Title: Visio Obscura

Author: KuroiCho

Genre: OC, drama

Rating: PG-13

A/N: Yaay. The sixth chapter. So. Um. Now you're starting to find out just how shitty HOLY is on the inside. Major problems coming up in the next chapters. Oh, and notice that I haven't seen the series till the end, so I don't know how the HOLY ends up in the anime. This is just my speculation. Again, endless thanks to everyone who reviewed, I'm sorry I keep tormenting you with my irregular updates.

After a time that felt like aeons, Shikan regained control of herself. Tears she had been holding since her childhood finally freed themselves. Freed themselves and... something else. Shikan stood up properly, taking support from Ryuhou and tried considerately wipe her cheeks.

"I'm okay now", she said. Ryuhou gave a small smile, "I'm glad to hear that."

"Mm.. You know, I think..", Shikan said, then paused for a moment and gave a great yawn, "I think I'm ready for bed."

"Righto. Shall I escort the lady to her chambers?" Ryuhou said jokingly when they stepped inside. Shikan gave him a weak punch in the arm.

"Shall you escort the puffy-eyed gal to her more or less closet-sized room, more like. And no, thanks." She turned to the corridor leading to her apartment and stopped.

"But.. um. Really. Thanks. For.. you know. I mean it", she said. Ryuhou nodded, although she couldn't see it, and said:

"Goodnight."

"'Night."

A sharp, high-pitched, buzzing noise jerked Shikan out of the sweet, warm slumber. She turned her side and tried to ignore the noise. When it didn't repeat itself after some time she happily burrowed into the sheets and almost fell asleep again..

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBRRRRZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

"Oh, for fuck's sake..", Shikan muttered and with huge effort, dragged herself up from her bed and staggered to the door. She opened it to a crack and peered outside.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Amae-san", said a strangely familiar male voice. She saw a flash of purple hair in the hallway and an image of a memory floated into her head.

"Oh, Tachi- I mean, Asuka-san. What are you doing here?" she asked in a slightly muffled voice and stifled a yawn.

"Well, I just thought I should wake you up, considering it 's already 8.10 AM, so.."

"How nice of you, but doesn't..", she paused, processing the information just given to her, "Say what?"

"8.10 AM, Amae-san", replied Asuka's voice from behind the door, "You're late."

And so, around 15 minutes later, Shikan Amae ran frantically down the corridors, without proper showering, without any breakfast, and cussing under her breath.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuckingfuck.. Sensei's going to kill me!" She turned around another corner and saw the door of the auditorium looming in the corridor. She sped up her run and screeched to a halt by the door. Trying to even her breath, she knocked politely and opened the door.

"Gomennasai! I know I'm late, but-", she stopped. The classroom was pretty much in chaos. The younger officers were huddled in small groups, all talking in hushed voices. There were are a few older officers as well, but they were discussing in their own small group and didn't give her more than a glance. Shikan slipped into the room, bits of whispered conversations catching her ear here and then.

"I mean, I saw her last evening, I couldn't have guessed anything..."

"...but apparently she wasn't seen outside the headquarters.."

"... you ask me, I was feeling like something like this was going to happen.."

Shikan walked past the groups, wondering what had happened. She stopped next to one of the groups and tapped a girl near her own age on her shoulder.

"Excuse me, I seem to have missed something. Could someone tell me what has happened?"

The other officers gave her a long and disbelieving look.

"You seriously haven't heard?"

"Misaki's gone missing."

Shikan frowned slightly. She hadn't really gotten known of her fellow officers.

"Ah, I see.. When?"

"Last night.. I think", said one of the younger officers, "Though they didn't notice it until this morning."

"Right." Shikan thought this for a moment. "Well, I'm sure she'll be found soon. Maybe she's just.. I don't know, taking a day off or something." The girl shook her head sadly.

"No way", she said, "She didn't say anything like that to me. She was my friend."

"And besides", intervened another officer, "She's not the first one who's gone missing." Shikan raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

The officer nodded. "Last week, I think, Shikuza disappeared. They said she went to an.. what was it.. Oh yes, 'advanced education camp'."

"They?" asked Shikan.

"They, you know", said the officer, "The guys from the upper step. The commander."

The commander Zigmarl stared down at the man in front of him.

"I don't care why it doesn't work, I just want to know when will it be ready!"

The man startled and fumbled nervously with his glasses.

"Ah, yes, commander", he said, "I see that, but I dare to say the main problem is in the sources of energy, sir. They have the habit to.. ah, drain too fast, sir."

Zigmarl sighed heavily and leaned back on his armchair.

"You can't expect me to find you a new 'guinea pig' every day, can you? The others are already getting suspicious."

"But the stuff about the education camp went down without arguments, no?"

"Yes, but for long? That's the question.." The phone of his desk rang with a shrill sound and he picked it up.

"Yes? Oh, you're here. Yes, please come in." He put the phone down again and turned to the man with the glasses.

"You get out now", he said with a poisonous tone in his voice, "I'll come around in the evening and I want a full report of how you're going to fix the situation."

The man bowed deep, "Yes, sir!" and turned around to leave. As he left the room, Ryuhou entered. "Commander."

Zigmarl turned to him. "Ryuhou. Glad to see you this soon."

Ryuhou walked across the room and stopped in front of the desk.

"We haven't still found any clues concerning the disappearance of officer Torimo Misaki. According to our sources, she wasn't seen outside the headquarters."

Zigmarl tapped his desk with his fingers.

"Yes, about that. I have decided to mark this off as a runaway case."

Ryuhou blinked. "But. But commander! That would be a violation of the rules! This is a serious case of disappearance, and it shouldn't be--"

"Head Officer Ryuhou", Zigmarl's voice made Ryuhou's speech get stuck in his throat, "You dare to stand against your commander's order?"

Ryuhou took a deep breath and said in a considerably calmer tone,

"No, sir."

"Then, go and inform officer Torimo's case as a runaway. You're dismissed." Zigmarl turned his attention away from Ryuhou and he bowed and left the room.

After some time the older officers told them to leave. Apparently the lecture had to be cancelled, so Shikan wandered in the hallways, feeling more or less exhausted. She stopped in front of a message board and stood there staring at the endless lists of lectures. After around five minutes she realized she hadn't registered a single word from the board. God, I need some sleep. Her stomach rumbled loudly. God, I need some food. And like right on cue, somebody tapped her on her shoulder and said:

"Amae-san, you okay?" Shikan turned her head and saw Asuka's nervous smile behind her shoulder.

"Oh, yeah. Just..", she gave a magnificent yawn, ".. a little tired and all. Hungry."

Asuka gave her another of his plain smiles.

"Well, then", he said, "The cafeteria should be open. Should we head there?"

"Fantastic idea."

The cafeteria was almost empty at that time of the morning. Only a few other officers sat around, chatting idly. Shikan hauled an enormous brunch over to the table she shared with Asuka and started stuffing it into her mouth. Asuka was satisfied with a sandwich and tried to keep up some sort of a small-talk. Shikan mainly nodded and mumbled something agreeing to the things he mentioned. Then he brought up a subject Shikan was interested in, too.

"I heard a younger officer went missing again", he said. Shikan stopped chewing for a while, then swallowed and said:

"Yeah, I heard too. That's why our lecture was cancelled."

"You didn't mention anything about that. Anyway, apparently they haven't given an official announcement yet. Though they seemed to be investigating the case pretty seriously.."

Asuka trailed off and stared somewhere over Shikan's shoulder. Then he waved his hand.

"Oy! Ryuhou-san! Over here!"

Shikan turned over and saw the green-haired man walking towards them. He nodded at Shikan, not a sign of their last night's meeting showing on his face, and then turned at Asuka.

"What is it, Tachibana-san?"

"Asuka. Asuka's fine. Has there been any news about the lost officer?"

"Not officially, Tachibana-san, no. But.. well, it's going to be announced soon anyway.." Ryuhou pulled out a chair and sat down.

"The only way it can be explained is a runaway", he said, "The investigations don't give much clues.."

"But", said Asuka doubtfully, "Everyone said she didn't leave the headquarters in the evening." Ryuhou shrugged.

"It's probable she sneaked out in the middle of the night. Not all feel comfortable in HOLY. And excuse me..", he stood up again, "I'm afraid I need to leave you again." He nodded to Shikan again and left them.

The talk had subdued by the evening. The officers still walked in small groups rather than alone in the hallways but the constant whispering had died out. By the time commander Zigmarl left his office and headed to the lower floors of the headquarters the corridors were almost empty.

He went to the lowest floor and inserted a number code, only known to him and a few other persons in the organization, into a door and it slid open. He stepped into a spacious room, of which most of the space was taken by a monstrous-looking machinery. He cleared his throat and one of the many technicians scuttling around the room hurried over to him.

"The report?" the commander asked curtly. The man handed him a stack of papers filled with complicated figures. Zigmarl studied them for some time and then raised his eyes, his expression now much more approving.

"So you've located the last error?" The man nodded excitedly.

"Yes, sir! It was surprisingly simple, we're now working on fixing it. It should be ready tomorrow. We'll be ready for another test by then."

Zigmarl nodded. "I'll find an appropriate 'guinea pig' for tomorrow, then."

"Yes, sir."

"Keep on working", he said, turning around. He opened the door to leave and said over his shoulder, "I'm pleased with your work."

"Thank you, sir!" the man said, bowing deep as the door closed, leaving the endless clacking as the only sound in the room.