Haruka silently thanked the person who had got him and Rin a taxi to get home safely. He didn't know who it was, but both him and Rin were so tired that if they had been in the train there was a high possibility they would have both fallen asleep and missed their stop. Right now, only Rin was asleep, leaned against the window and Haruka himself was fighting a losing battle against his own eyelids.

Ever since they left Japan at the beginning of Golden week, there had been nothing but swimming eating and sleeping on the program. In addition most of the time Haruka had been listening to nothing but English and he had been too busy with translating and attempt to communicate to think of anything else.

The taxi driver stopped. "Is this your address?" he asked.

Haruka looked around and nodded, recognizing the surroundings. Then he leaned across the backseat to place a hand on Rin's shoulder. He shook it lightly to wake him up.

"Oi, Rin," he said while shaking the other. "We're here,"

Rin allowed one eye to open. He then closed it again and blinked with both eyes before focusing on Haruka. "That was fast," he said tiredly.

Haruka send him a tired and slightly irritated look before getting out of the taxi. Rin followed and they collected their lockage from the back of the car. Rin attempted to pay the taxi driver.

"No thanks," the man said with a smile. "I've already been paid for this," he waved off the money Rin was offering him and headed back to the car. He drove off without another word.

"Well," Rin looked at Haruka before grabbing his own back and head towards the building. Haruka was quick to follow, eager to go see his beloved bathtub before going to bed.

Rin opened the door and entered first. He placed his bag in the hallway and took off his shoes. Haruka did the same as Kisumi came from the living room with a strange expression on his face.

"Good," he said. "You're back," Relief seemed to replace the strange expression that he had been wearing and he managed to send them a soft smile. "Makoto is almost panicking with worry," he said.

Haruka forgot everything about bathtubs and being tired and to no one's surprise pushed past both Rin and Kisumi to get to the living room in hopes of being able to comfort Makoto and ease his worries.

"What's wrong?" Rin managed to ask as he started carrying his own bag to his and Haruka's room. Kisumi quickly followed with Haruka's.

"Various things, I don't know the full story," Kisumi answered.

Haruka walked to the chair which Makoto was sitting in. He was looking down at his hands which he held tightly. His shoulders were tense and so was the expression on his face, tense and worried. He wasn't panicking as much as Kisumi had made it out to be, but he was clearly being worried of a high degree.

Haruka sat beside Makoto and placed a hand on his shoulder. Makoto looked up and their eyes met.

"Welcome back," Makoto said with a voice like he was about to cry. Haruka didn't comment on it. He was sure Makoto was already aware of it.

"What's wrong?" he asked instead.

Makoto bit his lip. "A lot," he said. "I don't even know where to begin," he said.

"Just the beginning," Haruka said. He removed his hand from Makoto's shoulder and they continued to look at each other. Makoto even managed to give a small smile before he started.

"Honestly, I'm not really sure when it all started. All I know is that Nagisa and Rei had an argument this Sunday, on the night before Rei went to Osaka," he said.

Haruka wondered what Rei was doing in Osaka, but he wouldn't interrupt Makoto with the question. He could ask for it later, or someone else could, Rin and Kisumi were both standing in the doorway and listening as well now.

"For four days in a row now, Nagisa has been home late and I don't even know what he's up to, I fear it's something criminal, but just now, Matsuoka-san called me and asked if Gou was here, and Nagisa hasn't come back yet. He left for school this morning and that without a trace. Matsuoka-san says that Gou wasn't at school today, and I had also gotten a call that Nagisa has been absent,"

"Both Gou and Nagisa?" Rin asked.

Makoto nodded. "Both of them are missing it seems, and if that wasn't enough, it seems a killer is loose. The police fear it is another serial killer, but so far there has only been one target," he said. "They say it was a teenage boy named Fujioka Ryou and according to the police, he is a second year student at your school,"

"I'll go do some digging on that," Rin said. "Haru, call Gou or Nagisa and see if they answer,"

Haruka frowned at Rin, but did pull his phone out of his pocket.

"I've already tried calling Nagisa," Makoto said. "He left his phone back here,"

Haruka nodded and called Gou's number. The phone beeped for a couple of times before it was picked up by someone in the other end.

"This is Matsuoka Gou's phone, you're speaking to Hanamura Chigusa," a female voice said.

"…Hanamura-san," Haruka said hesitantly. "Do you know where Gou is?"

"No," Gou's best friend answered. "I'm sorry Nanase-san, neither Gou nor Hazuki-kun were at school today. Gou forgot her phone at my place yesterday and I intended to hand it back to her today…"

"Does Mikoshiba know anything?" Haruka asked.

"No, we were both discussing where they could be but came up with nothing. All I know is that Hazuki-kun has been acting weird in history class this Monday and Gou seems to know what's wrong," she said

Haruka nodded. "Thanks," he said before hanging up

"What did she say?" Kisumi asked. Rin had left the room to go use a laptop somewhere.

"Hanamura-san picked up, apparently Gou forgot her phone at her place yesterday," Haruka answered before standing up. "She mentioned that Nagisa acted weird at some point," he said.

"When was that?" Makoto asked.

"This Monday in one of their classes," Haruka said.

"That means there could be a reason for this," Kisumi smiled. "And if we figure out the reason, we might learn what's going on,"

"I'm still worried about what Nagisa has been out so late for," Makoto said.

"He has been babysitting a girl for some time," Haruka answered.

"Why? And who?" Makoto asked.

"Her name is Miyano Nanami," Haruka said. "Her father is never home and her mother is working late," he said. "She is a 3rd grader,"

Makoto looked stunned. "I never thought the day would come when Nagisa would willingly take on a job and earn money of his own," he smiled softly at the thought. "Do you know where it's at?" he asked.

"They live in the apartment we first moved to," Haruka answered.

"That's not that far," Makoto got a thoughtful expression. "What's her mother doing anyway?"

"I don't know," Haruka answered before getting up.

"Where are you going now?" Makoto asked worriedly.

"To Nagisa's room to look for clues," Haruka said before entering said room.

Rin was sitting by Rei's laptop and reading through articles. He was very concentrated about it. He was so focused that he barely even looked up when Haruka entered and closed the door behind him.

"You know, it's Fujioka-san's younger brother," Rin said. "She was interviewed for one of the articles," he continued.

Haruka didn't answer. He started looking through Nagisa's stuff. He found that his swimsuit was missing, so were some of his clothes. This wasn't strange though, seeing as they had to be washed every now and then. He looked through the bed and around it and found Nagisa's school books under the bed.

"He didn't go to school today," Haruka said.

"And you didn't get in touch with Gou?"

"She forgot her phone at Hanamura-san's," Haruka said.

Rin's phone bussed and he picked it up while still reading on the internet. Haruka noticed that he didn't check the caller ID before answering. In situations like this, it was important, but this fact just let him know that Rin wasn't thinking clearly.

"Hello, it's Rin," Rin said. "Mother?" he asked. So it was their mother calling. "Yes, we're both home safely," "No, he hasn't," There was a long break now when Haruka guessed that she was giving some information to Rin. He noticed that Rin nodded a lot, taking in everything she said. "Yes, thanks mother. We'll take over from here, don't worry, they'll be safe," they said goodbye and Rin hung up.

"What?" Haruka asked.

"Mother found out that Gou has been looking at prizes for train tickets from here to Iwatobi. She thinks they could be there," Rin said before putting the laptop aside and head out of the room to tell Makoto.

Haruka was left to his own thoughts for the first time since he went to Australia, but right now, he was thinking about a lot more than just water and philosophy. Rei in Osaka, Nagisa missing and a serial killer on the loose somewhere… Haruka had a feeling that all of the things were going to have a lot of influence on the next few days. It was true what he had figured as he and Rin left. Nothing was the same as when they left.

I'm still alive, so I'm thankfully able to publish haha. Had to stay up until late though, so I'm a bit tired. But whatever. Just writing this gets me in a better mood. I'm really happy right now.

See you next time

Jackie