impossibility | discontinued

[5.2]

He wouldn't answer.

Oh my cheesecakes, he wouldn't answer.

I've been trying to call him for hours but he just wouldn't answer. I've been pacing back and forth in front of the telephone for hours already. What if something happened to him? What if he was injured and that's why he didn't reach his home to answer my call? Where was Yūjin?! That marmoset should have played with the telephone by now!

...

Calm down, Shinobu. Calm down. You aren't going to get anywhere if you keep panicking.

...

"Now, think—" Ah, but before I can even analyze the situation; realiztion struck me like lightning. Tropical Land. Shin and Ran spending the day there. How... How stupid was I not to notice it? It started. Everything's starting and I didn't even realize. Ouji-kun left all of a sudden without telling me why he couldn't walk me home.

He must have seen Shin following those men in Black. Oh my cheesecakes, Ouji-kun encountered them. He followed after my brother. Into danger. I know Shin would survive but what if... what if they forced Ouji-kun to drink that drug as well? Ouji-kun might not belong to those one of a kind that doesn't die in the hands of that drug.

No. No. No. I shouldn't have left. I should have went with him. Grabbing my coat on the couch, I slipped my arms through the sleeves and opened the door, only to halt when I saw Agasa-hakase ready to knock on the door. My breath hitched to a stop as I lowered my gaze. Without warning, I dropped to my knees and hugged two small figures and pulled them close.

These idiots..!

They made me worried sick.

"Shi... Shin-neechan!" I hushed this brother of mine and after a moment of silence, I smacked the both of them upside the head. Yelps left their lips and I didn't care if my hit had hurt them. They deserve it for making me so worried, dammit! "You idiots! Do you know how worried I was?! And you—" I pointed at Shin with a glare.

"— why did you suddenly leave Ran's side, you moron?!" He looked down in guilt but my anger wasn't only directed at him. My narrowed eyes soon found themselves glowering down at my childhood friend. He flinched when we made eye contact because in all honesty, I was pretty livid at him right now.

What would I do if they killed him? What would I have done if he didn't get so lucky not to be killed by that drug? I... I wouldn't know. I don't know what. "Shinichi—" He flinched when I called his name. "— go inside and get a change of clothes. You go with him, hakase." And when I get like this, I get like this. My brother and hakase left me with Ouji-kun, who by the way, refused to look at me in the eye.

What... What was wrong with him? He left me all worried about him and he doesn't even make an effort to comfort me right now? Looking down at his small form, I felt my shoulders sag as I weakly sat. Before I even knew it, Ouji-kun was in my arms. Cheesecakes, I thought I lost him. I thought he was gone so why won't he say something?! I must be losing my mind. My thoughts are jumbled up and I can't even think comprehensively.

"Say something."

But he just wouldn't. He remained silent in my arms and for the love of cheesecakes, why won't you talk?! Just a word. A vocal filler. Just anything to make you responsive, idiot! I must be out of my mind if I remained thinking those things instead of actually telling it to him.

"Uh... hi?"

I heard something snap inside of me. You know what? It would have been better if he just stayed silent (and I was being a contradicting moron). I stretched out his cheeks and just... just stared at his teary face. "Ouch! Ouch! Shwinyo-hwan! Shwinyo-hwan! Sha ip! Sha ip!" He was... He was alive. I brought his face close to mine and rested my forehead on his. He was cold and oh my cheesecakes, Ouji-kun was alive.

"You're alive..."

"That... ouch... That's right, Shino-chan. I... ouch... will always stay with you... ouch... Shino-chan, please stop it!" At his pleading expression, I stopped stretching his cheeks. He looked at me with those eyes of his with such intensity but I wasn't done just yet. I smacked him upside the head and glowered. Practically boring metaphorical holes in him.

"Do you know how worried I was? You left me out of the blue. I got lost several times and I couldn't sit still without knowing what you were doing. I tried calling your apartment but no one was answering and where is Yujin? He should have messed with the phone after a couple rings."

Even though I was glaring, even though I was interrogating him, I wasn't actually mad at him. Just upset. Because honestly? I think I have issues of being abandoned. Well, more like being left alone just like that. I don't know why that is but I just do. "Actually, Yujin's at the vet for his quarterly check-up." My gaze pierced right through him.

That... that actually made sense. Sighing, I had been too worried to think things logically... but who would even think things through when your childhood friend might be dead somewhere? Not me, apparently. "You guys done?" I glanced behind me and found Shin glaring daggers at the boy in my arms. I was about to pull away when Ouji-kun hugged me around the neck.

What was up with him? It was as if what happened just a few minutes ago didn't occur. I couldn't see Ouji-kun's face but whatever he did, it infuriated my brother. Agasa-hakase coughed to get our attention and I removed Ouji-kun's arms around my neck to get up. "Why don't we let Shinichi-kun and Kobayashi-kun tell us about what happened?"

A bit reluctantly, Shin told us everything that happened. A hand held mine tightly and glancing down, I found Ouji-kun's expression darkening when my brother mentioned the men in Black. His eyes shone with familiarity and I had this urge to pry about what he knows about them. If I can just find out more about them, I might be able to do something so Shin won't have to suffer for so long.

Especially Ran. Definitely her.

But it was Ouji-kun. I can't force him to answer my curiosities and I doubt he would tell me anything if he really knows them. "Shino-chan..." At his silent voice, I startled when, again, I was subjected by his intense stare.

"Do not mess with the men in Black."

With that single sentence, he himself confirmed everything.

"Shin-neechan?" My now seven-year-old brother warily approached me. I took a deep breath to calm myself down. Getting angry or upset wouldn't do me any good at this point. We have to approach things accordingly from now on. "You're an idiot, Shin." He deflated upon hearing my words but I wasn't finished just yet. "But I'm glad you're fine, even if you're in that state."

He brightened up a little but he still looked down on the floor, avoiding my eyes. "You have to tell Ran." He snapped to attention. "What?"

"You have to tell her."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do. She'll worry endlessly if you don't."

"I'm not dragging her into this mess."

Cheesecakes, why was my brother so stubborn?

"Shinichi, think about it. She doesn't know what happened to you nor does she know where you are. What do you think she'll feel?" His gaze wavered at that but he remained strong. He didn't allow himself to be persuaded by my words. "I can't risk her safety. This... This is something I got myself in. I'm not about to drag her with me." I drilled metaphorical holes into his head but I sighed in the end.

He's stubborn, I knew that so why do I bother? Besides, he was right. He shouldn't tell Ran but... I don't want to see her suffer while waiting for my idiotic brother to come back.

Why...

Why... did my brother have to be a magnet for both murder and trouble?!

oooOooo

Author's Note

... hi.

It's... well... been a... while?

Yeah, I'm not the best author right now cuz I'm a pretty indecisive girl that doesn't know how to manage her time. And even if she has a lot of time, she only updates when inspiration hits her.