Chapter Three:

The Throne of Aeyda

Yukari sighed and made a face as she reluctantly listened to her history teacher, Mr. Yamata, go on about the Samurai's role in ancient Japanese society. Usually the subject of History fascinated Yukari, but Mr. Yamata had a way of making any subject he taught as boring as watching public access television. Even when they were studying the Americas, Yukari was forced to sit through an hour and a half lecture on the creation of Disney Land. Yukari smiled as she remembered Hitomi's response to the situation. When the lecture had come to an end, Hitomi had raised her hand and Mr. Yamata had asked her to stand in front of her desk to address the class. Hitomi had bowed and then had stood up from her chair with a nervous look on her face.

When Mr. Yamata had raised an eyebrow and asked her to continue, Hitomi had taken a look around the classroom and cleared her throat. Before continuing Hitomi had taken a deep breath and then had cautiously said; "Well sir, I was just wondering when we were going to do a fun project. I mean…it's not that your projects aren't fun to begin with. I do find all of your projects to be…very educational. But maybe we could get in groups and make collages of all the Disney characters or something. It might be kind of fun! And I bet that we would learn a whole lot! What do you say, Mr. Yamata?" Some older girls at the back of the class had started to giggle and pretty soon the whole class was in uproar. Yukari couldn't help but chuckle herself.

Mr. Yamata had frowned at Hitomi before coming by her desk and smacking her right hand with his trademark "punishment" ruler. "If you want to be funny, Mrs. Kanzaki, sign up for drama class and study one of Shakespeare's comedies. But in my class, we learn about history. You are fully aware that we NEVER do group projects; especially ones that encourage immature behavior. Now stop disrupting the class and return to your reading!" Hitomi had nodded quickly and sat in her desk, pulling a notebook up to her face in an attempt to hide her blushing.

Hitomi's class disruption had given her a sort of fame at their high school. Ever since that day, When Mr. Yamata would ask the class to do an assignment that required reading from the book, a student would stand up and ask him to make it more interesting. This went on relentlessly for weeks on end until Mr. Yamata finally decided to add a class rule to the backboard. Hitomi had come back from winter break to a large sign on the chalk board that read; "No copying other student's stupidity. Those who do not abide by this rule will be given a falling mark in my class." Needless to say, when the rule was posted the students were put back in line and the ongoing practical joke toward Mr. Yamata was officially laid to rest.

But many students still congratulated Hitomi on her genius remark in his class many semesters after the fact. Every time a student was there to congratulate Hitomi on her fine work it seemed like Mr. Yamata was always there with a stern expression on his face and his trademark ruler in his hands. When the students saw Mr. Yamata come out of his classroom with his ruler they would leave mid conversation and give Hitomi a wink before being chased off by their grumpy history professor.

If there was one thing Mr. Yamata hated more than people disrupting his class, it was students who made a mockery of his teaching skills. So naturally, Mr. Yamata never quite took to Hitomi and if something went wrong in the class she was always the first person to be given the blame for it. Yukari on the other hand, was a straight "A" student in his class and was his star pupil. Whenever Hitomi goofed up on a test he would say; "Mrs. Kanzaki I am very disappointed in you. Honestly! Why can't you be more like Yukari and pay attention!" Hitomi would always give Yukari a sour expression after Mr. Yamata made a remark about her study skills and Yukari would always give her a cheesy grin

The thought of Hitomi giving her an annoyed look made Yukari chuckle despite her better judgment and her thoughts were suddenly disrupted by the sound of Mr. Yamata's ruler cracking down on her desk. "Mrs. Uchida, stop giggling and pay attention! Honestly; one would think I was talking to Mrs. Kanzaki today. But of course she hasn't shown up for my class for three days! No doubt she is ditching my lectures again. Why is this? Because she is a slacker! But you are not a slacker, Mrs. Uchida. You are going to make something of yourself. So stop goofing around and get back to work! It would be a shame to have to my star pupil fail on account of a student who never show up for class." Yukari winced and then bowed in respect before going back to taking notes on Mr. Yamata's long winded discussion.

After what seemed an eternity, the class bell chimed and she was released from Mr. Yamata's boring lecture. "Japanese History and Cultural Enrichment" was her last class for the day, so she met up with Amano at the student union before walking home. Amano was buying a sandwich from the lunch plaza when Yukari showed up, struggling to fit her history book in her back pack with the rest of her school supplies. When Amano saw her struggling, he took the book from her hand and placed it in his own back pack. "I'll help you carry this. I was going to help you study for your math exam after track practice. I'll be heading your direction anyway." Yukari smiled and hugged her boyfriend. "Thank you, Amano. You're always a big help." Amano gave her a quick squeeze and then winked at her. "No problem. It's what I'm here for, right? I remember taking that class my senior year. It was a real pain. Though, there are a lot of classes in college that wish I could just drop. But speaking of our little study group; have you seen Hitomi the last few days? I heard from Yoko that she was home sick. Or that's what everyone has been saying anyway. Do you know where she is?"

Yukari shrugged. "No…I don't. I figured she had ditched History class the past few days like she always does. I've been too busy to catch up with her after school so I haven't had time to check up on her yet. I was worried when she didn't show up for track practice, though. She never misses track. I figured that she was home sick. Whenever Hitomi misses practice, she usually is. I think I'll stop by after school and check up on her today. Would you mind coming with me before we head to my house?" Amano nodded. "Sure. I need to get my video game back from her anyway. She's had it for a month now." Yukari rolled her eyes. "That sounds like her. Well I guess I'll see you after practice then. I love you!" Amano gave her a kiss on the cheek and then said softly in her ear; "I love you too." Yukari blushed and gave Amano a final hug before heading off to track practice.

After recording all the times of the sprinters, Yukari called the team in and ended the practice for the day. In the girl's locker room, she overheard a few girls talking about Hitomi. Yukari pressed her ear against her locker so she could hear the conversation on the other side. "If you guys are saying anything bad about her, I swear that I'll kick you butts…" Yukari thought to herself as she strained to hear the conversation. She recognized one voice right away. It belonged to Sakura, a freshman who just transferred to Kama Kita High School last semester. Sakura had a real gift for the softball throw and was a great team leader. "I wonder what Sakura has to say about Hitomi?" Yukari thought to herself as she pressed her ear closer to her locker. She couldn't make out much of the conversation but she did recognize the second voice. "That's…Ayumi Hasagawa. Hitomi and I have known her forever. I wonder what they are talking about?" Yukari whispered to herself as she strained to hear the rest of the dialogue. When the water from a shower in the adjacent room stopped running, Yukari could hear the conversation as clear as a bell. The dialogue on the other side, more or less went like this;

Sakura: "This is going to be a great loss for the team. Hitomi is one of the best sprinters that we have! And everyone likes her. She's a great team leader."

Ayumi: "It's more than a loss for the team; Hitomi is a close friend. I can't believe no one knows where she is!"

Sakura: "I heard that Seime saw cop cars in front of the Kanzaki residence this morning. She hasn't been at her house for three days."

Ayumi: "And Yukari doesn't know? They're best friends…why didn't anyone tell her?"

Sakura: "Well, technically the students aren't supposed to know. The principle is keeping this under wraps. The police think that she may have been kidnapped!"

Ayumi: "That's terrible! I feel so bad for Mrs. Kanzaki; she loves her daughter so much…"

Yukari gasped and dropped her gym bag on a patch of tile causing a loud banging sound to resonate throughout the entire locker room. Sakura and Ayumi stopped talking when they heard the noise and came to the other side of the divided lockers to see what was going on. When Sakura saw Yukari's eyes fill up with tears she stopped in her tracks. After exchanging glances with Ayumi, Sakura placed her backpack over her shoulder and gathered up her belongings. "Um…I think I should go. I'll catch you at my house later, Ayumi. We can study together then! I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Hitomi earlier, Yukari. Please don't be upset." Sakura did a quick bow and then ran toward the front entrance of the locker room without another word, leaving Ayumi alone with Yukari.

At first no one said anything, but then Ayumi walked over and put her hand on Yukari's shoulder. "Yukari, listen…" Yukari pulled away and started deep into Ayumi's eyes. "Is what Sakura told you the truth? Has Hitomi really gone missing?" Ayumi frowned and took her hand off Yukari's shoulder. "Yes. Hitomi has been missing for three days. Seime heard Hitomi's brother tell the police that he saw a woman abduct her on the school track field, when the family was being interrogated this morning. That's why the principle has had all the teachers come out with us during practice. He's afraid someone else will get abducted too."

Yukari started at Ayumi a few minutes in disbelief and then said; "If Hitomi has really gone missing then I can't just sit around and let the police do all the work. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't do something? I wouldn't be a friend at all! I'm not going to just sit by while my best friend is in trouble. I am going to find her!" When Yukari reached to pick her gym bag off the locker room floor, Ayumi stopped her hand and stared deep into her eyes. "Yukari; you can't just go running off after Hitomi. What if that horrible woman captures you too? And you don't even know what she has done to Hitomi. Imagine if she were dead when you found her…" Ayumi let go of Yukari's arm and gasped when she realized what she had said.

Yukari used the opportunity to grab her gym bag off the locker room's floor and sling it over her shoulder. With tears in her eyes, she turned around and stared deep into Ayumi's eyes. "Don't' ever say that about Hitomi. She's fine…she has to be fine! I'll prove it to you. I'm going to find her!" Without a further word said, Yukari sprinted out of the girl's locker room leaving Ayumi alone with her thoughts.

Yukari didn't look back as she ran toward the school track field, though Ayumi was calling after her. The only thing she could focus on was the thought of finding her best friend. She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she walked right passed Amano who had been waiting for her on the school track field for some time now. When he saw the distress on Yukari's face, he ran to catch up with her. "Yukari…what's wrong? I thought that we were heading to your house. You are heading in the opposite direction. Did one of the girls say something to make you upset?" Yukari stopped in her tracks when she heard Amano's voice and began to sob uncontrollably. Amano walked over to Yukari and took her in his arms with a look of concern on his face. "Don't cry Yukari; I'm here for you. I wish that you would tell me what is bothering you so I could help. But I understand if you don't want to say anything. You can cry in my arms as long as you need to."

Yukari looked up at Amano as tears continued to stream down her face. "Amano…Hitomi has gone missing! Her brother Kenji saw her get kidnapped! I'm just…trying to help. I don't want to just sit around while my best friend is in trouble." Amano gently whipped the tears off Yukari's face with a tissue he had been carrying in his pocket and looked at her with sadness in his eyes. "

-To Be Continued

I know that this is an irritating moment to leave off on but I have been neglecting my poor story for a LONG time now and I had to post something. But never fear! I will have this thing typed out faster than you can say cheese cake! Until then, read over the notes. It will give you an idea about what is going to happen next! Wiggles eye brows