Yaten was now sincerely regretting her choice of clothes. The halter top and shorts provided little protection from the nearly freezing weather. The fact that they were now in a valley made it no better. Seiya, on the other hand, seemed to be fine. She was walking ahead at a quick pace.

"Do you know even where you're going?" The cold was making her more irritable than before.

"Yes princess, I know where we're going." Seiya had taken up calling Yaten that after her endless stream of complaints and questions which were annoying Seiya so badly that she wished she really had fallen off that cliff so she wouldn't have had to hear it so incessantly.

"It seems like we should have turned back towards the trail by now. We're heading in the opposite direction."

"That's the idea."

"What?" Yaten asked loudly. She jogged to catch up to Seiya and stopped right in front of her. "What do you mean, 'That's the idea'? Are you saying you've been leading us away from the school on purpose?"

Seiya's patience was definitely waning. "Look, I don't know where the trail is. What I do know is that right there"—she pointed and Yaten followed her finger—"built into the base of that mountain are a bunch of caves. Now we can either stay out here all day looking for the trail and freeze to death in this rain, or we can keep going until we get to those caves and hang out there until the storm passes."

Yaten let out an angry chortle and resigned herself to her former position, not two feet behind the taller woman. The ground rose steadily before them and they treaded onward, the sound of churning skies behind them indicating that the storm was fast approaching.

Once the ground leveled off again Seiya pivoted and began to walk backwards, tucking her hands behind her head and gazing at Yaten coolly. Yaten tried to ignore it, looking every way but forward but after a few minutes her patience was waning. "What are you staring at?" she asked with annoyance.

"I can't imagine why you wouldn't like exerting yourself. You look nice when you sweat."

"That's disgusting. And you'd better not let your girlfriend find out that you said it."

"Who, Yura? Oh she's not my girlfriend," Seiya responded nonchalantly.

"You give flowers to every girl who isn't your girlfriend?"

Seiya hid her smile by turning to the side. "I didn't know you were watching us."

"You're hard to miss." Yaten stopped and faced her. "I've never met a person so attention deprived."

"And I've never met one so self-righteous."

The two glared at each other with sparks between them before continuing on. They walked in silence for a while until the sky crackled overhead and the first few drops began to fall on them.

Seiya lifted her head and let the warm drops trickle onto her face. She raised her arms up like a bird and began to spin. As a child she had always loved the rain, and often snuck out during the beginning of a downpour to play in it. It was only after an hour or so that the winds usually picked up, and then it became intolerable. Until that happened though, it was a marvelous experience.

She stopped twirling to see if Yaten was enjoying it too but the other girl looked like a trapped animal. She stood still as a statue except for the visible shivering of her slight body. She was breathing unnaturally heavy, as if she had just finished a marathon. Seiya approached her and gently put her hands on the girl's arms. "Are you okay? Are you cold?"

Yaten seemed unable to speak. She didn't even pull away as she normally would have done. Seiya began to get worried, but a sudden burst of wind stole her attention.

"No way…The winds never start up this quickly." A second draft confirmed it. Her eyes flowed over the landscape in front of her. It was only a few hundred feet until they reached the caves.

With little other choice she grabbed the other girl's hand. To her surprise, Yaten gripped it back tightly. "Come on, we have to get to cover." The smaller girl gave a slight nod and then they both ran.

"Now, I want you to promise me you'll stay quiet while I work." Taiki agreed to this and her father walked over to his desk, which doubled as the control panel for all of the security devices across campus. He sat down and put on a set of headphones as he tapped into the Universal Control Line, which connected all of the administrators.

Taiki busied herself looking up at the hundreds of flat panels that lined the walls, searching all of those that contained outdoor images. At last she found the one with Seiya's teacher. There was no audio, but from the looks of it she was ushering her students back into campus. A few were still emerging slowly from the edge of the forest. As she watched, Aje came onto the screen, half-dragging a blond girl who was covered in mud and seemed to be crying.

Taiki looked to see her father's back turned. The man was staring over the open landscape which was visible from the immense window cut into his wall. Sneaking up to his desk, she discreetly snatched the remote control.

Programming in the camera number, she began scanning the area for any sign of Seiya. The area was mostly empty except for Aje and the girl who were trudging across the wet grass towards the school. He followed them with the camera. Eventually they joined a group of students who were huddled together next to the entrance, looking out onto the dreary terrain. Taiki recognized several students. In fact, as she recognized the crowd of faces, she began to realize that they were all from Seiya's biology class—all except Aje. She counted…18 of them. That meant only two were missing. Taiki's blood curdled as she realized exactly who they were.

"Dad!" she screamed, not caring if she got in trouble for interrupting him. Her father pivoted in his chair to face her, a stern expression on his face. He held up a finger for her to wait. A second later he set down his headphones and folded his hands in front of him.

"Dad, listen, this is important. Seiya and that girl Yaten are both missing from their class. They're the only ones who haven't returned yet. I know they're somewhere out there together. Something tells me—"

"Taiki, there's no need to become eccentric. I'm already aware of the situation." Her father's business tone only made Taiki more upset.

"Father, you have to do something—"

"Taiki! If you will give me the chance, that's exactly what I'm doing." The girl watched as her father dialed a new number. A moment later he said into his headset, "All officials, this is in Universal Control. We have two students missing in the Northeastern woods. Seiya Kou: student id 92740; Yaten Shita: student id 71108. Have a rescue party on standby at the North campus entrance. Send out a police unit as well."

"Police?!" Taiki practically yelled as soon as her father pressed the disconnect button. She planted her hands on the desk and leaned toward him. "Dad, what's going on?" she asked with barely restrained panic.

Her dad sat with his jaw resting on his folded hands, looking thoughtful. "This is more serious than I thought," he said softly, and Taiki wondered if he had even meant for her to hear it.

"Dad!" she said again, and this time he looked up at her. Tears were forming in her eyes. "Dad, please tell me what's happening. Why are you sending police out?"

Taiki's father rubbed his eyes with his palms. She could tell he was trying to decide on something. "Alright," he said at last, "I'm entrusting you not to reveal this to anyone. If you do, keep in mind it could cost me my job. What I'm about to tell you is confidential. The records on this have been sealed by the High Council of Kinmoku."

She resisted the urge to press him for more information, lest he change his mind for it. Instead she waited for him to explain more.

"I understand that Seiya is your best friend, and that you're deeply concerned for her. The fact is, she is in more danger than you could possibly imagine."