A/N: And here I present to you all the final chapter! Fret not, dear readers, for there will be an epilogue to come!

Just a note on timing for this chapter: You don't have to, but you might want to follow their journey on Google Maps. The starting point is the real city of Kamiyama as this is the point of reference I used when I started this story even though the fictional location is based on a different city (as I discovered after starting this story). I don't think I name any location until the second half, but take my word for it that the timing is correct. (At least, it should be; I spent a heckuva lot of time on research for this chapter, so it had better be right, lol.)

Enjoy!

Chapter Eleven
End of the Line

Houtarou wasn't aware that he had drifted off, but he must have seeing as his eyes were closed and there was light penetrating his eyelids, and he had a crick in his neck such that one only gets from sleeping in uncomfortable positions. Slowly opening his eyes, he took stock of his current situation. His hands and feet were still bound though he was now covered with a blanket, he was still sitting in the back of his father's car, and they were still moving. Also, he noted with distaste, the gas tank was full, meaning he had obviously missed a chance at escape while he had been asleep. It would be several hours before they stopped again, and he was not looking forward to the ride ahead. Still, maybe this would be a chance to get the answers to the questions he still had.

"You're not really married, are you?"

"Eh? So you're finally awake back there, huh? And, no, I most certainly am not. Took you long enough to see through that bluff. What gave it away?"

"Right now? You're wedding band is missing. Before? Well, you're whole story was full of holes once I actually had time to think about it. That's the real reason you didn't want to give me time to think it over, wasn't it? You knew if you did I'd figure out you were lying."

"Hmm. Maybe you're not as clueless as I had thought."

The hair on the back of his neck bristled. He didn't like the way this conversation was going already. "So tell me something, since we're going to be stuck in each other's company for a while: how'd you do it? How'd you manage to get a position in my old high school, teaching math?"

"Well, that's something I didn't lie about, Houtarou-kun. I actually do have a degree in teaching. As for how I managed to get into your school, that was a bit of careful lying." He chuckled. "That was fun, too, I must admit, pretending to be someone I'm not. You all really were supposed to be getting a new teacher - why in the middle of the term I don't know either, but that's the way it was. I just pulled a few strings to take his place was all; it was mostly just to get access to your records honestly, but I must say it worked out quite well. Too bad I couldn't figure out where you were from them, but I guess I didn't need to since you ended up coming to me."

"You took someone else's place?" Houtarou frowned. "How did you manage that?"

"Well, the guy's real name was close enough to mine when you look at the hiragana that I bluffed my way through it easily enough. Someone missed a stroke on the keyboard and thus messed it all up. They actually believed me too, go figure!"

"Oh. How did -?"

"My, you are inquisitive, aren't you? It's a wonder you didn't find out about all of this sooner."

"How did you know where I was after we left the station?" Houtarou plowed on despite the interruption.

Kurosawa sighed. "I thought that would be easy to figure out. I never got on the bus after you lot left. I turned around and followed you. Once I knew you were staying put for the night, I went to rent a car and then sat in waiting until I knew I could get you out without alerting anyone to my presence." He paused. "Anything else?"

Houtarou promptly bit back the question he was most wanting to ask at the underlying tone of the last two words. His father was irritated, and he really didn't want to make the man angry. ...Or did he? If he managed to make him angry, one of two things could happen. Kurosawa would either become more paranoid and keep a closer eye on him thus diminishing his chance for escape, or he would start to make mistakes thus increasing his chance for escape.

For now, he decided, it was probably better to keep quiet. Chances were he'd get another chance to ask. For now, he would be silent and silently continue to loosen his bonds.

"If you ever find yourself tied up, Houtarou, you can flex your muscles to gradually loosen your bonds - unless they use zip-ties, of course."

"I honestly don't think I'll never need to know that, Satoshi, but I'll try to remember that."

It was strange, Houtarou thought, that Satoshi figured so much of what he knew to be useless, yet it had gotten Houtarou out of binds more than once. If he ever saw his friend again, Houtarou would be sure to tell Satoshi just how useful his knowledge was.

In a matter of moments, it seemed, the Chitanda residence was swarming with police officers, all busy with different tasks, all asking the same questions.

"You're positive he didn't just run away?"

"Do you honestly think he would have run away in just a t-shirt and shorts and no shoes?"

"Well, not really, but -."

"Then why did you even bother to ask?"

"Sir, I'm just trying to do my job. Do you have any idea where he could be?"

"Kurosawa could have taken him anywhere," Akihiko sighed, massaging his temples. "Houtarou was sound asleep at midnight, and this morning he was gone, and that man is the only one who would have done such a thing. That's all I know."

"We're doing the best we can, but unfortunately you're right about that. In eight or nine hours, they really could be anywhere. If they're using public transit, we have a better chance, but that's really not likely. We're still looking into the possibility of a rental car but haven't found anything yet. Regardless, we've sent out descriptions and photos to every police department within ten hours' drive from here, but there's no guarantee…"

He sighed. "I know. Especially if he's off on the mountain roads somewhere, which he may well be."

"Well, he'll have to resurface somewhere eventually. Let's just hope it's soon." He paused as another officer approached.

"We're all set up inside."

Akihiko sighed again. "I'm telling you, there's no point. I don't know what Kurosawa wants with him, but I do know that he doesn't want ransom money. He won't be calling us, that's for sure."

The first officer shrugged. "Once again," he sighed, "it's just standard procedure in the case of a kidnapping. You don't know his motive, so we don't know for certain that he won't call."

"I suppose," Akihiko relented. "But I know he won't. What do you suppose he wants with Houtarou?"

"Hard to say. Let's just hope we find him before whatever it is happens."

At first, Houtarou had doubted that it would work, but now, as the rope binding his wrists and ankles started to loosen, he realized he really did have a chance to get out of here the next time the car stopped. And, since they were currently on a toll road, that opportunity could come at any time, whenever his father decided to pull off the main by-pass. Before then, he needed to loosen the ropes enough to slip out of them underneath the blanket that still covered him.

That, Houtarou had realized, had been his father's first mistake. He had figured out that, since they had to use toll roads, the blanket was a cover for the fact that he was bound so no one would be able to see that anything was out of the ordinary. However, with the blanket covering him, his father wouldn't be able to see when he slipped out of his bonds either. He just had to wait a little bit longer.

He decided to chance more conversation. "So, where exactly are we going, anyway?"

"Not this again…"

"It's not like it makes any difference if I know or not, does it? I'm just curious."

"Fine. I will tell you. Itoigawa. It's in Nagano Prefecture, right on the coast."

"Why there?"

"Because we're getting on a boat."

Houtarou swallowed harshly around the lump forming in his throat. He definitely had a bad feel about this. If they were leaving the country... "What are you going to do with me?"

"Oh? Didn't I tell you? We're going to be such a happy family together now!" The man's voice was dripping sarcasm.

Houtarou took a deep breath to steady himself and asked again. "No, really. What are you going to do with me?"

"Well, you're no fun. You want the truth, huh?"

"Yes, I do."

"Well, I'm sure you've studied all about it in some class or other at school, about what a huge problem - and a huge profit - human trafficking is in Japan. Yes, that's quite right, Houtarou-kun; you are going to help me make some profit."

Houtarou felt sick to his stomach. This was not happening. It was some twisted nightmare his exhausted mind had conjured up, and any minute now he was going to wake up.

"How am I going to do that?" he forced out.

"Well, I'm sure you know how human trafficking works, right? You make people think they're going to get something out of doing business with you, and, in the process, you end up trapping them. Teens are most susceptible, especially those that aren't sure what to do in terms of future employment. That's where you'll come in. I'll be too high profile after this - even outside of the country, but you won't be."

"I won't do it."

"I don't think you have much of a choice, now do you? If you decide not to cooperate with me, I just might sell you off while I'm at it. Oh, look; this is where we get off: right before Hamamatsu. We're going to take a nice long drive through the mountains now, Houtarou-kun. Better enjoy it while it lasts; you won't be seeing Japan again for quite some time, I should think."

"Will you stop pacing already? You're going to wear a hole in the floor."

"I can't help it. Honestly I don't know how you're managing to sit still, Midori. I should be out there - somewhere, anywhere - searching for him…"

"I would agree with you if we had any idea where to look, Akihiko. But we don't. So we just have to wait. And don't you dare think that I'm not fretting over that boy right now. I am. But I also know that pacing like a caged animal isn't going to help him either."

Akihiko sat down heavily next his wife. "I know that, but it doesn't make it any easier to sit still."

"I know," she sighed. "I know."

"Oreki is smarter than he's given credit for," Mayaka stated softly from her place making lunch next to Eru. "If anyone can find a way out of this, it'll be him." She turned towards them, spoon raised to point at the pair. "But don't you dare ever tell him I said that."

Eru chuckled. "It is true though. He'll be okay. I just know it."

An officer chose that moment to poke his head into the room, knocking softly on the door frame. Immediately, six heads swiveled to face him. "We've got a lead. He used a fake ID, but the guy running the rental place recognized him from the description. If he's still on any even remotely busy road, we'll have him before long."

Akihiko sighed in relief. "Thank goodness… Let's just hope we're not too late."

"So what else have you been lying about?"

"I'm surprised you're still asking questions after I told you what you're going to be doing."

"Well, I can't stop you so I might as well find out everything I want to know in the meantime."

"Smart boy. I did tell you some truth, though. Don't think that everything I said was untrue. I did love your mother, for example, but it simply wasn't meant to be. I was never in business, though. I started out teaching, found it incredibly dull, and found something quite lucrative in the meantime. When I was found out, my license was revoked - not that I cared. Your school trusted the checks they had already run prior, so they didn't think anything of still hiring me. Though, I must admit, being a teacher did help me find worthy subjects for my side business." He chuckled.

Houtarou swallowed harshly. "How could you do something so vile?" he hissed.

"How, you ask? As I said before: money."

"Why have you been searching for me for so long then? I wouldn't have been much good to you before."

"That may be true, but at least I could have bred you the way I wanted instead of having to threaten you in order to get you to help me now."

Under the blanket, Houtarou carefully slid the ropes from his ankles and wrists. The next time they stopped, he would take the chance. But before then, there was one last thing he had to ask, though he had the feeling that he already knew the answer.

"I just want to know one more thing."

"Fine. It's not like I can stop you. You just keep asking questions whether I want to answer them or not anyway."

He took a deep breath to steady himself. Heart beating loud in his chest, voice shaking, he asked the one thing he was truly afraid of the answer for. "Did you ever love me?"

The space inside the car was deathly silent for a long moment before Kurosawa started to laugh. The sound started out quiet but quickly grew until it filled the entire space. When he had finally managed to calm himself, he spoke the words Houtarou had dreaded to hear. "Love you? Not anymore than a person appreciates a wasp's nest in the corner of their room."

Knowing the answer in advance did nothing to soften the blow. "I see." He ducked his head down, dark hair obscuring his quickly blurring vision. Swallowing harshly, he raised his head again just enough to glance at the gas gauge; since they had just passed a town not long ago but had not stopped to fill the tank, they would almost certainly have to stop in the next town. That would be his chance to get away. He closed his eyes for a moment. That's right; don't think about his words now. Just focus on your escape.

He opened his eyes again to see that they had left the trees behind them and that open fields lay before them now. Just beyond the fields, he could see the buildings of a town coming into view.

"We're stopping here," Kurosawa broke into his musings. "Don't try anything funny, got it?"

"And what would I do? I'm tied up, remember?"

Kurosawa didn't reply, and the space inside the vehicle fell silent. As they reached the opposite side of the town, one final gas station came into view, and they pulled off the road and to a stop at the furthest pump from the doors of the station. Kurosawa climbed out, and, keys in hand, locked the doors behind him.

Bingo. His father's second mistake. He assumed that just because the doors were locked it was safe to turn his back. Houtarou, making as little movement as possible, reached over and unlocked the door with his recently freed hand. He took a deep breath, and, in one swift movement, opened the car door and hurled himself through it. As soon as his bare feet hit the pavement, he ran faster and harder than he had ever run in his life. He heard an angry shout behind him, but he didn't dare to steal even a glance behind him. Why bother? He already knew who was in hot pursuit. If he could just make it into the trees, he might be able to get away…

Before he could register that he'd been hit, he found himself lying on his stomach on the pavement, completely winded, his arm burning. His father was standing above him, red-faced and completely outraged.

"I should have known," he breathed, hauling Houtarou up by the arm. "I should have known."

Houtarou's heart sunk. His one chance was now gone. He knew his father wouldn't give him another opportunity. It was over. He could try to fight, but his lungs weren't really cooperating at the moment, and the skin on his right arm had been scrapped on the pavement when he fell. While the injury certainly wasn't fatal, it did hurt enough that, if he tried to fight, his father would only have to grab hold of the abused appendage, and that would be the end of it. He was completely helpless as his father drug him around to the back of the car and popped the trunk.

"Matte -."

"You really think I'm going to give you another chance to run? You can't run if you can't get out. You can get in yourself, or I can put you in, and the latter option will probably hurt a whole lot more."

Houtarou glanced around and, to his dismay, discovered not a single person or car in sight. He glanced at the station, hoping maybe someone inside would see what was happening, but the doors were blocked from his view. He had no choice but to go along with it. Being as careful as he could to not further injure his arm, he climbed into the trunk.

Eru sighed heavily. "I'm sorry about all of this…" She had been hoping the whole mess would be cleared up sooner rather later, and, in all honesty, had completely forgotten to inform her parents of the situation. So, as fate would have it, her parents had gotten in sooner than even they had anticipated, and, as a result, were greeted by multiple cop cars in the drive and a house with multiple unfamiliar people inside.

"Well," her father sighed, "under the circumstances, I can't say that I really mind." He chuckled lightly. "Though I must admit, it was a bit of a surprise. First time I've ever come home to find that someone has been kidnapped on my property - and it's not even my own daughter!"

She offered a weak smile. "I really am sorry for not saying anything."

"Mmm. I know. It's alright." He turned from his fretting daughter to the other people in the room. "You all are welcome to stay as long as need be." He smirked. "Not to mention that I would be interested to meet the boy my daughter fancies."

"Otousan!" Eru spluttered indignantly, her face turning a deep crimson hue.

He waved a hand dismissively, chuckling all the while.

"We thank you for your hospitality," Akihiko sighed, bowing low. "Hopefully we will not be staying long."

"Think nothing of it."

An officer knocked on the door frame. "Pardon the interruption, but I thought you might like to know that we have a lead. The car was spotted at a gas station near Uji in Kyoto Prefecture early this morning, at about 5:30. I know it's not much, but at least we know which way he went."

"You don't think he'd actually be stupid enough to take Houtarou to Kawasaki, do you?" Satoshi piped up.

Akihiko frowned. "No, he definitely wouldn't be. He could still be headed anywhere. We need something more recent than 5:30 this morning."

Kohei...just what are you planning?

Houtarou felt like he was suffocating in the dark space, and the near-constant jarring that came with bumpy mountain roads was beginning to give him a headache. He had to get out of here and soon. ...But how? He was locked in the tunk. He closed his eyes and sighed. What would Satoshi say at a time like this? After all, his friend was sure to have information about getting out of locked trunks somewhere in that database brain of his.

"Yeah, but what if I did get locked in the trunk of someone's car?"

"Mayaka-chan, I really don't think you'll ever need to worry about that…"

"Just kick out the tail light."

"Eh?"

"Wait, really, Fuku-chan?"

"Yeah. From the trunk you should be able to kick out the tail light. Once you knock it out, take off a shoe or even just use your hand and wave it around. Someone's bound to notice and call the cops."

Houtarou almost laughed at the vague memory. He couldn't remember why Ibara was so concerned about the topic (perhaps a character in a book had been kidnapped?), but he did remember the piece of 'useless' information Satoshi had thrown out in answer. Now he just had to find something to knock the tail light out with, since, somehow, he didn't think his bare foot was probably a good candidate for the job. Groping around in the small, dark space of the trunk, he was disappointed to come up empty handed. The only thing he shared the tight space with was a spare tire, and that wasn't going to help him in this case.

He sighed again. "Bare foot it is," he mumbled. He maneuvered himself around until he thought he was in the best position to be able to kick the light out. With the limited space available, he kicked out hard, the heel of his foot connecting soundly with the side of the trunk. The force sent a shock of pain through his foot and into his calf, but he braced himself and kicked again. The second time, he felt something come loose under his foot. Stretching his arm as far as he could, he reached out and found that a panel had come loose. Pulling away the panel revealed a dim light penetrating from the outside and a mass of wires. Scrunching down to that side of the car so he could reach, he wrapped his fingers around them and pulled as hard as he could. The mass came free surprisingly easily. Scooting back and bracing himself once again, he kicked his foot through the hole that he had made and felt as the final barrier to the outside world fell away.

Relief outweighed the physical pain, and, though it was difficult to maneuver in the cramped space, after what felt like an eternity he had managed to move so that he could stick his hand out through the hole he had created.

Please, he silently begged, please, someone see me!

The day had started out normally for her. Well, maybe not normal, per se, as her washing machine kicking the bucket wasn't really a daily occurrence, but considering her luck as of late, she really wasn't surprised at all. As it was, she now had to drive clear up to Namiai to purchase a new one. At least it wasn't too far from her country home, but it was still a pain. Turning onto the highway, she sighed deeply. Her husband would also not be happy to be pulled out of the fields to install the new one, but what could she do about that? The laundry needed done…

Then her day turned into something completely not normal in a hurry.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of something odd that made her do a double-take. Was that a...hand waving out of the tail light in the black sedan in front of her? She couldn't help but stare. Yes, that was definitely a hand.

She reached over to her purse sitting in the passenger seat of the old truck and fished out her cell phone. It may be dangerous to talk and drive at the same time, but this was definitely an emergency in her mind. She quickly dialed the emergency number.

"Yes, my name is Matsumoto Aki, and I am in need of police assistance. I'm currently driving north on the Sanshu Highway between Hiraya and Namiai. I am unsure of the circumstances, but there is a hand waving out of the tail light of the car in front of me. It's a black sedan, license number thirty-four dash sixty-one…"

Houtarou was starting to lose hope. His hand was going numb from being whipped by the wind, and thus far no help had come. He wasn't surprised, just disappointed that it hadn't worked yet. Eventually they would have to enter a town or city, though, so he just had to keep trying.

Wait…

Was that a siren he could hear? And it was getting closer… If it was coming towards them from behind, surely they would see him, right? He could hear it right behind them now, and even though they were slowing down, it wasn't going around them. Then...someone had seen him? It was almost too much to hope. Several car doors opened and closed, footsteps crunched on the gravel, and Houtarou strained his ears to hear what was being said outside of his prison.

"Officer. What seems to be the trouble?"

"May I have look in your trunk, sir?"

"The...trunk? Why do you ask?"

"Yes. Please pop it open for me."

Houtarou could hear the concealed panic in his father's voice. "I'm not sure I understand, Officer. Nothing in there except a spare tire."

"Just open the trunk, please."

Houtarou sighed in relief as he heard the trunk pop open above him. A moment later, it was pushed all the way up to reveal two officers. He sat up stiffly and allowed them to help pull him the rest of the way up, wincing at the pain in his scrapped arm.

The next few moments were a blur; someone draped a blanket over his shoulders as he was passed off to a couple of paramedics; they asked his name and where he was from and whom they should contact. None of it really registered in his tired mind, only the relief that it was over. Some part of him realized that his father had been cuffed and was being shoved in the back of a police car, but it didn't really matter. Not anymore.

"Houtarou-kun?" He was jerked back to reality by the repeated questions from the paramedic. "Houtarou-kun, we still need a way to contact your family…"

"Oh, right," he mumbled. "Sorry." He sighed. It was time to go home.

The phone rang shrilly through the quiet house, catching all of the occupants completely off-guard.

Chitanda Daisuke was the first to react. "Chitanda desu."

"Chitanda-san, this is Hishikawa with the Namiai police. Is there someone by the name of Oreki there?"

"Yes, one moment." He turned towards the man in question with a sigh of relief. "Akihiko-san, I think they found him."

Akihiko took the phone from Daisuke. "Yes, this is Oreki."

"Oreki-san, we've found your nephew. He's a little banged up but not injured otherwise, and the man with him has been arrested. I will be escorting him back to you, though it will be a while."

Akihiko collapsed into the nearest chair. "Thank the gods. Thank you. Is there a halfway point at which we could meet you? That way you don't have to come all the way here."

"Let me see." There was a pause on the other end, muffled voices coming through unintelligibly. "Osaka is about half way if you would like to meet us somewhere around there."

"Let's do that then. Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Do you see their car yet, Houtarou-kun?"

Houtarou shifted his eyes to the window. He hadn't even really realized they had pulled off the toll road, but now they were parked in front of a 7-11. He swallowed against the lump in his throat. "Iie."

"Well, I think they had a little further to drive than we did. They should be here soon though."

His gaze shifted back down to where his hands lay limply in his lap. In all honesty, he wasn't sure whether he felt excited or anxious. He wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep for a week after this whole ordeal, but at the same time he wasn't sure he could face them. It was no one's fault but his own for this happening, and he wasn't looking forward to apologizing to his aunt and uncle.

Would they be happy? Outraged? He didn't know. As much as he wanted to go home, he didn't want to know what was going to happen when they arrived. Would they take him back? What if they wouldn't? What would he do then?

He took a deep breath. No. Surely they would take him back. They wouldn't drive three hours just to say they didn't want anything more to do with him. He was letting his mind run away from reason again, and letting that happen was a recipe for disaster.

The sound of a car pulling in caught his attention, and he brought his gaze up once again to find a familiar cherry red Mitsubishi pulling into a space on the other side of the small parking area. Still, he didn't get out. He watched as his aunt and uncle and cousin climbed out, watched their frantic faces looking for him.

He took a deep breath and nodded towards them. "There."

The officer smiled as he moved to climb out of the car. "Let's go then."

Reluctantly, he followed. As worried as they looked, he still didn't know what to expect. That worry could easily turn into something far less pleasant once they saw him safe and sound. He ducked his head, looking no further forward than his next step. He heard his aunt's frenzied voice, sounding much further away to his ears than he knew she actually was, and, a moment later, he found himself wrapped in her tight embrace, his forehead resting just perfectly against her shoulder.

In that moment, all of his walls crumbled to dust. All of the emotion he had shoved so far down came bubbling up all at once. His vision quickly blurred, and it didn't take long for him to feel the hot tears begin to fall. "Gomen'nasai," he breathed. "Gomen'nasai, gomen'nasai, gomen'nasai…"

He could hear her hushing him, saying that everything was all right now, but, all the same, he couldn't seem to stop the tears or the words that came tumbling out of his mouth in between quiet sobs. "It's my fault. Gomen'nasai, gomen'nasai, gomen'nasai."

"It's all right now, Houtarou," his uncle added, resting a large, comforting hand on the back of his nephew's head. "We're just glad you're safe now."

He swallowed harshly, the flood starting to subside into hiccups. "Can...can I come home now?"

His aunt's hold on him tightened, and he could hear the smile in her voice. "Of course you can, Houtarou. There was never any question of that."

~Where I Belong~