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Chiharu and Chuuya were supposed to get home from school at the same time. However, the younger of the two was missing. The front door was thrown open by Chuuya as he arrived home, and his parents jumped from the sound of the door smashing into the wall.
“Chiharu wasn’t waiting outside his class for me at the end of the day, and I don’t know where he is. I even check each of the bathrooms, and went back to where we were supposed to meet after, and he still wasn’t there,” Chuuya was panicking.
“Hey, maybe he just wandered off. You know how Chiharu likes going for random walks. Plus, he has an ability, so he can handle himself,” Rimbaud came over and tried to calm the teen.
Verlaine walked over as well, “He’s right, you know how he gets distracted and will just walk wherever he pleases.”
That didn’t end up helping, “Then we need to search for him! What if he gets hurt while he’s out there by himself?”
“We can call up that detective friend you two made, and he might be able to help. How about that?” Arthur didn’t like seeing Chuuya panic, but also understood his worries.
“Okay… Adam is pretty smart…” Chuuya decided to let his parents go call Adam, and wait for them before going out to look for Chiharu.
Sitting on the couch, the teen’s thoughts ran wild. Many scenarios arose in his brain, telling him his younger brother was in danger, and maybe already dead. Perhaps the scientists found him again, and were testing on him already, planning to turn him into a weapon.
“Chuuya, Adam is coming over, then we’re going out to look for Chiharu,” Rimbaud called out.
“Okay, I’m all ready to go as soon as he gets here,” Chuuya felt he needed to get out of the house to search for his brother.
—
Meanwhile, Chiharu was indeed in danger.
A small criminal group had seen the teen outside at lunchtime, walking around by himself, and grabbed him. His ability was too weak to defend himself, and he ended up being taken captive. So, now he is trapped in a damp criminal base, chained to a metal pole on the wall.
“We gotta reach out to the kid’s family, need to make some money off the kid. He looks like he’d be from a well off family, so we should set the price real high,” one of the kidnappers suggested.
“Yeah, just need to get him to give us his address, and then send the ransom note there,” the other sounded excited with the idea.
Turning to Chiharu, the first one approached him, “So, kid, where do you live?”
Without hesitation, Chiharu told him the address, with some pleas of, “Please don’t hurt me,” in between.
“Don’t worry, we won’t hurt you… too badly,” the grin that spread across the kidnapper’s face scared him.
—
While out searching, the ransom note was delivered, along with a picture.
In it, Chiharu had been beaten up, a couple bruises forming on his face, while a knife was stabbed into his arm. It was clear he was still crying when the photo was taken. The picture was to show they weren’t scared of killing the teen if they didn’t get their money.
—
Upon getting home from several hours of searching, Chuuya was exhausted, and scared. He just wanted his brother to come home safe. However, his remain hope was crushed when his parents saw the note and picture on the front door. Chuuya didn’t get a good look at it, but he could tell Chiharu was hurt in it.
Verlaine and Rimbaud started whispering, and Chuuya wanted to know what they were talking about, “What’s going on?”
“Don’t worry about it, we’ll handle this. You go get ready for bed, you’ve still got school in the morning,” Rimbaud gave him a soft push into the house.
“You can grab something to eat first though, since we didn’t get a chance to eat supper,” Verlaine spoke calmly, despite how he looked like he wanted to grimace.
“Alright…” Chuuya knew that trying to find out more wouldn’t work, so he gave up for the time.
Outside, Verlaine and Rimbaud were panicking over not knowing if the kidnappers had killed Chiharu and were just pretending he was still alive. It would be simple enough for them to get money out of them by killing Chiharu, and saying that they’ll give him back after the money is paid. They were hoping Chiharu was just injured, but neither of them was hopeful.
He was their younger son, one whom they had been raising alongside Chuuya for nearly nine years. Losing him would be a huge change, and it was likely their family would never be the same. Adam had headed out after the search, so he wasn’t even aware of the development. He would’ve been one of the best people to go to about this, but the note did say to not contact the police.
It would be easy for Adam to be confused for the police, and then Chiharu’s fate might be sealed. Rimbaud was close to crying into Verlaine’s arms, just wanting his son back. But, that meant complying with the kidnappers and bringing the money to an area in the middle of nowhere. Only to have to wait another day before Chiharu would be returned.
So, they decided to go in for the night, and come up with a plan. Involving the mafia would be a last ditch effort, as involving their work in personal problems could bring more attention to their kids. The couple was worried enough that Chiharu was taken as some sort of revenge against them because they are involved with the mafia, and have messed up a lot of peoples’ lives. However, they knew they couldn’t save their son without rest.
—
The next morning, Chiharu awoke from the uncomfortable position and saw he was alone. His body hurt from being beat up, and one of his eyes was swollen shut, but he was still hoping his family would find him. He knew Chuuya would protect him, and their parents were strong, so the kidnappers wouldn’t stand a chance once they found him.
However, he was scared they wouldn’t find him. Especially when Chiharu heard footsteps coming down the dark corridor.
Except, it was someone familiar, “I am glad I have found you.”
“Adam!” Chiharu was so excited to see the detective.
“Your parents and brother informed me you were missing yesterday, so, I hacked into the cameras around the city to see where you went. Upon seeing you were captured, I used the footage to find their base,” Adam over explained, but the teen was just glad to know he was being saved.
Walking over, Adam snapped the chains easily, and picked up Chiharu. He could tell the teen needed medical care, but also knew that his family would want to see him first. The injuries weren’t life-threatening, so they could take Chiharu to the hospital themselves.
“Are you in a lot of pain? Your injuries seem like they’d hurt,” he asked, still walking them out of the dark tunnel.
“A bit, but I’m just glad I’m going home. I was scared I’d never be found,” Chiharu admitted.
A hand ruffled his hair, “I believe your parents would have torn the city apart by the third day. So, as long as the kidnappers didn’t kill you, it would have worked out no matter what.”
That made him laugh a bit, “True, Chuuya probably would have helped, and the destruction would have been bad. He needs to work on his anger problems.”
“Indeed, he always looks like he might fight someone at any moment,” Adam remarked, remembering how Chuuya tried to fight him when they first met.
“Adam, I’m a bit tired, can I sleep while you carry me home?” Chiharu yawned, having hardly slept the night before.
The detective nodded, “Of course, I’ll get you home.”
With permission, he snuggled closer, hugging onto Adam, and closed his eyes.
—
Chuuya refused to go to school while Chiharu was still missing. Verlaine and Rimbaud gave up trying to convince him after a minute, understanding his fears. There was a fear in the house that Chiharu wasn’t going to come back alive.
While coming up with a plan in the living room, there was a knock at the front door. Running over, Chuuya threw open the door to find Adam, holding Chiharu.
“I hacked the city cameras to find him, I realized that would be smarter than searching the entire city,” Adam stated, placing Chiharu down on the sofa.
Chuuya hugged Adam, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“Thank you, Adam, I doubt we would have found him without you,” Rimbaud recognized there wasn’t a very high chance of finding Chiharu without help.
“It was no problem, I will be arresting the criminals shortly,” he bowed to them when Chuuya let go.
Verlaine had a look in his eyes as he asked, “May I assist you?”
Adam nodded, “Sure.”
Rimbaud and Chuuya were in charge of getting Chiharu fixed up, while Verlaine went out to get some revenge.