The Everlasting Bond

Chapter 9: Continue On

The distant sound of his name being called out was what gained his consciousness back, a familiar voice that he recognised.

"...ori...Iori..!"

With the searing pain coming from his head, Iori managed to open his eyes. The first thing that came into view was Mitsuki and one of his hands on Iori's shoulder, possibly trying to wake him. The second thing that came into view was Yamato who wasn't as close as Mitsuki with Iori, but equally as worried as him.

"Thank goodness you're okay Iori!" Mitsuki wouldn't say Iori was most certainly alright, but overall he was glad Iori wasn't dead. He helped Iori to sit up and after, started to bombard him with questions. "What happened to you? Why are you bleeding and in a place like this? Are you okay? It seems like you've lost quite, I should've come with you and Riku to the convenience store, where is Riku anyway?"

Unintentionally, Iori ignored all of Mitsuki's questions. He felt disoriented and the feeling of wanting to throw up was still there. Once he was able to focus on his surroundings a little more, he'd quickly forgotten about the questions and asked Mitsuki something instead.

"How did you two even know I was here?" He asked.

"Mitsu received a message from Riku telling us the direction of this place whilst saying it was very urgent and you needed us." Yamato replied.

Hearing Riku's name being said again, this time more clearer in Iori's mind, his memories of everything that happened before he blacked out came flooding in.

"Nanase-san!" He shouted out, reminding himself of the person whom he failed to protect like he'd promised. Iori bowed his head down, his voice becoming quiet. "He's gone, them yakuzas took him."

Mitsuki and Yamato looked at each other, confused about what Iori was about. If what Iori was saying is true, that would explain the reason for why Iori looked beaten up and dried blood on his left side of his face.

They turned their attention back to Iori when they heard him speak again, his tone of voice sounding a lot more confused than angry or pained. "What was Nanase-san thinking? If he'd messaged Nii-san, he should've stayed where he was. I could've handled the situation by myself. " Iori gritted his teeth and cursed himself in his head, "What gave him the idea to step in? If he didn't, then he wouldn't have been taken."

Seeing Iori frustrated, both Yamato and Mitsuki knew that it was hard for Iori to comprehend Riku's actions. Since the first day Yamato met Iori when he went round to see Mitsuki, he could tell that Iori wasn't a social person which led him to be inexperienced with understanding other people and their feelings.

Yamato walked closer to Iori, whose head hung low, and placed his hand on Iori's shoulder making him look up. "Ichi, you know Riku couldn't do that. Riku most likely wanted to step in because he didn't want to see you getting hurt anymore, he didn't want to watch someone he cares about getting hurt to the point where they bleed and might die from the loss of blood if it went on."

"Yamato is right, you know, who knows what would happen to you if Riku stood there watching. Me and Yamato would probably be too late and you'd be in a worse state than now, knowing Riku, he'd probably blame himself for everything and never forgive himself for not stepping in." Mitsuki added.

"But still... "

Iori took their words into consideration, but overall he was still doubtful.

One day, Iori might start to understand people's actions that are driven by their emotions with some help from others but for now, they needed to find where Riku was. "Don't worry about it for now, Iori. Do you think you have any ideas of where Riku is?" Mitsuki asked.