neverbreaks | IC Inbox for Kaisou

[ Alberto gave Bruno a grace period of just over twenty-four hours to respond to his texts and calls before low-key launching into a spiraling panic. So he, unknowingly and unfortunately, already knows the answer to his own question when he reaches out to Luisa for confirmation tonight. He’s been paranoid about this possibility for the past month, ever since the kidnapping, which now feels like a precursor to this moment. It’s getting near bedtime for a school night, but he’s not going to be able to rest with this terribly plausible gut feeling gnawing at him — a gut feeling he sorely wishes he didn’t trust right now. ]

Hey Luisa

Is Bruno OK?

He hasn’t called me back. He always answers. He’s never NOT answered. It’s been over a day. We talk every day.

Where’s Bruno?

[ At first he texts, each sent in its own message, barely a beat between each, but he doesn’t even give her more than a minute to receive it until he’s already calling her. Repeatedly, if need be. ]

signorvespa is calling you…
signorvespa is calling you…

[ It felt like it happened so suddenly; her tío had just been here a day ago, celebrating her birthday with her and what was left of their family. Then he was gone; him hiding for a while wasn't unusual, but when he didn't show up to help at the restaurant they'd gotten a bit worried. They tried calling him, but when the call couldn't connect to his device, they started searching, despite the feeling deep down that there wouldn't be anything to find.

But that's just how it was - the others had disappeared just as quickly, here one day and gone the next. It didn't make it hurt any less, though, knowing that yet another family member had gone, and she could only hope that they were being reunited with their family back home, safe and sound.

Luisa is still trying to work through her own tumultuous thoughts when her phone chimes with texts from Alberto, and she curses a little under her breath. In all the panic she had almost forgotten; Bruno had gotten pretty close with Alberto, so of course they weren't the only ones who'd notice his absence.

She doesn't even know how to respond, but she doesn't have a chance to try to figure it out when her phone rings again, this time with an incoming call. A terrible, awful part of her considered for a moment just...ignoring the call. Just rejecting the call, putting her phone on silent, and leaving him waiting for a while longer while she tried to get her own thoughts together.

But no, she knows that can't do that to him. Even if she could keep ignoring any further calls from him for a while, leaving him to wonder will likely just alarm him even more. And no matter how much she hates having to be the one to give him the news, she knows someone has to. He deserves to know.

So, taking a deep breath, she finally picks up the call with a shaky hand. ]

...hey, Alberto.

[ When Luisa picks up the phone, a tiny wave of relief breaks. But only a small one. Because he can hear that tone in her voice — like she's dreading this and trying to hide it. So he lays it on a little thick as his panic starts to rise, exaggeratedly feigning a saccharine energetic tone to show his stress through sarcasm. It's a more frenetic energy about him than the cool, carefree front Alberto usually tries to evoke. ]

Heyyy, Luisa~! ...Where's Bruno?

[ Right to the chase. He starts pacing around his kitchen, forcing himself to "smile" unseen behind the phone, as if that'll increase the chances of good luck here, but truthfully, it's little more than gritting his teeth. ]

[ Even knowing that the question is coming, she can't help wincing once the words are out there. And for a moment she isn't sure how to answer, because she doesn't want to be the one to say it, but she can't lie to him either.

She can't do this, she can't... ]

I...I'm sorry, Alberto...

[ There's silence. He feels his chest tighten, coming to a halt in his pacing, as he quickly realizes exactly what she means. But not unlike Luisa, his words fail him. A panic swells in him as he infers what's happened, this new reality he can't wish away with any anti-bad luck charms or little superstitious rituals Bruno taught him. He doesn't say anything for a long moment — a painfully long moment. ]

[ The silence stretches on for too long, and soon Luisa starts to worry. And in that slight panic words start to tumble out, even though it wouldn't tell them anything they both didn't already know. ]

W-We couldn't...couldn't find him at first...he didn't show up at the restaurant. And his door, it's not...

[ She cuts herself off as tears start to build behind her eyes, and she tries to blink them away. ]

I'm sorry.

[ There's another long silence, though slightly shorter than the last, as he manages to croak out a vague hope. He feels the lump in his throat form already, his voice a little hoarse when he does speak up. ]

What if— ...W-What if he's been kidnapped again? That's a possibility. I-I mean— When he got kidnapped last time, was his door still lit? Maybe he's just—

[ ...just what, he doesn't know. Is he hoping for a repeat of October? He knows exactly what Luisa's saying, and he doesn't want to believe it. It's a horrible hope, because if that's the case, then something akin to the most terrifying experience of Alberto's life is best case scenario. But it's a better option than Bruno being gone, if only for Alberto's own selfish reasons as a knee-jerk reaction. But he knows immediately, knew before he even made this call, deep down, that Bruno's gone. This question is just a final grasp at the final straw, even if it'll break him; it'd still break him less than the actual reality here. ]

[ Luisa bites her bottom lip. Him getting kidnapped the previous month hadn't been good, but she could understand how that might feel better than...than this. ]

N...No, Alberto, he wasn't...he wasn't kidnapped. When he'd gotten kidnapped before, his door was still lit.

He's not...he's not here anymore.

[ There's another silence, Alberto standing still in his kitchen, clutching the phone tight but loose to his ear, staring into nothing as he processes this. At last, all he manages to say is a raspy, hollow, inappropriately relaxed: ]

...Okay.

IC Inbox for Kaisou

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