XXI † Orpheus

The kids were demons, as most children are apt to be. And rather good at setting angels on fire and running away before being spotted. Whether or not this was good emotional reinforcement or not as not that pressing a detail. Babysitting does not mean to not promote work ethic and have them watch educational movies. It means keep them happy and 'under control'.

Check and check.

Luckily it didn't take them too long to pass out. Idly flipping his phone open to check what time it was, only to come face to face with 'one new voice message'. Hm? Two days ago? What was... eh not important. Accept message. Thirty seconds of silence while listening. And you can almost hear something crack in the universe.

Frozen. For a good ten minutes. Immediately trying to bring up his number, which is infinitely harder to do when your hands are shaking. Ring once, twice, thr--'we're sorry, this number has been disconnected'. Fuck. Maybe you hallucinated it. Replay the message? Yes. Same thing? Fuck. Go to the dorm and look for hi--wait can't I'm watching Miwako's kids. Wake them up? No no no no that would just make things worse. Biting on one of his nails and pacing momentarily. Try to keep focus come on come on there's something you're missing here, right? He wouldn't just up and leave like that, right?

Twenty minutes of listening to it nonstop to try and find something - anything - and there's... nothing. Just finality. At which point he just falls into the nearest chair and stares at the ground blankly.

And remaining there, unmoving, for the next few hours or so.

There's the vague realization that the whole reason he can't relax is probably because he's in mental shock, but the thought just... doesn't register. Slipping through and disappearing before ever leaving an imprint. But what else can I do it's already happened and running his mind through hundreds of worse-case scenarios but none of them really seem to click. What's the point it's not like it matters. Just sitting and holding his head in his hands because the message isn't playing anymore but I can still hear it playing over and over like some damned curse and _{oh god this can't be happening this can't be happening...}

[Sorry about the delay, being about a half-hour or so after he hung up on you. But as per the modus operandi of someone that direct about most things, there's no warning save for the click of the door handle as it's swung open and shut almost immediately afterwards. The person responsible for it merely leaning on it afterwards with a sigh. Circles under his eyes and a bit paler than usual, no thanks to a certain avatar, but still more worried about the depressed superior. Priorities are priorities after all...

So a second to regain composure, cool and collected as ever, and walking into the room towards where the other would most likely be sitting on the bed and wibbling at nothing. As usual.]

Sir...?

[He brought one of the foxes home. Probably while he was asleep. Sneaky bastard. But the scolding can be handwaved in lieu of the more pressing matter of Naoto's short strand of text messages on how the little tweak seemed to be fond of trying to murder shadows. Being an adorable woodland creature only covers so much. Carrying a bad of random things from the pharmacy and unlocking the door with the other, half-expecting to find blood all over the walls or some other Worst Case Scenario. Disaster area do not want.]

... Naoto?

...

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