I am hungry!

[The end of the week...]

Seiji and Ken worked overtime this day.

Ken was nervously looking at the screen of his monitor... As if something didn't suit him...

His eyes were focused on the lines of code written one by one... the whole thing looked quite solidly made code, but... there were still inaccuracies in his head and self-doubt...

As they were packing to leave, he turned to Seiji.

"Listen, Seiji... I can't handle one part of my project, and the deadline is Tuesday... I know you've got your own stuff going on, but... do you think you could help me when you're free? Maybe this weekend?"

Seiji paused, mentally calculating the risks.

'Hmm... This weekend he said?

Well... let's see...

If he wanted to come to my place then no utensils, or a visible lock on the door, would immediately raise suspicion. In theory, I could temporarily restore a 'normal' look to the kitchen — remove the locks, hide the extra reinforcements, leave only a few knives and forks in the drawer to make it look natural, and stash the rest somewhere Hideaki is unlikely to check.
However...'

He paused mid-analysis.

'I'll have to stay close to the kitchen during the visit, to make sure Hideaki doesn't suddenly grab a knife.

But if I want to help Ken sort out his project issue, I'll need to spend some time in my room, which means leaving that psychopath without supervision...

Damn it.

If, by some miracle, luck decided to be on my side,' he added dryly, 'then I'd have to hope nothing happens and Hideaki doesn't suddenly decide it's 'killing time' while Ken is here.

Eh... either way, my weekend will be wasted on keeping him under control. So in a sense, Ken's visit might be a small distraction. Alright... once I get home, I'll set everything up for his visit. It's doable.' he concluded firmly.

"Sure. Bring it by tomorrow." He replied.

Ken's face lit up. "Oh really? That's great, thanks a lot!"

But then... His initial excitement wavered,

'Wait, I'm asking him for a favor when he is clearly busy with his own project. Damn. I'd better ask him double. He's probably working double to make up for lost time because of his roommate.'

"But... are you sure? I don't want to take up your time. You know, after all that bullying and your problematic new roommate you probably just want to work on yours . Not to mention to have a proper rest after everything else."

Seiji shrugged, unfazed. "I'll manage. Just copy the project to a Pendrive. We'll sort it out on my machine."

Ken nodded slowly and bowed "Of course."
"That's a huge relief. Man, thanks again." Ken exhaled, his shoulders visibly relaxing.

Seiji gave a small, acknowledging nod. "No problem. You know my address, right?"

Ken stiffened. He didn't, but admitting that would be embarrassing. "Uh... yeah, I mean... I think you mentioned it once, but just to be sure... could you tell me again?"

Seiji raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth quirking slightly in dry amusement. "Yeah, sure."

***

They left the building a while later and headed towards the subway station. On the way, they talked about all sorts of things.

As they ride, Ken got off at an earlier stop, and they silently said their goodbyes with polite smiles.

Seiji continued the ride alone.

His mind wandered briefly to dinner as he checked his watch. It was late.

"Cooking's a hassle tonight. I'll just grab something quick. It's Friday, after all."

After getting off the subway, he jumped to the grocery store to buy himself some instant food and headed towards the apartment.

[Meanwhile at the police department]

After several days of discreet surveillance on Goro - including monitoring his apartment, workplace, and commute - the investigators concluded there was no evidence of contact with Hideaki.

"We've been tracking the guy for a week. He goes to work, comes home, doesn't interact with anyone suspicious. Zero digital activity, no strange movements. He's clean," Tanaka reported.

"Maybe it's just a matter of time before Ryota makes a move?" another officer asked.

"No. We've got nothing from him. No contact. He works, he sleeps, he lives. Let's not waste manpower on him," Nakamura replied.

"Maybe he's just waiting. Maybe Miyahara knows we're watching. We shouldn't rule him out completely," the officer insisted.

"I don't think so..." Tanaka added. "If that were the case, he would've done something by now."

Nakamura nodded. "Tanaka's right."
"Let's expand our search to people who might not be on our radar. Revisit any unsolved cases that might show a pattern or a possible connection to his escape. We need to profile his next move, anticipate where he might go, who he might turn to."

"With someone who's being so chaotic and unpredictable, is it even possible to track down his next moves?" Another officer asked,

"If we didn't try, we'll never know." Tanaka replied to him.

"Let's move on it," Nakamura decided, his voice firm. "Expand the search, reach out to other departments. We're running out of time."

The officers all nodded in agreement and quickly began to carry out their new tasks. Papers shuffled, phones were picked up, and keyboards clattered as the team sprang into action.

Nakamura stayed behind for a moment, staring at the map of Tokyo pinned to the wall, his mind racing.

"Where are you, Miyahara?" he muttered to himself, his eyes scanning the clusters of colored pins, as if the answer might emerge from between the lines of the city. "You can't stay hidden forever."

The room slowly emptied, each officer focused on the mission ahead. The search for Hideaki was far from over-
and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department was prepared to do whatever it took to bring him in.

---

Seiji approached the door. He paused for a moment to take a deep breath, before stepping inside.

"Let's see what kind of mess that gremlin's gotten into this time..."

Seiji turned the key and opened the door. He peeked inside carefully, keeping in mind that he can expect everything from Hideaki. To his surprise... it was relatedly quiet...

Seiji couldn't help but feel a sense of trepidation as he took his first steps inside.

He took off his shoes and then loudly said:

"I'm back!"

Silence...

Frowning, he glanced around. The living room was clean, as was the bathroom. No sign of Hideaki.

"Where did he go...?" Seiji muttered under his breath.

With a serial killer roommate, silence wasn't reassuring.

He cautiously placed the grocery bag on the counter before heading to his bedroom to change. However, when he opened the door, he stopped in his tracks.

There, sitting at his desk, was Hideaki - playing games on his computer.

Seiji's eyes narrowed. "What are you doing?"

Hideaki hearing his voice, paused the game and gazed at Seiji.
"I live with you." he replied with stoic expression on his face.

"That's not what I meant." Seiji said, his voice sharper. "How did you get into my computer? It's password protected."

"Oh... um... Lucky guess?" Hideaki grinned, looking almost sheepish. "You have cool games here by the way." he added.

A spark of irritation flared in Seiji, though his voice remained measured. "Get off. Now."

"Huh..?"

"Get out of my room," Seiji repeated, his tone hardening. "You don't touch my computer without permission."

"But-"

"No buts." Seiji cut him off, taking a step forward. "Out of the chair. Now."

"But-"

"Get. Out."

With a glare, Hideaki stood up, clearly frustrated. He slammed the door behind him as he left, his footsteps heavy with annoyance.

Seiji sighed, rubbing his temples before sitting down to turn off the game.

"Gosh... Now I need to make sure he haven't deleted or uninstalled anything either by accident or on purpose... And on top of that I have to set up a new password... Damn... I've got nothing but problems with him..."

Meanwhile, Hideaki sulked on the couch, glaring at nothing in particular.

'I just wanted to play... It's boring here... And just sleeping and watching TV is not enough for me... Those pigeons aren't coming here any more, so I got no one that I could practice my magic on while he is away. Tch!'

He gazed at the door to Seiji's room

'And now when this idiot will lock his computer again, I will be double bored!!! Damnit!'

His attention shifted to the grocery bag on the counter. Spotting a red wrapper at the bottom, he grinned. He fumbled through the bag and eventually pulled out a chocolate bar. Without hesitation, he tore into it.

A little while later, Seiji emerged from his room. "You're lucky nothing was deleted. But next time- ..." He stopped mid-sentence, noticing Hideaki munching on the chocolate bar. "Is that my Kit Kat?"

Hideaki didn't bother answering, crunching loudly as he chewed.

Seiji sighed, resigned and furrowed his brow. 'Unbelievable.'

Considering that he wouldn't get his chocolate bar back, he pulled out an instant Ramen from the grocery bag, and prepared it quickly.

---

Seiji sat down watching the TV and slurping noodles, but he occasionally glanced at Hideaki, who was now lounging on the couch next to him, still chewing on the chocolate bar, clearly upset. Suddenly a loud growl emitted from Hideaki's stomach. To this Hideaki got very embarrassed, his face turned red.

Seiji raised an eyebrow. "Sulking won't help you, you know."

"Shut up," Hideaki snapped.

"You're not going to get anywhere by throwing a tantrum. You didn't eat enough today, huh? Angry boy?" Seiji said, his gaze still on his food.

"Tch! Shut up, idiot! I did eat today!" Then another loud growl erupted from Hideaki's stomach.

Seiji's lips curled into a subtle smirk. "Yeah? Judging by your stomach growling, I'd say you didn't eat enough." He paused, then added in a quieter tone, "Not that it matters with your height."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Hideaki was livid.

Seiji remained unfazed, continuing to eat. "If you're that hungry, maybe you should have cooked something instead of messing with my stuff. You really don't take care of yourself... You could end up as weak and starving as when we first met."

Hideaki's jaw tightened, and he glared at Seiji, but the mention of food made his stomach rumble again. He glanced at the Ramen that Seiji had been eating.

His mouth began watering despite himself.

Seiji suddenly put away his instant soup and went to check the fridge.

'Really... I have to take care of him as if he was a child...'  he sighed

Hideaki gazed at the left behind Ramen. His mouth watered more and more, even if it was an instant soup. But then, doubts and disgust of eating food after someone else appeared in his mind...

'This has already Seiji's saliva in it... But... I'm so hungry... B-but... it is gross... B-but the smell...' Hideaki analyzed.

He was desperately preventing himself from eating the food, (mainly still due to fear of getting caught some disease) but even though he tried hard - his hunger beat him up.

Suddenly, he glanced quickly at Seiji, who was now focused on unpacking the grocery bag and what was in the fridge. Once he made sure that Seiji wasn't looking at him, out of growing desperation (and hunger), he quickly started sucking on the noodles.

"There's some cheese, cucumber and... slurping sound...?" Hearing the familiar sound Seiji turned back, catching Hideaki mid-slurp.

"HIDEAKI!"

Hideaki flinched, quickly swallowing the last pasta string. "F-fuck!"

"Did you just steal my soup!?"

"Um... N-no...?" Hideaki shuffled from side to side.

Seiji exhaled heavily, his voice cold. "First the chocolate, now my Ramen? Seriously?"

"N-No! B-besides it wasn't that much..." Hideaki rubbed the back of his neck, glaring at the empty cup.

Seiji sighed again, shaking his head. "How can someone be so impossible?"

Seeing that the Ramen cup was completely empty he resigned from taking it back.

'I guess that today I will have to make myself something to eat anyways... God damnit... I REALLY didn't want to cook today. Not to mention, cooking for this little devil...'  he said in his head while looking at Hideaki. 'But I guess that I have to do it anyway... Damnit...'

Seiji shuffled with resignation to kitchen counters and prepared all ingredients for the dinner - Japanese curry rice.

With the greatest accuracy, he cut vegetables, meat, and other additives, additionally adding a yellow thick cubes of sauce to it.

As the Japanese curry rice simmered, the smell of spices filled the kitchen. Once finished, Seiji sat down at the table with the bowl, finally ready to eat.

Hideaki crept toward the table, eyeing the curry hungrily.

Just as he reached for Seiji's spoon, Seiji's hand shot out, slapping his wrist.

"Ow!" Hideaki yelped.

"You're not stealing this too. There's more in the pot if you're that hungry. Just don't eat all. We're low on rice and I need it for tomorrow."

"Tch! Idiot..." Hideaki muttered under his breath, rubbing his hand, but eventually dished himself a bowl of curry.

After finally finishing long-waited meal, Seiji got up from the table and cleaned up his plate.

"I'm going to take a bath. Don't break anything while I'm gone." He added after and went to the bathroom.

---

When he returned, refreshed, he noticed Hideaki curled up on the couch under a blanket, fast asleep, drooling.

Seiji glanced at the half empty pot - Hideaki had eaten, leaving some leftovers as Seiji wanted. Plus a little bit of rice too, but not much to feed three people tomorrow.

'What a glutton... But at least he's quiet now,'  Seiji thought, shaking his head slightly. 'He's only manageable when he's fed.'

He hid the meal into the fridge and cleaned up the dirty pots.

Then, he began his preparation for tomorrow.

'Tomorrow is Ken's visit.
A normal day - a meeting in the apartment, talking, programming.
But the thing is... that nothing in my apartment is... normal.'

His eyes took a glance at sleeping Hideaki.

'Especially him...'

He looked at the kitchen. Empty drawers, no utensils. From the outside, it looked unnatural — almost as if the apartment belonged to a paranoid man, or someone who had just moved in.

'Ken would notice that for sure. And the questions he might ask... could be far more dangerous than Hideaki himself.'

Then his eyes moved to the front door and the balcony door. Double locks, extra bolts. For Hideaki, it was a necessity. For Ken — a red flag.

'If he sees this, he'll start wondering... and once he starts wondering, he'll start connecting the dots,' Seiji thought, resting his hand against his chin.

He closed his eyes and broke the plan down step by step:

'Alright.

Once again...

1. Utensils. Only a few go back in the drawer — ordinary ones, just enough to look natural. The rest stays hidden in a 'safe place.''

'2. Locks. They have to be removed for the visit. I'll do it tomorrow morning, before Hideaki notices.'

'3. Hideaki. The hardest part. Unpredictable. I'll have to keep him occupied, make sure he doesn't wander into the kitchen while Ken's around.'

"The whole game is to make sure Ken doesn't sense that anything is off. One suspicious detail, one odd behavior from Hideaki — and it all collapses."

Seiji sighed and looked at the clock.
He was tired, but his thoughts wouldn't leave him alone.

"Tomorrow will be theater," he muttered. "Let's just hope the actors don't miss their lines."

---

Before going to bed, Seiji played a game on his phone, his mind briefly wandering.

'I'll have to get Hideaki a phone at some point... He can't stay out of contact. Even though the doors are locked... I need to... monitor him...'

With that thought lingering, he put his phone down and drifted off to sleep.