"Thanks again. You gonna have any problems?"

 

 

 

 

Toshi found himself on a last-minute call with his friend, ensuring that their stories matched up. Kenko's persistent inquiries about details were starting to make Toshi uneasy, but he couldn't simply brush him off, no matter how pushy he got. Kenko continued to call, almost as if he was desperate to check up on Toshi, and the worry in his voice was seeping through.

 

 

"No... Toshi... look. I'm your friend. I want to help, but are you sure you're not in any trouble? If anything is going on, ANYTHING... you can tell me. You know that, right?"

 

Toshi rolled his eyes, "I'm not in trouble." He paused as if something finally clicked, "And I'm not having sex with anyone if that's what you're worried about. It's... a personal thing. A friend needs my help. She is in a bad way and I have to be there for her. I HAVE to be there for her. You can't tell anyone, alright? If you came to me in the same spot, I'd be there for you."

 

"It's Ruri, right?"

 

Toshi froze for a second, "Yeah... it's Ruri. Who else would it be?"

 

Kenko kept silent for several seconds as if he were fighting down a reply he would regret speaking out loud, "I suppose it wouldn't be anyone else. She's not trying to sleep with you, is she?"

 

"What the actual HELL, Kenko? This is RURI we're talking about." Toshi paused as he flashed back to the time he got shot down by Ruri, then shook his head to dislodge the memory from his mind, "Ruri is a saint. She'd never take advantage of me. She is my best friend."

 

"More of a friend than me?"

 

Toshi winced as he realized he screwed up, "Best FEMALE friend. You're my best MALE friend. Totally different."

 

"You know you can friendzone a girl, but they never think of you that way. They are ALWAYS thinking about sex." The tone in Kenko's voice was unusually cool.

 

"Kenko... don't be like this."

 

"Hey, I just have to accept my second-place status. I get it..."

 

"You want proof you're number one?"

 

There was a long pause, "Suuuuurrre...?"

 

"Promise not to tell anyone?"

 

"Okaaaaayyyy..."

 

"Ruri friendzoned ME."

 

"WHAT???"

 

"Yeah. I tried to ask her out, I made it clear I was interested, she blew me off, I put it all on the line, and she said she just wanted to be friends."

 

"How Dare She!"

 

"KENKO!"

 

"What?"

 

"I'm a MESS. I'm a lot of work, alright? Anyone who dated me would have to deal with... well... ME."

 

"Well... that's true. But every boy is a mess in one way or another. It's part of our charm."

 

"It was for the best. I need her as a friend more than I need a girlfriend. She's always had my back. She watches out for me. She's taken care of me when I screwed up and she's never asked for anything in return."

 

"Yeah. Well, I... kinda thought that just meant she was hoping to get in your pants."

 

"Well, she had her shot and said no."

 

"So she's gay?"

 

"NO! She ISN'T-!" Toshi looked around Sato Toshi's Bathroom and realized he was talking way too loud. He lowered his voice as he continued, "She isn't gay. She's normal. I'm not. She's honorable. She's trustworthy. She's the real deal, an honest GOOD woman and any man who she chooses will be LUCKY to have her." He sighed, "She... just realized I was in a bad place and decided not to take advantage of me. She could have. She didn't. End of story."

 

"Did you want her too?"

 

Toshi paused then lowered his voice even more, "Yeah. Yes, I did. She's... too good for me, however. She deserves better and I think she's right. We're a bad match. I moved on, but I'm the one who lost out here. But that's my point. You can TRUST Ruri. And..."

 

He paused to consider what he was going to say next, "Look. She's in a bad place. I have to help her. No matter what. She's a good person and you know this world. It doesn't like good people. Good people get crapped on. Good people don't catch a break. I need to help her through this. Don't ask me to explain anything else. Don't ask any more questions. You are my Best Guy Friend, But she's my best GAL friend. Please. Don't make me choose, because right now she needs me more than you."

 

"I..." Kenko's voice softened, "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to make you choose. I didn't know. I just thought... well... I thought you were lying to me. I thought you were seeing... someone else."

 

~Oh god, does he know about Naora?~ Toshi stiffened, "Uhh... who?"

 

"I thought... I mean... You... okay. There was this time I thought you and someone else went to the Bates Hotel." There was a long pause, "But The idea is just insane."

 

"Bates Hotel?"

 

"You know... the upper floors of the tower that is used only for storage? Everyone calls it the Bates Hotel."

 

Toshi swallowed, "Me? Go up there to screw? That! That's insane! I... uh... Seriously? Are you-"

 

"No no no! I was just-! It was-! UGH! Look. I'm sorry I brought it up. I knew it wasn't possible. It must have been my mind playing tricks on me."

 

"Hey. It's fine. Look. I'm actually helping Ruri, for REAL. I don't want to embarrass her, but if you want, I'll have her say hi to prove she's here. You need me to do that?"

 

"No! No... It's fine. Just... do whatever you need to do. I'll meet you two at the Karaoke Bar, yes?"

 

"Sure thing, friend. Got a ride and everything. It'll be fun. See you there tomorrow night. Let me know if Mother calls or anything. We'll do the three-way call thing we practiced."

 

"Sure thing. See you tomorrow?"

 

"Tomorrow."

 

"Later." As Kenko ended the call and he started to slip his phone away in his pocket, something occurred to him that sent a chill up his spine. It was the sort of detail that was making him increasingly worried that his innocent and naive friend was being targeted by someone. Specifically, Kenko suspected a certain teacher, "Wait a minute... if Toshi didn't know it was called the Bates Hotel..."

 

 

 

 

Kenko pulled his phone back out to stare at it.

 

 

 

 

 

"How did he know people had sex up there?"

 

---

 

Toshi was greeted by Ruri as he left the bathroom, "Uhhh... everything okay?"

 

 

 

 

Toshi nodded, "Yeah. Hey, I was thinking. I'll get a lot more flack, but why don't we just hide here? We can just go to ground until midnight, call home, say I fell asleep, and take being grounded for a month. I don't see a need to leave."

 

Ruri furrowed her eyebrows, "I... am not sure. I felt that maybe it would be safer to keep moving, or maybe stay in a large group. I don't feel like I'm going to kill myself. I am super motivated to live, so I have no idea what's supposed to happen." She smiled softly, but it faded quickly, "But if you think it's safer to just stay here, I'm with you."

 

Toshi nodded and kept nodding as he talked, "Whatever we're doing, me and Sato will take turns watching you. I don't want a single second someone doesn't have their eyes on you until tomorrow midnight passes."

 

Ruri bit her lower lip. She looked down the short hallway, then back towards her friend, "Okay. Want to play some video games?" She hooked a thumb toward the living room.

 

Toshi smiled, "Sounds like a great idea."

 

 

 

 

 

And with that, the night passed without incident.

 

---

 

Toshi awoke with a start.

 

 

 

Having dozed off on the couch, Toshi was in the midst of a nap. In the kitchen, Ruri and Sato were conversing, seated at the table where everyone had shared meals. Lunch had already passed, yet the afternoon sun had stopped streaming through the windows, having been blocked by the building across the street. The room had gotten awfully dark, awfully quickly.

 

Suddenly, an unsettling sensation roused Toshi from his slumber. Jolting to his feet, he staggered, attempting to shake off the drowsiness. The abrupt combination of rising and the surge of adrenaline caused his vision to blur into silver fuzz as his blood pressure struggled to adjust. "Ruri!" he called out, stumbling over the living room coffee table and ultimately tumbling to the floor.

 

Ruri came running over, "Toshi?" She knelt by him, "You okay? Did you have a bad dream or-"

 

Toshi grabbed Ruri as he blinked and his vision returned, "We have to get out of here! NOW!" He forced himself to his feet and started pulling her toward the front door, "Something is wrong!"

 

Sato got to his feet, "What's going on?"

 

Toshi shook his head, "I don't know!" He unbolted the front door and threw it open as he stumbled out into the hall yanking Ruri after him.

 

Sato was frozen with indicition, but recovered with a nod, "I have to get Mamoru!" He rushed to get his son.

 

Ruri left with Toshi but made him stop with a hand on his chest, "WHOA. Hold it! Are you sure there is a problem? Maybe you just-"

 

Toshi wasn't listening to her. The itching sensation was growing by the second as he stared down the apartment building hallway toward the elevator. The numbers above it were climbing. Toshi reached past her to pull the apartment door shut, then grabbed Ruri by the collar and rushed down the hall. With only seconds to spare, he yanked her into the stairwell and pushed the door shut behind them. He forced her up against the wall and put his hand over her mouth as he stared at the little window in the door, making sure to hide from it as best he could.

 

As the elevator door opened with a ding, Ruri and Toshi both had a moment where they flashed back to a moment in their mutual past when Ruri had figured out Toshi was Honey Whitefox. The parallels were strikingly hard to ignore.

 

Toshi held his breath as footsteps passed. They paused briefly at the stairwell door. For a moment, it looked like the person was going to open it. The doorknob had just begun to turn when Sato came out of his apartment, "Please, Mamoru! I need you-" Sato stopped dead when he noticed Toshi and Ruri were nowhere to be seen, instead he saw a man dressed in an off-the-rack brown suit with a matching trenchcoat.

 

The man took his hand off the doorknob to turn towards Sato Toshi, "Oh. Hello there! Just the man I was looking for." The cheaply dressed man aggressively closed the distance, "Sato Toshi, I presume? I'd like to ask you a few questions about an associate of yours." The man smiled with his eyes as he pulled out his identification and flashed a badge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I'm Detective Shiro Hachiro."

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I hope you have time to talk with me about Kimoto Toshi."