Taken Away

[2 years later - Present Day]

It was a beautiful, crisp, autumn day: cloudless, cerulean blue skies, a slight breeze just enough to rustle the leaves on the trees. Kei, who had just finished prepping dinner, decided to take the dogs out for a walk. Normally, he would just let them loose in the backyard, but he just couldn’t stay inside anymore.

It shouldn’t be too much trouble.

The dogs had been trained to walk slowly.

He had his inhaler in his pocket.

It shouldn’t be too much trouble.

Grabbing his keys, and the nearest jacket off the coat rack, he hooked the dogs up to their leashes, and started off. They walked at a stately pace, careful not to go too fast. While the day was crisp, the sun still felt so good, so warm. Kei wanted to raise his arms and stretch, but he didn’t.

They were rounding the corner of the block, heading back home, when the dogs suddenly started barking and pulling at their leashes. Kei tried to calm them down, but they weren’t listening. They may have been trained to walk slowly when on the leash, but they were still prone to distractions. They were still young; still puppies, to be exact.

They pulled at their leashes, and Kei, unable to hold on, let them go. They didn’t live on too busy of a street, but it wasn’t a dead end. He knew he shouldn’t run after them, knew that they’d come back eventually. But… he was afraid they’d get run over, and the kids loved these two, furry, boneheads. They all did.

Kei started jogging, trying to catch up to the dogs. He could still see them, so surely he could reach them without mishap. He hadn’t had a major attack since last year. He wasn’t being too strenuous. It was just jogging.

But then, one of the dogs saw him, and started running back, leash trailing behind him. The other gave chase. They ran pell mell, and ran out into the street, right in front of a car.

The car hit the breaks; Kei screamed.

Not realizing they nearly escaped death, the dogs kept running.

But Kei… he felt the attack coming on, and it wasn’t a little one.

Oh god, no.

He fumbled for his inhaler, pulled it out of his pocket, and brought it up to his mouth. It didn’t work.

Oh god, no, not now.

Kei shook it. Nothing. It was empty. He could’ve sworn he picked up the full one. Stumbling, he made it to his front yard.

Oh god, no, not now, please.

He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t get air. He had to get inside; there was another inhaler by the door.

Tetsu…

His legs gave out, he fell to the ground. His inhaler fell out of his hand. The dogs came up to him, sniffing him, licking him. He could hear them whining. He could feel them laying down beside him.

Tetsu...

His vision went black. He couldn’t move anything. One of the dogs started barking, the other started keening. That was the last thing he heard.

Tetsu. Akira. Jun. Megumi.

Keiji. Kou. Chika. Kaoru.

Mom. Ni-san.

Tetsu… I love you.

~*~*~

Akira, Jun, Chika, and Kaoru all waited at their bus stop, waiting for Megumi’s bus to arrive. It wasn’t long, just another fifteen minutes, and then she was jumping off the stairs onto the ground.

“Race you home, Juni!” she yelled as she took off home. Naturally, he took off after her. As did the others.

But the closer to home they got, the more they realized something was wrong. The dogs were barking and howling, which they almost never did. Megumi, who reached their home first, stopped in her tracks.

“DADDY!!” she screamed. The boys caught up to her and they saw what she did.

Jun raced to his sister, who was trying desperately to give their dad his medicine with the inhaler she had. He wasn’t taking it; he wasn’t even moving. She was panic-crying, and Jun pulled her away, holding her tight.

Akira immediately pulled his phone out and called the emergency number for an ambulance. His voice shook slightly, but he was able to talk, to answer questions, to tell them to please hurry and save his dad.

Chika grabbed the dogs and pulled them inside the house. He ran to the kitchen and found dinner prepped. He didn’t think anyone would be able to eat, but he started finishing what Uncle Kei had started.

Kaoru started making calls. He called his dads first, holding it together just long enough to tell them what happened. They were on their way. Hanging up with them, he called his Uncle Tetsu…

~*~*~

Tetsuro was in a meeting, when his phone buzzed. He tried to ignore it, to finish his presentation, but when it didn’t stop, he excused himself, and went out of the meeting room. He took his phone out and looked at the ID.

“Kaoru? Why is he calling me?” he asked himself, swiping to answer his nephew.

“Hey Kaoru…” he started saying, but all he heard was Megumi crying. “Kaoru, what’s wrong?”

“Please come home, Uncle Tetsu,” Kaoru said, his voice shaky and small. “Please.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s Uncle Kei… he…” the boy’s voice choked up.

“K-Kaoru?” His heart stuttered.

“DADDY COME HOME!!” Megumi screamed. “DADDY ISN’T MOVING! HE’S NOT WAKING UP!”

“Please come home, Uncle Tetsu…” and the phone disconnected, but not before he heard sirens.

He turned back to the door, found the curious gazes of his coworkers on him, most of whom already looked sympathetic. It must’ve shown on his face, in his eyes; worry, fear. Mostly fear. They may have also overheard Megumi screaming through the phone.

“Why are you even still here?” his boss said. “Get out of here. We’ll take care of everything.”

Tetsu didn’t even know if he’d thanked him, just turned and ran. Ran as fast as he could. He dodged people, barely apologizing if he accidentally ran into someone. He took the stairs; no elevator moved as fast as he needed to go. Five flights of stairs. His feet barely hit the risers. He didn’t care. His only thought, only mission, was to get home.

But even so, once he reached the curb to hail a cab, a familiar vehicle pulled up. Within seconds, he was in the passenger seat, shaking and anxious to go.

“He’s been taken to the hospital,” Keiji’s quiet voice told him as they pulled away.

“What happened?”

“Ask me when we get there,” Keiji said, and Tetsu noticed that his brother was barely holding it together. “Akira will meet us at the hospital. He went with the ambulance. Kou stayed home with the others.”

“Keiji…”

“Don’t. Please,” his brother pleaded. “If you lose it now, so will I, and I’m not about to wreck getting us to the hospital.”

Tetsu nodded. Keiji reached over and grabbed his hand. The rest of the ride was in stunned silence.