Disclaimer: As stated in the previous chapter, I do not own this series… Just this story.

X--X--X--X

Endless Darkness

Chapter 2 - Harsh Reality

X--X--X--X

Natsuki stood at her doorway, staring at the three other girls with a look of confusion. "Natsuki, we need to talk." Mai said as she approached Natsuki. "About what?" Natsuki questioned.

Mai, Aoi and Chie pushed past Natsuki and made their way into her apartment. "Ah, so this is where Natsuki and Shizuru do their daily exercises." Chie jokingly said, making Natsuki blush. "Sh- Shut up. She's at Tokyo U and you should know that."

Chie just winked in response. "C'mon guys. This isn't the time to goof off." Mai said as she sat down on the sofa. "Yeah, something serious has happened." Aoi added. "So what's the matter?" Natsuki asked as she shifted her sight over towards Mai.

"Nao's missing." Aoi said and looked down towards the ground. "She went missing a few hours ago." Mai added and got up off the sofa. "We have been looking around town and came across your apartment complex." Chie said and pulled out her cell phone.

"It all started a few days ago when she got wind of what happened to her mother." Aoi said and started stroking her left arm. "When I heard about it, I thought how unfair that it was, as her mother just got out of a coma a month ago." Aoi added and looked back up at Natsuki. "Nao was a wreck. I tried to help her, but she just yelled and cursed at me. So I left her to herself in the dorm for awhile to be by herself."

"But once I got back, she was nowhere to be seen. Just a table full of used tissues an a crumpled newspaper on the floor." Aoi said. "But then… I found a letter. The only thing it had written on it was "Gone"." Aoi's voice began to crack up as tears welded up in her eyes. "I… I should have stayed and helped her."

Chie quickly went to Aoi's side. "Don't blame yourself for this, Aoi. It's not your fault." Chie said as she wrapped her arms around Aoi. "So you came here to ask for my help?" Natsuki asked as she turned her back to the others. "Yes. We were hoping you could help us search." Mai said and approached Natsuki.

Natsuki admitted that this was a little unfair to Nao for what happened, but she really never liked the girl all that much to care. "I'm sorry, but I can't." Natsuki replied and turned back around to face her friends. "I have things I have to do."

This was obviously a lie. The only thing Natsuki had to do was stuff her face with pizza… Once it arrived that is. Natsuki walked over to her door and opened it. "Now if you don't mind, I would like for all of you to leave." She said and leaned against the wall. "Are you sure you won't reconsider?" Aoi asked.

"Yeah, your help would be very useful." Mai added as she tried to change Natsuki's mind. "I'm sorry but, I can't." Natsuki said and waved hand towards her opened door, signaling her friends to leave.

Chie and Aoi walked out the door but once Mai got next to Natsuki she just shot a glare at her. "I can't believe you, Natsuki." Mai said in a whisper. "I know you don't like Nao all that much but I at least thought you would show a little concern. I guess I was wrong." Once Mai was finished, she walked out into the hall and joined her friends as they left the apartment complex.

Natsuki just stood there, hard as a rock. Hearing that from Mai, Natsuki actually felt guilty. She just shook it off and closed her door. "Gomen, Mai." Natsuki walked back over to her sofa. When she was about to sit down, the doorbell rang again. "Great, Now what?" Natsuki thought as she made her way back to her door.

She opened it to find a guy in a red shirt holding a pizza box. "Thank for calling. Here's your pizza." The man said, handing it to Natsuki. Once Natsuki finished paying the guy along with a tip, she set the pizza box down onto the table of her small kitchen. "Now I'm not even hungry."

Because of the words that Mai said, Natsuki didn't feel hungry anymore. Her stomach was filled with guilt. "Great! Now I feel like the enemy." She yelled and sat down in one of her dining chairs. "Maybe if I leave now, I can catch up to the others." Natsuki said as she stared at the pizza box.

Pushing the chair out, Natsuki got up and wondered over to the door and grabbed her black leather jacket that was hanging on one of the wall hangers. She put it on and felt inside the jackets pockets for her bike keys. Once she pulled them out, she ran out of her door and locked it behind her. "I guess I'll go get some fresh air to clear my head." She said as she made her way down into the parking lot where her bike resided.

X--X--X--X

The storm settled and Mai, Aoi and Chie walked down the sidewalk that was full of people. "So what should we do now? We've search almost every place that Nao would possibly be at." Aoi said as she stopped in her tracks. Mai just shook her head.

"I just hope she's alright." Aoi added. "Nee-san!" The three girls heard from behind them. The turned and found Takumi and Akira running up towards them. "Takumi! Did you find anything?" Mai asked as she Takumi and Akira finished catching up with the group. "Gomen. We looked everywhere but found no clue of where Nao-chan is." Takumi replied.

"What about you, Akira?" Aoi asked with a anxious tone. Akira just shook her head in reply. Akira herself never really liked Nao because of what she did during the festival, but if Takumi asked, she would do anything. That's why she's helping with the search.

The air was still for a little while, until a sound of an ambulance knocked the group back into reality. "Oh no. You don't think…?" Aoi asked with a concerned look. "Don't jump to conclusions, Aoi." Chie said and gave her girlfriends shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Still… I think we should check the hospital. Just incase she got hurt." Aoi replied. After a few minutes of debating on what they should do, they decided to go with Aoi's plan and headed for the hospital.

X--X--X--X

Natsuki rode drove down the road, next to the sea. She noticed up ahead, the cliff where Nao captured Natsuki and Shizuru came to save her. The motorcycle came to a halt at this area. There was a new rail in place where the old one was broken. Natsuki got off the bike and walked over to the railing.

"It's only been a month since that nightmare ended, huh?" She asked herself as she looked out into the endless, dark ocean. Natsuki then adjusted her gaze up towards the sky, looking at all the stars.

"I should have gone with. I might not like the girl, but…" Natsuki paused as she looked down towards where the sea met the Cliffside. "What the?" There was something the was the shape of a human floating in the water. "Oh man… That's not good." Natsuki said as she climbed over the railing.

Natsuki looked around and found a formation of rocks she could use like a latter and she began to climb down to the sea. Luckily, the tide receded which revealed some sand and rocks that she could use as footing. Once Natsuki got all the way down, she carefully made her way over the jagged rocks.

The body slowly washed up towards Natsuki's position which made it much easier for her. Natsuki reached down into the water and pulled the body up onto the rock. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Nao…" She muttered under her breath. Natsuki turned the redhead onto her back and checked her pulse. It was there, but barely and she wasn't breathing.

"Crap, this had to happen on my time didn't it?" Natsuki asked herself with a tone a frustration. "Let's see if I can remember how to do this…" Pinching Nao's nose closed, Natsuki slowly lower her mouth over Nao's. "Here goes nothing…" She thought.

Natsuki pressed her lips against Nao's, blowing air into her lungs. She then went down over her chest and started pushing down on it. "One… Two… Three… Four…"

Natsuki continued this cycle a few times, going back and forth from planting her lips against Nao's to anxiously pushing on her chest.

After a few more tries, Natsuki succeeded. Nao coughed up the water the was trapped in her lungs. Natsuki took a sigh of relief, but she knew she wasn't done. If Nao didn't get medical attention, she would surly die.

Natsuki wrapped Nao's arms around her neck and her leg around her waist. She wasn't going to be climbing that far so Nao should be okay as long as Natsuki wasn't going to do and shaking and quaking on their way up.

Once they got back up onto the cliff, Natsuki lugged the girl over towards her bike when she just relised, this isn't going to work. "Oh god damn it…" Natsuki said as she let laid Nao on the ground. "I can't drive a bike and hold a lifeless body at the same time."

"Guess I'll just call for an ambu-…" Natsuki stopped as she realized she didn't have her cell phone. She smacked her forehead in frustration, cursing herself for being so stupid.

"Okay, okay. You didn't know this would happen. Just calm down." As a few relaxing breaths were taken, Natsuki tried to think of a plan to get to the hospital. "Ma… ma…" Natsuki's sight shifted to the unconscious Nao on the ground. She scratched the back of her neck. "What am I going to do?"

Just then, Natsuki saw a flash of light in the corner of her eye. She quickly looked over her shoulder, excited that a car was coming. But it wasn't a car, it was lighting. There was another storm on it's way. Natsuki's right eyes began to twitch in irritation. She looked down at the ground, assessing the situation.

"Shizuru, if there ever was a time that I really needed you to show up, it would be right now." Natsuki though. She quickly looked up, hoping to see Shizuru and her white Cresta. There was nothing.

There was another flash of lighting, followed by a loud clap of thunder. "Alright I get it!" Natsuki yelled to no one in particular.

Natsuki picked the uncurious redhead up from the ground a lugged her over to the bike. "If I go slow enough, I should be able to keep her on the bike." She though and got onto the bike, wrapping Nao's arms around her waist.

"Here we go." Natsuki started the bike up and started down the road to the hospital at a slow pace.

X--X--X--X

It took almost and hour until they finally made it to the hospital. Natsuki pulled into the parking lot and turned off her bike. Then, the storm finally caught up as rain started to fall. Natsuki wrapped Nao's arm around her neck and pulled her into the hospital.

"Someone, this girl needs help!" Natsuki said as she let go of Nao and laid her onto the floor of the front area of the hospital. "My god. Doctor!" One of the nurses said as a few staff members ran over to Natsuki. "We'll take it from here." One of the doctors said as he and some others got Nao onto a stretcher and hauled her away.

Natsuki looked around the lobby for a pay phone. She had to let the others know the she found Nao. A line of payphones attached to the wall caught her eye and she jogged over to one of them.

Natsuki pulled out some coins from her right pants pocket, inserted them into the machine and punched in a series of numbers, hoping that she remembered Aoi's cell phone number. "Here it goes."

X--X--X--X

A/N: Well, There's the second chapter. Hope you liked it. Chapter three should be on it's way soon. Please remember to find it in your heart to review. : )