Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Here I Am ❯ Missing ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter Nine - Missing

By Crow Skywalker

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Disclaimer - Don't own MKR or its characters. No profit is being made, only borrowing them for my own amusement.

Author's Notes - Haha…yeah, I'm back. Not for long though, because I'm going camping this week. There will be more updates after that though, so don't worry. My birthday was yesterday…had a great time. 17 now - may my writing improve with a new year! ^_~ Anyway, enjoy! No more new characters after this…we leave Earth behind! ^_^ R&R, and enjoy!

Warnings/Pairings - Rated PG, though I may up the rating later on. Pairings of Umi/Clef, Fuu/Ferio, and Hikaru/Lantis.

Summary - Umi wishes to return to Cephiro, and on a cold lonely night she gets sent back. However, things aren't what they seem, for a new evil is lurking not far away, and it has plans for Umi.

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Hikaru dragged herself out of bed early the next morning, still half asleep. After the dream she had had the night before, she had gotten next to no sleep at all. She needed to talk to Fuu about her dream, and she had to talk to her now. So ignoring the dizziness as she jumped out of bed, she quickly dressed and searched her messy room for the phone.

"Come on," She cried, exasperated, "where are you?"

She found the phone under a pile of clothes. "There you are!"

Gripping the phone tightly, she dialed Fuu's number. It rang three times before someone picked up.

"Good morning," She said as happily as she could, "Is Fuu there?"

There was a choked sob on the other side of the phone.

"Hello?" Hikaru asked again.

"I'm sorry, but Fuu can't come to the phone right now." The voice, which was feminine, finally answered.

"Oh," Hikaru paused, "When would be a good time to phone back?"

The woman on the other side of the phone started to cry then, and Hikaru blinked in confusion. "Mrs. Hououji?"

"I have to go." The elder woman answered, and Hikaru was left listening to the dial tone.

Moving the phone away from her ear, Hikaru stared at the phone. What was going on?

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It was a dreary day, cloudy and dark and threatening to rain. All of this added to Mrs. Hououji's mood, who was silently crying in her husband's arms while the police questioned them.

They had both woken up early like they always did to get ready for work, and Mrs. Hououji had knocked on Fuu's door. Fuu was normally up before both of them, but she was known to sleep in when she was stressed out. Mrs. Hououji had thought this was why Fuu wasn't anywhere to be seen, and had gone to wake her daughter.

The room had been empty, and the police had suspected that she hadn't even slept there that night. The bed was still made, and only a nearby teddy bear had been moved from its original spot. Her clothes and everything were still there, and nothing was missing besides Fuu herself.

"You say she came home late last night?" Asked a female police officer, scribbling down notes as she spoke.

Outside the lights on the police car flashed, lighting up the room, and it seemed the rain was finally starting to fall. Mrs. Hououji stared out the window from her husband's arms, seeing everything through blurry tear filled eyes.

"Yes." Mr. Hououji nodded, gently rubbing his wife's back in hopes to comfort her.

"Does she have a friend…boyfriend, maybe, that she might have run away with?" Questioned the police officer.

"Not that I know of," he shook his head, "Fuu wouldn't have run away…she had no reason to."

"Did you speak with her last night when she arrived home?" The officer scribbled down more notes.

"Y-yes but.." Mr. Hououji started, but the officer held up her hand.

"What did you talk about? Perhaps that's what upset her and caused her to run away."

Mr. Hououji's face turned red, and he glared at the officer angrily. "My daughter did not run away!"

Mrs. Hououji seemed to come out of her daze then, and started to cry once more. "My poor Fuu…"

This is how Hikaru found the Hououji's when she finally arrived. After she had called, she had caught the next bus and had hurried over. As she stepped off the bus and into the rain she was greeted by the blinking lights of a police car, and at once she had known something was wrong.

She hadn't bothered to knock, she had just entered to find the scene before her. Mr. Houhouji red with anger, Mrs. Hououji in his arms crying, and a police officer standing before them with a note book in her hand. Hikaru stared at them, wide eyed.

"What happened? Where's Fuu?" She asked, scanning them only to find her blonde friend missing. "Where is she?"

The Hououji's stared at her silently, and Hikaru desperately looked to the police officer for any information.

"Are you a friend of Fuu Hououji's?" Asked the officer, turning to Hikaru.

"Yes," Hikaru nodded, "Why? Where is she?"

"May I talk to you?" She ignored Hikaru's questions, and Hikaru hesitated before nodding.

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Hikaru followed the police officer into the kitchen, away from the Hououji's, who were busy crying and seeking comfort in each other. She hesitated, watching the female police officer as she walked around the kitchen table and took a seat. Hikaru sat across from her.

"Please," Hikaru begged, "Tell me what's going on!"

The officer sighed, laying her pen and paper down on the table. "It seems Fuu Hououji has gone missing," at this, Hikaru raised a hand to her mouth and gasped, "Mrs. Hououji went to wake her up this morning, and she wasn't there."

"But," Hikaru managed to ask, "Where is she?"

"We think she ran away, but the parents keep insisting the girl would never do anything like that." The police officer shook her head. "We deal with runaways all the time, but in this case it's very unusual. Her things are still here, and the door was still heavily locked from the inside this morning. There was no way for her to leave, unless she crawled out her window…and she couldn't have done that either, her room is two stories up."

Hikaru half listened, everything was a daze to her. She caught bits and pieces of what the woman had just said, but none of it processed in her head. Finally she was brought out of her daze.

"You're a friend of Fuu's, right?" At this Hikaru nodded, "May I ask your name?"

"Hikaru Shidou," She replied.

"Well Hikaru, my name is Sheara, and I'd like to ask you some questions if that's okay?" Sheara gave her an encouraging smile, and laid a hand on Hikaru's clamped hands. "It won't take long."

Hikaru looked down, realizing she had been clenching her hands together so tightly that her fingers were turning white.

"Sure." She replied in a small voice.

"Were you close to Fuu?" Asked Sheara, picking up her note book once more.

"Yes, Fuu and I have been friends for years now," Hikaru answered automatically, "We met on a school trip back in high school…but the past few years we've lost touch."

"I see," Sheara nodded, noting something in her book, "And when was the last time you saw Fuu?"

"I saw…I…" I saw her only yesterday…less than 24 hours ago… Hikaru couldn't hold it in anymore. She burst into tears.

"Hey, hey…don't cry!" Sheara reached out and patted the younger girl's shoulder. "We'll find her, don't worry!"

"I saw her yesterday," Hikaru finally choked out, "We spent the day together…our friend…Umi Ryuuzaki…she went missing too. I called her up…told her to skip classes and meet me at Tokyo Tower, and I told her Umi's room mate had reported Umi missing…"

"Umi Ryuuzaki?" Sheara wrote down the name mumbling, "I'll have to check up on that."

Hikaru covered her face with her hands, letting the tears fall. "We didn't get home until late…and later on I had.." Her dream flashed back into her head, and she cried harder. She really was alone now.

"You..?" Sheara pushed her.

"Had a stupid dream," Hikaru lied, "And I phoned this morning to tell Fuu about it…and I realized something was wrong right away, so I came by.." Whatever else she was going to say, she was sobbing to hard now to continue. She listened as Sheara scribbled notes, and felt the tears make their way down her face.

"Well Hikaru, I think that's fine for now." The police officer stood, giving Hikaru a small smile, "We'll find her."

She left the kitchen then, leaving Hikaru to cry by herself.

After the dream she had the night before, Hikaru had been left scared, but she had known that she wasn't totally alone, not as long as she had Fuu. Now that small comfort was gone, because Fuu had mysteriously disappeared.

Fuu? She cried in her head, Where are you? I know you'd never go anywhere like this without telling me…especially after Umi disappeared! She clenched her eyes together tightly, causing more tears to pour down her face. Fuu…Umi…they were both gone now, but where had they gone?Cephiro…

Her eyes widened, and she sat up. Her dream! In her dream, she had been in Cephiro's palace! Could her dream have been trying to tell her something, or was it just completely random that she had been walking through the palace halls in her dream? An if Fuu and Umi were there, how did they get there?

She shook her head. That's insane…they can't be in Cephiro!

Closing her eyes, she lay her head down on the table. The table was cool and refreshing against her forehead, but it didn't calm the sadness and worry that was in her heart. She was alone now. All her friends were gone, and she was truly alone.

Gathering her memories of Fuu and Umi, she pictured them smiling in her head. Cephiro palace stood behind them, and slowly familiar faces that Hikaru had thought she had forgotten started to appear beside the two girls. In this time of heartache and loneliness, Hikaru wished she could be there, smiling and happy like they were.

When Sheara returned to offer Hikaru a ride home, she found the kitchen empty. Hikaru was gone.

To Be Continued…