Tetsuo Amaya stood in the front window of his apartment in Hirameki, the rain pouring down from the sky. The TV was on, as it usually was, and he heard the man on the TV speak evenly about the disappearances that have been happening. He looked back out the window, worrying about his mother. He didn't know what he would do if she were to go missing; Tetsuo had already lost one parent (although, admittedly, losing his father wasn't that big of a loss) and he didn't know what he would do if he would have to be alone. He had his friends, but it would still be a huge blow. [I]Maybe I should go out and look for her...[/I]

He was about to head for the door when he saw her walking through the rain to their house, umbrella and groceries in hand. Tetsuo grabbed his own red one and ran outside to her, opening it and standing under it. She saw her son as he left the house, which made a smile spread across her face. He really was too sweet, always helping out around the house whenever she needed it. It probably stemmed from the fact that he always wanted to help his mother when his father was still around, he just never got the chance to. Her son walked up to her and quickly tried to get the groceries out of his mother's hands, but she tried to keep them. "I'll be taking those up," he said. 

"You do realize that I'm able to handle [i]groceries[/i], right?"

"Course, course," he sighed, putting on an air of disappointment. "I just thought I would be able to help my poor old mother, but if you want to leave me [i]so lost[/i] in the world, with [i]absolutely nothing to do[/i]," he let out a sigh, "Then go ahead. I certainly can't stop you."

She gave him a playful head bop and finally gave him the groceries. "You're crazy."

He thought about it for a moment as they headed towards the house. "Perhaps, but that just means that I'm far more unique than everyone else."

As the pair arrived at the door he opened it for his mother, who graciously went inside. The comforting, warm building was in stark contrast to the cold and wet outside, something that Tetsuo appreciated while he was setting down the groceries. "That should do it."

"What's in there anyway?" he pondered, getting out a pencil he always kept in his pocket and twirling it around.

"School supplies."

He sighed and leaned back, balancing the pencil on top of his nose. It fell to the side and he caught it, but looked dissatisfied. "Don't remind me."

"Oh, please, you love school."

"I love my clubs and my classmates," he corrected her, "the rest is alright to bad." He honestly didn't mean that completely; he actually really loved his science class, but he wouldn't admit that to anyone but his teacher. He had an artistic image to keep up. 

"Well, you'll live." 

He put the back of his head against his head. "I'm not sure. I think I'm feeling something coming on. Something deadly."

She snorted. "Right. Look, go get those supplies all put away into your bag. I'm going to start dinner."

Tetsuo begrudgingly went up to his room. 

After a particularly good meal, Tetsuo was feeling a bit beat. It had been a long, productive day of lying around sketching. He was upstairs getting ready for bed when he heard footsteps coming from the downstairs. His mother knocked on the door as he yelled out, "It's open!" while he grabbed clothes to lay out for tomorrow. It was a recent thing he had started doing. He honestly thought it was a really smart decision he had made; it took less than two minutes and saved him a lot of time in the morning. His mother entered and he turned to face her. "Hey."

"Hi. Look, I have to leave before you should get up for school. Are you gonna be alright?"

He shook his head and made a "no big deal" gesture. "Course. I'll just set an alarm."

"Alright. I'm going to bed. Love you," his mother said, turning to go before Tetsuo shouted out, "Wait...!"

She gave a short laugh and spun back around with a smile on her face almost like she expected that. "What is it?"

"Did...did you hear about the kidnappings?"

Tetsuo's mother looked puzzled. "Yeah, why wouldn't I have? It's all over the radio and the TV."

"I know, I know," he said, biting his lip. He shifted his feet and looked unusually serious. "I've just got a bad vibe about those. Don't know [i]why[/i], really, I just do. So." He took a deep breath and clapped his hands together contemplatively. "Just...be careful. Especially with you walking to and from work and all of that."

"Honey, I'm fine," she said, looking surprised that he even brought it up. "I don't walk in an area with a ridiculous amount of crime or anything. Don't worry about it." She strolled over to Tetsuo and gave him a reassuring kiss on the cheek. "It'll be alright."

He grinned, thankful that she was able to calm him down so easily. "Thanks." He glanced at the clock. "You should probably head to bed. It's getting late."

"Right. Good night. Love you."

"Love you too," he said as she walked out and closed the door behind her. 

He finished packing his clothes and finally was able to collapse on his bed and think for a bit, lifting his palm to the air and glancing at the ring on his finger. [i]New school year, huh...? Better make it a good one.[/i] He rolled over and closed his eyes. 

As he drifted off to sleep, he thought, [i]Should certainly be interesting.[/i]