Story: Where I Can't Follow
Main Characters: Fubuki, Ryou, Yuusuke||Romance: N/A
Word Count: 500||Chapter Count: 1/1
Genre: Friendship, Drama||Rated: G
Challenge: Diversity Writing: GX, Hell's Ice claim, A57, 500 word drabble; GX Flash Bingo, #055: prompt: Music is such a beautiful opiate, if you don't take it too seriously (Henry Miller)
Notes: This is set in my Hell's Ice universe, where Fubuki wasn't taken by Kagemaru and Daitokuji, but Ryou was.
Summary: Ryou's gone missing. Fubuki can't help but feel guilty about it.

Fubuki ran his fingers over the strings of his ukulele. He knew he needed to practice. Practice was a necessary thing for a musician. But he couldn't keep his mind on it, not when that one particular thought kept vibrating in the front of his mind.

Ryou had vanished. Ryou wasn't there anymore. It made no sense. Ryou was always there. Ryou was like the ocean or the sun. He was always there. But now he wasn't. It wasn't right and it threw everything off.

Fubuki strummed again and automatically looked up to the couch where Ryou normally relaxed himself whenever he sat in on a practice session – which was most of the time, because Ryou had a good ear for music and as Fubuki got better, he was always certain Ryou could and would give him a good critique. Harsh, sometimes, but good and useful all the same.

And yet, no one met his eyes. There wasn't any stern but fair smile or nod. There just wasn't anything.

And again his eyes slipped to the side, and again there wasn't anyone there.

It wasn't just Ryou who'd vanished. Yuusuke wasn't there either. For the first time since his arrival at Duel Academia, he didn't have his two closest friends with him.

Fubuki didn't like being alone. He'd never had to be. He'd always had his sister and if he wasn't with her Ryou or Yuusuke. Usually Ryou and Yuusuke.

At least the pretty girls and cute guys are still here? Fubuki tried to reassure himself. It didn't feel completely right, but it was something.

He tried to practice a little more, but his heart wasn't in it. His heart wasn't in doing a great deal that wasn't striving to find his two best friends. He didn't think he could get his hands on Yuusuke – more was the pity – but maybe Ryou? All the video footage said he'd almost literally vanished into a cloud of nothingness.

Fubuki didn't care what the video footage said. He still had another couple of weeks until the end of the year. He'd spend that time trying to get as much information as he could. Even if he couldn't find Ryou – and he'd do all that he could in order to find him – then he'd know more than he did now, and every little bit helped.

Maybe the best place to start would be with the last teacher to see Ryou: Daitokuji-sensei.

A faint twinge of guilt twitched in him. Ryou had been off on an errand for him when he'd vanished: telling Daitokuji-sensei that Fubuki couldn't make it to class because of that cold he'd had. It probably would've happened anyway. But that didn't mean Fubuki didn't feel guilty about it.

If it was my fault, then it's up to me to fix it. He settled his ukulele back on its stand, flicked his hair into place, and set out to talk to his teacher. He wouldn't give up this search. Not ever.

The End

Notes: At some point soon I'm going to work on this world again. Like, maybe in the next month.