Note: Welp. Here it is. The prologue of the discontinued and dropped Danganronpa and S&S crossover. I worked on this for a long time, with encouragement from one Apocryphal-One, but I ended up leaving this as is because the story was hitting my own mental health badly. So, here's the prologue of the relic that was supposed to be Tomoko's own Memory Arc. Consider this a what-if bad ending thing, where Gekkō Miyako passed away on October Tenth and the Memory Arc from CYB happened in S&S as it did in CYB. Even with Tomoko's help, Kei doesn't come out with her arm unscathed, and this is the aftermath.
As everyone knows, I do not own anything except Tomoko, her family, and Nagareboshi Cafe. Danganronpa and Naruto both belong to their respective creators of Spike Chunsoft and Masashi Kishimoto. Kei and any references to CYB belong to Lang Noi.
Trigger warnings: depression, implied suicide and cutting, emotional trauma, and unintentional neglect. I recommend closing this now if you don't want to read angst.
Sparkle 24: Disappearance
"Papa?" At the sound of his daughter's voice, Judai hummed a non-committed noise as a way of signaling his attention without actually voicing it. It sounded like a question. He was not expecting the next remark.
"Do you think you'll ever forget me?"
What. What the—what the fuck was just said just now?
Judai rubbed the inside of his right ear lobe almost viciously before blinking and turning around to the teenager fidgeting behind his step. "Tomoko-chan, what did you just say?"
Tomoko flinched, taking a step back while ducking her head. Judai immediately held back any urge to shout in protest at the sight of her shoulders shaking, and instead let out his frustrations in a small sigh. "Tomoko-chan, please." He took a breath to stay calm and not make a large scene like the worried parent he was supposed to be. "I'm not angry. What did you say just now?"
"Um," she said, her voice high-pitched with nervousness. With the way she was looking away from him, it was as if she wanted to be invisible, like a ghost — as much as possible. That wasn't a good sign. "Just—just a question… 'Do you think you'll ever forget me.'" Tomoko-chan stopped walking after repeating herself, hunching in a way that vaguely reminded him of a hedgehog.
Oh gosh. Even without being a sensor, Judai knew that this was about Kei.
No one in the close family-friend circle could ever forget Sorayama and what had happened. It had only been a month, and even with everyone slowly recovering, the image of his daughter's tear-stained face was still etched in his mind. The sight of his niece's limp left arm was still imprinted in his thoughts.
At the time, when Tomoko-chan vehemently declared herself a temporary inhabitant of the Namikaze Household, Judai didn't complain. The stubbornness inherited from Hikari was apparent enough already. But for her to come back a few days later, sobbing loudly about how Kei had gone on another mission, and then the chaos at the hospital? He wasn't even sure anymore.
"Tomoko-chan, Tomoko-chan, Tomoko-chan," he found himself humming the name while walking closer, and it was hard to miss Tomoko's instinctive flinch. "Hey, hey," he kept his voice soft while reaching over to rest a hand on the girl's head. Immediately, the teen looked up at him with wide, surprised blue eyes, and Judai couldn't help but wonder what in all hell made her like this. What made Vy so scared of reactions to the point of it bleeding over into another life?
He wasn't sure, but he put on his best smile while bumping foreheads. She needed to know this, especially as his daughter. "Why are you asking that? There's no way in all fucking hell I'm going to forget you, alright? Remember that first."
Tomoko inhaled sharply from the surprise while looking up at him, gaping wordlessly.
Judai smiled a bit more wryly this time, shaking his head. "Tomoko-chan, you're my daughter. My only hime, okay? There's no way I could ever forget you." He sighed before saying it with the warmest smile he could muster. "I love you."
Tomoko gasped sharply this time before ducking her head with the shine of unshed tears. "O-Oh," she said, and Judai already knew his words had hit a mark judging by the barely audible shake of her voice. "I-I see…" was all he could get before something barreled into his chest, and Judai allowed himself a single wince before wrapping his arms around the teen and squeezing for all his muscles were worth. "I-I love you too, Papa…!" The response was choked and muffled no thanks to the hug at hand, but Judai couldn't even find himself to care. Tomoko-chan wasn't pushing him away, and that itself was an achievement. "I love you too…!"
Even if the words were sweet, Judai couldn't brush off the feelings of suspicion and concern at the tone of voice Tomoko used.
It sounded pained. Almost anguished and lonely.
The worry rising up in him could be handled another day as he squeezed back, breathing in through his nose while pressing a kiss to the top of Tomoko's head. She needed this, not his worries right now. "Everything's going to be alright, hime. It's going to be okay. So, whatever you're thinking about, don't worry." Judai didn't miss how Tomoko tensed, and he kissed her head again. "I love you, Mama loves you, everyone we know loves you, Tomoko-chan. Make sure not to forget that in whatever you're thinking about, okay?"
A few moments passed before Judai could finally feel his little girl relax, and her grip on the back of his shirt loosened as a frail nod rustled the front of his shoulders. "Mm," Tomoko said, small, cute, and quiet. "Mm. Okay."
If Judai knew that was the last time he would see his little hime for eight months, he would've said more. Instead, at the time, all he did was hug her tighter and usher her back into the cafe.
Healing had yet to finish, it seems.
The next morning, it took only a minute for Hikari to realize that she was screaming.
It should have been another day. Another morning, waking up everyone to start work at Nagareboshi Cafe. Hikari could vaguely recall her usual routine of getting dressed and brushing her teeth before walking over to Tomoko-chan's room and seeing her daughter's adorable sleepy face.
"Tomoko-chan, it's morning! Time to get—"
She didn't even register her hand touching the doorknob before the scent of copper and dust rushed her nose, and once her eyes had latched onto the sight at hand, everything left her mind. Hence, the screaming.
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
"Hikari!" Judai's voice, panicked now, and she could've sworn she saw Sakumo from the corner of her eye before arms were wrapping around her shoulders. "What's the matter—"
"Judai—" Once the feelings of safety and ohgod registered in her mind, she found her knees buckling underneath her weight as her husband proceeded to catch her, gaping. "Judai, Tomoko-chan's—"
Tears were already budding in her eyes without even meaning to, and even with their presence blurring her vision, the large, red words were too glaring to ignore.
For as long as there's despair, we must find hope, no matter the costs.
Underneath the lines of red was a rustled futon and no Tomoko, so Hikari was more than grateful that Sakumo threw the tri-pronged kunai first.
Out of anything that could have happened that morning, Namikaze Minato was not at all happy with the situation.
"What is this?" he voiced aloud, and even with that said, the glaring red words on the walls in front of him was not pretty. The metallic scent alone showed that the 'paint' was actually blood, but considering whose room he was in, the sight was all the more jarring. More so with the faint strand of normally cheerful rainbow chakra leaking from the message.
"Th-that's something I was hoping you had the answer to," Sakumo replied, and the soft stumble in his voice wasn't hard to miss. "We came running when Hikari screamed, and…Hokage-sama, this is what we found."
Behind him, Minato could make out Hikari's soft and anguished sobs mixed with Judai's attempts at comforting her, albeit to no avail.
The overall sense of desperation in this whole room made Minato feel on edge.
Not again, he couldn't help but think. Not again.
Even if Kei had forgiven him for Sorayama, that didn't mean—
"Sakumo," he found himself saying, and he still inwardly flinches with how calm his voice comes out. "Call Kei-kun, Kakashi, and Obito for me." Minato gulps down his own anxious thoughts to say the dreadful conclusion, and even with that in mind, the thought was hard enough to bear.
"Hoshino Tomoko is officially missing."
Kakashi already knew something was dreadfully wrong when Dad of all people came to his apartment, geared up in his old White Fang Jounin attire too. More so with the rare look of panic on his face.
"Kakashi, I don't have time to explain. Get Kei and Obito with you and come to Nagareboshi Cafe. We have a situation." The announcement too was short and to-the-point, but Kakashi already felt his heart beat hard at the location name alone.
"Nagareboshi?" he demands, grabbing his father's upper arm to stop him from leaving. "What happened? What's going on, Dad?"
There shouldn't be anything happening. Nagareboshi is supposed to be—
Sakumo proceeded to turn his head to look at him, and the pinched, frustrated, and saddened mix of emotions on his face said everything. The former White Fang bit his bottom lip, ducking his head before the words were said and Kakashi could've sworn the air turned colder.
"Tomoko-chan's gone."
By the time Kei made her way to the scene, all that seemed to register in her mind was disbelief, frustration, and cold horror.
There's no way Tomo's gone. There's no way—
Inwardly, Isobu waved a tail in clear irritation. Getting worked up before you even see the scene is not good for your mind. The Tailed Beast then paused. Not that I cannot understand. That pianist is someone we cannot lose.
It didn't even register to Kei that Isobu hadn't even insulted the girl. Instead, she did her best to not burst through the cafe doors, going on to walk up the stairs to the Hoshino household as calmly as she could, even with the killing intent rolling off her in waves from the emotions.
She can't be—
Kei was already slamming the house door open before stopping in place.
Hikari-bachan looked up from her hands to stare at her in surprise while standing in the living room, and Kei was already wincing at the sight of the red trails on the older woman's cheeks. Besides her, Judai-jichan raised his head as well, a rare look of desperation covering his face. That wasn't right. Hikari-bachan and Judai-jichan weren't supposed to be looking like that.
No.
"What. Happened." Kei said curtly, trying to keep anger to a minimum while walking over. "Hikari-bachan?"
"Kei…" Hikari immediately wipes at her eyes with her arm while sniffling, clearly unable to speak from the shock. Kei makes sure to give her a few moments to calm down, because the least she could do was that. Anger didn't really make her the most touchy-feely person, after all. She could only be grateful that Judai-jichan proceeded to hug the woman in her place. "I…" The older woman proceeded to choke on what seemed to be a lump in her throat, and even with the occasional streak of grey in her long ponytail, the way her shoulders shook just reminded Kei of—
Kei immediately shook her head to get the name out of her mind. She couldn't think of the pianist now. Especially since the situation wasn't confirmed yet.
Don't push our luck, Isobu mutters quietly. Kei tries to ignore him.
Judai proceeded to interrupt that line of thought with a sigh and a hanging of his head. "…We don't know either. You could check Tomoko-chan's room, but I'm guessing someone told you what happened already." He shook his head, squeezing Hikari's shoulders once she started to cry again. Kei was already feeling the dread pile up. "One day, she's here, and then, this—" Judai-jichan went on to curse lowly under his breath, quiet enough for Hikari to not hear, before raising his head and smiling wryly at Kei. "She didn't even take her keyboard with her."
No. Nononono.
It didn't even register that she was walking past them down the familiar hallways, searching for that sense of the warm rainbow that was her friend. It couldn't be true. There was no way—
The door loomed in front of her vision, and Kei was already noticing that it was left open. With the faint scent of…of blood.
No!
Kei was already pushing through the doorway before the sight registered in her eyes, and her heart proceeded to drop in her chest.
Red. There was so much red for such a large message.
For as long as there's despair, we must find hope, no matter the costs.
"What the fuck," she says flatly.
Sensei turns to her with a perplexed face of his own, frowning. "Hello, Kei-kun. I see you've finished reading…" he gestured to the red words with the same expression, "that."
Underneath said message, Kakashi was looking it over like a hawk, hunched over the words before swiping at a trail of it with his finger and sniffing it. "Thankfully, it's not Tomoko's. But it's definitely blood."
Nearby, Obito was looking over the suspiciously empty blue futon that sat underneath the large words with his Sharingan swirling before he shook his head, closing his eye. "It definitely wasn't a genjutsu, sensei. Tomo-chan's—" Obito freezes as soon as he turns around and meets Kei's stare. "Oh," he said, voice rising in pitch. "H-Hey, Kei."
Kei didn't even realize she was biting the inside of her cheek until she tasted copper. "What's going on," she starts in the same flat tone, taking a shaky breath to keep the emotions back. "What happened here?"
Minato-sensei takes a step forward and, even with his Hokage cloak, Kei didn't take note of him until he was already standing in front of her. "I think you should see this first."
A VHS player was then put into her hands, already filled with a tape of some kind, and Kei could only stare at it before Minato folded a pair of headphones into her palm too. "She—we found that Tomoko-chan left this behind, near her bed."
Kei's question bubbled up through her before being stopped by her dread-frozen throat.
Her teacher's expression proceeded to soften, with a slight tinge of pity around his brow that got Kei's nonexistent hackles rising regardless. "It was addressed to you."
The forcibly even tone still felt like an accusation, and Kei turned away sharply rather than face it.
Instead, Kei stared at the tape long and hard, eyes following the curved handwriting that made up the hiragana of her name on the label, before walking out of the room to stand in the hallway. And sure enough, the label was in Tomoko's handwriting. Small, neat, and yet shaky with how the pen curved at some angles on the white label. It didn't take long to plug in the headphones and press the PLAY button on the small device before waiting for the sound. She didn't know what to expect, and when that voice started blaring through the speakers, Kei was already sliding down against the wall.
"Kei? Kei-chan? Kei, can you hear me?" A nervous, high-pitched laugh sounded before a small smile echoed through the headphones. "Uh—wait just a second."
A pause and some rustling followed, almost awkwardly too.
"Um, oh dear. Testing, testing, one-two, one-two. Aaaah, aaah." A few vocal exercises broke through the radio silence before it was followed by a soft, "Okay." Tomoko huffed through the headphones. "This is working. Woo! Okay."
Another pause commenced, followed by some static and more rustling.
Then, Kei could hear another breath, sounding shaky this time, ringing through the speakers as the tape continued to roll. "Hi, Kei. It's…It's Tomoko. I guess if you found this tape, that means…" the girl breathed shakily, "that means either I'm dead, or I disappeared somewhere. It's hard to think about, since by the time I'm recording this, I'm still in Konoha with you and everyone else at home."
Tomoko took a breath, accompanied by some faint static and more rustling, almost as if she was fidgeting in thought before continuing. "But…hm, how to put this." Tomoko laughed again, and Kei could easily make out the sadness in the sound. "I wanted to leave this behind in case if either of those situations happened, more so if…" the civilian audibly gulped, "if in the case that I actually died first. Before you."
Cold horror was already washing over her like a wave as Tomoko continued on, oblivious to what was going on outside the recording. "I-I don't want to think about that, about me dying first. But—but after what happened in these past few years, I can't help but think about anything but that." Tomoko was smiling in the recording again, sadder. "It's probably weird for you to hear me say this, more so because I chose to be a civilian in honor of my past life and to keep living. But—"
The tape paused with some accompanying static.
"But—" Tomoko cut herself off with another huff, and it was obvious she was starting to tear up. "But I know how this world works. We both do. Civilians are more likely to die first, and—well, after everything, I don't think the world needs a useless pianist girl like me anymore, right?" Tomoko inhaled again, deeper this time, before continuing. The tape went on to keep rolling. "And, from the looks of things, you seem to be okay now, Kei. Even after Sorayama. I just wish I could've done more, but if I dwell on that right now, you'll be sitting here for a lot longer than you'd like and I'd probably start sounding like a silly dolt, just rambling about things I can't say to you personally."
Another laugh echoed through the headphone speakers. Kei didn't know what to think.
"I'm ridiculous, huh? I can't even give this to you, or even tell you in person because I'm too scared to break the peace you nearly gave your life for in having again." Tomoko sighed. "But…you're okay. Everyone's okay. Kakashi, Obito, Rin, Minato-san, Kushina-nee, the Chinatsugumi kids, Mama and Papa, Sakumo-jichan, Wataru-jichan…everyone. Even Hayate, too, now that I think about it. He really missed you in that year you were gone."
Another pause followed before a small breath echoed through the speakers.
"Everyone's smiling again…so, my job is done, isn't it?" Tomoko was smiling from the sound of her voice, but all Kei could feel was the same cold horror. "Besides, I—I don't—" The once even voice was now shuddering. "I couldn't do anything when you were gone. So, what use do I have? What—what place do I have now?"
Some more rustling, and from the gesture, it sounded like Tomoko was playing with her hair.
"I don't know, Kei. I don't know. But—" she breathed in, deeper again, as if to get a hold of herself, "that's why I'm leaving this, I guess. So that if someone does dispatch of me, or kill me, I can at least leave this and tell you that what happened to me isn't your fault."
Kei could've screamed. Yelled, reacted, anything. Instead, she only twitched as the words rang through the headphones, her back resting against the cold wall.
"I—" Tomoko's voice rang through the headphones with a bit of static, almost like she had shaken the recorder from sweaty hands. "I'm sorry, Kei. For leaving like this. For not telling you. I—I actually cut myself a bit before, when you left for Sorayama. Not too much to hurt, but—but it drew blood, and yet for some reason, I was happy. Frickin' happy. It hurt, and yet all I could focus on was how I felt real. I'm just a mess, huh?"
A sniffle cut through the words, and Kei vaguely registered through the recording that Tomoko was starting to cry. "Mama and Papa didn't notice, but it was still something that happened, and I'm such a coward because I couldn't tell anyone. I-I'm just scared, of being like this, of how you would react to my own ridiculous problems, when you have your own things to worry about. Of how— I—" Tomoko breathed again, and the static cut in once more before she continued. "I just miss you. And I'm sorry."
Kei twitched again.
"I'm sorry for not reaching out, for being such a coward, and for letting you go even when I should know better. For being scared by myself, and not telling anyone. But…but…"
A bit more rustling, and then the sound of a blowing nose followed. "It's not your fault, Kei, okay? Don't start thinking that it is. It's just me and my ridiculous cowardice in not saying anything. Maybe, just maybe though," Tomoko's voice turned a bit hopeful at this, a bit happier, "if you do find me, I can throw this tape away and leave it with a laugh, and then we can hang out like we used to. Maybe this urge of cutting can stop, maybe I can start feeling alive again, and maybe then I can stop feeling guilty about Vy's old life and how my trend of messing up just seems to continue…"
Tomoko laughed again, a little brighter this time. "Maybe I can stay with you and the rest of our ninja friends forever, and this tape can rot like the trash it is. Like the trash my problems are. Maybe."
Kei opened her mouth, found sawdust in her throat, and closed it.
"F-For now, though," Tomoko smiled again. "Um."
She breathed in one last time.
"Daisuki da yo, Kei. I hope, in the end, you'll be okay. Without me, I mean. That you might forgive me for all this. But, for now…" the civilian shuddered, "Mata ne."
The tape hit static for a few more seconds, then stopped playing.
Kei removed the headphones from her ears only to lean back against the wall, questions ringing in her head. "Okay," she muttered, gripping the VHS player. "Okay, um, this is—" The taste of copper registered on her tongue again. "This is bad, and I am going to find—" A curse was already itching at the back of her throat, but the eerie quiet of the hallway didn't help in calming down her nerves at all. "I—" Kei hissed.
How could I have let this happen? How could I— What did I— Kei shook her head. What did we do to make Tomo doubt that we loved her too?
Kei wanted to yell it out to the world. To just scream it out in the hopes that the pianist could pop up somewhere, and just give the answer.
Instead, all that greeted her in the vicinity were the lowered voices of her teammates and silence.
It was only when a dull cracking noise reached her ears that Kei looked down and nearly lurched back from the squished form of the VHS player in her fist. Loosening her grip had stopped any further crushing, saving the tape inside, but the player itself could have seen better days. "Fuck," she cursed. "I'm just horrible."
Do you think the pianist would have told you that? Isobu's question was an honest one, but Kei's hackles were still raised enough to where she couldn't formulate an immediate answer. After all these years, after all the time she has been with you, do you think Hoshino Tomoko would say that so easily?
Kei didn't know what to think.
Isobu gently nudged her with one of his tails. Go ahead and take care of yourself.
"A-Alright," she voiced aloud, trying to hide the shakiness in her voice. The VHS player couldn't afford to be smashed anymore, so Kei decided to stash it into one of her many Jounin vest pockets, at least for safety. "Might as well get some steam off anyways."
The nearest bathroom was coincidentally right across from Tomoko's room in the hallway. Walking inside and surveying the room showed that nothing else had changed, and nearby—
Kei tried not to look at the obvious blue hair ribbon sitting out on the sink counter for someone to take. That wasn't hers to use. Instead, Kei turned on the faucet to wash her face, trying to get the copper out of her mouth, before looking up into the mirror.
It took a moment for it to sink in that tears were dotting her cheeks. It took another moment until the dryness that came with tears registered on her face. Along with the darker eyebags and pinched frown she was wearing, it wasn't the best Kei could be.
Don't push it. Isobu nudged her again, rumbling almost hopefully. We will find her. I assure it.
Kei breathed in shakily. "I hope so," she voiced aloud, and even with that said, the crack in her voice was hard to ignore. "I hope so."
Meanwhile, Obito tried to push any lingering questions to the back of his head to search. Tomoko-chan wasn't the kind of person to disappear, and not in such a way like this. She was neat, and never dreamed of leaving her own room in such a mess.
And yet, here he was now, searching for clues in a cluttered room that lacked his friend's presence. Kei's own reaction was not good by any means, and for once, Obito found himself fumbling.
"What does it mean by 'despair' anyways?" he mutters lowly, folding the futon back in honor of the previous inhabitant. "And 'hope'…it's not because Tomo-chan can be considered our hope, or…" he trailed off as soon as the dread started creeping up his throat. "Is it?"
Nearby, Kakashi was rummaging around the nearby walls, knocking on the surface with the back of his hand before glancing at him. "I hope it's not, unless we have a bigger problem at hand here," he snarked, and it only took a moment before Obito proceeded to face-palm.
"Really? A pun? Now?" Obito tried not to groan while lifting his head up from the inside of his palm. "You realize we're in a situation, right?"
Kakashi sighed. "It's better than thinking on the other implications."
Obito couldn't help but give him the point at that. Nearby, Minato-sensei was looking through the closet and muttering what sounded like fuinjutsu talk under his breath before raising his head in their direction. "Have you two found anything?"
"Not much," Obito replies, and the dread continued to build up as he looked over the futon underneath his hands. "It's just…" the words felt almost like sawdust in his throat, but he continued with his thought, "Why would Tomoko-chan disappear like this? It's not like her, and that message—" he swiveled around to point an angry finger at the red words, "just seems like a prank."
"I wish that it was," Sensei sighed before turning away from the closet to stand tall, "but the simple fact that Tomoko-chan left that VHS tape, coincidentally before this whole situation happened, along with the words sitting here with us right now, I know it's not a prank, Obito." Minato held his forehead against his fingers. "There's no mistaking that small bit of Tomoko-chan's chakra still leaking from the message's words, either."
"…You're not implying she left on purpose, Sensei, are you?" Kakashi snapped.
Minato jolted and shook his head. "No, Kakashi, I would never!"
"Um, Hokage-sama?"
Everyone immediately stood on edge as soon as another voice interrupted, and Obito turned around only to meet Rin's eyes, and he blinked. Rin was looking panicked from her perch at the window, and that wasn't good.
And…wait. When did his hand go into the pillow—
His fingers were already brushing what felt like a hardcover of some sorts before Sensei's voice rang through the room. "What is it, Rin?" Minato sounded tense, already getting back into a serious demeanor judging by the sound of his voice.
The medic only glanced between him, Obito, and Kakashi, before opening her mouth.
"I-It's the hospital. There's—there's a room that you all need to see. And," she paused, looking around with more panic in her eyes, "Where's Kei?"
"Huh?" Everyone turned their heads, and speak of the devil, Kei was standing in the doorway, arms crossed and scowling. Obito tried not to wince, and gripped at whatever he was holding, finding only bookish material. "What happened now?" she snapped.
Obito tried not to fumble with whatever was in his hand before doing his best to discreetly hide the pillow and take out its contents. Sure enough, from the feel, it was a book, and he made sure to stash it into his pocket so that he could look later.
"I—" Rin paused, trying to find words judging by her fidgeting hands before gesturing outside. "You all need to come to the hospital, now!"
By trying to save one life, I'm condemning another.
The same large, blood-written type of message, this time was found covering one of the walls of Kei's old hospital room. Once everyone was in the room, Kei only took one look at said wall before deadpanning a loud, "What the goddamn fuck."
Minato's hands were already clenched in tight fists as he walked forward to survey the words. "Rin, is this the only other message that's shown up?"
"Yes," Rin replied immediately, squishing a clipboard to her chest. "I just don't understand why this showed up, overnight too. Did—" her eyes widened as she turned on everyone else, "Did something happen?"
Kakashi meanwhile sniffed the air before nodding. "It's the same blood as the type used in the message in Tomoko's room, Sensei. It's definitely the same source, so they're connected."
Kei was already cursing underneath her breath, and Obito tried not to bounce nervously as Rin gasped and turned to him. "Obito," her voice had gone soft with questioning, and he swiveled his head so that he wouldn't have to meet her unsure brown eyes. Rin was cute, but seeing her like that in this situation was— "What happened to Tomoko-chan?"
"She, she—" Obito couldn't help but hang his head. There was no easy way to break this can of worms. Fuck his nervousness. "She's gone, Rin. Disappeared from her own house, with only a message like this one covering one of her room walls."
Rin gasped again, horror dawning in her eyes, just as Kei swiveled her head away to curse a low, "Motherfucker."
Minato and Kakashi went silent too, and this same kind of quiet passed between everyone in the vicinity for a while. The message in front of them only seemed to taunt them, more so with the faint scent of copper flooding the normally sanitized room. Even if there was a faint sense of a rainbow, it was quickly dashed with the copper and bright red coloring the white wall there.
It was dreadful.
And then Obito was getting an eyeful of another kind of red.
"WHY THE HELL AM I HEARING SOMETHING LIKE TOMOKO-CHAN GOING MISSING?!"
Sure enough, Kushina was barreling through the hospital hallways, and Minato didn't even have a chance to say his wife's name before she was already up in his face and upset. "Minato, what's going—" the Uzumaki stopped herself as soon as the red message registered in her line of vision, "Oh no." Kushina turned around. "Kei-chan…?"
Kei cursed again, lower this time. "Sensei," she said slowly. "I'm gonna need permission to wreck shit."
Obito's stomach was already dropping to his gut as he gaped.
"Permission granted," Minato proceeded to reply in a similar flat tone, and a few seconds was all it took for Kei to stomp out of the room in a huff, clearly not up for saying much else.
"Huh," Kakashi started after a moment's pause. "That went about just as well as we could've expected."
"You realize Kei was completely pissed off, right, Kakashi?" Obito tried not to squeak while saying the words.
"But," Rin paused while hanging her head. "I can't fault her for feeling that way."
The same silence from before came back with a vengeance as everyone, even Kushina, fell quiet. Even if everyone was together in one room, the obvious absence of one specific someone was obvious.
Obito found it a better time than any to rummage through his pockets and pull out the book. All eyes immediately turned to him as he blinked at the back cover. Out of every color of the rainbow, he couldn't find any surprise at the aquamarine blue shade.
"Obito," Rin was deadly quiet. "Where did you get that?"
He tried not to fumble with the book in his hands. "I-It was in Tomo-chan's pillow case. Before we came over here, I found myself grabbing it. Maybe to find a clue or something?" Obito shrugged helplessly, but he already knew that this was a deep hole he dug himself into once the soft gold writing of 'Diary' flashed from the front cover when he turned it around. "Oh, fuck."
"…You took Tomoko's diary?" Kakashi said incredulously.
"B-Before you say anything, I haven't opened it or read it!" Obito made sure to interject quickly, because the dark and menacing aura rising from one specific redhead was nothing to laugh at. "All I did was grab it and carry it with me here! I haven't even touched it aside from right now, really!"
Rin immediately put her face into her hands. "Oh, Obito," he could make out between the cracks in her fingers.
Once red hair was rising like flames though, Obito was already gulping. Minato-sensei didn't look all that comfortable either, if his quiet scooting-away by the inch was any indication. "…Obito, if not for the situation, you would seriously deserve a wallop on the head, you hear me?" Kushina raised a fist for emphasis and good measure, and he nodded as fast as he could so that the message could be seen as delivered. "Next time, at least ask for permission!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Obito saluted. He then paused. "But, wait, who was I supposed to ask?"
Once a hand was tapping his shoulder, Obito nearly jumped before turning around and making eye contact with red-rimmed sapphire—
"You could've asked Judai or me, Obito-kun," Hikari proceeded to say flatly, arms crossed over her chest. The shoulder bag hanging from her right shoulder looked weighty and heavy, and Obito was already gulping.
Shit. "S-Sorry, Hikari-bachan," he said instinctively. "I'm sorry."
Hikari still smiled and held up one hand, and Obito was already handing the diary over. Once the woman had a grip on the book, she cradled it for a moment, staring at it wordlessly. Her eyes already were looking like they were starting to shine with more unshed tears, but before Obito could say anything, she raised her head. "Do you all want to read this together?"
"…What?" Kakashi said.
"I overheard the earlier conversation. You thought that you could get a clue to what happened through Tomoko-chan's diary, right?" Hikari hugged the book tightly to her chest, but the stubborn flash in her blue eyes said everything. "So, this is my permission. Just this once. It's a bad enough situation as is, and when we do get Tomoko-chan back, we'll all hug her together. For now, I just want to know what happened to my daughter."
Obito held back a wince of emotional sympathy to instead smile wryly. "Hey, Sensei? Are you okay with that?"
"Huh?" Minato blinked, clearly caught off guard for a moment before swiveling his head to Hikari. "Hikari-san, are you absolutely sure? We will be going through what might be your family's privacy and Tomoko-chan's own personal writing. This might go into its own case record."
Hikari in turn took on a small scowl. "I know, I know, I'm not the biggest fan of shinobi protocol, but you all at least aren't writing my daughter off as dead." A sadder smile came up on her face, and she shrugged her shoulders almost helplessly. "You all cared for her too. And if there's anyone that I trust in bringing her back, then it's you all."
Obito's heart could've swelled at that. Instead, what left him was a dull, "Should I go call Kei back?"
Rin immediately winced while Minato-sensei paled. "That…might not be the best idea right now, Obito," and the regret was plain as day on the Hokage's face with the statement, "It's probably better if we let Kei take off some steam."
"Oh dear," Hikari said, and Obito was already turning to her once she started shuffling through her pockets. What? "I-I don't think I can stand for that."
The last thing Obito was expecting was Hikari to walk up to him, clutching her bag while tucking the diary into its folds. "Obito-kun, I…" Hikari trailed off, ducking her head, and then her shoulders started to shudder. "I think Kei should be with us. But this is a sensitive time. So, can you do me a favor?"
"What is it?" he said instinctively.
Hikari raised her head, blue eyes shining with some kind of fire, and Obito didn't know whether to stare or sweat.
"Please take me to her."
Hoshino Hikari didn't know how long she was waiting for. Aside from her motion-sickness kicking in with Obito using Kamui, she meant. Throwing up was a sensation she bitterly had to get used to when it came to living with ninja so far, but it didn't make the weight on her heart any less heavy. Nor did it make seeing her niece lash out on almost everything in sight at a Training Ground like she was possessed any less easier to bear.
Kei was doing almost everything Hikari thought she would never see in one day. Cut down trees, perform some kind of Water Jutsu, hell, even let off killer intent that made it hard to approach. Obito had dropped her off at least 10 meters away from Kei's current position in order to go try and calm her down, but to be fair, Hikari wasn't all that confident. She didn't even know how much trust she could have in the world anymore aside from these kids. These teenagers she watched grow up, with her—
Hikari shook her head vigorously once Obito started spamming Kamui. The new spar was quick, far too quick for Hikari to follow with her eyes alone with all the blurring, but the most she could make out was Kei's yellow eyes and the frustration pinching both hers and Obito's faces.
They were upset. They were hurt. And, even if Hikari didn't want to admit it, they needed to fight their worries out.
She didn't know when the fighting exactly stopped until the sounds of sobs ran through her ears.
Pained, anguished, and desperate sobs.
Hikari raised her head, and all she saw was Kei hunched in the ruins of the Training Ground, gripping onto Obito's shoulders while bawling louder than anything Hikari had ever seen before, and then she was running.
The two ninja didn't even protest her dropping the bag in her hands to join in on the hug. Hell, even Obito looked like he was about to cry, so Hikari reached over as much as she could to embrace them both. She made herself not cry, because there was only so much you could do before you broke down and were left in tatters yourself. The least she could do was be a pillar for the kids to lean towards in times of peril.
While Kei and Obito broke down in varying degrees of pain, Hikari hugged them both as hard as she could, praying that Miyako was watching and approving.
She couldn't help but wish that Miyako was here too. She would know how to handle this better. She would know what to do when it came to her own daughter.
She wouldn't have let—
Kei let out a hiccupping breath before hesitantly pulling away. "I-I'm sorry, Hikari-bachan. I'm sorry."
Oh, Kei. Hikari shook her head, putting on the warmest smile she could muster, just for her niece to see. "There's nothing to apologize for, Kei. It's not your fault."
"But—" Kei hiccupped again, and Obito only squeezed her shoulder while wiping at his own face. "But, Hikari-bachan, Tomo's—" As if a dam burst all over again, tears welled up in those black eyes before Kei ducked her head. "Tomo's gone, and she—"
"Kei," Hikari spoke softly, trying to hold back everything she had to just reach over and rest a hand on her niece's head. "I know. And I'm saying it again. It's not your fault. She—" Hikari took in a shaky breath, trying not to stutter or even cry again at the thought of her daughter's name. "Tomoko-chan's gone right now, but it's not your fault. It never was."
"But—" Kei didn't seem to accept it, still shuddering as Obito glanced between her and Hikari with wide, panicky eyes, stilling. "Hikari-bachan, the tape she left, the things she—" Kei choked. "I should've done something. I should've been there for her! And now—and now—"
Obito hugged Kei a bit tighter.
"Kei." Hikari wasn't surprised that the ninja stilled at the sound of her name. "I don't blame you. Please remember that first. What happened to Tomoko-chan wasn't your fault. I never saw it as your fault. Or Obito's," making the Uchiha still too in the process, "Or Minato-san's, or anyone else's. Yes, I wish she didn't disappear like this and not leave any goddamn clues, but the situation is what it is. From the looks of it, someone took Tomoko-chan away from us, and we're going to do our goddamn best to get her back."
A glimmer of what finally looked like hope shined in Obito's eye as he nodded, cheeks still wet.
Kei took in a long, shuddering breath. "Then—then—"
Hikari allowed herself a single sigh before lowering her hand to rest on Kei's shoulder. "Kei, why are you blaming yourself? None of us knew this was going to happen. I don't think any of us did. I at least know I don't blame you. Judai doesn't either. And—" she breathed in deeply through her nose to hold back the pain at the name, "Tomoko-chan loved you. She loved you, Obito, Kakashi, Rin, everyone. She wouldn't blame you. I can assure it."
Kei shivered again, not meeting her eyes. "I…" She shook her head, and tears were falling onto her Jounin cargo pants again. "I still failed her, Hikari-bachan. I left her alone. She came over to Sensei's house to help me after that party, and I just—I just brushed her off without even saying goodbye when heading out. After—After Sorayama, I thought it would all be okay. That—that I would be okay. I—I didn't realize I failed again, and just in being there for her." She hid her face in her hands, shoulders shaking in Hikari's grip. "What kind of friend am I when I can't even protect her? When I can't even recognize that she was hurting too?"
Oh, Kei.
"But Kei, Tomo-chan's…" Obito trailed off, words seemingly catching in his throat before he closed his mouth. He turned to Hikari, and she tried not to lurch back at the desperate look in his black eye. 'Help,' he mouthed.
Hikari took a breath. The words felt foreign, almost dusty in her mouth, but she said it. "Why do you think Tomoko-chan never said anything?"
"Buh?" The strange noise graced the air for a moment before Kei raised her head, tears still bubbling in the corners of her eyes.
"Kei, I said it before." Hikari smiled wryly, squeezing the part of her niece's shoulder that Obito wasn't covering. "Tomoko-chan loved you. And if there's something I know about her, she wouldn't have wanted to worry you." Hikari pointed at herself with her free hand, shrugging helplessly. "I'm the dolt she got it from, after all."
"Hikari-bachan…" Obito inhaled shakily, and she turned to him only to catch his wide eye. "You're not a dolt…"
Hikari shook her head, the same wry smile on her face. "I am, Obito, so try not to convince me otherwise. Kinda in the middle of a small speech."
Obito jolted, looking almost like a deer in headlights before nodding.
Kei stayed silent throughout the small exchange, the only sign of her listening being her shaking shoulders and equally shaky breathing.
"Kei, she…" Hikari gave herself a single, weak exhale for the sake of not letting her own dam break. "Tomoko-chan is stubborn. She's always been. She wouldn't have told you, even if every single part of her wanted to. Back then, everyone was hurt. Everyone was reeling. And for a girl like that, that silly, selfless girl like that," Hikari couldn't help but laugh at the thought, "How could she even ask for help on her own? How could she even vent to anyone on her own? She may as well have been protecting us, in her own, misguided, way." Hikari chuckled bitterly, and the pain shooting through her veins hurt. Everything felt like it hurt.
If she focused on the memories flowing through her head, Hikari already knew someone would break down again. Hell, maybe it would be herself, breaking down, all for the simple fact that she failed as a mother. But it was what it was.
"I…" Kei went quiet again.
The gravity of her words was already hitting her before Kei could say anything else. "…Wow," Hikari laughed again, and she knew that she couldn't deny the burning feeling in her throat anymore. She couldn't deny the tears threatening to bubble up in her eyes and overflow again for what felt like the millionth time today. "I'm trying to help out here, and now I'm the one tearing up again. Sheesh, I'm pathetic."
Obito reached over to touch her shoulder now, and Hikari gave him a smile.
Kei stayed silent.
"Kei, we…" Hikari breathed in deeply to say it. "We lost Tomoko-chan. We all did. But that doesn't mean we should be regretting what we did in the past. What matters is what we do with those feelings in going forward."
Kei sniffled, then raised her left wrist to wipe at her eyes. Hikari pulled back to give her some space. It felt like she should've said something, but nothing was coming to mind. Obito was silent too, clearly uncertain about speaking up at all, and the silence was suffocating.
Hikari wasn't sure of what to do. Then again, she wasn't sure if she ever knew. Instead, she took another breath, and rambled. "When I first spoke out against the Hokage, the Third, actually, that was the day my parents ended up distancing themselves. Judai had to step out because we all were arguing, and it was the first time they ever really snapped." She huffed a breath. "First, it was having separate meals. Never really meeting up anymore. Then, I just started leaving the house more often, just to see Judai. The last straw was coming back one night and seeing all my belongings on the front porch, the door locked."
Kei and Obito were now looking up at her as if she had exploded, and Hikari only smiled. "I think we all knew at the time that things weren't going to work out. So, I left. I haven't seen them since."
Instead of waiting for a reply, Hikari reached over to squeeze Kei's free hand. "I'm not going to do that to you."
Kei froze, and Obito gaped.
Even with the tears close to falling, Hikari continued. "I know I don't understand that much about the ninja side of things, even though I'm technically an aunt for every ninja I've known." The laugh this time was bitter, almost sour in her throat. "Hell, I didn't even see my own daughter suffering either. But that doesn't mean I don't have the chance to change things. That doesn't mean we all don't have the chance to become better people."
Tears that weren't her own were falling down again, and Kei was shuddering.
Hikari reached over to pull her adopted niece and frozen nephew into another hug. "I know this isn't easy. This whole thing is hard to handle. But you're not alone. None of us are."
Kei was already starting to sob. Obito hugged back first, grip hard.
"We're going to get Tomoko-chan back." Her own tears were starting to fall yet again, but Hikari ignored them in favor of tightening the hug. "We're going to get her back, and then be there for her when she's back home with us. We can do it."
"How…" Kei choked, and Hikari could already feel her heart beat hard in sympathy at the sound of the anguish in her voice. "How do you know that? I—"
"You care for Tomoko-chan too." Hikari finished, and Kei froze once more. Obito raised his head from the group hug to stare at her in surprise, and Hikari smiled wryly through her own blurred vision.
"We all miss her, so I can bet my ass on knowing you kids won't give up in bringing her back. I believe in you. All of you."
The diary in her bag ended up being forgotten in the outskirts of the hug. At least for now.
Hey…
Mama? Papa?
Do you think…do you think anyone will remember me when I'm gone?
Judai could only sigh at the echoes of his daughter's voice before shaking his head. He couldn't focus on the memories now. In front of him was that same aquamarine diary, sitting on Minato's desk table in the Hokage Tower, gold lettering staring at him almost mockingly.
A hand was suddenly covering his, and he turned his head to meet his wife's red-rimmed eyes. Even with the tear stains covering her cheeks, the fire in those blue eyes was as strong as ever, and he couldn't help but smile back. "I'll be okay," he said, and could only hope that she can believe it. He wanted to believe it too.
"Alright." Minato sighs in front of him, and Judai turns to meet his stare. "So, Judai, is it okay?"
Judai bit the inside of his cheek for a moment before glancing around the room. Wataru, Sakumo, Kushina, Kakashi, Obito, Rin, Hayate, and even…even Kei too, were all staring back with mixed expressions of determination and dread.
Before saying anything else, he turned back to the diary, still in arms-reach if he ever wanted to. Hikari's grip on his hand was tight, and so many thoughts were bubbling in his throat only to be held down by his own reflexes.
"…Go ahead," he finds himself saying, and the conclusion was bitter in his mouth as he said it. "Let's do this."
Hikari was the one to open the covers as he braced himself for whatever was incoming.
'Would you ever forget me…?'
Oh, Tomoko-chan. If only you knew.