[b]Toma Tanaka - May 25th | Warakuma High - Main Entrance[/b] Toma stared at his exam score, unfeeling. He felt like he should care, or be disappointed, as it was far below his usual, but he just couldn't. It wasn't really a surprise, either -- while he would never admit it to himself, he had been falling apart the past month, his obsession with the kidnappings consuming him. When he wasn't at school, running, or working at the book cafe, he was wandering about, keeping an eye out and questioning others. He was going home late every night, always telling his parents he was spending time with friends -- something that wasn't entirely untrue sometimes. Toma was sure they knew something was off, but they never pressed the issue, probably not wanting any sort of confrontation. As a result, he had gotten very little studying done. A bump from the crowd of students jostling to see their own scores brought him out of his thoughts. With a heavy, labored blink, he turned away from the board to head to class. [hr] [b]May 28th | Warakuma High - Track Field, Evening[/b] The red-haired boy lay on the cold metal bleachers, staring at the ugly, gray sky as he did his best to slow his panting and heart rate. Whenever he ran himself ragged, he came as close to being happy as he had in the past while. Though it wasn't really happiness, but more like a sense of grim satisfaction, like he had done something that needed to be done. Whatever, it was good enough. Swinging himself into a sitting position, his muscles cried out in pain -- as they should, considering he hadn't given them a day off in weeks. Toma knew that that wasn't good for him, but he didn't really care. He eyed the door back into the school, and decided it was finally time for him to change and head out into town. He was the only member of the track club left outside, as their meetup had ended half an hour ago. Wiping his brow with his shirt, Toma stood up, allowing himself to wince from the pain as no one was around. [hr] [b]Late Evening[/b] Toma began the long trek home, rain already falling. Not that he minded in the slightest. Another night of absolutely no leads; at this point he couldn't even feel disappointed about it. He did, however, feel like something was off, or at least more than usual. He brushed the thought off to the side, and focused on getting home, pushing his wet hair off his forehead. [hr] [b]May 29th - Warakuma High[/b] It was right at the end of the day that Toma overheard some second year students talking amongst themselves and mentioning that Kotori hadn't been at school today. The red-haired boy's stomach instantly dropped as he immediately feared the worst, considering she never seemed to miss school. He approached the second-years to confirm what they had said, which they did, while not being subtle about giving him strange looks. After giving a quick nod of thanks, Toma turned on his heels and broke into a sprint, weaving through the crowd of students, and definitely bumping into and pissing off more than a few. His exhausted mind was a jumbled mess of thoughts as he ran, heart-pounding not from exertion but from panic. Panic. He actually felt panicked and scared. It had been a long time since he had felt any emotion as intense as this fear. Fears that were soon confirmed. In the distance, Toma could see the unassuming flower store and an out-of-place police car parked in front of it. The boy flew up to the door and tried opening it, only to be stopped in his tracks upon realizing that it was locked. Forced to pause, he slowly came off his fear-driven auto-pilot, eyeing the inside of the store and seeing no movement. Swallowing hard and taking a breath to compose himself, he finally let go of the door handle and moved to the side, pressing his back against the building and sliding down onto his rear. Several anxious minutes passed before the door was pushed open, snapping Toma out of his daze and prompting him to climb to his feet, coming face to face with two police officers. They both eyed him up and down. "Sorry, boy, this store's closed today," said one of the cops, noticeably older than his partner. Toma's brow furrowed as he swallowed again. [color=f26522]"She's missing, right? The girl who lives here."[/color] The two policemen threw each other a quick glance, before the older one replied. "Unfortunately. Are you a friend of hers?" [color=f26522]"Something like that, I guess."[/color] "Hm. Well, we'll be working hard to find her, so rest easy, son." Toma felt his eye twitch as he fought to keep himself from snapping. [color=f26522]"Work hard? That's not enough. You useless lot haven't found a single one of the kidnapped -- they all just turn up with you guys having no fucking clue or explanation about what happened!"[/color] His frustration stained every word he spoke as he stared down the older man. The cop blinked in mild surprise, but didn't lose any of his composure. "We don't know for sure the exact reason for her disappearance yet, so there's no need--" [color=f26522]"Bullshit!"[/color] Toma yelled, cutting him off and stepping forward, causing the younger cop to do the same and reach down to his waist. [color=f26522]"It's obvious that she was kidnapped! The fact that you can't even confirm that proves how fucking useless you all are!"[/color] The younger cop gripped Toma's shoulder and pushed him back firmly. "You need to calm down right now, man," he said, looking the boy in the eyes without falter. The action helped bring Toma back to his senses. Mildy shocked from the realization of how he had just confronted and spoken to these cops, he looked away gruffly and shook the man's hand off his shoulder before taking a step back. The older cop studied the boy's exhausted face, feeling a measure of pity for him. He sighed softly before speaking. "I'm sorry. You're right, we don't know enough about the recent disappearances. But I promise you, we [i]are[/i] doing our best. It might not be enough right now, but it's all we can do, and it's what we'll continue doing." Toma looked back over at him out of the corner of his eyes, expression softening slightly as the man's sincerity got through to him. He gave a slight nod as he looked away again, shoving his hands in his track jacket pockets. The man gave him a reassuring tap on the shoulder. "Take it easy tonight, son," he said, before turning to his cruiser, the younger cop following suit. Toma watched the pair drive off, before turning back to the flower store and looking solemnly through the window. Kotori's mother must have been worried sick. But even that wouldn't compare to how she'd be affected if she lost her daughter. Toma had seen the depressing, ugly transformation occur to his own parents after his brother's death -- both being changed in different ways, but both also for the worse. He couldn't let that happen. Despite how helpless and lost and useless he felt, he had to do absolutely everything in his power to not let that happen. And not just for Kotori's and her mother's sakes. For his own, too. While he refused to acknowledge it, failing again would break him. 'Take it easy tonight.' Toma snorted softly to himself as he pulled up his phone and texted his parents, telling them he'd be sleeping over at a friend's house.