Work Text:
Kou woke up. Not in his bed. Not in Mitsuba's. The ground was hard. And shaking. As if he were in a car. But that couldn't be. He was just with Mitsuba. They were together, and he was just leaving from his place. And then he was here. He heard a noise coming from what he assumed was the driver's seat.
"Hello, brother".
The day had been good. School was slow, as usual, but even more so due to Kou going to go meet Mitsuba today. He had no presents to bring him, but to keep him company while he was recovering from what Teru had done to him was good enough for him. He saw someone following him as he approached Mitsuba's place, and that freaked him out slightly, but he assumed it might be him thinking of Teru being around while he went to visit Mitsuba. Teru hadn't been seen even since 12 days ago at the poolside. Kou figured Teru would do one of 3 things. Either he would:
- Turn himself into the authorities for assault and battery and be taken to prison.
- Hide out at his house for a while before being busted there and taken to prison.
- To flee town on a motorcycle or car.
Kou had come to the conclusion that he took path 3, and was long gone, only to return if arrested. Although he did hear a few days ago that Teru had been spotted in town. Kou brushed that off as rumors, or people seeing things. Just like he had today. Oh no. But it couldn't really be him, could it. No, his brother would never stalk him around town with him almost being noticed before he disappeared again. Would he? Kou stopped and thought about that for a couple minutes before moving along with no answer. He didn't want to believe it, but it was becoming quite likely that it was true. He came to a crossing on a street near Mitsuba's pad, and saw who he thought was Teru turn the corner, but when he turned the same one, since it was also on the way, no one else was there. At this point, Kou was extremely worried about either his mental health, or the safety of the people around him. He hurried to Mitsuba's place. And that's when he saw him. Teru was moving the opposite direction from where Kou was going, and seemed to have already done what he needed to do. Kou hurried to the door, knocking upon it with extreme force. Mitsuba opened the door, and seemed very happy to see Kou, until he saw the look on his face.
"Did you see, um... him?" Mitsuba asked as they sat down. He was just as nervous as Kou, if not more and he didn't even know if it was about Teru.
"I think so, but I can't be 100% sure". Kou tried being optimistic, "We'll just have to be on the lookout for him, and besides, we've got each other, and I think that's enough to take care of him."
"That's one of your smoother lines," Mitsuba chuckled.
"Well, I've been practicing y'know?" Kou looked out the window, checking that Teru wasn't there, "I've gotta get myself some experience in relationships, and there's no one else better that I could think of then myself". Kou and Mitsuba sat and talked for a while and got their minds off of Teru.
"...Well, recently, I went to the record store to get something else, and I had been reading online about mixing and stuff like that, and I've noticed that mono records sound more fuzzy...". As Mitsuba was saying this, Kou saw someone walking by the door. He was stunned for a few seconds "...but sound better over speakers, while stereo records sound better if you record them to a computer and listen back on headphones, so I'm thinking-".
"WAIT!". Mitsuba turned around, only catching a glimpse of who they thought was Teru. They ran outside, and that person turned around. Unless Teru had invested heavily in plastic surgery over those 12 days, it was not him. So, they went back inside, relieved, and Mitsuba continued the author's thoughts on records that only he cares about, and bore the readers.
"So, tomorrow?" Mitsuba asked.
"Yep, I'll be sure to come over again, and I'll let you know if I spot the fugitive anytime soon". It was one of those things that wasn't very funny but you still laughed because the only other option was awkward silence. So, Kou hugged Mitsuba one more time, although they hadn't kissed yet. They were waiting for a special occasion to kiss. It's got to be one to remember. When Kou stepped out the door, he only took a few steps before a black bag was placed over his head.
And here we are, back at the hook of this fic.
"Teru?!" Kou yelled, "Did you do this?!", he was both scared and absolutely livid.
"No shit, Kou" Teru said, jokingly, "I called you my brother not 5 seconds ago."
"Look, bitch , I'm not in the mood for jokes, you just kidnapped me,"
"Maybe I did"
"What is that even supposed to mean?" As he was saying this, Kou realized something. He still had his phone in his pocket, and even had service. He knew that Teru would be able to tell if he called the police, and since he could really see anything, he started audio recording.
"Whatever you want it to," Kou could feel Teru's smile in that sentence and he hated the feeling he got when he realized it.
"Your charm has run out. Everyone knows what you did to Mitsuba-"
"That puny supernatural? How do you even know of him? And what do you mean by 'what I did to him' the guy's been dead for half a year!"
"Didn't you notice him breathing and bleeding". Teru went silent when he said this. "You knew he was alive, he told me the day after that you had been stalking him"
"Who are you to talk to me about supernaturals? I'm 3 years older than you, and I've got a hell of a lot more experience with them than you do."
"You're just bluffing to get around the fact that you tried to kill someone ."
"Look, I didn't want this. I thought I could make it alone after that, but that wasn't me." Kou felt like he had heard this somewhere before, "I went through all these changes, and I looked back and I just couldn't recognize myself. I needed you. And what do you do? You throw it all back at me. You tell me this and that. Well frankly, I don't give a damn anymore about what you think." It was at that moment the back of the van flew open. They weren't going too fast, as Teru hadn't driven much and was nervous behind the wheel but it was enough to make it hurt when Kou hit the ground. And that's when he started running. They were on a highway, so he scrambled to get off the road. Teru noticed that Kou had gotten out, but had driven too far to try and stop him now.
As Kou was running he finally stopped the record and called the police. He told them about what had happened, and then about Mitsuba 12 days earlier. They were there in 5 minutes although Teru had a 2 minute head-start to get away from them. One car stopped to get Kou, who identified what Teru was driving, and then the chase was on. Kou texted Mitsuba to tell him that was going to be okay since the police were going to arrest Teru. The police he was in drove him back to the station for interrogation. Kou told them everything he knew about Teru and Mitsuba's "interaction", and also played the recording he got from inside the car. They didn't have many questions after the tape was played, but did say this,
"It must be hard to have to talk against your brother like this. It'll also have to be the public reveal that super naturals do in fact exist, because otherwise prosecutors could have him plead insanity."
"It's certainly difficult for me to say this, but he's been on a decline ever since I started hanging out with a ghost and a girl who works for him, and I think it may be one of the main reasons he did this."
"That's probably correct, a perceived betrayal can do that to a person. Especially someone having to deal with the fantastical on a daily basis. Well, you're free to leave now, unless there's anything else you want to say."
"All I've got left to say is that I expected more of him. It's also a shame that he did this since, and I'd like you not to tell anyone, Mitsuba and I have been dating for 18 days."
"You two have been dating since a day after he came back to life?"
"We made it official after a night we spent together the day of him coming back, so 19 days if you count that."
"Well, my lips are sealed, kid."
"Well, I'll be going now" and with that, Kou walked out the door of the interrogation room, down the steps of the police station, and walked directly to Mitsuba's place. He knocked on the door once, and when he went to knock a 2nd time he missed, since Mitsuba had opened the door in the time between.
"Kou..." Mitsuba had both the most joy Kou had ever seen a person have in his voice, with all the sorrow that having someone you care about deeply be kidnapped. They embraced in the doorframe. And, at last they kissed. It felt like it lasted forever, and they wanted it to. Neither of them wanted to let go of each other, not after what had happened. They cried in each other's arms afterward, forever wondering how their luck hadn't run out with the situations they had been in. They sat down and talked for hours until the morning came. Kou ran back to his place when the sun came up to grab his stuff he needed for school, since all of that story took place on one Wednesday. The love they had has overcome yet another obstacle by the world, and they were doing better than ever, although Mitsuba still had a bit of a limp. And even with that, they knew they could face anything bigger or smaller than that together.
Together again.