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This entire apartment was a hoarder's dream. Piles of trash, junk, and potentially present but indistinguishable items of value littered every inch of the floor, while an array of magazine clippings, discarded ornaments, and several things Shu didn't care to identify covered the walls. And yet not a scrap of usefulness could be found.
Kagehira failed to acquire any cleaning products in the considerable time he'd been living alone, and it showed through the dust-coated decorations, the grime-caked appliances, the putrid scent in the air. In the bathroom, beside an inexplicable pile of paper scraps, melded together from humidity, was a single bottle of 3-in-1 shampoo, conditioner, and body wash that made Shu's skin crawl. He poked around, careful not to breathe in too deeply or touch anything too disgusting, in order to find anything to sweep up the mess Kagehira dared to call home.
No luck in the bathroom, though Shu shuddered at the thought of using that room to clean himself. He already gave Kagehira an earful when he first arrived, made worse by the boy's claims that he cleaned in anticipation of Shu's visit. To think it could've been messier than this...
The kitchen, or what passed for one anyway, was also a bust. Somehow, the only utensils Kagehira had were one pair of wooden chopsticks and a rusted butter knife. This set the tone for every other item Shu found, like the broken coffee maker that seemed to continue its dripping even after being unplugged, the fridge with an unidentified sticky substance under its meager offerings of candy and water, or the paper cup sat alone in the cupboard, filled with thumbtacks of all things.
The living room was... uninhabitable, to be blunt. Shu was almost certain the couch was dragged in from a junkyard, and the 'coffee table' Kagehira claimed to have was nothing more than a painted cardboard box. When Shu dared to lift a flap and peek inside, he wished he hadn't. The poor box had become Kagehira's container for his array of creepy dolls and charms, most broken beyond repair and crying out for release. Not to mention, the room was borderline unwalkable with how many piles of trash, fabrics, and stuffed animals there were. For an apartment with so little, it was filled to the brim.
Which brought Shu to the bedroom, the last area for him to explore in depth. As he witnessed earlier, it was small, such a tight fit that Kagehira insisted they'd have to sleep next to each other for the night. Based on his cries when Shu suggested the couch, that may have had ulterior motives, but his point held. He couldn't fit more than a bed and a nightstand in there.
Shu knew his search wouldn't be complete until he checked, though. He had to know everything he was working with in the impossible undertaking of cleaning out Kagehira's apartment. If he was to salvage anything of the boy's or toss it all to the trash it came from would be decided by the contents of this room.
Taking a breath to steel himself, Shu entered, forcing the door open where it failed to fit in its frame.
Junk aside, it seemed a normal room. While the bed wasn't made, it at least had sheets, and nothing covered the nightstand aside from a lamp and box of tissues. Shu had no reason to fear as he moved in for a closer look, though he found himself unnerved all the same. Some warning from up high, trauma from the previous rooms, a regularly-scheduled nervous breakdown? He couldn't be sure.
There were candy wrappers under the bed, along with a herd of dust bunnies, but nothing further of note. Shu kicked aside a pile of magazines, most open and torn into, as he moved to the nightstand.
The lamp was unplugged, and upon closer inspection, didn't even have a lightbulb. Regrettably in line with Shu's expectations, the tissue box housed not tissues but dirt, a handful of weeds growing inside. Kagehira Mika was an unsolvable puzzle on the best days, and every mystery in this home was reinforcing that for Shu.
Finally, he checked the drawer of the nightstand, trepidation gnawing at his heart as he peered inside-
Then promptly slammed it shut, all hope for Kagehira lost in a bath of confusion and shame.
No, no, he couldn't give up here. Despite stumbling upon something so... disturbing at the final hour, just as he was set to finish his inspection, he had a purpose. Holding his breath, gathering his courage, Shu slid the drawer open again.
As he feared, the contents remained unchanged. Kagehira had a small shrine inside, piles and piles of photographs, magazine clippings, and bags of unsettlingly familiar items set around a half-melted pink candle. There was no mistaking it. This drawer was entirely dedicated to Shu.
Every photo seemed well-loved and over-handled, most ones Shu had never seen of himself. Lipstick stains covered many of them, and Shu cursed his perfect memory as he recognized the shade as a match for the lipstick Kagehira's friend bought him as a birthday present. The magazine clippings had to include every mention of Shu ever printed, the majority from Kagehira's own interviews. And...
Surely that wasn't a lock of his hair?
Shu, thoroughly nauseous and disturbed by his partner, slammed the drawer shut again. He'd do his best to purge this information from his memory. With his mind made up, Shu left Kagehira's apartment, already making plans to throw out (and maybe burn) every item in that forsaken abode.
He'd be doing Kagehira a favor, really. The shivers running down his spine had nothing to do with it.