Homeward Bound [Inaba]

[Kiyoharu]

To say Kiyoharu was annoyed would be like saying the sun didn't raise. Nothing was simply going the way he wanted it too. A piece of hair kept falling into his eye, the chicken he was attempting to cook for dinner wouldn't get unstuck from the bottom of the skillet and his damn phone (the annoying ring still the same) just kept ringing.

Scowling, he picked up his phone and even before he could snap, Iris' (his ex-wife) frantic voice reached his ears.

"She's gone, she's gone and I can't find her. Oh god," A sob and a sniffle. "She never got off the bus. Mori she's been gone a good hour or two and I can't find her. I can't find my baby!"

His heart stopped and he almost dropped the phone. His daughter, his precious Hana was missing.

[Inaba Koshi]

Indeed the little girl was gone.

According to Iris, their day has been pretty much the same as any other Mondays, with a breakfast and then daycare, but when the daycare bus drove in, there was no Hana. Iris had been a little late coming out from the house to fetch the girl from the bus stop, perhaps just a minute or two and then the girl was gone.

Upon calling the daycare center, the bus driver mentions that he had seen her wait for her mother by the bus stop and had to drive off to drop the rest of his little passengers. Unfortunately Hana wasn't there when Iris arrived. The neighbours had spotted the child running past the playground nearby but anywhere past that wasn't clear.

[Kiyoharu]

Fear was an emotion Kiyoharu wasn't familiar with. He wasn't scared when he first walked on stage in front of a small bar filled of people, wasn't scared the first time his lips touched Iris' rouge hued ones, wasn't scared when his daughter was born or when she got her first booboo. Nothing scared him.

This though, did.

His six year old daughter was missing. She was somewhere out there on her own. Part of him wanted to be furious with Iris. How could she be irresponsible enough to loose their daughter? Part of him wanted to go out there and look for her himself but, he couldn't.

What if she somehow turned up here at his apartment (highly unlikely as it maybe) and he wasn't here? And he couldn't just leave the hysterical Iris on her own, just as scared as he was.

"Did you report her missing?" He asked, voice calm despite the utter fear coursing through him. At her negative, the urge to be utterly infuriated at his ex came back with a vengeance. "Report her missing then." He should be flattered in a way that Iris's instinct was to call him first but, this was their daughter and she was missing.

That wasn't something to take lightly.

[Inaba Koshi]

Two hours had passed since that phone call and Iris had responded via text-messages every half hour, updating Kiyoharu on the current status. She had quite a few close neighbours out on the hunt for Hana, herself having left the house to head the search from the playground and slowly comb out the area from there.

One of the neighbours offered to house-sit just in case Hana would return home unscathed, but it has been three hours since her disappearance.

...Four hours, now. Still nothing.

[Kiyoharu]

Five hours. Five, long hours and still no sign of his baby girl. He felt completely helpless, sitting here and just waiting for her to turn up but, he was afraid to leave in case she somehow found her way to his apartment.

The text messages weren't helping sooth him at all. In fact they were making him worry more. Where could a six year old wonder off to for five hours? Did someone take her? Was she hurt?

Kiyoharu hated not knowing, hated sitting here and waiting for a text or phone called just to know if his daughter was okay. He would never be able to forgive himself if she was hurt, if any harm came to her.

With a shaky exhale, he curled his hands through his hair, bending over his knees and doing something he never would think he would ever do: pray. He prayed that his daughter was fine, that she had simply wondered off to the playground and had fallen asleep under the slide or behind a bush.

One thing was for sure. Once she was found he was going to take her into his arms and never let her go.

[Inaba Koshi]

Just moments after Kiyoharu got down to his knees, the doorbell rang, followed by a series of gentle but firm knocking.

"Mori?"

That voice. It was unmistakably Inaba's and he sounded rather frantic.

"Mori, are you in there? Please open up!"

Kiyoharu's prayers were answered, in the form of a sleepy, feverish Hana curled up tightly in Inaba's strong arms.

"Please, she's not feeling well."

[Kiyoharu]

Never had he moved so fast in his life. He was up, crossing the room and opening the door before his mind even caught up with his body. He didn't question how Inaba found Hana, didn't question anything as he took his drowsy child into his arms and held her close.

It was so soothing to have her in his arms, to take in her scent and feel the soft waves of auburn hair tickle his nose and brush against his cheek. She was safe, safe and in his arms and if he wasn't so worried about her too warm temperature, he would have pulled Inaba to him and kissed the man senseless.

Trusting that Inaba would follow, Kiyoharu whisked his daughter away, removing her rather light coat and tiny shoes, tossing them somewhere as he tucked her into his bed. Pressing the back of his hand to her forehead, he winced, feeling the heat that was too hot for a simple fever.

Taking out his phone (he kept by his side the whole time the little girl now safely tucked his bed was missing) he called her pediatrician. The number was saved in his phone for those rare times she got sick while he was home alone with her.

Explaining, the doctor was on his way to check the little girl over. The whole time Hana was checked over (having caught nothing but a bad cold), Kiyoharu didn't leave her side. He didn't even have it in him to call Iris and tell her that Hana was safe and with him.

"Thank you," He whispered softly to Inaba once the doctor left with strict instructions to call him if the fever didn't break in a few hours. "For finding her."

[Inaba Koshi]

There was a flurry of movement from the usually sloth-like Kiyoharu, a trait that would have made Inaba smile if the situation wasn't so urgent. He allowed his arms to be free of the tiny bodice, watching Kiyoharu shift her into the bedroom for a moment before straightening out to close the door and latch it.

Guessing from Hana's current position that Iris might not have known her daughter's whereabouts, Inaba took the opportunity when the pediatrician came in, to excuse himself from the bedroom and drop the ex-wife a phone call, telling her that Hana was very much safe though running a temperature at Kiyoharu's place.

It was only after the doctor left that Inaba returned into the bedroom with a plate of tuna sandwiches and two glasses of water, one for Kiyoharu and a smaller one with a straw, for Hana. He placed it by the bedside, retracting to observe father and daughter for a quiet moment.

"The little one found me."

He said finally and with a gentle smile, squatting by the father that was seated on the mattress and brushing Hana's pretty locks away from her pale face.

"She was looking for you though. The poor girl. Was at the bus stop just outside the Academy."

[Kiyoharu]

"How did she manage to travel that far?" He mused more to himself then the man next to him.

Did it matter how she managed it? No, he decided it didn't. What mattered was that she was here, safe and tucked away in his bed. Never did he want to go through a scare like that again and never, did he want to feel such fear ever, again.

So wrapped up in the relief that she was fine (despite the fever) and safe, he almost missed what Inaba had said. Frowning softly, he removed his gaze from the little girl in his bed and to Inaba.

"She was looking for me?" Before he left the music world, it was rare that he saw her and even rarer that he was home with her. To know that she was looking for him, it was heart warming. He was going to have a talk with her though; this wasn't something to let go no matter how heart warming it was.

Smiling softly and content with the knowledge that Hana was asleep, he cupped the back of Inaba's neck, drawing him in for a short, tender kiss. "Then thank you for bringing her to me. I was worried sick about her."

[Inaba Koshi]

"The little one had some change on her, I think she took the bus. Saw her sitting all by herself under the shade...looking quite brave, too!"

Inaba chuckled softly as he slowly withdrew his hand from Hana's brow, placing a fresh damp icy-cold towel over it. Then his thoughts were interrupted by a slender hand over his neck, drawing him close for a sweet brush of lips.

"....Mnn..?"

......!!

He withdrew shortly after, unable to hold onto the kiss for too long for fear of breaking down...especially when the ache in his heart just increased tenfold.

"She's a strong one. You don't have to worry, my dear."

And as it was with children everywhere, there's always an angel looking after each and every one. Inaba rested his hand on Kiyoharu's lap, giving that knee a warm squeeze as their foreheads met.

"I called Iris already. She asks for you to drive the little one home later, just before dinner. What are you going to do now?"

The man was still on his knees but with his head raised to catch the other's, a gentle hand thumbing Kiyoharu's tired face.

"I think you should have something to eat. Please."

[Kiyoharu]

Bring her home?

Kiyoharu couldn't do that, not when he just got her. It had been so long since he had seen his daughter and with everything that happened today, he just didn't want to let her go. He knew that it wasn't fair to Iris, that the woman had to be beside herself with worry but, he just wanted more time with the child curled up in his bed.

"I can't..." He trailed off, allowing his tried eyes to slip close and bask in Inaba's comforting, bittersweet presence. He had no idea what he was he couldn't to: food or taking Hana back to her mother.

Allowing the half embrace for a moment longer (a moment he wished would go on forever) he pulled back slightly, mind made up on what he planned to do regarding Hana.

"Iris can wait until Hana's feeling better. She came to see me," He added, tenderly brushing a stray strand of hair from Inaba's face. "And I have every right to see her."

There was no custody hearing over Hana not because Kiyoharu didn't want his daughter but, because there was no need. He was almost always on the road (at the time) and it was simply easier for Iris to have Hana all the time.

Now though, he saw just how bad an idea that was if Hana was sneaking away to see him.

[Inaba Koshi]

"All right. I understand. I'll call her for you, ne."

Ever the considerate soul, the man decided to pick up for Kiyoharu and work up everything else that the man was unable to do.

"Yes, I think you should keep her with you for now. Stay home, too. Perhaps have someone at the Academy relief your classes?"

He stood up with a slight smile on his handsome features, indulging himself in a kiss to those calloused fingertips lingering by his face.

"Now please have something to eat. You need the energy to stay up and look after the little one. Else she might just follow your horrid example and that would be the death of us all."

Inaba placed that plate of sandwiches next to Kiyoharu on the mattress, as well as the cellphone for the other to make whatever calls he needed. Then he excused himself to call Iris.

[Kiyoharu]

A soft laugh was coaxed from him at that. If Hana took after him, always working and just doing something instead of eating and sleeping like a normal person, he would never hear the end of it from anyone. Luckily, she still had a good few more years to not follow after him.

"It's like father like son," He softly corrected, reaching for the sandwiches Inaba brought in. "Not like father like daughter."

He was going to take the ever kind Inaba's advice and eat something (had he even eaten anything at all toady?) and call out from work for the next few days. His daughter after all, was more important, had always been more important then work. It was only now that he really could put off work to take care of her.

Taking a bite of his sandwich, he called in to the school and explained he would be out for roughly a week.

[Inaba Koshi]

"...Like daughter, in your case."

Inaba re-corrected after he stepped into the room again from the completion of his phone call, slipping his cell right back into the recesses of his denim pockets.



Dressed in a soft white knit over an even softer shirt, the man leaned against the wall as he observed Kiyoharu partaking of the sandwiches.

"Iris said yes."

She wasn't very happy to hear that her ex-husband would be warding their daughter for the rest of the week but Inaba didn't think he could bring himself to convey her feelings explicitly to Kiyoharu. So he left it as that, moving in to sit on the other side of the large bed and running a gentle hand over Hana's brow. He removed the towel and dipped it into the ice bath again before replacing it over her heated forehead.

"We can take turns."

He offered again softly.

[Kiyoharu]

That wasn't even dignified with a response. Hana couldn't take after him, she just couldn't for his own sanity's sake. He would never hear the end of it from not only Iris but, Inaba as well. Hana was free though, to make her own path in life and if that path in life had some habits of his, well, there was nothing anyone could do about.

"Only because it was you who called her." No one could say no to Inaba. The man was to gentle, to sweet to say no to. Kiyoharu knew though, that his ex-wife wasn't happy, that she wanted her daughter in the safety of her own home. He just...couldn't let the tiny being curled so safely in his bed go, not when he just got her and spent over five, long hours worrying over her well being.

Watching Inaba, Kiyoharu shook his head in a negative. "I can't ask that of you." Inaba had his own life he and it wouldn't be fair for him to ask the other teacher to give up that to help take care a his sick daughter. "Thank you though but, I really can't ask something of that of you but," He added as a soft whispered, glancing down at the sandwich and not the kind eyes of the man next to him. "You can stay if you want."