Page 95 of Psync
“You have every bit of me, Eli.”
Eli’s mind shined happily for a moment before the remnants of his nightmare dragged his thoughts back to his kidnapper.
“Where is he now?” Haruka asked.
Eli flinched and pressed his face into Haruka’s chest again. “He—his name is Liam”—his voice cracked, but he kept going—“but I don’t like to say it. He survived because I was able to tell the police where he was after I escaped. He was in a mental institution for a few years, but then he was transferred to prison. I . . . haven’t heard anything about him in a while. My mom usually takes any calls related to him.”
And from what Haruka was picking up from his mind, Eli wanted things to stay that way.
“I will make sure you never see him again.” Haruka vowed.
“You’re crazy enough that I almost believe you.”
“And I’ve been working so hard to keep you from noticing the crazy,” Haruka said lightly.
Eli laughed. It was a small, pale ghost of Eli’s usual laugh, but it was a start.
???
Having a fan club turned out to be far more interesting than Haruka had anticipated.
When they’d first begun to show up in his life, they’d been nothing but a barrier between him and Eli—which meant they had to go. So, he did what he did when he’d first arrived at the school and coldly ignored them. This time it hadn’t worked.
Now he knew why.
He didn’t blame his followers for becoming enamored of Eli—who wouldn’t be? And, while he didn’t understand the fascination other people had developed with their relationship, he was fully prepared to use it to his advantage.
Haruka had had an unconventional upbringing, but it was coming in handy now. Just because he hadn’t willingly participated in the family business, didn’t mean he hadn’t paid close attention to everything going on around him.
Now he was having as much fun as he was capable of without Eli actively participating.
He had spies.
The day after their fan club had stepped in and protected Eli, Haruka had joined the Discord server devoted to the club and gotten to work. Over the next few weeks, he’d taken them from a loosely organized group of students to a well-oiled machine.
He’d arranged people into groups depending on what their major was and what part of the campus they tended to spend the most time in. If he wanted to know what was going on in a certain part of the campus, all he had to do was contact the group responsible for the area.
And all he’d had to do in return was give them signed pictures of him and Eli.
Eli had been resistant until Haruka told him the club had agreed not to take pictures of them any other time. Then he was all for their weekly photoshoot.
He’d even created a private Instagram page for members of the club and would upload candid shots when the mood struck him. Anyone caught taking screenshots would be removed from the club.
It had been a compromise for him. Haruka didn’t want anyone having pictures of Eli, but if they were devoted to the cause of keeping him safe, and Haruka could control which pictures were posted, he was willing to unbend a little.
The shots of Eli that were particularly cute were only for Haruka.
The whole situation had immensely improved Eli’s mood. If Eli had begun to come out of his shell before, now he had truly started to shine.
His rare, shy smiles had turned into laughter, and Eli almost never needed to pull his hood up to feel safe. Now he did it to hide the evidence of Haruka’s ongoing mission to make sure everyone on campus knew exactly who Eli belonged to.
It was his favorite mission, by far.
At the moment, Haruka was in the library, studying for an exam when his phone buzzed.
Redpheonix:Stranger approaching Eli
Caligirl:Holy shit, he’s going to hug him
