Three brothers arose from their beds, confused and concerned.
Their little brother didn't have a nightmare last night.
While this usually wouldn't be something older siblings would be concerned by, the last time their youngest didn't wake up in a fit in the middle of the night, they found out that he'd been refusing to sleep, period.
Suffice to say, they had ample reason to worry. Especially with today being the last day. The day that had to pass peacefully for the three brothers to stop worrying. Stop being hypervigilant. Stop handling their youngest like glass.
Today was their 14th birthday.
Yuto, Yuri, and Yugo bolted out of their rooms, panic overtaking them.
Please, they thought, let him be okay. Let him be alive.
They searched the whole house. Where was he?
The bathroom? No.
The living room? The kitchen? Nope and no.
The garage? Nothing but bikes and bolts.
The backyard? Grass, flowers, and fruit, but no brother.
He wasn't home.
The brothers ran out the front door. If he wasn't at home, he had to be somewhere else.
"Did he mention having plans today?" Yugo asked. They'd already searched Yuya's favorite park, gymnasium, and coffee shop.
"No, he didn't," Yuto bit out, feeling stressed. In fact, the four of them had promised to spend all day together. While Yuya had eventually figured out why his older brothers were being so protective, and understood where they were coming from, Yuya had never liked feeling caged. Knowing this, his brothers had made a promise. They would spend the next week together, all day, no matter what came up. And after their 14th birthday came and passed, Yuya would have all the space he needed. Just as long as he let them have this.
And Yuya had agreed.
The brothers felt lost. What could have happened? Why did it happen today, of all days? Where could Yuya be?
Searching their memories, the boys tried to figure out what could have happened? What did they miss that lead to them running around town, looking for a little brother who seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
Yugo started hesitantly, "He's been dreaming a lot lately. Like, more than usual."
Yuri nodded. "I think you're onto something, banana head. He usually isn't bombarded by memories when he naps. But lately, he can't go 20 minutes before he's out like a light and caught in a memory. I've been trying to get him to talk about it, but Yuya's been deflecting."
"So, he's been remembering more, and has obviously been stressed out about it." Yuto summarized. "That still doesn't explain where he went and why."
Yuri gasped.
"What if he went up there?" In the direction Yuri was pointing stood their town's tallest building.
"You guys remembered what happened after the Gongenzaka incident, right?" He inquired, "Yuya refused to fly after that. Heck, he refused to leave his room for almost a week! But, no matter how much he denied it after the fact, he had always loved flying."
"And when he stopped," Yugo continued, hand to his chin in contemplation, "anytime he felt the urge, or even just when he needed to be alone..."
Yuto started a brisk pace to the skyscraper. "He'd climb the highest tower in the castle, and watch the clouds."
Their fast paced walk broke into a run.
It took them five minutes to reach the tower, and another ten to sneak around the secretary to the stairs that lead to the roof. It would have taken less, but Yugo is horrible at sneaking, and almost blew their cover to the guards twice.
He was, however, the fastest runner, and so was the one to shove the roof's latched door open, revealing the bright blue sky and the scant few clouds rolling over it.
And there, sitting on the edge of the building, was Yuya. His head was tilted back with his eyes closed, seeming to be basking in the morning sunlight.
The brothers stopped to catch their breath. They hadn't bothered with using the elevator, and they were almost regretting that decision.
Yuto recovered first. "Yuya?" he called over the gentle wind that didn't feel so gentle 50 stories in the air.
They watched as Yuya took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He turned his head, and looked at his brothers gathered around the roof's entrance.
And then he smiled. He smiled a familiar smile. One that the other boys only saw when they were sitting together in a familiar, pearly white expanse.
Yuya glanced up at the sky once again. "There was always one thing the Bridge could never get right." He said, the smile never leaving his face as he looked into each of their eyes, "The clouds were too white. And the sky... the sky was never this blue."
They had to wait the agonizing 10 seconds it took Yuya to swing his legs back onto solid stone. They had to wait the agonizing 5 seconds it took for him to walk far enough away from the ledge.
They waited no more before Yuya was at the bottom of a dog pile that doubled as a group hug.
Yuya laughed, welcoming the familiar weight of familiar arms wrapped around him.
"I'm sorry for worrying you," he said, tears in the corner of his eyes.
"Worth it."
"You owe me a dozen cakes."
"Hm."
Familiar replies, from familiar voices. And there was one thing Yuya couldn't deny.
These three were his brothers, and he wouldn't trade them for this world, or the next.
YOU ARE READING
After Leaving the Bridge
Ficção Geral"Me and Gongenzaka were flying. But then he fell." Many lifetimes after the conclusion of The Bridge Between, Yuya is starting to remember his time in the Bridge Between during his life on Earth, just like his brothers did before him. What his broth...
