awkward adjective

awk·ward | \ ˈȯ-kwərd \

Definition of awkward

1 a : lacking dexterity or skill (as in the use of hands)
b : showing the result of a lack of expertness

2 a : lacking ease or grace (as of movement or expression)
b : lacking the right proportions, size, or harmony of parts : UNGAINLY

3 a : lacking social grace and assurance
b : causing embarrassment

4 : not easy to handle or deal with : requiring great skill, ingenuity, or care

5 obsolete : PERVERSE

6 archaic : UNFAVORABLE, ADVERSE

What part of the definition of awkward could be applied to this situation? Every-single-fucking-part.

1a: Upon waking up, Karamatsu's 5 a.m. semi-consciousness had caused him to crash right into the wall as he attempted to leave the bedroom for the bathroom, even with Ichimatsu holding his leash.

1b: "You know," Karamatsu yawned while holding his ███ in his hand, having the first piss of the day, "I didn't really mean any of that stuff I said . . . last night about . . . liking certain things. That cough syrup must have really messed with my brain."

2a: The bathroom tile had literally cracked from under his skull as Ichimatsu brutally struck his hand across Karamatsu's head from that comment.

2b: The pounding pain claiming Karamatsu's head told him that Ichimatsu sniffed out his lie before he had realized he was lying himself. Which was bad. It was bad because he wasn't supposed to have any sort of desire for his own twin brother. They were of the same proportion, size, and parts with their matching faces. One of them should have been different. One of them needed to be lacking in similarity to make them unrelated.

3a: A false, confident laugh was let go of by Karamatsu as he brought himself back up to his feet. He stroked a finger against his own chin as he did his best to sparkle his eyes at Ichimatsu, "Well then, brother~," he continued in English, "looks like either way, you now got my STD~. My super tenacious d█ck."

3b: At once a sharp silence appeared between them, bringing along an embarrassment that caused for both the twins' face to turn red. Despite this, Karamatsu remained smiling as he continued to stare at Ichimatsu while fighting the sweat that was trying to take over him.

4: There was no denying it. The two of them felt it as that sharp silence was suddenly even sharper due to it feeling like an invisible knife was stabbing them. This situation was not easy to handle and deal with. They were both feeling that, but probably for completely different reasons.

Ichimatsu's reason all the much more obvious as he grabbed Karamatsu by the neck, pulling him close to him as his eyes quaked in pure anger. "Shut up-if you say another word, I will fucking take your bare ass right to the electric chair this second and pull the lever myself!"

5: Maybe it was due to his lack of clothing still, or maybe it was just morning wood showing up late, but being handled like that made Karamatsu's knees feel weak. As Ichimatsu's eyes twitched, Karamatsu's ██ twitched.

6: This messed up reality refused to be ignored though. As hard as Kara tried to blame this newfound arousal on something physiological, it was much more psychological-and that was a problem.

So suffice to say, this whole situation was just awkward.

The situation was awkward. The silence was awkward too.

After what happened last time he spoke when being told not to, Karamatsu really did 'respect' his brother's demand for silence. Nothing further had been said from that second on. Nor had they looked at each other from that second on.

Without a single word or glance, the two of them prepared themselves for their day in court. It was the silence that reminded Karamatsu that there really wasn't any room for his beautiful eyes to be flashed right now. These could be the last few days of his life.

That was why they had to win this trial. There had to be room again for his beautiful eyes to flash. It would be such a shame for the world to be without his radiance!

And with that thought, Karamatsu had used every reflective surface to practice sparkling his eyes along the way to the courthouse.

At least . . . that's what he told himself he was doing. Practicing. When the actual word should have been distraction.

Looking at himself kept him from looking at Ichimatsu.

"I can bring him in today," Ichimatsu replied to the officers.

Still Karamatsu was looking at himself within the shiny surface of the marble counter top, but he could feel everyone's eyes upon him, upon them; and not in the way he would have liked.

The hesitancy was clear in one of the officer's voices, "Isn't the rope supposed to be around the waist? Not the neck . . . and a rope, sir . . . not a chain."

The apathy was even clearer in Ichimatsu's voice. "It's fine."

"Okay . . . well . . .," the noise of papers being shuffled transpired, "it does say that you were put in charge of him so . . ."

"So I'm doing my job-" Ichimatsu gave a signal, stern tug on the leash, causing for Karamatsu to lose his balance and nearly fall.

He was quick to scamper after his brother. What other choice did he have?

Even with that collar and chain throttling him, Karamatsu refused to stop smiling still. Once the sound of that large courtroom door creaked open though, keeping his grin up became increasingly difficult.

Once more Karamatsu could feel the eyes on him. Of course everyone would be looking at him. He was the accused here, but it just felt different somehow. It was that strange, paranoid feeling like everyone just knew what happened last night. It was also the way people were trying not to talk among themselves at the sight they saw of the defendant on a leash instead of a rope.

It was like when someone farted in church during the priest's sermon. Everyone within the chapel knew they had to stay silent, they were attempting to keep quiet, but that little bit of stirring and muffled murmurs was still undeniably noticeable.

"Psst . . . Psst . . .!"

There was one voice that out of the couple dozen spectators that wasn't exactly making much effort to remain too suppressed.

"Psssst~!"

The solicitation continued, now with their names being whispered, "Ichi! Ichi! Kara! Kaaaraaa! Hey! Pst!"

At first, Karamatsu didn't know which one of them saw him first. All it took was one glance at his brother's expression to get the answer though.

It wasn't like the 4th sextuplet had much color to his face to begin with, but what little there was had been completely amiss as the frown over him hung just as deep and sunken as the black rings were around his uncomfortably widened eyes.

And, Karamatsu had to wonder if he was also sharing the same dismay with the way he felt as if his heart had just fallen and dropped right out of his asshole. The two of them radiated anxiety, but with different definitions.

Karamatsu also was making attempts at shoving his heart back in-both with trying to hide and rid of the apprehension. One thick eyebrow twitched as he forced a grin and gave a half wave.

They didn't know what was worse: The blue armband that symbolized media, or the Ken Doll cedar hair and flawless physique for the fact that it was him. Yanagita.

Yana had the largest of smiles over his face as if he had won an all-paid trip to America and was now sitting at Medieval Times in waiting for his dinner and show.

"Court is in session," Judge Kanojo began, "the defendant to the witness stand, please."

It had just been a leather collar, but it felt as if it could have been an electric one as he gave a nod and felt it rub up against his neck.

The leash's chain had made a final clang as Ichimatsu unhooked it and gave him a push to the back towards the designated spot. It was difficult to tell which noise had been louder, the chain's clang or the grit of the chair against the floor where Ichi had sat himself behind the table.

The second Karamatsu had sat down himself behind the stand, Judge Kanojo continued, "We will now begin the examination of the defendant. Prosecutor-will you please?"

"Yes~" Atsushi stood up, adjusting his tie with such a smirk that it would make Jesus Himself want to appear before the court and punch him right in the face.

How piercing his footsteps sounded echoing within the courtroom as he brought himself over to stand in front of the podium where the accused sat. "Mister Matsuno Karamatsu-"

Karamatsu's eyebrow twitched with the formality as if Atsushi wasn't familiar with him.

"You are sitting here right now because you are guilty!" Atsushi pointed right at Karamatsu's face, "Is it or isn't it true that this morning around 3 a.m., you engaged in fellatio with your own brother, Matsuno Ichimatsu! INCEST! That is punishable by death! You filthy, disgusting degenerate! Only the most vile of humans would lust after their own twin brother! How could you!?"

"Wh-waht . . .!?" Karamatsu pressed himself back against the seat, mouth and eyes wide.

"Now bring him to the chair!"

"Wait! I-"

"Yes, today you are going to die! Then after that, I'll have your brother all to myself! He'll forget you ever existed at all eventually! Then he'll love me and only me!"

Karamatsu shook his head, the tears starting up.

"Mister Matsuno?" Atsushi repeated, "Mister Matsuno?"

Atsushi repeated again, and nor was he pointing or yelling at him.

Karamatsu blinked several times, each shut of his eyes more forceful than the last. He had to shake his head and press both palms against his own cheeks to steady his brain. To steady this messed up reality.

No, Atsushi hadn't been pointing, yelling, or even smiling. None of those things Karamatsu had just heard from him were even actually said.

"Insane . . .," Karamatsu murmured under his breath as he trailed his hands up from his cheeks to his head, "I'm . . . going absolutely insane . . ."

"Excuse me?" Atsushi took a step closer. "Do you need me to repeat the question again?"

"Uh . . ." Quickly Karamatsu's eyes bounced all around the room. Of course everyone would still be staring at him, but somehow it just felt like all the gazes were somehow solid and they physically hurt.

A heavy, irritated sigh dropped from Atsushi, "Mister Matsuno Karamatsu, will you please tell the court what you recall on the night of the second of April- On the night you killed Mister Kenny McCormick?"

"But I-" sharply Karamatsu cocked his head towards where Ichimatsu was seated, slumping, as he had his head rested in his hand and he was once again just staring out at nothing towards the wall. He even had his back further turned away from the witness stand to avoid having any of his face being seen by Yanagita, no doubt. "Hey! Ichimatsu, broth-" Karamatsu called out, waving a hand. "Objection? Objection!?"

"Eh . . ." Ichimatsu stuck a finger in one ear and only half-glanced towards his client, his brother.

"Come on!" Karamatsu's brows creased as he was the one to actually point at Atsushi now, "Shouldn't you say objection to him saying that I killed Kenny like that!?"

"Oh . . ." Ichimatsu exhaled as he stood up, appearing ever so board, "objection or some shit," he sat back down.

"God . . ." Karamatsu slapped his hands over his face, "I'm doomed . . ."

"Er-" Judge Kanojo cleared her throat, "on what grounds?"

"Hmm . . ." Ichimatsu glanced to Karamatsu and Atsushi, then back to the judge, "leading."

"Objection sustained. Prosecutor, please rephrase."

"Of course . . ." Atsushi narrowed his gaze further down towards Karamatsu, "Mister Matsuno, will you please recall the events on the night of the second of April- On the night of Mister Kenny McCormick's death-"

"Right . . ." Kara grumbled, shifting within his seat, "I had night shift again. By myself. I clocked in at ten when my shift started."

"Ten?" Atsushi interjected.

"Ten." Karamatsu glared.

"Then . . .," Atsushi turned to the evidence table, picking up a piece of paper within a clear sheet, "why does your sign-in receipt say 10: 42?"

That glare was short-lived as Karamatsu laid his eyes upon the printout. His lip twitched from nerves as he shook his head, "I . . . guess I was a little late again . . . aha . . . that happened sometimes," he shrugged his shoulders.

"A little late? So did you forget or lie?"

"Eh!?" the frown Kara wore quivered further, "I . . . I did forget!"

"Hm . . . okay then, continue please," Atsushi returned the paper.

"Yeah . . ., so I got to work and-"

"And what were you wearing?"

"Huh?"

"What were you wearing?"

"It was my brand new glamorous, shining blue hoodie that radiated the most fabulous of cobalt sparkles! Like a crystal clear ocean realizing its soulmate is that of the moon's reflection! Like a-"

"So sequin fabric?"

Just as Karamatsu had started to smile again, it was all too soon knocked away with that boring, specific, short description. "Ah . . ., yes . . ."

"So noted. Please, go on now."

"Mn . . ., yeah . . ." Karamatsu stared off to the side. "So I'm wearing my sequin hoodie as I go into work at 10:42 . . . I remember seeing a foreigner walking in . . . maybe ten minutes later? He had blond hair and was wearing a bright orange parka. He got some cigarettes and a magazine of the arts~"

"Of the arts?"

"You know . . .," Karamatsu stared back to Atsushi, letting the truth of his eyes shine through as he stroked his chin, "a photography magazine that highlights the voluptuous beauty of the female form~!"

"Ah, right. So an adult magazine."

"Y-yes . . .," Karamatsu dropped his head down with a sigh.

"And what happened then?"

"I . . . rung him up . . . then took my break at eleven."

"Hm . . ." Atsushi perked and eyebrow, "taking a break just eighteen minutes after you clocked in?"

"Yes?"

"That doesn't seem a bit odd?"

"Actually . . . you're right," Kara tapped at his lip in thought, "usually I take a break ten minutes after clocking in."

"Hmm . . . that so? And what did you do on your break?"

"I put up the the break sign on the door, locked it, and I went to the backroom. I think I had a Boss Coffee and maybe browsed twitter?"

"Maybe? Your phone logs for that particular time and date show you as inactive."

"Ah, well . . .," idly Karamatsu ran his finger over the side of the podium a couple times as he attempted to think, something that could sometimes be very challenging for him. "Okay, I might have grabbed that same magazine the foreigner had bought. I think there was a blurb on the cover about an article referring to a surprising new fashion trend. So I might have grabbed the magazine myself and looked through it?"

"I see . . .," Atsushi walked in circles a couple times around the stand, "so you retrieved a risque magazine and brought it to the backroom with you. Then what happened?"

Rapidly Karamatsu's eyes darted from side to side as he could feel himself start to sweat some at that particular question, "I ah-I read the articles until my break time was up and then returned to the counter."

"Really?" Atsushi ceased his steps in front of the other man where he leaned himself forward with a condemning leer, "Because to me, it looks like you are lying."

"I am? Er-" Karamatsu smiled and waved both hands while shaking his head, "No! Not at all! That's really all that happened!"

"Are you sure? Your body language speaks otherwise. Your posture is stiff and your perspiring. Also . . .," Atsushi arched himself closer so that his face was just a mere three inches away from Karamatsu's, "your pupils are dilated, which indicates you aren't telling the truth."

That got Ichimatsu's attention. The wall was no longer in his line of sight, but rather it was the prosecutor and the accused. "Hey-" he said in a low growl. The next word that was quick to follow was far from quiet though, "Objection." Ichimatsu stood up, "The prosecution is badgering the defendant!"

"Your honor,-" Atsushi swiftly turned around to face the judges while gesturing at Karamatsu, "The defendant is clearly not telling the truth."

"Hm-" Judge Kanojo began, "Objection is-"

"OKAY!" Karamatsu shut his eyes tightly with a single tear, "I JERKED OFF!"

Not a single ambient sound could be heard.

Not until Ichimatsu slapped a hand to his own face.

"I . . . I . . .," Karamatsu opened his eyes back with a wince, "I jerked off into the magazine and then put it back on the shelf . . .," he abruptly sat up straight, "Ah! I didn't mean to though! I was really going to purchase it and take it home. I mean, the swim suits in that issue looked really fashionable, so I did want to keep it! It was just that's when I heard the sirens so close by. So I rushed in returning out, and I just wasn't thinking when I put the magazine back!"

Karamatsu flung his whole upper body forward, hanging all the way over the stand, "I'M SORRY!"

Atsushi's eyelids dropped even lower as he turned himself back fully around and stared down at Karamatsu. "So then you are claiming the only interaction you had with the victim is when he purchased the two items from you, is that correct?"

"It is . . .," Karamatsu slowly sat back, face flushed.

"And then you're alleging that during the time of Mister McCormick's death, you had been in the back room of Sunkus self-pleasuring, and you only came out after hearing sirens."

"Y-yes . . ." Kara glanced over to Ichimatsu who was giving him a wide, revolted look-which might as well been his version of a glare.

"So then," Atsushi persisted, "what do you think about this?"

Suddenly between him and Atsushi was a clear bag being held in front of his face-an evidence bag containing a knife with a massive amount of dried blood smeared on the blade and handle.

"Ah!" Karamatsu jolted back at the sight of it. It felt like his face had gone from red to white within a second. "That's . . ."

"The murder weapon."

". . ."

"Well?"

"Huh . . .?" Even that single word shook within Karamatsu's breath.

"What are your feelings about this weapon?"

"It . . ." the swallow within his throat felt clotted, but he managed to suppress his dread with a smile as he turned his head up, "I feel-that it would not make a fashionable accessory~!"

The court's silence returned again with question as to what was worse: What had just been said, or the masturbation-shout.

"Ahem-" Atsushi was forced to clear his throat, "So is or isn't this the first time you're seeing this knife?"

"Heh. I assure you, this is the first time I'm laying my sight upon such an eyesore. For I would never be caught with something as fashionably foul as that!"

"Oh?" The knife was returned to the evidence table, and a much larger bag was picked up instead. "But you would be caught wearing this, right?" Atsushi presented the sequin hoodie to Kara.

"Of course!" Karamatsu proclaimed proudly.

"I see . . .," Atsushi put the hoodie bag back down and retrieved a third piece of evidence. Showing it to Karamatsu instantly removed the smile from him as there was more blood. Blood splattered over a boot. "Do you know what this is?"

"A shoe?"

"A George combat boot, to be precise. And do you know who it belonged to?"

Karamatsu bit down on his lip slightly as he hesitantly glanced back over to his brother, who was, once again, appearing completely uninterested and spaced out. Of course he knew who the boot belonged to. It came from the evidence table! He was just hoping Ichimatsu would look his way so that he could give a silent plead for another objection. Wouldn't this also be counted as 'leading'? 'God dammit,' Kara felt he should have really just represented himself at this point.

"Mister Matsuno, do you need the question repeated?"

"Gr-" Karamatsu looked back at his prosecutor. "I do not," he said straightly, grimly almost. There was nothing light left within Karamatsu's voice as Atsushi stayed within his sight now, "The boot belongs to Kenny McCormick, as it came from the evidence table."

"Belonged," Atsushi corrected. "But, how about this?" He turned the bag so that the boot's bottom was faced to Kara. "Right here," a single plastic piece from the sequin hoodie was tapped at above the bag in order to bring attention to the sole bead. "I think this you can use the word 'belongs' for-as this piece of fabric belongs to you, yes?"

"Huh-?" Karamatsu's eyes shot wide as he felt like the chair was breaking from under him. "But that's-" he gulped while giving another quick glance to Ichimatsu.

"Exactly. That's part of your hoodie."

"No! I mean-it does look like it, but I swear I was never outside Sunkus during that time!"

"I suppose we'll let the court decide that. The prosecution requests the exhibit of number four to be brought into evidence." From the table, Atsushi held up a video tape.

Judge Kanojo nodded, "Granted."

"Thank you, your honor." The tape was put into the court's player, "Please have a look at this. The CCTV footage from the of April second."

Karamatsu wasn't sure if it was the air itself within the room that was making his mouth feel so dry, or if it was for the fact that he had his jaw dropped. If that asshole had the footage of the events all along, then why had he been questioning him like this beforehand!?

How Ichimatsu's voice replaying in his head in mentioning he was going to be 'attacked' from Atsushi yesterday actually literally hurt.

"So . . ." Atsushi gestured his hand towards the screen, "You can see the defendant walking into Sunkus dressed in his sequin top at 10:42 p.m. Sped up slightly, we see the victim, Kenny McCormick enter into the convenient store at 10:50 p.m."

The video being played showed just what Atsushi was narrating with the proper timestamps and date. Kenny had walked into Sunkus, and then left at the 10:58 mark. After leaving, he exited the frame to the left, going off camera. What was remained on the footage, however, was the sight of someone walking out from behind the Sunkus building.

Atsushi instantly pointed this out, "So here we see what is presumed to be Mister Matsuno. His face is concealed by the hood of the jacket, but the jacket is blue sequin. The person appears to be his height, weight, and gender as well; the fact that he comes from behind the Sunkus building, where the backdoor is located. The defendant said he went on his break at eleven and went into the backroom. It would make sense that if someone was to exit the building at 11:03, that they would be doing so from behind the shop if they were on their break at the time in said backroom."

There it was. The answer. The answer as to why Atsushi had questioned his toy on display and steered him right into the brick wall.

"Now when we change to the Orion Street camera, we can see the victim again," Atsushi tapped a pointer at the screen. "He walks in from the right towards the alleyway from the shops. And ten seconds later we see the man in the sequin hoodie follow after him. Mister McCormick realizes someone is behind him. He turns and it appears as if something is said. Unfortunately, we do not have sound, but as you can see . . ."

As you can see . . ., 'the man in the sequin hoodie' took out a knife with fully gloved hands. The sequence of events had taken place exactly as Atsushi had read from the charge sheet during the opening procedure.

They watched as the attacker lunged at the foreigner with the knife. One stab was made above Kenny's chest, below his collar bone. The man then attempted to fight back by raising his leg and giving a high kick to the assailant's stomach.

The person in the sequin hoodie stumbled back a couple feet, but then immediately ran at the blond again with the knife. It got plunged into Kenny's stomach as if to return the previous striking gesture.

"And right now," Atsushi shook his head as if he was oh-so-saddened by what was being shown, "is when Mister McCormick proceeds to get brutally murdered as one stab to the abdomen becomes multiple. The offender doesn't cease his strikes. Mister McCormick continues to fight back the whole while though, pushing at his attacker until they go off screen. Kenny McCormick is then found to be dead by a pedestrian ten minutes later."

In a beat of silence Atsushi turned away from the screen and faced Karamatsu again. "Therefore, the evidence of the boot is crucial here," he picked up the bag once more, showing the bottom of the boot with the sequin piece stuck within the ridges. "As we all just witness from the video footage, Mister McCormick had kicked his murderer-the man in the sequin hoodie; therefore, getting a part of it lodged under his foot."

"Holy . . ." Karamatsu felt actual nausea as it seemed like the room was getting smaller, "Holy shit . . .," the words were shaky as he spoke to himself under his breath. "I'm . . . dead. I'm so dead . . ."

"Then, we also have the hair evidence. Actual testing had been done to the piece of the black hair found on Mister McCormick's parka, and it matched that of Matsuno Karamatsu," Atsushi added as he returned the boot and pointed out the smaller bag with the particular hair strain in it. "All-in-all, your honors . . ." He took a step back from the evidence table just so he could have proper room to sway his hands over the whole thing like he was Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, "We have Mister Matsuno Karamatsu's finger prints over items that belonged to Mister McCormick-the cigarettes and adult magazine, the sequin jacket piece being under his boot, and the hair found on his jacket. Not only do we have this physical evidence, but the video footage also clearly shows a man matching Mister Matsuno's weight, height, and clothing of the night exiting from his place of work and committing the murder. And finally . . . let us not forget the fishing knife itself-"

It had been the first exhibit piece that Atsushi had brought up-the bloodied blade. Now it seemed it was going to be the last too. He was book-ending this, and it was completely on purpose, "The defendant's prints were not found on the weapon, however. What prints were found on it? That of Tatsuo Uebayashi. Initially we would think that it had to be him who committed the crime, but his body had been found a month ago-being the latest victim in the Recycler Slayer case, as he was murdered by a tool belonging to the previous victim before him-and the backwards chain continues. So we can conclude by this that the defendant not only killed Kenny, but he is also the Recycler Slayer. Making him guilty of twelve other homicides."

Crying. Silent tears were streaming down Karamatsu's face as his throat felt as if it was closing up over itself. Everything was blurry. He tried looking back over to his brother, but even he was not of clear sight.

There had always been a societal fascination with twins; an idea that they could read each others thoughts. Or, that they could feel what the other was at any given moment. And at this moment, Karamatsu prayed that Ichimatsu could feel what he was feeling. He prayed that he could hear him begging for him to object, to say something.

God, how he hated crying. It had been something he used to do way too much. During high school . . . and the fact that Yanagita was sitting there right behind him didn't make things any better. This was part of the reason why he had gotten such an interest in sunglasses and fashion to begin with.

"Thank you," Judge Kanojo nodded and then turned her attention towards Ichimatsu. "Does the defense wish to cross-examine at this time?"

The way that Ichimatsu pushed the chair out from the table was so jarring and loud, but it was ever so wonderful to hear for Karamatsu at the same time.

"Yes," Ichimatsu moved himself around to the front of the witness stand, but he did not look to his brother, his client. First he skimmed his eyes over all nine judges and then half turned himself to face Atsushi, "All of what you just heard from the prosecutor . . . Is a crock of cat shit."

And just like that, Ichimatsu turned right back around and retook his seat.

Tears had been falling from Karamatsu's eyes, but now he felt like his whole body wanted to just fall. "Ichimatsuuuuuu! WHY!" Kara yelled, which promptly got the pound of the judge's hammer.

Despite the noise, Karamatsu still stood up behind the stand, gripping each side of it. "Wait! What about the semen!?"

Atsushi lifted an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"The semen! Jizz was found on the body! Did it match my sample!? Because I know I-"

"Order! No reports of semen on the body of Kenny McCormick had been discovered." Kanojo commanded and then projected her voice further, "Court is adjured for the day and will resume at 9 am. tomorrow morning. Thank you-and Mister Matsuno Ichimatsu-" she stood up and faced herself towards his side of the room, "Despite your record, it will still do you wise to show some more respect in my courtroom. Do you understand?"

The heaviest of sighs dropped from Ichi as he stood up with the chain leash in hand, not even giving her a returned look. "Got it."

It wasn't just Judge Kanojo giving Ichimatsu a glare, but also Atsushi and the rest of the staff as well. Still, Ichi didn't pay them any mind at all.

Karamatsu was amiss of all color in his face again. The tips of his fingers trembled. "No . . . no way . . ." he uttered to himself. "No . . . semen . . ." The trembling traveled from his fingers to the rest of his entire form. Ichimatsu had told him they found his semen on the corpse. If that wasn't true then . . .

"Hey-let's go-" The sound of Ichimatsu's cold, short demand snapped Karamatsu back to the moment as he stared so close at his brother's face while he quickly hooked the leash back around his collar.

"Ichimatsu! Brother!" Karamatsu heavily set both hands down on his shoulders, "What are you doing!? Are you trying to get me the death sentence!? Huh? HUH!? I'M GONNA DIE! Why did you say that they found-"

"Just shut your mouth- Come on, I want to get out of here bef-"

"Wow!" Yanagita stood up from his seat, brushing a hand through his pristine hazel hair, "That was intense, huh."

That wide, enraged look took over Ichimatsu's eyes again as he kept his head straight towards his brother to save from having to look at Yana. "Before this happens-" he growled within his whisper.

While Karamatsu had his hands on Ichimatsu, one of Yanagita's hands had been placed on the each of them as he lightly grabbed their shoulders. "So I was reading that there's a bit of special circumstances when it comes to this case." Yana went on, still smiling, "That Kara here is staying with you, Ichi?"

At the mention of being called Ichi, Ichimatsu visually cringed his shoulders upwards. He completely turned his head to the side as well, not looking at either of them. ". . ."

"Ahah . . ., right. So . . .," Yanagita moved himself around the gate to stand at the other side of the two twins, where Ichimatsu had been glaring. "I was thinking, how about the three of us grab a coffee? I would love to get the story of the century about the Recycler Slayer! What do you think?"

"NO!" Ichimatsu snapped.

"Yes!" Karamatsu said at the same moment.

"Well . . ." Yana stroked a finger along his chin in thought, "seems like we're going to have to decide here . . ."