Chapter Text
“And the cat goes…”
“Meow!” “Meow!”
“And the dog goes…”
“Woof!” “Woof!”
“And the pig goes—“
Blank.
That was what the TV screen displayed as the house suddenly experienced total blackout. The little three year old sitting before the screen whined, his small tiny cries piercing through the thick darkness. The older blond sitting behind him, perched on the cream colored sofa, let out a sigh before proceeding his attempts to placate his younger brother.
As his hands found the smaller one’s body, the sudden noise of the door crashing open echoed loudly within the house, causing him to jolt in shock, his arms wrapping around his younger brother who in turn held on to his pale blue pajama shirt.
Silence met his ears a second after, the pounding of his fast beating heart the only thing he could make sense of. His brother was awfully quiet.
“Akiteru?”
“Mom?” he whispered, then repeated the name once more, louder. “Mom?”
The sound of rushing footsteps pounded against the floor of the house, reaching the living room. The feint source of light emanating from the moon, through the blinds of the windows allowed him to see the silhouette of their mother standing behind the couch. As soon as Akiteru and his brother had been spotted, she rushed quickly to them, crouching down and allowing her hands to touch their faces. “Boys? Are you okay?” She sounded panicked, her hands shook, and her voice wavered.
“Mommy? What’s wrong?” his younger brother asked, voice quiet and small.
“Nothing baby, it’s nothing,” she replied, her lips kissing his blonde head gently. “Everything will be fine—”
Screeching tires sounded in the far distance, red headlights flashing and illuminating their darkened house, an ominous air taking root immediately on his mother’s features as the light passed over them. No longer saying a word, she’d grabbed both of them, her hand holding Akiteru’s, the other carrying his brother on her waist as she ran through the house.
“Mom?”
Akiteru was ignored. The panicked woman’s quick breaths could be heard above her frightened muttering while she hurried them towards the direction of the stairs. Underneath the stairwell was a custom made cupboard built to fit the shape of the small space below the stairs, and he and his brother were immediately pushed into it. “Mom? What’s going on?”
“Everything will be fine baby. Everything will be fine,” she repeated, like she was trying to reassure herself as well. “Just promise me something baby. Promise me you’ll take care of Kei?”
“…Mom?” Akiteru could feel his own panic rising, confusion and fear of the unknown swirling through his nerves and thoughts. “Mom—”
“Promise me!”
“I-I promise…”
“And remember these numbers. 518916. Can you remember them?”
“Yes…”
“You can, alright? Don’t forget them. Promise me?” she whispered, and silently, he nodded. She moved to kiss Kei’s head, then his, retracting so her hands could cup his cheeks.
“Mom… I’m scared. What’s going on?”
“Don’t worry baby,” she whispered. “I love you, okay? Daddy does too.”
“Are you leaving us…?”
“Never baby,” his mother replied, her previously panicked eyes now dimmed to something calmer, almost placating. “Stay put okay? Don’t come out. Be quiet.” She swallowed, the tears sliding down her cheeks glistening against her face. The sounds of footsteps, heavy, daunting, battered against the hardwood floors, unknown voices talking amongst themselves, calling out his mother’s and father’s names. “I love you…”
Her tearful, solemn, watery smile was the last thing both he and Kei saw, before the cupboard door was slammed shut, and they were plunged into darkness.
The yelling outside continued on, his mother’s voice barely detectable in the fray of commotion, Akiteru’s breaths coming in and out in small bouts of panic. It all stopped at the sound of one, loud, ear splitting bang that had Akiteru cover his ears, and caused Kei to start whimpering. Something dropped to the floor with a dull thud, and after that, the foot pounding resumed their chaos. The older blond made out the clear, gruff, booming voice of one of the invaders, and it had caused him to flinch, his heart pounding an abnormally fast rhythm.
“Find the kids.”
Kei’s whimpering became louder, cadence increasing into frightened sobs, and Akiteru had to use his hand to press against the younger’s mouth, his other hand against his own face in case he made any detectable sounds as well.
Footsteps beat against the stairs above them, and another pair was heard right outside the cupboard, slowing as it prowled the area beside the stairwell. A flash of light passed underneath the tiny crack at the base, and he did all he could to hold his breath, waiting, waiting, and waiting for the footsteps to recede and walk away. His hand pressed even tighter against Kei’s mouth and nose.
A minute after, the nameless footsteps finally retreated, the voice joining another voice, then another, then another. Feet pounding against the stairs could be heard heading downwards, and subsequently following the next five minutes, the house was once more silent.
When Akiteru had finally escaped the suffocating darkness of the small cupboard, the lights were still out, but the moon still shone from the window, blinds torn by what he guessed was a knife. The faint light feebly illuminated the floors of the sitting room, casting itself over the damage and ruckus left behind by the invaders. Dark, amber eyes viewed over everything, landing finally on the wet, coppery, liquid left behind on the floor.
There was nobody present, their mother gone, their father never returning, leaving the two Tsukishima brothers alone to deal with the scars of whatever had happened, in that cold, cold night.
Silence.
He was in total silence.
An eternal, unending abyss of undying quietness that was nerve-wracking, and soothing in itself. If he closed his eyes, and let himself sink into the void, he would feel his soul float, fantasy detaching from reality, and everything relative to a dream fading away until—
“Aki-nii!!!!”
The irregular thumping of small feet against the bed interrupted the older one’s dreams, forcing his presence out of his head and back into reality. The light emanating from beyond the closed up curtains indicated it was already morning. He could have sworn he’d just gone to bed a minute ago.
“Niichan.” The light, whiny voice reached his ears once more. And he could feel the distance between him and the other close as the mattress tipped from the spot beside his body. Akiteru closed his eyes and kept his face buried underneath the covers. “Wake up! You promised!”
Small hands pulled at the covers, revealing his face and upper body to the rays of the morning sun streaming in. He sighed inwardly, opening his eyes and facing the pouting, annoyed face of his younger brother.
“Why, good morning to you too Kei.” He blinked slowly and offered him a smile, not surprised when his expression did not shift to something more pleasant. “What’s got your boots in a bunch?”
Without saying a word, Kei’s hands reached for Akiteru’s phone, swiped and tapped against the screen, before shoving it right into his still, tired face. The image of people riding a rollercoaster in an amusement park came into view, reminding him of the promise he’d made the previous week to Kei after he had helped him do the dishes. Sighing heavily, he let out an “oh, that” before he proceeded to rise up, stretching and taking satisfaction from the sound release of the joints from his back.
The time on his cell read 7:25, an hour and five minutes before the park would be officially opened. “Alright.” His hand went to ruffle the eight-year old’s curly blonde hair as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Let’s get ready okay?”
“Yes!” Kei nodded, suddenly excited again. He hopped off the bed, socked feet reaching the rug covered floor of his room, and then ran ahead of him. “I made breakfast.”
“You did?” He raised an eyebrow at the younger, peering over at the dining/living room table and spotting the two bowls of cereal, a jug of milk from the fridge in front of it. His breaths came out as a light chuckle. “Thanks Kei. Now I don’t have to make breakfast.”
The younger brother nodded, expression sporting a reminiscing pout while he folded his arms. “But only because you keep on burning the toast.” Akiteru made the next head ruffle slightly rougher than before as he donned a wide not-so-offended smile and teased him.
“Hey now, it’s not easy doing all the work here and maintaining college prep scores in high school.” He then released the lighter blonde’s hair. “Maybe you’d like to do all the chores? Wash the bathroom? Sweep the floors…?”
“Niichan the food’s getting cold.”
“Cereal doesn’t get cold Kei.” He said, Kei plopping down on the seat while Akiteru went over to the cupboards above the sink. “You want some sugar?” He didn’t have to look back to view the other’s nod, his hand already motioning to collect their jar of granulated sugar.
There weren’t many things in the small cupboard, and it was easy to find the transparent jar with a sticker of a yellow Tyrannosaurus rex on the front, its teeth colored purple by a four year old Kei. The sugar in it was minimal, only enough for one person, and if there were some left, he’d have to give it to the younger because of his over abundant sweet tooth. It was fine, Akiteru needed to lose weight anyway.
He went back to the seat, poured the sugar into Kei’s bowl, and helped pour in some milk into both their bowls of cereal. A silent ‘Itadakimasu’ was muttered, before they decided to dig in to their meal.
It wasn’t just their sugar that was minimal in amount, he observed. A lot of their stock were already diminishing, their food, cleaning materials, and then Kei needed a new bag since his old one was already turning a peculiar shade of green. He didn’t really need to worry, since all he had to do was contact their legal guardian, Aunt Ayame, since she was after all in charge of making sure he and Kei didn’t starve to death under her ‘care’.
The only thing he worried about was whether or not she would need to come over.
Ayame Tsukishima was his father’s distant sister, a relative of his that his late parents had for some reason, chosen to take care of he and Kei if something were to happen to them. After the day of their parent’s disappearance, the lady had entered the decimated house, business suit and all, and an ever present resting-bitch-face slapped onto her expression. She’d said and done nothing to console the frightened children, only ushering them into her car, and driving them to her expensively built house.
Yes, their aunt was rich, and had enough to provide for a small village, but her personality was borderline purely demonic. She hit children, and locked them in cramped cupboards whenever they annoyed her or whined too much, and she definitely wasn’t very generous with her money, barely taking care of them as is. His younger brother had been spared from the treatment of course, and in order to ensure he remained untouched by her sharp nails and wicked glares, he’d moved out of her house into his own apartment—it had been bought by her though, since he was just barely at the legal age.
Ayame had been glad to have rid herself of having to take care of them, he could tell. But just so the authorities didn’t raise any questions, she made sure to send them money and things they could survive on. It was barely enough, which was why he had to work and exempt himself from his high school clubs and extracurricular activities. But then, since it was all for Kei, he didn’t mind. He’d promised his mom he would take care of him, after all.
“Done!”
The younger dropped his spoon into the now empty bowl and stood up, standing rather triumphantly before him like he was expecting a prize. Akiteru stared in surprised awe at how fast he’d managed to empty his plate.
“That excited to go to the park huh?”
“Uh-huh.” He nodded, then averted his gaze towards his older brother, his smile dropping to a grouch as his eyes fell on his still full bowl. “You’ve barely started! The park’ll open in a few minutes.” Kei whined, and Akiteru rolled his eyes, smiling at his impatience. Kids.
Beside him, his phone buzzed with an incoming message, and when he went to reach for it, he saw it had come from Akira, one of his friends in the Karasuno volleyball club who’d gone on to a combined training camp with a school in Tokyo. The message was the picture of a selfie he’d taken with his teammates, the view of the Skytree behind them, their grins wide on their faces as they held up peace signs.
From: Akira
Subject: Training camp!!!
Wish you could’ve been here with us!
“Oh… is that the volleyball club?” Kei’s head suddenly popped up beside him, eyes gazing over the screen as he viewed the message. “Awesome! They got to see the Tokyo Skytree!”
“Yeah…” He shut off the screen, focusing his attention on the youngest as a suggestion he’d been forming in his head came to light. “Would you like to play volleyball Kei?”
“Heck yeah!” He said enthusiastically, beaming brightly. “I’d get to see the Tokyo Skytree in real life.”
“And be part of a team.”
“We’d probably climb Mount Fuji.”
“And make friends…”
The last part caused Kei to pause in his tracks, mouth partially open as he ceased the next sentence before it could be voiced out. He folded his arms, looked away, and pouted. Akiteru noticed he pouted a lot for an eight year old boy. Sighing, the older smiled at him, apologetic countenance causing his brows to furrow. “I understand you don’t like a lot of people Kei, but you gotta try it sometime.” As expected, his advice was ignored, and he released another breath, heavier this time, before he ensued standing up. “Hey, how about we go now. If we get there early, we could maybe get ourselves some cotton candy?”
It was just around 8:35, but the park was packed full.
Several people lined up in front of numerous rides, photo booths and face-paint areas were full, shows and stage plays were being gathered in numbers. And he could sense the excitement buzzing off of his little brother as he took in everything. It wasn’t very often they got to go to the park, with how busy Akiteru always was, and the fact that they barely had money for the expensive tickets and rides. So this was a special thing for the both of them, and he couldn’t help feel the buzz of excitement as well.
After re-counting the amount of money he had with him, he and Kei made their way to where Cotton candy was being distributed, and got themselves two huge, pink fluffs of cloudy sugar. “Okay, what do you want to do next?” The park was full of activities and rides he was sure the younger would want to indulge in, and the way the smaller blonde’s head perked up whenever he heard the excited screams of people on the rides told him of how much he wanted to be a part of it. So when he’d said “face-painting”, he was a tad surprised.
“Face-painting?” He cocked up an eyebrow, his eyes averting towards the stand where a little girl was getting petals drawn onto her cheeks. Kei nodded.
“Yeah. I wanna get a really cool one of a dinosaur.” He said, looking up at his older brother with those huge eyes of his. “Can I?”
How does he think I could say no when he looks at me that way? “Sure Kei.” He ruffled his head, smiling partially when his hand was later swatted away. “Just make sure you keep in touch if you get lost.” Akiteru instructed, and pointed at the walkie-talkie he’d kept stashed in his backpack. Kei bobbed his head, holding out his own to him.
After he’d given him an affirmative thumbs-up, he watched the lanky, shorter—although tall for his age—Tsukishima run off, dodging groups and pairs of people towards the direction of the face-paint booth. He sat in place of the girl who’d just finished her own session, and waved at the face-paint lady who offered him back a smile.
Sighing contentedly, certain that Kei would be fine on his own, he’d walked towards the stage play going on not too far from the booth, sitting down beside a guy wearing a denim jacket and a plain black shirt beneath it. The guy had a nicely cut beard, unassuming look in his eyes as he peered down at his phone, looking partly uninterested in the play and his environment around him. It didn’t stop Akiteru from trying to strike a conversation though.
“So… what’s the play about?” He’d tried for his nicest smile and his friendliest look, and all he’d been replied with was an impassive side-glance and then silence as he was blatantly ignored. Ouch. Talk about bad reception.
On the stage, the main actress had begun a song about finding her destiny that sounded kind of like a rendition of ‘Let it go’, and what he guessed was a prince was lying on the floor behind her, his hand on his chest in a dramatic death pose. He tried to recall the scene from any Disney movie he’d ever watched, and only managed to further confuse himself. Maybe it was self-made?
“Hey,” He tried again, leaning to his left so his voice could be better heard above the singing. “This is an original production right?”
The only response he’d managed to receive was an agitated glare and a wordless warning to keep to himself and shut up. Akiteru did just that, leaning back to his original position and tapping his fingers against his bag. Maybe the guy was having an off day? But in an amusement park?
The sound of something crackling reached his ears, emanating from within his bag. “Niichan.”
The walkie-talkie crackled again, and when Akiteru went to reach for it, he heard the voice of his brother emit from the speakers once more. “Kei? What? What is it? Are you lost?”
“No, Akiteru.” He could basically hear the eye roll in his reply at his own frantic worrying. Sue him for being a little protective. “Just telling you that I’m at the slides now. You worry too much.”
Akiteru could feel a smile curl his lips upwards. “I can’t help it if I care too much about you little brother.” After Kei had let out a breath of exasperation on the other line, he’d told him a “later niichan” before it was quiet yet again. He put down the communication device a moment later, and paid attention to the play before him, watching with mild amusement when a joker had come on to the stage and started causing mischief.
Fifteen minutes into the play, and two short songs later, Kei called to inform him of his next position. “At the water fountain.”
Akiteru had told him to be careful.
Five minutes in, a little girl had come on stage and started singing sweetly about dreams. She had this pretty fairy dress on, with glitter on her cheeks and an adorable toothy grin that swayed the crowd. Akiteru looked to his side at the guy still peering at his phone, partly surprised when his eyes were off his phone screen and on the stage. Halfway into the chorus, the little child had started prancing around the stage, and he couldn’t help voice out his thoughts on how good her part was.
“She sure is adorable.”
He’d shot up his eyebrows when his seat neighbor had replied him with a “Yeah”, and then stood up and left. He wasn’t sure if he should’ve counted that as good or bad. He was an amicable guy, and he was popular enough in high school to have made lots of friends. He shouldn’t be concerned over one person’s inauspicious personality.
Blowing out air from his nose, he leaned in and then watched the rest of the play. The fairy child and the formerly dead prince were now talking to one another about the princess, and was offering him three wishes. He was sure that sort of scenario with the limited amount of wishes only correlated to genies, and that the princes shoe laces were now untying themselves, but he chose to watch the play to the end. He’d gone so far into it already, and he was just about understanding the plot.
There was no reason to leave then.
The play ended fifteen minutes later in a clash of characters, and one big musical finale, after which they’d all bowed and said thank you to the audience. The actors were applauded, and after a while, people left their seats to partake in other park activities, or to go home, while very few left, some chatting amongst themselves, the rest looking down their phones.
Akiteru had been part of the few that had left, his attention finally off the play and on to locate his brother.
The last time he’d been contacted by him, he’d told him he was at the water fountain. And that had been over seventeen minutes ago.
His eyes scanned the map pasted on one of the beams built around the wide grounds, searching for the location of the fountain. It was near the playground slides, where Kei had been before. He was certain he would be there, waiting.
As he made his way through the park, dodging a few gathered people and booths and stands, his eyes skimmed over the area, landing finally on the location of the pearly white water fountain, surrounded by people taking pictures, and some others throwing coins into the water. A structure of a flock of doves had been built at the center, sprouting water out of their beaks.
It was a beautiful piece, but he didn’t have time to appreciate it as he was focused solely on finding his brother. There were a few kids nearby, tall enough to be Kei’s height, but none of them possessed blonde hair. A man and a lady were talking together, laughing and throwing coins into the fountain, a little girl was leaning against the edge, peering at the coins at the bottom, a lady and her friends were taking selfies a close distance away, a large German shepherd passed by his feet, someone had dropped their ice cream into the water. But none of those things were blonde, short or had glasses.
None of them were Kei.
As soon as his eyes had landed on the black walkie-talkie left on the edge of the fountain, he felt his heart stop.
Okay, okay, don’t panic. Maybe Kei had gone back to the slides and forgot to take it with him. He didn’t need to panic. He didn’t need to fret.
Akiteru breathed deeply, trying to calm himself and moved to collect the thick, black device perched on top of the white ceramic. The thing looked basically untouched and unscratched, his brother’s name scribbled on top of it with light green marker, a Pokémon ball sticker on the side. It was definitely his.
He went back to the slides at the playground, searched the children crawling in and out of the slide tunnels, checked their hair, and faces, checked for a light blue sweater with a symbol of the moon on the back, checked for a familiar wide grin and short golden locks.
“Kei?” he yelled out, searching the area of the playground, eyes glancing to and fro as little kids slid and climbed the play structure. “Kei!” Eventually, after too many minutes of looking at the faces of the happy, beaming children, and failing to find his little brother amongst them, he went to the next stop on the map.
And the next.
And the next.
And the next.
Till he was sweating from the heat of the sun, from the exertion of his lungs and legs as he ran back and forth between stands and booths and rides and people. Faces turned to him as he frantically searched, concern vivid as they asked him what the matter was.
Who was he looking for?
What’s his name?
Was he looking for a sibling?
There’s a security office over there.
Sir, you need to calm down.
Oh God.
Oh God.
He’d lost Kei.
“Kei!”
He’d lost Kei.
“Keeiiii!!!”
What’s the matter son?
You lost a child?
“Oh God… I’m looking for a kid. Yes.”
What’s he look like?
“He’s eight. Tall for his age, and lanky. Blond hair, curly at the edges. He’s wearing glasses. Please, help me find him.”
Sir?!
Excuse me, Oniisan!!!
In his frantic panic, he’d managed to feel a tug on his shirt, rapid, uncoordinated. As he looked down, he was met with the sight of a small, frightened kid, tears in his wide, grey eyes, coupled with snot running down his freckled face. It was a sorry sight, but at that moment, as much as he feared it would pain him in the future, he couldn’t have cared less about another kid’s problems.
However, just as he was about to chase him off, he’d said something worth pausing for.
“Please, you have to help!” He cried out, voice loud and words almost incoherent in his sobs. “It’s my… f-friend! His name is Kei! He-He—”
Kei?
“He was helping me ch-chase some bullies away… a-and we were together. But then… th-this guy took him!”
He felt his heart drop into his stomach. “…Guy?” He swallowed, previous fear giving way to an even greater one, greater than his heart could bear. “What…”
“Follow me!” He pulled on his shirt sleeve, and he did his best not to yell at him to run faster, hurry up, his brother was in danger. His little brother was in—
“AKI-NII!!!”
Pausing in his tracks, he found himself a few feet away from a car park, lines of vehicles positioned beside each other. His eyes swerved from one point to another, searching, searching. He’d heard his voice before—
“NIICHAN!!! HELP!”
There.
Several cars away, a man in sun glasses, wearing a familiar looking denim jacket with a black tee underneath, was dragging a little struggling kid away.
“So… what’s the play about?”
It was him. The guy at the play.
“I’m at the fountain.”
No wonder he’d gotten up not too long after Kei had revealed his location. Akiteru wouldn’t have even suspected a thing. No one would have suspected…
“KEI!!!” Akiteru screamed, his legs taking off as soon as he’d spotted them heading in the direction of a lone, black car parked haphazardly by a tree. One of the backseat doors was opened, and it looked like there was someone else inside the vehicle. He’d left the freckled boy behind, hoping the kid was smart enough to call for some help, maybe the authorities.
His legs burned as he struggled to close the distance between him and Kei’s abductors, eyes locked dead-on onto his frightened amber orbs, his heart racing and increasing in rhythm and pace as he raced against the odds of him reaching them before they would have already taken off.
His panicked voice called for his niichan once more, until Denim jacket decided to quieten his cries with his hand pressed roughly against his face, mouth and nose covered by harsh, unforgiving palms. They were already too close to their car.
He wasn’t going to make it.
Come on legs, move.
Move faster.
Please…
Kei was shoved into the backseat before he could cross the line of cars separating them, the door was shut, and Denim jacket was already sliding into his seat and starting the engine.
No.
“No!!!” Adrenaline kicked in, his heart picking up even faster speeds as the distance between him and the black BMW closed. But by that time, the driver’s door had already closed shut as well, and the wheels were already moving. “No! Kei!!!” He neared the car, gripping the rails on the roof of the car and banging on the vehicle’s window, dread setting in as it begun to increase its acceleration. “Let him go!!!”
The window was slightly tinted, and he couldn’t tell what was going on within the confines of the car, but as he heard a bang, then another hit against the thick glass, he could tell his younger brother was struggling against them. That’s right Kei. Don’t make it easy.
But eventually the car’s speed was too much to handle, and Akiteru ended up having to let go, his heart heavy and in anguish as the kickback caused him to roll to the floor, unable to do anything against the speed of the vehicle, speeding away too fast, too far, with the only thing he cared about trapped within its confines.