AN: Revised chapter 1/16/2017

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May knocked on the dorm door.

Yesterday had been a series of chasing down people and then going back to the people that had initially sent her to those people…She sighed, tapping an impatient foot as she waited. There were too many Stephanies in the wardrobe department. This was the fifth one. For the sake of her sanity, she hoped this was the one Jake meant.

The Stephanie that had been trained alongside Marie.

If there was anyone that would know anything personal about the tight lipped Marie, it was this Stephanie person. Whichever Stephanie it was. May knocked again, having heard shuffling inside. It was pretty early in the morning but it was a sure way to make sure all the darn Stephanies were in their dorms. Checking later at night wasn't as reliable since they could be out all night.

They all had to come back to sleep, right?

May pressed her ear to the door. She definitely could hear movement. Something down the hallway caught her eye. She turned her head a little, immediately scowling when she saw Ken coming down the hallway. Maybe he was going to talk to someone else.

"May!"

"Freaking fun-tastic," she grumbled under her breath. "Whatcha want Captain Lose-a-lot?"

Ken frowned. "I wasn't the one that started the argument that led to Marie escaping the cafeteria, May."

May rolled her eyes. "You were the idiot that brought up Leon."

"I didn't mean to wonder out loud," Ken bit out.

"Well you did, ok?" May knocked harder on the door. "And I still think it was an idiotic thought."

"It was a valid thought, ok? Everyone knows the festival committee doesn't like Leon." Ken crossed his arms sullenly. "I wasn't asking about your opinion anyways."

"People tend to 'wonder out loud' because they secretly want feedback. I have siblings, I know what I'm talking about." May pounded the door. "I know you're in there Stephanie! Answer the freaking door!"

"May! Let the girl sleep!"

"Let go of my arm, dimwit!" May tore her arm out of his hold. "I didn't say you could touch me!" She wiped her arm on her shirt. "Gonna get the stupid virus."

"Alright enough, ok?" Ken pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're name calling me a lot more than you used to and I don't appreciate it, especially around the newbies. You're cutting into my authority."

May rang the doorbell, muttering out, "What authority?"

"See, that's what I'm talking about! Geez, May!" He sighed loudly. "And to think, I thought we were getting along a couple of weeks ago…"

"We're not friends," May sneered. "Never have been. You're so annoyingly boring."

"I do plenty of fun stuff and hobbies!"

"Like rock collecting?"

"That was my sister's, May. How many times do I have to repeat it?"

"Then why was the kit in your bag?" May shook her head. "You know what, it's not even the hobby that rubs me the wrong way. It's the way you never stand up for yourself."

"What're you talking about?"

May gave him a flat look, momentarily forgetting about her task. "Your mom makes your lunches," to that Ken blushed a little, "you waited too long to tell Sora how you feel and always have an excuse as to why you waited," his mouth down turned at that, "then the fact that you quit being a performer and always bring up your heart condition –"

"It's a valid reason," he defended.

"Right there." May bared her teeth a little as her fingers curled. "That pitch of tone and the way you lift your shoulders up and lower your head…It just makes me want to cringe."

Ken's back straightened.

"You know what? I don't have to explain myself."

"Yes! Exactly!" She grinned at him. "Finally!" She started to slow clap. "Ladies and gentlemen, Ken Robbins has just grown a pair."

"Oh my gosh May. We are not going to talk about –"

" 'xcuse me," the duo turned around to see a girl in the now open doorway. "Someone wanted to talk to me?"

Ken immediately flushed.

And he's lost them. May sighed to herself. "Yeah, are you the Stephanie that trained with Marie?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Whatcha know about her?"

The sleepy eyed teen slowly blinked. "This couldn't wait?"

May made to step up to her, but Ken cut in. He hadn't realized what May was up to initially. It was actually a smart move on May's part.

"Marie's missing. We're trying to see if she ran off with someone in Cape Mary."

"Oh." Stephanie tucked her black hair behind her ear. "She didn't really hang out with anyone. Or date. Though Henry kind of was into her."

"We don't want gossi-"

"Anything else?" Ken quickly cut May off. "Maybe any hobbies or places she liked?"

Stephanie wrinkled her nose. "She liked crossword puzzles. Henry found out and would get her some. But I never saw her use the ones he got her."

"Is that really all?" May flatly asked.

"Yeah. Look, you should ask Henry. I don't know anything else. Except that he backed off of Marie after one Saturday. He seemed upset but wouldn't say why."

"Thanks Stephanie. And what's Henry's last name?"

"Kent, I think. Or Malcolm."

"Are you freaking kid-"

"Have a good one!" Ken quickly pushed May along.

SL

Jerry made a mental list of what he knew about Marie.

She was a young teenager with an eye for stage fabric and color. She wasn't all too chatty, preferring to wave or nod instead of actually speak to anyone. When she did speak, she was nervous.

Friends and family never visited or made any contact.

The only thing people knew was that every morning in the dining hall, she read the newspaper while eating breakfast. It was a little strange for Jerry to hear someone so young reading the paper, but he figured she had nothing else to do.

That is, until he went through her trash bin.

Her things from the dorms were gone, though he noticed that she left her bathroom and kitchen stuff, plus her trash. From what he could tell she must have been in a hurry for some reason or other, no doubt wanting to leave as soon as possible before they came looking for her.

Because of this rush, Jerry noticed a particularity.

The questions for the crossword resulted in a strange combination of words. There was a day filled into a space as well as some other words like "Death," "yellow," and "fallen." He looked at the date. It was the paper before the accident.

"This is a lead, if I ever saw one."

He was going to have to look up the creator of this crossword.

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"Curt Henry?"

The teen looked up from deciding between waffles or pancakes. "Uh, Miss May. Mister Ken. What's up?"

"You got a weird name kid."

"May-"

"Second," May continued as if Ken hadn't chided her. "You were into Marie, right?"

The teen blushed a little. "Was. For a while."

"Why'd you stop crushing on her?"

"W-What?"

Ken sighed to himself. No tact at all. "Hey Curt. Sorry, we're just worried about Marie." He lowered his voice. "She ran off and we're trying to see if she knew anyone in Cape Mary."

"Oh geez…" Curt frowned. "I didn't think it was serious."

"So there is someone!"

Ken gave May a look before turning back to Curt. "Why don't we sit down and talk Curt? I'm sure you're hungry."

"Ah, yeah. Thanks Mr. Ken."

The trio sat down, much to May's irritation. She felt restless sitting down. They needed to be moving and getting to it, not be all leisurely. Marie could be halfway to some remote island with no extradition agreements. Curt ate a little. May made to ask something, but Ken shook his head. May glowered. She'd let him lead for a little more. The punk was more receptive to Ken anyways.

"I had just wanted to know what Marie liked," Curt started a little sheepishly. "I wasn't stalking her."

Oh the irony, May dryly commented in her head.

"I deliver mail to the newbies. And take the envelopes too. People can take them personally to the front desk lobby but it's easier just to make rounds. She was writing to someone in a newspaper at the time. Couldn't help but notice. She asked me for a copy of the newspaper too, especially the entertainment part. That's when I noticed she liked doing the crosswords."

Get on with it… She was ready to just make him spit it out.

"One weekend, I saw her leaving wardrobe with her camera. Sometimes she liked taking shots of behind the scenes and stuff. But this time she went off the lot. I um, had an errand over at the shopping center nearby so I was there when I saw…them."

"Them who?" May impatiently cut in.

"Marie and some guy. They were sitting kind of close on a bench. She passed him something. I don't know what. I uh, stepped on something so they looked over, but I ducked down in time." Curt half shrugged. "After that, she stopped asking for the paper and sending letters."

"Describe the guy." May leaned over into his face. "Was he young? Old? Buff? Skinny like a twig?"

"Duh, um, a little taller than her, kind of skinny," Curt stumbled over his thoughts as May stared at him intensely. "Uh he was wearing a hoodie so I didn't see his face."

"Damn," May spat out. "It's always the creepy ones."

"Um. Is Marie in trouble?"

"Oh, no. There's nothing to worry about," Ken tried to shrug it off. "I'm sure she's fine."

"But she ran away."

"We just think she did," Ken quickly backtracked. "She's probably just out shopping. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw her tonight."

May got up, making Ken stand up. "Oh," he leaned back over to Curt," I wouldn't spread this around since it's nothing."

"If you say so."

"Come on Ken!"

Ken jogged to catch up to May.

"Now we're partners in this?"

"I guess," May sighed. "You seem to understand the teen mentality."

"Thanks," Ken flatly said.

"…Hey."

"Yeah?"

"You shouldn't be suggesting that Leon has a kid."

Ken pursed his mouth. Yesterday, when they lost Marie, he had wondered out loud if that old letter for Leon had been from a festival committee member's daughter. That comment had ruffled May's feathers. He defended himself. She called him a liar. And then they lost Marie.

"He might have one."

May glanced at him. "Even if he does, it doesn't affect you. Nor should people hear about it from anyone other than those involved. It's called personal space."

"Since when have you cared about that?"

She gave him a hard look. "Just drop it."

He stewed silently. Hit a sore spot huh? And she said she was over Leon.

SL

The Oswalds had been talking outside on the Kaleido grounds when Leon's phone rang.

Sora picked at her skirt as Leon excused himself to listen. She half heard the conversation, but not enough to understand what was being said. But she'd recognize her friend's burly man voice anywhere. When the call started to wrap up, she leaned closer to her husband.

"Tell Jerry I say hi."

"He heard you." Leon listened. "Jerry sends an embrace."

She smiled wide. "I feel nice and warm."

There was light laughter on the other end and then Leon hung up.

"Marie's fingerprints match."

Her smile waned a little. "Well, we had suspected her already. And the second set of fingerprints from the stamps?"

"Still waiting on that. It's taking longer since they had to compile several pieces of the prints to try to make one full fingerprint."

"Sounds complicated."

"Yes." Pause. "There is a lead to who the second person is…"

"Ah." She gave him a knowing smile. "You want to check it out personally."

"I'll be quick."

"And I can't be quick with my crutches."

"Sora, that's not why I don't want to take you alon-"

She put her fingers over his lips, pausing him.

"I know how restless you are about this. It's ok. I need to talk with the Boss anyways."

"I need to do something," he murmured.

"I know, Leon." She caressed his cheek. "Go ahead. Call me if you find something."

"I'll come back to take you home."

"Okay."

She pecked his lips before he was off towards the parking lot.

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AN: I'm trying to make the trail of information clearer and make more sense. I felt like the first version wasn't that plausible. XD Sorry about that. I'm also trying to have more of May and Ken.