Maboroshi

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Chapter 1: The Missing

She walked inside her room, a heavy feeling on her chest. There should have been nothing wrong. Her life was continuing as normal. If that was true, then why didn't it feel like it?

She knew she was missing something. Something she felt had been there her whole life. As she thought back in her mind, she couldn't remember what that thing might be. All she knew was that she felt a serious sense of sadness, of emptiness.

She had her attention turned to her dresser. On top of it, she saw a beautiful blue rose. Accompanying it, there was a card. It was a purplish color with no writing on the outside. She opened it and found a small letter.

"My True Love,

There are a million things I wish to tell you, but I'm afraid my time has run short.

As I decide on my next step, know that I am always thinking of you. I'll miss your smile as well as everything about you as I go.

I know you may not want to forget, but it's for the best. Live your life in love, even when I am no longer around.

I have written you this note to bid you my last goodbyes. I am afraid I will have to leave you behind. I wish you every happiness.

And so, I have one last thing so say to you, my tender darling.

I love you. You are my most precious friend, and you will always hold a special place in my heart.

-Kuroba Kaito."

She stared at the letter, not knowing what to make of it. She looked next to the letter and found a picture of her with a boy her age. A boy she didn't recognize. "K-Kuroba...Kaito..."

She didn't know why, but all of a sudden, tears had started pouring out of her eyes. She didn't know who this Kaito person was, but she found herself in a state of extreme sadness.

Soon, perhaps due to an excessive amount of tears, she fainted, leaving the note and picture on the dresser.

Aoko sighed, gathering the remaining books from her desk. That time was coming. That time when everyone would be graduating high school and moving forward with their lives.

Aoko wasn't incredibly worried about it. She had a career choice picked out and everything. But despite that, she felt a sense of dread weighing on her. Unconsciously, she looked to the desk next to her. She was the only person in class without a desk partner, and she couldn't remember why.

But every once in a while, she would look over at the empty desk. She always subconsciously thought that someone was supposed to be sitting there. But the seat wasn't assigned to anyone, and most likely wouldn't be until a new student came in, which was unlikely since it was almost graduation season. The reason she felt this immense dread was because she felt that there was someone, someone important, who wouldn't be graduating with her. And it scared her a little.

Where these strange feelings came from, she would never know. But she knew there was someone. Someone she was forgetting...

As she shook out of her stupor, Aoko took her books and headed out of the room.

Aoko hated when this happened, but every once in a while, she would get the urge to stare at her phone and wait for a text. She didn't know what she was waiting for, really. It probably wasn't a text from her father, or any of her friends. She didn't feel like she was waiting for a text from them.

In that case, who's was she waiting for. Definitely not some random stranger's. That would be weird. This was shy she hated it so much. Why did she have such an urge in the first place. Waiting for a text from a person that probably didn't even exist. It was a tad ridiculous to think about. And it wasn't like she could send one either. It was rather frustrating.

Aoko sighed and tossed her phone aside, not caring what she was waiting for anymore. Quietly, she sat up and made her way up over to the second floor veranda. The wind gently caressed her as she walked over to the small fence.

From there, she could see the house of her neighbor, a woman named Kuroba Chikage. Her husband, the famous magician Kuroba Toichi, had passed a way a few years ago. She remembered that the couple had never had a child, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembered, just maybe...

The full moon was out tonight, the only thing shining in the sky as the stars were hidden by clouds. The full moon always seemed to have strange effect on her mind. Whenever she saw it in person, it always brought to her the image of white. A strange, visible white, standing in front of the moon. She didn't have a clue as to where she had seen it before, but thinking about it always provided her with a bit of melancholy. Like a fleeting, magical moment.

Deep down, she longed to grab onto that white gloved hand that had reached out to her. Not knowing where the memory had come from, she remembered grabbing onto the hand. A feeling of warmth enveloped her whole. If she were to reach out to the moon, would that same hand reach back?

The logical part of her knew it wouldn't, but the childish side was a tad curious. Slowly, she reached her hand up to the moon, closing her eyes and waiting. She never felt a hand. However, what she did feel was something else entirely.

It was the wind. The warm wind seemed to be the one holding her hand. However, even though there seemed to be nothing there, Aoko was positive there was something. Had the hand reached back after all?

Not only that, but the wind had started hugging her, making her feel warm all over. She hugged her own arms, wanting the warmth to last forever. However, despite her wishes, it ended as quickly as it had come. She was left alone again.

Standing on her balcony, she looked back up at the moon. If that really was the hand from her memory, then it meant that something was going on. The dread before graduation. Staring at her neighboring table. Waiting for and important text. And recalling a strange memory.

There had to have been something. Something that had left her life without leaving a single trace behind. She wanted to know what it was, that important thing she was missing. She had to know.