Arc 1: The American Psycho [I]

Chapter : A Long Way From Grove

The White Lotus was a luxury hotel which catered to the needs of the elite, the rich and famous. Security was tight and the lobby was busy and nobody paid attention to a waiter who casually walked up to the manager in the reception area and started asking a couple of questions.

"I'm looking for a dude named, Hikigaya."

The manger was a white man in his late twenties, tall, slender and handsome. He didn't recognize the waiter, but he reasoned that the hotel had multiple restaurants and he didn't know every single member of the staff, including new hires.

"Did he leave something at the table?"

The waiter thought about it for a second. "Yeah. He left this really expensive watch. It had his name on it and everything. I was thinking about returning it to him. It looked like a gift from his girlfriend or something."

The manager gave a small smile. "That's really nice of you. My mother would approve."

"…What?"

"Nothing." The manager quickly checked the computer at the desk. "Hachiman Hikigaya is staying at room 108. I hope that helps."

"Appreciate it, hom-" The waiter quickly cut himself off. He read the other man's nametag and added, "-I mean, Mr. Bates."

The manager smiled. "Think nothing of it, um, what is your name again?"

But he didn't get a response because the waiter had already strolled off, gotten into an elevator and reached the next floor. It didn't take him long to locate the room. The 'Do Not Disturb' sign hanging on the door knob didn't bother him. He took out a silenced pistol and knocked a couple of times.

"Room service."

No response.

The man in the waiter's outfit was not deterred. He aimed the silenced pistol at the doorknob and fired twice. It got the job done. The door was now open and he stepped inside. If he was lucky, the man staying in the room probably hadn't even heard the shots. And even if he did, it's not like it would matter.

The man in the waiter's outfit stealthily crept into the bedroom. The bed looked slept in. There was an open suitcase on top of the bed and clothes lying around. A lot of clothes. The dude had like five different outfits. But there was no sign of any weapon, no guns, no knife. The only thing he found a little bit strange were these small glass vials sitting on the night stand.

But before he could inspect the strange looking objects, he heard the sound of running water. He quickly turned around and paid closer attention. The sound was coming from the bathroom. The dude was probably in the shower. It made things even easier. The dude was unarmed, butt naked and completely unprepared for a fight. What was the dude gonna do when he pulled up with a gun on him, throw soap suds in his eyes? I think not, he thought.

It seemed like luck was on his side today. Even the door to the bathroom was unlocked. He stepped into the bathroom, holding his silenced pistol, pointing it at the shower curtains. The sound of running water was even louder inside. The dude probably hadn't even heard him come in. The man in the waiter's outfit crept up, got real close and holding the silenced pistol in his dominant hand, he removed the shower curtain in one swift swing. It swished aside and the man's eyes widened.

"Oh shit!"

He was set up. The dude wasn't in here. The man quickly turned around and tried to dash out of the bathroom. He didn't care if he was loud. There was no use being stealthy anymore. The dude knew he was here. And that's when he made his first mistake.

The door hit him in the face. Hard. He cried out in pain and stumbled back. Not good. He was getting angry. If the dude thought, he could lock him in here, he was really stupid. This time he kicked the door open. If someone was standing on the other side, the force would have clearly knocked him back. No such luck though. The dude was smart. He had to be careful. He raised his silenced pistol and prepared to shoot anybody who moved. He slowly crept closer to the door, holding onto his weapon. That's when he made his next mistake.

"Aah!"

The man in the waiter's outfit stumbled back, holding onto his hand which was throbbing in pain. The dude had slammed the door on his hand twice. On his first try he got him to drop the silenced pistol and in his second attempt, he managed to hurt him some more.

Now he was angry. He didn't have his silenced pistol with him anymore. But he didn't care. He kicked the door again and stumbled back. The dude had locked the door from the outside. He had trapped him inside the bathroom.

"CJ right?" The dude asked from the other side of the door. "Do me a favour and turn off the water. Or better yet, hold your hand in the water. It will help with the pain."

CJ snorted. But he did as he was told. The water did ease some of the pain. He couldn't help but ask. "You this nice with all the other psychos who come after you or am I just special?"

"Just trying to build a good rapport. Something I learnt in the States."

"The States? You from America?" CJ kept up with the conversation.

"Yeah. I spent some time there. Nice place. What about you, CJ? Where are you from?"

"I'm for Los Santos." CJ didn't say anything else.

"You with the Grove Street Families?" When he didn't get a response, he added. "I saw your tattoo. Grove ST 4 Life." A beat. "You're a long way from Grove, huh CJ? What happened?"

No response. The sound of water could no longer be heard from inside the bathroom. Instead the booming sound of a single gunshot echoed through the room. It was especially loud. It made his ears ring. But it took a big chunk out of the door, leaving it splintered and unlocked. If he was lucky, it would have probably taken a huge chunk out of this punk's brain too. But luck was no longer on his side.

Still, CJ had the bigger gun. He stepped out of the bathroom, leaving the door hanging open and didn't wave around his gun like some wannabe gangsta. With his desert eagle he was a real gangsta.

"Hey Hikigaya? Where you at?" CJ taunted. "Not feeling like talking all that shit when I have a gun pointed at ya, huh?"

No response.

And then a kitchen knife whisked past him, just barely missing him and CJ turned around and started shooting up the place. Bullets started to fly, things started to get smashed and broken and splintered, there were several holes on the walls and cabinet and the pillows were burst open, feathers flying everywhere, but there was no sign of him. Hikigaya was nowhere to be found.

Sometime during the ensuing chaos, the bed was upturned and so was the couch to provide some sort of cover from the onslaught of bullets. The cushions were strewn across the floor. The curtains on the windows were hanging lopsided. There was shattered glass everywhere. CJ tried not to step on them. He would give away his position. Hikigaya had his silenced pistol. Even though for some reason he hadn't used it yet. Perhaps he was waiting for the right opportunity. Well, he was not gonna give him one. The once clean and white bed sheets and blankets were lying on the floor. Carl had to walk over them to reach the other side of the bed. And that's when he made another mistake.

"Aaa!"

Hikigaya had yanked the bed sheets from under his feet and CJ had lost his balance and fallen on his ass. He had cried out in surprise, not in pain. And he had also dropped his desert eagle somewhere. Before he could scramble, get on his feet and look for the weapon, he found his own pistol pointed at him. He had removed the silencer. His finger was on the trigger and he was aiming the thing at his head.

"Now that I have your attention, I want some answers." He said smoothly. "Who sent you to kill me?

CJ tried to stall. "Look dude, I don't know the guy. Never even met him. We just talk over texts. I don't know-"

Hikigaya moved the gun, placing it right beside CJ's ear and fired. It created a deafening sound and he almost cried out in shock and tried to swivel his head away. But now Hikigaya had a hand on his throat and the nozzle pressed against his forehead. The metal was hot from being recently fired. It burnt his skin and he shouted obscenities at him. But nothing he did had any effect on him. He just wanted one thing.

"I want a name." He said smoothly.

So CJ gave it to him. "Kanra!"

Hikigaya's eyes widened. His voice came out low and it had a note of surprise in it. "Kanra?" he repeated. "How? But, why –oofh!"

CJ had taken full advantage of his momentary state of shock and surprise and kicked him in the stomach. Hard. But not hard enough. The dude stumbled back, but didn't lose his gun. He also had the presence of mind to duck for cover behind the upturned bed. But it won't do him any good, because now CJ knew where he was hiding.

He didn't look for his desert eagle. Instead, he took out his uzi. But before he could empty the entire clip in Hikigaya's head, he had to deal with a lamp thrown at his face. CJ didn't care. He shot the lamp to smithereens and kept firing at the bed, unloading the entire clip like a complete lunatic. By now the bed had so many bullet holes in it that it was a miracle the thing was still standing. Oh well, another clip will do it.

"You should stop wasting bullets, CJ." Hikigaya said from his hiding spot. "If the desert eagle couldn't do the job, then an uzi has no chance."

CJ inched closer to his hiding spot. He just had to stick to the other side of the wall, get past the window and then he will be onto him like a – "What the!"

Hikigaya had come out of hiding and he had thrown a couple of kitchen knives at his head. Only they missed him completely and instead lodged themselves onto the curtain rod which was already hanging lopsided from being mangled by bullets. But now the curtain was falling and it covered him entirely. He was stuck with an empty uzi in one hand and a clip in another and he couldn't see what the hell was going on. In the confusion, he dropped the uzi and the clip, but managed to remove the curtain from his face. But before he could take a breath and look around, Hikigaya swung a wooden chair and hit him on the back of the head.

Everything turned black and he dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Before he lost consciousness, he heard Hikigaya mumble something, but he couldn't pick up exactly what he said. It's not like he cared though, because Carl Johnson was gonna die soon.

Or at least that's what he thought.

A/N: Welcome to "The American Psycho Arc!"