Don't Give Up (On Me)

Tosa, Kochi Prefecture (Outskirts)

“Yeah, thanks. I’ll let the others know. Right. I’ll let you know. Thanks! Later, man.”

Hayato hung up and turned in the passenger seat so he could look at the rest of the group. Tori was sitting behind Toshi, but he was slouched back in the seat and passed out. Everyone knew the man barely slept, so no one bothered him. In fact, the only two who were awake and listening were Eita and Kuroo, who held his sleeping fiance in his arms.

“Oikawa knew who it was before I even finished describing Kyotani,” he said quietly. “He said the man’s harmless, and knew about his obsession with Hitoka since high school.”
“Why didn’t he do anything?” Eita asked.
“What could he do? He graduated and went to university in Tokyo before things started getting worse. Besides, what he did know was that Hitoka’s stalker was just that; a stalker. Harmless.”
“Which is bad enough,” Kuroo chimed in. “Who is it?”
“Shigeru Yahaba.”
“Oh, I knew it!” Tori said loudly as he stretched himself awake. “I knew it.”
“How?? And don’t even say one of your hunches,” Eita said incredulously.
“I mean, it was mostly a hunch,” Tori explained. “But if Kyotani is around, it’s usually because Yahaba is, also.”
“Oh. So it is like…?”
“No, I don’t think so. It’s more like Kyotani used to follow Iwaizumi around like a devoted puppy, and after Seijoh’s third years graduated, he had to have someone to latch onto.”
“Yahaba got the short end of that stick, huh?”
“So to speak. There’s probably more to it, but I found out what I needed to, at the time, so I at least knew that much.”
Tsukishima grumbled from Kuroo’s shoulder, “Rude. Tendo’s too loud, as usual. I wanted to get a little bit of sleep.”
“We’ll get some sleep tonight, babe,” Kuroo said, kissing his love’s head. “Until then, we have a note-fider to meet.”
“We’ll be there in about thirty minutes,” Toshi informed them.
“Good. I need to get out and walk around,” Eita grumbled. And then his stomach followed suit. “Guess it’s time to eat, too.”

Hayato was about to answer when Toshi’s phone rang. Everyone in the van went quiet as Tori reached into Toshi’s pocket for the phone. He held it up and Eita moved to take it from him. They’d never received two calls so close together. Besides, he was feeling like that one friend who was only there to tag along. He needed to do something.

“Hello? Yeah? Wait… WHAT?! Toshi, stop! STOP!”
His friend quickly found a place to pull over, and Eita was out of the van as soon as they stopped.
“I’m sorry, my apologies. You’re where? Shirahige-jinja in Takashima. You’re at Lake Biwa?! You saw her?! Oh, thank god! Yes, yes, we’ll start that way immediately. We’ve just reached Tosa, so it’ll be a good…”
“Five, six hours,” Tori supplied.
“Five or six hours before we get there. Yes, do you know if she’ll be back? I see. What about where they might be keeping her? Oh, no, that’s okay. Hopefully they won’t be too far. Did she give you a message? She did? What did it say?”

The hand holding the phone lowered from his ear, and Kuroo rushed to wrap his arms around Eita, who moaned and swayed, almost falling to his knees. Tsukishima quickly came over and took the phone from his loosened grip.

“Hello? Yes, ma’am he’s fine, or he will be. I’m sorry? Semi Eita. He’s her boyfriend. Yes, the very same! How many of us? There are six. Really? Thank you very much! Yes. We’ll see you when we get there. Thank you!”
He hung up and gave the phone back to Toshi and took his own out. As he did that, he started explaining.
“That was Mika. She’s a shrine attendant and helped Hitoka out when she visited with Yahaba and Kyotani.”
“So, we’re going to Lake Biwa?”
“Yeah, immediately.”
“It’ll be faster if we drive,” Tori told him. “The train will take an hour longer.”
“Got it,” Tsukishima stopped tapping and then changed direction. “We do need to eat something, so I’ll order ahead,” he said. “We can pick it up on the way back out.”
“I’ll call our contact here,” Toshi said as he started dialing. “When Eita is ready, we need to get moving,” he reminded gently. With the phone to his ear, he started talking and got back behind the wheel.
“Mika offered us a place to stay. Once the priests knew the situation, they insisted on helping us.”
“Great! We can be on our way…” Hayato’s voice drifted off as he caught sight of Eita, holding on to Kuroo. “What was her message?” he asked carefully.
“All he’s told me is that she loves him and misses him. He won’t say anything more.”
“Something between them, I guess,” Tori said quietly.

“You mean it? You will?”
“Of course! How could you ever think I’d say no?”
“Great! Come on, I know a place where we can…”
“Wait. You want to do it now? Right now?”
“Well, yeah. Isn’t that the whole point to these things?”
“I mean, it is, and I want to…”
“But?”
“Wouldn’t it be better if our friends were with us, too?”
“I guess.”
“Look at it this way; if we do it now, we’d never hear the end of it from them for not inviting them. Endless teasing for the rest of our lives. And you already have Tori teasing you over a nickname. Since high school.”
“Point made.” He smiled down at her. “Set a date.”
“I already have.”

They were all quiet for a moment, and then Eita calmed himself down, asked for a tissue, and then turned to face them, his eyes burning with fierce determination.
“Hayato, call Oikawa back. He’s closer, and can probably pull a few strings. Tell him to meet us there and bring Iwaizumi, too.”
“Will do,” Hayato already had his phone out and was tapping the number.
“Toshi, Tori, we’ll need the fastest route possible. If there are toll roads, I’ll take care of it.”
“Done.”
“I’ve ordered dinner at a place close to the highway,” Tsukishima said. “All we need to do is pick it up.”
“Great.”
“What do you need me to do?” Kuroo asked.
“Call our note-keeper here, tell her we won’t be making it. Explain the situation to her, and see if she can send the note by snail mail, or something.”
“Okay, anything else?”
“Call Mika back. Get what info we need so everything goes smoothly when we get there.”
“Will do,” he replied. “What are you going to do?”
“I dunno. Supervise?”
“Or, maybe catch a few Z’s.”
“You expect me to sleep now?”
“Well, not right now, but somewhere along the way.”
“We’ll see.”
“Are we ready to go?” Toshi asked, and everyone who wasn’t already in the van jumped in.
“Takashima bound, gentlemen!” Tori said loudly as the van pulled a U-turn and sped back the way they came.

The moonlight drifted in through the window of their cabin near the shore. Her skin glowed in the faint light, her breathing deep and even as she slept. It was in moments like this that he was still amazed that she chose him. He reached up and gently brushed a lock of golden hair off her face and behind her ear, and then gently caressed her face. When he stopped, he looked up and saw her eyes were open, focused on him, and she was smiling. She laid her small hand on the back of his. They moved closer, until they were close enough to kiss. Which he did, slowly, drawing it out, drinking deep, tasting the sweetness of her. Then, he moved lower, to her neck, her shoulders, her chest; lingering enough to hear her sweet moans, and relish the feeling of her fingers through his hair. He drove her crazy as he kissed her abdomen, her hips, her pelvis. The inside of her thighs… he changed direction when he reached her knees and moved back up, teasing her, loving her, until he was as lost in her as she was in him.

Roughly five hours later, in the wee hours of the morning, they arrived at the shrine. The priests and attendants who had been waiting, showed them to the building they’d converted into crash space for the group. It was no surprise to anyone to see that Oikawa and Iwaizumi were already there, sleeping on one of the futons laid out for them.

It took another hour for them to convince Eita not to go looking for Hitoka on his own. They had to go carefully; they couldn’t afford to spook Yahaba into running again, or take their chances that he could snap and actually hurt her. Besides, they all needed a decent night’s sleep, including him, so they could think clearly and act rationally. Eita finally agreed, and again, no one was surprised that he was asleep before his head hit the pillow.