Yang Xiao Long was in a panic.
She had come home to find not her sister, but a note supposedly written by her saying that she had left and wouldn't be back for a while.
The elder sister had fought down the urge to puke upon reading the letter, and immediately began searching the apartment she shared with her sibling, flinging open the doors in the vain hope that this was all just a stupid prank Ruby was pulling, that the redhead would jump out with a comical yell to scare Yang.
But alas, all she found was the drawers to her sister's dresser open and a decent amount of clothes missing.
For just a moment, all Yang could hear was a roaring in her ears. This couldn't be happening. She had already lost her parents, all three of them, and now it seemed that her baby sister had left her too.
But that was only for a moment before the more rational part of Yang's mind began to speak to her.
It didn't make sense that Ruby would leave, at least not willingly. Where would she go? They had no family to go to outside of the small town they lived in, and all of their friends lived within the town limits as well. The only logical conclusion was that Ruby was taken against her will. Otherwise, Ruby would have offered some sort of explanation. She would never pull something like this without telling Yang what was going on.
"Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" Yang cursed to herself as she stormed out of the apartment building.
There was only one place Ruby was last night, and Yang was going to find some answers.
She hopped on the motorbike she affectionately called Bumblebee and roared down the road, the whole time grinding her teeth so loudly she could hear the sound over the engines. Buildings zoomed past her as she made her way downtown towards the café. In this moment, she gave little note to speed limits or stop lights, zipping past intersections to the sound of honked horns and annoyed shouts. Yang weaved in and out of traffic, narrowly missing the side mirrors of multiple vehicles.
She only barely realized that in her haste she had forgotten to put on her helmet.
Finally, she skidded to a stop in front of the café and leapt off of her bike.
She burst into the building, shoving the door with such force that it slammed into the wall.
"Coco!"
Multiple customers jumped in their seats at the shout, eyes wide as they gazed at the blonde woman heaving in the doorway.
Soon enough, the woman Yang was searching for entered her view.
"What's the deal, Xiao Long? Your sister was supposed to come in this morning."
Yang marched up to the counter.
"The 'deal' is, Coco, is that I can't find Ruby anywhere." Yang snapped back.
Coco paused before taking off her sunglasses and raising an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"She isn't at home!" Yang fished into her pocket and revealed the note. "All I could find was this." She slammed the piece of paper down on the counter.
Coco glanced at Yang before looking down and reading the contents. Yang watched as coffee-colored eyes flitted across the words, brow slowly creasing the further along she read.
"What the hell…?" She mumbled.
"Exactly! It doesn't make sense!"
Coco sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Was Ruby acting strange at all when she left work last night?" Yang pressed.
Coco shook her head. "No, she seemed fine. She finished cleaning up and I warned her to stay close to the streetlights before she left. I'm sure you've seen the news."
The thought immediately made Yang's blood go cold. Of course, she had seen the news. Two characters hiding in the shadows of alleyways, watching passersby, and coming just a bit too close to some of them. People had reported them to the police, but no one was ever caught.
What if…
"You don't think…" Yang gasped out.
"I didn't say that, Yang. Look, the best thing we can do right now is call the police."
"But that'll take too long! Ruby could be hurt or worse already!"
"Yang, I get it, but-"
"No, Coco! I'm not going to wait for the police! I'm going after her myself."
Coco gave Yang a very unimpressed look. "Yeah? Where are you gonna start?"
"I'll figure it out!"
"You'll figure it out? You think you'll do a better job than the cops?"
"Coco, I'm not-"
"Yang!"
Coco's sharp shout once again quieted the café. Coco glanced around before grabbing Yang by the wrist and, despite the blonde's protests, pulling her into the back of the shop.
"Listen to me, Yang Xiao Long. I want to find your sister just as much as you do. That girl means the world to me. But I'm not gonna pull some bullshit like going after her on my own. Neither of us know where to start and neither of us have any clue where she could have gone." Coco hissed at Yang, keeping a firm hold on her arm.
"But-"
"No! If something happens to you, who's gonna help Ruby then?!"
That made Yang pause.
If she was being honest, the thought had never really crossed her mind before. She and Ruby were inseparable, and it seemed to be destined that they would always be in each other's lives and always be there for each other. Ruby would be there for Yang, Yang would be there for Ruby. The universe just seemed aligned that way.
If something happens to you…
The emotions of the moment finally caught up to Yang. Her vision became blurry as her knees became weak. She didn't know what to do.
For the first time in her life, she couldn't be there for her baby sister. Couldn't hold her close and protect her from all the scary things in the world like a good big sister should. She had failed her Ruby. She broke the promise she had made after their parents died.
Yang began sobbing as she almost fell. She would have had Coco not been there to catch her.
"Yang, I need you to listen to me, okay? We're going to find Ruby. We'll get her back, I promise. But we can't do it ourselves. We need to call the police, okay?"
Yang could barely hear her over the sound of her crying, but she nodded her understanding.
Coco sighed as she wrapped her arms around Yang, holding the other woman close and rubbing her back soothingly.
Yang may have failed her sister this time.
But she would be damned if Ruby wasn't around when she made up for it.