Logout of Solitude: The Beginning of the Search
Sora turned the key and stepped into the house. At this hour, there would normally be shouting, footsteps, and some kind of disaster in the kitchen. But today, the house was completely silent.
"I'm back…" Sora murmured out of habit, but there was no response.
He stood frozen at the entrance, the house feeling strangely empty.
Sora began remembering Mochi laughing in the living room while trying to teach him a ridiculous dance, only to trip and fall on top of him. He also remembered Shiori talking for hours about computers while he struggled to stay awake.
Sora clenched his fists in anger. He felt like he had been a complete idiot. He had complained about the noise his companions made day and night. And now that he had his silence back, he felt an emptiness in his chest.
He walked toward the main living room in silence. And there, in the middle of the darkness, he found something that seemed to glow an intense red. Sora slowly crouched down. It was the Daruma that he had broken days ago.
"Even this got left behind," Sora said as he tucked that piece into his pocket like it was a unique item.
When he entered the kitchen, the sight was worse for him.
There lay the remnants of the morning culinary battle: vegetable scraps, burnt food, and a strange feeling that made Sora slump his shoulders. In silence, Sora began to clean.
As he washed the dishes, his mind betrayed him again:
He saw the image of the two arguing about who cooked better, with Mochi crying over onions and Shiori calculating the cutting angle with a ruler. At that moment, Sora had scolded them for making a mess. Now, he would give anything to hear that noise again.
While washing the dishes, Sora had a small accident. The knife he was drying slipped.
"Ah…!" Sora let out a dull groan. A trickle of blood oozed from his index finger.
The faint pain on his cheek was enough to snap him back to reality. He couldn’t just stay there feeling sorry for himself anymore. He had to go find them, even if Ren stood in his way.
Sora ran out of the house, still pressing his injured finger. But as he crossed the door, his head collided with something solid. Or rather, with someone.
"Hey, watch where you're going, you piece of—" exclaimed a familiar voice.
Sora stepped back, rubbing his forehead, and found Mika standing there. Even in her school uniform, she still looked incredibly elegant, though she wore her usual expression. However, her gaze changed the moment she noticed the blood on Sora’s hand.
"What the… Did you try to hurt yourself or something?" Mika grabbed his wrist roughly, pulling a handkerchief from her bag to wrap around the cut. "You're a mess, Captain."
Sora stood still while Mika finished bandaging his finger despite her brusque tone. Seeing her there, in the middle of his messy living room, felt unreal.
"So?" Mika crossed her arms, her Berserker aura beginning to manifest subtly, making the air in the room feel heavier. "You wouldn't run for a simple cut, Captain. Were you able to resolve your problems with Mochi and Shiori?"
Sora lowered his gaze, clenching his bandaged fist. Shame and desperation fought in his chest.
"Tsk… sometimes so frustrating," Mika said as she grabbed her phone, looking for something. The silence lasted several seconds until it was interrupted by a notification on her phone. "I found them. According to my friends, they're at the mall."
Sora lifted his head with a confused expression. "The mall? I don't think that's a place those two would go alone."
"They're with that guy named Ren, right? We have to go see them quickly," Mika exclaimed, putting her phone away with a quick motion.
Mika didn't wait for a response. She grabbed Sora's wrist and turned to dash toward the front door, dragging Sora along.
"If we hurry, we'll get there before—" Mika couldn't finish her sentence because as soon as she opened the door, she collided with another person who was right at the entrance, about to ring the bell.
Both Mika and the other girl ended up hitting their heads.
Fortunately for Mika, that blow didn't affect her as much as one might think.
Sora peeked over Mika's shoulder and felt his soul almost leave his body. There, sprawled on the floor, was the class delegate.
"Airi?!" Sora shouted, alarmed.
The delegate, even on the floor about to lose consciousness, still managed to murmur about safety rules in a house, but her eyes began to spin in a spiral. The hit against the Berserker's forehead had been an Insta-Kill. Airi let out a small sigh and fell unconscious, a comical expression of peace on her face.
"Great, we just took out the delegate," Mika said while rubbing her forehead from the impact. "I wonder what she's doing here."
"We can think about that later," Sora exclaimed as he jumped over the delegate.
"You're right, we can think about that later," Mika replied with a slight smile as she jumped over Airi.
As they both started running, Airi slowly regained consciousness and clumsily stood up with her eyes still dizzy. "K-kids, where do you think you're going?" she managed to say, trying to keep up with Mika and Sora.
"Girls, please, wait for me a little longer…" Sora thought as behind him, Mika and Airi tried to keep up, desperately trying to reach the nearest train.