Don't Give Up (On Me)

Oda, Shimane Prefecture

“This is where you found the note?” Kuroo asked the man, who shook his head. They were standing in front of a nondescript home in a residential neighborhood.
“I must apologize. My mother is the one who found it,” he explained, pointing to a little old lady sitting in their car, window open.
“It’s fine. We’re just glad you called the number she wrote on it,” Tsukishima added with a grin.
“She almost threw it away, but then noticed a bit of the little doodle, so she opened it and found the rest of the note.”

The man rocked from side to side, clearly curious, but not sure if he should pry any further. Behind Kuroo, Eita leaned against the van, while Tori sat inside, bent over and arms resting on his knees. He was watching everything closely, so of course he looked menacing. Eita gave his shoulder a shove and Tori straightened up. Better, but not much. Toshi stood at ease in front of the van, and Hayato sat in the passenger seat. No, none of them looked menacing at all, he thought. He felt himself smirk.

He was about to join Kuroo and Tsukishima when a couple of teenagers came pelting out of the house across the street, front door banging shut behind them, and their mother hollering after them. A boy and girl, both with a shock of orange hair, and judging by the close resemblance, twins. Both of them stopped in the middle of their group, heads swiveling between himself and Kuroo. The girl’s eyes lit up, and she whispered to her brother. Both of them grabbed their phones, and Eita jumped into action.

“Hey! Sorry, I know you really want to take pictures, but could you not?”
“Why not? Shoyo, our friends will never believe us! Tell him we need pics!” The girl was way too excited to listen. The boy, however, seemed to pick up on Eita’s plea.
“Natsu, they aren’t here for fun,” he said gently, even if he was just as curious as the man behind him.
“No, we aren’t here for fun,” Eita confirmed. “Someone was taken from me, and we’re looking for her.”
Natsu looked at him, putting her phone back in her pocket. Shoyo followed suit. She turned to her brother, and neither of them spoke, but you could just see them communicating.
“You’re looking for that lady, aren’t you?” Natsu asked. “The pretty blonde lady you brought out on stage during the concert in Kobe. The one whose picture is all over your website, and Mr Kuroo’s, too.”
“Yeah,” he replied, his throat tightening.
“Have you seen her?” Tsukishima asked, taking a few steps toward them. “Her, or anyone that may have been with her?”
“Kei, don’t scare them,” Kuroo chided, noticing how the kids backed away a few steps. This time, it was the boy who recognized Kuroo first. Unlike his sister, he kept his phone in his pocket.
“We didn’t see her,” he said carefully, eyeing Tsukishima as if he’d attack them at any moment.
“But we did see two guys,” she added, more to her brother than to them.
“We knew they weren’t from around here, so asked them if they were just moving in.”
“The tennis ball head guy was scary. He didn’t say anything, just growled like a dog.”

Tori started laughing from the van, and Tsukishima had to turn away to hide his amusement. The kids, and the man they met first, looked understandably confused. The man’s mother was cackling, too. Eita fought his own amusement and looked at Kuroo, who snorted and managed to hold in his own laughter. A feat in itself.

“You said there was another one?” Kuroo asked, his voice shaky from the effort of not laughing. “Can you describe him?”
“Light brown swoopy hair,” Natsu replied. “About as tall as tennis ball head. Brown eyes.”
“He seemed a whole lot nicer than the other guy, too,” Shoyo added.
“Can you think of anything else?”
“Just that tennis ball head was almost always outside the door, or walking around the building, as if he was looking for something. The other guy kept going in and out, sometimes with groceries, and sometimes he’d just sit on the stairs for a while.”
“Great! Thank you so much!”
“No problem, Mr Kuroo! It was really nice meeting you both!” Shoyo grabbed his sister’s hand and started to lead her back to their house.
Eita stopped them. “Do you guys still want a picture?”
“Nah. It’s okay,” Shoyo replied with a sunny smile. “You said not to, so…”
“Let me see your phones, if you don’t mind?”

Shoyo and Natsu both handed over their phones, and Eita went to stand next to Kuroo. They took a picture of them together, and then one each with the kids. Handing back the phones, he reached out and shook their hands with a little bow.

“Thank you so much for your help.”
“No problem!” Shoyo replied happily.
“I hope you find your lady friend soon!” Natsu said with a smile that shone just as brightly as her brother’s. They ran back, yelling for their parents to come see their new pictures.
Eita looked over at Kuroo, Tsukishima, and the man who was watching everything. He walked up to the elder, bowed, and shook his hand.
“Thank you very much, sir.”
“You’re welcome. I really hope you find your sweetheart,” he replied with a knowing grin.
“Young man! I want to see a picture of your girlfriend!” the man’s mother called from her seat in their car.
Eita took out his phone and pulled up his favorite picture of Hitoka. Turning it so she could see, he handed it over to the lady.
“She’s beautiful,” she said quietly. “I can see why you love her so much.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Eita whispered. The lady handed back his phone and then took hold of his hand. “You’ll find her, son. Don’t worry.”
“Thank you, ma’am. I hope so.”
“Not too much longer, now,” the lady said again. “Don’t give up.”
“No, ma’am. Never.”
Her attention snagged on something and she waved. “That young man that looks like a mountain. He’s trying to get your attention.”

Eita turned to see Toshi waving him over. He was on the phone again; Kuroo and Tsukishima were on their way over to listen in. Eita thanked the lady again, bowed to her and her son, and then jogged over to the van.

“They were in Tosa,” Tsukishima filled him in. “The lady who found the message said they just left this morning. She saw all three of them.”
Eita nodded, unable to trust his voice. Tosa wasn’t that far away. They were still chasing her, but maybe this will get them closer. He looked back at the two elders in the car, who waved before they pulled out onto the street and left.
“Did she see which way they were headed?” Hayato asked.
“Yes, thank you ma’am,” Toshi was saying. He nodded at Hayato, acknowledging his question. “May I ask if you happened to see which way they were headed?” He shook his head. “Thank you, ma’am, you’ve been a big help. I appreciate you calling. Yes, we hope to find her soon, too. May I ask if you would meet us? Yes, thank you, ma’am. We’ll be there soon. Thank you. Have a good day.” He hung up. “She said her street runs north to south, and they drove toward the north end. They turned west, but she said they could be anywhere by now.”
“What was in the message, Toshi?” Eita asked, craving to hear that Hitoka had drawn her little doodle again.
“Help me, please! Call this number. I miss you.”
Kuroo’s arm landed on his shoulders. “We’re closer to them now. If we’re lucky, they might not get too far ahead of us.”
“It’s almost a five hour drive,” Tori added. “And, I hate to say it, but it sounds like they’re headed for Tokyo, if they keep with their coastal pattern. We’d lose them for sure if they went there.”
“Let’s get in the van and talk about what we need to do,” Tsukishima interrupted. “For once, time might actually be working with us instead of against us.”
“Right.”
“The good thing is, we know one of her abductors,” Tori said proudly. “If tennis ball head isn’t Kyotani, I’ll eat my hat.”
“You don’t wear hats,” Toshi deadpanned from the driver’s seat.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Tori replied sardonically. “Any guesses on the other guy?”
“Yeah,” Kuroo grumbled from his place beside Tsukishima. “But we need to call Oikawa for confirmation.”
“Ugh, that guy?” Tori complained. “Do we have to?”
“Yes, unfortunately. He’d be able to tell us if Hitoka’s abductor is the same man who’s been stalking her since high school.”
“I’ll call him,” Hayato offered. “Either of you have his number?”