Eijun was scared. Haruichi had been missing for two days now. Nobody knew where he was, and the police didn't have any leads. Even with all the cameras and people around Tokyo, it was as though his pink haired friend has simply vanished off the streets. Eijun couldn't remember the last time he'd been as terrified as he was now.
Seidou had essentially been locked down after they realized Haruichi was missing. Nobody was allowed to leave without an adult escort, and though classes and clubs were still going on as normal, nobody was really able to concentrate. Eijun had talked to the police, just as all the other players had, but it didn't feel like enough. His friend was missing. Haruichi, his small friend who cheered for him and worked hard with him. His friend who stood by him when he blamed himself for them not being able to go to Koshien with their seniors that first year. His friend who scolded him for being too loud and smiled at his jokes and listened when he ranted about Miyuki.
Haruichi was his first friend since he'd come to Seidou, and Eijun didn't want to think about what it would be like without his best friend there with him. Slowly heading back to his room, the pitcher barely noticed that Kuramochi wasn't there. The third year hadn't left Ryousuke's side since the news of Haruichi's disappearance. Nobody was sure if it was to offer comfort to the older Kominato, keep him from searching on his own, or killing the nearest officer each time they returned with no news.
Sitting on his bed, Eijun bowed his head and clasped his hands together, squeezing them so tight they began to shake. "Please. Please be okay Harucchi. We need you. I need you. Please. Come back. Please." Eijun felt a lump begin to form in his throat and swallowed, his eyes burning. All players had been given a strict curfew and weren't supposed to leave their rooms, but Eijun needed to do something. He couldn't sleep, and sitting still felt wrong.
Even if he wasn't allowed to go look for Haruichi, Eijun needed to move. He'd never been able to sit still for long, and the more worried he was, the more he moved. Opening his door just enough to poke his head out, the pitcher looked up and down the hallway, making sure nobody was around before slipping out and running towards the field. He knew he could be suspended from the team if he was caught breaking curfew, but even so Eijun needed to run. To move. To do anything besides sit and let his mind think about all the things his best friend could be going through.
It was only starting to get dark out, curfew having only just begun a few minutes previously. Creeping over to the storage shed, Eijun grimaced when he found it had been padlocked. Gritting his teeth, he turned and jogged over towards the field. Casting one last glance around to make sure he was alone, the pitcher began running.
Ryousuke felt like hitting someone. Two days. It had been two days since he'd been told his little brother had gone missing. And rather than be allowed to help search or do something productive, he'd been told to stay in the apartment he was renting near his university until they had some news. His parents had wanted to come and help as well, but they'd been told they needed to stay home in case there was a ransom demand.
The pink haired male highly doubted there would be one. His family wasn't rich. His father had to work overtime just to be able to pay for his and Haruichi's baseball gear along with school. They didn't even have cell phones. This kind of thing didn't happen to his family. This kind of thing didn't happen to people like Haruichi, who was still able to smile with innocence most people lost by the time they entered high school. Not to someone who cried each time an animal died in a movie. Not to someone whose laughter made everyone else smile. Not to such a pure and beautiful soul like his little brother.
No, the things that happened to them were worse than that. Ryousuke wasn't blind. He'd always seen the way his little brother was cooed at by older woman. He'd always seen the glances from passerby's when they were in town. He'd always been aware of Haruichi's fourth grade teacher, who left his hand on a shoulder for a few seconds too long, or how he bent closer than necessary when helping the kids with their work. Ryousuke had always known the dangers that his brother could face should someone's interest go past a glance or a passing brush. He knew, and from the second he got that call that Haruichi was missing, he knew that there wouldn't be any ransom demand or contact from whoever took his little brother.
It terrified Ryousuke, because he knew there was a chance he'd never see his baby brother again. There was a chance that whoever took him would decide to keep him. That his little brother who was quick to blush and wouldn't hurt a fly could be going through unimaginable horrors.
Looking up at the nudge against his knee, Ryousuke sighed and accepted the mug offered by Kuramochi. The short stop took a seat next to him and wrapped an arm around the shorter male's shoulders, squeezing briefly. Shoulders slumping slightly in exhaustion, the elder male leaned into the embrace.
In a rare show of vulnerability, Ryousuke turned his face into Kuramochi's chest. His voice was gruff as he spoke around the lump slowly forming in his throat as more and more images of his little brother being hurt popped into his head. "What if we don't find him?"
Kuramochi set his mug on the coffee table and took Ryousuke's, setting it next to his, before wrapping both arms around the pink haired male. "They will." The short stop kissed the top of his boyfriend's head and buried his nose into the short pink hair. "They'll find him." Ryousuke didn't respond, simply clutching onto the younger male's shirt with shaking hands as he nodded. They'd find Haruichi.
They had to.
Kuramochi swore if he ever got his hands on the bastard who'd taken Haruichi, he'd kill them. He'd kill them and bury their body somewhere nobody would ever find it. At the crack of dawn on the third day since Haruichi had gone missing, the police had informed them that the youngest Kominato had appeared outside Kokubunji General Hospital and was being checked over for injuries.
He and Ryousuke had had to wait for three hours before the doctors were finished running all their tests and they were allowed to see Haruichi. By that time the Kominato parents, Eijun, Furuya, Miyuki, and a select few other Seidou players who were close to Haruichi had arrived as well. The doctors had pulled the Kominato family aside and explained what they'd found while Kuramochi and the others were forced to wait some more.
The short stop didn't take his eyes off Ryousuke as the doctor explained things to them. He watched as the shorter male slowly began shaking, his fists opening and closing as though he were restraining himself from punching the doctor. Ryousuke's mother broke down crying at some point, her husband being the only thing holding her up as she sobbed.
When the pink haired male came back to them, he was stiff and his fists were clenched so tightly the short stop wouldn't be surprised if his nails wound up breaking through the skin on his palm. "Ryou-san?" He could see the tick of the older male's jaw.
"Is…is Harucchi…is he okay?" Eijun's voice cracked, but nobody bothered to comment.
Ryousuke's gaze stayed on the ground as he grit out through clenched teeth, "Bilateral enucleation." Kuramochi had no idea what that meant, but he didn't like the sound of it. He waited as the older male slowly raised his gaze. Hands reaching up, he clutched the front of the short stop's shirt in one hand and stepped closer before smacking Kuramochi's shoulder with his fist and resting his forehead against the taller male's chest. His voice broke as he whispered. "That bastard took Haruichi's eyes."
It was as though he'd been punched in the gut. Feeling his knees start to give way, Kuramochi fell heavily onto the bench he'd been sitting on earlier, pulling Ryousuke with him. He felt like he was in one of those movies where the main character gets news that their wife or friend had died and everything went silent. He wasn't as close to Haruichi as Ryousuke was, or even as close to him as Eijun was, but the younger pink haired male had started to become someone he cared about. For someone to have hurt him like this. To have taken Haruichi's sight.
Kuramochi swore to himself that the bastard who did this wouldn't get away with it. He'd find them. And he'd make them pay.
Hints of SawaHaru here because someone I follow on Tumblr has been reblogging a LOT of posts with that pairing lately. Anyway, for now this is a one-shot. I may or may not turn it into it's own story at some point, but for now it's just this. Let me know what you thought!