MAD HATTER. haitani rindou

O2O

AUTHOR

‍ ‍ ‍"i'm going to cry." you stated, slowly covering your mouth with your hands.

‍ ‍ ‍"hmm?" the purple-haired dropped the knife, placing the apple back to its place before walking to your figure. "what's wrong? " he asked softly while rubbing your arms up and down as a comforting gesture, trying to soothe you as much as possible, which did nothing but cause tears to gather in your eyes once more, though his gaze didn't stray off of your eyes that were now filled with tears. he tried to wipe away the tears with his thumb before you could stop him from doing so. he was quick to wrap his warm arms around you and comfort you gently, rubbing your back in circles.

‍ ‍ ‍"i... don't like the hospital gown, it's not pink..." you spoke in between tears, sniffling every now and then while shaking your head no at his question. you just wanted to cry again when you heard his chuckle. he seemed amused by how much you were freaking out about this instead of the bruises around your body, you looked so scared. there was a smug look on his face, despite knowing what was going to happen next. "it doesn't feel right, and stop laughing!"

‍ ‍ ‍"you look cute."

‍ ‍ ‍"rindou, you're being mean." you sob, gently squeezing his hands in response to what he had said. the latter only chuckled again. you turn away from him with sharp eyes before you start to whine about something trivial that would only annoy him even more. he sighs, taking your hand once again and rubbing his thumb against the back of it soothingly. you let go of his grasp in favour of running the pads of your fingers over his palm as he continues to talk softly to you.

‍ ‍ ‍"alright, alright. sorry, what do you want for lunch? i suppose kokonoi will arrive in a minute, i'll leave the room for a moment and promise me that you'll stay safe." the purple-haired male placed your hands on the soft white fabric, feeling the warmth underneath it. he smiled at you reassuringly, and then he was gone, leaving you to stare into space with a vacant expression. not only he forgot to say goodbye, but also forgot the fact that you weren't allowed to eat.

‍ ‍ ‍with a sigh, rindou turned his head to the window. beautiful sun rays were hitting right on his figure while the sweet familiar aroma of the fast-food restaurant traveled through his nostrils and the sound of the radio was echoing through his ears. the world outside was beautiful. the sky was blue, a little bit of fog was still clinging around but it wouldn't last long. he could already feel that daybreak had just arrived. the birds could be seen around his peripheral view, they chirped and laughed happily in their small nests and the wind was blowing gently against them from afar. even if the weather was a tad too hot and humid for him to appreciate it, the male couldn't help himself but smile as he watched some people enjoying the beautiful scenery outside and some couples walking by hand in each other's arms— wondering how their screams would sound like.

‍ ‍ ‍his peaceful thoughts were interrupted by a single phone call, vibrating inaside his pocket. he pulled it out of his pocket only to realize it was not the one ringing but rather a phone call for a lot of times and it was calling him for no reason, but it sounded urgent. the male frowned slightly, putting down his drink and picking up the phone, answering the call. "hello?"

‍ ‍ ‍the voice on the other line said something but it wasn't very clear so he asked for clarification, "hey, kokonoi. what did you say?‍ i can't quite underatand what you were trying to say." ‍‍he couldn't make anything out since there was noise everywhere, he had to move away his ear a little bit to listen carefully to the other person, but it didn't take more than a minute or so for him to understand what was happening. his eyebrows furrowed immediately once he heard that the name 'y/n' was mentioned in that particular case— the noise seemed to be coming out of a big crowd.

‍ ‍ ‍"how long have you been away? i just arrived at the hospital."

‍ ‍ ‍"for about, ten minutes? thought you're already there." as rindou spoke, his mind was already thinking about all sorts of ways this situation could possibly go wrong. "you sounded distress, is there something wrong?"

‍ ‍ ‍"fuck, there was a traffic." kokonoi's tone of voice sounded worried, the purple-haired male could already sense his discomfort over the phone. the sound was much louder now so it was easy for him to hear the other man's heartbeat.

‍ ‍ ‍"why'd you call?"

‍ ‍ ‍"y/n's gone."

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‍ ‍ ‍"what do you mean she's gone?!"

‍ ‍ ‍"i arrived, and she's not there anymore! i waited for her to go back for five minutes, but i never even saw a sign of her. y/n can't possibly be taking a walk because the doctor told her not to leave the bed due to her broken ribs." the white-haired spoke, his voice shaking with fury and worry whilst trying to mask his frustration. he sounded desperate in an obvious attempt to make the other boy believe him as well as try to calm himself down and calm down the situation. "i swear, something must have happened to her! but, look what i found."

‍ ‍ ‍placing the small earrings on rindou's palm, whilst the purple-haired male held his hand out. he picked up the object to analyze it, eyes growing wide with alarm. they looked at each other again in silent understanding as they both tried to comprehend the reality of the matter. "you don't say..." rindou mumbled while holding the item, looking at the earrings with the utmost concentration. the earrings were identical to the bonten's logo with a hook clip attached in the middle. they could see that it wasn't expensive, but looked too much like they'd been custom made just for the occasion. "y/n doesn't wear things like this, she hates jewelries. there are only two people who are into this, but my hunch are never correct, so we might be able to use this as evidence."

‍ ‍ ‍"i'm afraid this is no coincidence..." the black haired male mumbled as he took over the earring his comrade had collected. a deep feeling of dread filled the male, and his expression grew stern once more. "i think that the same person was behind all these happenings that has been happening around you— there's one thing i am certain about. you're gonna have to watch yourself. while rindou was busy taking care of y/n, takeomi and i haven't gotten any leads yet either, but from how i've seen this whole thing, it looks like it's connected to the murder that took over years ago." kakucho added in response, his tone was solemn and serious, almost fearful.

‍ ‍ ‍"why do you say so?" rindou asked, his brows furrowing together in concern and confusion.

‍ ‍ ‍it didn't sound very encouraging, especially since it was coming from kakucho. the male knew that he needed to act fast if he wanted answers, but he also knew that if there weren't any clues about what had happened before then, that they might be in danger of losing them. the purple-haired didn't like the idea of being stuck between a rock and a hard place, but right now he needed to get a handle on this situation immediately. "it makes sense that someone would want to kidnap y/n. after all, she is exposed to the eyes of the enemies. as i was digging for y/n's information, i stumbled into a lot of things, some i wasn't sure about, others we had to be wary about. it wasn't that long before i found out that she was the biological twin sister of klei, the past lover of sanzu and the one who he killed two years ago. it's too much to be a coincidence for sanzu to date someone who have the same face, body shape, hair color and eye colors. it's like he wants the both of them to suffer. he wants them to be miserable, for him to watch and laugh at how their pain feels. the pinkette has always been obsessed with the shiba family ever since klei passed away. the discovery caught me off guard, but sanzu's behavior toward them, didn't." kakucho explained, a hint of irritation laced through his voice before fixing his gaze intently onto rindou's figure as if hoping that the latter would trust his words. the male could only look back to meet the man's gaze, frowning deeply upon hearing his analysis. he knew all too well of his own comrade's behavior— and he hated it.

‍ ‍ ‍"that sounds dangerous... how did your investigation lead you towards it?" the purple haired questioned, concerned.

‍ ‍ ‍"i simply looked for connections, it wasn't that hard. i knew exactly where to start when i first laid my eye's on sanzu's current lover but the strange thing is that, y/n seems to be hiding something. she isn't included on any highschool nor college year book, no any information on her in the school database, no social medias, and no friends aside from her current friends today. it was as if she never existed. there wasn't anything she left behind, nothing that anyone or anything else could point out in relation to her," the black-haired male spoke, a dark tint appearing on his usually calm features. the way he said it sent chills through rindou's spine.

‍ ‍ ‍"this will get worse if you keep letting the situation run its course, and if i may say so, it's already bad enough that y/n is missing, without the culprit causing all this chaos as well." ran appeared out of nowhere, leaning against the doorframe of the hospital with a small smirk on his face. he folded his arms together, his expression darkening ever so slightly when he looked at the three boys who hadn't noticed his entrance. "i'll keep my eye out, but i doubt we'll find anything here in the hospital."

‍ ‍ ‍"it's better to know exactly where the danger lies before acting, even if it means losing our chance to find her." the purple-haired continued, glaring at his older brother with determination and anger. his fists tightened, as his nails dug deep grooves onto his skin with every breath he took, the pain shooting straight through his body in a way that was unlike anything he'd felt before. despite the fact that he didn't look very interested to have the situation, the others knew he wasn't going to give up until they found out what was going on. he had to, for your sake.

‍ ‍ ‍"kokonoi, could you track y/n's phone? i figured she'd have it on her." the older haitani spoke in a serious manner, his tone still grave, as though it was his friend's job to do everything to keep you safe. the white-haired nodded with a solemn expression on his face, leaving the room once more to gather more information on the situation. the moment he shut the door behind him, the boys were engulfed into heavy silence once again. kakucho sat down beside the other males while rindou stood in front of them in the middle, his arms crossed tightly over his chest as his eyes remained fixated on the floor. a sense of hopelessness surrounded all three of them, knowing that they couldn't help each other. ran placed his free hand over the smaller male's shoulder and pulled him closer to himself, making sure to put as much warmth and comfort in his touch as possible. kakucho understood the younger male's feelings of guilt, fear, and worry. he felt like the worst kind of friend. this was something that no amount of logic could change, and they had no choice but to let things play out the way they wished it would go. the air was tense as it stayed that way for the next five minutes.

‍ ‍ ‍eventually, footsteps could be heard approaching the trio.

‍ ‍ ‍the door slammed open once again to a certain long haired male with white color, running quickly with a determined expression. his steps faltered once he realised how quiet the room had gotten, "i managed to track her phone while on my way here. normally, it would take a bit of time to pinpoint her location, however, it seemed to be easier than usual. the patients and nurse seemed to be surprised by my presence, the doctors too. we should get going before they call the cops, they heading towards the akashi kaikyo bridge."

‍ ‍ ‍"let's go."

‍ ‍ ‍"fuck you, hajime."

‍ ‍ ‍"such a pain in the ass."

‍ ‍ ‍as the four of them were gathered together inside the bugatti la voiture noire that ran owns, the group stared outside at the road before them. the car moved along the road in an uneventful manner, giving everyone the illusion that they were on an ordinary vacation, enjoying themselves and enjoying the scenery that was passing by but, it wasn't like that at all. there was too much weighing on everyone's minds, the atmosphere was just far too thick. none of them talked, neither did they dare to make eye contact with each other in any case, seemed to be focused on their own world. rindou couldn't help but worry for the you that was currently in the hands of danger, his mind raced at the possibilities of what could have happened to her and he wondered what kind of harm could come from her exposure. he hoped that it wouldn't be too severe, the male didn't wanted to lose you. at least, not now. it wasn't that long before his cellphone started vibrating through his hands, breaking him from his thoughts. rindou's attention snapped away from the view outside of the window, glancing at the caller id screen that displayed onto the screen. he took it into his palm and pressed a button to answer it as soon as he got the notification.

‍ ‍ ‍"who?"

‍ ‍ ‍"do you want to save this girl? then, find us and don't fail us, we're watching you. very closely." the purple-haired couldn't tell who it was, due to the caller not using their original voice. they sounded distorted, robotic almost, yet it was obvious that there was a hint of malice laced within their words. the male's brows furrowed slightly. the threat was clear, they meant everything they said. the male turned his head away for a split second to glance at the rest of the group, who also noticed how odd the phone call was. the sound of cars whizzing around them was loud enough to fill in the gaps in the conversation, yet there was nothing except silence coming from the other side of the phone. "we'll keep her hidden as long as it takes, and then she'll be ours. don't try anything stupid."

‍ ‍ ‍"you can kill me and be done with it if you want, but i'm not scared with your threats. fucking burn in hell, you vile criminal scum." rindou replied back, lowering his gaze to stare at his clenched fist, his knuckles turning pale as a result of how tightly he was grasping the phone. his entire demeanor changed from the confident man that he had been before and he sighed deeply, closing his eyes tightly before placing a gentle hand on his forehead. this whole ordeal was getting way to complicated for the purple-haired male. it was starting to hurt him.

‍ ‍ ‍there was a soft chuckle on the other end of the line, followed by the sound of familiar whimpers and screams, which grew louder the more he listened— it made male's stomach churn painfully. "how rude, you actually are quite arrogant for someone as weak as you but, then again... perhaps i should thank you, for making things easier for me. you're a valuable asset, after all. you're my main source of entertainment. you can take your time looking for this little girl, i'll just have a little fun with this girl right now."

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