Ch.2 Dissapeared In The Smoke - 煙の中で姿を消した (Kemuri no naka de sugata o keshita)
IKUTO
"Sir, the plane has arrived," A flight attendant poked me to wake me up.
Yawning, I stretched my arms before getting out of my s eat. "Thanks," I said and made my way down the aisle. I walked out of the airport with renewed energy at the thought of seeing Amu again. Hailing a cab I decided to surprise Amu like last time by hiding in her room and waiting for her to find me. I smiled as I remembered the last time I 'de seen Amu. She freaked out and tried to hide me from her mom not knowing that her mom was the one who invited me in in the first place.
"Where to?" asked the taxi driver. I told her the address and she took off so fast the wheels squealed!
"I'm not in that much of a hurry."
"Yeah, but I am. I'm off duty in 15 min!"
Crazy idiot she's going to kill me!
"I 'de buckle up if I where you." She smirked as I flew back and forth in the backseat. Now she tells me!
In the end the cab driver ended up throwing me out a few blocks from Amu's claiming that she was off duty at 7PM sharp. I didn't really mind though it was only a ten minute walk from where I was to Amu's house. The night sky was ominous tonight. Not a single star was to be seen and not to mention there was a new moon.
As I walked past the once familiar shops and houses I couldn't help, but notice all the changes that had happened in the two years I've been gone. The flower shop by the bookstore was now a Starbucks and an entire block of homes had been demolished and made into an huge apartment complex.
The smell of smoke hit me unexpectedly. Someone must be having a pretty damn big BBQ for there to be this much smoke. Coughing into my elbow I gasped in astonishment at the burning building before my eyes; Amu's house! The firefighters looked as if they had just shown up and had already begun controlling the fire. Running up to the closest bystander I asked pleadingly, "Did everyone get out?"
"I don't know, but a few minutes ago a girl with short pink hair ran in there, and she hasn't come out."
I ran up to the burning house just as a fireman burst out dragging three limp people out, Amu's family.
"That's all of them." He said in a sad tone and put his load down by the ambulance.
"Wait! There's one more person in there! A girl with pink hair!" I panicked.
"I searched the entire building; she must have gotten out on her own." He replied.
Where could she have one? More importantly why did she leave? Worry stabbed at every fiber of my being as I turned and ran towards the park. I would search the entire city if I had to!