" Hikaru asked. Lee's eyes narrowed.
"The guy Kaoru escaped with, yeah. It might have been him. He may have shot Dennis to save Kaoru. Though it doesn't seem like him. It's a bit violent."
"You know him well?"
"He's been a thorn in my side for a very long time." Lee snorted. He ran a hand through his hair and paced a bit round the room. Then he settled with sitting in a visitor chair.
"You should split, Hikaru. Go home. Sleep. Be with your family." Lee sighed. The man looked exhausted. And for a moment, although the man hated his brother and had done everything within his power to incarcerate him, Hikaru felt bad for Lee.
"It's seven in the morning, Lee. And my twin brother is somewhere in the city, maybe scared, maybe injured. Maybe…I can't just go home, okay? I can't go home and relax when my baby brother might be in danger. There's no way."
Lee looked up at Hikaru's face and stared for a while. "You're a good brother." He said.
"But you've been up all night. You can't help anyone if you're half dead. Go sleep. I'll go out searching for Kaoru. And I promise I won't be harsh when I find him. Believe it or not, I've considered what you've told me. Just go home." Lee said, his head in his hands.
Hikaru licked his lips and looked at Dennis, who was still sound asleep. Lee was right, he was exhausted. He felt like he could pass out cold at any second.
"Fine. But I hold you to that promise. I'll be out looking in a few hours." Hikaru stated before leaving the room. He didn't wait for Lee's reply. He walked quickly through the hospital hallways, turning right, then left, then left again, nurses in scrubs bustling along, patients in wheelchairs edging down the hallways, and doctors carrying clipboards running to catch the elevator. The air smelled like disinfectant and artificial fruit. Hikaru supposed it smelled that way to mask other smells, smells of sour sickness, of death, of hopelessness.
"You're a cheery one, aren't you?" Hikaru whispered under his breath.
He made his way into an elevator just as it was about to close. A middle aged woman in a white lab coat stood in a corner, a pen in her mouth and her eyes on a paper in her hand. Her mouth moved slightly as she read it to herself, the pen jiggling up and down and she spoke.
In the other corner a young man maybe thirty years old stood with his hands on the handles of a wheelchair. In that wheelchair sat a very small boy with legs so thin they seemed fragile enough to be broken by a jolt of the elevator car. Hikaru wondered if the child could walk at all, and assumed he could not. He wondered if he had been like that since birth.
He pressed the button for the lobby and waited. The wait seemed to take minutes, though it took only seconds. Then he was out, nearly running out of the hospital. He didn't like them, he decided. He had liked hospitals once, he had thought of them as tranquil. But now he realized he didn't like them. They scared him.
They made him think about things he would rather not think about.
"His cousin?"
"Yes ma'am. I'm his cousin, Janice Harding. Well, second cousin, actually. Is he here? Could you get him for me?" Haruhi asked, batting her eyelashes sweetly and cursing herself for doing so.
"Oh, poor dear haven't you heard?" The receptionist for Harding Towers said as she leaned forward over the front desk. "Poor Denny is in the hospital. He was shot by some lunatic. Haven't you been watching the news?"
Haruhi stared at her, eyes wide and shining. Shot? By who? A madman? This ruins everything. He was supposed to have a meeting today; this was my chance to figure this whole mess out.
"Oh my God." Haruhi breathed. The receptionist frowned and patted Haruhi's hand.
"If you would like I could let you up to see his father. I'm sure Mr. Harding would appreciate a visit from his niece in such times." The woman said with a sad smile.
Haruhi looked at her. "Yes, that would be good." She stated, the shake in her voice not entirely false.
The woman stood and hustled from behind her desk. She took Haruhi's hand and began to lead her toward an elevator with polished bronze doors. The receptionist's red heels clicked against the marble floor as they went.
The tall woman swept her brown hair behind her shoulders and leaned forward to press a button. The elevator doors slid open and Haruhi was led inside.
Well, this should be interesting.
Kaoru was awoken by sunlight.
He opened his eyes and groaned as rays of the morning sun hit them full force. He shut them again and turned over. His finger rubbed softly against the concrete ground, and Kaoru realized that he had fallen asleep on the floor.
He took a deep breath through his nose and sat up, face and body stiff. He wriggled his nose and yawned. He was thirsty. And he was so hungry it was nauseating.
Kaoru looked to his left with a stiff and protesting neck. Concrete wasn't the best pillow. Apparently Fish loved it, however, because the man was sleeping like a baby a few feet away.
"Fish."
Fish turned over.
"Fish wake up."
Fish groaned and wagged a hand.
"Shush it's still early."
"Fish! Do you realize where we are right now?"
"Mmm. Japan."
"Very funny."
"Yeah? Sue me." Fish sighed. He sat up slowly and looked at Kaoru. "How's the shoulder?"
Kaoru looked down. His shoulder wasn't hurting too badly, but it itched.
"I want to scratch at it."
"Good. It's healing."
"Yeah. I'm starving, though. Where can we get some food?"
Fish pursed his lips. "Well, I doubt you would eat what I would suggest."
"What do you suggest?" Kaoru asked as he raised a brow.
"The dumpster on 25th has good pickings."
"You're kidding." Kaoru said, his face screwed up in disgust.
Fish barked a laugh and stood. "I'm not. But I'm sure I can snag you something from a fruit stand downtown. I'll be back." Fish walked toward Kaoru and stepped over Kaoru's legs to get out of the warehouse exit.
"Wait." Kaoru said. Fish paused and turned. "What are we going to do, Fish?"
Fish's eye's narrowed a bit. He didn't have to ask what Kaoru meant. He knew.
"We'll do what we set out to do. We'll look for evidence. We'll prove your innocence. It'll just be a little tougher with the fuzz on our asses. I'm sure shooting that Dennis guy will make them a little more agitated. But we'll be fine, kid. You'll be fine. I'll protect you, alright?"
Kaoru smiled slightly. He believed Fish would help him. He trusted him. "Thanks, Fish."
"Don't sweat it." Then he was gone, leaving Kaoru alone in warehouse full of dusty boxes.
"Here we are. Mr. Harding! I have your-"
"It's okay, I'll just walk in, he won't mind. Him and I are very close." Haruhi said with the saddest eyes she could manage. "I think he would rather it just be me who comes in to see him. Given the circumstances."
"Oh, you poor thing, you're right. I hope you two find comfort with one another." The receptionist said, pouting a little. Then she walked off, the sound of her heels residing.
Haruhi sighed with relief. Her heart was pounding in her throat. "Thank God." She whispered. If that lady hadn't left, Haruhi would have had her cover blown.
She looked at the door in front of her. It was enormous and black. The elaborate handle was bronze, like the elevator doors. Haruhi took it in her hand and began to turn it. Then she stopped, her ears pricking up. She could hear a voice inside, a male voice, low and loud. She listened very hard and made out a single sentence.
"Yes, I'd like you to find him and do what my boy couldn't, and if you don't get it done you'll get exactly what Dennis got."
Haruhi looked to the marble floor.
He's giving someone a real threat. Dennis was shot. Did this man shoot him? Is he the madman who shot Dennis Harding? Could a father do such a-
"Girl."
Haruhi jumped, startled and horrified. Her pulse quickened and she froze where she was.
Mr. Harding was standing in his doorway. Haruhi hadn't even heard the door open.
"Who are you? How did you get up here? Have you been eavesdropping?"
Kaoru had begun to pace. Fish had been gone for over an hour and a half.
He supposed it wasn't all that long to be gone, seeing as Fish had meant to walk all the way downtown and back. But it had been a long time.
And he was alone.
The warehouse wasn't as large as the dark night had made it appear. It was smaller, perhaps three hundred square feet. The place was filled with piles and piles of boxes, some of the piles reaching the ceiling, which was very high. Kaoru wondered what they contained.
He walked over to the warehouse entrance and peeked outside. The street was a good fifty feet away. The warehouse alley wasn't really an alley at all; it was more like a small side road leading to a dead end. There was another warehouse across the way, and a very large building to the left that ended the road.
Kaoru stepped outside. It was a cool day, but the sky was clear. Kaoru looked to the street and backed back into the warehouse, slightly paranoid that a police cruiser would go by.
He wandered further into the warehouse, extremely curious as to what the boxes held. He walked to a shorter stack and reached for a box. He pulled it down, which caused two others to come tumbling down as well. They spilled open and dumped hundreds of floppy disks across the concrete.
"No wonder this place is abandoned." Kaoru snorted. He picked up disk a and walked back over to the warehouse entrance, pacing once again. He played with the disk, tapping it against his hand, and was doing so when Fish appeared at the doorway.
"Kaoru!" He yelled, his voice raspy. The man's shoulders rose and fell as he heaved huge breaths. Kaoru looked up and froze. Fish's hand was to his face. Red blood was pouring from his nose and dripping into his mouth and off of his chin. Fish rushed toward Kaoru.
"What happened?" Kaoru yelled, backing away a bit. "What-"
Fish slapped a bloody hand across Kaoru's mouth. "Shut up." He hissed.
"We have to hide. We have to hide right now." Fish whispered. "He's trying to kill us. Go. Go."
I hope I didn't make too many mistakes, I'm tired as hell, and I don't know why. I slept til 11, so what's this all about? Ugh. I hope you all like this chapter. When Mr. Harding asked Haruhi if she had been eavesdropping, it was SO HARD not to type "I ain't be dropping no eaves sir!" Man I need to re-watch those movies. Anywho, review please, and replenish my weary soul.