Hello all! I'm sorry (not really) for leaving you all on that cliffhanger for a few months while I got my life sorted out and my urge to write back. My life isn't really sorted out, but oh well. School has been kicking my ass for a while now and I absolutely haven't had any time to write, but I found some time today, so here we are!
Thank you, everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Reading all those really made my day!
This chapter is completely unedited, so if you see any mistakes, please point them out to me- it would really help. Enjoy!
A few nights later in her dreams, Shinoa saw Yuu. He reached for her, hair bloody and matted, face and body covered in cuts and bruises, and moaned. She couldn't tell what he was saying, but his incomprehensible noises showed how much pain he was in more than words ever could. They were the sounds of someone who had completely given up on being found and rescued- he only kept making those noises because his attackers liked to hear him scream in pain.
He kept reaching for her, his moaning slowly turning into something she could understand- "Help me. Help me. Please." It almost physically hurt her, seeing him in this dream begging for someone to rescue him, and she tried to run to him, to comfort him and tell him that they were getting closer and closer to finding him despite the fact that neither the police nor the JIDA had any leads.
That was when she woke up and remembered that she couldn't tell Yuu anything, anymore. That they would never laugh together or fight with each other again, that they would never have surprise sleepovers or talk to each other during class again.
Yuu was gone, and all the powers in the world couldn't bring him back.
Shinoa clenched her eyes shut, willing the tears that had sprung up away.
The others were also grieving in their own ways. Yoichi clung to Kimizuki more than ever and now rarely spoke, both telepathically and verbally, and Kimizuki picked more fights than ever, with anyone who crossed his path. Mitsuba became angrier and angrier, until the day she finally blew up, stormed out of school, and didn't come back for a week. Shinoa, on the other hand, didn't act as outwardly different- she joked around and played pranks, going to school like usual, but it was clear to see that she missed Yuu in that she still turned to where he would usually be to tell him a joke or make fun of him. There were moments where she would just stare off into space, completely lost in thought, only to realize where she was a few minutes later and focus on the present again. When asked, she would never tell anyone what she was thinking about, only ignoring the question and moving on.
Mika, on the other hand, had left school about a month before Yuu's body had been found. Shinoa knew he was being homeschooled now, as she had gone to see him a few times after he left. Every time she'd gone, he'd seemed quieter and quieter, until one day Krul answered the door and told her that Mika wasn't well enough to see her- he hadn't left his room for a couple days and he was barely eating. Shinoa wasn't sure what he was going to do now that Yuu was gone for good.
She'd peeked into his mind a couple of times, and when Krul had found out about what happened to Yuu, she'd accidentally left her mind wide open and Shinoa snatched the opportunity to read every thought she could about what she knew about the case. The moment she took a peek, she immediately knew that the Brotherhood had absolutely nothing to do with Yuu's disappearance; Krul, being so high up in the organization would surely know if their leaders had something to do with it, but she'd known nothing. Krul was completely surprised that something had happened to Yuu- she'd known that the Brotherhood's next target was a loner wandering the streets and using their telepathic abilities to get whatever they wanted.
So, if the Brotherhood didn't do it, and obviously neither did the JIDA, who kidnapped and killed Yuu?
It was time to begin her investigation. There was something...off, about this entire situation, something that didn't make sense. As far as she knew, no one besides the Brotherhood and the JIDA knew about mind readers and their various other abilities, and yet, neither of them had anything to do with Yuu's death. Something wasn't adding up, and Shinoa was going to find out what.
When she told the others in their little group about this, there were mixed reactions. Yoichi was all for it, but Kimizuki and Mitsuba were a little more wary.
"Look, Shinoa, I want to know why just as much as you do, but what about everyone else? Now, we know that whoever these people are, they're willing to kill. I know you don't really care about your siblings, but I can't really leave mine alone," said Kimizuki.
"I know! But we all keep each other safe, you know that. We can defend ourselves and our families just fine! We owe it to Yuu to find out why he's dead and who killed him, and you know what? It could be Yoichi next. It could be me next," said Shinoa, voice shaking slightly by the end. "I don't want to die. Yuu didn't want to die, and he was maybe the best out of all of us at controlling his mind and keeping himself hidden. If even he couldn't stay away from...whoever these people are, what makes you think the rest of us can?"
She paused to take a deep breath, then continued.
"We aren't safe anymore, none of us. I know you care about your sister, but if we don't find Yuu's killers, then it could be her next. We have to figure out what's going on here, no matter what," she finished.
"...fine," said Kimizuki. "But my sister comes first with me, you know that."
She did know that, very well in fact. But someone had stolen her brother, her Yuu from her, and she was going to find them and take them down.
I'm going to be busier than ever now, because I'm starting an extra class on top of all my classes in school, and I've got the ACT and the SAT coming up soon, so I have no idea when I'll be able to write. Hopefully though, I'll be able to get the next chapter out soon.
Happy New Year! Hope it's great!
As always, I'm on Tumblr at purple-dragon or the-dragon-writes.