The Tale of a Century \\ SoraMafu

>> Forty Four <<

Mafu walked around, confused. He had been looking for the house Hashiyan had given him a general description on, but it was no where to be found. That was when he came across a relatively bare construction site. The area around it seemed to fit Hashiyan's description pretty well.

Mafu started towards it and noticed two figures. Probably construction workers. Maybe he could start there.

As he neared, one of the workers spotted him. "Huh," he said. "You don't see a lot of people around this early in the morning. If you're here to check out the site, we're working on it. We're already behind schedule, so sorry if we're making too much noise."

"Um... no but," Mafu hesitated. "I was wondering if there used to be a house here?"

"A house?" the construction worker repeated. "Hmm... actually on closer examination, you look a lot like the owner of the house. Those red eyes are hard to come by. Are you her kid?"

Mafu's eyes widened. "... Yes..."

"Well, I'm sorry to tell you, kid, but she died when we started construction."

All hope deflated from Mafu's body. "W-What? Died?"

"Yeah. I forgot the cause, but... I'm sorry for your loss."

"O-Oh, no. It's okay," Mafu managed to get out, stepping back. "I'm sorry for bothering you."

Without waiting for a response, Mafu rushed away. He came across a bench and sat down. Tears were running down his cheeks. When did he start crying?

He had come this far. He was so close to his past. Did he do it for nothing? Were his hopes crushed so easily...?

What about Soraru?

Mafu buried his face into his palms.

|*|*|

Soraru felt a warm, inviting feeling. It was comfortable, making him want more. It was the best feeling he'd ever felt. But it only lasted a second, leaving Soraru yearning for more.

He opened his eyes and felt a pain shoot up him arm. Soraru winced and sat up, rubbing his shoulder. During the night, he had ended up sleeping on his arm. Now it felt like he pulled a muscle.

Stretching his arm, he lay back down and waited for sleep to come. Unfortunately, it didn't, so Soraru did the next thing he thought of. Lifting the blanket, he stood up and made his way upstairs. Since he couldn't get near Mafu during the day, seeing him sleeping would be better than nothing..... Soraru sighed, I sound like a stalker.

He hesitated in front of the room's door, and then decided to go for it. Carefully and slowly as to not make any noise, Soraru turned the doorknob. When he looked up, he expected to see Mafu's peaceful sleeping form under the covers, but that wasn't it.

There was no one in bed. Nor was there anyone in the room. Soraru's eyes widened, and he felt his heartbeat speed up. The pounding reached his ears as he scanned the room quickly. A bell sound sounded in his mind, and he snapped. Quickly, making his way into the room, he rummaged through everything. That was when he noticed the bag that Mafu had brought with him when he arrived was missing. His breath caught in his throat.

"No, no, no, please don't let it be that," Soraru pleased quietly as he turned back and rushed down the stairs, moving so swiftly that he barely made a noise. He checked around the house desperately. If there was any chance Mafu could fit somewhere, he looked.

When he came up bare handed at the end of his search, he could only come to one conclusion. Soraru dug his hands into his hair. The thump of his heartbeat against his chest was suffocating. Letting out a shaky breath, he made his way upstairs, grabbed his wallet, and unplugged his phone from the charger. Then, he went downstairs as fast as he could, threw on a coat and boots, and closed the door quietly behind him.