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Eiichiro and Yukichi let everyone else at the club know about the kidnapping that hadn’t already heard about it. Those that knew agreed to help in the search right away, while some of the others had to take a moment to gather themselves again. Ike wasn’t just their teammate or practice partner. He was also their friend and who gave them hope that someday, they too could play overseas. That kind of energy meets everything with a scattered but robust response. The next morning, everyone gathered at STC.
The first thing they needed to figure out was who at the club saw him last. A few days before the kidnapping, Ike was practicing at the club and showing some younger members the ropes and how to go about building their skills. Everyone gathered together, pushing two tables from the break room and moving some chairs around. Yukichi started the impromptu meeting with “We’re all because Ike is missing. He’s not only our pride but…. He’s my friend too. A teacher. A rival. All with a good heart…” Eiichiro interrupted him by saying “I know it’s easy to get caught up in our emotions but Ike needs us. He needs us to stay level-headed.” The whole group was tense, almost scared to say anything because it reaffirmed the reality they had at hand.
“Did anyone see him leaving after practice? I know he was supposed to go back to the States for a game, but that’s the last I saw of him.” Eiichiro inquired. The group all started talking among themselves, asking each other questions until finally, it hit Natsuki that she saw him get into his car, “Hey guys!” she spoke up, “I remember seeing him leave! But his driver wasn’t his usual driver. It wasn’t the old guy. I didn’t think anything of it, but now it has me worried.”
“A different driver?” Eiichiro's voice was louder than normal, and he apologized. “Sorry, it’s just that well… I think we all just want to find him. That’s our first clue.” He stood up from the makeshift group table and started to walk toward the club’s main office. Any public place was bound to have some kind of camera on the parking lot. Natsuki started to follow after him, “Cameras! It would have to be on there!” The two rushed inside of the office, Eiichiro sitting down and immediately trying to pull the footage. He noticed something odd though, neither of his coaches was at STC. He’d realized he’d forgotten to message them and didn’t recall seeing them sitting at the group table either. While clicking around trying to find the footage, rewinding hours, he asked Natsuki, “Hey, have you seen Miura or Ryuhei?”
Natsuki was sitting beside Eiichiro, watching the cameras close for any sign of a clue. She snapped out of her focus when he mentioned the coaches and responded, “No… No, I don’t remember seeing them, and I never messaged them.. That’s strange though. Some people already knew, how could they not..?” She held her hand to her chin, thinking, and then quickly returned to studying the cameras. Maruo was getting closer to the time Ike left and slowed down the controls. They had to get a clear shot of who the driver was. Eiichiro was muttering to himself “I wonder where…”
Before Eiichiro could finish his sentence, Ryuhei came running into the office, his breath slightly heavied and his hands on his sides. Ryuhei gathered himself as the other two turned around in their chairs, “Have you found anything? I just saw the news. Bad day to choose to take a nap huh? He was just here yesterday.” He made his way over to the camera screens, looking at standing behind them, “That’s the car, but who’s driving it?”
Eiichiro answered, “No idea, we’re still going through trying to find any kind of clue. By now they’ve probably got a new car or new license plate. You don’t think it has anything to do with the… the…” growing up, Eiichiro had heard stories and tales of yakuza actions, but never had met a yakuza or heard of any crimes local to him. He struggled to get the words out, “the… yakuza do you?”
Natsuki grabbed Eiichiro's shoulder, seeing that he was slightly shaking, and said, “If it was the yakuza, we would have heard of other things too. Not just Ike missing.” She tried to reassure him, “Don’t think the worst. He’s out there somewhere”
Ryuhei spoke up, “Sorry to interrupt you two, but can you roll the camera forward by three minutes? I think I saw the side of the driver’s face. I think it was a man.” He stared intensely at the screen, carefully watching the footage. Holding one finger out over the screen he jabbed at the driver’s side mirror of the car “There! Right there! Someone with a scruffy beard and it looks like he’s wearing a…. Bellhop uniform? Um…” that was puzzling. While there were hotels around the area, it didn’t make any sense for a bellhop to be driving it. The three of them thought about and thought about it until at almost the same time they all shouted “Soft Maple Hotel!!!”
Together all three of them rushed outside and toward Ryuhei’s car. Ryuhei drove, while Eiichiro and Natsuki sat in the back. There was no time for anything else, Ryuhei put his foot on the floor and flew out of STC’s parking lot. They could have gone to the police station and told them their findings, but Ryuhei was sure there wouldn’t be enough time for that. When they arrived at the hotel Eiichiro was the first to get enough, practically jumping out of the car and running into the hotel, bypassing the greeter and jerking the door open. Eiichiro ran up to the receptionist, with the other two following closely behind. “I know you’ve heard of the missing person’s case, was he here?” he continued, breath ragged from sprinting so suddenly, “Did he stay at this hotel??” Ryuhei heard was sounded like a thud right above them. The hotel was small, had three floors, but catered to VIPs, celebrities, athletes, and so on.
Wasting no time prattling with the receptionist, Ryuhei took off up the stairs, with Natsuki and Eiichiro following once again, “Coach! How are you doing this so fast?” Eiichiro asked, yelling from behind. “I heard that thud but,” they were stopped all of a sudden when the door to room 208 swung open, and Ike was thrown out of the door onto the ground in the hallway. Ryuhei held his arm out and stopped the two from running over to Ike, to which they both responded, “Hey! Why!”
“We don’t know if this bellhop has a weapon or not. Not very bright to bring the person you kidnapped back to the hotel. The bellhop kidnapper slowly came around the room’s door, nothing in his hands and only a disappointed look on his face and said, “I don’t want the kid. He’s got no money. How’s a rich kid like that supposed to-”
Eiichiro couldn’t bite his tongue and shouted, “He’s not just some rich kid! He earned his way and fought really hard!” Natsuki was shocked by the outburst, as she had never seen Eiichiro get that worked up. She’d seen him stressed out and frustrated before, but no to that magnitude. Natsuki tried to be a peacekeeper, whispering to Eiichiro she would o back downstairs and call the police. After that, she started to slowly back away and leave, but the bellhop noticed her moving.
“Going to call the cops? Don’t worry about that, the brat already did. I tried to knock him out before he could, but he’s got a hard head.” Ryuhei started to walk toward Ike, who was laying nearly unconscious with his eyes barely open and his body sprawled out and kept his eyes fixed on the bellhop. “I just want to take him out of here and get him treatment. I can walk away from this knowing the cops are coming.”
Shortly after he finished his sentence, police sirens could be heard. Ryuhei helped Ike to stand up. Looked at the others and said, “Come on let’s go. Ike needs help and this guy doesn’t seem worried about the cops.”
The bellhop laughed and said, “They’ll take me in but I won’t be there for long. I’ve escaped from two other holdings, this one won’t be any different.”
“An escape artist huh?” Ryuhei continued, “Looks like you couldn’t escape from us. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.” He limped with Ike over to Eiichiro and Natsuki, hearing police sirens drawing closer, a weight was lifted off all their shoulders.