Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Six months, for six months Kojiro has been waiting to receive that call. It feels like the best dream or the worst nightmare. ‘Mr. Nanjo Kojiro? We are pleased to inform you that your boyfriend, Sakurayashiki Kaoru, has been located and safely rescued. Please make your way to the police station as quickly as possible to verify his identity.’ He had gotten that call about 30 minutes ago and as soon as it ended he was throwing on a pair of shoes, grabbing his keys, and rushing out the door.

Kojiro drove in a daze, dreaming of this day for what felt like an eternity. And yet now that it was here, it almost didn’t feel real. Since it had happened he had been playing that dreadful day in his head on loop. Kaoru hadn’t been answering his phone after an argument. It seems so trivial now in hindsight. However, it was abnormal for him to ignore him for several hours. It worried him so much that Kojiro had decided to drive to his apartment and check on him. The scene that was laid out in front of him had sent a shiver of fear and panic up his spine. Kaoru’s door had been kicked in, glass littered the floor, and there were drops of blood smeared on the wall. Everything else had been where it was supposed to be, but Kaoru was gone. There was no sign of him. The police were called and it was labeled a missing person case until more details and evidence were found. Except there was nothing for five agonizing months. Until they found a lead, and well, here they are.

Kojiro was snapped out of his thoughts at the realization that he had arrived. He put his car in park, cut the engine, and hopped out. Walking to the front doors was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of his life. Once he reached the top of the steps, he took a deep steadying breath, grabbed the door handle, and walked inside.

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The sound of the door opening had the receptionist popping their head up to see who had entered. A smile spread across her face as she saw Kojiro nervously walking over to the front desk. She turned to face him and saw a mixture of hope and anxiety in his eyes. “Hi! Welcome, what can I help you with today?” Kojiro stood there, staring blankly at the desk for a moment, “Sir?”

The use of that title snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked at the other. His voice was shaky when he started, “Oh… um.. yes! Sorry, my name is Nanjo Kojiro, and I’m here about Sakurayashiki Kaoru?” The receptionist’s eyes lit up at that statement and her demeanor changed from something less professional and more sympathetic and friendly, “ I got a call about 30 minutes ago that….” He swallowed, trying to keep his emotions at bay as he continued, “ That he has been located.” Kojiro smiled as he thought about the statement again.

The receptionist looked at him, “Well we’re so grateful that you’re here Mr. Nanjo, I just need some sort of valid identification to determine your authenticity and then someone will be with you shortly to bring you to him.” Kojiro reach for his license and placed it on the desk, drumming his fingers against it anxiously. A few seconds later she handed the card back to him and spoke, “Alright well that's all I need from you, you can have a seat over there and someone will be out shortly. My name is Honoka, if you have any questions feel free to come and ask me.” After that, she turned around and returned to whatever she was doing before and Kojiro was left to his own devices.

Kojiro decided to take a seat in the waiting area, knee bouncing impatiently as he sat there. He still was in shock that this was even taking place, while also trying to convince himself this was happening. This wasn’t a fever dream, it was going on right now. He felt like sobbing and shouting in happiness. His Kaoru, the love of his life, was alive and safe, and he was going to come home. He tried to keep himself as composed as possible for the sake of everyone else in the room, but inside he was bursting with love. He started thinking about all of the good memories of them together. From big events like dates and nights skating to even smaller things like his laugh and the way, his eyes shimmered whenever he got excited about something.

“Nanjo Kojiro?”

The call of his name snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked up to see what seemed to be a detective searching for him. He stood to his feet and walked over to greet them. “ Nice to meet you, I’m Kojiro but I’d prefer if you just called me Joe.” He held out his hand and the other took the opportunity to shake it.

“ Nice to meet you, Joe, my name is Tanaka Itsuki, I’m the head detective on Mr. Sakurayashiki’s case and will be accompanying you to see him.” Itsuki quickly turned on his heel and started walking towards a door behind the reception desk. Honoka gave him an encouraging smile as he walked past. Seemingly giving him a silent ‘you got this’ as reassurance. Kojiro followed Itsuki through a seemingly never-ending hallway as the detective talked. “So, according to information we’ve received from the cops on the case, Mr. Sakurayashiki was found held captive in a warehouse just outside the city after receiving an anonymous tip. We have reason to believe this was a targeted attack on Mr. Sakurayashiki but still are looking for a concrete suspect,” At this point, he started flipping through a file he held in his hands, “At the moment it seems no other evidence has been found. He was identified on scene,” Itsuki grabbed a picture off the paperclip and handed it to Kojiro who took it with a questioning gaze. What he saw shocked him, but before he could ask anything Itsuki was already talking again, “He was found restrained to the floor with those chains and collar. We had to call fire rescue to cut the binds off him,” Kojiro had to swallow the rising rage in his throat at the sight in front of him, cuffs and shackles were bolted to a concrete wall and floor covered in scratches and dried blood. He wanted to collapse in absolute anguish after seeing the conditions that he was held in. He handed the picture back with a shudder and hugged his arms around his middle.

“How-,” Kojiro cleared his throat before trying again, “How was his condition when you found him?” He wanted to know the answer but at the same time, he didn’t, fearing something life-changing had occurred to him in his time of imprisonment. But still, he persevered and watched as the detective turned to another page in the file and started talking again.

“He was covered in bruises and had lacerations on his left cheek. The main injuries we found were a deep wound on his ribcage and….” Kojiro looked up as the detective stopped and took a deep breath before continuing, “ And signs of sexual assault, which included anal bleeding.”

At that moment Kojiro stopped dead in his tracks, “......what?” Itsuki turned to him quietly and gave him a look of sympathy and pity. He felt absolutely sick to his stomach, this disgusting fuck not only tortured him but sexually assaulted him. Kojiro clapped a hand to his mouth as he tried to stifle a sob. This was the worst he had ever felt and made him more resolute than ever to see Kaoru. “Take me to him now.”

Itsuki nodded before turning around and starting to walk again. “A few things of note before you go in. Kaoru hasn’t said anything since being brought here. He was taken to the hospital for evaluation and was deemed healthy although being emancipated and severely dehydrated. He was released and brought here for observation until he was able to be released into someone’s care. He’s extremely jumpy and has gone through a lot. From his therapist, we know he suffers from cases of anxiety and depression. However, this is more severe now, so please try to be as gentle and quiet as possible when approaching him.

Kojiro soaked in all this new information and tried to compare and mix it with the Kaoru he knows, but it's hard to do so. “I’ll be as careful as I can.” He declares before Itsuki stops in front of a door with a small window by the side. Before the detective can scan his key card and allow them access, Kojiro stops him. “Could I make one request,” Itsuki raises an eyebrow in place of a verbal response, “Am I allowed to go in alone?” The detective looks Kojiro in the eye for a minute before sighing and taking a step back.

“Since you have been verified as one of Kaoru’s trusted people, in this case, you are allowed in alone. However, I will be waiting right outside the door for security purposes once you go in so do not try anything.”

Kojiro nods his head in understanding before Itsuki approaches the door once more. He takes a deep breath, letting his eyes fall closed, holds it for a count then lets it out allowing his eyes to reopen. With that, the door is opened and Kojiro takes a step inside. With a buzz, the door is shut behind him and he takes a minute to look around the room. It’s nothing fancy, as expected by a police headquarters, blank white walls, white tile floors, and a small lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, giving the room a dim glow. There’s a small sink on one side, next to a matching metal desk and chair with a twin bed by the wall, and there, sitting with his arms hanging by his sides and his legs flat on the floor. Is the man that Kojiro has dreamed about seeing for the past six months. Even though his pink hair is longer and matted, his cheeks are hollow, and he’s skinnier than before, it’s unmistakenly him. He makes to rush over and hug him but remembers the detective’s words, slowly he approaches the bed, seeing the far-away look in his dull golden eyes. But there, in that small boxed room, he says the one thing he’s been wanting to say for what feels like an eternity,

“Hey Kaoru, it's been a while hasn’t it?”

Recognition flashes over his features and his eyes widen, but he makes no attempt to move. Almost as if, he’s scared it wasn’t true and that Kojiro wasn’t actually there. His reaction caused the smallest smile to grace the other’s face as he carefully moved to kneel in front of the bed where Kaoru was sitting. Golden orbs trail along his body before stopping on his own maroon eyes. Shock written across his whole demeanor. Kojiro gives him a watery chuckle before speaking again, “I can’t believe you’re here, I thought I’d never see you again,” He slowly moves his hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear. “ I missed you so much, I never stopped looking for you, love.” At that one little word, tears were flooding Kaoru’s eyes as he let out a sob, “Oh Kaoru,” Kojiro sobs as he brings his hands up to wipe away Kaoru’s tears. Before he can blink, a body knocks into him, grappling on as if they were to let go he would disappear. Kojiro places an arm around his waist and grabs Kaoru into his lap, hugging him impossibly closer. At that, one word is sobbed into his chest.

“K-Kojiro”

He brings a hand up to stroke pink tresses and mumbles a few simple words, “You’re here Kaoru, welcome home.”

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Hey everyone! So I know its been quite a bit since I last posted a chapter! And I am so so sorry for that! My life has been really hectic recently and I just can't catch a break, so I thought I'd update you guys on what's been happening. First and foremost I'm gonna start by saying that no! This story is not being abandoned or being put on hiatus. However, with that being said I don't really know when I will be able to be posting stuff more regularly again. Hopefully, in the next month or so, but with that there's a lot of stuff that's been happening in this time frame since the last time I posted. I have been trying to write different characters and story plots along with using different shows and sources. Writer's block set in for a few days cause I would just sit in front of my laptop and force myself to write in order for me to be able to post something. But, I had to get myself out of that unhealthy mindset of people pleasing, I always will appreciate the support and will adjust my writings based on how the reaction is to certain choices for plot and so on. But my life has just been pretty hectic since the last time I posted and it has just not stopped. My sister moved back to college so I was reeling with that for about the first week or two of August. Then it was school prep and the first day of school for me as I started my first year at the college level. The environment shift and workload have been an adjustment for sure but it was okay for the first few weeks. But I just didn't get a chance to stop and breathe and even think about shifting some focus back on writing because as soon as I thought I had a night break to work, another assignment would just pop up it seemed. Then in the last week or so my mental health has been struggling pretty badly. The stress of school just got to be too much and I broke down so my mood wasn't superb. As that started recovering a little to the point where I could think about processing everything I found out one of my best friends moved out of state and never said anything about it. (I've spoken with her since and everything is cleared up and forgiven). But of course, that's not the end of it haha oh no no no. A few days ago was just one of the shittiest days I've had in quite a while, and the cherry on top of that shitty sundae was my boyfriend broke up with me (yay me). It has been a week I'm really not gonna lie about that. But, I've been working with trying to start talking with a therapist about it all and of course, the support of my friends and family is amazing. So yeah! I just thought I'd update you guys about it all. I'm gonna attempt to start writing again this weekend and working on chapter 3 and pre-planning for chapter 4. As well as maybe working on some one-shot pieces to post in between that, no promises but we'll see (I promise they're not all matchblossom). I also wanted to say AHHHHHHHH season 2 of Sk8 AND an OVA?! I'm in heaven! I wanted to post a new chapter and talk about my excitement but that didn't happen. Hehe, well! That's how I've been doing so far! Sorry, this update is so long, it was longer than I planned it to be but there was a lot that needed to be talked about! Anyway! I love you all! Thank you so much for your support and love! Drop a purple heart if you read this through to the end haha! (You don't have to) ANYWAY! I'm rambling so yeah! Take care and remember you are stunning! Bye bye!