Mobile phones were fickle things, but Kido was starting to think that the constant dropped calls had more to do with spite than signal loss.
Message Sent: 19:09, Today
Kano, where are you? We need to talk.
Message Sent: 20:31, Today
Seto's worried about you, you know.
Message Sent: 20:48, Today
Are you there?
Message Sent: 21:45, Today
I know you're getting these messages, Kano.
Message Sent: 21:50, Today
Can you please answer my calls?
It had been three days now since he had walked out. At first, Kido hadn't been too worried; Kano was the sort of careless person who came and went as he pleased. There had been several times when the blond had absconded from the hideout in the middle of the night, only to come back the next evening with a wide grin, a phone full of commemoration photos and a pile of the newest fashion magazines.
But that was normal. And this incident wasn't.
Message Sent: 22:00, Today
I get that you don't want to talk to me right now… but can you just tell me if you're okay?
Kido ran her thumb along the touchscreen of her phone, flicking through the numerous pages of applications and contact numbers without taking any of it in. If he's done something stupid and gotten himself hurt, I'm going to kill him, she thought grudgingly.
But, even if she said that, the empty feeling in her gut wasn't anger. Worry? Maybe. Guilt? Probably. But not anger. No matter how much she tried to kid herself.
"Hey, Kido."
"What is it?'
"… Actually, it's nothing. Sorry!"
The phone in her hand vibrated, so unexpectedly loud that Kido's fingers sprang apart in surprise. The phone fell from her fingers and onto the floor in a clatter, and Kido was more than a little surprised to see that the screen hadn't cracked when she fumbled to pick it up again.
Message Received: 22:03, Today
From: Kano Shuuya
[1 photo attachment]
Kido stared at the message incredulously, tilting the screen forward a little as though that would reveal some sort of secret writing along with the attachment. Unsurprisingly, it didn't. When her wits finally returned to her, Kido jabbed a finger at the attachment to open it.
The lighting in the picture was so poor that she had to squint to make out what was in it. It was only when Kido held her cupped hand above her screen that the image became visible: a crudely drawn smiley face, scratched on some sort of pavement in pink chalk.
What the…
Message Sent: 22:04, Today
What is that supposed to mean? Where are you?
Message Received: 22:06, Today
From: Kano Shuuya
[1 photo attachment]
Kido just sighed. Was she really going to play this stupid game with him?
It was better lit this time, at least. Turning her phone to the side to get a better look at it, Kido's pushed down a yawn and let her eyes flick over the photo. It was a birds eye view of a busy road, so far away from the cars on the ground that the vehicles looked like children's toys. Almost invisible in the shadow, Kido could just about make out a familiar pair of boots dangling off the edge of a building. Kano.
A feeling of nausea crawled up Kido's throat. Don't be stupid, he would never do something like that. Never. Flashes of dark hair and red scarves flashed in the back of Kido's mind like a broken slideshow, distorted and blurred.
Her fingers slipped clumsily over the buttons as she typed her reply.
Message Sent: 22:08, Today
What the hell are you doing?
The next reply was almost immediate.
Message Received: 22:08, Today
From: Kano Shuuya
[2 photo attachments]
Two? Kido clicked on the links, opening two separate tabs and stretching them out beside each other so that she could see them both. In the first frame, there was another shot of the city, but it wasn't a birds eye view this time. The screen skimmed over the tops of the city's skyscrapers lazily, the beam of the full moon shining in the corner of the sky. The second photo was completely different: a canted angled shot of a taxi, clearly taken from only a few feet away from it.
So he wasn't on the roof anymore. Right. That was a good thing. Right.
Kido swallowed and wished the rapid beating in her chest would slow down.
Maybe he'll actually answer me if I call now? Deciding it was better to at least try, she tapped in his number from memory and dialed it again. It rang three times before the familiar, 'I'm sorry, the person you called is not available,' voice came on. Kido cursed and hung up.
"Hey, do you love anyone, Leader?"
"What? Where did that come from?"
"Ah, ah, you're avoiding the question!"
Message Received: 22:12, Today
From: Kano Shuuya
[1 photo attachment]
It was a picture of some old man Kido didn't recognise, holding up a blue balloon and smiling at the camera. Behind him, there was the blurry image of what looked like a flower shop.
"Y-You can't just ask something like that out of the blue."
"It's not out of the blue, Leader. You just haven't been paying attention."
"Go read your magazine, Kano."
"You still haven't answered the question."
Message Sent: 22:14, Today
I don't get it, Kano.
"I don't know. I don't think about that kind of stuff."
"Why not?"
"Why would I?"
"… Haha, you're right. Why would you? Of course our leader wouldn't care about those kind of things."
Message Received: 22:17, Today
From: Kano Shuuya
[1 photo attachment]
It was another picture of chalk on grey stone, although the pink must have been replaced for white at some point between the two being taken. 'Come and find me'. It was written in Kano's oddly ornate handwriting, signed with a scribbled drawing of Kano holding up a peace sign and framed with a wobbly drawn circle.
"You could have just typed it on your phone, idiot…"
Regardless, Kido clasped the phone in her hand and ran from the flat, her sneakers slapping on the metal staircase as she descended the serpentine stairs leading to the street. The smell of car fumes and chinese takeaway assaulted her nose as soon as she was out by the road, but she more than used to that by now.
Message Received: 22:22, Today
From: Kano Shuuya
[1 photo attachment]
She knew the routine. Opening the file up, Kido was greeted with a very close close-up of a crab.
Well, I've seen stranger things.
Kano was somewhere with a crab? So he's somewhere with water. Or in a seafood restaurant. The fish markets were all closed by now, so at least that was ruled out.
Absentmindedly, Kido turned a left at the end of the street, ignoring the city around her in favour of her phone's illuminated screen.
Message Received: 22:26, Today
From: Kano Shuuya
[1 photo attachment]
This photo had another glimpse of Kano himself in it. It was small, barely noticeable but for the fact that Kido was searching every pixel of the photos she got sent. Only the faintest blur of blond hair at the side of the frame showed amongst glimmer of the city lights. It surprised Kido how much she had missed that stupid shade.
The photo itself wasn't anything extraordinary. A middle-aged man with an acoustic guitar around his neck stood by the side of the street, his arm held across the guitar in mid-strum. Kano's camera hadn't managed to capture the movement, leaving it raw and blurry.
Kido's eyebrow twitched in irritation. A man holding a balloon; a crab; someone busking in the street- what the hell did all of those have to do with each other?
Then, in a startling moment of clarity, Kido realised. Kano took all of them. If there was someone busking, and he's near them, then I just need to listen for music…
She yanked her earphones out, hastily shoved them into the pocket of her hoodie, and ran.
Her blood thrummed through her ears as her heart rate increased, beating in time with her footsteps, but she didn't listen to that. Just listen for a guitar. He'll be near the guitar. The city clamoured and screamed around her, but all Kido listened for was Kano.
When she ended up slamming into a woman as she turned a corner, the only surprise was that it hadn't happened sooner. They both went down in a tangle of legs and expensive jewelry, curses and 'sorry's being exchanged hastily. Kido didn't wait to see if the woman was okay once her head stopped spinning; she just winced, apologised and got up to run again.
In her pocket, she felt her phone vibrate again. She didn't bother to take it out.
But, eventually, Kido had to slow down. Her chest burnt and her legs were aching in protest, and the stinging warning of a blister to come was forming on her heels. She bent over in the middle of the street, heaving as her lungs greedily took in much-needed air, and grimaced.
"Are you okay, boy?"
Even though the voice was practically a whisper in the hurricane of the city, Kido jumped at the unexpected question. Looking up, she realised it was an elderly man looking at her, his blue eyes warm with sympathy.
"I-I'm fine," she stammered. Something about the man was striking, but her mind couldn't grasp what it was. In between breaths, she added, "I'm just- just looking for someone."
"Oh?" The man hummed. "You know, there was this boy I talked to a little while ago who said he was looking for someone too. He didn't seem like he was in much of a hurry, though. Do you need some water?"
Water. He's near water too. And…
Kido could have slapped herself. Of course she had seen that man before; he was the one with the blue balloon. The one Kano had taken a picture of.
"The boy you talked to- is he still here?" Kido asked, looking at the man with desperation.
He shook his head. "He said he had to go. He went down that way, I thi-"
Without another word, Kido ran in the direction the man had indicated. Her muscles still stang, and her head felt light from lack of oxygen, but that couldn't be helped. She could breathe when she found Kano. For now, it could wait.
What am I going to say to him when I see him? The thought nearly halted her in the middle of her sprint. Act normal? Scold him?
Somewhere in the back of her mind, another voice added, Kiss him?
Kido nearly spluttered in outrage at her own thoughts. How could you even-!
But whatever she was going to protest was lost to the world, because everything in her head faded when Kido heard the faint, faint strum of a guitar.
Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. She ran with renewed energy, grasping at those drifting notes like a drowning man gasped for air. The buildings and the people around her seemed to fade into one big blur of energy that rushed past thoughtlessly in the wake of the sounds. Run.
When she turned that last corner and saw the man at the side of the road, Kido just froze and breathed. Suddenly, every one of her limbs seemed to turn to ice, and the idea of moving at any point in the future seemed an impossible flight of fantasy.
Love, huh…
The flutter of that familiar black hoodie at the end of the street was what jolted Kido out of her daze. She exhaled, releasing the tension in her muscles and stumbling forward. He was there. He was safe. Thank God.
At the very end of the street, Kano was sitting at the side of the road, his legs pulled up to his chest as he tapped away at the phone in his hand. Kido could just about make out that he was smiling from where she stood, but there was something different about this smile from his usual wry smirks. Something genuine. Something real.
He has a nice smile, Kido noted. Well, when he's not acting like an idiot.
She must have stood there for years, just watching Kano crouching with his phone as he took a picture of the stop sign in the middle of the road. It was only when he sent the picture to her and her phone vibrated in the folds of her hoodie that she realised she would have to confront him, sooner or later. Or I could take a leaf out of Kano's book.
Slipping her phone out of her pocket and dismissing the three photo attachments Kano had sent her, Kido held it away from her at arm's width and pointed the lens of the camera towards Kano. The fake sound of the shutter made her smirk, but her arm was shaking.
Message Sent: 22:59, Today
You're an idiot.
[1 photo attachment]
The ding sound of the message being confirmed was almost instantaneous with Kano's glance towards his phone. At first, his face curled up in a bemused sort of smile. Then, as Kido assumed the photo loaded, he looked up, head tilted quizzically.
When their eyes met, Kano even had the nerve to grin. Idiot, idiot, idiot.
But she was walking to that idiot, chest still heaving with the exertion of her run, arms shaking with nerves, and when she was standing in front of him, all Kido could think was that his hair was a really nice shade of blond.
"Ah, you found me, Leader," Kano said, holding up his grin as he laced his hands behind his back. "You win the prize!"
"What prize?" The question had spilt from her lips before she could censor it. Always getting dragged into his games…
Kano blinked. "Well, actually, I didn't come up with a prize. What would you like?"
"I don't-" Kido swallowed, pushing down her nerves and shaking her head. So stupid. "I don't want some stupid prize. Just don't do that again. Don't… don't just leave."
And then she was holding onto him, her arms wrapped around Kano as she buried her head in his shoulder. She breathed in and out shakily, not daring to look up to see the boy's reaction. All of her exhaustion from running seemed to collapse on her in that one moment, all the worry, all the guilt, all of it. And then, despite everything, she was crying. It was weak and shameful and horrifyingly vulnerable, but her tears dripped down her face regardless of all that, so she just pressed her head closer to Kano. If it's him, then it's fine.
For what felt like a year, they just stood there, Kano's arms stiffly wrapped around Kido's waist as she sobbed into his shoulder. "Sorry, Kido," he mumbled after a while. "I'm pretty awful, aren't I?"
"Don't say that."
"Ah, but it's true. Look, I even made you cry because of my selfishness."
"Stop saying those sort of things! Stop… just stop all the stupid cryptic questions and- and always lying about things, and never making things obvious, and-"
He chuckled, cutting her off before her rant could reach its peak. "Right, right. Sorry."
There was another long silence. Kido's tears had all dried by now, but she didn't want to let go. She clinged closer to him and listened to the hum of the traffic around them. "I lied too."
"Eh? You?" He had the grace to sound surprised.
"I said I never thought about… love. I lied."
"Oh, is the great leader of the mekakushi dan in love?"
"I don't know yet." Kano's hoodie smelled like salt and dirt and rain. "Maybe."
"Well, tell me when you work it out."
Nodding mutely, Kido let her fingers uncurl themselves from Kano's back. "Right." The tickle of his hair against her neck almost made her laugh. "Right."
"Let's go home."
"Mm."