FicWad

Notes:
“Text”= Japanese talking
“/Text/”= English talking
“+Text+”= American talking
“#Text#”= Australian talking
Despairing. Shuichi knocked on Lucas and Lexie’s apartment door. He waited for a response. The vocalist looked up when he heard the door opening.
“Hi Lex--” he began to say. His face suddenly dropped. A woman with short blonde hair opened the door. She looked hung over. Her red eyes shifted to him. Sweat drop on Shuichi’s head
“Allie?” he asked. The blonde woman gave him a cat-like grin.
“+Shuichi!+” she cheered. “+So good to see you again!+” The man blinked at her.
“Allie? What happened? Where’s Lexie?” he asked. Allie laughed at him.
“+Lexie’s out,+” she said.
“What?”
“+She’s in a bad place right now.+”
Shuichi’s eyes shot wide open. “What do you mean?!? What happened?!?”
Allie turned to him, still grinning. “+The lady is kicking us out!+” Shuichi stared on with big eyes.
Subject: Shuichi and Lexie
“What?!?” Shuichi cried. Allie was still grinning at him.
“+Lukey and I are getting kicked out!+” she cheered. “+You coming in or not?+” Shuichi was so shocked that he didn’t even notice himself walking into the apartment. No words could even form in his mouth at the moment. Allie gave him an understanding smile.
“+Want a beer?+” she asked. Shuichi only blinked at her.
“What?!?” he asked.
“+Do you want a beer?+” she asked slower this time. The vocalist quickly shook his head.
“No!” he shouted.
“+You sure?+” Allie asked.
“Look, I don’t want a beer. I just want to know why you and Luke are getting thrown out of your apartment.” The blonde party animal blinked at him.
“+You sure you don’t want a beer?+” she asked. Sweat drop on her Japanese friend as he sighs aloud
“Lucas in?” he asked.
“+Sure!+” Allie cheered. “+LUKEY!!!! SHUICH IS HERE!!!+” The vocalist backed up and rubbed his ears in pain.
“Ow…” he mumbled. Allie’s boyfriend emerged from down the hall. His eyes looked like they wanted to be closed again. He blinked the sleep out of them.
“+What?+” he asked. Shuichi stepped forward with a confused look on his own face.
“Luke?” he asked. The American man squinted his eyes at his friend.
“+Shuichi?+” he asked. “+What are you doing here?+”
“I just stopped by for a visit,” Shuichi replied. “What’s going on? Why are you being thrown out?” That woke Lucas up with shame. He walked into the kitchen and over to the drawers. Shuichi watched as he pulled something out. Lucas handed him a sheet of paper without a single word. The vocalist read it to himself for a moment. He raised an eyebrow at the text.
“An eviction notice?” he asked. Shuichi looked up at the couple. “Why?” he asked. “What’s going on?”
“+The Landlady is giving us the boot!+” Allie shouted in his face. Shuichi backed up some and looked up at Lucas.
“Why?” he asked. The other man shrugged at him.
“+Don’t know,+” he said. “+I just found that yesterday afternoon.+” Shuichi glanced over at “Allie.”
“Is that why Lexie…?” he began to ask. Lucas nodded.
“+Yeah,+” he mumbled. Shuichi narrowed his eyes in confusion.
“But how?” he asked. Lucas shrugged.
“+She must have found the notice somehow and ended up like that…+” he reasoned. Both boys looked up at Allie drinking some beer. She noticed their eyes on her.
“+What?+” she asked. Sweat drops on the boys’ heads
“Looking like a long day already?” Shuichi asked.
“+Yeah…+” Lucas replied.
“So what are you going to do?” Shuichi asked as they all sat at the table a few minutes later. Lucas shrugged.
“+Find somewhere else to live for the time being, I guess,+” the American man replied.
“Aren’t you going to fight the eviction?” the vocalist asked.
“+For what?+” Luke asked.
“Well, have you been paying your bills on time?”
“+Yes.+”
“Any trouble with neighbors?”
“+Including Lexie-induced?+”
“No.”
“+Then, no.+”
“Have you followed all of the rules?”
“+Yes.+”
Shuichi blinked at him. “Then… why are you getting evicted?” Lucas shrugged. Shuichi made a face at him.
“Did you try to find out?” he asked.
“+Yeah,+” Luke replied.
“And?” the vocalist asked.
“+She is never available when I try to talk to her,+” the American man replied. There was a short pause.
“Hm,” Shuichi said. “Think you might want to talk to her again today?” His friend thought about that for a moment.
“+I’m planning on it,+” he replied. “+But…+” The American nudged his head over at Lexie/Allie. Shuichi looked on with him. The girlfriend was chowing down on packaged ramen. She glanced at them.
“Oh,” Shuichi mumbled. Lucas sighed.
“+I can’t go anywhere without leaving her alone,+” he said. “+So…+” Shuichi didn’t think clearly before the next thing came out of his mouth.
“I’ll stay with her…” he said. Lucas looked up at him.
“+What did you say?+” he asked. Shuichi looked up at him.
“I’ll stay with her while you sort out your problems,” he said. Lucas looked at him with big eyes.
“+You serious?+” he asked.
“Yes,” Shuichi replied. Lucas quickly bowed his head at him.
“+Thanks pal!+” he wailed.
“+What are you guys about?+” they heard someone ask. The boys turned and saw Allie watching them. She still had some ramen noodles hanging out of her mouth. Shuichi and Lucas smiled at her quickly.
“Nothing!” they lied. Allie said nothing.
Moments later, common sense finally set in. Shuichi set at the kitchen table with such shock on his face.
What was I thinking?, he thought. He had done Lexie-sitting before. It is the perfect idea of hell. And then some. She escaped to different places many times a day. Not only that, she switched personalities at random. Shuichi didn’t take that into account when he volunteered to watch Lexie for a few minutes. The vocalist sighed aloud. I wonder who’s showing up today, he thought.
It was suddenly, Shuichi noticed the silence in the background. The vocalist looked up and noticed that he was alone now. He quickly looked around. Hm?, he thought. Where did Allie go? The man got up and looked around.
“Allie?” he asked. “Where did you go?” The vocalist wandered around the apartment. Silence. Shuichi pressed his lips together.
This isn’t good, he thought. Suddenly, he heard someone giggle. The vocalist quickly looked up.
“Allie?” he asked. Shuichi followed the laughter to the back room. He peeked into the doorway.
“Allie?” he asked. A woman with pink-blonde hair sat on the floor playing with little toys. She was laughing and making two little brightly colored plastic toys talk to each other. Shuichi smiled a little bit.
“Jenna?” he asked. The woman-child looked up at him.
“+Hiya!+” she cheered. Shuichi breathed out some. It’s only, Jenna, he thought. This should be easy. He took a step closer.
“Hi… Jenna…” the man said. The woman-child grinned.
“+Big brother!+” she cheered. “+Hiya!+” Shuichi sat down in front of her.
“How are you today?” he asked.
“+Fine!!!+” she cheered. The girl handed him some little toys.
“+Play!+” Jenna cheered. Shuichi stared at her.
“What?” he asked. Jenna pouted at him.
“+Play!+” she yelled again.
“You sure?” he asked.
“+PLAY!+” Jenna shouted.
“Alright, alright,” the “baby-sitter” said. Jenna clapped her hands together.
“+YAY!!!+” she cheered. Shuichi sighed aloud. Still, this should be easy.
However, a few minutes into the game, Jenna froze up. Her body began to shake as she puffed up her cheeks. Shuichi noticed her face.
“Jenna?” he asked. “Jenna? What’s the matter?” The woman-child’s face began to redden. Her “baby-sitter” began to sense a change coming.
“Jenna, dear, just calm down, okay?” he tried to talk to her. That didn’t work this time. Jenna broke down screaming and sailed into one of her tantrums.
“+NO!!!!+” she screamed. “+NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!+” The woman-child began to throw things around the room. Shuichi began to panic.
“Jenna! Jenna! Jenna!” he shouted over and over again. She couldn’t hear him over her own fit. Things were starting to get smashed up as she jumped up and down on the bed that she shared with Lucas as Lexie. Crash, a picture hit the tatami floor. She raced over and started ripping drawers out of the dresser. Shuichi grabbed onto her to try and calm her down.
“Jenna! Stop! Calm down!” he screamed.
“+No, no, no!+” she cried. The woman-child began hitting at him with her fists. “+Let me go! Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!+” She clocked him in the head with her fist and that was all she wrote.
Hours later, Shuichi awoke to seeing Lucas standing over him. The American man gave him a worried look.
“Luke?” the vocalist asked.
“+Shuich?+” the basketball player asked. “+Where’s Lexie? What happened?+” Shuichi lifted his head and looked around.
“Huh?” he asked. It suddenly donned on him. “Oh…” Shuichi replied. “Well, Allie turned into Jenna. We were playing and she snapped. Then… well… you can see the rest for yourself.” Lucas looked around.
“+So… where’s Lexie?+” he asked. Shuichi sat up.
“Don’t know…” he said. Both men went silent. The men got up and raced out the door. They spent most of the day looking for Lexie. Or rather, Jenna. Lexie’s youngest personality was usually a sweetheart. But when she was in one of her fits, look out buddy! Shuichi and Lucas met back in front of a closed down drug store.
“+Find her?+” Luke asked.
“No,” Shuichi replied.
“+Where could she have gone?+” the American man asked. The vocalist shrugged. Lucas quickly shook his head.
“+I’m calling the cops!+” he broke down. Shuichi quickly looked up.
“What?” he asked.
“+We have no choice!+” Lucas yelped. “+I have to call them!+” He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the cops.
“+Yeah, I’m looking for my girlfriend. She should have a red strawberry-shaped birthmark on her left hand with pink-blonde hair. Uh-huh. You found a woman with that birthmark? Where? Okay, I’ll be right there!+” Lucas hung up. Shuichi looked on at him.
“Well?” he asked. Lucas nodded.
“+They found her,+” he said. “+She was roaming the streets in a daze and they took her to the hospital.+”
Shuichi breathed out. “That’s good. Which one?”
“+St. Luke’s,+” he said.
“Let’s go!” Shuichi said.
“+Right!+” Lucas replied. The boys quickly ran to the direction of the hospital. Took a couple of hunters, they found the place. Lucas raced to the front desk.
“+Excuse me,+” he said. “+Has a patient with a red strawberry-shaped birthmark on her left hand come in recently?+” The nurse thought about that for a moment.
“Let me see,” she said. Then, she began to look through the records. As Lucas waited, Shuichi wandered down the hall. He looked in each room in silence. The man was about to walk over to the elevator when something caught his eye. He peeked in one of the rooms when he thought that he was imagining something. A woman was blackish-brown hair sat on the examining table out in a daze. She was dressed in a hospital gown with dirty ankles. Shuichi stared at her for a good long moment. His eyes shot wide open.
“Lexie?” he mouthed. The vocalist walked into the room. The woman didn’t notice him. She didn’t even look up. Her friend slowly approached her.
“Lexie…” he whispered. “Hi there. It’s me. Are you okay?” Nothing. Shuichi eyed her.
“You had us all worried there,” he kept on. “What happened to you?” Nothing.
“Lexie?” the vocalist asked. “Lexie?” Suddenly, there was a little reaction.
“+Individuals have the right to be guaranteed the protection of the confidentiality of their relationship with their mental health and substance abuse professional, except when laws or ethics dictate otherwise. Any disclosure to another party will be time limited and made with the full written, informed consent of the individuals. Individuals shall not be required to disclose confidential, privileged or other information other than: diagnosis, prognosis, type of treatment, time and length of treatment, and cost. Entities receiving information for the purposes of benefits determination, public agencies receiving information for health care planning, or any other organization with legitimate right to information will maintain clinical information in confidence with the same rigor and be subject to the same penalties for violation as is the direct provider of care,+” Lexie mumbled. “+Information technology will be used for transmission, storage, or data management only with methodologies that remove individual identifying information and assure the protection of the individual’s privacy. Information should not be transferred, sold or otherwise utilized.+” Shuichi blinked.
“Lexie?” he asked.
“+Individuals have the right to choose any duly licensed/certified professional for mental health and substance abuse services. Individuals have the right to receive full information regarding the education and training of professionals, treatment options (including risks and benefits), and cost implications to make an informed choice regarding the selection of care deemed appropriate by individual and professional,” she went on.  “Treating professionals may be held accountable and liable to individuals for any injury caused by gross incompetence or negligence on the part of the professional. The treating professional has the obligation to advocate for and document necessity of care and to advise the individual of options if payment authorization is denied. Payers and other third parties may be held accountable and liable to individuals for any injury caused by gross incompetence or negligence or by their clinically unjustified decisions.+” She paused and looked up at Shuichi. (Or at least he thought she was looking at him.)
“+You look tired,+” she mumbled.
“Uh… I guess,” Shuichi said, softly.
“+It’s not good for you,+” she went on to no one in particular. Then, Lexie slid off the table and walked straight past her friend out the door. Shuichi looked on, still confused.
That evening, Lucas and Shuichi trailed Lexie all the way back to the apartment. Lucas put his girlfriend to bed. Shuichi insisted on staying over tonight.
“+You don’t have to,+” he said. The vocalist shook his head.
“No,” he insisted. “I’m staying this time. This mess was my fault and I’m going to do it right this time.” Lucas threw up his hands.
“+Whatever you want,+” he said.
“Thank you,” Shuichi replied.
“+I’ll get you something to eat,+” the boyfriend said.
“That’ll be nice,” the vocalist said. Lucas headed down to the kitchen. Shuichi looked on before turning to the woman in the bedroom. He wasn’t sure if that was Lexie or one of the others. The vocalist slowly approached. He sat by the bed. Lexie…
She looked rather peaceful at the moment. It’s hard to believe that just hours ago…
The woman turned over in her sleep. Shuichi gently tucked the sheet over her. Lexie…
But then, it tilted over into weird again. “+All of that blood,+” Lexie muttered. The vocalist paused and looked at her.
“You say something?” he asked. Lexie’s blank eyes stared at the ceiling.
“+All of that blood,+” she murmured. “+The lambs were all just murdered. The patients. And the patients. They weren’t getting better. They kept getting worse. All of that blood! Oh!+” Shuichi looked really concerned now.
“Lexie?” he asked again. But the woman didn’t stop there.
“+I want daddy,+” Lexie moaned. “+As soon as you're born they make you feel small, by giving you no time instead of it all, till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all, a working class hero is something to be, a working class hero is something to be+” Shuichi looked really lost now.
“Lexie?” he asked. She didn’t say a real word. The woman only kept on singing.
“+They hurt you at home and they hit you at school, they hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool, till you're so f***g crazy you can't follow their rules, a working class hero is something to be, a working class hero is something to be.+”
“Lexie?”
“+When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years, then they expect you to pick a career, when you can't really function you're so full of fear, a working class hero is something to be, a working class hero is something to be.+”
“Lexie?”
“+Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV, and you think you're so clever and classless and free, but you're still f***g peasants as far as I can see, a working class hero is something to be, a working class hero is something to be.+”
“Lexie?!?”
“+There's room at the top they are telling you still, but first you must learn how to smile as you kill, if you want to be like the folks on the hill, a working class hero is something to be, a working class hero is something to be.+”
Shuichi began backing out of the room. “Uh… I’m going to get Lucas now. You just lie there and stay put.” The vocalist slowly backed out the room.
“+If you want to be a hero, well, just follow me, if you want to be a hero, well, just follow me+!” he heard Lexie con as he was in the hall. That only made Shuichi move faster. This was bad; really bad.
“+Something wrong?+” the vocalist heard someone ask. Shuichi quickly leapt around. Lucas stood in the hallway with some leftovers in his hand. The pink-haired Japanese man forced himself to calm down again.
“It’s Lexie,” he admitted. Lucas raised an eyebrow at him.
“+What about her?+” he asked. Shuichi took in a breath.
“Well, she was singing,” he reasoned. Lucas looked on at him.
“+Singing?+” he asked.
“Yeah and she kept talking about blood or something,” the vocalist went on. Lucas froze at those words. His mate noticed his face.
“What’s wrong, Luke?” he asked. The American man lowered his head along with the tray in his hands. He glanced in the room. Good, she went back to sleep for now. Lucas sighed. It was time to tell the truth now.
“+Come here,+” he said. Shuichi blinked.
“Luke…” he said.
“+Just come on.+”
Shuichi shrugged. “Alright.” Both boys went down to the kitchen. Lucas broke down and told the whole story of Lexie in North Carolina. Shuichi listened on with a pale face. When he was done, Lucas pressed his lips together and closed his mouth. The vocalist didn’t know what to think.
“Wow,” he mumbled. “That’s just…” The boyfriend nodded.
“+Yes,+” he said. Both men were silent.
“So that’s why she…” Shuichi began again.
“+Yes,+” Lucas said again. The vocalist spoke no more. He looked down the hall. So that’s why Lexie was all messed up. Lexie… the Japanese man thought.
The next morning, Lucas and Lexie as Brandy were packing up to leave. Shuichi watched them from the black recliner.
“I can help if you want,” he offered.
“+Nah, we’re good, sweet cheeks!+” Brandy cheered.
“You sure?” the vocalist asked.
“+Yep, yep!+” the stylist said. Shuichi tried to make himself smile. Brandy looked up and noticed. She walked over to her friend and patted her on the shoulder.
“+There, there!+” she said. “+We’ll be back in this very place.+” Shuichi looked on at her.
“You promise?” he asked.
“+Hell yeah!+” Brandy said. She turned to her roomie. “+Ain’t that right, Luke?+”
“+I’ll keep fighting to get us home,+” he said, softly.
“Where will you go?” the vocalist asked. Lucas shrugged.
“+Brandy has some friends that are willing to let us stay at their place for the time being,+” he replied.
“Oh…” Shuichi mumbled. All three were silent in the dampened mood. Hard times, they all knew. Brandy clapped her hands together.
“+Come on, now!+” she said. “+Don’t be getting all depressed on me! We have work to do! Chop, chop!+” She turned to Shuichi. “+On second thought, you can help us after all.+” The vocalist smiled at her.
“What do you need me to do?” he asked.
“+Just pack up different boxes,+” the stylist replied.
“Gladly,” her friend said. Then, he leapt to his fight and got right to work. This would just have to do for now.