Painful Secrets: Chapter Five

Chapter Five:

Miyagi looked up, standing and walking over to the door to let Kamijou and Nowaki in.

"Hey." Kamijou greeted, stepping into the apartment with Nowaki following close behind. Miyagi nodded, his face expressionless except for a small frown. "How is he?" Kamijou whispered.

"No different. Maybe worse." Miyagi muttered. Kamijou sighed.

"Where is he?"

"In my room..."

"Okay." Kamijou turned to look at Nowaki. "He's in there." He murmured, pointing to Miyagi's bedroom door. Nowaki nodded, walking towards the door and entering it, closing the door softly behind him. Miyagi sighed, sinking into one of the chairs. Kamijou sat in the chair next to him.

"Don't worry, Nowaki won't do anything."

"I know that! I'm still worried about Shinobu though..." Kamijou looked at him, slightly sympathetic.

"I know you are. Don't worry too much though, you'll become too stressed to help Shinobu."

"Yeah, I guess..."

~With Nowaki and Shinobu~

Shinobu jumped when he heard Miyagi's bedroom door open. He looked up to see a man he didn't recognize. His eyes widened in fear and he wrapped his arms tightly around himself nervously. Nowaki just smiled gently, walking slowly over to Shinobu and crouching down in front of him.

"Hello."

"Wh-who are you?" Shinobu stuttered, averting his eyes from the man in front of him.

"I'm Nowaki, a... friend of Hiro-san." Shinobu blinked, slightly confused. "Sorry, Professor Kamijou."

"W-what are you doing here?"

"Miyagi-san is worried about you. Hiro-san suggested that you may want to try and talk to me." Shinobu glanced up at Nowaki, fidgeting nervously.

"Th-there's nothing to talk about." Shinobu looked down at his hands, biting his bottom lip. Nowaki frowned slightly.

"Are you sure? I won't tell Miyagi anything if you don't want me to."

"I'm sure. I have nothing to say." Shinobu avoided looking at Nowaki, continuing to look down at his hands. Nowaki hesitated for a moment before standing up.

"Okay. Well, if you ever need to talk, I'm always available. And don't be afraid to talk to Miyagi, he really does just want to help you." Nowaki smiled gently again before walking out of the room. He sighed, closing the door behind him before walking over to Miyagi and Kamijou.

"Any luck?" Nowaki looked at Kamijou, shaking his head. Miyagi groaned, hiding his face in his hands.

"Why the hell won't he tell me anything! How can I help him if he won't tell me what's wrong!" Kamijou and Nowaki exchanged glances before Nowaki opened his mouth to speak.

"You need to give him time. Though it is important that you find out what's wrong, it's also important that you let him tell you when he is ready. For now, just try being supportive of him and be there to comfort him. You'll find out what's wrong soon." Miyagi looked up at Nowaki doubtfully. Nowaki smiled kindly in return.

"Well, we should probably get going..." Miyagi's eyes widened.

"Wait, you can't leave me alone! I have no idea what to do! What if I say something that hurts him!" Kamijou blinked, looking at Miyagi with surprise.

"Don't worry, I doubt you will. However, if you really need us to stay, I'm sure one of us can stay for a little while until you're sure you won't hurt him." Miyagi relaxed, sinking into his chair again. "I guess I'll have to stay, don't you have work soon Nowaki?" Kamijou looked at his lover, who's eyes widened.

"Oh, I do! I'm sorry, good-bye!" Nowaki ran out of the apartment, leaving the co-workers alone. Kamijou looked at Miyagi, frowning.

"Can you think of when about Shinobu started acting like this?" Miyagi groaned.

"I already told you, I didn't notice anything until a few nights ago, when he had that nightmare.

"Okay, than how about this? Do you remember a night last week where he didn't go home?" Miyagi frowned, thinking.

"Now that you mention it, he didn't come to my apartment at all one night last week, and he wasn't at his house apartment either. I wouldn't forget that, it was my first semi-peaceful night in a while." Kamijou blinked.

"Why semi-peaceful?"

"I've grown so used to Shinobu coming over every night, I was worried that something was really wrong."

"Hm... what day was this?" Miyagi thought for a moment.

"Thursday."

"Okay, we'll have to try and figure out if anything unusual happened on that day." Miyagi looked at Kamijou.

"Are you sure anyone will help? Young people don't really pay much attention to what happens in their environment these days anyway, and most of the students don't like you." Kamijou glared at the older man. "Hm, I can see why they call you 'Devil-Kamijou.'"

"Shut up, do you want me to help you or not?"

"Yes, I do, I'm sorry. I'll shut up now." Miyagi pouted while Kamijou just rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you go spend some time with Shinobu while I try and find something for supper. I'm sure Shinobu's hungry."

"Fine, I don't know what you're going to find though." Miyagi stood up, stretching and walking slowly over to his bedroom door. He glanced over his shoulder to find that Kamijou had already gone to the kitchen. Miyagi sighed before breathing deeply and hesitantly entering his bedroom.