44 Lost and Found

At five in the afternoon, the rain hadn't let up yet. It had been two hours since the thunderstorm started, and still, it continued. The unexpected volley from heaven was an unwelcome occurrence in this season. It only made the already cold and dreary winter day worse.

Even though it was supposed to be after office and school hours, the streets were cleared of pedestrians as they're all unprepared. They had run to take shelter from the sudden downpour, cursing and flinching as thunder rolled and lightning flashed, wondering when it would end.

A few meters away from the school, a black Maybach Zeppelin was parked – a rare sight in the area. In spite of the awful weather, people who came out of the school to run for shelter couldn't help to at least give it a curious glance, appreciating the beauty of the luxury car, and wondered who might be inside.

Some parents who came to pick up their kids also looked at it curiously that some of them collided with each other. It was a funny sight, really.

But the person sitting inside the luxurious western car was not even paying attention to the curious glances thrown his way. Although it's a fact that with the heavily tinted windows, there was no way anyone could see him inside.

Homura Ryuu had been waiting in the car for a good forty minutes, wondering when Ara would come out. Her classes should have ended half an hour ago, but she was nowhere in sight. His handsome face furrowed with impatience, he reached for his mobile phone and called Kazehaya's number.

"Gin-nii, what time does Ara come out of school?"

"Big Bro Kaze," he growled. I told you not to call me Gin-nii anymore," Kazehaya Gin complained from the other end, but of course, he was ignored.

He had been adamant that Ryuu changed his way to address him after his visit to Ara at the hospital. The bloke had been bullied too much by his girlfriend.

He ignored his grumbles, however. "You said she doesn't have club activities, right?"

"Well, normally she doesn't. But it's raining like mad so she's probably still inside," Kazehaya answered. "Wait, I'll go ask Aki," he continued before ending the call.

Ryuu returned to his vigilance, his eyes never leaving the gates in case Ara stepped out. But minutes passed, and there were still neither hide nor hair of his fiancée, and his small frown had worsened. It was at that time when his phone rang, and Kazehaya's worried voice filled his ear.

"Koutaishidenka, Aki said Ara didn't go back to school after her visit to his office earlier. She said she'd go out on a walk, but it's been two hours since," Kazehaya informed him, his voice urgent.

"What do you mean? Is she missing?"

"Not really – at least for now. We can assume however that there's a possibility she got stranded somewhere since the thunderstorm started just after she left Suzuki Raiden," Kazehaya explained. "I already asked the Fuuma to search. I'm sure we'll hear about Ara soon."

Fuuma was Kazehaya's family's Special Forces, and it's Kanji's written as "wind" for "fuu", and "dance" for "ma". It's a group consisting of wind casters that were the best in tracking and surveillance among the clans. With them looking for Ara, it's certain that they would find her fast.

"Update me," Ryuu said as he hanged up.

He then asked the chauffeur to drive towards the Suzuki Raiden Group's Office. If Ara just took a walk, he reckoned she wouldn't have gotten so far since the rain started almost immediately. The drive would take around fifteen minutes, and he could order the driver to change direction as needed when they got there and Ara was found.

The Maybach Zeppelin was almost at Aki's office building when his phone rang again. "We found her," Kazehaya reported, and told him the address of the neighborhood playground several streets away from Suzuki Raiden.

He quickly barked the name of the place to the driver who immediately brought the master there. The car quickly parked at the entrance of the empty playground. But as the rain still poured incessantly, the visibility was so low they couldn't see well outside.

"Young Master, please wait here. I will look for Miss Ara inside," Koga, his assistant said from the front seat.

"No need. I will do it myself," Ryuu answered, and he didn't wait for Koga to open the door for him. He got out by himself into the pouring rain.

However, as the droplets of water landed on him, they quickly sizzled and evaporated as if burned.

"Errr… Young Master, your ki is making the rain disperse," Koga commented worriedly looking at his master's dry body in spite of the raging torrent. "Miss Ara might be surprised to see you walking under the rain, dry."

The assistant had a huge umbrella with him and he quickly scrambled to go to his master's side. In his other arm were fluffy towels and another umbrella.

Realizing what his assistant meant, Ryuu sighed, his slender hand wrapping around his pendant and placing it inside his shirt. Afterwards, he used his will power to suppress his divine power, and immediately, the assistant put the umbrella over his master. But, he was not fast enough to prevent some droplets of rain on his shoulder which got wet.

Seeing that, horror was on the assistant's face, but Ryuu pretended not to see it as he started to walk inside the playground with Koga following him with the umbrella and towels.

The place was not that big, so it was easy for them to cover the distance in no time towards her. According to Fuuma, Ara took shelter inside one of the concrete cylinders in the playground. But, according to them, she had already been totally soaked by the torrent by the time she reached her current hiding place.

Thinking about that and the current season, Ryuu was a bit concerned. For sure Ara would be totally freezing right now – and he was right.

As soon as he reached the cylinder, he saw her form curled up inside. She looked like a drowned rat as she trembled in the cold. Her face was pale, but her eyes were red and puffy as if she had been crying the whole time.

Ryuu wondered if she was scared of the thunderstorm. He cleared his throat, making his presence known, and when she turned to look at him with surprised silver-grey eyes, he bent on his knees as he extended his hand towards her.

"Ara, I'm here…"