Rin and Makoto happened to decide to exit their rooms in the same time. Their eyes met across the hallway and Makoto smiled brightly. Rin, however, could tell that his smile was just a cover-up for something else. Makoto was clearly thinking about something. Because of this, Rin decided to put on the same attitude, flashing a bright smile in response.
"I figured you would stay in your room from what Kisumi said," Rin commented on seeing Makoto.
"Yeah, it might have been wiser, but I don't really like sitting still in situations like these," Makoto said. "I feel uneasy and useless,"
"Despite that, you manage to give off a calm sense," Rin answered in a slightly envious tone. Makoto really did seem relaxed, it was also affecting Rin, calming him a bit as well. It was easier to fake the smile he was putting on because of this.
"I have always believed that I would cause others less trouble if I pretended to be okay," Makoto admitted.
Rin smiled. "Sometimes you cause less worry if you actually say what's on your mind," he said.
Makoto laughed. "Kisumi told me that in high school too,"
"And I long since stopped trying!" Kisumi yelled from the kitchen. Apparently he had listened in on the conversation. "Do you know anything of our troublesome duo in Osaka?" he continued.
Makoto chuckled well aware of whom Kisumi was referring to. "They left at 6:30, they should be here around 10 or so,"
"I see. Do we have to make breakfast for them too?" Kisumi asked.
"I'll text and ask," Makoto said.
"Did you call Haru?" Kisumi asked as if suddenly remembering something.
"I did," Makoto said. He made his way to the kitchen while texting Rei. Rin followed, wondering what results Makoto had come up with. Had he spoken to Haru? Did he have a clue of anything, did he know that the guy had texted Rin?
"How far was he?" Kisumi asked. It looked like he was in the middle of frying eggs and boiling rice.
Makoto sat down by the table and continued texting. "I don't know," he said. "It was the kidnapper who picked up,"
"What did he say?" Rin asked, attempting to take a great interest in the conversation. In reality he was only asking because he was worried about what Makoto knew. Something told him that it was better if Makoto didn't know of the contact the kidnapper had taken to him.
"Nothing much, apparently I'm not allowed to speak to Haru," he said.
"That's some asshole," Kisumi answered. "Did you get a name or something?" he asked then while being careful not to burn the food. Rin started taking out plates and chopsticks.
"Taichi," Makoto said, "But I'm almost certain that even this is a fake name. When committing a crime like this, nobody would be stupid enough to give up their own name just like that,"
"What?" Kisumi stopped cooking and turned to look at Makoto in disbelief. "What happened to believing in everyone you came across despite everything?"
Makoto smiled. "I figured you'd say that," he answered. He finished texting and placed the phone on the table. "But every aspect of logic tells me he has every reason to lie to me. He would only tell me the truth if it wasn't an important detail,"
"Did he tell you any truths?" Kisumi asked while returning to cooking. Rin was relieved at this, seeing as a scent of something getting a little too much heat was starting to spread throughout the kitchen. "Is Haru okay?"
"I think so," Makoto said. "He says he isn't planning to kill him either, hopefully that can be trusted,"
Rin had a gut feeling that Makoto was right. The kidnapper, Taichi, was practically using Haruka as a hostage. Unless you had more than one hostage to pick from, you couldn't just kill off a hostage like that.
"At least that's good," Kisumi answered. "Hopefully we can believe it. By the way, do you think Rei and Nagisa will be able to help us out once they return?" he asked. He then stepped back from the cooker and went to serve the food. Rin sat down while he did so.
"No one can tell," Makoto said. "They are both unpredictable, especially Nagisa, but at least they will put me at ease. This reminds me that I might want to go and speak to Matsuoka-san tomorrow,"
"Why not today?" Rin asked as he started digging in.
"Gou just returned from her trip yesterday. Matsuoka-san needs time to recover from the shock of her leaving home before we tell her about Haru," Makoto said. "And she might also want to spend some time with Gou, so I want to give her that opportunity before paying her a visit,"
"And you need to recover from your lack of sleep," Kisumi said. "You're right, tomorrow might be for the better," he smiled and also started digging in. "For now, just eat while the food is still hot,"
"Oi, Kisumi!" Rin exclaimed. "My egg is crispy!"
"So what?" Kisumi asked while chewing on his own, a little overdone egg. "I like them that way,"
Makoto laughed at this. Whenever someone screwed a little up when cooking, someone would always start bickering about it. It was normal, and it gave the atmosphere around the table a more normal and relaxed sense. It made his concerns about Haruka flow a bit in the background of his mind, just for a little while.
Haruka fell on his back from the hard blow to his stomach. He looked up at Taichi who was towering over him. He was way stronger than he appeared to be. It was almost terrifying. What was more, Haruka had just felt this strength on his own body. It had left him out of breath. He was still fighting to regain it.
"Trouble?" Taichi asked, faking the concern.
"What was that for?" Haruka asked, while attempting to sit up, however, he was stopped by Taichi's foot being placed on his shoulder.
"Rin is not behaving nicely at all," Taichi answered. "You're lucky that he has only been impolite once, otherwise it would have been more than just a pathetic blow to the stomach,"
Haruka wondered how he could call a blow as hard as that "pathetic" In his own opinion it was anything but.
"Next time, you might not be so lucky, Haruka," Taichi said. "And if you become unlucky enough we might see more than just a pained expression, such as blood, maybe even tears. I do wonder what your crying face looks like,"
Haruka just wanted him to shut up and leave him alone. This was really troubling him, he talked so much. Haruka had no interest in knowing what the guy intended to do to him anyway. It seemed more like he wanted to strike fear inside him.
"I also wonder what seeing your own blood will do to you and will I ever see you tremble in fear?" Taichi continued.
"Are you my father or a monster, I'm not sure," Haruka said, purposely letting out the words on his mind, just to provoke the man in front of him.
"Are you doubting it?" Taichi smirked, obviously not provoked.
Haruka decided not to give an answer, since he didn't see the need for it. He just stared up at the blue eyes, reminding him so much of his own.
Apparently this provoked Taichi more than the words had, because he suddenly frowned before he removed his foot from Haruka's shoulder, only to kick him in the stomach.
"For your information, I will only give you water, no food, and nothing else to drink," he said. "That is, until Rin gets here," he turned on his heel and left the room, closing and locking the door behind him.
Haruka still couldn't say he minded. All he did mind was that he now had to try and regain his breath once again. He wondered what this would do to his lungs in the future. How long could he hold his breath under the surface of the water if this kept up?