Just a quick thing: this fic will be 64 chapters long.


XLIX

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Haruka had spent barely two months away, but in that time Ren had recovered surprisingly well.

He was already able to move around the neighbourhood with relative ease, and he didn't always need Ran to guide him around. Even though he had lost most of his sight, being able to discern shapes and shadows was still an useful ability.

He was as clingy as before Haruka left, though, but he didn't mind. He had missed the Tachibanas too, and didn't feel bothered in the very least by having Ren sitting on his lap as Makoto told him about everything that had happened while Haruka was away. Makoto talked about the neighbours, about how the war was finally coming to a definite end despite the many bureaucratic hurdles there apparently were.

Haruka saw Makoto's uneasiness in the slight tremor of his fingers when he intertwined his hands on his lap, felt it in the way his stomach leapt when his best friend avoided his eyes. Even Ren noticed; he got off Haruka and reached his brother, finding his hand and tugging at it so Makoto sat him on his lap.

As he braided Ran's hear (she had quickly taken over the space Ren had left), Haruka refused to let his mind wander to Rin. There was no point; the only reason he had come back to the capital was to see how the Tachibanas were doing. He didn't even think about staying there; he was well aware the temptation of going to the palace would be stronger than him if he even looked at the walls he had ignored so many times before.

Whatever he and Rin might have had was over. It pained Haruka realising how the idea of Rin marrying anyone else wouldn't have hurt him so much had he never kissed the Sultan, had he never had the chance to brush their everything with the tips of his fingers.

But he had kissed Rin, and there was no way to get back to the way their lives had been before that day. Not to mention the atrocities Rin had allowed since they had parted ways, unbelievable in the boy Haruka had met.

So there was no point in thinking about the Sultan.

Apparently Makoto came to a conclusion at the same time Haruka did; out of the corner of his eye, he saw his friend straighten up and take a deep breath before whispering something into Ren's ear. The boy jumped to the floor and gestured to where he guessed Ran was –some metres at Haruka's right– as he called her.

"Let's ask Mum to make cake," he suggested; Ran quickly forgot her wish to have her hair in a thick braid and jumped from Haruka's lap, grabbed her brother's hand and dragged him towards the kitchen, much to Makoto's momentary amusement.

"They really missed you," he commented. Haruka shrugged, almost wanting to follow the twins when his friend's smile fell. "Have you heard about the Sultan lately?"

It wasn't as if Haruka hadn't expected it. Makoto knew him too well to not realise at least half the things Haruka never said aloud, and he hadn't exactly hidden from him who he had spent the last nights before leaving with.

"I don't need to," he exhaled.

Makoto frowned.

"Then– I thought you might know more, since you are– were–" he quickly corrected himself, "close to him."

Something in the way Makoto fidgeted caught Haruka's attention. "Did something happen?"

As he pronounced those words, something cold and heavy settlesd within his chest.

"Well–" Makoto bit his lip. "I don't really– There's nothing official," he stuttered, "but he's been missing meetings, apparently; he's also stopped personally listening to the commoners' demands…" Makoto let out a sigh. "And then there're the guards that came here to ask us about you…"

"What?"

"There are rumours, Haru," Makoto quietly explained. "About the Sultan being sick, of having run away… I don't know. But truth is nobody has seen him throughout the last days."

.

Rin, Haruka was starting to realise, was the most reliable excuse to not keep his promises.

The thought didn't stop him in his race to the palace; his heart beat wildly fast, hammering against his ribcage, and it wasn't only from running. Every beat rang with a single question:

Where's Rin?

Where's Rin?

Where–

Nobody stopped Haruka from walking into the palace, even if he received some curious glances by the guards. He instinctively turned towards Rin's bedroom, not entirely sure what he would fine, but before he could even turn the first corner he heard a growl and found himself pinned to the wall, a big hand grabbing his neck as greenish blue eyes glared at him.

Haruka scratched Sousuke's hand, with little success.

"What…" he breathed out. The pressure around his throat wasn't enough to block his airways, but it still hurt. "What are you doing?"

Sousuke snarled.

"Where is Rin?"

Haruka didn't think twice before kicking Sousuke's shin with more strength than necessary, taking advantage of his momentary weakness to break free from the man's grasp.

"I was going to ask you that," he replied, rubbing at his neck.

"You are the one who should be answering questions," Sousuke replied, giving his shin a quick rub before straightening up and glaring down at Haruka. "What was with that note?"

Haruka frowned.

"What note?"

He knew, as soon as Sousuke promptly turned around and gestures for him to follow, that he shouldn't have asked. That it was nothing of his concern, that he could barely be considered the Sultan's friend anymore.

But Rin wasn't in the palace. And judging by Sousuke's behaviour, he didn't seem to have vanished voluntarily.

Haruka already felt dizzy when Sousuke made him walk into an empty room and looked for something in the drawers of a desk. It didn't make sense; he had left for Rin to be alright, for his family to be alright– just to stop putting everyone he loved in danger, yet Rin was missing.

"Here." Sousuke shoved a piece of paper into his hands. "Maybe this will refresh your memory."

Haruka turned it around to read the letters crafted on black ink, heart stopping for a second when he recognised his own handwriting composing words he had never written:

Meet me at the Tachibanas' burnt house.

Haruka.