Chapter Text
Enjin was walking through the halls with Riyo and Rudo, having joined the rest of his team into giving Zanka a small visit on the infirmary. After all, the eldest teenager of Team Akuta was still recovering from the fight with that crazed raider!
What was that crackhead's name again?, Enjin thought as they were getting closer to their destination, Eh. Probably nothing important., he finally concluded.
Riyo excitedly grabbed the door's handle, her usual teasing but happy smile plastered on her face going along with her happy mood. She had wanted to give Zanka a visit for some time now, Eishia had made clear that for the first four days no one could enter except her, and Riyo was buzzing with energy to FINALLY talk to the older boy.
As she finally opened the door, silence greeted the three of them. Strange. Usually, by now, if Zanka were awake (Maybe he's asleep!, Riyo thought with happy demeanor) he would've already made an irritated huff or a scoffing sound that would let everyone else know that he had been meditating and that the person that had opened the door had just interrupted. It usually was just to tease, Zanka actually was never irritated by people coming over to check on him, especially if it was Team Akuta.
Rudo watched as Riyo started to walk down the multiple rows of perfect well made beds, going towards the end of the infirmary, to the beds that were beside the big windows. Both Enjin and Riyo knew that Zanka, even though he HATED to be in the infirmary, he always preferred to have his bed besides the big windows. There wasn't much to see outside, but it still put Zanka on ease. Rudo, of course, didn't know about this singular fact.
So he followed Riyo, clutching slightly the bag that carried the flower pot that he was going to gift Zanka.
Enjin merely gave a small chuckle and also followed, the three of them going in line towards the last row of beds.
Riyo giggled slightly as she saw from a distance how from the end of the bed the sheets seemed to be a bit ruffled, though with the white hospital screen she couldn't see the whole bed, she was silently snickering already just by imagining that she would catch Zanka asleep and with his hair all messy and sticking in random directions.
She folded one part of the separator screen, hands already in the air and tone of voice already preparing to voice her words loud to startle a probably sleeping Zanka. Instead of louds words, a choked gasp made its appearance, confusing Rudo and Enjin, who immediately scrambled to get closer to Riyo, to see whatever had shocked her.
Silence again.
Riyo's whole demeanor had changes in a whole second, eyes wide, hands down and steps careful, as if it was all a prank.
Enjin just arched one of his eyebrows, confused by Riyo's reaction, "Maybe he's gone for a walk? You know he's stubborn and that the second that Eishia's out the door, he would try to go back to his own room or just walk around."
"No." Riyo's voice now was low. She had walked up to the bed and was not sat on top of it, watching something in her hand, Enjin noticed.
"Or, Zanka may be training? Everytime that I have woken up early I have always seen him training with his vital instrument." Rudo added, confused.
"No."
"Okay, then-"
"ZANKA IS GONE!" Riyo yelled, cutting off Enjin, her voice sharp.
Riyo's sudden outburst only managed to confuse Rudo and Enjin more, still not understanding. Zanka had to be somewhere in HQ, right? He couldn't have mysteriously disappeared, he was still recovering from his injuries after all.
Just as Rudo was about to ask how Riyo was so sure about Zanka being gone, Riyo showed them her hand.
A note.
A simple, sticky typical yellow-ish note.
There, on the sticky note, in messy and bad handwriting: "Took Zanka out for a walk! Hope it doesn't bother anyone!", followed by an also badly drawn smiley face.
"And also. You think Zanka would have left, all on his own, WITHOUT Lovely Assistaff?" Riyo spoke up again, voice not as sharp as before, but obviously tense.
This immediately grabbed both of Enjin's and Rudo's attention. Lovely Assistaff, Zanka's vital instrument, rested peacefully against the wall besides the bed, her bandages in place and her polished wood almost mocking them.
Enjin carefully grabbed the sticky note, trying and obviously failing to maintain a composed facade. Someone had slipped inside HQ without alerting no one, taken Zanka with them, left a note, and simply left. How hadn't this been noticed? By anyone? It was impossible.
It was impossible, but still, it was happening.
"We have to find Zanka." Riyo hopped out of the bed, grabbed the sticky note from Enjin's hand and with resolved step went towards the infirmary's door. "We have to alert Semiu. And the boss. And those other things that I don't care about right now, Enjin take care of the rest." Her gaze suddenly snapped back to their leader, who also followed behind her step.
Poor Rudo was still processing everything, bag now plopped on the floor, eyes a tad wide.
"Zanka is.. Missing?"
"Correction. Zanka was kidnapped by someone." Enjin's voice now carried a hint of seriousness that wasn't there before, already going out of the door along Riyo.
Rudo, still a bit dazed by all of this information, merely took the flower pot out the bad and simply put it on top of small table besides the bed. He gave Lovely Assistaff a quite long glance, and then, he also left to report Zanka's disappearance.
.
.
.
"Semiu, a minute?" Semiu looked up from her magazines, the hint of something unusual in Enjin's tone of voice making her gaze appear focused instead of her usual playful ignorance she always gave the blond.
"Something happened?" She gave a small glance behind him, noticing Riyo's stiff posture and Rudo's face full of confusion.
Semiu, contemplating the young members of Akuta, gave Enjin a look and then, made a small gesture with her hand, telling Enjin to come closer.
"Is it that bad? I've never seen Riyo so stiff since.." She spoke in a low voice, letting the silence fill the end of her words, "seriously, what happened?"
"Zanka was kidnapped."
"What."
"Yep." He said, popping loudly the last letter as if to make the statement clearer, "and we only have this sticky note."
"A sticky note?"
Riyo came forward and left the note in front of Semiu, face a facade of barely controlled neutrality.
"Someone took Zanka."
Enjin had to physically repress the shiver that had been about to shook his entire body, he hadn't heard that tone of voice in Riyo in a long, long time.
"Hm. I'll immediately warn Corvus about it. Any other information that may be useful? Something left behind, a broken object, messy space, anything?" Semiu asked as she wrote down the words of the sticky note and some other pieces of information that neither Enjin not Riyo could achieve to read.
"Lovely Assistaff was left behind." Rudo spoke up.
"What." Yeah, no, this is definitely bad. "What do you mean “Lovely Assistaff was left behind”." Her sharp gaze suffocated Rudo, Semiu's eyes now glowing faintly.
"This is dangerous. We don't know how a Giver reacts towards being separated from his vital instrument for a long period of time. And, to just make a supposition, Zanka would have been kidnapped today, right? Or do we also not know anything about what time or day has Zanka been kidnapped around?"
"We could always ask Eishia. She was the one monitoring Zanka's health and also the one who put up the schedule of not giving Zanka a visit for four days straight. She HAS to know something." Enjin said, trying to at least give a solution.
"Riyo."
Zanka's going to come back.
"Riyo"
I'm sure of it.
"Riyo?"
I will bring him back-
Riyo was suddenly startled out of her thoughts by a hand on her arm. Ah, Rudo. She had been too deep in thought.
She hadn't heard anything, the words of the others being muffled to her own ears. Her loud thoughts were acting up again.
"Riyo, you okay? I asked quite a few times if you were okay with asking Eishia about.. All of this." Enjin gave quite a thoughtful sigh, looking at Riyo.
"Ask Eishia?" She murmured lowly, letting the idea slowly enter her own train of loud thoughts, "okay, seems like a good idea."
Rudo watched the whole interaction slightly from the sidelines. Even though he was still processing the whole Zanka-being-kidnapped-situation, he could see how deeply Riyo cared. And this got Rudo to think.
Just.. How close are Riyo and Zanka?