Nishikido Ryo cursed himself under his breath as he and Shige sprinted out of the Johnny’s Entertainment building into the parking lot. It was all his fault! If he hadn’t been so caught up in the video game he’d been playing with Shige, he would have noticed Kamenashi-san stealthily leaving the restroom. Because of his crucial mistake, they may have lost crucial time. Who knows what could happen with even just a few minutes head start.

They’d both been playing so intensely, that it was a long while before they felt something was wrong. After waiting for almost half an hour (and NO boy should ever be in the bathroom for over half an hour; they weren’t obsessed with makeup and such like girls were), they had hurried through the bathroom doors, and after checking under every stall, had confirmed that he was on longer there.

In a sudden panic, Shige had grabbed his cell and speed-dialed Massu. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up! he thought.

Massu and Tegoshi had finished their ramen, and eaten a bag full of onigiri, which left them feeling stuffed, and therefore drowsy. They had (it’s sad but true) been napping when Massu’s loud ring-tone of himself singing Akatsuki went off. Groggily, he lurched forward in his seat and glanced around wildly for whatever had woken him. Tegoshi lying down in the passenger side, sat up slowly, and rubbed his bleary eyes.

Massu stifled a yawn and finally unearthed his phone from his back pocket, and snapped it open. “Kamenashi-san is gone!” Shige hollered into Massu’s ear and Massu’s first reaction was to yank his phone away from his ear before he went completely deaf. Even Tegoshi could hear what was said, and it wasn’t even on speaker phone! The second reaction of Massu’s was to process what had just been said by his band mate.

“Chotto matte. NANI?! (Wait just a minute. WHAT?!).” Massu yelped. The Tegomass duo quickly started scanning the spot where they’d last spotted Kamenashi-san’s car, and to their horror, they realized it had vanished.

“Ohhhhhh we’re in so much trouble!” groaned Tegoshi as they screeched out of the parking lot, not even sure where they were going, just knowing they had to be moving or they’d go crazy…or worse, there was a chance they might get caught by Yamapi. Either result didn’t seem too promising to them.

Shige and Ryo bolted out the front doors, and made a bee-line straight for Ryo’s car. Ryo hopped in the driver’s seat and sped off toward the park. Being best friend’s with Yamapi had its up sides. For instance, Yamapi had told him where he planned to take Dawn that day, and it was the only lead that the NewS group had.

“Kato-kun,” Ryo said so fast his words ran together, “call our manager, and tell them all our appointments today have to be canceled due to an extreme emergency. Haiaku! (Hurry!)”

Shige sat for five seconds to process what Ryo said, than called his manager, to apologize, and make excuses. Their manager was not happy and told them they’d have to pay a fine, but Shige figured if they all pitched in later, they’d be able to cover their financial obligation. He therefore conceded to his manager’s demands, and then turned off his phone, so that he wouldn’t get any calls to distract him from their urgent mission at hand.

Ryo meanwhile, had called Tegoshi and informed him that their only lead was the park with the fast food stands, and stores that sold bentos, onigiri, ramen, mochi, and other snacks. Tegoshi adequately relayed the message to Massu, and within fifteen minutes, they had pulled into the park’s parking lot. They all scurried to the park and desperately began looking around when they saw a group of detectives hovering over a ramen stand, with their police cars flashing their blinding lights, and an ambulance peeling down the street toward the spot everyone had been drawn to.

Following some unspoken signal, they all nervously approached the scene that had attracted so many detectives, and struggled through the small crowd that had gathered.

Ryo was the first one who made it through and what he saw made his heart go cold. His breath hissed from his lungs, and his eyes widened in disbelief and agony. There on the hard concrete road, lay his best friend. Yamapi was unconscious and bleeding heavily. His chest barely rose and fell, and a horrible hiss could be heard from somewhere within him.

“Yamapi!”Ryo cried struggling to get around the officers. At Ryo’s cry, the rest of NewS realized what was happening and started shoving their way forward as well. When Yamapi’s fallen figure appeared before them, they all started crying out in rage and fear. Their wonderful leader, who had always been there for them, even if he was a work-a-holic, had been hurt.

What would they do without Yamapi?!

What if he…what if he never woke up?

No. They couldn’t let themselves think that way. Yamapi would wake up. He would. But it was all Kamenashi-san’s fault. They knew by now that Kamenashi-san had slipped past them, and because of them, Yamapi had become like this. Though more than they blamed themselves, they blamed Kamenashi-san. A red hatred covered all of their hearts at the sight of their leader, lying unconscious in the middle of the road, a burning hatred that accumulated into an flaming ball that was directed in all its intensity and danger at Kamenashi-san. A sense of protectiveness over their friend drew them together in this cause.

As the police began to question them, they answered as much as they could but were all terribly frustrated to not be able to blame Kamenashi-san as they still had found no real proof against him. Yamapi was gently moved onto a stretcher and loaded into the ambulance.

Tegoshi, the youngest and most energetic, wasn’t bouncing on his toes and laughing like normal. Instead, he had gone stone still, his eyes wide in his chiseled face, and tears streamed from his eyes unchecked. He was crying, and refused to leave his beloved leader’s side. He scrambled into the ambulance with him, so that if Yamapi were to wake up on the way, he wouldn’t be alone.

That left the rest of NewS to follow in their cars, as dread assailed them and worry for their leader, as well as Dawn, a girl who they barely even knew, consumed them and left them to an uncertain future. They weren’t sure what any of them would have to face now. Could it get any worse? But they decided that they would definitely face whatever came together.

.....

Yamapi awoke to pain in every cell of his body. His head rang with it, his body trembled with it, even the very effort to breathe slathered him in the icy-clutches of pain’s embrace. He would have groaned, if it wouldn’t have added exponentially to the pain radiating off of him at that very moment.

“Yamapi! Yamapi, daijoubu? (Are you alright?)” a familiar voice pierced his consciousness stabbing through the haze of agony for a moment. Tegoshi. It was Tegoshi.

“Daijoubu desu (I’m alright),” Yamapi ground through his teeth. He blinked against the bright lights over his head, and in a few precious moments, memory hit him like a tsunami almost overpowering him...but not quite.

He tried to sit bolt upright, but his body wouldn’t respond like it should have been able to. “Dawn!” he cried and faltered. But forcing his way through the hurt he, repeated her name, “Dawn! Is she alright? What happened? She was kidnapped. I saw them take her away. I tried to help her…but I…but I…” he struggled.

Tegoshi nodded soothingly. “Don’t worry. I will find her for you. I promise,” his steady, firm gaze held that of his leader’s and Yamapi felt able to relax at his words.

“Hontoni arigatou (thank you very much), Tego-chan,” Yamapi murmured looking concerned and exhausted. He couldn't help it, he sank back onto the pillows, his momentary strength deserting him again.

Tegoshi nodded and turned abruptly heading for the door, to start his mission as soon as he could. But before he left, he turned back to his leader and reassured, “the rest of the guys will be here soon. I contacted Kei-chan too, and they’ll all be here for you. Ja. (Later.)” and with a rueful smile that seemed to make him look much older than he actually was, he his heel, and vanished.

Tegoshi walked swiftly down the pastel colored hall meant to soothe the patients who passed it. If anyone recognized that a determined idol was walking down the hall of the hospital (definitely not soothed), they didn’t try to stop him or ask for his autograph. Maybe his usually smiling, and welcoming face was radiating you better not approach me right now or it'll be trouble for you aura. But whatever the reason, no one stopped him as he rushed headlong into the bracing air outside.

His mind swirled with thoughts. Kamenashi-san had gotten past all of them. Dawn-san had been kidnapped yet again. There was only one conclusion to this horrible turn of events. Kamenashi-san had kidnapped her, and left Yamapi for dead.

Tegoshi vision went crimson-red as his eyes narrowed and he ground his perfectly white teeth. He may be the youngest, and he may seem cute and incapable of harming a fly… But if anyone touched one of Tegoshi’s friends, if anyone hurt them, Tegoshi well…let’s just say he wasn’t always the angel the public media always made him out to be, he wasn’t as good as the general public expected. Seeing Yamapi laid up in that hospital bed, trying to mask the pain that he felt, Yamapi almost dying, had been the last straw. It had pushed the youngest member of NewS over the edge.

Yamapi had entrusted him to find Dawn and bring her back. It was his task and he wouldn’t fail his leader. He knew exactly what to do.

If he found Kamenashi-san, he’d find Dawn.

If he found Kamenashi-san, …

A cold smile stretched itself across his face as he headed for the one place he could get a lead.

Kamenashi-san’s house.

Sooner or later, the idol would have to come home.

And when he did, carrying Dawn in tow,

He would find a waiting Tegoshi.