Chapter 4 Worried

[Back at the original world]

[Yuki's POV]

"Oii!!, Senzou! puffs"

"Hey, sup bro."

"Have you seen Katsumi anywhere?"

".....? I thought you met her on your way here?"

"Let's go back to her house. It's unnatural for her to leave us behind like that."

We decided to head towards Katsumi's house. She doesn't seem like she was home, but we insisted on going in anyways.

*Doorbell ringing*

"Coming."

"Oh my, it's you, kids. What brings you here today?"

*Door opens*

"Hi, Auntie. Is Katsumi still here?"

"Oh dear, did anything happen to her? She did leave around 5 minutes ago."

"It's alright auntie, I think she's just up ahead. Thanks for the head up."

"I see, alright then. Have a good day boys."

Right after the door closes we went out on our way.

"So, you just had to lie to her huh?" Senzou said

"Of course, who wouldn't? Maybe she's just at school already and we're overreacting." I replied

"Yeah, let's head on over there."

The school was around a 15-minute walk from our house. We looked around the entrance gate, no Katsumi in sight, just your average high school students. With no luck, we just headed to our class. To our surprise, She isn't here either.

I'm quite worried about where Katsumi went. I was quite happy that Katsumi said those words to me. It at least gave me some confidence.

"Guys, class is about to start."

Unfortunate. Class is about to start and she's still not here. I might need to discuss it with Senzou later at lunch.

"Good morning class, before we start I would like to do the attendance first."

He went on to do the attendance list.

"Mitsuki?"

"Present"

"Hibiki?"

"Present, Sir"

"Katsumi? Is Katsumi here?"

"......"

"Does anyone know where she went?"

Everyone shook their heads to the side, without a clue where Katsumi went. Some are worried and others created rumors about Katsumi's disappearance. Meanwhile, our bastard teacher doesn't seem to care in the slightest. He just shrugs it off like it was some pile of dust on his shoulder.

Frustrated, the time has passed. It was already lunchtime before I knew it. I went up the stairs to meet Senzou on the rooftop.

"Yo, Senzou."

"Let me guess, you brought me here so that we could talk about her, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I was planning other ways to find her"

" sigh Just give it up, man. I bet you won't find her anytime soon."

In a second, I snapped out of anger.

"HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH A THING TO HER!"

I grabbed him by the collar, slamming him to the wall.

"Do you have any idea how important she is to me? She still cared for me, even through the toughest times. I used to despise people, no matter who they were, but she changed my whole perspective. I respect and gratify every ounce of words she has given to me."

"Alright, man. I get it, you love her and all. If you were to think it logically, she can infinitely be anywhere at any time, and only fate can help us get to her."

"Sometimes, I doubt your words but I guess you're right. sorry about just now, I kind of did it on impulse."

As I released my hands from his collar.

"It's alright, we can do nothing in this situation. We have no evidence as to where she left off, it's best that we wait it out."

"If we wait then we'll never find her in the end. It's better to try than never doing it in the first place."

I left the roof and thought to myself where I should start. The class was about to start soon, so I might as well think about it in the middle of the lesson.

There wasn't much going on in class, it was just your normal average boring class. As school ended, I went back home. Didn't want to think much about Katsumi yet, so I hurried home and slept early for the day.

As the sun dawns over the horizon, a new day approaches for Yuki.

"yawns ahh, I should really clear up my mind."

It's only 5 am, but I feel like I need to go out and do something and I don't know why. Anyway, I decided to go out, might as well buy some croquette for breakfast. As I headed downstairs I prepared myself to leave.

"Yuki, dear. Could you please buy some vegetables for dinner later please?"

"Eh? Isn't that too early, Mom?"

"Ara~ You dare defy my words, dear?"

She smiled there menacingly. Damn, it gave me chills down my spine.

"Alright, alright. I'll do it"

"Good, off you go then. Have a nice day."

The smell of fresh air and the tingling feeling of cold wind gushing on my face were annoying but nice. The street seems quieter than normal, the only emotion I could think of is loneliness. As I walked downhill, I saw Senzou at the distance buying something at a small food stall.

"Heyo, what are you buying?"

"Banana bread."

"Mmm, why are you up this early anyway?"

"I ask you the same question, why are you up this early? It's the weekend and yet you're already awake. Usually, you wake up at 10 am."

"Heh, I kinda had a feeling to do something ye know?"

"Sure you do, anyways let's go to the grocery store and buy some vegetables"

"....?"

"What?"

"How did you know I needed to buy vegetables?"

"Can I not guess? Anyways, enough questions. Let's head on over there now."

Odd, I never knew he could read my mind like that. He's so cool but when you think about it, it's kinda creepy. As we went inside the store, we saw our teacher, Mr. Habato.

"Hello, sir."

"Oh hey, it's you, kids.....Uhm, I would like to talk about something to you kids later after I finish my groceries."

"Okay...?"

While we were waiting for his groceries, I might as well try to find some veggies for my mother. She didn't specify what she wanted though, so I thought having cabbage and bean sprouts might be a good idea. I think she's gonna kill me after this. After a long wait outside of the grocery store, we finally saw Mr. Habato walking out of the store.

"Ah, took you long enough, Mr. Habato"

"Sorry it took quite a while, they didn't have the red bean paste that I was looking for. Anyways, let's go over there near the alley. We don't want to be talking about something private in the open, don't we now?"

"Yup"

We headed towards the alleyway as he asked. As soon as we reached there, his expression changed dramatically.

"I'm certain that you know about the disappearance of Katsumi I assume."

The atmosphere around us changed, it got denser each second after I heard that.

"Y-yes..."

"Hmm. I'm not one to pry into someone else's personal life, but this is out of the ordinary for sure. Why did she disappear? Did she go somewhere.....mutter mutter"

"Uhm, sir? You do know we're still here right?"

"Mh? Oh yeah, sorry. I got a bit sidetracked."

"Question. Why do you want to know?"

"She is one of my prideful students to have for sure, plus her disappearance does make me worried. I sometimes care too much for my students."

"Don't worry, we all feel that way"

"Sorry to ask, but have you seen her yesterday?"

"Nope, we went searching everywhere yesterday. In the end, we ran out of time, so we had to go to school."

"Hmm, with such little clues, it's quite hard to figure out what happened. Thinking logically like this won't help much as of now. I wouldn't want to be a pessimist though and think she got kidnapped."

"That's what we initially thought of, but we have no clue what's going on"

"It seems that time has passed long enough for you people to know the truth."

We all looked around in confusion, hearing an old man's voice. It seems that he was next to us.

"You guys hear that right?"

Habato and Senzou nodded: "Yeah"

"Hahaha, you people sure do have the same reaction as her."

"Her? Are you talking about...."

"Yes, of course, I'm talking about Katsumi"

"Tsk, what did you do to her?!"

"Calm down, I'll tell you everything once all of you come to an agreement, alright?"

Quite hesitant to agree to what he wants us to do. Why would he ask us now, right as we are talking about her and why did she even take her anyways? This is just too much coincidence. What should I do in this situation, what would Katsumi do in this situation?

"Fine, what is it you want?"

"All I need you 3 to do, is to just go inside deeper in the alley. Then I shall guide you one further from there. That is all I can say for now."

"Yuki, are you sure you can trust a man that has no physical body? If you do then you are such an idiot for doing so." Senzou said

"This is our only lead to where Katsumi might be"

"He's right Senzou, although it may not seem right. My intuition tells me that we need to go deeper in."

"Ugh, fine"

"It seems that you all have finally come to a final agreement. Now please go deeper inside the alley."

As we went deeper, everything changed in an instant. I was in awe at how magnificent this cave was. There is blue luminescent light covering the ceiling, creating a beautiful glow. Right in front of us was a building of sorts.

"If you may, please step inside the small house"

There wasn't much inside, just some vase and a futon bed on the ground. However, on the far end of this room, there was a mirror that glows ever so slightly. It intrigued me.

"Hey guys, come check it out."

"What about it? It's just some broken pieces of glass laid on a pedestal"

Nothing much happened, but all of a sudden we saw a reflection of ourselves with different color-coded flames right in the middle of our chest.

"What you are seeing right now is your essence."

"What other things can it show us?"

"..."

In an instant, we were engulfed by a black mist. It felt like nothing and now I wonder where the others went. As I try to speak, nothing came out of my mouth. All I could do was listen to my head.

"Sorry for this all of a sudden. I know I know, you 3 may have lost your trust in me now, but do not worry. Your wait shall be awarded soon."

[Back at 2nd World]

There's a dense amount of leaves in front of me, I can't seem to see a way out of there. A few minutes later traversing through thick leaves, in the end, I saw a bright light that shows me an open view of the world.

"Waah. the view is stunning from up here"

While I was in awe at how gorgeous the view was. I noticed that there was a city at a distance.

"How do you enjoy it here?"

"It's wonderful. Sadly I just wished they were here to see this with me."

"That is a shame, maybe one day you will reunite with them"

"Yeah, you're right ol' man"

At least that cheered me up a bit, anyway, it is time to walk towards the city.