Unconditional Love
by Cyberchao X

Disclaimer: You know the deal. I own many characters, but there are also many I don't. You sort it out.

Chapter 10: The Missing

Thursday, January 20, 2005 5:10 PM

"Okay, girls, that's a wrap!" the coach called, and the cheerleaders headed off. "Hikari, can I talk to you?"

"Huh? What is it?"

"Your teachers have been worried about your work lately, and I can't say that you're doing much better here."

"You're not cutting me, are you?"

"No, not yet...but something needs to be done. Has anything happened recently that could be affecting you like this?"

"I don't think so..."

"Okay, well, just think about it."

"Mm." She ran off. "Sorry I'm late," she apologized to her friends.

"It's fine. I understand. It's not like it's the first time—"

"What?"

"I said it's—"

"I know what you said! But this isn't something that I've been—"

"Yeah, actually, you have. You're not yourself lately, Hikari."

"I don't know what everyone's so worried about. Everyone's been saying that, but I'm still me! Nothing's changed!"

"Well, sorry! I should've known better than trying to talk to you now. It's 'that time of the month', isn't it?"

"I do not have PMS, Akami!"

"You-you don't?"

"No, I haven't had my period this mo—on—th..." Her eyes went wide. "That's right, I haven't...it's...no way... I gotta go!"

5:50 PM

"Hello? Oh, hi, Takeru. No, she's not home yet. I'll have her call you when she—" Mrs. Yagami paused as the door opened, "Hold on, she just walked in." She covered the mouthpiece. "You've got a phone call, Hikari."

"I'm not interested," she sighed dejectedly.

"It's Takeru."

"I'll talk to him. Hold on." She put down her bags and picked up the phone in her room. "H-hello."

"Hikari? You okay? You sound really nervous."

"I-I'll be fine. So, what's up?"

"Well, Akami called me and said that you'd been acting really strangely lately."

"She needs to learn to keep her nose out of other people's business," she replied.

"See, she's right. That's not you. That's not the girl I love."

"L-love...yes, of course, and I can only hope...that that's it."

"What's it? What's what?"

"N-nothing. Just thinking out loud."

"I'm coming over."

"What?"

"There's definitely something wrong here. You've been really detached lately, and—"

"I—No, I still feel—I'm not—!"

Takeru sighed. "That's not what I meant. I know that you're still as close to me as ever. But the rest of the world isn't as lucky as I am."

"What are you talking about? I'm all yours!"

"I mean, you're growing apart from the world. You haven't acted like this since the Dark Ocean."

"What do you..."

"Also, you seem tentative, talking to me now. Is there something you're not letting on?"

"I...don't know."

Original A/N: Wonderful! I can still write! Chapter 9, sadly, will take some time to complete—it's supposed to cover much of the winter break—but here, we have the main plotline coming to the fore. Stay tuned, my beloved readers! Ja ne!

Current A/N: Ah, that explains it. Chapter 9 was officially deemed "unfinished" after all, even though Chapter 10 apparently isn't and Chapter 11 was at least started (maybe; there are a lot of documents that just have a chapter header and no content for the next chapter of unfinished fics.)