You whom I saw through the lens

 Chapter two

Takemichi started pacing around his room, trying to find a way to save himself.

“You bought this into yourself, you idiot.”-he scolded himself.-“I got a feeling that he’s gonna hunt me.”

He sit on the couch again, eyeing the letter that was now abandoned on the floor. He meditated on the couch.

“Calm down, Michi. There must be a way.”-he whispered, controlling his breath.-“There must be a way.”

He closed his eyes and exhale deeply. Flashes of Mikey's face begin taking control of his mind. He gasped. He feels like drowning, trying to grasp each tiny molecules of oxygen into his tired lungs.

“Should I ask help from Baji and Chifuyu?”-Takemichi thought.-“No, wait. What if they got hurt? Mikey seems like someone who is very possessive.”

He peeked through his window. Trying to find any sign of camera flash. In case Mikey is also following him around. Of course he did.

“Shit, this is how it feels to be the target.”-he cursed and scurry to the toilet.

There he is, standing in front of the mirror, with a tousled hair and a worrisome eyebag below his eyes like make-up.

“Well, for now. I gotta work like usual.”-he said, motivating himself that he’s strong.-“You can do this."

With that, he walked to the bathroom with a new confidence. 'I will survive this', is what Takemichi's thought.

                                       ***

Takemichi sat on his desk, scanning the vast of words on his laptop screen. Thinking of Mikey's letter.

“So, he's watching me too. Just like I did with him. Did he take my pictures as well? He did say I look pretty through his lens. But Takemitchy? My name is Takemichi. Did he gave me a weird nickname? Seems like he did.”-he thought, completely ignoring Chifuyu who have calling his name.

Chifuyu who have been feeling annoyed since Takemichi choose (maybe not) to ignore him sighed before pinching the other male’s cheek and gently pecking his soft lips. Trying not to inflict too much pain on his porcelain skin. Takemichi let out a small groan and looked at Chifuyu with a confused face.

“Shifuyu?”-Takemichi asked with a slightly muffled voice.

“Ah, welcome back to earth partner.”-Chifuyu said with a smile, finally letting his hand off Takemichi's cheeks.

“What does that even mean?”-Takemichi sulked, laying his head on his desk.

“I’ve been calling your name since like...I don’t know...10 minutes and you haven’t answered me. Jeez, you and your window view when you focused on something.”-Chifuyu sighed.

“Sorry, i can’t help it.”-Takemichi gave a sincere apologize, slightly bowing his head.

“Are you okay?”-Chifuyu asked.

“Mikey didn't bother you right?”-Baji asked.

“Or Bonten's members trying to harm you?”-Chifuyu asked.

Both of them shoot Takemichi with questions, but Takemichi isn’t answering any of it.

“They seems to know Bonten. To be precise, they seems to know Mikey.”-Takemichi thought.

“You guys know him?”-Takemichi asked.

“Cause Mikey is a well known criminal. Of course we know.”-Chifuyu said.

“Among all the members of Bonten, you mentioned a sole name. Mikey.”-Takemichi said.

“Shit, I forgot this crybaby can be quite smart.”-Baji whispered.

“I heard that and I'm always smart.”-Takemichi replied, now pouting.

“Fine. Yes, we know Mikey.”- Baji replied.

“You do know we both used to be a member of a bike gang during our high school.”-Chifuyu started explaining.

“Yeah, I kinda know that.”-Takemichi asked.

“We used to be in Toman.”-Chifuyu explained.

“Mikey's bike gang? Tokyo Manji gang?”-Takemichi asked, his eyes wide like a saucer.

“Yeah, I am one the founding member.”-Baji replied.

“So that’s how it is.”-Takemichi replied.-“Is he that dangerous?”

“He is. That’s why people call him the invisible Mikey. One kick from him is enough to knock you down.”-Baji explained.

“Shit, so he’s that dangerous.”-Takemichi thought.

He didn’t realized that he just said it out loud.

“Yeah, he's that dangerous.”-Chifuyu sighed.

“Wait, what happened?”-Baji asked.

“Nothing. I was just preparing myself if he knew about it. You know what I mean.”-Takemichi tried to covered up his fear.

“Sure.”-Chifuyu replied but neither of them were buying it.

They feel like Takemichi is hiding something from them.

“You can tell us if there’s anyone bothering you. We'll help.”-Chifuyu said.

“Sure, Baji-san. Chifuyu-san.”- Takemichi replied.

“Chifuyu, we need to go.”-Baji said.

“Ah, the press conference right?”-Takemichi asked.

“Yeah, we'll go now.”-Chifuyu replied.

“Good luck.”-Takemichi cheered.

Baji looked at Takemichi, slowly approaching Takemichi.

“Then I need something something from you to enhance my luck and energy.”-Baji said, grinning widely.

“Sure, what is it?”-Takemichi asked, looking at Baji with pure eyes.

Baji lean closer to Takemichi and crashed his lips on the other male’s cheek.

“Yeah,that.”- Baji grinned.

Seeing the flushed man right in front of him, body trembling due to embarrassment.

“I’ll go now.”-Baji said, basically hopping his way outside.

“That’s not fair, partner. I want to kiss you too.”-Chifuyu pouted before leaving a soft kiss on Takemichi's other cheek.-“I’ll go now.”

With that Chifuyu followed Baji outside, with a grin plastered on his face.

“What were they thinking?”-Takemichi sighed, his face is still red from their shenanigans.-“This is embarrassing.”

                                                ***

“Take, you’re going home?”-Atsushi asked.

“Yeah.”-Takemichi replied, with a sigh.

“What’s wrong? Something bothering you?”-Atsushi asked.

“Maybe I'll just be a journalist.”-Takemichi mentioned with a light chuckle.

“That isn’t so bad.”-Atsushi replied.-“Then maybe you wanna do the interview session?”

“Interview?”-Takemichi asked.-“With who?”

“You know, your favourite actor. Suda Masaki.”-Atsushi answered.

“Are you serious right now?”-Takemichi asked, already excited from the great offer.

“Yeah, his manager already agreed with it.”-Atsushi replied.

“When?”-Takemichi asked.

“Tomorrow afternoon, be prepared.”-Atsushi said.

“I’ll go home and prepare a lot of questions for him.”-Takemichi said and hastened out of the office.

"Seems like he's excited.”-Atsushi smile.

                                           ***

“I should prepare for tomorrow. Crap, I'm too excited.”-Takemichi said, hopping along the shops.

He wide grin went dim when he felt like he’s being followed by someone.

“Is it Mikey?”-Takemichi thought, trying to keep his emotion under control.

He stopped on his track, eyeing the cloth store in front of him.

“Maybe I should buy nice cloth for tomorrow.”-he said cheerfully, trying to make his pursuer go away, if there’s any to begin with.

He smile widely, hiding the fact that his stomach were doing somersault right now.

“Welcome sir.”- the sales clerk greeted him.

“I need something that is casual but can be wear on a formal occasion.”-he told her calmly.

“This way sir.”-she said as she leads the way.

“Thank you.”-he replied, following the girl from behind.

“This is a nice store. I should come here more often.”-He thought.

He smile and started sorting through the collection. Eyeing almost every person inside the mall. No suspicious person. Everyone seems...normal.

“Maybe I'm too anxious. Is it because of the letter?”-he thought.-“Maybe no one is following me.”

He sighed. He took a simple purple turtleneck shirt and smile.

“This one is nice.”-he thought.

                                                ***

Takemichi walked weakly to his apartment. Dragging his feet towards the cold path, swinging his shopping bag. He ended buying more than he planned. And on his doorstep, there lay another envelope. A familiar one. It’s from Mikey. He grasped it and unlock his door immediately. He settled down on the couch, putting his shopping bags on the floor.

“What did he want this time.”-he thought and carefully tear the envelope in his hand.

He took a deep breath and started reading it.

 [Ney Takemichi. I missed you stalking me you know. I just wanna capture you and lock you here in my penthouse. Cut you away from society. You're too beautiful. Too precious for other filthy eyes to see. But it’s no fun that way, right? Anyway, what’s with Baji and Chifuyu? Those bastards. Kissing your cheeks like that? No one besides me can touch even an inch of your body. You got that, Takemitchy? Only me. ONLY ME!! I'm pretty sure they told you about Toman. It’s so fun seeing how you try to cover up your fear. You manage to stay calm, even when I was following you around. I know you're scared. But look at this, you’re seriously photogenic. Gosh, I wanna conquer your body and your heart so bad. But don’t worry. Let’s play this cat and mouse game for a while. That purple turtleneck shirt will surely suit you my dear. One day my dear, and we will meet each other. Face to face. I love you so much Takemitchy.]

Mikey

A few of his photos were attached with the letter. And judging by the cloth he was wearing, it was taken today. His breath hitched on his throat.

‘He was following me around.’

‘Help, I'm so fucking scared.’

'I can’t be here tonight.’

‘What if he broke in?’

‘Come on Michi.’

‘Think.’

'Maybe I'll just stay at Chifuyu tonight.'

'For safety.'

He grabbed his phone and called Chifuyu. Once Chifuyu picked the call, he switched it to loudspeaker.

“Chifuyu. Can I stay with you tonight?”

(I’m not home right now. I’m out of town.)

“You’re out of town?”

(Yeah.I'll be here for three days and two night. Fuck, I sound like vacation ads.)

“Baji-san?”

(He’s here too. It’s in my schedule.)

“Ah, you guys have to do full report on the flood that happened in Sendai?”

(Yeah. Sorry about that partner.)

“No, it’s fine. Can’t be help.”

(Why? Did something bad happened?)

“No, nothing bad happened. Don’t worry.”

(Just call us if something happened. Actually, call the police. That’s even better.)

“Alright, good night.”

He ended the call.

“Alright. Calm the fuck down.”-he said and settled down on the floor.

He started meditating to calm his racing heart. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

“Good, I'm calm.”-he said.-“What should I do now?”

He read the letter again and again. Just like a detective trying to find any evidence.

“Wait a minute. Purple turtleneck shirt. I just bought that today.”-he exclaimed.

He went through the pictures.

“There it is. My picture holding the shirt.”-he said, finally connecting the dots.

He rubbed his fingers over the pictures. Examining the texture of the pictures.

“This texture. This colour gradient. This must be taken from a Polaroid camera.”

Something snapped inside Takemichi’s mind. He threw the pictures on the table, and let out a sigh. He grabbed his dslr camera.

“Alright, Mikey. If that’s what you want. I'll reveal all your weakness to the world.”-Takemichi said.-“Let’s see who will be the last one standing between us.”

Seems like he can’t stop spying on Mikey either.

                                               ***

“Hmm. Interesting Takemitchy. That’s more like it. Can’t wait for your challenge.”-Mikey chuckled lightly, pressing his finger lightly on the ear piece that he wear.

He grinned as he zoom his camera lens.

“Seems like you are an expert in photography. To be able to know that just from the texture and gradient of the pictures. Fuck, I love you even more now Mitchy.”-Mikey groaned.