Author's Note: Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido, which is the upper island of Japan. Fukka is a fictional town, so it has no true location, but I've always assumed it was somewhere near Tokyo.
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Natsuki walked into the apartment, tossing the mail she had retrieved from the mail slot upon the table. Ever since she and Nao had moved to Sapporo, Mai had been trying to find a time for them to come back for a formal HiME reunion, and she had sent another letter about it. Natsuki would have liked to, but recently her and Nao's schedules had become increasingly busy. While she was regarding Mai's letter, she realized the small but comfortable living quarters were very quiet. "I'm home!" she attempted, hearing the announcement bounce off the walls of the apartment. No reply came back, and she frowned slightly as she quickly glanced into each of the rooms. Nao was supposed to be home by now, but she wasn't anywhere to be found. 'Come to think of it... was her bike even in the parking lot?' Natsuki went to the window, drawing open the curtains to look down to the pavement below. She shielded her eyes from the direct sun as the bright sunlight poured into the room. When her eyes adjusted, she frowned. Nao's motorcycle, a twin of her own, was nowhere to be found. 'Maybe she went out with some friends from class?' A small pout graced her expression. Nao had promised to cook dinner tonight, and Natsuki had been looking forward to eating a good meal. The two of them still mostly ate takeout, but Nao had developed into a decent cook recently. It had taken Kaori's lessons years to sink in, though, and Natsuki herself was still a lost cause.
The raven haired girl checked her cellphone for voice mail. Despite Nao's decidedly independent and impulsive bent, she was usually pretty dutiful about letting Natsuki know when plans changed. But as she clicked through the menus on the hand held device, a computerized woman's voice dashed her hopes, announcing that no new messages had been left. Nao's unplanned absence was more annoying than worrisome, but it still left a bad feeling in Natsuki's stomach as she considered it. She called up the speed dial number for Nao's cellphone, but before the second ring had even begun, she heard a low ring tone playing from their bedroom. With a sinking sensation, Natsuki stayed on the phone as she walked around the corner, tracing the source of the sound to Nao's cellphone, apparently forgotten on the nightstand. 'God damn it. Just when its actually important...'
Accepting that she wouldn't be eating a home cooked meal tonight, Natsuki dialed the number of a local pizza place. Placing an order, she rifled through her wallet as the man on the other end of the phone confirmed her order back to her. "Um..." she intoned after he asked if the order was correct. She had forgotten she had spent the last of her cash cash refilling her bike with gas. "Can we put this on my credit card? The tip too..."
She read off the string of numbers that comprised her credit card number, asking him to throw on a decent tip for the delivery boy. There was a moment of silence at the other end, and then a tentative reply. "Um... Kuga-san... your credit card was rejected."
"... You're kidding me." she replied.
"'fraid not. You and Yuuki-san are regular customers here though... I can check with my boss if its okay for us to extend you credit, if that's..."
"No, that's fine." Natsuki intoned, rubbing her temple. "Sorry for the trouble." She ended the call without waiting for a reply, feeling disgruntled and embarrassed. She slammed the cellphone down against the table, looking at it unhappily. She knew she was cutting it close, but she was pretty sure that she still had a decent buffer before she reached her credit limit. Money had been tight for the couple, especially after Natsuki opened her motorcycle repair shop, for which she had accepted Nao's snarky suggestion to name 'The Silver Cartridge'.
Her mood suitably darkened, she went into the apartment's tiny kitchen to rummage around in their freezer for something to heat up. After tossing a package of what looked like frozen pasta into the microwave, she sat down in front of her laptop, a graduation gift from Shizuru. With a furrowed brow, she logged into her bank's website, calling up a history on her credit card usage. The page loaded slowly, and getting impatient, she went to watch her pasta turn. After the microwave's buzzer rang, she pulled it out, pulling out a few experimental strings of pasta with her chopsticks and placing them in her mouth. It was dry, but tasty enough.
Returning to the computer, she scanned through the data that had finally loaded. She recognized all of the charges as she traversed the list, until she reached the very bottom. Choking in surprise, she set down the black plastic tray she had been eating from and coughed into her hand, swinging her head back up to confirm what she thought she had seen previously once she was certain she wouldn't suffocate. Sure enough, the baffling, errant charge was still there. 'What the... twenty three thousand yen approximately $200 to Japan Airlines Domestic? Is that a plane ticket?' That charge was enough to push her credit card over her credit limit. According to the site, the charge had been placed four hours ago, while she was at work.
"What the hell is going on?" she said aloud in the emptiness. The only other person who knew her credit card number was Nao, and she would only use it in an emergency. What could be serious enough that Nao would use her credit card to buy a ticket to somewhere, without telling Natsuki and without her cellphone? Natsuki had a sickening panicked sensation at the bottom of her stomach. She hurriedly accessed her email account, ignoring several unread messages from clients and suppliers relating to her fledgling business. With any luck, Nao had simply used the reservation account attached to the credit card. 'There it is!' A ticket confirmation email from the airline. She opened the email.
Passenger: Yuuki Nao-san.
Ticket Type: One Way Express.
Destination: Fuuka Airport.
Natsuki stared at the email in disbelief. 'What on earth possessed her to fly back to Fuuka?' There was virtually no one that they knew left there... most of the former HiME had graduated and scattered to the winds over the years; drawn off by their own destinies. A fleeting thought occurred to her, and though she would have liked to dismiss it out of hand, it was the only plausible theory she could come up with. 'Did she get so aggravated with normal life here that she ran off to her old stomping grounds?'
Like any couple, they had had their ups and downs over the years. A few nights ago they had had a minor fight over something silly... it took Natsuki a moment to place what it had even been about. She had berated Nao over her habit of always putting things off until the last moment. They were both eternally guilty of minor to moderate procrastination, but this time it had cost them a dinner date because Nao had retreated to her room to finish a paper. But there had been no lasting bad feelings... that was ridiculous. They had weathered much worse storms in the past, and neither of them had ever held a grudge.
Natsuki swallowed with difficulty. She wasn't certain what was going on, but she knew she couldn't sit passively and do nothing. The inaction would eat away at her. With only one option left, she jogged out the door and down the stairs to the parking lot. She turned the ignition of her bike, feeling the reassuring rumble of the motor beneath her. 'Just you wait, Nao. I'm coming after you, and when I find you, you better have a damn good explanation for me.'