Gone

Yuto arrived to find Kana’s apartment empty after fighting through the reporters in front of the building. He opened the door with a spare key, calling for her, and was greeted by absolute silence. Closet open. Shoes gone. He fell to his knees.

Too late. He was too late. Yuto cursed himself for calling before he was out of the door, but he hadn’t wanted her to walk into the reporters unprepared.

He took out his phone and called her, but the call didn’t go through. He wrote a few messages, but they weren’t delivered.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck—”

His phone rang. Yuto snapped his head around only to see Sakuya’s name on the display.

“Yuto. How’s Kana? Did you talk to her?”

“She’s disappeared. She left before I could get to her.”

“What?”

“I called her about the article and told her to stay put, but I was too slow. She’s already…”

“Yuto, listen to me. Where could she have gone?”

“I don’t know,” Yuto whined. “She did it before, three years ago when the shit with Haruki happened. She was gone for weeks. No one knew where she went. The police didn’t even help with the search because she sent one message saying that she just needed some space and told us to wait for her.”

“No… Where are you?”

“In her apartment right now.”

“I’m coming there.”

“No, please. There’s people outside. Press. They’d accost you immediately. We can meet somewhere else.”

“Okay. Do you know the park where we found her? The bench?”

“Yeah.”

“See you there.”

——

With nothing but a few clothes, travelling was easy. Kana went directly to Tokyo Station and bought the first available ticket out of the city. She was wearing the full outfit of mask, hat and sunglasses, which was luckily not that uncommon in summer. The konbini at the station provided the few extra things she needed for the journey. She also bought a book to read on the train, since she didn’t want to use her phone.

It was almost comical to her how easy it was to slip away. She boarded the train at the right time and sat down in her reserved seat. And finally she was again, truly alone.

This time, the peace that came with it was calming. Having no one close meant not being able to lose someone. Having no one meant no heartbreak, no quarrel, no issues. No goodbyes. Just calm and quiet. She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. Only when the train doors closed and cut her off from the world outside, she could finally relax.

——

Sakuya was sitting on the park bench when Yuto arrived. He was nervously chewing his lip, which was already red and sore. When he saw Yuto, he jumped up.

“Hey. Before everything else, I just want to apologise. And say thank you. For still talking to me,” Sakuya said accompanied by a deep bow.

Yuto sighed. “If it wasn’t for Kana, I wouldn’t be here. But to be fair, I don’t think you’re a bad person. I wouldn’t even be against you dating Kana—not that I’m in a position to dictate that. But your situation is not ideal.”

“I know. Believe me. But for now, I just need to find her.”

Yuto looked around to make sure no one listened in on them. “Answer me one question first.”

“Anything.”

“How did your press find out about this in the first place? This is confidential information only the police had.”

“The police and all members of ‘Candy Apple’,” Sakuya said.

“That bastard! I’m going to kill him!” Yuto snarled. “Wasn’t it enough to destroy your relationship?”

“I don’t know what he’s thinking.”

“No one knows that. I only know that it’s never good.”

“Let’s deal with him later. Do you know any places she could’ve gone that she considers safe?”

Yuto shook his head. “I wracked my brain about that on the way here, but she hasn’t really gone anywhere during those last three years.”

“And she never told you where she went that time, three years ago?”

“No.”

Sakuya sat down on the bench once more and Yuto joined him. He crossed his arms and looked up to the blue summer sky.

“Parents? Siblings?”

“Her parents practically disowned her for pursuing an idol career and the incident with Haruki only widened the rift. I don’t think she’d go there. No siblings.”

“Ugh. Any friends?”

“Apart from me?” Yuto asked. “Not that I know of.”

“No other apartments or houses?”

“No, don’t think so.”

“Are there significant places in her life? Like a town or a temple or something…”

“If there are, we never talked about them. Agh, sorry for being so useless. What a bad friend I am.”

Sakuya shook his head. “Would a bad friend be here and worry so much? Would a bad friend wait up to make sure she’s safe? You’re the best friend she could wish for.”

“Thanks, man. That… that means a lot.”

Sakuya patted Yuto’s shoulder.

“I know you don’t like me, and I don’t blame you. But for now I just want to make sure Kana is safe. Nothing more. If after that she still doesn’t want me, I will leave, you have my word. I never wanted this and I won’t let it happen again. Her wellbeing is worth infinitely more than my feelings.”

Yuto nodded. “Let’s put our heads together.”