Eighteen
It was the first time he had ever really asked for anything. Things like, "Could you hand me the box cutters?" and "Stop calling me stupid!" do not count. This was important and Kazahaya was asking him to give it; though, he certainly did have a round-about way of making his request.
"Hey, uh, Rikuou?"
"What." It was more of an acknowledgement that he had been spoken to than anything.
"Do you have anything going on this coming Wednesday?"
"Why?"
"Is there any reason in particular you need to have it off?"
"No, not really." He waited.
No reply.
Maybe Kazahaya needed some encouragement. Again he asked, "Why?"
"Well… Do you think you could… switch me days? I, uh, I have Monday and Thursday off. I don't care which day you take."
"Got a hot date or something? Need to spend all day getting primped?" It should have been a sign when Kazahaya refused to look directly at him, but he knew for sure that something was wrong when his co-worker didn't even bat an eye at the comment.
"No, I just… I just want to trade. That's all." He was studying the floor now.
"You asked Kakei already?"
"He said it was something we should work out ourselves."
"Fine. I'll take Thursday."
Wednesday morning he left Kazahaya sleeping, ate his breakfast alone, and went down to the store for an uneventful day of work. Recently, it seemed that every day was uneventful when Kazahaya was off and this particular Kudou-free day was even more boring than usual.
The shelves were stocked, the floors were clean, and there were few customers to help. All he had to occupy his mind was his roommate's recent behavior. Kazahaya had been a bit down all week – ever since they switched days, maybe even a little before.
He never came right out and said something, but it was noticeable. And just as obvious was that he did not want to talk about it. He had no room to take offence; he was keeping his own share of secrets. That bit of curiosity that kept creeping up was studiously ignored. He had his own troubles. Finding Tsukiko ranked above butting into Kazahaya's business.
Kazahaya was gone when he went up to their apartment for lunch and when he got off work, the guy still hadn't come back yet. Rikuou made a quick dinner that went cold before he could find his appetite. Setting the food away and washing the whole 5 dishes he had dirtied in the cooking/not-eating process took little time and even less mental effort. Not a good way to occupy his thoughts.
The makeshift apartment was oddly empty without his roommate there, but it wasn't until it started getting dark that his brain starting feeding him with bizarre scenarios to explain the lateness, each one more elaborate than the last.
Kazahaya was lost. He could dismiss that easily enough. The guy may act like an idiot sometimes – most of the time – but he wasn't actually stupid. Not that stupid, anyway.
He decided to watch some television to help pass the time. He did not need to be thinking about Kazahaya. He was safe somewhere, doing whatever he had planned for himself last week and whatever that was, it was not his business.
Kazahaya touched something he shouldn't have and passed out. He could ignore this as well. Rikuou could not recall a single blackout that wasn't during one of Kakei's side jobs. Even at that, barring illness, Kazahaya usually only ever fainted long enough to hit the ground. If he had smacked his head on the way down, it still would not justify being gone all day.
The only interesting show ended just after he started watching. The news was on next, but he had read more than his share in the paper that morning. The recent rash of dismemberments that seemed to be spreading across the whole nation was not something he needed to be thinking about. Maybe he should read a book instead.
Kazahaya and been lured into a dark alley and robbed or beaten or… He stopped the thought there. There were two things worse than those and he absolutely refused to think them. The scenario was highly unlikely to begin with. Kazahaya had a remarkable ability to distinguish which people were trustworthy and which were up to no good. Animalistic instincts and all. In the chance that he came across one of the latter, for as skinny as he is, the guy could run faster than anyone he had ever met.
He read the same page far too many times before deciding he should just shower and go to bed. Maybe the steam would clean the strange thoughts from his head.
Kazahaya had been taken by the same people who took Tsukiko. This one took more thought to dismiss. In the end, he had to content himself with the fact that Kazahaya had obviously had something planned for today. Something that was not in his usual schedule. Not withstanding Saiga, how could anyone know where to find him? Maybe he really did have a date after all. Besides, if Kazahaya was really in danger somewhere, Kakei would have known.
He was just starting to pull on his clothes for the night when he came up with a scenario he couldn't explain away. Kazahaya was just gone. Left of his own free will. The fact that all his things were still on his side of the room did little to help since when Rikuou had found the boy in the snow, he had nothing but the clothes on his back. He could have went out on an errand and just decided not to come back.
The pants he had in his hand were tossed aside in favor of jeans and he pulled on his shirt even as he was walking out the door.
If Kazahaya had taken a train, someone at the station would remember seeing him. Even without the personality, he was pretty enough to be memorable. Their experience at that school was enough to prove that.
He told himself he was just being paranoid. Kazahaya was set on living on his own, but he was equally set on making money working for Kakei first. It did nothing to help.
It was an hour and a half later when he found Kazahaya sitting on the ground in the middle of the local park, leaning against a large tree, staring off into space. He went over and took a seat next to the boy, looked straight ahead, and tried to see what Kazahaya was seeing.
After a long silence, Kazahaya broke the stalemate. "What are you doing here?"
"I was bored. Decided to take a walk." There was no way he was admitting to being worried. As long as Kazahaya was safe, what he did on his own time was none of Rikuou's business. He was losing track of the number of times he had to remind himself of that fact.
"Ah." Another long silence. "You're not going to ask?"
"Ask what?"
"Why I'm here."
He did want to know. He wanted to ask, wanted to take the bait, but how could he when he never answered any of Kazahaya's questions? When he had just lied not two minutes ago. "You don't have to explain yourself to me. You're old enough to make your own choices. You're sev—"
"Eighteen."
He finally turned to look at Kazahaya.
"I'm eighteen. Today."
Today. He was eighteen today. It was his birthday and he took off work so he could spend the whole day alone, staring at nothing? Without prompting, Kazahaya continued.
"I've never been alone on my birthday before."
Something about that bothered him. Working side by side nearly every day, living together, sharing meals and chores and… Even now, despite the company, sitting there next to each other as they were, did Kazahaya still think he was alone? Maybe, the thought came to him, maybe Kazahaya had problems not too dissimilar from his own.
He had mentioned people from his past before. Just barely, before he would realize what he was saying or maybe who he was saying it to. Someone with catlike qualities. Someone who loves flowers. Someone waiting for him at home. The person he wanted to see the most, Kei. They had to be the same person.
We were almost always alone. Me and my…
His sister? It seemed likely. It was silly to be jealous of a sister but once he started thinking about it, he had trouble squashing the urge to tell him that if he misses her so badly he shouldn't have run away from home in the first place. To tell him he should be glad for at least knowing where she is. But that would be unfair. Kazahaya had left home for a reason. For all he knew, he had left to protect the girl.
Instead, he said, "Have you eaten dinner yet?"
"No."
"What'd you have for lunch?"
"I didn't."
That decided it. He hauled himself up off the grass and extended a hand down to Kazahaya. "Come on then." He paused, took a slow breath, collected himself so he wouldn't trip over the word. "In my family, you're supposed to have the meal of your choice on your birthday." There. That wasn't so bad. "What do you want? I'm buying."
Kazahaya looked up at him then – differently that usual, as if seeing something for the first time – scrutinized every detail and seemed to decide that whatever it was that he now saw was acceptable. He took the offered hand and stood.
"I know it's not your favorite, but I love that restaurant across from the post office."
"That's fine, it's your choice. Besides," he knew he would be walking into a trap by finishing his sentence, but he went ahead with it anyway – even managed a slight upturn to his lips as he did – "they make great desserts."
A sudden laugh was followed by a verbal jab. "Manly chocolate for manly Rikuou."
Rikuou had no desire for defense; Kazahaya's smile was worth the abuse.
Notes: Yeah, that bit about the dismemberments? I didn't make that up. I might of exaggerated a bit to suit my purposes, but I did read a news article about a rise in the rate of that kind of crime a few months ago. Pretty gruesome stuff.