I don't own KHR.
They didn't find them.
No matter how much Ryohei and his brothers searched, they couldn't find Hayato or Chrome. They couldn't even find a hint of where the missing siblings could have gone.
Or...if they were even still alive.
Ryohei sighed as he rubbed his eyes with a weary hand. The sun had nearly finished setting by the time they called off the search, and even then the only reason they stopped was because Takeshi, Tsuna, and Lambo were waiting for them. Alone.
Ryohei flinched as he remembered when he, Kyoya, and Mukuro finally came back to the cave, to find Tsuna and Takeshi right by the entrance, both of them sitting as still as doorknobs and quiet as mice. Even Lambo was quiet, sitting calmly on Tsuna's lap as he chewed on his teething toy.
At first, Tsuna and Takeshi had looked relieved that they were finally home, as well as hopeful. But their faces quickly fell when they saw that their older siblings had failed to bring Hayato and Chrome safely home.
They were still hopeful that Hayato and Chrome were alive though, especially Takeshi. In fact...now that Ryohei really thought about it...Takeshi seemed...adament about it. Like...he was refusing to believe in the possibility that they were...gone forever.
Oh man did that bring forth memories that Ryohei would rather not remember right now.
But...Ryohei couldn't blame his younger brother. Though not nearly as often as before, Takeshi will still occasionally wake up in the middle of night screaming his heart out. Sometimes his screams will be wordless, and others, he will scream 'Pops.'
To be facing with the very real possibility that his brother and sister were murdered too...it is no wonder that Takeshi wants to deny it.
Groaning a bit, Ryohei decided that sleep wasn't going to come to him any time soon so he got out of his makeshift bed and walked carefully and quietly to the entrance of the cave. When he got there, he sighed, scratched his white-haired head, and looked up at the sky. The sky in question looked liked it was covered in a thick black blanket that had bright white spots dotting all over it.
Hayato...Chrome...are you two looking up at the sky right now? Or are you...looking down at us?
Ryohei bit his lip when he felt tears threatening to spill from his eyes. He was the third oldest of their family, he had to be strong for Takeshi, Tsuna, and Lambo. Sure, they may be sleeping right now, but that didn't mean they couldn't be woken up by the sound of him crying.
"Sniff...sniff." Ryohei instantly turned around and listened closely, ever the attentive brother.
A second passed by in silence.
Just when Ryohei thought that maybe he was just hearing things, that sniffing sound came again.
Which was immediately followed by a small and quiet sob.
Heart threatening to break, Ryohei walked back to his brothers, his gray eyes searching among them to see who was trying to cry without disturbing the others.
His heart did break when he did find the source.
It was Takeshi.
Takeshi, his young face torn with grief and hopelessness, clearly didn't see Ryohei as the older brother walked towards him, too focused on muffling his sobs with his fist. And Ryohei noticed that he continued to be unaware of him, right up until Ryohei laid right beside him and pulled the younger boy to his chest.
The tall and dark-haired boy stiffened a bit in surprise before relaxing in Ryohei's arms.
"I'm..."
"I was already awake," Ryoehi whispered before Takeshi could apologize for something that was absolutely not his fault.
No one spoke for a moment.
"They're...they're d-dead...arent't they?"
Oh how Ryohei, with all of his broken heart, wished that he could say no. That he could just assure his little brother that of course Hayato and Chrome were still alive. That of course the two were okay, they had just yet to find them. He would then say that they would find Hayato and Chrome to the extreme, which will cause Takeshi to smile and maybe laugh.
But...but Ryohei remembered how devasted when he felt when Kyoko died. Maybe if he had just accepted the possibility that Kyoko really was dying, he wouldn't have felt so full of despair.
And perhaps...he could've been a better big brother when she needed him the most.
Denial in the face of grief really does make everything worse, not better.
"...It's...Prob...there's a good chance that...they're n-not alive yeah," Ryohei finally answered, his voice quivering with strong emotion. "But..."
Whatever comfort Ryohei was going to give him abruptly ended when Takeshi desperately grabbed the front of Ryohei's shirt and started sobbing even more than before.
The sound of Takeshi's muffled yet agonzing sobs instantly broke Ryohei's control over his tears, which honestly wasn't that much to begin with. Quickly deciding that Takeshi needed to cry first before hearing comforting words, Ryohei hugged his younger brother tighter and cried softly into the ten-year-old's black hair. However, despite grieving himself, Ryohei still had the mind to rub Takeshi's back as soothingly as he could.
He was still the older brother after all.
Even when he felt the opposite of extreme.
And that's the end! Just kidding, we're not close to the end...yet. But yeah, there is not much hope in this chapter. Knowing that your brother got shot and your sister has weak stamina and not knowing where they are...can definitely do that.
But what are your thoughts on this chapter? Please tell me whatever it is you thought in a review and I will update soon! See you all later and have a good day/night!