Ren walked quietly down the sidewalk of the market district, hands tucked into his pockets, and head hanging a bit. He hated walking around this place; too many people, too much noise. He felt Haru beside him, and Aki and Shima not far behind. The eldest brother had told them all that they would spend a day here, shopping for new clothes for winter, which was fast approaching. As the four brothers walked, other people tended to walk in between them, simply trying to reach their destination, and not allowing a small group of boys to hinder their journey.
"Do you guys have any preferences for stores?" Ren heard Haru ask, earning noncommittal responses from both Aki and Shima.
"Nah, anywhere is fine, bro." Aki replied, hands clasped behind his head as he walked alongside Shima. Ren remained silent, his brown eyes cast down to the sidewalk. He listened to his elder brothers discuss where to go, trying to focus on their conversation instead of the multitude of people around him. Unease ate away at Ren's nerves as the mass of people walking down the street grew, the entire area seeming to be alive with conversation. For a moment, Ren felt disconnected from his surroundings, his heartbeat accelerating almost painfully.
"Haru," he turned to where his green-eyed brother had been beside him. Immediately, the youngest felt fear wash over him. He stopped walking, standing completely still while people walked around him.
"Haru?" he called a little louder, feeling panic rise inside of him. He looked around, trying to spot Haru, or Aki and Shima.
"Aki? Shima?" he called out, his hands shaking. His thoughts raced, telling his body to run, to get out of there and find his brothers. Shoulders trembling, Ren clenched his fists at his sides and quickly walked through the crowd, terror still rising in him. He began to lose focus on where he was going, all the stimulation causing his head to spin and his mind to be a jumbled mess of nervous and fearful thoughts. People began bumping into him as he walked, a few almost knocking him down. Ren looked around frantically, seeing an opening in the ground and quickly taking the opportunity to run into the clearer spot between two shops. Only one other person stood there, a man that appeared to be waiting for someone. Without thinking, Ren stood beside the man and fished his cellphone from his pocket. He tried dialing Haru with shaking hands, putting the phone to his ear and listening to the seemingly endless ringing.
"Ren?! Where are you?!" Haru's voice came frantically over the phone.
"I-I don't know," Ren's voice cracked, tears brimming in his eyes.
"Okay, it's okay. I will be right there, don't move. Okay? Can you tell me what stores you're near?" Haru asked gently, trying to keep his precious little brother from crying.
"A flower store, and a cellphone store." Ren answered, his voice wavering.
"Okay, we'll be right there. Don't move, okay?"
"Okay." Ren heard the phone make the sound that means Haru hung up, feeling his heart beating faster once Haru's voice was gone. He slid his phone back into his pocket, looking around attentively to locate his brothers.
"Hey, are you lost?" the man that was standing beside him asked. Ren jumped at the voice, forgetting that there was someone beside him. He looked up at the man, brown eyes meeting another pair of brown eyes. The man was tall, maybe Haru's height, and had dark brown hair that almost looked black. Something about the man gave Ren a heavier sense of unease. Something about the way his eyes looked, and the way he smiled. Ren did not answer him though, simply turning back to the crowd and looking around for his brothers. Suddenly, he felt a big hand grip his arm tightly, squeezing hard.
"Hey kid, I asked you a question. Didn't your parents teach you manners?" the man demanded, his smile still plastered to his face.
"Let go." Ren replied, trying to pull away from the stranger that was holding onto him. With every attempt to move away, the man's grip tightened until Ren could feel bruises starting under his grip.
"Let me help you find your family. Come with me," the man said flatly, smiling more.
"Let me go!" Ren shouted, trying to yank his arm away from the man, who seemed to have an iron grip.
"Come, we'll find them together." The man ignored Ren's shout, pulling him off toward the alleyway between the two stores. Ren struggled against his grip, until the man threw Ren forward, his face connecting hard with the side of the flower shop. He could feel something warm and thick trailing from his nose and his forehead. When he turned around, their eyes met, though Ren's were having a difficult time focusing. A menacing look at come to the other man's eyes, his smile wide.
"I'm just trying to help you. Are you okay? You're a clumsy kid, aren't you?" he mused, reaching a hand out and placing a finger under Ren's chin, tilting his head up higher. The next thing Ren knew, the other man's face was centimeters from his own, eyes staring straight into his.
"You're a pretty cute little kid," he said quietly. Ren felt his stomach clench in fear, his body trembling. Before the man could move closer, Ren gained the courage to bring his knee up hard between the man's legs. He shouted out in pain, crumpling slowly to the floor, clutching the sensitive area that Ren had injured. Adrenaline seared through Ren's veins, causing him to sprint out of the alley and run through the crowd of people. His mind was blank, all his body could do was run. The brunette only stopped when his body collided hard with the front of another person. He fell backwards, his mind clearing enough to recognize that he was shaking hard, a feeling that he only remembered a few other times.
"Ren?" a familiar voice entered his ears, causing Ren to look up. Aki stood in front of him, his eyes wide and worried. At the sight of one of his brothers, tears streamed endlessly down Ren's bloodied face. He stood up immediately and hugged Aki, something he had never done before. He cried into Aki's shirt, gripped the back of his shirt tightly. The more temperamental of the twins reached down and picked Ren up like a small child, arms crossed under Ren's bottom. The younger hugged his brother's neck, face buried in the crook of it, unable to control his tears.
"What happened, little brother?" Aki asked, rage thick in his voice. Ren tightened his grip on Aki, squeezing him with his legs as well as his arms. Frowning, the older held Ren close, in an overprotective manner that Ren was accustomed to with Haru. As Aki quickly walked off to go to their brothers, Ren felt his mind beginning to slip away; whether into unconsciousness or sleep, he wasn't sure. The last thing he heard was Haru and Shima's voices calling his name.