Chapter Seven
Kotetsu thought that if he hadn't spent so much time watching over the mute NEXT, then he surely would have forgotten about her. After he and Barnaby were let loose from babysitting duties, all communications stopped. Commissioner Clarkson sent monetary gifts after the farewell dinner, to further show his gratitude, but otherwise left the Hero Team alone. Once even, Kotetsu caught wind that the Chief of Police paid for the damage fines that the Crusher for Justice manage to rack up after one mission.
"Despite how inconvenient the babysitting was, it really paid off for you, huh?" Barnaby teased as he read over the letter with his partner. It was just a courtesy note telling the veteran hero and Apollo Company not to worry about the payment to the city. Kotetsu frowned, but silently agreed with Bunny. That was a very nice save on Clarkson's part.
Weeks passed. Crimes were committed and the heroes were there to set the world right again. Barnaby was finally getting closer (and going a little mad) over his chase with Ouroboros. The discovery of Jake Martinez, he's abrupt release, and the resulting fiasco was finally put to rest as well. Barnaby's head was a constant whirlwind of thoughts and emotions; it all happened so fast, but he was finally slowing down and thinking clearly again. His usual calm and collected personality was returning, much to Tiger's comfort. Seeing Bunny express some emotions was a nice change from when they first met, but Kotetsu was happy that his partner was finally finding peace.
"Hey, Karina," Kotetsu asked a depressed looking Blue Rose while at the Heroes training room. At first the older man thought that prodding her would be a bad idea (since previous experiences taught him so), but her mood didn't change as the time rolled by. She sighed and had this far away look in her eyes, obviously not focused on her training and she took a seat on the benches. That's when Kotetsu approached her. "You doing okay?"
"Yeah," Her reply was unconvincing, but truthful. The problem did not deal with her. "I've just been thinking too much, I guess."
"About what?" Kotetsu was a bit too nosy when it came to other people's business, but he saw Karina as a close friend, just like any other of the heroes he fought alongside with. He wanted to help them in any way he could.
"Well, you remember Eden, right?" The girl was slightly comforted in Kotetsu's concern.
"Yeah."
"She hasn't been to school for a while now. She stopped coming right before you guys took care of Jake. That makes it about two and a half weeks."
"Oh, did you start hanging out with her?"
"Only some of the time; not a lot."
"What's got you so worried then?" It was around this time Barnaby came over to listen in on the conversation. It had been forever since either of them heard about Eden.
"When I asked around, no one else knew where she had gone, not even the teachers. So when I did some digging yesterday, I found out that she's been missing this whole time."
"Missing?"
"You know, missing! As in a police report's been filed and Eden is on the official Missing Children's List now. Her page says that she's a runaway and was last seen the day before Jake was let out." Karina stared at her tennis shoes, confused and forlorn. "I'm worried because when I last asked her about how her case was doing, she said it wasn't looking so good."
"That's terrible." Kotetsu said somberly. He began to wonder if bad luck followed Eden around like it did with him and breaking things (or with his daughter, for that matter). Up until now, he had assumed that nothing was wrong. The news stopped broadcasting about those criminals who were killing themselves and no scandals involving the police were reported, so there was no reason to worry about such things.
"Try not to let this overtake you, Karina." Barnaby spoke up, trying to be helpful. The teenager looked up and cast her eyes towards the blonde; she hadn't noticed him till now. "You said that officially she's marked as a runaway, right?" Karina nodded.
"Eden's a tough girl. I'm sure she's just escaping from the world." Wild Tiger laid his hand on the girl's shoulder, affectionately rubbing it in a fatherly manner and smiling.
"And who knows," The younger man tried to comfort, "She may have just ran from her guardian but is being looked after by the police department. The authorities have to submit all claims of missing persons given to them, but it doesn't mean that no one knows where she is. She does work for them, after all."
One side of Karina's mouth tugged upwards into a smile. She was unconvinced, but she was slowly feeling better. "Thanks, guys. You two brought up some good points." She stood up. "I'll try not to let it get me down."
"Good girl." Kotetsu flashed a goofy grin and a thumbs-up at the girl, which brought a genuine smile to her face this time. She would let the remark slide this time, since he was just trying to cheer her up and she appreciated the effort.
"I'll just call it a day though. See you two around." And then she took her leave, grabbing her towel and water bottle and exiting the training room. The duo watched her leave but couldn't find the motivation to get back to training.
"Do you actually believe any of that?" Barnaby asked, turning his eyes to look at the back of Kotetsu's head. The older man didn't turn around, but kept his gaze fixed on the door that Blue Rose had left through.
"I have to." He finally replied. "Otherwise, Eden's in trouble, isn't she?"
The thought had crossed Kotetsu's mind to start actively searching for Eden, but he ultimately knew that the effort was futile, and Barnaby reassured him of that as well. The older man supposed that he felt so anxious over the girl's disappearance because he was a father and the thought of Kaede disappearing on him frightened him too much to even think about. Calling and asking Commissioner Clarkson also crossed his mind, but if he had found her, then Eden's case would have been taken off the List. But the point that those kids were on the Missing Children's List was that they couldn't be found! It's not like others didn't try to look for them, but they had exhausted all of their other resources and this was their final available move. It was really depressing to think about, so Kotetsu actively tried to busy himself with something else whenever his mind wondered over to it.
But that was how time passed. The days came and went with no word about the missing girl. Criminals still created trouble and the Heroes were there to save the day.
A/N: The shortest chapter to date. Also one of the more clumsy ones to read, but you can't win them all, I suppose. Next chapter will be much more interesting; promise.
Thank you for reading!
