A Dangerous Liaison

-15-

Kita

Friday

Kita sat on the edge of his bed, staring blankly at the wall in front of him. It had been hours since he had last moved, the weight of his grief impossible to shake. The house was quiet - everyone except for Ma - was out, and for once, Kita was grateful for the silence. He couldn't cope with the thought of having to confront his siblings - he hadn't opened up to anyone, not even to those he trusted the most. Talking now seemed pointless to him, a waste of time; nobody was around to listen, anyway. 

Two months had passed since Eddie's suicide, and yet the pain of it refused to leave his body. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Eddie's face - his violent convulsions, the pills scattered around his body, the fear in his eyes as the alcohol slowly started to kill him. Kita couldn't understand it, how his brother had reached that point without anyone noticing; the thought of Eddie suffering in silence, that he hadn't been able to save him, made his head spin. 

The guilt was tearing him apart from the inside - it consumed him relentlessly. 

Why had Eddie not asked for help? Was he scared? Was he drowning in his grief to the point where talking hadn't been worth it anymore? Kita didn't believe it, he wouldn't. Eddie had always been happy, content with his decisions, focused on his studies, and comfortable in his group of friends  - he was only six months away from graduating university. Six. He always had something to live for, the inherited business to run, a career to build on Pa's foundations. What was it that drove him to hate the world, to despise his life, to end it?

Or who?

Kita hit his head repeatedly. What was he thinking? Was he going mad? 

He knew he had to leave. Staying in this house, surrounded by the constant reminders of everything he had lost, was suffocating him. He had mulled over Sand's offer, his chance to escape, and Kita had finally accepted it. He had already packed a few things earlier in the day, shoving clothes and essentials into a suitcase with trembling hands. He knew this house was driving him to the edge of insanity - he couldn't breathe anymore. Not with the lies and those horrid memories. 

Eddie lied to him, lied about his happiness. Akira lied, his promise to stay at home only falling short the day he decided to move out. Star lied, lied about staying at home. And Nino lied.

Nino lied all the time, and Kita was sure of it. The night he saw his brother outside replayed constantly in his mind. At the time, Kita had brushed it off, convincing himself that it was nothing, that he was imagining things. He blamed it on his pills, but now, in the wake of his paranoia, the memory hadn't stilled in his head. 

He felt like he was losing his grip on reality, like he was drowning in lies. He couldn't shake the feeling that Nino was hiding something from him, that everyone was hiding something from him.

Kita shot to his feet, a burst of anger surging through him. He couldn't sit here and do nothing while the walls of this house closed in around him. He needed answers. He flung the door open and stormed down the hall, his eyes falling on his father's old office. Nino had taken over the room after Pa's death, using it for business meetings and other matters that Kita had no interest in. But now, it seemed like the only place where he might find what he was looking for - whatever it was. Without hesitation, he pushed the door open, heart pounding in his chest. 

The smell of old leather and coffee hit him as he stepped inside. The room was just as he remembered it - the family portrait, heavy curtains, the green rug, and shelves lined with books. It was a place that had always intimidated him, a place where his father had spent hours working, a place where he had never felt welcome. But now, it felt like the key to all of his family's secrets. 

Kita began tearing through the room, pulling open drawers and rifling through papers with reckless, frustrated abandon. He still didn't know what he was looking for, but he knew there had to be something—documents, USBs, records—anything that could help him understand what Nino had been doing that night.

And the lies his family have told him. 

The thought coursed through his veins like poison, like a disease, making his vision blurry. Why did they not trust him? Was it because they thought him too weak, too fragile to handle the truth? Just as he was about to tear open another drawer, the door to the office swung open. Kita froze, his heart leaping into his throat as Nino entered the room. 

Nino's eyes widened in shock, then quickly narrowed in anger. "Kita!" he snapped, his voice sharp. "What the fuck are you doing in here?"

Kita's chest heaved with fury. "What am I doing?" he shouted, his voice cracking. "What were you doing that night, Nino? With the duffle bags and the car? What the fuck was going on? What the fuck is going on?" 

For a moment, Nino's face fell, as if he hadn't expected Kita to confront him so directly - or to know about it. But then his expression hardened, his eyes. "You're being ridiculous," he said, his voice low and dangerous. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't lie to me!" Kita screamed, tears streaming down his face. "I'm not stupid! I know something's going on, and you're hiding it from me! Why won't anyone tell me the truth? Tell me the truth!"

Nino's gaze lost its resolve, a brief flash of something—guilt, maybe—crossing his eyes. "Kita, you're upset. You're not thinking clearly. Your grief is consuming you, making you overthink. Just forget about it. Nothing is going on, and nobody is lying to you."

But Kita had had enough. He was done with the patrionsing, and he no longer wanted to be treated like a little child. He was fed up with the lies, the secrets, the constant feeling that he was always going to be kept in the dark. His vision blurred with tears as he pushed past Nino. 

He was leaving the house. There was nothing left for him here.

+--------+

Oh dear....Kita is starting to get suspicious???

Tut tut Nino...you're in trouble now buddy 

Comment and vote - the support so far has been OUTSTANDING

love you all for reading, voting, and commenting, it's just bizarre!

stay tuned?