A/N: Hello to everyone. I hope you guys like this story, it's been so long since I wrote a fanfic. A lot of you might remember me, while many won't even know me but it feels good to be back and writing again. This story is dedicated to CuteTyHil – as I'm sure a lot more are in this fandom – considering how compassionate and lovely she is. This whole one-shot is the result of her constant support and ahem, pestering XD
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Where's Hilary?
Strangely, that was the first thing he noticed as he entered the class because even though he was late as usual and the teacher was shaking her head at him, that certain class president who took her duties really seriously was missing and it was a hard not to notice the quiet that resulted as a consequence.
He asked Kenny about her, silently hoping she was late too because then he'd finally have an edge over her and her bossy lectures about how he should take his studies seriously and not be late and learn to get up early, but Kenny had no idea about it and instead theorized that she might be busy in the preparations of the upcoming Inter-school Contests. After all, she was a member of the Student Council too and Tyson had to agree that that seemed a much more legible reason.
Where's Hilary?
But it soon became evident that 'that' wasn't the case. No one had seen her in the campus since morning and going by what that boy who resided in her neighborhood said, he had seen Hilary coming to school in the morning.
"Are you absolutely sure that you weren't half asleep and you did see her?"
The boy was, for some godforsaken reason, looking at him funny. "Yes, Tyson. I see her every morning and I saw her today too. It's alright, she might've changed her mind midway and went back home. Or might've suddenly felt ill or something. It's okay."
No it's not, you imbecile. Hilary Tachibana would never miss school even if it was the end of the world but deciding against starting an argument in the middle of the hallway, Tyson left to attend his Mathematics class, thinking that perhaps, the argument about her being ill made sense.
Where's Hilary?
He was wrong.
Hilary was not at her home. He telephoned there from that seldom-working telephone of the school because something at the back of his head kept nagging at him to do it once. He wasn't able to shake that feeling for the whole of Mathematics class and not a single word about differentiation and integration of equations went in is head. It was alright, he thought as he rushed to the office to make that call, he hated calculus.
When even after trying for the third time no one picked the phone, Tyson was certain that something was wrong. He went to every teacher with whom Hilary might have had a reason to talk to, to confirm it once again that she was not in school and then dashed off with his bag, climbed the back wall of the school and left.
Where's Hilary?
Tyson was totally operating on instinct now. He went to the three places he thought Hilary might be and after scouring them and finding no trace of Hilary or any of her family members, a certain ominous feeling started settling in his heart.
Something was very wrong.
What if she had met an accident and was now lying in some hospital? That would explain nobody being at home. Or what if she accidently broke her ankle and was now lying in some corner of an isolated street huddled close to the wall unable to walk? What if she had after all taken ill and fell down in the way only for some stranger stumbling upon her and deciding that she was a good keep, taking her away as a hostage?
And if we are talking about hostages… what if someone deliberately kidnapped her to lure him in? It certainly won't be the first time for this to happen.
Where's Hilary?
"Hilary is gone!"
He shouted as he threw the gates of Hiwatari Mansion open and marched straight in to find Kai Hiwatari sitting in the front yard reading a book.
"What do mean gone?"
"I mean gone! Vanished! She wasn't at school today despite Evan saying he saw her coming to school, her house is empty, she's nowhere in the city where she could be and no one knows where she is!"
Kai sighed.
Tyson launched his beyblade on him in rage. Hilary is missing and he has the AUDACITY to give a sigh?
Kai dodged him and gave him a bewildered look. "Are you out of mind, Granger?!"
It was absolutely clear that Kai wasn't taking his words seriously about the sudden crisis that loomed over them so Tyson stormed off from Hiwatari Mansion without a further word. And what was with that funny look that he gave him?
Kai Hiwatari could sometimes be a jerk. Hence proved.
Where's Hilary?
He remembered snippets of their conversation from a few days back when he was battling someone and she stood talking to a girl of their class nearby. Hilary was saying something on the lines of – "… Dad has got a new job and the pay is also good. The transfer will be sudden but it'll be good if it is done before the holidays."
He was busy in the match and was only half listening. Besides, eavesdropping on someone else's conversation was bad.
"But I guess changing schools would be really bad at this time of the year. It would lead to so much of academic loss."
The second girl had said and Tyson wanted to punch himself for not listening to Hilary's answer to that. He was so busy in beating that burly old kid that he tuned out the conversation. Eavesdropping is bad, agreed, but damn, he seriously regretted upholding his morals.
Was Hilary slated to move out of the town? What if she left today? He hadn't peered down her window when he went to check her home, he had taken one look at the hanging lock and stormed off in the other direction.
Hilary had even given him close to 15 missed calls yesterday evening and Tyson had ignored them because he was attending a charity event organized by BBA with Mr. Dickinson. He never got a chance to call her back. And even now as he tried her phone continuously, it was unreachable. Did she actually leave town? And was she calling him yesterday for a final goodbye meeting?
Fuck. He really should've listened to that conversation that day. He should've picked her calls yesterday. He should've called her back after returning even if it was well past midnight. He had no idea where her father had found a new job… it could be another city or another country or another continent – Hilary's father was a pretty well-known surgeon after all. He almost lost a breath.
Fuck. What will I do now?
Where's Hilary?
Because the only other hope he had was his sorry excuse of a brother, Hiro, Tyson ran off to his home. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon and soon dusk would settle in but he still had no clue of Hilary. It made his heart ache and the thoughts of what all could've happened to her swirled in his mind like a whirlpool.
His knees gave away as he reached the dojo, and Grandpa ran to pick him up. The last thing he remembered before passing out from the day's mental and physical exhaustion was that he was trying to explain to Grandpa about Hilary and how she was missing and how he had tried to look for her everywhere and how he needed Hiro's help to find her… and Grandpa giving him a look which said that nothing coherent was coming out of Tyson's mouth.
Where's Hilary?
When he regained consciousness he found himself on his bed in his own room with Hilary Tachibana looking at him with a really amused expression.
He burst out with a long list of questions and Hilary's smile grew even more amused until she finally laughed out loud, giving Tyson the clue that there was something very important and very simple that he had forgotten today. The other occupants of the room too – namely Hiro and Kenny – were shaking their heads at him, while Kai looked like a disappointed father who had been called on by the principal of his kid's school and he'd rather be anywhere but not there.
"Today was the school trip. How did you not remember that?" Hilary said, "That's why I was calling you yesterday, there were a few empty slots and I wanted to ask you and Kenny if you guys who'd be coming or not."
Oh.
OH.
So that was why Evan saw Hilary coming to school but she wasn't in school because they took them for the trip in the morning itself, much before he came to school. He really needed to learn to get up early. Kenny confessed not knowing about it either, but before he could inform Tyson about the school trip because it was pretty evident that half the school kids were missing too, Tyson had left the school.
Even Kai had known about it and that was why he found Tyson's storming in his mansion claiming that Hilary was missing funny.
"You could've told me, captain. I was right there in your house."
Kai glared at him. "You attacked me with Dragoon even before I could breathe."
Oh, yes. That.
"I'm done babysitting. Over to you all." Kai left and Tyson was secretly glad. He would have to apologize to him soon though.
Tyson turned back to Hilary. "But why was there no one at your house? I thought…." He explained to her about that conversation he had heard the other day and his fears of her having left the town.
This time, it was Kenny who barked a laughter and left the room on the pretext of getting water. Tyson didn't know what was so funny about it all. He was so genuinely concerned and here were all his friends making fun of his misery. Snakes, all of them.
"It was not about my dad, we were talking about Max. You know he's leaving for the US next week, don't you? Judy wants him back and Mr. Tate too found a very well-paying job there at the All-Stars so they going to be staying at the US for the next few years until Judy ends her tenure and moves back to Japan. Come on Tyson, you know all of this."
Tyson stared at her dumbfounded, while Hiro stood leaning on a nearby wall, looking like his favorite TV Serial was on air right now.
"As for my home being empty, Mum and Dad went to visit my aunt in Osaka. They're on their way back, I told them to pick me up from here. It's alright if I stay here for an hour or two more, right?"
She looked over at Hiro who gave her a cheerful nod. "Just go and inform Grandpa about this Hilary, so that he can make some snacks for you too. Kenny has already decided to stay here tonight."
Hilary agreed and still smiling at Tyson as if he were kid, left the room.
"She should've told me…" Tyson muttered as Hilary closed the room behind her when Hiro smacked his head so hard that Tyson let out a string of obscenities directed at his older brother.
"YOU should've told her!" Hiro laughed as Tyson rubbed his throbbing head. "It's time you tell her that you're head over heels for her. Do you know how many of us have bets placed over you guys, as to who's gonna confess first?"
"Shut up, Hiro. I don't have a crush on Hilary." But even as those words left his mouth, Tyson realized how utterly wrong they sounded.
His lack of conviction was apparently all what Hiro needed. He whistled and turned to leave the room just as Hilary returned. Hiro looked like Christmas had come early for him.
"By the way, Tyson was saying you look great today, Hilary."
Hilary gave him a confused look. "Thanks… I guess."
"And he would also like to tell you that he appreciates you coming here. He was really pretty worried about you. You heard him muttering you name when he was knocked out, didn't you?"
"Hiro, are you trying to make conversation with me on Tyson's behalf?"
"Well," Hiro shrugged his shoulders, "it's about time someone has to take an initiative."
Kenny's laugh echoed from the hallway and even though Tyson was red as a tomato he could swear had Dragoon been in his pocket or near his bedside he would've sliced the two morons in a hundred pieces by now.
Hiro rushed out to join a laughing a Kenny closing the door behind him as Hilary stood muttering, "What was that about?"
Tyson looked at her – the girl he was so worried about for the whole day, for whom he had scoured nearly half the town, and the thought of who's having left the town nearly left him so out of breath that he fainted – standing in front of him absolutely fine that for a moment, nothing else mattered.
And perhaps, Hiro was right, though he'd never say this to that bastard, but he was right. It really was about time that he confessed some things to her. So gathering his senses and regaining his composure, he sat up straight and asked Hilary to sit down too.
"So Hilary, there was something I needed to tell you since a long time….."
Where's Hilary?
Hilary nestled herself in Tyson's arms, as he sat telling her how he'd had a crush on her ever since they first started talking two years back. She smiled to herself. She had known this since ages.
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