Yuki, I've missed you. Have you missed me too? I realize that I messed things up the last time we were together, but I know now that I have the chance to make it right. Are you waiting for me, like I've been waiting for you? I hope so, because I'm coming for you. And then we can be together forever, like we were meant to be.

Wait for me. I'm coming.

*~*

Touma clutched the phone so tightly in his hand that he knuckles turned white. The voice on the other end kept talking, yet it sound tinny, as if someone were speaking to him through a long tunnel. Yet somehow, the words impacted him through the shock.

"Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Touma nodded and drew a shaky breath.

"Yes, I understand. Please, keep me informed of anything that might be relevant. Thank you."

Touma gently placed the phone back in its cradle, and turned to look out the plate glass window behind his desk. The Tokyo skyline dimmed as memories he'd locked away long ago washed over him.

Five gunshots. It was the warped sound, like deformed firecrackers, that alerted Touma that something was wrong. He'd gone running down the hallway, and threw open the door to the familiar apartment. What he'd seen had shaken him.

Yuki had been sitting on the floor, the murderous gun grasped lightly in his shaking hands. Wine was pooled around him, only a few shades lighter than the blood that was creeping slowly toward his kneeling form.

Eiri's tutor's body lay, facedown, in front of him.

Eiri was crying, clearly terrified. What would happen to him when word got out he'd murdered someone? But Touma knelt by him, wrapping his arms around his friend.

"Shhh, it's ok. You didn't do anything wrong."

Somehow, Touma had instinctively known what had happened. Though there was no sign of anyone else, a crisp ten dollar bill and the bottle of wine had connected to show Touma that Eiri's mentor, the one person he'd loved with all his heart, had betrayed Eiri, sold him as if he were a mindless dog.

It pissed Touma off to no end.

Touma shook his head, clearing the memories away like cobwebs. He'd been only a child then, barely in his teens, yet he'd had enough influence as the heir to the N-G empire to get Eiri out of trouble, and had cleaned up the mess nicely. Anyone who'd known the truth had been paid handsomely to keep what they knew secret. And he'd spared no expense when it came to getting Eiri the help he needed.

There'd only been one loose end. Touma had told Eiri that his tutor had died, and indeed he had-- three times on the operating table, in the attempt to save his life. He'd been saved, and after he'd recovered, Touma had had him locked away in an institution in the US.

Only three people knew that the original Yuki was still alive-- Touma, Mika, and Yuki himself.