days have passed, during which tsukiko and you have tried to find out where rin and yoichi are.
no one knows anything, which only makes everything seem more hopeless. however, there is one good thing about this situation.
tsukiko and you have gotten to know each other better and have become like sisters. together you get through the uncertainty and the pain of maybe never seeing an important person again.
you strengthen each other, vow never to give up. days and nights you drive through the city, to places where yoichi or rin have often been and asking every person.
"his phone is off anyway," tsukiko is settling down on the sofa, closing her eyes in exhaustion.
the few hours of sleep she had weren't enough in the slightest, and you can clearly see that from the dark circles under her eyes.
you certainly won't look any better, don't even want to look in the mirror and face your miserable face. sighing, you put your phone aside after trying to call rin for the thousandth time.
his phone is off, you keep getting sent to his mailbox again and again. maybe you just try again and again to hear his voice telling the callers that he is not there and that they should get in touch some other time.
friendly as always.
thoughtfully you lie back in the leather chair.
actually, you're already sure that rin has left tokyo, if not japan and you still can't understand.
what made him leave you behind without making sure you were okay?
he loves you and you love him, you wanted to spend your lives together.
"maybe he can't live with the thought of having hurt you" you still remember tsukiko's words.
for a moment you believed this, felt it was the only plausible explanation. but then you came to your senses — rin might hate himself for it, he might distance himself from you, but he would never run away and he would especially not leave tsukiko and sae behind like that.
"i'm going to take a nap. you should do the same," yawning she hoists herself off the sofa before trotting into her bedroom.
you moved into rin's room a few days ago.
at first, you could still smell his scent on the soft pillows and sleep better that way, but it disappeared after a while and now you only recognize your own scent on them and the wet spots that come from your tears.
lately, you cry yourself to sleep every time.
"good night" you continue to sit, don't feel like sleeping yet.
something is keeping you awake, but you can't put your finger on it. closing your eyes, images of rin immediately pop into your head.
beautiful memories;
the first time you met, the first time you kissed, or the first race you went on with him.
all these memories of him are keeping you alive.
if you lost them, would you die?
suddenly you hear tsukiko's familiar ringtone and immediately startle. your heart is beating fast in your chest, adrenaline is pumping through your veins.
the tiredness you felt just a few seconds ago is gone.
the next moment tsukiko is already stumbling out of her room. her face is just as startled as yours, only you can see tears glistening in her eyes.
it was yoichi.
"i know where they are now" she speaks energetically.
london.
you should have known.
after all, london was where you wanted to go together and it hurts that he went there without you.
right after yoichi got in touch, you booked the first flight you could and packed your suitcases. now you're sitting in the plane, which will land in a few minutes.
yoichi promised to pick you up and take you to where you can find rin. secretly, you're wondering why he didn't call you himself.
it's already dark outside when tsukiko and you get off the plane — you're incredibly tense and excited, can't wait to see him again and get answers to your many questions. tsukiko also seems tense, but also extremely happy since she missed her cousin so much, was worried about him every single minute.
what you don't know, however, is that she already has more information than you do.
startled, you take a step backwards as she lets a sharp cry escape from her throat and the next moment, she sprints into the open arms of yoichi, whom you only now see standing by a pillar.
you look at the two of them with a grin, it's hard to miss that they like each other very much.
"hey pretty, good to see you," hegives you a quick hug, seems to notice that you're impatient and look around for rin. "i'll take you to him. he doesn't know anything about this. actually, i promised him i wouldn't tell you where we were, but i couldn't live with the thought of how much you cared."
questions upon questions pile up in your head.
rin really doesn't seem to have wanted you to find him. if it hadn't been for yoichi, you probably never would have found him.
for that, you're eternally grateful to him.
together, you make your way out of the large building, which is still crowded despite the late hour.
UK.
it has always fascinated you. despite the fact that it's dark, everything is brightly beautiful; bright colors shine out at you as you drive through the streets.
"rin is about to race. we'll just wait for him at the finish line," yoichi is turning into an abandoned parking garage.
the further you drive into it, the more cars you see.
they're all painted in flashy colors and pimped out.
girls in skimpy clothes hang on to the drivers. engines howl and the familiar smell of gasoline makes itself felt, the smell you only know so well from gas stations. it's been a long time since you've seen anything like this. and you have to admit, you've missed it.
"let's go" you get out of the car with the others.
your heart races uncontrollably and you feel a strange tingling in your stomach. whether it's because of excitement or fear, you don't know.
you try to have only positive thoughts, but what if rin doesn't want to see you at all?
maybe that's why he left.
or maybe he has a new girlfriend who lives here in england.
"don't worry so much. it'll be fine" tsukiko whispers to you, standing close to you in the crowd of people waiting at the finish line to see who will win.
you've squeezed yourselves to the front so that you have the perfect view plus rin should also be able to see you directly when he pulls up.
soon after, you hear the cars racing towards you.
you always thought that the most nerve-wracking seconds are the ones before a race.
but this one beats everything.
two cars, one poison green and the other bright red, drive around the curve. the green car is just in the lead and something tells you that the love of your life is sitting in there.
cheering people run towards the winner who gets out of his car out of breath while your breath catches too when you finally see him again after weeks.
everything happens in slow motion when his eyes meet yours. his mouth opens and his eyes widen drastically as he realizes that you are really standing there. he seems to block out everything and everyone, just like you, as he runs towards you.
just before he can take you in his arms, he stops.
confused, you see him trying to suppress his tears. he looks broken, exhausted and broken.
apparently, he has also suffered.
"how can this be?" he breathes before pulling you into his arms. now also crying, your hands grab his shirt, not letting go of him. a small ridiculous fear that would disappear again if you let go of him. rin buries his face in the crook of your neck and you can clearly feel his wet cheeks from his tears.
"why did you leave? why did you leave me behind?" you find it difficult to ask this question.
you're still afraid of the truth that will soon be revealed. slowly, almost painfully, rin separates from you to look into your face. his hands clasp your cheeks, his thumbs gently brush away your tears.
"i thought you were dead," he sobs, still seemingly unable to believe that you're standing in front of him alive and well.
your heart stops for a second as he says this.
why the hell did he think you were dead?
has he been misinformed?
but secretly you know that there is something else behind it than a simple misunderstanding, it's just logical.
"as soon as i was allowed to leave the hospital, i asked for you. they told me where to find you. when i arrived, your parents were standing in front of the room crying and when they saw me, they started yelling at me," he tells you and slowly you can put all the pieces together.
you can't believe that they would do something like that.
"they told me i was responsible for your death. i tried to deal with it, but i couldn't. so i went to london, to the place we were supposed to go together." tears roll down both of your cheeks like waterfalls.
you don't care that everyone is staring at you, trying to understand what's going on.
seems like rin quickly made a name for himself in the UK.
to see him so weak and fragile now is unbelievable.
"i didn't want tsukiko to know what happened to you. i know how much she likes you. i was afraid she hated me, so i left without saying a word. fuck, i'm such an idiot"
it will take time for both of you to digest this situation and heal the wounds you've created, but together you'll get through it.
"rin, you weren't responsible for the accident, alright? there was nothing you could have done," you assure him, smiling at him tentatively. "and my parents will never see me again. they can't separate us." you would love to go back to tokyo and vent all your anger and hatred on them, but you want to look forward and just forget this horrible past.
"i love you," he unites his lips with yours. "i love you more than anything"
you missed feeling his closeness and his touch, but this time you won't lose each other again, now everything will be fine.
<3
the end is a bit dramatic, but ofc a happy ending!! now i want to thank you for all your support. thank you for reading this story and for every vote and comment. this has always given me new motivation to keep writing. i really hope you enjoyed this story and if there are any questions about the story, feel free to ask them.
check out my other blue lock fics!