Lost & Found - Episode 1 Part 1
Title : Lost & Found
Chapter Title : And Finally It Begins
Setting : Hidarime Tantei EYE - Post Special Drama
Summary : What if at the end, Ainosuke's resolve crumbles, leaving him vulnerable in front of his older brother. What will Ainosuke do? And how will Yumeto react to the drastic decision his baby brother had come onto?
Rating : K+
He groaned when the sunrays hit his face as the curtain to his bedroom window was opened. Attempting to escape the annoying light and loud noise he knew would be coming in a moment, he rolled over and buried his face into the soft pillow, pulling the thick cover tighter around himself and snuggling closer to his bed. He sighed in content when the warmth engulfed him and his mind drifted peacefully back to dreamland.
That comfort, however, did not last long. Just as he was about to fall back to sleep again, he felt the cover around him wrenched away. He made a soft sound of protest and curled into a ball, trying to regain back some of the warmth.
“Rise and shine you sleepyhead! Today is too beautiful of a day to be spent tucked in your bed!”
A small whine escaped his lips as the loud noise reached his ears. He grabbed his pillow and dumped it on his head, his eyes remained closed all the while.
“Oh no, you don’t!”
Knowing what going to happen next, he clutched the pillow tight, refusing to let go as he felt a tug on it. His effort was futile though, as only a second after the pillow was also pulled out of his fingers.
He whined louder and curled up tighter, feeling rather like a cat but wasn’t bothered enough to stop doing it. There was a faint sound of chuckle somewhere above him the mattress beside him dipped. Then, a hand descended to his hair, ruffling it softly, more of a comforting gesture than to actually mess his hair. Not that it was neat at the time being.
“Come on! How much longer do you want to stay in bed?”
Leaning into the hand, he made another incoherent noise. He was far too comfortable to want to get out of bed, even if he had lost everything but the bed itself.
“Oh, fine! I give up!”
He felt the presence beside him stood and started to make a big commotion for such a simple matter. What was wrong with wanting to sleep in, seriously?
“Good choice,” finally he murmured, voice thick with sleep.
His remark was met with silence. Against his will, he frowned lightly. Three months living with this man taught him that the older wouldn’t back down easily. There was something that he was planning. He could just picture the sly smirk that he was sure adorned the man’s face.
Sound of footstep going away from his bed could be heard and he frowned deeper. Okay, now he was 100% sure that the man was hiding something inside his sleeve.
“Oh, well. What to do? What to do? Actually I was planning to out to town with Ainosuke-kun, but… Well, since he doesn’t seem to be interested I guess I’ll just go by myself the-”
“NO! Wait! I’m up! I’m up! I wanna go!”
In only seconds, the boy had scrambled out of his bed, tripped over his own blanket which was lying haphazardly on the floor, and then latched himself to the man’s arm. His fingers clutched and tugged the man’s long sleeve as he continued to babbler like a little child begging for candy.
“See! I’m not sleepy! I wanna go! I promise I’ll be good! Please? Please, please, please pleasepleaseple-”
He stopped suddenly when he saw the amused and satisfied smirk on the older’s face. His eyes eyebrows furrowed and his lips formed a pout.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
The man in front of him just laughed joyously at the younger’s annoyance. He ruffled the boy’s hair again, actually making it messier that it already did this time.
“How else am I going to wake you up?”
His pout turned into a slight scowl as the man continued to laugh. Seeing the younger’s displeasure, the man tried to control his laughter and managed to cool it down to a chuckle.
“I was not lying, by the way. I was going to ask you whether you want to accompany me to go to the town today.”
All traces of annoyance immediately disappeared as his face lit up with glee. There was a little bounce at his feet.
“Yes!”
He found that he actually didn’t mind the man’s laughter this time as he was pushed towards his bathroom.
“Well, then go take a take a bath and change your clothes. I’ll wait for you in the living room.”
Smiling brightly, he almost ran to the bathroom as he yelled back.
“Not the kitchen?”
“Nope! We’re having breakfast outside!”
He was about to close the door when another thought came into his mind and he poked his head back outside.
“Yoshida-san!”
The said man turned around from his position at the door of the bedroom. The boy bit his lips in worry and the called man waited for him to sort his thought.
“Is niichan…? I mean, wouldn’t he…? Is he…?”
The older smiled kindly at the hesitant voice and he felt his cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
“He’s okay with it.”
“Oh… Then, is he…?”
He let his question trailed off, knowing that his care-taker would understand what he was asking. Wide, hopeful eyes staring at him unblinkingly, but when the man sighed, he knew that the answer was negative.
“Never mind that! It’s okay, really! I’m going to bathe! See you in a minute, Yoshida-san!”
He exclaimed as he got back into the bathroom and closed the door.
It was a few seconds later that the sound of a door being opened and closed telling him that the man had left was heard. He kept his back on his bathroom door still, eyes brimming with unshed tears.
He said that he was okay with his brother not coming with them and he was not lying. But still…
He was okay with that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
xxx
Yoshida sighed as he walked beside a certain 15 years old boy who was busy eating his ice cream and enjoying the scenery around him. Never mind that the scenery was an old dock and rows of houses. Both him and the kid had a few grocery bags with them.
He was tired. Dead tired, truthfully. Who knew that a mere shopping for food ingredients can be so exhausting?
Well, he thought, it will be if you take Ainosuke-kun with you. A bored 15 years old who had spent 3 months inside the apartment without being outside once can change a simple grocery shopping into a full fledge shopping spree.
He had spent the whole day being dragged by an energetic junior high student. The last time had been for the sake of an ice cream.
Seriously! Ice cream! How old was this child anyway? Fifteen? Or five?
Still, glancing at the soft smile the child now had on his face, all of it was worth the trouble.
He knew confronting Yumeto-san about this had been a good idea.
“He’s lonely, Yumeto-san.”
The young man in front of him sighed heavily, rubbing his face tiredly with his hand. He stood stiffly, waiting for the crime planner to sort his thoughts. He watched silently as the man - for lack of better word - plopped himself onto the soft chair and leaned backwards, closing his eyes and resting his head at the headrest.
For a few seconds, only silence was present in that room. Then, Yumeto opened his eyes and pushed his body forward, looking at the older man tiredly.
“My hands are also tied, Yoshida. There’s nothing I could do about it without raising suspicion from the organization, let alone Noriko. She was suspicious enough with me when I brought Ainosuke here. Alive.”
“We kept his whereabouts hidden from everyone else.”
He pointed out to the over worried older brother. Well, he couldn’t blame him for that. He would too if someone wanted his only family member dead.
“True. But I can’t go against my reasoning to them. To keep him hidden. There’s a possibility that Noriko would find out hiding him was not my true intention.”
He just had to smile knowingly at that respond. These two brothers were far more alike than they themselves knew. Both were so extremely stubborn.
“Finding out that you still care about him, you mean.”
The young man chuckled humorlessly at that.
“I knew that Ainosuke would rub off on you in the end, Yoshida. How is he?”
“Like I said, lonely,” he deadpanned without missing a beat.
Yumeto actually laughed as he leaned back again on his chair, his posture relaxing as he let his shoulder slumped forward. The crime planner gazed back at him with a twinkle in his eyes. Something that only happened when he was talking about his little brother.
“I see that his straight-forwardness in making his thought known has affected you too.”
He smiled, “Well, what can I say? I spent 3 months taking care of him.”
A sad look rest upon Yumeto’s expression.
“Something that should have been my job.”
He knew he would feel bad for this later, but now, he saw his chance and he was not willing to let it go.
“You’ve done the best you can, Yumeto-san, that I know you will continue to do. Why don’t you let me to take him out once in a while. Like go for groceries and stuff like that?”
Yumeto looked thoughtful before smiling softly.
“I think that is a wonderful idea.”
He was pulled out of his musing when he felt a drop of water fell on his face. He looked at his young companion to see him had dumped the ice cream cup - when did he finish? - and was looking up at the darkening sky.
Now he knew what he had forgotten when he felt it just before he left the apartment. Umbrella.
“We need to run. Come on!”
He tugged the young boy at his side and both of them broke into a run. The rain was getting heavier and they were both soaked to the skin. It was a good thing that they were both wearing jacket though.
It was when they were passing a bridge when he realized Ainosuke-kun was no longer following him. Looking back, he found him staring down at something.
“Ainosuke-kun? What are you doing?”
Then, without any warning, the boy ran. Only, he wasn’t running to the correct direction. He was running to the opposite direction.
“Ainosuke-kun!”
He had no choice but to chase his charge. It took him by surprise when the boy took a sharp turn to below the bridge but followed him still.
He was starting to regret buying so many things. It made it hard to run. More so in this bad weather.
A flash of red caught his eyes and he frowned when he realized it was an umbrella. And not only that, it was being held by a little girl around 7. But what caught his attention the most was the sight of Ainosuke holding a wolf-like dog in his arms.
He stood quietly under the bridge, observing their interaction.
The child and the teen talked for a while before he saw the girl beamed and bowed down in grateful gesture. She ran past him, pausing a bit at the turning point and then scurried away to the apartment complex some meters away.
When he turned his attention back to the teenager, he noted that the boy had walked over to him and was looking at him pleadingly.
Oh, no. He was NOT going to give in to him this time. Definitely not. Not even when the boy was now staring at him with his big brown eyes. Nope. Never.
Oh, who was he kidding? Of all people why should it be this manipulatively adorable boy that he had to consider as his own child?
He sighed heavily.
“Fine. But he is your responsibility.”
Even the sun could never compete with the bright smile the boy was giving him.
xxx
The sun rose lazily but steadily. It rays brightened the city up as flickers of yellow light steadily erase the dark blue. Yet, when most of people were still in slumber, two men were having morning tea in the younger's office, who was currently laughing heartily, ignoring the disapproving look the older man was giving him.
"I am glad that you find this funny, Yumeto-san. Now, would you be so kind to inform me how you put up with your little brother all this time?"
Finally getting his laughter under control, the crime planner smiled widely as he answered.
"Easy. I don't"
Yoshida just sighed and sat down on one of the chairs in front of the desk. Yumeto snickered as he saw the annoyed look on the older's face.'
"You won't believe how fast he was to be friendly with the dog. You know what he said once I agree with him keeping the dog?"
Yumeto shook his head slowly, an amused smile still decorating his face. He reached out to grab his coffee and took a sip, thinking that the older man should have done the same. Coffee in the early morning could get rid of his crankiness.
"He said, 'Thanks, Yoshida-san! Isn't that great, Rin?' Rin, Yumeto-san! Rin! He named the dog within a few minutes he met him! That child…"
He nodded his head sympathetically, having experienced firsthand how frustrating his little brother could be. Cute, yes, but it was just sometimes annoyed him to no end how he was not able to say 'no'.
"I have you to thank for this, Yoshida."
The called man looked at him strangely, as if saying, 'Now you're blaming me for this?'
Yumeto quickly amended his mistake.
"That's not what I meant. Just, you know… He was back being how he used to be before all of this started. And he wouldn't be if it was not for you. So, I thank you."
He knew that the man got his message as understanding flooded Yoshida's face.
"You don't have to, Yumeto-san. Consider it as a payback after all you've done to me. And I will be lying if I say I don't enjoy his company. Though, I must admit that the first few weeks were rather hard for him."
The crime planner sighed dejectedly. Guilt was steadily and rapidly building in his heart when he remembered how those first few weeks had been.
"Yeah, I know. And I've never been there for him."
He looked up to see the ex-bomber looking sympathetically at him.
"We both know that isn't the truth. The only problem is what are you going to do about it."
Yumeto shook his head bemusedly. He was not joking when he said that his hands were tied. He was not going to take the risk that his brother would be exposed to even greater danger than he already was.
"Nothing. It was as sure as if you ask Ainosuke to stay out of trouble. Not possible. Anyway, I think that it is time for me to start acting. It's better if Noriko has her mind somewhere else but Ainosuke."
What the both of them did not know was that at the very moment, that was exactly what a certain dark haired boy had gotten himself into.
xxx
"Rin! Come on! You're going to make the whole place slippery!"
He desperately exclaimed as he ran after the over-energetic fox-like dog. His own hair was still dripping wet from shower and so did the dog. He didn't know how, but somehow, Rin had managed to get itself into his bathroom and turned the shower on. And now he was trying to get the dog be still just for a few seconds so that he could dry it up. But it seemed that the dog was rather enjoying itself and was content with its dripping state.
Letting out an exasperated groan, he gained his speed a little bit. He was being reckless, he knew. But, if he wished to have his breakfast soon, he had no other choice. His stomach was already protesting loudly a few seconds ago.
Why should the one time he decided to wake up early be spent running around the apartment?
Yoshida-san would be appalled at the amount of mess his new pet was capable of making just at his first morning. Hopefully he could get everything under control before the man found out about this.
Wait. Now that he thought about it, where was Yoshida-san? For all he knew, the older man always woke up very early in the morning. Could he be out?
His musing, as usual, had him end up in a bad situation. More precisely, he slipped as he stepped onto a particularly wet spot on the floor. He yelped as he felt himself fell backwards before his head hit the floor pretty hard. For a second there he was sure he saw some stars flying before his eyes, then something that hasn't happened in 3 months… well, happened.
Images started to flash before his eyes. This time, the images made even less sense than they did before.
Blackboards with numbers on them…
A picture of a chick…
Some weird red shapes…
Doves…
Dog…
Some more weird red shapes…
And…
Mai-chan?
Chapter Title : And Finally It Begins
Setting : Hidarime Tantei EYE - Post Special Drama
Summary : What if at the end, Ainosuke's resolve crumbles, leaving him vulnerable in front of his older brother. What will Ainosuke do? And how will Yumeto react to the drastic decision his baby brother had come onto?
Rating : K+
He groaned when the sunrays hit his face as the curtain to his bedroom window was opened. Attempting to escape the annoying light and loud noise he knew would be coming in a moment, he rolled over and buried his face into the soft pillow, pulling the thick cover tighter around himself and snuggling closer to his bed. He sighed in content when the warmth engulfed him and his mind drifted peacefully back to dreamland.
That comfort, however, did not last long. Just as he was about to fall back to sleep again, he felt the cover around him wrenched away. He made a soft sound of protest and curled into a ball, trying to regain back some of the warmth.
“Rise and shine you sleepyhead! Today is too beautiful of a day to be spent tucked in your bed!”
A small whine escaped his lips as the loud noise reached his ears. He grabbed his pillow and dumped it on his head, his eyes remained closed all the while.
“Oh no, you don’t!”
Knowing what going to happen next, he clutched the pillow tight, refusing to let go as he felt a tug on it. His effort was futile though, as only a second after the pillow was also pulled out of his fingers.
He whined louder and curled up tighter, feeling rather like a cat but wasn’t bothered enough to stop doing it. There was a faint sound of chuckle somewhere above him the mattress beside him dipped. Then, a hand descended to his hair, ruffling it softly, more of a comforting gesture than to actually mess his hair. Not that it was neat at the time being.
“Come on! How much longer do you want to stay in bed?”
Leaning into the hand, he made another incoherent noise. He was far too comfortable to want to get out of bed, even if he had lost everything but the bed itself.
“Oh, fine! I give up!”
He felt the presence beside him stood and started to make a big commotion for such a simple matter. What was wrong with wanting to sleep in, seriously?
“Good choice,” finally he murmured, voice thick with sleep.
His remark was met with silence. Against his will, he frowned lightly. Three months living with this man taught him that the older wouldn’t back down easily. There was something that he was planning. He could just picture the sly smirk that he was sure adorned the man’s face.
Sound of footstep going away from his bed could be heard and he frowned deeper. Okay, now he was 100% sure that the man was hiding something inside his sleeve.
“Oh, well. What to do? What to do? Actually I was planning to out to town with Ainosuke-kun, but… Well, since he doesn’t seem to be interested I guess I’ll just go by myself the-”
“NO! Wait! I’m up! I’m up! I wanna go!”
In only seconds, the boy had scrambled out of his bed, tripped over his own blanket which was lying haphazardly on the floor, and then latched himself to the man’s arm. His fingers clutched and tugged the man’s long sleeve as he continued to babbler like a little child begging for candy.
“See! I’m not sleepy! I wanna go! I promise I’ll be good! Please? Please, please, please pleasepleaseple-”
He stopped suddenly when he saw the amused and satisfied smirk on the older’s face. His eyes eyebrows furrowed and his lips formed a pout.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
The man in front of him just laughed joyously at the younger’s annoyance. He ruffled the boy’s hair again, actually making it messier that it already did this time.
“How else am I going to wake you up?”
His pout turned into a slight scowl as the man continued to laugh. Seeing the younger’s displeasure, the man tried to control his laughter and managed to cool it down to a chuckle.
“I was not lying, by the way. I was going to ask you whether you want to accompany me to go to the town today.”
All traces of annoyance immediately disappeared as his face lit up with glee. There was a little bounce at his feet.
“Yes!”
He found that he actually didn’t mind the man’s laughter this time as he was pushed towards his bathroom.
“Well, then go take a take a bath and change your clothes. I’ll wait for you in the living room.”
Smiling brightly, he almost ran to the bathroom as he yelled back.
“Not the kitchen?”
“Nope! We’re having breakfast outside!”
He was about to close the door when another thought came into his mind and he poked his head back outside.
“Yoshida-san!”
The said man turned around from his position at the door of the bedroom. The boy bit his lips in worry and the called man waited for him to sort his thought.
“Is niichan…? I mean, wouldn’t he…? Is he…?”
The older smiled kindly at the hesitant voice and he felt his cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
“He’s okay with it.”
“Oh… Then, is he…?”
He let his question trailed off, knowing that his care-taker would understand what he was asking. Wide, hopeful eyes staring at him unblinkingly, but when the man sighed, he knew that the answer was negative.
“Never mind that! It’s okay, really! I’m going to bathe! See you in a minute, Yoshida-san!”
He exclaimed as he got back into the bathroom and closed the door.
It was a few seconds later that the sound of a door being opened and closed telling him that the man had left was heard. He kept his back on his bathroom door still, eyes brimming with unshed tears.
He said that he was okay with his brother not coming with them and he was not lying. But still…
He was okay with that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
xxx
Yoshida sighed as he walked beside a certain 15 years old boy who was busy eating his ice cream and enjoying the scenery around him. Never mind that the scenery was an old dock and rows of houses. Both him and the kid had a few grocery bags with them.
He was tired. Dead tired, truthfully. Who knew that a mere shopping for food ingredients can be so exhausting?
Well, he thought, it will be if you take Ainosuke-kun with you. A bored 15 years old who had spent 3 months inside the apartment without being outside once can change a simple grocery shopping into a full fledge shopping spree.
He had spent the whole day being dragged by an energetic junior high student. The last time had been for the sake of an ice cream.
Seriously! Ice cream! How old was this child anyway? Fifteen? Or five?
Still, glancing at the soft smile the child now had on his face, all of it was worth the trouble.
He knew confronting Yumeto-san about this had been a good idea.
“He’s lonely, Yumeto-san.”
The young man in front of him sighed heavily, rubbing his face tiredly with his hand. He stood stiffly, waiting for the crime planner to sort his thoughts. He watched silently as the man - for lack of better word - plopped himself onto the soft chair and leaned backwards, closing his eyes and resting his head at the headrest.
For a few seconds, only silence was present in that room. Then, Yumeto opened his eyes and pushed his body forward, looking at the older man tiredly.
“My hands are also tied, Yoshida. There’s nothing I could do about it without raising suspicion from the organization, let alone Noriko. She was suspicious enough with me when I brought Ainosuke here. Alive.”
“We kept his whereabouts hidden from everyone else.”
He pointed out to the over worried older brother. Well, he couldn’t blame him for that. He would too if someone wanted his only family member dead.
“True. But I can’t go against my reasoning to them. To keep him hidden. There’s a possibility that Noriko would find out hiding him was not my true intention.”
He just had to smile knowingly at that respond. These two brothers were far more alike than they themselves knew. Both were so extremely stubborn.
“Finding out that you still care about him, you mean.”
The young man chuckled humorlessly at that.
“I knew that Ainosuke would rub off on you in the end, Yoshida. How is he?”
“Like I said, lonely,” he deadpanned without missing a beat.
Yumeto actually laughed as he leaned back again on his chair, his posture relaxing as he let his shoulder slumped forward. The crime planner gazed back at him with a twinkle in his eyes. Something that only happened when he was talking about his little brother.
“I see that his straight-forwardness in making his thought known has affected you too.”
He smiled, “Well, what can I say? I spent 3 months taking care of him.”
A sad look rest upon Yumeto’s expression.
“Something that should have been my job.”
He knew he would feel bad for this later, but now, he saw his chance and he was not willing to let it go.
“You’ve done the best you can, Yumeto-san, that I know you will continue to do. Why don’t you let me to take him out once in a while. Like go for groceries and stuff like that?”
Yumeto looked thoughtful before smiling softly.
“I think that is a wonderful idea.”
He was pulled out of his musing when he felt a drop of water fell on his face. He looked at his young companion to see him had dumped the ice cream cup - when did he finish? - and was looking up at the darkening sky.
Now he knew what he had forgotten when he felt it just before he left the apartment. Umbrella.
“We need to run. Come on!”
He tugged the young boy at his side and both of them broke into a run. The rain was getting heavier and they were both soaked to the skin. It was a good thing that they were both wearing jacket though.
It was when they were passing a bridge when he realized Ainosuke-kun was no longer following him. Looking back, he found him staring down at something.
“Ainosuke-kun? What are you doing?”
Then, without any warning, the boy ran. Only, he wasn’t running to the correct direction. He was running to the opposite direction.
“Ainosuke-kun!”
He had no choice but to chase his charge. It took him by surprise when the boy took a sharp turn to below the bridge but followed him still.
He was starting to regret buying so many things. It made it hard to run. More so in this bad weather.
A flash of red caught his eyes and he frowned when he realized it was an umbrella. And not only that, it was being held by a little girl around 7. But what caught his attention the most was the sight of Ainosuke holding a wolf-like dog in his arms.
He stood quietly under the bridge, observing their interaction.
The child and the teen talked for a while before he saw the girl beamed and bowed down in grateful gesture. She ran past him, pausing a bit at the turning point and then scurried away to the apartment complex some meters away.
When he turned his attention back to the teenager, he noted that the boy had walked over to him and was looking at him pleadingly.
Oh, no. He was NOT going to give in to him this time. Definitely not. Not even when the boy was now staring at him with his big brown eyes. Nope. Never.
Oh, who was he kidding? Of all people why should it be this manipulatively adorable boy that he had to consider as his own child?
He sighed heavily.
“Fine. But he is your responsibility.”
Even the sun could never compete with the bright smile the boy was giving him.
xxx
The sun rose lazily but steadily. It rays brightened the city up as flickers of yellow light steadily erase the dark blue. Yet, when most of people were still in slumber, two men were having morning tea in the younger's office, who was currently laughing heartily, ignoring the disapproving look the older man was giving him.
"I am glad that you find this funny, Yumeto-san. Now, would you be so kind to inform me how you put up with your little brother all this time?"
Finally getting his laughter under control, the crime planner smiled widely as he answered.
"Easy. I don't"
Yoshida just sighed and sat down on one of the chairs in front of the desk. Yumeto snickered as he saw the annoyed look on the older's face.'
"You won't believe how fast he was to be friendly with the dog. You know what he said once I agree with him keeping the dog?"
Yumeto shook his head slowly, an amused smile still decorating his face. He reached out to grab his coffee and took a sip, thinking that the older man should have done the same. Coffee in the early morning could get rid of his crankiness.
"He said, 'Thanks, Yoshida-san! Isn't that great, Rin?' Rin, Yumeto-san! Rin! He named the dog within a few minutes he met him! That child…"
He nodded his head sympathetically, having experienced firsthand how frustrating his little brother could be. Cute, yes, but it was just sometimes annoyed him to no end how he was not able to say 'no'.
"I have you to thank for this, Yoshida."
The called man looked at him strangely, as if saying, 'Now you're blaming me for this?'
Yumeto quickly amended his mistake.
"That's not what I meant. Just, you know… He was back being how he used to be before all of this started. And he wouldn't be if it was not for you. So, I thank you."
He knew that the man got his message as understanding flooded Yoshida's face.
"You don't have to, Yumeto-san. Consider it as a payback after all you've done to me. And I will be lying if I say I don't enjoy his company. Though, I must admit that the first few weeks were rather hard for him."
The crime planner sighed dejectedly. Guilt was steadily and rapidly building in his heart when he remembered how those first few weeks had been.
"Yeah, I know. And I've never been there for him."
He looked up to see the ex-bomber looking sympathetically at him.
"We both know that isn't the truth. The only problem is what are you going to do about it."
Yumeto shook his head bemusedly. He was not joking when he said that his hands were tied. He was not going to take the risk that his brother would be exposed to even greater danger than he already was.
"Nothing. It was as sure as if you ask Ainosuke to stay out of trouble. Not possible. Anyway, I think that it is time for me to start acting. It's better if Noriko has her mind somewhere else but Ainosuke."
What the both of them did not know was that at the very moment, that was exactly what a certain dark haired boy had gotten himself into.
xxx
"Rin! Come on! You're going to make the whole place slippery!"
He desperately exclaimed as he ran after the over-energetic fox-like dog. His own hair was still dripping wet from shower and so did the dog. He didn't know how, but somehow, Rin had managed to get itself into his bathroom and turned the shower on. And now he was trying to get the dog be still just for a few seconds so that he could dry it up. But it seemed that the dog was rather enjoying itself and was content with its dripping state.
Letting out an exasperated groan, he gained his speed a little bit. He was being reckless, he knew. But, if he wished to have his breakfast soon, he had no other choice. His stomach was already protesting loudly a few seconds ago.
Why should the one time he decided to wake up early be spent running around the apartment?
Yoshida-san would be appalled at the amount of mess his new pet was capable of making just at his first morning. Hopefully he could get everything under control before the man found out about this.
Wait. Now that he thought about it, where was Yoshida-san? For all he knew, the older man always woke up very early in the morning. Could he be out?
His musing, as usual, had him end up in a bad situation. More precisely, he slipped as he stepped onto a particularly wet spot on the floor. He yelped as he felt himself fell backwards before his head hit the floor pretty hard. For a second there he was sure he saw some stars flying before his eyes, then something that hasn't happened in 3 months… well, happened.
Images started to flash before his eyes. This time, the images made even less sense than they did before.
Blackboards with numbers on them…
A picture of a chick…
Some weird red shapes…
Doves…
Dog…
Some more weird red shapes…
And…
Mai-chan?