Hello beautiful people! I have returned much sooner than expected with a new chapter. Who knew I'd actually be struck with inspiration! Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed since my last update, as usual you guys are cute AF, and you guy are the best.

To jemxmarcial: You bet your ass Bokushi is a little devil. He's been diagnosed with chronic douchebag syndrome and there is no cure. If he wants to make origami he will most definitely use your textbooks as craft paper. And as for your question about the GoM...you'll just have to find out, won't you? ;)

To Roseheart37819: First of all I knew I recognized your username from somewhere I think I might have read one of your stories. I most definitely need to revisit your page to check. Second of all I am actually screaming because I never expected to give someone inspiration for a fanfic before that's AMAZING. I do wish you the best of luck on your works!

Anyway, this chapter is a bit short but I'll get right on the next update once this is uploaded. So without further ado...

Enjoy!

Chapter 6

The next morning was the same as all the other mornings that week. Seijuro and Bokushi would wake up, get dressed, and eat breakfast together. Then Seijuro would tidy up the room a little and grab his school bag before bidding his younger brother goodbye, praying on his way to school that nothing disastrous would happen.

As usual, Bokushi was to wait for him until he was done with classes, which was at three.

Seijuro informed him the night before that they were to leave directly to the train station after school so they could be able to get there on time. Anyone who knew Seijuro would know that he liked being punctual. Well, at least one half of him liked being punctual anyway.

Bokushi could be punctual if he wanted, but he much rather preferred to be the last one to arrive so he could make a grand entrance, a perfect example being the meeting he called shortly after the Winter Cup opening ceremony.

While the original Akashi Seijuro tended to avoid causing too much fuss over his arrival, Bokushi did enjoy fanfare once in a while and would arrive when he pleased in order to be the center of attention. That was one of the many differences between the two Akashis. Nevertheless, Bokushi knew he'd have to discard his preferences for today since he was following someone else's schedule.

Their bags were packed and everything was in place.

All Bokushi had to do was wait.

…

Time crawled unbelievably slow for Bokushi while he waited for Seijuro's classes to finish. He'd been awake since seven and since then he had definitely made everything in the origami book, read through Seijuro's bookshelf, and played so many games of shogi that he couldn't even count it on four hands, let alone two. He did all this, and yet, it was still quarter past two in the afternoon.

Bokushi sighed.

There was nothing else for him to do in Seijuro's room, and Bokushi had already blown through most of his options. He was so bored that he was almost tempted to see if he could get a kick out of brushing his teeth for a second time. Slouching even further down Seijuro's chair, he folded his arms trying to think of a way to entertain himself, but he kept coming up short. What was there to do while Seijuro was gone?

He swiveled around in the chair for a short amount of time before his eyes fell on the door. Bokushi slid off the chair and opened it just a crack before peering out into the hallway. There was nobody to his left, and there was nobody to his right. There wasn't even the sound of talking. The dorm building was exceptionally quiet. He thought that since no one was around, it wouldn't hurt to explore the place a little bit, so without any hesitation, he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, leaving Seijuro's room behind.

~O~

The door to Seijuro's room opened a few minutes after three o'clock, and Seijuro emerged from the hallway.

"Bokushi, I'm back," he said. "Start putting your shoes on so we can…" Seijuro trailed off when he realized that no one was in his room.

"Bokushi?"

Perhaps he's in the bathroom, he thought. He put his schoolbag down, wandered over to the bathroom door, and knocked softly.

"Bokushi, are you in there?" he said. When he received no reply, he twisted the doorknob and peered inside. The lights were off, and again, no one was in there either.

Aaaaand there went his blood pressure.

The panic began to set in his mind as he closed the door to his bathroom and tried to see if he should look around in his room one more time in case Bokushi might have been hiding or something, but when he checked under his desk and in the closet, they revealed nothing. Now the panic had fully set in, and Seijuro was now extremely concerned. Bokushi was most definitely gone.

Seijuro's mind was in shambles as he tried to think about what could have happened.

Where was Bokushi? When did he leave? Why did he leave? Was he taken? Did he wander off? How far had he gotten? Had he already been seen? And if so, by whom?

He unconsciously began pacing as he pondered this predicament. If he was going to find him, he should start looking nearby, and quickly.

…

Mibuchi was in his room putting his bag down and taking off his shoes. He was just about to sit on his bed and turn on his laptop when he heard his door fly open without warning, turning around to see Seijuro looking more panicked than Mibuchi had ever seen him. That immediately raised a red flag, so he stood up and approached Seijuro.

"Sei-chan, are you alright?" he asked, wondering what on earth could have made Seijuro like this.

"Have you seen Bokushi anywhere?" he cut in, not even bothering to answer Mibuchi's question.

Mibuchi blinked. "Boku-chan? I haven't seen him anywhere," he answered. "He's not in your room?"

"No, and I have no idea where he is," said Seijuro. "He wasn't supposed to leave the room, and now I fear that something might have happened to him."

Mibuchi hummed in thought. "Well, if he's not here, then it would be best to go and check with the other two. Perhaps they might have seen him."

Seijuro paused and then nodded. It wouldn't do any good just sitting here and twiddling his thumbs, so he might as well keep busy and look elsewhere. He followed Mibuchi out of his room and down the hallway, where they were to first enter Hayama's room and ask about Bokushi's whereabouts. But he had the same reply.

"Hm? Bokushi? Haven't seen him."

Seijuro frowned. "I see," he said, his voice downcast. "Thank you for your help anyway, Hayama."

"I know!" Hayama exclaimed. "Let's check Ei-chan's room. He might be over there."

Adding yet another person to the search party, Mibuchi and Seijuro head over to Nebuya's room further down with Hayama trailing behind. When they got there, they knocked on the door, and Nebuya opened it, confused when he saw all of his teammates at the door.

"Don't tell me there was a get-together I forgot about."

Mibuchi shook his head. "We're here for a different reason, Eikichi," he replied. "We were wondering if you've seen Boku-chan."

"Ohhh, you mean Akashi's little bro?" Nebuya asked. "Nah, I haven't seen him. Why? Is he lost?"

"Precisely," said Seijuro. "He just vanished and I don't know where he could be."

"Didn't you give him your cellphone or something? Why don't you call it?"

"I took it back from him yesterday since he kept abusing his privilege," said Seijuro. He cursed himself for not just bearing it and letting him keep the phone. Then he would have at least been able to call him and identify his location. But now he was stuck.

Just as he was trying to decide whether or not to go and check his room again, he jolted in surprise when his cell phone began ringing. Fishing into his pocket and pulling out the device, he flipped it open to see the Caller ID. He vaguely recognized the number, but couldn't put his finger on who exactly was calling him, but he shrugged it off and just pressed the answer button.

"Hello?"

"Akashi. Is that you?"

"Mayuzumi-san," Seijuro said in surprise. Because really and truly, it was a surprise. Mayuzumi was adamant about nobody on the team saving his number. He said it would be a pain for them to have constant access to him. "It's unusual for you to contact me. Is there a problem?"

"Actually, there is," he grumbled from the other line. "I'm sure you'd like to get your 'pet' back, right? I have him here in the kitchen with me."

"Pet?" Seijuro's eyes went wide. "I'll be right over, Mayuzumi-san." He ended the call and put his phone back in his pocket, the others staring at him in bewilderment.

"Was that Mayuzumi?" Nebuya asked. "What happened?"

Seijuro turned to him as the relief washed over his face.

"I believe our search is over."

~O~

Seijuro sped over to the kitchen as fast as he could and completely forgot to knock as he burst through the door. When he entered the room, he found Mayuzumi sitting on a chair, and Bokushi sitting on the floor as he occupied himself with what looked like one of Mayuzumi's light novels.

He looked up. "Seijuro-nii. What a lovely surprise."

Seijuro folded his arms. "Bokushi, what do you think you're doing out of the room? I was looking everywhere for you," he scolded.

"I had forgotten something in my friend's room the last time I was here and just came to pick it up and leave. But then your brother came in five minutes ago claiming he was exploring," Mayuzumi explained. "Since I can't just leave a kid unattended, I brought him to the kitchen and let him borrow something to read while we waited for you."

Seijuro bowed towards the older teen in gratitude. "Thank you very much, Mayuzumi-san. I apologize for any inconvenience he's caused you."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just take him, I still have to go back home to study for a test."

"In due time, Mayuzumi-san. First of all," Seijuro stared down at Bokushi, who had just gotten up to stand by his side. "Bokushi. Apologize."

The room was silent.

Seijuro raised a brow. "Bokushi, did you not hear me? I said apologize."

It was very subtle, but Seijuro felt a change in the atmosphere. He looked down at Bokushi and saw that he took on an expression of what looked like… shock? It was just a flicker of emotion that Seijuro happened to see, so he couldn't be sure, but even if it was, he wouldn't be surprised.

Ever since Bokushi materialized in the back of his mind, he always believed himself to be right, and not once had he ever apologized for his actions. Something as simple as apologizing for inconveniencing another would mean nothing to Seijuro, but in Bokushi's mind, nothing he did was wrong. And so by asking him to apologize just now, it was questioning his principles and challenging his beliefs.

There was a strange gleam in his golden eye.

"You're asking me to apologize?" Bokushi said in a low voice. "I refuse."

"I didn't give you the option to refuse," said Seijuro. "You are to apologize to Mayuzumi-san whether you like it or not."

"I will not be commanded by you," Bokushi replied haughtily. "There is no need for me to apologize for something so insignificant."

"Your pestering is not insignificant, Bokushi. And we're not leaving until you apologize."

Bokushi turned away and huffed in defiance. "I will not—"

"Bokushi."

There was a change in Seijuro's tone of voice at that moment that silenced Bokushi. He turned and looked back up at Seijuro to find he was glaring at him, the look in his eyes almost dangerous.

There were many things you could do to Seijuro, but the one thing you should not do is make him angry. As well-mannered as he seemed on a daily basis, he was not to be trifled with when angered. The cold expression he wore on his hardened face and his unblinking furious eyes could make a lion cower before him.

If his looks could kill, Bokushi would already be six feet under.

The five-year-old involuntarily tensed when he felt the older Seijuro's stare boring into his very soul.

"Do you not have ears?" Seijuro said coldly. "Because there should be no reason for you to be unresponsive when I give you a command. Stop being so disrespectful and do as you're told."

The fury in Bokushi's eyes was overwhelming as he tried to process the fact that he was just put in his place. Yet, he didn't say anything. Almost as if he was wary. He narrowed his eyes and glanced back at Seijuro one last time before taking a deep breath to swallow his pride as he gave a slight bow towards the grey-haired teenager sitting on the chair.

"I apologize…" he mumbled.

Mayuzumi just sighed and brushed it off. "It's fine, kid."

Now it was Seijuro's turn to sigh. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a train to catch. I do wish you luck on your test, Mayuzumi-san."

"Yeah."

Seijuro looked down at Bokushi once more. "Come, Bokushi. We must be going."

He reached to grab Bokushi's hand, but the minute he touched it, Bokushi immediately retracted it and put his hands in his pockets. Seijuro blinked, puzzled by the strange behavior, but Bokushi didn't give him an explanation. He instead left the room first, not looking back as the door slammed shut behind him.

And that's all folks! I'll work on the rest tomorrow, but for now I'm going tf to sleep I'm actually on the verge of death so until my next update, you know what to do...

Read and review please!