The Mastermind's Lies | Mastermind Shuichi AU

Chapter 15 - Uncle

I stood in front of my uncle's house, staring at the doorbell, anxiety slowly growing into my stomach. I'd calmed down a little from the situation that happened earlier, but my brain still couldn't stop replaying his confession, his face showing eyes filled with tears flashing through my mind.

I took a deep breath as I concentrated. My uncle...

What will he think of me? What should I say? How will he react?

I gulped and raised a hesitant fist, before knocking on the door. It was 7 AM, it was pretty early and I just crossed my fingers that someone was awake. I pulled my cap down as I waited patiently for someone to open. It was quiet for a few seconds before I heard slow footsteps inside the house carefully move towards the door. This could only be one person's footsteps.

The door slowly opened.

"Shuichi?!"

I raised my head, smiling nervously. But before I could even speak, careful arms wrapped around my shoulders.

"Oh my god Shuichi! I can't believe it's you!"

He hugged me like his life depended on it, squeezing me in his arms. I froze for a few seconds, before feeling the warmth of his hug slowly make its way around my body. Feeling the tears coming up again, I threw my arms around him as well.

I don't know how long I stayed there, just hugging my uncle. But it felt so good. It felt so good to just get a hug and feel the warmth of someone's affection.

He slowly pulled away after a few minutes.

"Come in and we'll speak. Your aunt will be so happy to see you, we've both missed you so much."

I smiled warmly.

Then, as I barely stepped inside, my aunt came into view.

"Shuichi!! Oh my god!"

She jumped into my arms, hugging me in a similar way my uncle did. But hers was just a quick hug; she pulled away almost immediately and then she held my shoulders and looked at me.

"I was so worried darling..."

I lowered my gaze, feeling the guilt slowly replace the warm feeling into my stomach.

"I'm so sorry... I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys about it beforehand..."

There was a small silence.

I felt a hand grab my shoulder. I looked up to see my uncle look down at me.

"Let's take a seat and talk."

[...]

So, I basically told them everything that happened, from the moment I went to audition up until I got out of the game. I told them my brain had been manipulated during the game to act like a crazy psychopath; I couldn't possibly tell them that this was all an act, or they would both get suspicious.

"I understand your intentions now." said my uncle.

He sighed.

"When your aunt and I saw your face on television, needless to say we were pretty shocked; after all, you had disappeared two days prior."

My aunt continued: "We were extremely worried you were going to die in real life too, since this is apparently an extreme simulation!"

"I know, but I'm fine, I tell you. My body aches a little but other than that I feel totally fine, you don't have to worry about me." I said with a smile.

"Let us worry about you boy! We haven't seen you in a month!" said my uncle.

I chuckled lightly.