"Hoshiguma...where is my daughter?"
The oni began to sweat profusely when Ch'en asked her that question, dreading the lung's reaction when she told her what happened, she couldn't lie to her. Behind Hoshiguma, Swire was sweating just as much as the oni. Like Hoshiguma, Swire knew that Ch'en would go berserk when she found out what happened yesterday with Yua. Adding the fact that Yua wasn't here with them, Ch'en would completely lose it.
Ch'en was their friend, but yesterday, both herself and Hoshiguma overstepped their boundaries by dragging Yua to a bar. If anything had happened to her, The blue-haired lung would hold the two of them responsible, and the feline wasn't looking forward to the consequences.
Ch'en was still at the door, waiting patiently for the oni to answer. Eventually, she had enough of waiting and went past Hoshiguma and into the main room. The first thing Ch'en noticed was Swire, and she was looking just as nervous as the oni. The lung decided not to ask Swire where Yua was and instead called out to her, "Yua! Are you here!? I've come to take you back to the hotel!" Ch'en didn't receive a response, so she decided to search the hotel room for her.
Ch'en then looked in the bathroom and both bedrooms for Yua but didn't find a trace of her. While she was doing this, Hoshiguma and Swire whispered to each other about what to tell Ch'en. However, they stopped when the lung was back in the main room, both of them looking at her and sensing an aura around her that told them both she was angry.
"Hoshiguma! Swire! Where is Yua?!Why isn't she here?!" Ch'en shouted at the pair in front of her. The oni and feline looked at each other, realizing they couldn't hide the truth any longer, delaying it would only make things worse for them. Hoshiguma stepped forward and spoke to Ch'en, "Ch'en, I know you're going to be angry hearing this, but please don't do anything crazy. Yesterday, we took Yua to a bar. We just wanted to ask about the future. We'll admit we did buy her drinks...and may have gotten her absolutely smashed. From what we remember, we did all the leave the bar together, but we had a lot of alcohol ourselves. We were sure we brought Yua back here with us. We're sorry, Ch'en." Hoshiguma told the lung apologetically.
Ch'en took a few seconds to register what her friend had said, the blue-haired lung then went ballistic, "Excuse me! You just said you took Yua to a bar! And you brought her alcohol! What the hell were you both thinking?! She's seventeen! And you don't know where she is?! What if something has happened to her?! Yua could need help! You damn idiots!" When Ch'en finished shouting, her face had nearly turned purple. She was beyond angry at this point. She was livid with the two in front of her.
Hoshiguma and Swire waited for whatever their fate was to be from Ch'en. The lung wanted to severely punish them for what they did, but the lung realised it wouldn't help right now. Her future daughter could be in trouble right now. Finding her was Ch'en's priority, "You two better listen to me! Both of you get out there and find her! I want her back safe, you both understand?!" Ch'en shouted at her friends.
When Ch'en had finished speaking to them, both Hoshiguma and Swire burst out of the room, not wanting to risk angering the lung even more by waiting around. When the lung was on her own, she had to take several deep breaths to calm herself down. Her next course of action was to return to her own hotel and inform the doctor and Amiya what had happened. They would also have to join the search for Yua as well. This vacation had gone wrong so far for Ch'en. All she wanted was to bond with her future family. She wanted to learn more about her future daughter. Ch'en sighed and left the room, hoping that Yua would be found soon...
Outside of the hotel, Hoshiguma and Swire tried to remember what happened last night when they left the bar, but they couldn't remember anything past helping Yua because of all the alcohol they consumed, "Where shall we start looking? Any ideas?" Swire asked the oni standing next to her. Hoshiguma could only think of one place, "The bar, we'll start there. Someone might have seen what happened. They might know what Yua did and why she isn't with us." Hoshiguma told Swire her idea.
Seeing no other alternative, the two agreed and headed off towards the bar to start their search for Yua. After some time walking, the two arrived at their destination, and they went inside the bar. Looking inside, they couldn't see many people at the moment, which would likely change later in the day. The two noticed the bartender from yesterday was the same as the one who served them, a middle-aged cautus man. They walked up to him and began speaking to him.
"Hello sir, I'm Hoshiguma, and this is my friend, Swire. We need to speak to you about yesterday." The cautus man simply grunted to reply that he had heard what Hoshiguma said. He wasn't in the mood to talk. "We need to ask if you know what happened to the lung we were with yesterday. We remember leaving with her. Did anything happen? We don't know where she is and we are looking for her." The cautus man simply replied, "Sorry lady, but I can't help you. You both left with the girl last night, and that's all I saw. She looked a right state." Swire then asked, "Are you sure that's all you saw? Do you know anything else?" The bartender simply shook his head. He didn't know and didn't care. He just wanted this conversation to be over. Seeing they weren't going to get any more information, the two of them left to continue their search for Yua.
Across the coast, Ch'en had arrived at her hotel and told the doctor and Amiya that Yua was missing. The doctor said that they should split up to look for her, as they would be able to cover more ground that way. Ch'en then thought of someone who could help them, the lung shouted, "Shirayuki! We need your help!" Within seconds, the ninja appeared in front of them. She was kneeling in front of Ch'en, the ninja then stood up and asked, "What is it you require, madam Ch'en?" Ch'en responded, "Yua has gone missing. We need your help in finding her. The more people we have looking, the better our chances are of finding her. My apologies that we need your help during this vacation. I know it was supposed to be time off for everybody." Shirayuki simply nodded and then disappeared. Now that they had an extra person helping, they all left the hotel, and they split off into different directions.
While walking Ch'en thought of another idea that could help in their search: "The police station; the police have got to help." During her time in LGD, the lung did have cases involving missing persons. They normally had twenty-four hours to find whoever was missing. After that, the chances of survival for whoever was missing massively decreased. Remembering this, Ch'en hurried to the local police station. Time was running out to find her daughter.
After some searching around the Copper Coast, Ch'en eventually found the police station. Walking inside, the blue-haired lung could see the place was run-down. "Whoever is in charge probably doesn't give them the funding they need. How this can function is beyond me. This would never happen under my watch." Ch'en thought to herself while looking around. She would never have let her own officers under her command receive such poor funding or work in such conditions.
Ch'en could see a cautus police officer at his desk filling out some paperwork. She approached his desk to inform the man of her missing future daughter. The officer noticed someone was at his desk. He looked up and saw the lung, "Hello ma'am, what is it you need help with?" he asked Ch'en. Ch'en paused for a moment before speaking. She never imagined she would ever have to do this before discovering Yua was her future daughter, "I would like to report a missing person, please." The officer nodded, then reached into his desk and pulled out a form, a missing persons report, "Okay ma'am, I would like some details of who is missing. Could you give me details of them please?" Ch'en then started to describe Yua. "Her name is Yua, she is seventeen years old." The officer wrote down what the lung said before she carried on. "She is my daughter, she is about the same height as myself. She looks like a sarkaz but she lung like me and has white hair." The officer carried on writing. He then asked when she saw her last. "I saw her yesterday. She went away with a couple of friends of mine. I went to their hotel room today, but I couldn't find her. Neither of my friends knows where she is either." Ch'en deliberately left out the part about Hoshiguma and Swire taking her out to a bar. The police finding out that Yua was drinking underage would only make things more complicated.
The officer finished writing and then told Ch'en that he would take the report up to his superior and that she needed to wait, Ch'en thanked the man and waited for him to return. Fifteen minutes later, someone approached the lung. It wasn't the officer from earlier. It was an older cautus man. Ch'en assumed upon seeing him that this was the officer's superior.
This man then spoke to Ch'en, "Hello ma'am, I assume it was you who has reported a missing person to one of my officer's?" Ch'en responded, "Yes, it is my daughter who is missing." The supervisor looked sceptical at Ch'en's answer, "Daughter? She looks too young to be this girls mother. Then again, I don't know how lungs age, who am I to know." The man thought while looking at the blue-haired lung. He then spoke again to Ch'en, "Well ma'am, regarding your report, we believe your daughter is here with us. Do you mind coming with me?"
Hearing this alarmed Ch'en, "Oh no! Yua, what have you done?! Don't tell me you have gone and gotten yourself arrested." The lung nodded and followed the man to the cells in the police station, when they came to a certain cell Ch'en looked inside. Inside that cell was a certain white-haired lung, and she was passed out. Ch'en groaned and had her head in her hands. The lung was embarrassed and annoyed that Yua had gotten herself arrested.
Ch'en then turned to the supervisor and spoke, "That's my daughter. What did she do last night to get herself in trouble?" The man responded, "Some of my officer's found her being loud and disturbing the peace. She was shouting all sorts of nonsense. They tried to calm her down, but she ended up attacking them, and they needed backup. She injured one of my officer's. We know she has been drinking, my officer's could smell the alcohol on her when she was arrested, your daughter is in a lot of trouble." Ch'en groaned even more, while she was glad Yua safe the blue-haired lung was disappointed that her future daughter had done something so stupid.
This was complicated. For attacking police Yua could end up going to prison. Ch'en wanted to get her out of this situation but didn't know what to do. The supervisor next to her, however, said something which the lung couldn't believe, "You know ma'am, I can see your daughter is young. When we are young, we all make mistakes. I'm willing to let her go...for the right price." Ch'en had a look of complete disbelief when she heard what the officer said to her, "Excuse me! Am I hearing right?! You said you are willing to let her go?! For money!" Ch'en was disgusted hearing this.
One thing that Ch'en couldn't stand was corrupt police officers. The blue-haired lung believed that being a police officer came with responsibility. You had to have honour and integrity. A corrupt police officer was even worse than a criminal. Many had used their power and authority in the past to get away with truly heinous acts.
The man next to her was smiling from ear to ear, "Come on ma'am. I can tell she means a lot to you. You certainly wouldn't want her to go to prison for a long time, would you? Tell you what, you give me five thousand LMD and I will make sure that the police report disappears. You understand me?" Ch'en was fuming, she couldn't believe what this man in front of her, he was a dirty cop, a disgrace to the job.
While Yua did wrong, Ch'en knew Yua was here on an important mission. She had made a very big mistake, but she was young and had probably been fighting for so long. The alcohol had probably made her act this way, "I can't believe I'm going to do this. I feel dirty. But Yua needs to get out of there. Damn it, Yua! You better never do something like this again!" Ch'en thought to herself while deciding what to do. With clenched teeth, the lung told the officer, "Fine! I'll give you your damn money! Just get her out of there!" Ch'en then reached into her pocket and pulled out a stack of cash, and handed it to the cautus man.
The corrupt officer smiled when he received the money, and he slowly counted it in front of her, which got on the blue-haired lungs nerves. Once he was satisfied, the man spoke, "Pleasure doing business with you, ma'am. Wait here, and I'll get the key. Then you and your daughter will be free to go." The officer then left to look for Yua's cell key. A few minutes later, he returned and opened Yua's cell. Ch'en quickly grabbed Yua, who was still passed out, and began to carry her.
The blue-haired lung was thankful that Yua was quite light. Ch'en was about to leave, but before she did, the officer gave Ch'en a warning: 'Make sure your daughter stays out of trouble from now on. She will go to prison for a long time if she is caught for anything again. Do you understand?" The blue-haired lung simply ignored the man and left the police station with her daughter.
Ch'en carried Yua back to the hotel. She was furious and disgusted about what happened in the police station. Many people on the street gave Ch'en odd looks as they saw her carrying Yua. But she ignored the looks. Ch'en just wanted to get Yua back to the hotel. The blue-haired lung wanted to give Yua a huge tongue-lashing when she was awake. The same would happen to Hoshiguma and Swire. They had their part to play in this. The pair shouldn't have given her alcohol.
Once she was back at the hotel, Ch'en took the elevator to her floor and arrived at her room. Ch'en put Yua down on her bed to let her sleep off the alcohol. The lung then decided it was best to wait near the entrance to let them know she had found Yua. It was close to the evening, so everyone would be back soon. Hearing the light snores of her future daughter, the blue-haired lung left the room to head down to the entrance to wait for everyone else. Hoshiguma and Swire would be getting it as soon as they arrived, Ch'en would warn the both of them to never do what they did ever again. She didn't want to have to bribe another dirty cop.
"I hope nothing else goes wrong here... I want the rest of our time here to be peaceful." Ch'en thought to herself as she headed toward the entrance. She hoped that nothing else would happen and that she and everyone else could enjoy their time here. However unknown to everyone, a large group of monsters was approaching the Copper Coast underneath the surface of the water...