Haunted

Chapter 12: Lies


“I don’t believe you, Shuichi-san!” Fujisaki, BAD LUCK’s keyboardist, cried out over the phone, talking with Shuichi in much irritation,

“How could you not come over to record our new song? We have a deadline to meet! This isn't all just games! You have to be serious—where the hell were you last night—and the night before that? Did you know that Serena Tokigawa kept calling our mobile phones because she was as curious as we were to know where you have been?” he finished in such an accusing tone, not to mention in a lengthy harangue.

Shuichi, in all honesty, didn’t know if he should laugh or ask for forgiveness. He intended to be alone with Yuki for a while and take the rest of the week as a vacation. He had been working hard lately, and he deserved a good rest.

Most of all, he still haven’t had any idea on how he was supposed to tell the news to everybody concerning his reconciliation with Yuki Eiri.

“Look, Fuji-san, I understand your concern and worry… demo… I… I have to work things out with my personal life first… please understand that.” Shuichi explained.

“What do you mean?” Fujisaki’s voice faltered in exasperation, “What are you talking about? Is it about Seige? By the way, that guy has been nagging us for over twenty times in every hour since you disappeared in NITTLE GRASPER’s concert.” he informed irritatingly, “Serena was so worried. She and her sisters thought something awful must have happened to you. They almost called the authorities! You weren’t answering your phone either—what is really going on? You’re speaking in riddles, just so you know. Can you be clearer as to what you are fixing in your personal life? Because I believe your personal life is too ‘vast’ for us to understand.” he added lamely, accentuating his last words.

“Gomenasai!” Shuichi said, scratching his head and feeling the tension growing bigger between his end of the line and Fujisaki’s, “please tell Serena and Seige that I’m safe and there’s nothing to worry about… as for the recording of our new song… can we hold that till next week? I really have a lot to do…” Shuichi glanced at the wall clock in front of him and got shocked by the time,

“Exactly what are you doing anyway?”

“That’s not really important—look, I have to hang up now. Like what I said, I need to do a lot of things. Tell the guys I’m sorry again and I’ll make it up next week.”

“Wait, Shindou-san, don’t ha—”

Shuichi turned off his phone to regain peace and tranquility in his world again.


It’s been two days since Shuichi moved back to Yuki’s place. He’s been avoiding everybody since then. He wanted to take a ‘rest’ first by spending more time with Yuki. He felt that they’ve both missed so much and there’s a lot of catching up to do.

So tonight, Shuichi decided to prepare something special.

“Awawawaw!” Shuichi cried, waving his right hand in the air when he accidentally burned himself with the pan he was holding.

Shuichi looked at the clock again and suddenly panicked,

“Shoot!” Shuichi cried, “it’s already eight? That fast? And I’m not even finished baking my apple pie yet…” Shuichi moaned, bending down and checking out the pie he was baking.

Shuichi somehow remembered the time he enrolled himself in a cooking class. It happened right after he broke up with Yuki. He guessed he just wanted to prove Yuki that he could still survive on his own. He even got the chance to practice his new skill at Serena’s big place. Most of the time, they would have this ‘girlie-sessions’ wherein he and the rest of the ladies would make their own food. Shuichi was frequently assigned to the dessert, which explains his excitement for his ‘debut’ tonight.

‘I wonder what Yuki will say about my apple pie’ he thought.

‘Oh shoot! Maybe I should’ve done shortcakes! Yuki loves those! But shortcakes are for breakfasts, this is supper! A romantic supper! The apple pie will do’, he added confidently in his thoughts.

But then Shuichi held back again, ‘but apple pies are for lunches! It doesn’t suit romantic dinners! Maybe I should just switch to a chocolate decadent cake? Or something with Vanilla… or strawberry… or—what the heck! I have no time left, and besides, the pie is in the oven already’ he though with finality.

“Yuki’s gonna be home soon!” Shuichi squealed to himself, feeling both excited and worried.

He wanted to make something for Yuki so the man could at least be proud of him. Shuichi decided on a delectable and an outstanding menu when he chose to cook some asparagus soup for their appetizer, beef stew and mashed potatoes with gravy as their main course, and apple pie for dessert. He even bought a five year old grape wine to celebrate this night. Talk about loving sacrifice.

“Fifteen more minutes and everything’s done!” Shuichi cheered to himself and checked out the dinner table one more time before he changed his clothes.

The table was wonderfully arranged, using an auburn colored table cloth, a pot full of fresh red roses, the stems cut out, with its petals scattered in some parts of the table, and some white translucent draperies with a mixture of lilac and a candelabra, all lit up, to finish the whole ‘romantic look’.
The utensils were in order, with the classical decoration and placements. All the food was ready except for the dessert, and if Shuichi’s estimation was correct, Yuki would be home in about—twenty minutes.

“I think I’ve done it!” Shuichi exclaimed as he heard the oven’s alarm went off. The pie was finished and all that’s missing is the couple who will be eating it tonight.

Shuichi was so excited that he almost forgot to take the wine out of the refrigerator when suddenly something went wrong.

Shuichi was holding the wine in his hands when he felt a strong pang of pain in his insides. He completely dropped the bottle of wine while he himself dropped to the cold kitchen floor.

Shuichi’s legs curled up as he shivered fiercely. He closed his eyes for support but it wasn’t really helping.

“N-no… not n-now…” Shuichi cried out softly and felt something slowly flowing out of the corner of his mouth. When Shuichi turned to his side, he noticed his blood coming out in no time. Shuichi freaked out and covered his mouth.
He quickly, but painfully, stood up with his back arched down while he covered his bloody mouth frantically. He was still cringing in pain as he walked fast towards the bathroom.

In there, he faced the toilet and watched the huge amount of blood oozing out of his mouth as his whole body wracked in complete agony.

‘What’s happening with me? Am I… Am I going to die?’

In a matter or minutes, the pain went away and Shuichi felt relieved. His breathing was quick and hoarse and he was sweating like hell.
He carefully stood up and looked at the ‘mess’ he made on the floor while he scurried towards the bathroom.

Shuichi quickly went back to the kitchen to clean out the blood on the floor. He also removed the broken bottle and wiped off the spilled wine.

Yuki would be home anytime now so he had to hurry.

He couldn’t let Yuki see his condition. Not now. Not ever.

When he was done, he stood up and went back to the bathroom to take a quick shower before his koibito arrived.

He stood there, feeling the hot droplets of water trickling down on his tanned skin.
‘What will I do if Yuki finds out? Should I tell him now? How am I supposed to tell him this? I myself don’t even know what’s going on… what will I—’

Suddenly, his thoughts were disrupted when a pair of big hands went wrapping around his waist from behind, encircling him and pulling him towards a hard chest.

Shuichi gasped and looked up to see a smiling Yuki.

“You’re home…” Shuichi whispered, holding Yuki’s hands around him.

Yuki just smiled softly at his young koibito and leaned closer to get what he wanted.

Shuichi held out his hand to touch Yuki’s face as they kissed thoroughly and passionately under the hot shower.


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“I don’t understand,” Serena began, pacing rapidly in her Gucci pencil-heeled stilettos clicking around the shiny mahogany floor of her western styled office.

Even though she looked blazing mad with her foul mood, she still looked extremely sophisticated and divine.

She wore a white suite, one that was designer-made. It had that modern geometrical art that really made the person who wear it outstand amongst a crowd. She had her dangling sapphire heirloom earrings on and a Rolex watch to boot.
She also wore her hair in a high ponytail—very simple but accompanied by an eye-catching make-up.

The interior of the room was quite big. There was an old black pendulum clock at the corner of the office and it clearly showed ten in the evening. A huge shelf was at one side, containing various books ranging from encyclopedias to old references.

Most of the books were about literature, and surprisingly, they were all quite old. The wide steel table at the far end of the room had a huge window behind, exposing the beautiful garden of the Tokigawa mansion.
It also showed the magnificent black sky sprawled in the heavens.

The stars were shining differently tonight, but even though Serena Tokigawa’s surrounding was full of life and beauty, her mind seemed to be filled with concern and utmost worry.

“We were supposed to meet her the other night at the concert,” Serena explained to Gilfred as she paced back and forth, “I want you to find that girl as soon as possible. If you can’t find her, we’ll go public. Someone from the old government must have found out I’ve returned,” she said, assuming all of a sudden, her eyes filled with loathe to those who have caused tragedy in her family’s life in the past, “they must have taken him as hostage. If they want negotiations, I want Sakura first, and then we’ll proceed to the details.” She explained briefly and went behind her desk, opening her drawer and pulling out a long folder.

“But Serena, we’re not even sure if Sakura was captured,” Gilfred reasoned out, trying to lessen the agitation from his employer, “who knows, maybe he’s just out there having fun with his friends.” He explained calmly.

“Having fun?” Serena said, her eyes like ice, throwing a daggered look to the innocent man sitting across the table comfortably, “it’s been two nights, damnit! Obviously something horrible had happened to her—she hasn’t called any of her friends since that damning concert.” She screamed, “and just for you to know, we couldn’t hear each other clearly, and our line was cut off! How about that?” Serena cried out, and this time, she covered her face, feeling exhausted and beaten.
“Serena,” Giflred began calmly once more, “that was a concert. Of course you can’t hear each other—everyone’s too noisy, didn’t you ever think of that? And maybe Sakura got tired trying to connect with you since she can’t get out of the rough crowd,” he reasoned,
“I was there too, you know that, and by the size of that crowd, it’s really impossible to talk to anyone over the phone.”

In normal circumstances, Serena would shout or curse Gilfred with such an idea. But she needed some reassurance that her sister was safe, and this kind of conversation was what she really needed for now.
“Fine.” She muttered between her teeth, “but if we don’t receive a word from Sakura tomorrow, we’re calling the cops.”

Gilfred snorted under his breath, “The cops, hmph…” Gilfred started, taking out a cigar from the pocket of his brown trench coat.

“They’re the last thing we’ll ever need,” he muttered, “where were the cops when we needed them?” he added scornfully, lighting his cigar.

Serena breathed deeply and stared at Gilfred.

If there was one opinion they share in common, that would be their opinion towards the government of Japan.

Serena stood up from her massive black leathered chair and looked outside of the
window,

“Out at the backyard, firing bullets behind our asses…” she answered belatedly which startled Gilfred.

Gilfred puffed his cigar and stretched out on his chair,

“It’s been a long time… hasn’t it?” he asked, staring up at the swirling smoke he was creating.

“I don’t want to think about the past now,” she began, “as soon as we succeed at
Sakura’s revival, I’ll set a wedding for her and Seige.” She added.

Gilfred sat up on his chair and asked,

“Does Seige know about this?”

“No.”

“When are you planning to tell?”
“As soon as possible, damnit!” she hissed, “it’s taking too long for Sakura! I don’t know what’s happening with her… for the past few months since she left that asshole, she hasn’t told us anything about her health.” She bit out.

“Isn’t that good news?” Gilfred questioned,

“She’s lying, of course.” Serena answered, “I can feel it… there’re times when she would come by and I would see her running for the bathroom.” She told, “Once, I saw small droplets of blood inside my room. I knew it had to come from her because she and the rest of the sisters were inside my room that night. We were having a good time, and I never realized that she was in pain.” She said, feeling troubled more than ever.

Serena walked away from the window and sat back on her chair.

“So what’s your plan of action?” he asked instead, watching the unending torment in his employer’s emerald eyes.

“What else?”

“I see… when do you plan to operate on her?”

Serena paused for a long while. For the last past months, why hadn’t she told the truth to Sakura? She could’ve informed the child that her life was in jeopardy and that she knew how to help her.

Delaying the operation will worsen Sakura’s condition. She’s nearing death and nobody’s doing anything about it.

But Serena can help.

Because she was the one who created Shindou Shuichi, the male version of Sakura Tokigawa.

And now it’s up to her to change things around.

Before it’s too late.