Disclaimer- Gravitation is not mine.
Warnings- They are the same.
Author notes- Here's the second half.
(Chapter 6: Tatsuha's vanishing act- part 2)
Many hours had passed, and Mika spent each one of them searching for her brother. It was past noon and so far she couldn't find any information on his whereabouts. She checked his favorite hangouts and called most of his friends, but he was nowhere to be found. And now, as a last resort, she was speaking to a monk at the temple where Tatsuha trained.
"Are you sure? He hasn't contacted you or dropped by?" she asked.
An elderly man dressed in monk's robes slowly shook his head, "I'm sure. We haven't seen him all day…in fact, we suspect that he's skipped a few times."
"Oh really? Has he now?" she smiled sweetly, "That little brat!" she thought.
The old monk smiled back, "We haven't seen him, but I assure you, we will let you know if we do."
"Thank you very much. Sorry for taking up your time."
He nodded, and she bowed gracefully.
She calmly walked away from the temple without looking back and she kept her strong composure, but after she got into her car she lost it. Her frustration took over and she couldn't control herself.
"Damn it!" she yelled as she punched the dashboard. Her hand turned red and throbbed from pain, "Ouch…"
She let out a frustrated growl and rested her forehead on the edge of the steering wheel. "Steady, Mika," she whispered to herself, "You can handle this, no problem. He's done this before…but he's never taken his clothes with him!"
She tried to convince herself that Tatsuha would return soon, but she only seemed to make herself feel worse.
"Let's see, he probably hasn't left Tokyo…but Tokyo's so crowded! How will I find him?" Mika thought of every place he could've gone and then went over them several times. Then, she thought of the places she already checked. "He's not in his favorite stores, he hasn't checked into any hotels, none of his friends have heard from him, Eiri and Shuichi haven't seen him…it's like he just vanished off the face of the Earth!"
She raised her head from the steering wheel. "BAKA! Where the hell are you?!" she screamed, "You better hope I don't find you! 'Cause if I do I'll…I'll!" She paused for a moment, "…I'll…"
Her outburst was followed by silence. She was quiet for a while…and then she thought of one more place to search.
"N-G…I haven't checked N-G yet."
Mika was about to call Tohma, but then she changed her mind. She had just told him that morning that Tatsuha was a good kid. How ironic would it be if she called him now to tell him that Tatsuha had run away? "No way. I refuse to tell him. I'll just have to look for him myself."
She sat up straight and put her seatbelt on. "Tatsuha," she thought, as she started her car, "where could you be?"
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"I can't take any more of it, Tohma! I have to talk to Ryuichi!"
Noriko was annoyed, and Tohma tried to calm her down, "Please, Noriko. If you raise your voice Ryuichi will hear you."
Both of them stood in the hall outside one of N-G's offices. Noriko had just walked in after a long day of "baby-sitting" Ryu's girlfriend, and she was exhausted. "I love doing favors for Ryu-chan, Tohma…but she's so spoiled and demanding! I can't keep entertaining her for him. I'll go crazy!"
Tohma folded his arms, "Weren't you the one who told me that we needed to be supportive of Ryuichi and try to get along with Terra-san?"
"Yes!" she replied, "But I'm not her boyfriend…and I'm starting to wonder if a real friend would actually let Ryu date her."
"To be honest, I'm starting to wonder that as well. That woman only seems to add more stress to Ryuichi-san's life, otherwise he wouldn't constantly try to avoid her." Tohma unfolded his arms and rubbed his chin, "Ryuichi-san is confusing. He's a genius, but he's been acting a lot stranger than normal lately. Anyway, if those two are together…then there has to be a good reason."
"There is."
Noriko and Tohma flinched at the sound of Ryuichi's voice, and they both turned to see him standing in the office door-way.
The lead singer yawned and walked up to them with his bunny cradled in his arms. "Geez guys, all of your loud talking woke me and Kuma-chan up from our nap."
His band mates stared at him for a while. Noriko moved closer to him and was the first to speak. "Ryuichi," she said in a sympathetic tone, "I know you're tired…but this is starting to get ridiculous. We're on our break and I have a family. I can't entertain Terra-san every day."
Ryuichi's eyes were suddenly strong and he became serious, "I know. It's not fair to you or Terra. I'm sorry you had to put up with her. Believe it or not, she wasn't always that way."
Ryuichi lowered his gaze and Noriko placed her hands on his shoulders, "Ryu-chan…do you love her? I mean really love her?"
He couldn't answer her question and was silent. She would've gotten a better reaction if she had asked him to define the meaning of life. "Ryu-chan," she spoke again, "If you don't, then you're wasting your time. If there's another reason you're with her, then you can tell us. We're your friends."
Ryu thought for a moment, and then he started to reply…but for some reason the words wouldn't come out. "I-I…well, I…"
"Ryuichi-san, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to." Tohma could feel the tension in the air increasing the closer Noriko got to finding answers. He decided he had done enough interrogating for one day. "It's a little stuffy in here," he smiled, "Why don't we all step outside for some fresh air. Let's go out to eat."
Noriko got the hint, "Yeah! Good idea Tohma! Come on Ryu-chan!"
Ryuichi smiled again and his eyes were softer, "Okay!" he cheered, "Let's go, na no da!"
They walked together as friends, laughing and talking. But as they entered the lobby on their way out, their laughter was interrupted by a woman's dramatic shouts.
"You call this ice-water?! What kind of place is this?"
Terra stood in the middle of the lobby arguing with one of the secretaries.
"Terra-san," the woman replied, "this isn't a restaurant. I'm not a waitress."
"What did you say?!"
The poor woman shook her head, "Nothing."
"Okay then!" Terra shouted, "I want a new glass. Go and--"
In the middle of her sentence, she turned and spotted Ryuichi. Her voice suddenly turned sweet and she dropped the glass on the floor, leaving a mess for the secretary to clean. She ran up to Ryuichi and gave him a big hug.
"Darling!" she shouted happily, "It's been so long!"
Ryuichi stood awkwardly with her arms around him and he looked uncomfortable. "Terra…I saw you last night. You texted me, remember? We went out to dinner."
"But a day feels like forever, doesn't it? You feel the same way, right?"
"Ummmm…"
"Never mind." Terra squeezed tighter, and Ryu's band mates could only watch. Noriko squinted her eyes and her face twisted in disgust as she watched Terra hang all over him. "Ewww, gross." she mumbled.
Terra loosened her tight embrace and stared up at her boyfriend. "Ryuichi dear, it's been days and I feel like we haven't spent enough time together. I have a great idea. Let's go dancing tonight, just the two of us…" she turned towards Tohma and Noriko and grinned, "…alone!"
Noriko folded her arms. "Hmph! Well, fine." She mumbled sarcastically.
Terra looked at Ryuichi again, "Come on, it'll be fun."
Ryuichi didn't say anything. After a short pause, he finally nodded in agreement.
"Then it's settled," she said happily, "tonight, we're going to a nightclub."
Where is Tatsuha?! Where is he going? You'll find out next time! I don't want to give too much away, but I will tell you that he ends up in someone's bed! I bet you already know whose- wink,wink-
Okay! That's it for now! This chapter was going to be much longer, but my hands started cramping so I'm going to stop it there. Everything that was going to be in this chapt. will be in the next chapter. If you liked it or have any helpful comments, please let me know. Special thank you to those who reviewed my story last time. They were so nice and they made me happy! And also, Thank you for reading! -big smile-