Who is Masato? Vote on my new poll and influence the direction of the story!
Chapter 10: Where is Miss Momozono?
"Hey Rin!" Kaoru says happily as she walks into the music room.
"Hey" she stiffly greets, taking a seat on the couch.
"Is something the matter, Miss Yukimura?" Kyoya asks from behind his laptop. Rin sighs.
"Yeah, something's wrong. Have any of you seen Melissa?"
"Melissa?" Tamaki asks. "Not at all."
"What about you, Honey-senpai? Mori-senpai?" Mori dips his chin slightly and closes his eyes. Honey vigorously shakes his head.
"We haven't seen Lissa-chan all day. I hope she's doing alright."
"Riiiiinnn!"
"Suzume?" Rin quickly stands and hurries over to her blonde friend.
"Where's Melissa?" Suzume asks frantically.
"I don't know, I was just asking the Hosts the same questions" Rin replies.
"Rin, we've been everywhere around the entire school" Suzume adds, pulling a scared-looking Kazumi into the room.
Kazumi nods. "We can't find Momozono-senpai anywhere" she squeaks out as tears well up in her visible, left eye. Rin places a hand on the fifteen year old's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Kazumi. We'll find her."
"Rin?" The idol looks up as Satoru and Ryuu join the two girls.
"What's up?" Rin asks, almost knowing what they're going to say already.
"We can't find Melissa anywhere on school grounds. We looked in the gardens, but she's not there" Satoru informs her.
"Where the h**l could that midget ninja have gone?!" Ryuu shouts angrily. Kazumi visibly flinches.
"Calm down, idiot. Can't you see you're scaring Kazumi?" Rin scolds.
"Yukimura-san." Rin turns to the door.
"What do you want, Masato-san?" He glares icily at her, but continues.
"Miss Momozono is not at the studio either. I just called the Yukimura Stars base; she is not there. I also called her cellphone, but received no response."
"Thanks for checking" Rin says begrudgingly. "Do you know where Kazuki and Chiyo are?"
"I'm right here" Chiyo says, walking in behind Masato. "I'm worried for Kazuki, though. He seems to have taken the brunt of the shock." Everyone turns as the usually professional manager stumbles in. His shirt is wrinkled, his hair is unkempt, and he looks like he hasn't slept in days.
"It can't be that bad" Rin deadpans, raising an eyebrow. "It's only been one day. We'll find her."
"As manager, it's my responsibility to know where everyone is" Kazuki laments pitifully. "What am I going to tell your father when - if I can't find her?"
"That's why we're a team" Suzume says, ignoring his word choice. "The responsibility is on all of our shoulders. Even Masato's."
"What are we going to do without her here?" Chiyo asks with a serious look on her face. "Melissa was the center of our group. She was our energy. She was our trainer. Without her, we might as well -"
"Stop talking like that!" Rin snarls. "It's not like she's dead!" The room falls silent, and Kazumi starts to cry while tears well up in everyone's eyes.
"But what if she is?!" Kazumi sobs, throwing her hands over her face.
"Miss Momozono can't be located?" Rin hurries over to Kyoya, who's still at his laptop. She glares at him.
"What kind of dumba** question is that?" She asks angrily, slamming a hand done on his table. "Haven't you been listening?"
"Indeed I have" he says, his voice tinged with annoyance. "I was just clarifying."
"Missing?" Honey's eyes also fill with tears. He looks up at Mori. "We have to find Lissa-chan!" Mori nods.
"Then we'll all help!" Tamaki exclaims. "All of us shall search the grounds for her. Haruhi, you come with Daddy."
"You're not my dad, Senpai!" Haruhi retorts as Tamaki grabs her hand and drags her out of the club room.
"We'll help too" the twins add.
"Thanks everyone" Rin says, smiling wryly. "May your efforts not be in vain."
"Well, that was a total bust" the twins remark. Kazumi bursts into a fresh fit of tears.
"You two are terrible people" Haruhi says. "Look what you did to Kazumi-san."
"I'm sorry, Kazumi" Kaoru says, moving to sit next to her on the couch. "I didn't mean to make you cry!"
"You need to be more considerate of Mi-chan" Honey scolds, looking concernedly at the poor girl.
"Mi-chan?" Rin looks at Honey, who nods.
"I can't call her Kazu-chan, because his name" Honey points to Kazuki, "is also Kazu-chan!"
"So, what do you call Kazuki?" Rin asks, tilting her head.
"Ki-chan."
"Oh."
"D**n it; two hours worth of searching, and still nothing!" Ryuu growls, storming into the room.
"What.. If… She… Died?!" Kazumi asks between sobs.
"She is not dead" Chiyo replies, looking unusually cross. "I just wish she'd stop playing games."
"You think she's playing 'hide-and-seek'?" Tamaki asks innocently.
"Of course not!" Chiyo explodes. "I think she's trying to mess us up!"
"But, she's not like that" Kazuki whimpers, looking as fragile as his little sister.
"She's sure causing us a lot of trouble, though" Satoru remarks, grimacing down at his hands. "This type of thing has never happened before"
"Not while we've been together, at least" Masato mutters from his corner. "But, we don't know what she was like before she met us."
"You're such an a**, you know that?" Rin says, turning to face him. "I bet you really miss her, though."
"Tch."
"Admit it; even you feel her absence." No response. "Say it, Masato! Say that you miss her!"
"I do miss her!" He angrily shouts back. "Because I don't show it doesn't that mean I don't care. Do you honestly think I have no heart?"
Rin blinks. "Wow. You actually showed emotion. You should do that more often."
"Tch."
"I'm glad the two of you have bridged that gap" Kyoya says, typing on his laptop, "but we still have yet to solve the mystery."
"That's right" Honey responds. "We've gotta find Lissa-chan."
"There's one place we could - and probably should - check." Everyone turns to look at Ryuu.
"Well?!" Rin finally asks in exasperation when he doesn't say anything else.
"If you don't mind braving it, we could always go check her house."
Finally! This chapter is posted (but, I apologize for it being so short). Stay tuned for Chapter 11; I've got BIG plans for that one.
Review, favorite, follow. Can't wait for the next chapter!
~ Melissa-Disney99