Chapter Three

"How's Hanamura been? You haven't talked to him in ages, after all."

Yu had found himself in Adachi's small apartment for the fourth time that week. The two had been hanging out more than usual, due to the.. advancement in their relationship. The apartment was empty, for the most part, and it always felt.. Cold to him. Adachi didn't really do much with the place, never really bothered to make it seem more like a home rather than just some place to kick his feet up after the work day was done. It was funny, as this little detail had never bothered Yu until recently.

Rather than answer Adachi, Yu chose to stare at the carpeted floor, back uncomfortably straight as he sat on the man's couch. Fingers dug into his worn jeans, a small drop of sweat sliding down the bridge of his nose. He couldn't give the man satisfaction of an answer, for fear he'd lose composure. Always so calm and collected, always expected to be so. But recently, Narukami wasn't able to keep that act up. He had been so caught up in helping others that he threw his own needs out the window. He had wanted to help Adachi, even though he knew the man was the murderer. But why- No, he knew why. But he didn't want to admit it to himself. It was stupid, as he had recently come to realize.

"Ah, not much for talking today, are we Yu-kun..?" Adachi mused, letting out a small chuckle, pacing slowly around the back of the couch. Sighing, the man dropped down a bit, arms resting on the back edge of the couch, his elbow just barely making contact with Narukami's shoulder. "If you didn't want to talk to me, why did you come over, huh?" he laughed, making the teenager cringe.

It had been a bit of a chore getting away from Yosuke, as Adachi had essentially summoned him to his apartment. It wasn't like he had the choice of refusing- he wanted to be sure Yosuke and everyone else would be safe. He was unsure of whether or not Adachi would really do anything to his friends, but that wasn't what Yu was concerned about. The fact that he had helped the man burn the only piece of evidence against him would be made obvious, he was sure of that. It wasn't like he'd be able to lie and say he wasn't responsible for such an act.

"Seems like a lot has been on your mind lately." The man whispered as he took on a note of feigned concern. "I don't blame you. So much has happened this past week, you know? Rather, this entire year.. And I know how things have become even more difficult, with you at home by yourself.." he leaned forward into the couch, trying to make some sort of eye contact with the clammed up boy, but Narukami merely turned his head the other way. Smiling, the man leaned closer to the boy, lips close to his ear. "This is all your own fault, you know. You trusted me. Tried to take care of me. Wanted to hang out! I still don't get it."

Those words finally got Adachi a reaction, but not one he was expecting. Narukami had finally turned to look at the detective, eyes looking worn and sad. It caught Adachi off-guard- he had been expecting anger. Not whatever the hell this was about.

And the teenager was quick to deliver a flood of words in hopes of ridding himself of all the horrible, awful feelings he had buried in his gut.

"I know. I know! You keep saying this is my fault. You keep saying I shouldn't have trusted you.. And you're right, you don't understand it, Tohru-kun. I.." he couldn't stop the water that suddenly flooded into his eyes, spilling onto his cheeks, and he lowered his voice to a whisper, sounding ashamed. "Even after I knew that you were the one behind it all, I wanted to believe in you. I wanted.. to believe I could change you. That I could make you come to realize that.. That what you did was wrong! And I.. I didn't want you to get in trouble for it. That's why I burned the letter, I..." furiously, he wiped the tears away. "I thought I could make you better and make you regret what you had done. That you'd feel bad.. I wanted you to have another chance, I-" he was interrupted by the sound of laughter, and he found Tohru's thin fingers grasping onto his face, effectively covering his mouth.

"You're so stupid!" Adachi laughed, grip tight on Narukami's mug. "You actually thought you'd be able to fix me?!" the man was no longer laughing, a harsh anger in his words, a steely look in his eyes. "What gives you the right to even fucking try! You have no idea what's happened in my life. You're just a fucking kid- did you think our your bond with me would 'cure' me? Because you were my friend? Because you were so fucking nice to me?!" another humorless laugh left the man, grip tightening as he stared into grey eyes. "How stupid do you have to be to believe in that sort of shit? Friends make everything better, huh? How self-righteous are you to go believing that my sole friendship with you would fix me." The man frowned, and he finally let go, stepping away from the couch, feet plodding into the carpet. "I can't believe you think... that we're friends." Adachi turned to look at the boy, smirking. "Do you still think you can save me?"

That was a question Narukami had been asking himself for the past week, and it seemed as if the answer was finally before him. His stomach contorted, making him feel extremely sick. It felt as if the image he had had of Adachi was falling apart, piece by piece, finally revealing what was really underneath the man's silly act. But was.. all of it really an act? Had there been no truth to it all when they had spent time together..? Narukami felt that he understood the detective more now than ever- of course he would, considering the man was no longer hiding behind a mask- but Yu felt there had definitely been some genuine moments in time spent alone.

"Was everything a lie?" Yu asked quietly, looking oddly determined.

"What.. What the hell are you talking about?" Adachi growled, throwing a hand up in the air. "Do you need to have your hearing checked? Did everything I just say fly right over your head?"

Yu glanced to the side. "I mean.. About what you told me about yourself. About how you hate this place. How you act like you don't really care if no one notices you, Tohru-kun. When we.." he fumbled with his words as well as with his hands. "You always sound lonely. But that's your own fault, you know."

Adachi blinked, as it took him a minute to process what Narukami was talking about. Why was the brat so obsessed with the time they had spent together?

"Why does it matter? I'm the killer. Shouldn't that be enough to sicken you, Narukami?" his fist clenched.

"..." Narukami looked up at the man, deciding to finally get up off the couch. "I.. I don't know.." he admitted, once again letting shame creep into his voice. The fact that Adachi didn't deny that some of their time had been genuine had actually sent a small flutter shooting up through his chest. This was all so wrong for him to want there to have been some kind of authentic knowledge of this man he had been so curious to get to know. The sad fact remained that he had an affection for the older detective, an affection he had been trying to push away, even moreso when he found out Adachi was the murderer. But his heart and mind didn't really agree on what was important right now. The image of an Adachi he had become obsessed with wouldn't quit dissolve, even though the older man was saying such hurtful things. In the far back of his mind the teenager wished he didn't feel this way, that this was all an incredibly awful, terrible thing to feel toward a man who had killed others. But it wasn't something he could stop.

And it made him feel sick.

As he came back to reality, Narukami found he had made his way over to the detective, standing toe to toe with him. Essentially the teenager had managed to back the man into a corner, though Adachi didn't look like he was about to back down.

"What is it, Yu-kun? Finally deciding to take some action against me?" there was a challenge in his eyes, as the man didn't quite grasp what was going on in the teenager's mind. "Finally realize that you were so incredibly stupid as to have-"

Adachi blacked out for a few seconds, and he found himself falling back, though the wall managed to stop him from falling on his ass, head smacking into the hard wall. His hand immediately went to the back of his head, applying pressure to the sharp pain. It took him a minute to comprehend what the fuck had just happened. He had been talking to Yu, fully expecting the kid to punch him, but- his eyes widened as he realized-

Narukami had fucking kissed him.

Fucking.

Kissed.

Him.

All at once the detective felt he wanted to throw up, aggressively wiping his mouth as if the boy had some kind of disease. Alarm rang in his ears, and he finally managed to focus on the teenager, who appeared to be calm, save for that... Scared look on his face. Fear of how Adachi would react to being kissed. Fuck everything, the detective felt he should've seen this coming- he had gotten weird vibes from Narukami before concerning this shit, but he had hoped he was wrong.

This was fucking disgusting.

There was such an internal rage that threatened to make itself heard, but Adachi still couldn't seem to manage to form any sort of coherent string words. Though the man's face progressively grew a few shades of red in anger- was this brat really so STUPID to think that would change anything?

"Why did you do that?!" he finally yelled, managing to stand up straight, wishing he was taller so he could stare the kid down. "What the HELL was that?!"

Narukami shrunk back into his shoulders, feet digging into the carpet as he tried to look away from the detective, but found he couldn't. "I..." his cheeks reddened, and he didn't say much else.

The fact that he had gone and kissed Adachi did not really sit well with him, and he was already starting to regret it. Not only because the detective looked furious, but Narukami was also angry with himself. Was he really so desperate for the older man's attention? The answer to that question was obvious now, and it made Yu feel ill. It was like he wasn't willing to accept the fact that Adachi was.. IS a terrible human being who wasn't looking to change. Why Adachi, anyway? The man was treating him like trash, and yet here he was, still feeling fondly toward the older detective. It wasn't like Narukami didn't have any other friends, so really.. Why.. Why Adachi..?

Seeing as how Narukami wasn't going to talk yet again, Adachi rubbed at his forehead in frustration. He kept trying to push the brat away and make him feel like shit, yet he fucking kissed him. Ha, and he thought he was sick in the head.

Wiping at his mouth yet again, the older man looked to the teenager, an even deeper disgust in his gut. He had already disliked the kid, but now..

An idea abruptly clicked in his head, and Adachi perked up a bit. The man smirked, hand dropping to his side and casually slipping into his pocket.

"So this has been what it's all about, has it?" Adachi asked, taking a step closer to the teenager. "Wow, if your uncle knew about this.." he made a face, muttering a 'yeesh' under his breath, causing fear to creep into the younger man's eyes. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me, Yu-kun.." he smiled, though it was about as friendly a smile as one would expect from a criminal. It looked more sympathetic than anything.

"I.. I never got to say sorry.." The man glanced over at Yu, cogs spinning in his head as he formulated a plan. "About Nanako-chan, I mean. I didn't mean for her to get mixed up in this. It really was.. your fault, you know.." he had to stop himself from smirking as Narukami's brows furrowed. "I even kept telling you guys to stop getting involved, but you.. You put her in danger. You did this. Not me." The man played with the lint in his pocket, getting a sick kind of rush from seeing what was left of the teenager's calm, collected confidence fall apart.

Adachi shrugged. "Though I guess the real culprit would have to be Namatame, right? He took her into the television and made her sick." Yu stared at the detective, and Adachi was glad to see the pain in the young man's eyes. " You know.. Namatame is still in the hospital.. Maybe you should go pay him a visit."

The detective's change in demeanor made the hairs on the back of Yu's neck bristle, warning him that something was very, very wrong. But he didn't want to listen. Didn't want to listen as the older man drew closer, this time cornering him against the wall. Didn't listen as Adachi's arm rest beside him, as the detective made himself relax. Yu couldn't focus, he could barely breathe as his heart pounded in his ears- the man was so close, closer than Yu had ever been to him before, and it was disgustingly exciting to him.

"I.. You're right.." he breathed, staring into the detective's cold eyes. The teenager felt uncomfortable but he also found he did indeed like being so close to the man. The fact that Adachi's smell and face and body were so near to him was making it difficult for him to concentrate, difficult for him to make any correct judgement. Failed to make him realize that Adachi was planting a truly dreadful idea into his brain.

Yu yearned to believe that Adachi wanted to change, to become a good person. He believed that there was good in everyone, that sometimes people just needed a little help. A push in the right direction. The fact that Adachi was so close made him want to believe it even more strongly, as he hoped the man would change, just for him. It was entirely selfish, Narukami knew, but.. But he had never really felt this way about anyone before. Yes, he felt similar feelings toward Yosuke, but.. Adachi was different. Exciting. The teenager felt he knew that this was a very bad situation, but he couldn't help himself. Not with Adachi so close.

"Well, Yu-kun, I believe you have some unfinished business to attend to, do you not?" Adachi's smirk widened, and he got as close to the boy's face as he could manage without gagging.

Closing his eyes, Narukami willed his heart to stop beating so fast.

Adachi was right.

There was some unfinished business to attend to.

Foolishly, the boy fiercely held onto the hope that Adachi would change, not realizing that the older man was certainly working to change Narukami himself.

If only being good were as easy as being bad.