Something Worth Leaving Behind

Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids Shinseiki / Zero. MBS played it in Japan. Tomy made the toys. I'm also not making any money off of this. I also do not own the song "Something Worth Leaving Behind." Leanne Womack sings it, I don't know who wrote it.

Note: As before, this will not be a deathfic, the Japanese names are used, and the story's written from Jiemi's point of view. Also remember, song lyrics are written between (meaning: (lyrics)).

What has come before...

Jiemi met a young singer named Onpu, who has similar feelings to Jiemi. However, after fighting with her mother, she has run away, and Jiemi is now trying to find her.

Chapter 5- Soul

As I started my search for Onpu, another search had begun as well...

Team Blitz was startled at the sound of a knock at the door during their dinner of cold leftovers. Glancing at each other to see who would answer the door, Rinon finally got up. When she reached the door, she opened it to find my dad standing there.

"Good evening, Rinon. Where is everybody?" he asked.

"We're in the kitchen eating dinner, Mr. Hemerosu," she replied.

"Lead the way, then. I got something for Jiemi." He patted the bag he had slung over his shoulder.

"Actually, ummm..." Rinon trailed off... Sighing, she led him to the kitchen.

"Oscar!" Doc called out when they appeared in the doorway. "How've you been?"

"Can't say I've been that bad." Looking around, he noticed my absence. "Where's Jiemi?"

Rinon, Bit, and Ballade looked at each other, and finally Doc stood up. "He's out," Doc said.

"During dinner? Jiemi should know better than to skip a meal. When's he supposed to be back?"

"We don't know, actually," Doc replied.

"Not sure? Well, where'd he go?" My dad was getting persistant.

Doc sighed. "We don't know. No one has seen him all day, and his Reinosu is gone."

My dad walked to the table, pulled out my empty chair, and sat down, hard. "Are you telling me that my son has been missing all day, along with his Zoid, and no one bothered to tell me?"

"He, he could've gone out to get supplies. He does that on his own sometimes, so I don't buy the expensive stuff," Doc tried defending himself.

"I know my son better than you do, Torosu. He may go out on his own for things, but he never leaves for extended periods of time without telling anyone."

"Dad," Rinon said quietly. "Jiemi didn't watch the movie with us last night, either. None of us have seen him since dinner last night."

The four of them could see my dad's anger level rising. I don't blame him, either. I remember how angry he was when Ara left. "My son has been missing for over a day! And none of you have done anything about it! And you call yourselves his friends! We need to report this, NOW."

Doc led my dad to the computer room, and my teammates followed behind them. "How far do you think he's gotten in a day?" Bit asked. "We don't know where to tell anyone to search."

"He took his Reinosu with him, didn't he?" Ballade answered.

"Yeah, but that just increases how far he could've gotten." Bit replied.

"This is Jiemi we're talking about. Jiemi would never leave his Reinosu behind. We just need to add to the report to search for his Reinosu, and Jiemi shouldn't be far away."

"Good thinking, Ballade," Doc told him, hoping to restore some of my dad's faith in him. Just then, the computer finished the connection, and they got ready to make the report.

At Onpu's house, her mother was also making a missing persons report. "So do you have any idea where she could've gone?" the police officer asked her.

"No," Onpu's mother replied. "She doesn't know any- wait, there's a boy she met. He brought her home this evening."

"Do you know his name? Where he lives?"

"No. He disappeared when I called you. I think Onpu called him Jiemi, but I'm not sure."

"Jiemi?! Do you know his last name, anything about him?" The police officer pushed.

"No. I'm sorry. Why, do you know him?"

The officer reached into his pouch, and brought out a photo. "Did he look like this?"

Onpu's mother took the photo from him, and found herself staring at my face. "Yes, this is him. Is he dangerous?"

"No, it's nothing like that. This is Jiemi Hemerosu, a Zoid pilot with Team Blitz. He also reported missing earlier this evening. He left with his Reinosu, and we found the Zoid at the edge of town, and was thinking he could be in town somewhere. Do you know where he went?"

"No. He told me he didn't have anywhere to go. Do you think he went after Onpu?" Onpu's mother sat down, tears in her eyes.

"It's possible. He may go back to the Reinosu, so we're keeping an eye on it. In the meantime, I need you to tell me everything you can about today's events, and young Jiemi."

When I got near the Reinosu, I see that it was being heavily guarded, but I didn't know why. The only thing I could think of was that they suspected me of being responsible for Onpu's disappearance. The fact that my team had reported me missing never crossed my mind. I backed away, and went in another direction. Not having access to my Reinosu would make it a lot harder to look for Onpu.

So I'll have to do this myself, huh? I thought. If I were running away... I stopped that train of thought. I did run away. I felt that I wasn't being appreciated, and so I ran away. But... I left because I wasn't being appreciated. Onpu just wanted to be a normal girl... Where would a normal girl go?

As I turned a corner, I saw a video arcade. There's somewhere to start, I figured. I entered, and started looking around. Peering between the games, I noticed an officer talking to the arcade's proprietor, and hid next to a large potted plant.

"Yeah, the girl was in her earlier. One of the regulars here offered to walk her home. Took me by a bit of surprise, though. He's not usually one to make friends fast," the owner was saying. "The girl looked a little nervous, but she looked willing enough to be going with him."

"Do you know where he lives?" the officer asked.

"Unfortunately, no. But one of the other regulars says that they've seen him hanging out by the black market Zoid shops."

"The black market shops? That's not a good area of town. I'd better check it out."

Once the officer left, I exited quickly as well. If I took the back alleys, I might be able to get there faster than the officer. This guy didn't sound like good news, and if he wasn't good news, then Onpu was in trouble.

When I reached the shops, I realized that it wouldn't be easy to find Onpu. This area was huge, and I didn't even know if she was here. I don't even know this guy. How can I find where he might've taken Onpu? Then it hit me: I'm a strategist. My job is to figure out what my opponent is thinking. Okay, so if my opponent is this guy who took Onpu, where would he hide, if he knows he's looking for me? Spotting what appeared to be an abandoned apartment building, I figured I'd start there.

Walking softly and looking around me, I heard voices coming from an apartment down the hallway.

"What do you want from me?" It was Onpu's voice.

"Listen, I don't want to hurt you. See?" I heard the sound of something hitting the floor. "But I know that you've got money, and I need some. So hand it over."

"I-I don't have anything! Please, just let me go!"

Running, I reached the open doorway. I saw Onpu huddled against the wall, with the guy facing her, away from me. The lyrics of that song came back to me I know I'll never lose my life to save another soul Hmm... well, I never thought I'd be in a situation like this, but I got Onpu into this mess, so I need to get her out. Besides, she's my friend. So, pushing all other thoughts aside, I ran at the man.

"What in the-" he cried, twisting as I knocked him to the ground.

"Leave her alone!" I yelled. "Onpu, run!" Shocked, the girl got up and ran, as the man pushed me off of him, throwing me into the wall.

"You made a big mistake, boy," he told me. "I wasn't gonna hurt her, just get her money. But you're in for it now." He picked up his knife, then came at me.

Outside, Onpu ran straight into the officers who were just pulling up outside.

"Jiemi, he's in trouble! You've got to help him!" The officers looked at each other, then one of them ran inside. The other stuck Onpu in the car, then followed. Onpu reached and turned on the radio.

But if I will love then I will find

That I have touched another life

And that's something

Something worth leaving behind

It's been an insanely long time since I updated this, I know, but it's almost over. One, maybe 2 more chapters.