Trials and Tribulations
Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin or any of their characters. This story is for fun, not for profit.
Chapter 1
He leaned against the cold window frame, watching the passing of people below on the soggy streets of Tokyo. He both loved and hated it when it rained. Loved because the somber dreariness fit his mood. Hated because it was annoying to actually be in. He found a sort of evil pleasure sitting where he was and watching the people scurry around as if their speed would help them to stay dry.
"Amon..." Annoyed, the brooding man left his thoughts to glare at the young IT guy.
Michael visibly gulped. It was obvious that Amon hadn't been paying attention to the conversation. It was also obvious that he was not happy at having his thoughts interrupted.
"Uh... have you heard from Robin? She seems to be running really late today..." Michael's voice trailed off as he realized that she was actually only about 20 minutes late, based off of the office's normal start time. It just seemed late to him since Robin had made a habit of arriving more than an hour earlier than anyone else.
"She's not answering her phone and no one is answering at her apartment," Karasuma interjected, attempting to bring the glare of death away from the teen.
Amon took a deep breath in a direct attempt to calm his nerves. He knew she was late and he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He had awoken in the middle of the night with a jarring feeling that something had happened, but no idea what. He had shaken off the feeling, but the longer she was absent, the more his brain wanted to connect the two incidents.
"What time did she leave last night, Michael?" Amon asked, trying to sound as neutral as possible. He knew that their youngest hunter tended to visit in the middle of the night in her own attempt to do something nice for Michael. When Amon had originally found out about her late night excursions, he had wanted to lecture her to no end about the foolishness of a woman walking alone at night. He hadn't, though. He wasn't even sure if she knew that he knew about her late night activities. Regardless, he had been sure that with her craft, she would be fine and his lecture would be foolish at best. Now he was having doubts about that decision.
Michael paled. Chewing on his lip, he blushed before looking down at his feet and mumbling, "I don't know."
"You don't know?" Amon could hear the chill in his own voice. Noticing the hacker's flinch, he presumed everyone else could, too.
"I... I guess I fell asleep. When I woke up, she was gone."
'Amon's going to kill me,' Michael thought to himself. He knew that Amon didn't like Robin to come over as late as she did. He had even told Michael as much and that the boy should discourage her late night visits. Selfishly, he had convinced himself that the hunter was jealous of the attention she bestowed on him. Michael knew it was actually compassion and friendship that brought the young blond to visit him, but he liked the childish feeling of having something that the foreboding man didn't. Now, though, he had to face the reality that Amon likely wasn't jealous but was afraid that some sort of harm could come to the beautiful young girl. The thought that this could somehow be his fault made the young geek feel ill.
Amon simply glared at Michael. He desperately wanted to strangle the teen, but knew that he had to keep his calm. It wasn't really his fault that Robin was missing. Just as the eldest hunter was about to speak again, his phone rang.
———Sighing angrily, he answered with a curt "Hello".
Robin had debated for some time who to call – Karasuma or Amon. It would be easier to talk to the brunette hunter whom she had grown to think of almost like an older sister. It would be horribly embarrassing to approach her harsher partner with the situation, to put it mildly. At the same time, she knew she would have to face him at some point. As much as she wanted to not say anything to anyone, she had to get a ride home and knew that whoever got her would ask questions.
Finally, practicality won. It would be hardest to tell Amon. She wasn't sure how many times she would be able to tell the story, and she knew her partner would make her tell him. If he knew, no one else would have to ask. Knowing this, she called him. She might as well get it over with.
As soon as she heard his low, unemotional voice on the other end of the connection, she regretted her decision. Although it was only a little edgier than normal, it scared her enough that she almost dropped the phone. She was seriously thinking about hanging up when he spoke again, the annoyance of having to say 'Hello' twice obvious in his tone.
"Amon?" she hesitantly responded, even softer than she normally was.
———Amon blinked in surprise when he finally heard Robin's voice on the other line.
"Robin? Where are you?" The dark hunter schooled his voice back to its normal dispassionate cadence. He had heard the hesitance and fear in her voice. As much as it concerned him, he was bound and determined not to let it show to her or their coworkers.
At the sound of Robin's name, the other four people in the room turned to look at their leader. A brief look of relief crossed everyone's face.
"I knew we were worried about nothing," Sakaki muttered under his breath. "With her powers, no one could fuck with her and live to tell about it." Doujima giggled and nodded her agreement.
Karasuma had caught the brief twitch in Amon's eye after he had asked where Robin was. It was one of the few signs that indicated the otherwise expressionless man was explicitly hiding something.
"I'll be right there." Before Amon had turned off the phone, he was already headed for the elevator. As he passed his desk, he grabbed his trench coat and put it on in one fluid motion without even slowing down.
"Amon?" Karasuma called after her swiftly moving coworker. "Where's Robin?"
He paused briefly before tersely responding, "I'm going to get her." With that, he disappeared down the stairs, leaving Michael and the rest of the hunters to look questioningly at each other.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Most of the story is done, so the rest should be here shortly. R&R please!