Missing
After everyone had their fill of dinner (it was kind of surprising that there was any food left, considering how many plates some of the boys had - "Sora, give Yuto that chicken wing! You've already had twelve!"), the group decided to gather in the main room, where there was an astounding amount of presents to the side of the sofa, which caused many to gasp.
"Sawatari!" Allen gaped at the presents "How many people do you know?!"
"Just some from some old friends in LDS, and some people from Synchro sent some. Funny, for people who claim to be poor they sure can be generous when it comes to gift-giving" Sawatari mumbled that last part, scratching his head "But then there's all of you guys."
Truth be told, Yuri and Shun had been a little more reluctant to give presents for their own reasons, and had been forced to get something by the females of their groups.
"Are any of these presents are for us?" Yuya pointed to himself. This was also supposed to be a be-latted Christmas party after all.
"Yuya! It's Sawatari's birthday!" Yuzu slapped him on the arm with her paper fan. He frowned and rubbed his arm.
"Well, it's not my fault his birthday is like two freaking days after Christmas!" Yuya protested.
"Well, sorry to inconvenience you, Yuya" Sawatari replied sourly, completely insincerely.
"Oh, it's no problem, Sawatari" Yuya remarked sarcastically, their rivalry starting to heat up right there in the middle of the main room "Only that—Oww!" Yuzu hit him again. "Yuzu! That was not necessary!"
"It sure was!" Yuzu retorted "Now will you shut up so that Sawatari can open his presents!"
"Before we do all of that, do you mind if we go to our rooms?" Sayaka asked politely "I'd like to unpack my stuff, just in case I needed to get something quickly so I know where everything is."
"Sure" Sawatari shrugged "You've all got your own rooms."
"That's good" Sora muttered, folding his arms "Because I am never sharing a room with Yuya again."
Yuya frowned at him, wondering what he had done to make so many people hate him.
"It's late, I think Reira needs to take a nap" Reiji also supplied.
It was true, Reira appeared to be dozing off on his feet; Reiji had a supporting hand on his shoulder so he wouldn't fall over.
"Alright, alright!" Sawatari couldn't help but feel a little overburdened with all the requests. "We'll be doing more fun stuff in the morning anyway."
Everyone except Gongenzaka, Allen and Yuto left the room. Slowly, people began returning to the main room. Shun was first, followed by Serena and Sayaka. Dennis and Sora were next, and then Yuri.
After about twenty minutes, no one else had shown up.
"Where's everyone else?" Sora asked, impatiently "Birthday Boy is still missing."
"I only know where Reiji went" Dennis shrugged "I'm pretty sure he's still with Reira, telling a bedtime story or something. I'm not sure where the others are."
Sawatari then walked into the room, wiping his hands on a handkerchief. "Sorry I'm late."
"Loser!" Sora demanded, pointing accusingly at him "Where's Yuya, Kurosaki's sister, Scarf McGee, the seven-year-old child and the Synchro idiots?!"
"They're not back yet?" Sawatari blinked. "I just went to the bathroom. Yugo said he'd meet me down here. I'm not sure where the others are."
"That's weird" Allen scratched his head "Maybe they got lost?"
"I could see Yuya doing that…" Yuzu sighed.
Just then, Rin, Yugo and Yuya entered the room.
"Wow, about time!" Dennis joked.
"Yeah, Yuya!" Yuzu made a face like she was very angry with only him, but was smiling "Nice of you to hold all of us up! I'm sure you're the one who got you guys lost!"
Yuya didn't respond, only staring straight ahead. Yuzu's smile diminished.
"Yuya? What's wrong with you? You look like you've just seen a ghost" Gongenzaka walked over to him. He placed a hand on his shoulder but Yuya only shivered, looking straight through him.
"I think he got sick or something" Rin told them "He was in the bathroom for a while."
"Do you just want to stay in your room?" Yuto offered.
Yuya slowly shook his head. Gongenzaka decided to help sit him on the sofa. Yuzu sat down also so Yuya could rest his head on her lap. She gently ruffled Yuya's hair, but instead of perking up like usual, his eyes remained half-lidded and dull.
"Yuri" Serena turned to face the one leaning against the wall "Get Yuya some water."
Yuri raised an eyebrow at this.
"Why should I?" he challenged.
Serena narrowed her eyes, striding over to him. Everyone got out the way and Shun moved away from where he was leaning against the wall near to where Yuri was sitting.
"Because I say so" was all Serena said, getting in his personal space.
It was all she needed to say.
Yuri looked the tiniest bit uneasy, which was a major feat. If Yuya was fully awake right now, he'd probably be laughing. Dennis did actually laugh, receiving an unimpressed glare for his effort.
"Fine! Fine! Whatever! I'll get Yuya his precious water!" Yuri stood up and held his hands in the air in surrender before storming off toward the kitchen.
Yugo cleared his throat. "Can Sawatari open his presents now?"
Really he just wanted his late Christmas presents as soon as possible.
Sawatari agreed, there was no point in waiting for the others – they would show up in time. "Sure, that okay with you, Kurosaki?"
He wanted to check, in case Shun got upset that they were starting without his little sister. Sawatari had been on the receiving end of the older boy's temper far too often not to check first.
Shun shrugged. He didn't particularly care about Sawatari opening his presents. If need be, he and Ruri could open their Christmas presents together later, privately instead of in front of an audience. He wasn't at all worried she hadn't shown up yet. They were in an isolated house in Standard after all. Maybe she was just feeling shy and decided to stay in her room.
The birthday boy spent the next half an hour slowly opening his birthday presents, grinning like an idiot at most of them and one time actually jumping to his feet and giving Yuto a hug that was returned after a jump of surprise.
Yuya had drank half of the ice cold water Yuri had rather begrudgingly gotten for him and was lying on the couch, holding his sweaty forehead with his eyes wide open. Yuzu would have just thought that maybe he ate too much, but why did he continue to stare at nothing instead of just rest?
Ruri, Reiji and Reira hadn't returned, either.
"Something's wrong."
It was getting close to midnight. Everyone was beginning to get tired and progressively excusing themselves from the main room. Yuto, Yugo and Dennis left first, helping Sawatari carry all his presents back to his own room, followed by Rin and Shun, then later Yuri. Sayaka had told the group she was going to check on the Akabas and Ruri. Allen and Sora left together.
The remaining group – Gongenzaka, Yuzu, Yuya and Serena – were left to converse, save for Yuya who still wasn't talking for some reason. His eyes had finally closed, though, but he was drenched in sweat.
Gongenzaka had voiced his thoughts about feeling that something was wrong. The girls had nodded their heads.
"Yuya didn't really seem like he was sick" Serena commented "He seemed like he was shocked about something. Very shocked."
"Yes" Gongenzaka nodded "I've taken care of him before when he was sick. He's never acted like this before."
"I was just joking about him being lost" Yuzu frowned "I wonder what took them so long to come downstairs?"
"That's what I'm wondering" Gongenzaka's eyes darted towards the ceiling "I think something is very wrong."
"Like what?" Serena asked.
"I'm not sure" Gongenzaka shrugged "I just have a bad feeling about something."
Serena was about to say something again, but at that moment, her phone started ringing. Frowning at the ID number, she answered it. "Dennis, I know it's a big house, but do you really need to waste my free calls?"
"Serena, we've got a bit of a problem" She was surprised by worry in Dennis' usually light-hearted tone.
"Like what, Xyz Dimension being destroyed again problem or Yuri threw Sora's gobstoppers away problem?" she asked.
"Well, Sayaka kinda went to Reira's room and says Reiji's in there but not Ruri" Dennis explained "We have absolutely no idea where she is and Kurosaki's kinda freaking out so I'm hiding in the bathroom so he can't get me."
"What?!" Yuzu and Serena shared glances as Serena unintentionally yelled out. Then she yelled back "Where's Sayaka then?!"
"I don't know, she left the room as soon as I said I hadn't see Ruri" he supplied
"Okay, well, I'm going to look for her" Serena told him "Go and let everyone else know, alright?"
"You mean, I have to leave the bathroom?" Dennis didn't see pleased with this suggestion.
Serena rolled her eyes. "Yes, Dennis, I'm sure Kurosaki isn't actually going to kill you."
"When they find my dead body, you're the one who's going to have to tell Yuri" Dennis warned her.
"Yeah, whatever, bye Dennis" Serena hung up.
"What was that about?" Yuzu raised an eyebrow, not catching what was going on.
"Ruri's missing" Serena briefed.
"What?" Yuzu gasped.
Gongenzaka raised an eyebrow. "How do you go missing in here of all places?"
"Sayaka's looking for her now, but I'm going to help her" Serena explained.
"Me too" Gongenzaka stood up.
"I'll watch over Yuya" Yuzu offered. She didn't have much of a choice, with Yuya's head still on her lap. "In case he snaps out of it."
"Thanks" Serena nodded to her. She turned to Gongenzaka "Let's go!"
The two left the main room through the foyer and headed upstairs.
"Where are we going?" Gongenzaka asked as they continued running down the hallway.
Serena had insisted they run, but Gongenzaka was not the fastest person in the world so Serena had to keep slowing down to wait for him.
"Going to Ruri's room" Serena explained "She's staying on the same corridor as me, Yuzu, Sayaka and Rin. Say what you want about Sawatari, but at least he gave all the girls their own floor. If she didn't visit Reira, then she must be in her room."
"Would Sayaka not check her room?" Gongenzaka pointed out.
"Probably not" Serena replied "You know what she's like about peoples' personal privacy."
The duo stopped in front of Ruri's room. The door was closed.
"She might be in here" the lone female Lancer took a deep breath. For some reason, her heart was pounding. She felt something in the pit of her stomach, and she was sure it wasn't her dinner.
She knocked on the door. "Ruri? Are you in there?"
No response.
"Ruri?" Serena decided to slowly turn the doorknob and open the door.
She instantly regretted it once she saw what was inside.
On the floor, face down, lay Ruri. Her yellow dress was covered in blood, the back of it completely torn to show a huge gash.
Gongenzaka immediately flew to Ruri's side, picking up her left arm and checking for a pulse. His face tightened and he set down the girl's arm carefully.
"N-No good…" he said, sounding pained "She…she's dead."
Serena was shivering uncontrollably, her legs giving out on her. Now that feeling in the pit of her stomach was surely her dinner, ready to exit her body prematurely through her mouth.