PROLOGUE
A dark, shadowy figure holding a trembling gun stands over an enormous, California king-size bed. The luxurious bed appears in pristine shape except for the blood-stained sheets belonging to the late owners, a husband and wife, currently sitting dead atop - one gunshot wound expertly placed between each of their brows. The bodies gave no sign of struggle. The husband looks to be in his early 40s, Asian descent with dark, handsome features, his hair a few inches short of his shoulders, a few bangs falling on top of his forehead and even with his eyes closed, his stoic face tells nothing except for a slight frown at the corners of his mouth. The man's wife, who's head rests on his shoulder, seems to be a few years younger than her husband, has long, dark wavy hair, beautiful, Brazilian descent, same stoic expression as her husband except her cheeks are still damp from her tears. Thunder booms in the distance, reverberating loudly throughout the grand room. A series of lightning shortly follows, illuminating the room like a strobe light in a nightclub revealing a barely teenage boy in dark clothes, long, dark hair in a loose ponytail that reaches down the middle of his back with a few strands layering his boyish, melancholic face. Tears stream down his jade-colored, almond-shape unblinking eyes as he tries to hold the heavy gun steady and keep it from shaking.
"Ichirou, I'm scared!" cries a small child from down the hall.
Huh! Yuji... The unknown assailant blinks back to reality and drops the gun.
FLASH FORWARD TO...
6year old Yujimotsu Harada lifts his head from his trembling hands. His face soaked with tears - confusion and devastation etched upon the boy's angelic face. He scans around for a familiar face but all he sees are too many adults running around in Calabasas Police Department uniform. Looks like a very busy night filled with lots of noise he couldn't really understand. Some of the officers were standing idly by talking amongst themselves, a guy in handcuffs was yelling words Yuji knows he isn't supposed to hear, another lady with too much make-up winked at him, which made Yuji stifle his tears, cower, and turn the other way. A woman cop yanked her off her feet which the make-up lady didn't like because she started to yell bad words too. Yuji lifts both hands to cover his ears and closes his eyes.
I just want to go home...where's Mama, Papa, and Ichirou? In his mind, replayed the gruesome scene he stumbled into - his Mama and Papa lying dead on their bed with holes in the middle of their foreheads.
"No!!! Mama! Papa!" Yuji cried out loud, violently shaking his head. A warm hand softly urges him to uncover his ears.
"Hey, it's gonna be okay. My name's Kate. What's your name?" a calming voice asked. Yuji opened his amber-green eyes to see a pretty detective kneeling in front of him with long, silver-hair holding a cup in one hand, steam rising out of it.
"Y-Yuji," Yuji shakily answered, wiping his tears with one hand.
"Hi, Yuji, would you like a cup of hot chocolate?" Kate smiled brightly, offering Yuji her cup.
Yuji sniffled and slowly nodded. Yuji took the cup and stared at the hot liquid inside without taking a sip. "Where's Ichirou?" Yuji asked.
Kate displayed a worried look on her face. Yuji's eyes started to well up with tears, but he kept a straight face and didn't let his tears fall. Kate sighed, placing an arm on Yuji's shoulder.
"Don't worry, we're going to do everything we can to find him. We'll bring your brother home to you." Kate reassured him.
Yuji managed a slight smile. Ichirou, where are you brother?
"Excuse me, Kate, can I have a word with you?" an older male cop interrupted. "How are you holding up, kiddo?" the older cop asked Yuji with a concerned smile.
"I'll be right back, Yuji. In the meantime, you drink that hot chocolate before it gets cold, okay?" Kate instructed.
Yuji nodded. Kate and the older cop walked a few feet away from Yuji just enough so he couldn't understand what the adults were talking about except for a word or two. He blew the steam off the cup as he saw his grandma talking to another officer.
"Grandma!" Yuji called out. He was about to get up and run to his grandma when she gave him that stern look she always gives when she's dead serious about something. She shook her head and Yuji immediately knew better than to disobey so he sat back down.
Grandma was never the type of grandma who doted on her grandchildren like other grandmas did. Papa said that she's always been that way – nice enough but strict and harsh. Yuji's only seen her mean side one time when he and Ichirou were visiting for the summer. He ran inside for a drink of water when he walked by his grandma's study and the door was left slightly open. He peeked in to see his grandma with her very serious face surrounded a group of her bodyguards and men in black suits, some he's never seen. They were always around but Yuji didn't understand why except that his family are rich and important, so they must have people to protect the family all the time, is how Grandma explained it. What caught Yuji's attention though, were the two men kneeling in front of his grandma. They had terrified looks on their faces and one of them was actually crying. Yuji knew that his grandma was scary but scary enough to make grown men cry, that thought shook him to the core, but he shook it off since Grandma could never be that mean. Ichirou found him a second later and dragged him away so fast from that door that you would've thought it was about to explode or something. He's never seen his brother so upset and scared. Ichirou said never to go near Grandma's study. Ever since then, they haven't been back to Grandma's since Ichirou always protested but Yuji didn't know why.
"Ichirou?! Are you sure?" Kate asked incredulously. Yuji snapped out of his flashback at the sound of his brother's name.
"Keep your voice down," the older cop insisted. "Yeah, there's no doubt. The murder weapon was found with his prints on it. Poor kid, what the hell do you think happened to make him kill his own parents in cold blood?" Kate covered her mouth with her hands in shock.
Yuji dropped the hot chocolate, breaking the cup and spilling the hot liquid everywhere. Eyes wide in disbelief.
Ichirou? You killed Mama and Papa? Why?!