Ryousuke didn't get an immediate answer, which was quickly beginning to make him believe that he was mistaken, that it was just someone who sounded similar. It could have been a trick of his brain, causing him to hear what he wanted to hear, regardless of the accuracy. But then why wouldn't he imagine hearing his brother's voice on the other end of the call?

"You-san?" He asked again, more hesitantly this time now that he was starting to doubt himself. Ryousuke could hear breathing followed by rustling as if the person were adjusting the phone by their ear. A muffled curse almost startled Ryousuke before a loud clattering noise like they had dropped the phone this time. More rummaging until he could hear the breathing again. Normally Ryousuke would find it creepy to listen to an unknown caller exhale into the receiver, however, if it was really Kuramochi, then he didn't care, because that would mean he was alive.

"Sorry, yeah…" he finally replied, his voice quiet, either purposefully or he just had the phone further away. Ryousuke was quick to turn the volume up to almost max on his phone to hear more clearly. "Yeah, it's me," Kuramochi confirmed, sounding out of breath, but overall, just completely exhausted.

Ryousuke was unsure how to respond. His mind was racing with a million questions, yet not one of them stuck around long enough for him to blurt them out. His heart was hammering loudly behind his ribs, blocking any other outside noise except for the voice on the other end of the phone. He knows he should ask how he is or even where he is, but Ryousuke was unable to get anything out and was unable to process what he was hearing.

"Your brother is alive." Kuramochi exhaled, and just like that, Ryousuke's mind went blank. Those four words are what he's been needing to hear. It wasn't nearly as believable coming from someone who was simply saying it to put him at ease, but being told by someone who actually knows lifted a heavyweight from his chest that he hadn't realized was there until it was gone. It left him feeling numb after going so long with the added pressure.

A poke to Ryousuke's shoulder physically startled him, which caused him to jump, and spin toward the source, only to find Chris and the others staring. He had completely blocked out their presence, completely forgot they were there and even where he was.

"Ryou-san?" Kuramochi questioned in a rush when Ryousuke remained silent. His voice sounded off, like he was nearing the edge of tears, or possibly even panic. "Shit."

"Still here," Ryousuke reassured quickly, which garnered him a sigh in return. "It's You-san, he says Haruichi is alive." He whispered to the others, breathlessly, knowing they needed to know as much as he did. Isashiki immediately squawked out a surprised expletive that had him instinctively shushed despite everyone's own forms of shock. It didn't take long until he was being bombarded with questions, all of which he himself had but didn't have the answers for.

"Who are you with?" Kuramochi asked, almost hesitantly. He obviously heard the commotion through the phone, and to Ryousuke, he appeared to be on edge. So with that, Ryousuke stood up as he listed off those that were with him. He ignored his cup and the others continued questions as he sped walked out the door, everyone else hot on his heels.

"Hold on, we're changing locations." He informed Kuramochi. Ryousuke suddenly felt like they were around too many people for the conversation that would ensue, and had the strong need to get somewhere more isolated without the worry of random bystanders eavesdropping. The only problem, however, as he didn't know where he was going. They were in a rather busy section of the city, there were people anywhere they would go, even parks didn't offer any privacy during the day.

Abruptly, Chris grasped his arm and tugged him into an alleyway they were passing. Leave it to Chris to understand what he was aiming for. The alley forked off, one continued straight onto another street while the other weaved between the back of the buildings around them. Ryousuke was grateful for Chris' presence as he led them around the corner so they would be out of view from either end of the alley. During the day any homeless that may frequent this location was probably wandering around the city, clamoring for spare change or scraps; meaning they were the only ones. Halfway down they deemed it well enough and Ryousuke swiftly found himself surrounded and he almost had to laugh with how suspicious they must look.

"Put him on speaker." Isashiki impatiently demanded. Normally, Ryousuke would use this as an opportunity to tease them, but even he knew this wasn't a good moment for that. The rest were watching him expectantly, which Ryousuke was taking to mean they all agreed with Isashiki. Not that he could blame them, they probably wanted to hear his voice for themselves. Like Ryousuke, they won't fully believe it until they hear the confirmation from Kuramochi. The other end of the call had remained silent, and Ryousuke was beginning to worry they were disconnected, so when he lowered the phone to switch it to speaker, he was glad to see the time continue to increase as the call remained intact. As soon as he tapped the button and had the phone held out in front of him, Isashiki yelled, "What the fuck, Kuramochi!"

The line remained silent for several long seconds, making Ryousuke begin to wonder if something had happened to Kuramochi when they heard soft chuckles, "Ahh, Jun-san." he said fondly, the exhaustion was still a heavy undertone in his voice, but that little bit of emotion was staggering after thinking the worst had befallen them. Tanba appeared to be close to tears, his eyes were glassy with a wide smile spread across his face. To be honest, they all weren't faring any better.

"Are you okay?" Chris asked, getting right into it. Again, they were met with silence, which was soon broken by a slow, long exhale.

"Define 'okay'." Kuramochi began, "I'm alive." He finished with a sigh. That was worrying.

"Where are you?" Yuuki inquired in his Captain's voice, making it more of a command than an option, though Ryousuke doesn't think Kuramochi would try to avoid the question.

"Well… that I'm not sure…" Kuramochi replied, "Some older neighborhood that still has a payphone. I'm surprised it works, honestly." He continued, "Haven't seen a single person, which is probably a good thing." The last part was mumbled to himself, and if Ryousuke hadn't turned his volume up, they might not have even heard it.

"You hacked it, didn't you," Yuuki stated, knowing the answer already.

"Heh...it's easy. Clearly, it still gets some use since there's coins in it."

"Are there any street signs or landmarks?" Chris pressed. His question was met with silence, which most likely meant Kuramochi was looking around.

"Um...I can see mountains." Kuramochi said weakly. There were a lot of mountains and many cities and towns that they can be seen from, so that did not narrow it down at all. They could hear clattering and a slight squeak noise just before Kuramochi continued "There's a lot of trees." Again, not helpful. "Daiya?" He randomly blurted. "Where's Daiya?"

Immediately, Chris, Yuuki, Isashiki, and Tanba all whipped out their phones, presumably to search for it. Ryousuke would have done the same if his own wasn't currently preoccupied. Though seeing them all so unintentionally in sync was comedic, in a way.

"Daiya River. It's in Nikko, Tochigi." Chris rattled off, his eyes continued to scan over his phone screen as he spoke.

"Okay, where's that?" Isashiki questioned.

Chris' thumbs tapped across his phone before he spoke again, "It's over two hours by train from Tokyo."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Isashiki complained.

"Well, it's not a straight shot, we'll have to transfer. Also, do you have at least ten thousand yen on you?" Chris rebutted. The lack of response from Isashiki was answer enough as he remained silent and clenched his teeth in frustration. "We'll need to stop by an ATM first." Chris finished. Out of all of them, Chris would be able to acquire the most money the easiest. What with his father being a former pro-baseball player.

With a goal in mind, they quickly exited the alley towards the nearest ATM location. Ryousuke had switched the speakerphone button off, holding the phone up to his ear as they sped past pedestrians. While the conversation between him and Kuramochi was minimal, it still felt weird to hang up the phone. He was partially afraid that if he ended the call, he would wake up to this being all a dream or some figment of his imagination. Regardless, Ryousuke wouldn't be able to get in contact with him again if they did hang up, especially if they needed more information about his location. While they had a general area, it didn't narrow down his exact spot and they will likely need more details.

Collectively, they all agreed to hold off on further questioning until they were there in person, where they could make sure he was safe. And if Ryousuke had to guess, Kuramochi wasn't in the best of conditions and may even need medical attention. The fact that he was still responsive and coherent led him to believe he was well enough and without any life-threatening injuries. He really hoped any wounds were minimal, if at all. Tanba did have him briefly ask about injuries, but the question was met with a muffled reply and silence.

Honestly, Ryousuke was getting unnecessarily irritated by the crowds, anyone who so much as slows down or stops in front of him was going to make him snap. He wanted to already be on the train heading towards the location, not weave through foot traffic. Ryousuke understands that they need money to even board the train, but he was pretty tempted to sneak on if it meant they could skip the step of finding an ATM. Thankfully, there was a nearby bank with an attached ATM out front. Whether or not it was where Chris banked didn't seem to matter. Isashiki darted up to it before the elderly man in line could approach, motioning for Chris to hurry up. As he pulled out his wallet in search of his card, Tanba politely apologized to the man behind them. Ryousuke was slightly surprised that neither Tanba nor Yuuki berated Isashiki for cutting in line. Just goes to show that they were all feeling the rush.

He couldn't help but feel as if something horrible may happen if they take too long.

Chris pulled out more cash than necessary, mentioning taking a taxi to the station, which caused a minor argument about whether midday traffic would be faster than walking. In the end, they decided to take a chance with the taxi, which Isashiki quickly took charge of hailing one down and very nearly got himself run over in the process. Since there were five of them, they had to wait for a larger capacity car to drive by, which had Isashiki practically jumping out in front of the first one they saw. Needless to say, the driver was not happy to ferry them around, he clearly believed they were just some reckless teens - partially true- out for the thrill, they had to physically show him that they did, indeed, have money, and only then, did he begrudgingly let them in.

The driver seemed to be under the impression that Chris was the older friend, or brother, going so far as to scold them to Chris as if he had any elderly sway over them. So obviously, Ryousuke played it up, throwing in the occasional "Nii-san" for good measure. It also had the benefit of raising a chuckle from Kuramochi through the phone. It helped lighten the mood, making the trip to the station feel just a touch faster than it would have if they remained on edge.

That was, of course, until they were on the train, where they had to wait the two hours with no power to speed up the process. Ryousuke quickly grew restless, at least when he was walking he felt like he was actually doing something. He would have probably felt better trekking the entire distance between Tokyo and Nikko, even if it was completely impractical. Isashiki had been pacing the length of the train car, much to the annoyance of the rest of the passengers until Yuuki made him sit.

Halfway through the trip, Ryousuke's phone warned him of a low battery. Reluctantly, he had to hang up after informing Kuramochi to call Yuuki's number. There was a rather long point between the switch that raised everyone's stress levels, but thankfully, Kuramochi called back. Towards the end of the journey, all conversation had slowly ground to a halt as everyone retreated to their own thoughts. Ryousuke's own were concerned about what condition they would find Kuramochi in, that was until he began to wonder what happened to the rest of them. Only Haruichi was mentioned to still be alive, so what did that mean for the others? Did Kuramochi not know, or was it something much more extreme? He had been afraid to ask over the phone, he wanted to delay that knowledge. He was immensely glad to hear about his brother, but any adverse news about the others would still be devastating.

By the time they reached their destination, they had mentally worn themselves down. It felt a lot longer than almost three hours, but he was grateful to exit the nearly empty train. Clearly, not a lot of people travel to Nikko, not that he was surprised, Ryousuke doesn't think he's even heard of the place until today. It wasn't until they were walking out of the much smaller station that they realized they had no idea which direction to go. All they knew was he had to be somewhere near Daiya River. It was a start. Chris pulled up a map on his phone while they headed in the direction on foot while Yuuki began asking Kuramochi to describe his surroundings. Apparently, they were looking for a fork in the road. One would lead deeper into the surrounding trees, while the other continued into civilization. The payphone was supposed to be right at the middle section of the fork, though it was covered in nature.

They had come across several forks, but never the right one, and by the time the sun was setting, they quickly began to grow more anxious and irritable. They realized immediately that night here was going to be dark compared to Tokyo, where there were always buildings or street lights. While there were street lamps here, they were on the busier roads, and according to Kuramochi's descriptions, the paths he was on weren't busy at all. So the restlessness returned as they were now racing against time, attempting to get as much use out of the sunlight they still had.

It got worse, however, when Kuramochi, in a panic, informed them that he had to go, and when they asked why he simply informed them that there were people and hung up. That had them practically sprinting down back roads around Daiya River, until Chris came to an abrupt halt when he saw an elderly woman walk out of one of the small, local businesses, asking her if she knew where there were any payphones. While the lady was very kind, she assumed they were needing a phone and insisted that they could use hers, with a lot of coaxing, they convinced her that they were meeting someone and the payphone was a landmark so they knew which way to go from there. She appeared to be suspicious but eventually informed them that there was an old one about half a mile up the road. They waited until they were out of sight before they broke out into a sprint again. Ryousuke was grateful for all the stamina training they have had, if not for those, they wouldn't be so close by now.

It was fairly dark out when Isashiki pointed out another fork in the road, it wasn't until they were closer than they could make out an old, dilapidated payphone surrounded by tall grass and overgrown bushes. Ryousuke wouldn't have even noticed it if he wasn't searching for it. As they approached out of breath, it quickly became apparent that no one was occupying it. Yuuki circled it with his phone's flashlight, possibly looking for signs of recent use, or maybe if there had been a struggle. Nothing about it really appeared to be out of place other than the abundance of growth that encompassed it. The phone was hung up in the cradle as it should be. Isashiki let out a quiet, frustrated curse.

"You-san?" Ryousuke called out without thinking. He hoped Kuramochi was still nearby, that maybe he was simply hiding. It didn't seem like he was wanting to be seen when he hung up. "You-san!" He hollered out a little louder, hands cupped around his mouth to help carry his voice further. They all stood perfectly still, listening for any signs that Kuramochi was there. Ryousuke was just about to try again when he heard rustling in the overgrowth. As one, they all spun to face the cluster of trees, Yuuki shining his light into the dark depths of the forest. Unfortunately, the light wasn't strong enough to illuminate anything off in the distance, but it was still nice enough to have for anyone or thing that may approach. They could just make out the first few trees and foliage, anything beyond that became a void.

Whatever movement they heard stopped.

"Might have been an animal," Tanba whispered, not taking his eyes off the tree line. No sooner than the words left his mouth, the noises started again, this time closer. Ryousuke held his breath as a dark figure slowly began to emerge, just out of range of Yuuki's light. Dead leaves and twigs crunched beneath their feet as they walked, coming to a halt at the nearest tree. This allowed them to see the person from the waist down, that they were wearing shorts and nothing on their feet. Immediately, Ryousuke knew who it was.

Without hesitation, Ryousuke darted forward, not entirely sure what his plan was once he got there, just that he needed to make sure this was real. He knew when the others followed as the light traveled, illuminating Kuramochi fully. Ryousuke came to a sudden stop several feet from him, heart hammering in his chest at what was revealed.

"What the fuck, Kuramochi?!" Isashiki bellowed for the second time today. Ryousuke honestly couldn't blame him, he had thought the same thing. Kuramochi was wearing the same pair of shorts that he had on the last day Ryousuke saw him. However, his shirt was gone, leaving him topless in the middle of Autumn. His torso was covered in bruising and minor cuts. A rather deep, jagged wound, roughly three inches long, ran from his left side inwards towards his belly button. It looked to be haphazardly stitched together, the skin around it was red and irritated with dried blood smeared down to the hem of his shorts.

"Hey," Kuramochi said simply - nervously. He leaned against the tree and crossed his arms self consciously over his chest. Ryousuke's attention drifted up to his face, where the first thing he noticed was a discolored patch of skin. It coated the entirety of his jaw on the left side of his face and traveled across his cheek, with a thinning line that barely reached his nose. It was an angry shade of red that grew darker along his jaw. The patch was shiny and appeared to be wet as the light reflected off the fluid. On the other side, his cheekbone was a splatter of bruising that accentuated the dark circles under his eyes.

Isashiki was the first to move, stripping off his coat as he slowly approached Kuramochi, who eyed him like a hawk. Kuramochi visibly flinched as Isashiki spun his jacket around to drape it across his shoulders. And for the first time, Ryousuke put together how chilly it was against Kuramochi's lack of layers. The shorts he wore were appropriate for the summer heat when the kidnapping first took place. But now they were in the middle of Autumn, closer to the mountain range, even. Their breaths puffed visibly into the air, and the light jacket Ryousuke had on wasn't quite beating the cold breeze. What was weird, however, as he doesn't recall even noticing Kuramochi shivering. It was almost as if he couldn't feel it, or had grown numb to it.

"What happened?" Isashiki quietly asked. Kuramochi stared silently at him, before slowly shaking his head once. A clear answer; he didn't want to talk about it.

"Where were you?" Yuuki tried while he made his own approach. Kuramochi sighed, gesturing vaguely the way they had come.

"Where's Haruichi?" Ryousuke found himself asking. Kuramochi's gaze snapped to him, then to the ground as his teeth worried his lip.

"Still there." Kuramochi began, eyes never lifting from their downward angle. "As well as Furuya."

"What about Miyuki and Sawamura?" Chris jumped in, concern evident in his tone. Kuramochi's shoulders slumped as he shook his head. Instantly, dread-filled Ryousuke's gut.

"We were all together…" He began, "then Sawamura was taken away, and shortly after Miyuki." Kuramochi paused, taking in a shaky breath, "I haven't seen them since. I don't know." He finished in frustration, his voice began to wobble slightly at the end as if he were on the verge of tears.

"How did you get away?" Yuuki tentatively asked. Kuramochi remained silent for several long seconds as he inhaled slowly and closed his eyes.

"He didn't lock the door after-" Kuramochi flinched at whatever memory that brought up, "after." He finished, writing off the incident as if it wasn't important. However, they all knew it was, and that it was traumatic enough that he couldn't even mention it. Another shaky inhale and exhale before he continued, "Didn't want to risk all of us trying to escape. I'm the fastest. I was voted to make a run for it. Get help. Didn't know where we were. Didn't know who to call-"

"Okay, okay," Yuuki said softly, cutting him off. Kuramochi was beginning to sound borderline manic the more he spoke. Ryousuke watched as his eyes lost focus and his speech pattern quickened. It was for the best that he be interrupted from whatever he was envisioning. "Kuramochi," Yuuki calmly began but didn't continue until Kuramochi's eyes met his, "I'm going to call the police and an ambulance. You need medical attention." Ryousuke wasn't positive, but he thought he saw Kuramochi's eyes glaze over with unwashed tears.

"We all do," Kuramochi replied quietly, and it sent chills up Ryousuke's spine with how definitive he sounded.

They needed to hurry.