Tohma leaned back in his chair, absently reaching into his pocket in search of a pack of cigarettes, though upon finding the said pocket empty, he frowned and shook his head, musing at the habit that he obviously had not quite broken. It was strange though; he had not smoked in years.
Not for about five years, actually. It was a habit he had picked up after the incident in New York…the first of his plans that had ever failed. That had been the biggest lost for him, considering that it had made the one he loved most hate him. Before, he had never gone so far as to say that Eiri hated him indefinitely, but now, as he could see from his second plan that failed, Shuichi had snatched away any remnants of love Eiri might still have harbored for him. It was a lost cause now; there was no point left in fighting anymore.
Tohma stuck a pencil in his mouth as a substitute, amazed at his body's sudden desire for the old drugs. He chewed on the eraser relentlessly until it was ripped halfway off the metal tip, when he realized its state and reluctantly removed it from his teeth. He sighed heavily, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples firmly in an attempt to eradicate the dreary weight upon his eyelids that the previous restless night had thrust onto him. After a few seconds of rubbing with no results, he clenched his teeth and swung around, staring out his window at the passersby down below. He saw, within the thinning crowd, a pair of heads, a man and a woman, happily trotting along, completely oblivious of the world around them, basking in their so-called eternal bliss.
"Dammit," Tohma whispered, turning his chair back away from the sight. He stared at the countless stacks of papers lined neatly on his desk; he had been getting so far behind in work lately…
Contracts were mostly what the stacks consisted of. Contracts of new bands waiting to be signed on. Contracts of Nittle Grasper's new album, impending tour, and scheduled concerts. Building repairs, office supplies, computers, recording mixers, desks, instruments… Contracts for Bad Luck's new song, if Shuichi would ever show up to record it…
Not that Shuichi's absence was a bad thing. Of course, Tohma could only imagine what kind of things he was skipping work to engage in with Eiri, though truth be told, Tohma's dread of seeing the vocalist far outweighed his jealousy. He could have handled a possible altercation had he met the singer in the halls, though he frankly didn't want to. It would be horribly awkward, and he just wasn't in the mood to deal with such trifle things.
Trifle. It seemed trifle, though it hardly was to him. The second time his plans ever failed weighed almost as heavily on him as the first. It was at first, Eiri hates me; and then, Eiri hates me indefinitely. Trifle to others, but definitely not to him. Worst of all, it made him feel as though his divorce with Mika had been an utter waste; if he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have ever been in such a hurry to separate from her, and he might have even tried to keep the relationship going longer, if that was possible.
Of course, if he had, he would always wonder what could have been. At least now he knew the truth, even if it was this bitter.
"I should really get to work," Tohma thought aloud, as if saying it would help motivate him. With a dissatisfied sigh, he reached over and pulled out a contract on the top of a stack, though as the multiple papers became unattached and fluttered down to a disarrayed position on his floor, Tohma cursed softly and agitatedly began to reorganize them into a nice little packet. Upon further investigation, Tohma realized the reason for the papers' sudden departure from each other; they had been held together by a mere paperclip, which now lay discarded on the floor by the base of his chair. Tohma lined the contract up neatly, muttering, "Haven't these people ever heard of a stapler?" He then reached blindly towards his desk for his own, though when his hand hit the cup that served as a pencil-holder, he realized his stapler seemed to have been misplaced. Lifting his eyes, he studied his desk in search of the instrument, though other than the various writing utensils that were now strewn across the top, his desk was rather orderly, thus leaving no place for the stapler to be hidden.
Tohma set the contract onto his desk and rose to his feet, shuffling lethargically towards the door. He opened it slowly and poked his head out, his eyes wandering until they came to rest on the pretty young girl sitting at a desk outside his office and staring at a computer screen as her fingers floated across the keyboard expertly. Tohma began to dig through his memory in an attempt to remember her name. Hayashi Toshi… No, that wasn't it… He tried to think harder, though he could only come up with a blank. Not that it mattered much.
"Excuse me," he said with a smile, forced, but he doubted she could tell that. "Could I please borrow your stapler?"
The secretary blinked up at him, seemingly startled by his presence, though she quickly broke into a kind smile. "I'm sorry, sir, but Sakuma-san came up here earlier and borrowed it. He still hasn't returned."
Tohma lifted a curious eyebrow, though his lips moved forward into a frown. "Sakuma-san?" he asked.
The girl nodded assertively, and then proceeded to stare at Tohma questioningly. Tohma allowed his frown to grow bigger, and he quickly walked towards the elevator, gracefully sliding past his secretary, though once he was out of sight, he allowed his composure of fall, and he dropped into a tired shuffle.
"Ryuichi-san," he muttered irritably, messaging his forehead with his fingers as he moved. It hadn't taken him long to figure out that Ryuichi and Eiri didn't have anything together; once he realized that Shuichi was living with Eiri once again, he could only guess that it had been an act to get rid of him. Still, it made him feel awful whenever he thought about the sight of Ryuichi and Eiri kissing. It only meant that even if Shuichi was out of the picture, Eiri would still choose Ryuichi over him. He smiled sadly as he tried to push the memories out of his mind and replace them with the current events. "Why would Ryuichi-san need a stapler?"
A question that would never quite be answered fully. Of course, Tohma had no intent on searching out Ryuichi—after all, it wasn't as though he needed that particular stapler. There was no emotional attachment to his secretary's stapler; any old one would do, as long as it worked. Though, upon further inquiry of the whereabouts of any stapler, Tohma found that sometime over the course of last night through this morning, the whole of NG Records building had become stapler-less. There also seemed to be two different answers to his questions too, that being, "I'm sorry, sir, but Sakuma-san borrowed it," or, "I'm sorry, sir, but I can't find it anywhere." Thus, Tohma came to the conclusion that Ryuichi was indeed the culprit. But, of course, the building seemed to be Ryuichi-less too.
Tohma was rather irritated. It wasn't as though Ryuichi was getting in his way; it was more like Ryuichi was providing a welcome distraction to procrastinate his work, though Tohma couldn't decide if he would rather read contracts or chase after a seemingly invisible little rock star. Both were pretty mindless activities that caused Tohma to go on a path of introspection as he wondered when exactly his life had gone to hell. Still, he was rather agitated when he found that locating Ryuichi was actually a difficult task. Usually when Ryuichi hid after getting into trouble, he picked places such as in a laundry basket or under the bathroom sink or other places that a normal four-year-old would choose to hide. Never had it taken more than twenty minutes to find him, and yet, here it was, the worst day in the world for Tohma, and he was nowhere to be found.
At one o'clock, Tohma had enlisted the help of Bad Luck, or at least all members that showed up, including K and Sakano. Because they had no lead singer, whom was the only one who was behind on his work, Bad Luck really had nothing much to work on that day, so it wasn't much trouble for them. They all set off in different directions, Fujisaki grumbling angrily, Hiro stalking off quietly, Sakano running with fidgety glances and occasionally brushing against walls in his uncontrolled stagger, and K walking proudly and fingering his guns eagerly. Tohma decided to let them handle it and retired to his office where he proceeded to read and sign contracts, though his mind quickly dulled, and he found himself staring into space from time to time.
At one fifteen, K barged into his office without so much as a knock, hauling a tearful Ryuichi under his right arm. He smiled victoriously and set Ryuichi down in a chair across from Tohma's desk, and then immediately began to report the situation.
Apparently, according to K, Ryuichi had been found on the roof of NG. He had frozen in fear after peering over the edge of the building and realizing that he was terrified of heights. It had been hard for K to find him, however, because of the barricade of staplers that had been piled in front of the roof door, though luckily K knew some martial arts and was able to bust it open. Of course, K's explanation was much more detailed, but that was the gist of it. Tohma dismissed K, and then eyed Ryuichi, whom now had tears flowing freely down his cheeks as he clutched Kumagorou tightly against his chest.
"Well?" Tohma asked, leaning forward with an inquisitive smile.
"Ku-Kumagorou needs a doctor," Ryuichi squeaked, holding up the stuffed rabbit. Tohma frowned as he studied it carefully, and he quickly noticed that its hand seemed to have been stapled to its ear.
"Ryuichi-san…" Tohma sighed, rolling his eyes slightly and folding his hands on the desk. "I don't understand why you insist on doing things like this—"
"Doctor!" Ryuichi cried, thrusting Kumagorou closer to Tohma's face.
"Ryui—"
"Kumagorou NEEDS a doctor RIGHT NOW!" Ryuichi shrieked, shoving Kumagorou into Tohma's face, smothering him until he pulled backwards for more air. Tohma angrily snatched the animal out of Ryuichi's hands and unbent the staple, pulling it out roughly, though carefully enough so he would not rip it. Ryuichi took it happily and hugged it greatly, muttering, "Happy…I thought you would die…"
"As I was saying, I don't understand why you insist on doing things like this, when you know it will not accomplish anything important," Tohma said, though he could not shake the feeling that Ryuichi was not listening as he watched the latter make the stuffed animal do a limp dance across the stacks of documents on his desk. Tohma lowered his eyes to stare at his folded hands. "I don't think anyone understands you."
A pair of soft fabric ears flopped across his hands limply, lifeless from the previous dance, and Tohma glanced up curiously at Ryuichi to find the singer's head lowered, his bangs shading his eyes from the light, and a twisted smile stretching across his lips.
"Ryuichi…san?"
"What about you?" Ryuichi said, lifting his head slightly so that the bangs fell back to the normal place, revealing a set of narrow blue eyes that were sparkling with cynicism. "Nobody knows how you think and why you do the things that you do. I always thought you liked Shuichi."
Tohma blinked fearfully at his long-time friend as the past few days' events flooded back into his mind. He quickly looked to the side to hide the tears that were once again pricking at his eyes.
"You have the whole aura of being in control of your own destiny, but you always mess everything up that's important. You depress yourself," Ryuichi continued. There was a brief pause, before he spoke again, though this time it was in a voice that Tohma was more accustomed to. "Uh-huh, Tohma is sad because of what he did."
Ryuichi stared at Tohma for a moment before springing out of his chair onto the top of the desk, sending neatly organized documents held together by paperclips because of the current stapler-less state of the entire building flying and fluttering out in every which direction to end in a scattered mess across Tohma's floor. Tohma opened his mouth to chastise, though he was quickly silenced when Ryuichi scrambled off the desk and into his lap, where he curled up tightly as if he were a small child.
"I think Tohma's sad because he lives in a hotel. I think Tohma should come and live with me, because I have a big house that is really empty," Ryuichi said, snuggling into Tohma's jacket. His eyes suddenly fluttered open, and he looked around nervously before sighing in relief and snatching Kumagorou off the desk and into his own lap.
"Ryuichi-san," Tohma sighed, wrapping his arms around the smaller figure. "You wouldn't like to live with me."
Ryuichi leaned away and gazed up at Tohma. "Yes I would."
"No, Ryuichi."
Ryuichi frowned and scampered out of Tohma's lap. He stood and frowned at Tohma with his hands on his hips to accent his disapproval. "I was just trying to be nice."
"I understand that, but—"
"Oh!" Ryuichi cried, flinging Kumagorou out to the side by its ears as his eyes brightened intensely. "I know! I bet Tohma's hungry. That's why he's sad, he's hungry!" He jumped forward and snatched Tohma's wrist before the latter had a chance to get away and yanked with all his might, nearly causing Tohma to fall straight onto the floor. Tohma took a few steps to regain his balance but quickly realized he was being hauled out of his office and into the winding maze of hallways of NG on a route to the bottom floor, where the vending machines just happened to be located.
========
Yuki quickly reached up and fingered the cigarette in his mouth, breathing in another lungful of smoke before pulling it out of his mouth and throwing it onto the ground. This he did without the slightest hint of losing stride, much to his companion's dismay.
"Yuki! I don't wanna go! I don't want to see him again!" Shuichi cried, clutching at Yuki's sleeve with his clingy fingers. He was by this time out of breath after having to trot to keep up with his lover's quick pace.
"Shut up," Yuki replied angrily, wondering how many times he had said that very phrase that day. He quickly stepped up to the glass doors and gripped the handle before realizing that the clingy fingers had mysteriously become unattached to his sleeve; this was a rather unusual occurrence, one that often meant something was not right. Yuki growled and turned around to find Shuichi hovering nervously a few steps away, his mouth drawn into a straight line and his eyes wide with anxiousness.
"I really, really, really, really, really, really—"
"Will you shut up? You have to come back here sometime, unless you want to quit your stupid band," Yuki said, advancing towards Shuichi and firmly grasping his wrist. Shuichi whimpered loudly as Yuki dragged him forward through the doorway and inside the building where the two were stopped promptly by a very flustered secretary who didn't quite seem equipped to handle Yuki's death glare, though she did her job well by keeping her eyes glued to the floor.
"I'm sorry, sir," she said nervously, her fingers twitching as they clutched her skirt. "You need some identification."
Yuki intensified his glare as he thrust Shuichi forward, nearly causing him to collide with the secretary. "Don't you recognize him?"
The secretary looked at Shuichi for a few seconds before her pale face paled even further, and she reached the point in nervousness where her eyes actually quivered with fear. "S-sir, I'm terribly sorry, but entrance to the building is forbidden as ransom payments for hostage situations."
"What?" Yuki paused as he attempted to understand what the secretary was trying to accuse him of, though eventually he gave up and sighed irritably. "Listen, I just need to see Seguchi."
"And like I said, sir, I need some identification," the secretary replied.
Yuki ran his fingers through his hair angrily and glared down at Shuichi, who by now seemed have had something snap inside his head from the prospect of having to face Tohma again, and was staring blankly at the barren white wall near the corner, just above the potted plant. "Shuichi, show her your ID."
Hearing Yuki's voice saying his name was an exceptional occurrence to Shuichi; upon hearing such a thing, he immediately squealed and latched onto the novelist's arm, squeaking out random syllables, though his mind still seemed to be off in the throes of purgatory, a place that to him was much better than wherever Tohma was.
"Your ID!" Yuki demanded, whipping his arm around and throwing Shuichi to the floor. The sudden change in position caused Shuichi to return to reality a little bit more, enough to enable him to comprehend the meaning of Yuki's request, and furthermore reach inside his pocket and withdraw his ID. Yuki took it from his hands and offered it to the secretary, whom studied it closely before handing it back to Shuichi and smiling at him.
"All right, you're cleared to enter," she said cheerfully, raising her arm to point at a door. "Seguchi-san is in the snack room with Sakuma-san right now."
Shuichi cocked his head to the side and whimpered as he jerkily shuffled towards the door, though he stopped when he heard an irritated growl issue from Yuki. Upon hearing such, he turned to find Yuki once again being hassled by the secretary.
"I'm sorry, sir, he's cleared to enter, but you, sir, are not," the secretary said.
"I can't believe this," Yuki muttered, crossing his arms over his chest and shifting his weight to one foot. He shook his head in disbelief, his lips twisting upwards into a wry smile. He glared at Shuichi for a moment before marching forward, ignoring the pestering secretary as she screamed at him for his disobedience. Grabbing Shuichi on the way, Yuki hurried inside the snack room, locking the door behind him and pretending not to notice the shrieks of the secretary from the other side.
The snack room was not what one usually thinks of when one hears the words "snack room." It was actually more of a snack hall, or snack restaurant, bordering on being three stories high with dozens of tables and twice as many chairs neatly lined up inside. There was a huge window that made up the entirety of one wall and let in a blinding amount of light with the only thing interrupting the glass was the thin strips of plastic that bordered each pane. Yuki winced at the light, suddenly wishing that he had brought his sunglasses; not only did they protect his eyes from blinding lights such as the sun, but they also made him look a lot more cool and menacing.
They only had to follow the high-pitched giggling in order to locate Tohma, though that sight was borderline disturbing. Yuki lifted an inquisitive eyebrow as he studied the way Ryuichi was straddling the table and teasing Tohma with something that resembled a cupcake. Tohma noticed Yuki quickly, and merely smiled warmly before returning to playing with Ryuichi, which Yuki took as a personal insult. He did not like to be ignored.
Marching forward angrily, he wrapped an arm around Ryuichi's waist and hauled him off the table before dropping him quickly and allowing him to collapse onto the tiled floor with a squeak of pain. Yuki turned to glare at Tohma menacingly with his eyes narrowed to the point of being slits so small that it darkened his vision—not that that mattered, since it kept the sunlight out anyway.
"You stole all my clothes, didn't you?" Yuki said accusingly, once he decided Tohma was not going to start the conversation.
Tohma smiled fully and shrugged. "Not all of them."
"Yes, all of them. I opened my dresser and they were all gone."
Tohma chuckled and shook his head. "If they were all gone, then you would be naked right now, am I right?" he said playfully, though upon realizing what he had just said, his smile faded into a curious expression. Yuki took the liberty of noticing the way his eyes traveled over his body, and the way his eyebrows arched slightly upwards at the prospect.
"Quit it," Yuki muttered, though he stopped his breath as he noticed a head of pink hair drift past him. Shuichi sat down in the chair across from Tohma, sipping on the straw of the cup that seemed that have magically appeared in his hands. He then pulled the cup away from his mouth and stared innocently at Tohma for a long while, as if he were trying to figure out who he was, while Tohma merely smiled back casually.
"Good morning," Shuichi said, and then stuck the straw back in his mouth. Yuki lifted his eyebrow, wondering where all the nervousness the singer had been displaying just a few minutes ago had gone.
"Good morning, Shindo-san," Tohma replied, and after he was finished speaking, his lips returned to their previous state of smiling.
"I can't believe this," Yuki muttered, frowning. "I want my clothes back now."
Tohma looked at him as his smile faded. "Eh…?"
"Listen, Seguchi, you are five times richer than I am, and you can afford to buy your own clothes… When the hell did you steal mine anyway?"
Tohma blinked at him.
"It's not even your style…or your size. You look weird."
Tohma cocked his head to the side. "Eiri-san, I have no idea what you're talking about."
Yuki narrowed his eyes. "Fine, give me a goddamn thousand dollars, which is about how much that entire wardrobe is worth, and I'll leave you alone." That was something, at least, even though he would have to go out and buy the clothes. However, he had the feeling that Tohma was not going to give in.
Tohma smiled brightly. "If you needed money, you should have just told me in the first place!"
"Yes, I need money. I hope you don't expect me to pay you back, either, seeing as though it's your fault," Yuki growled.
"Of course you don't have to pay me back. I have plenty of money, and besides, you're my little brother!"
Yuki winced and stepped backwards, though when his foot landed on something soft in contrast to the tile floor, he grunted and shoved his weight forward to prevent from falling backwards and making a fool of himself. He turned to face a whimpering Ryuichi who was sluggishly rising to his feet. Yuki watched with narrow eyes as Ryuichi held Kumagorou to his chest and dragged his feet towards the empty chair next to Shuichi. He sat there for a few minutes, staring at Shuichi who was still sucking at the straw, though Yuki was certain that by now the cup had to be empty.
"I know! We should all have lunch together!" Ryuichi cried excitedly, setting Kumagorou onto the table happily. "Yeah, Kumagorou thinks so too. What do you think, Shuichi?"
Shuichi nodded.
"I think that's a wonderful idea, Ryuichi-san," Tohma interjected with a usual smile. The three then looked up at Yuki, whom was standing in place awkwardly with a distant look in his eyes, as if he were trying to figure out if this was a dream or not. Once he had decided that it wasn't, he silently sighed and sat down in the last empty chair next to Tohma, burying his forehead in his hands.
Yuki moaned in irritation as Ryuichi began to pull random assorted foods from seemingly nowhere and setting it energetically on the table in front of everybody, while Shuichi sipped and Tohma smiled. It was truly a happy time.
Yuki wondered just when he had arrived in Hell.
END
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Notes: Nyaa. That's all. It's finally finished.
Sorry this last chapter took so long to put up, but I haven't been writing on this because I've been writing essays instead…not my choice, keep in mind.
Thank you, all reviewers. You make me happy. That is good. I like being happy. I hope this story can reach the hundred mark in reviews…last time I checked it was at 96 for Chapter 10, so I think it will, but you never know. Oh, and I got a lot of reviews about what to do with Tohma, and yet I didn't really make anything remarkable happen to him. Kind of an open, unresolved ending, but I like it, so there. I hope you do too.
That's all. That's the end. No more, unless I get an extraordinary brilliant idea for a sequel, which is highly unlikely because I really don't do many things that are brilliant. So, that's it. There's nothing left. Nothing more to come. End. Fin. Owari. Audios. Sayonara. Ja mata. See you. Goodbye.
The End.
Cassi.
o.o