MIAB

Chapter 1: Missing

Hilary entered the room to find Riku asleep in a futon. He slept most of the time he was here. It was rare seeing him awake. Only Max had seen him awake and had given him food, which was rather odd. It was as if he only liked Max or something. Max had even said that he had spoken to him, calling him "Aya-nee". That made them wonder for Riku's sanity.

Riku was a very thin and pale kid and had light brown hair that almost seemed blonde. Hilary had only seen him awake once and he had shortly passed out afterwards so she didn't know his eye color. He wore no jewelry except for the medical bracelet but he had been carrying a backpack when he showed up. That didn't help them much, though.

Where was Kai during this whole mess? He was in Russia visiting "an old friend". During a phone call almost two days ago or so, Hilary had heard his friend's voice when she had mentioned Riku. He had immediately started trying to get the phone from Kai, asking if Riku was okay and yelling that he was on his way to Japan. Whoever Kai's friend was – because Kai hadn't named him – he had a connection to Riku and Hilary wanted to know about that connection.

Hilary sighed, "What is going on?"

"The end of all normality."

Hilary jumped and her eyes met red-purple eyes. Riku was finally awake! She saw Riku observing her, eyes assessing her as if she was a difficult problem he had to solve. His eyes didn't look right. It was missing something, something that everyone else had. What was it?

"Excuse me?"

Riku closed his eyes and sat up. He was still wearing the clothes they had found him in, refusing to part with the clothes. Hilary wondered when was the last time he had showered and flinched. Surprisingly, though, he smelled nice. Considering everything that had happened, Hilary had expected him to smell worse.

"Hilary Tachibana, right?" Riku asked, opening his eyes slowly, giving him a tired look, "It is very nice to meet you. My name is Riku Kuonji and I'm insane."

For a brief moment, Hilary wondered if he was joking. When he didn't start laughing and just stared at her with a blank stare, she realized that he was serious, "Er. . . You're insane, huh?"

Riku nodded seriously, speaking in a monotone, "Mad as a hatter. I hear voices and I have hallucinations. Is that normal? Of course not, I know that. I also have mental and emotional breakdowns. Not to mention that I'm dangerous."

Hilary resisted the urge to flinch away. It was scary the way he was just telling her that he was crazy and dangerous. She really wished that he was kidding. Then, Hilary finally realized what was missing in his eyes.

Emotions.

He didn't look happy, sad, angry or anything else. His eyes were dead and emotionless. His eyes were inhumane. He also looked really tired, as if he was carrying the weight of the world. She hated seeing those eyes. She hated that he looked so tired even though he was her age. No one she knew had the look Riku had. Even Kai and the Blitzkrieg Boys didn't have that look, even though they had a harsh past. At least they showed emotions.

"Oh, I see-."

"You're a lot like her. Fuyu-san, I mean. You have a similar aura to her." Riku interrupted and turned to her, his gaze calculating. He seemed to look right through her with that look. Hilary gulped. She really wished that the others would come back soon. She was already getting scared of the boy and he hadn't even said anything resembling a threat.

"Um, Riku," Hilary coughed, "About what you said earlier. That normality is ending. What do you mean by that?"

"That is what is going on, Tachibana-san," He responded, "Madness is something people don't think about as a serious problem and ignore it. Those who are insane are outcasts of society because they're not like them. All people want is order because that's what they call 'normal'. But he is going to bring chaos into this 'normal' world and change it. It'll be something odd, don't you think? Most people will go mad. The weak-minded will go mad and the strong-minded will too. There won't be any person who isn't mad."