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"You're such an idiot."
"Huh?" Shuichi pulled himself up from the epicenter of the blast and looked around. "Yuki?" Dusting himself off, he tried to focus on what had just happened, and where he was. "This looks like a movie house."
"Idiot. It's a drama theater. They used to put on plays here in the old days. The old days being the Edo period, I'm thinking." The theater actually wasn't that ancient, but Shuichi smiled at the joke, glad that Yuki was here in such a dark, chilling place. "What are you doing here, Yuki?"
"Been following you. I knew you'd find Seguchi somehow." Eiri walked over to the bench now plastered with fallen debris and began shifting ceiling plaster and charred rafter joists. "Seriously, where the hell do you get those crazy dog suits?"
Shuichi stared down at his plushy outfit with the blinking nose until Yuki's words sank in. "Tohma! Where's Tohma?" It all came back to him now. He'd put on the dog suit and set off to find Tohma in a cyclone of desperation, landing here in this dark, burned out theater with an explosion of unspent energy. No wonder the police were making no progress. Who'd think to look in an old burned down theater on the old side of town for a kidnapped music exec?
"He's here," Eiri announced, removing the gag and blindfold from his brother-in-law. "He's unconscious, but alive. Must have been hit with some of this falling wood. Honestly, can't you just walk into a building?"
Shuichi looked down sadly, guilt-ridden at the thought that he might have killed Tohma with his recklessness. "I'm sorry, but you know how frantic I get when someone I care about is threatened. I just can't help it. I thought they'd murder him if I didn't find him quick enough. Oh, fuck! Where are they? The kidnappers? Did they escape?"
Eiri worked on the ropes, but couldn't free Seguchi. "Give me a hand here, eh? I don't think you need to worry about them. I'm standing on the ringleader. He's out cold too, but after you get Seguchi to a hospital, I'll wake this fucker and find out who else is working for him. He's not going to bother us anymore."
"Yuki..." Shuichi looked up from the ropes binding Tohma and stared at Eiri. "You can't just..."
"Yeah, I can. This whole situation proves it's necessary. I've killed before; it's no big deal. I can afford good lawyers. If someone doesn't do it, this mongrel's gonna plague us again in the future. You want to see Tohma dead next time? Or his kid? Or me?" Eiri glanced over at Shuichi, gauging whether he'd like to see his first love lifeless.
"No. Of course not. You know I love you, Yuki. But I just can't live with you anymore."
"I see. You're in love with Seguchi, aren't you?"
Shuichi gazed down at Tohma's dusty, pale face and nodded. "But it's not what you think. He has nothing to do with it. He didn't seduce me or anything. He may not even know how I feel. I just sorta...fell in love with him...somehow. I don't know why. I only know that he's what I need at the moment. That's not why I can't live with you, though. I couldn't live with you even if there was no one else. I've outgrown the need for your approval, and I've decided I deserve someone who's good to me all the time..." Shuichi stopped, realizing there was no point in slamming Yuki with his rationale. What purpose would it serve? It'd only make Yuki feel bad without reason.
Eiri finally worked the rope from one of Tohma's hands, then slipped it off the rest of his body. For a moment he considered whether it made more sense to call an ambulance or send his brother-in-law to the hospital in his own car. For all he knew, Taki had injured his spine tying him to this bench, but Shuichi interrupted his thoughts when he began slapping Tohma's face tenderly, trying to get him to wake.
"We need to put clothes on him and get him to the hospital, Yuki. Can you carry him?" Shuichi bolted up and looked around for clothing, but whatever Taki had done with them wasn't evident.
"Never mind. I've got a jacket in my car. It'll have to do. You'll have to drive Tohma to the hospital in my car while I take care of Droopy Eyes here. Can you handle that?"
"Sure, Yuki. But what are you going to do?"
Eiri glared at him a moment while hoisting his brother-in-law over his shoulder. "Are you sure you want to know? Probably just tie him up with those ropes he bound Tohma with, then beat his brains out with a pipe or something. There must be a crowbar or something heavy around on the floor among all this rubbish."
"Ah." Shuichi wished he hadn't asked, but internally agreed it probably needed to be done. The police couldn't even find him. How could they guarantee they could keep him in jail once he was convicted? That was assuming they could find a jury that wouldn't acquit the once popular star. Juries seemed to love celebrities, no matter what they did.
"So what do you plan to do, Shuichi? Live with Seguchi the rest of your life? I suspect Mika might resent you sleeping with her husband. Aren't you in the way there?"
Shuichi followed Eiri out to his car, thinking. "I don't know. I've never felt like I was in the way. They've gone to great lengths to make me feel wanted and useful there. Mika-san says I'm a good babysitter."
"I see. She uses you as a servant. Is that really what you want?"
"She doesn't use me. She cooks the dinner; I wash the dishes. It's just helping out, and doing my share. We're like a family, and every member has to help out. You know? I don't feel used. More like I'm using them to be my ideal family. I mean, I love my own, but I love the Seguchis too, and they make me feel needed. I'm happy there."
Eiri stared at Shu a moment as if he were going to say something, then changed his mind and said something else instead. "Don't just stand there, you idiot. Open the door." He smiled a little then, and Shuichi relaxed.
"Heh. Sorry, Yuki. Here." Shu opened the rear door so Eiri could lay Tohma across the back seat.
"Drive fast but within the law. You don't want to have an accident or juggle him around too much. He might have a head injury or something. Here are the keys. And don't dent my car or I'll kill you." Eiri held out the keys, but they were grabbed away from him before Shuichi could take them.
"You might want to keep those keys, Yuki-san," K said, stepping forward.
"Mr. K! What are you doing here?" Shuichi demanded.
"The same as Yuki-san. I followed you here, thinking you could find shacho. You'd better get him to the hospital, both of you. I'll take care of the mess in there," he said, gesturing with his head toward the theater.
"But Taki's in there! Yuki has to—"
"I know what Yuki has to do. I've heard everything. But I have one thing Yuki-san doesn't, which makes it imperative that I take care of Mr. Droopy Eyes."
"Oh? And what's that?" Eiri wanted to know.
K grabbed his cigarettes from his pocket. "A license to kill."
Shuichi and Eiri looked at each other a moment, then each climbed into the car, Eiri in the driver's seat. As they drove off, K turned toward the old theater. Even as a burned out shell of a building it echoed something of the grandeur of its former days, and it was a shame he had to turn it into a tomb now. But Yuki was right; Taki would plague them all again in the future if he wasn't stopped permanently. K walked into the building, and took out his lighter.
TBC
"You're such an idiot."
"Huh?" Shuichi pulled himself up from the epicenter of the blast and looked around. "Yuki?" Dusting himself off, he tried to focus on what had just happened, and where he was. "This looks like a movie house."
"Idiot. It's a drama theater. They used to put on plays here in the old days. The old days being the Edo period, I'm thinking." The theater actually wasn't that ancient, but Shuichi smiled at the joke, glad that Yuki was here in such a dark, chilling place. "What are you doing here, Yuki?"
"Been following you. I knew you'd find Seguchi somehow." Eiri walked over to the bench now plastered with fallen debris and began shifting ceiling plaster and charred rafter joists. "Seriously, where the hell do you get those crazy dog suits?"
Shuichi stared down at his plushy outfit with the blinking nose until Yuki's words sank in. "Tohma! Where's Tohma?" It all came back to him now. He'd put on the dog suit and set off to find Tohma in a cyclone of desperation, landing here in this dark, burned out theater with an explosion of unspent energy. No wonder the police were making no progress. Who'd think to look in an old burned down theater on the old side of town for a kidnapped music exec?
"He's here," Eiri announced, removing the gag and blindfold from his brother-in-law. "He's unconscious, but alive. Must have been hit with some of this falling wood. Honestly, can't you just walk into a building?"
Shuichi looked down sadly, guilt-ridden at the thought that he might have killed Tohma with his recklessness. "I'm sorry, but you know how frantic I get when someone I care about is threatened. I just can't help it. I thought they'd murder him if I didn't find him quick enough. Oh, fuck! Where are they? The kidnappers? Did they escape?"
Eiri worked on the ropes, but couldn't free Seguchi. "Give me a hand here, eh? I don't think you need to worry about them. I'm standing on the ringleader. He's out cold too, but after you get Seguchi to a hospital, I'll wake this fucker and find out who else is working for him. He's not going to bother us anymore."
"Yuki..." Shuichi looked up from the ropes binding Tohma and stared at Eiri. "You can't just..."
"Yeah, I can. This whole situation proves it's necessary. I've killed before; it's no big deal. I can afford good lawyers. If someone doesn't do it, this mongrel's gonna plague us again in the future. You want to see Tohma dead next time? Or his kid? Or me?" Eiri glanced over at Shuichi, gauging whether he'd like to see his first love lifeless.
"No. Of course not. You know I love you, Yuki. But I just can't live with you anymore."
"I see. You're in love with Seguchi, aren't you?"
Shuichi gazed down at Tohma's dusty, pale face and nodded. "But it's not what you think. He has nothing to do with it. He didn't seduce me or anything. He may not even know how I feel. I just sorta...fell in love with him...somehow. I don't know why. I only know that he's what I need at the moment. That's not why I can't live with you, though. I couldn't live with you even if there was no one else. I've outgrown the need for your approval, and I've decided I deserve someone who's good to me all the time..." Shuichi stopped, realizing there was no point in slamming Yuki with his rationale. What purpose would it serve? It'd only make Yuki feel bad without reason.
Eiri finally worked the rope from one of Tohma's hands, then slipped it off the rest of his body. For a moment he considered whether it made more sense to call an ambulance or send his brother-in-law to the hospital in his own car. For all he knew, Taki had injured his spine tying him to this bench, but Shuichi interrupted his thoughts when he began slapping Tohma's face tenderly, trying to get him to wake.
"We need to put clothes on him and get him to the hospital, Yuki. Can you carry him?" Shuichi bolted up and looked around for clothing, but whatever Taki had done with them wasn't evident.
"Never mind. I've got a jacket in my car. It'll have to do. You'll have to drive Tohma to the hospital in my car while I take care of Droopy Eyes here. Can you handle that?"
"Sure, Yuki. But what are you going to do?"
Eiri glared at him a moment while hoisting his brother-in-law over his shoulder. "Are you sure you want to know? Probably just tie him up with those ropes he bound Tohma with, then beat his brains out with a pipe or something. There must be a crowbar or something heavy around on the floor among all this rubbish."
"Ah." Shuichi wished he hadn't asked, but internally agreed it probably needed to be done. The police couldn't even find him. How could they guarantee they could keep him in jail once he was convicted? That was assuming they could find a jury that wouldn't acquit the once popular star. Juries seemed to love celebrities, no matter what they did.
"So what do you plan to do, Shuichi? Live with Seguchi the rest of your life? I suspect Mika might resent you sleeping with her husband. Aren't you in the way there?"
Shuichi followed Eiri out to his car, thinking. "I don't know. I've never felt like I was in the way. They've gone to great lengths to make me feel wanted and useful there. Mika-san says I'm a good babysitter."
"I see. She uses you as a servant. Is that really what you want?"
"She doesn't use me. She cooks the dinner; I wash the dishes. It's just helping out, and doing my share. We're like a family, and every member has to help out. You know? I don't feel used. More like I'm using them to be my ideal family. I mean, I love my own, but I love the Seguchis too, and they make me feel needed. I'm happy there."
Eiri stared at Shu a moment as if he were going to say something, then changed his mind and said something else instead. "Don't just stand there, you idiot. Open the door." He smiled a little then, and Shuichi relaxed.
"Heh. Sorry, Yuki. Here." Shu opened the rear door so Eiri could lay Tohma across the back seat.
"Drive fast but within the law. You don't want to have an accident or juggle him around too much. He might have a head injury or something. Here are the keys. And don't dent my car or I'll kill you." Eiri held out the keys, but they were grabbed away from him before Shuichi could take them.
"You might want to keep those keys, Yuki-san," K said, stepping forward.
"Mr. K! What are you doing here?" Shuichi demanded.
"The same as Yuki-san. I followed you here, thinking you could find shacho. You'd better get him to the hospital, both of you. I'll take care of the mess in there," he said, gesturing with his head toward the theater.
"But Taki's in there! Yuki has to—"
"I know what Yuki has to do. I've heard everything. But I have one thing Yuki-san doesn't, which makes it imperative that I take care of Mr. Droopy Eyes."
"Oh? And what's that?" Eiri wanted to know.
K grabbed his cigarettes from his pocket. "A license to kill."
Shuichi and Eiri looked at each other a moment, then each climbed into the car, Eiri in the driver's seat. As they drove off, K turned toward the old theater. Even as a burned out shell of a building it echoed something of the grandeur of its former days, and it was a shame he had to turn it into a tomb now. But Yuki was right; Taki would plague them all again in the future if he wasn't stopped permanently. K walked into the building, and took out his lighter.
TBC
