A bright flash of light engulfed the entirety of the Amusement Club's room as Kyouko, Yui and Chinatsu shielded their eyes. As quickly as it started, it ended, leaving the three girls wide-eyed and slack-jawed from what they just witnessed. Just a few moments ago, while they were all cleaning the clubhouse in preparation for potential new members, the group ended up discovering a strange, almost futuristic, chair-like device stored in the closet. After a split-second deduction from Kyouko that it was some sort of time machine and a bit of messing about too close to the device itself, not only did the machine whir to life and suddenly vanish completely but it also took one member of the Amusement Club with it.

"A-AKARI?!"

"AKARI!"

"AKARI-CHAN!"

The three ran up to where the machine and their red-headed friend last were, wondering if they really saw what they did. There was no trace of either the time machine or Akari anywhere.

"...That was AWESOME!" Kyouko blurted out. She had to admit, she was impressed by the spectacle. Though it didn't last long before she received a swift bop to the noggin from Yui.

"Now's not the time to act amazed! Where did Akari go?!" Yui was definitely the most concerned of the three. Seeing one of her closest friends disappear into thin air was shocking.

"S-She was right here, right? She'll reappear after a while, won't she?" Chinatsu was worried, too. Akari wasn't exactly a person with a lot of presence, but this was way too much.

"...She's fine! She's gotta be. I mean Akari's been through worse, right? Give it a while and I bet she'll pop back up crying her eyes out just like always!" Kyouko stood proudly. Yui and Chinatsu looked at each other and then back at their friend. In a way she wasn't exactly wrong. Akari was a natural bad luck magnet. From tripping and falling face-first into the sand to being caught in a barrel rolling downhill to even being in the center of an explosion, she pretty much dealt with the worst of the worst yet still kept getting back up, dusting herself off and going along with her day. Technically this was right in line with all of the previous predicaments she got caught in.

With a groan Yui decided to go along with it. "Fine. We'll just occupy ourselves until she comes back. We've still got some cleaning to do anyway."

"If Yui-senpai says so...At least your word's more trustworthy than Kyouko-senpai's is." Chinatsu scoffed, causing Kyouko to pout. "What's that supposed to mean?! I'm totally trustworthy! Have I ever lied to you guys about anything ever?"

"...Are you seriously asking us this?" Yui replied in a deadpan matter, almost immediately ignoring her friend right after as she started sweeping up one of the main room's corners. The others soon joined in the cleaning as time continued to pass. Five minutes, ten minutes, thirty minutes...It wasn't until the school bell rang, signaling the end of lunch period, that the worry over Akari's disappearance began to increase. A lot more time had past than they expected.

"She'll be back in the clubroom safe and sound by the time school is out! Just watch!" Was what Kyouko stated before they headed back to class. Time moved by slowly, almost agonizingly so. While Kyouko wasn't quite as concerned, it was hard for Yui to focus on her work without worrying about Akari. Chinatsu would occasionally keep glancing at Akari's desk as class went on, then shift her gaze at the trees leading to the clubhouse. She was hoping that she'd see another flash of light; A sign that her friend had finally reappeared...but nothing of the sort happened. Finally the school day came to an end. Kyouko proudly marched in front of the others as they returned to the clubhouse, flinging the door open with vigor.

"A-KA-RI! That disappearing act of yours was really some-...thing...else...?"

All Kyouko saw was the same empty room as before. No changes, no differences, nothing. Yui and Chinatsu joined her by her sides, they could tell by the look on the blonde girl's face that Akari being gone for real was actually starting to sink in. She walked forward, looking around for any hint of Akari's reappearance.

"S-She's not...here?...Her house! Y-Yeah, I bet she came back by the time school ended and went back home! Let's go check on her! Let's go right now!" Kyouko stated, her cheerful-sounding voice cracking obviously as she bounced out of the room and back to the dirt path leading to the school. The trio rushed over to Akari's house as quick as they could, finding themselves standing outside its front door in mere minutes. Kyouko rang the doorbell, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for Akari to cheerfully open the door like she always did.

"Yes? Ah, it's Akari's friends." The person who answered the door wasn't Akari but her older sister, Akane. The older Akaza sister smiled perpetually at the girls as she always tended to, taking note of their worried looks. It almost seemed like she was expecting them to look that way.

"Akari's Big Sister! Akari's here, right? We need to see her!" Kyouko declared.

"Akari?...I'm sorry, she hasn't come home yet. I had assumed that she was still playing with the rest of you..." She replied. If the shock on Kyouko's face back in the club room was subtle then, it was obvious now. Akari actually disappeared. She never came back to school or the clubroom or even showed up back at her own home. Slowly, she turned back to Yui and Chinatsu before going into a total panic. "GUYS, AKARI'S GONE!"

"So now you're finally taking this seriously." Yui sighed before addressing Akane again. "Akari's been missing since this afternoon. Do you know where she may have gone?"

Akane pondered for a moment before answering. "Akari has many places she likes to go when she goes out on her own. She enjoys walking through town and the park nearby, for one..."

"ALRIGHT, I'LL HEAD NEAR THE MOVIE THEATER. YUI. CHINATSU-CHAN. PARK. SEARCH. BREAK!" Kyouko immediately sprinted off down the street, leaving her friends to quickly scramble off behind her and Akane standing at the door. Instead of growing concerned over the disappearance of her younger sister, she simply smiled and retreated back inside.

"Hmm. So it's that time, I take it. Oh Akari...I hope this week goes by fast. Not having you around is going to be unbeeearable..." She said to herself as she made her way up to Akari's room to spend some "quality time" with her younger sister's belongings.