Chapter Text
Patience wasn't always Ena Shinonome's virtue.
With gritted teeth and an intense gaze flaring with an overwhelming sense of resentment, the girl pressed the tip of a brush to the rough canvas paper. It was the first stroke she had made in literal hours, but there was plenty of scrupulous thought behind the decision she was about to make.
The spot where she had made contact with the paper became speckled with an angry, vibrant blue with a single stroke. The first brushstroke followed multiple more streaks of color, adding a sensation of coolness to the fuchsias she had painted onto the canvas that morning. Then Ena paused, staring at the erratic blue that had unfurled itself onto the dull pink flowers with a calculating gaze.
The fresh paint strokes were blatant against the old ones, making her feel like she had dirtied her work rather than improved it. She should have added the blue earlier, and perhaps then the blue-pink mix of colors could be called something close to "beautiful," even if not entirely.
But it was no matter. She would add more fresh paint to the flowers to create what her mind desired. She could fix this.
Ena was in a slump, and she knew this fact well. Recently, all the paintings she had worked on (or attempted to work on) were less than satisfactory. Only when she became flooded with a strange sense of conviction — that desire to just paint something so she could at least claim she had tried — did she pick up the brush again and continue, before staring at her work again and knowing it was clearly the most worthless piece she had made yet.
Perhaps to the eyes of some other beholder, this painting could be viewed as "passable." Maybe even "pretty" to those who were less critical, who were less attentive to the messiness of the strokes that betrayed the young artist's emotions and left her so fearfully vulnerable.
But to those who knew art, who breathed it at its essence and understood its form, this was nothing but another failure.
She made one last blue stroke — albeit a bit too harshly — causing the delicate hairs of her brush to splay out and suffocatingly press themselves against the paper before she settled the brush down again and stared blankly at what she had accomplished.
Even she knew when to stop when things got too frustrating, and this was one of those times as Ena got up from her seat with a huff and sat on her bed. She didn't even bother washing the stains on her hands. There was no use continuing today. She'd have to figure it out tomorrow.
I just need patience. That's right… patience. She rolled the word around in her head as she pressed her head against her pillow and gazed at the ceiling above her. Patience was a required trait when it came to art, and yet it sporadically came and went when it came to Ena's work. Sometimes she could focus on something for hours, and in other cases, she could barely sit still without overwhelming feelings of hatred for her work permeating her mind.
She tried to be calm with her work, but calling herself patient was far from who she was. To attain the talent she desired with hard work and be seen as worthy, she put in copious amounts of effort. But waiting so long for someone to actually acknowledge her was infuriating. She couldn't just wait for people.
However, there were a select few people with whom she could afford to be a little more patient. Even if it was hard for her at times.
As Ena closed her eyes and contemplated to herself, in her mind's eye, she envisioned an orange sky with streaks of pink, a picturesque sunset to behold from the familiar Kamiyama rooftop.
She still remembered the slight coolness of the breeze from that day on the rooftop a few months ago; it had been a pleasant evening in late autumn, and the sun was about to set. On the rooftop dappled with bright glimmers of sunlight, Ena recalled the person standing there: her fellow 25ji member, her schoolmate, and most importantly, her friend.
Ena didn't know why she still remembered that scene on the rooftop in vivid detail. It was a memory that remained burnt into her mind, the stark color of the skies at the time sticking with her ever since. Perhaps it was because she was still worried about them. About Mizuki.
What she remembered the most was how Mizuki had looked that day. It was something she couldn't possibly forget even if she tried, because she had never seen them look so devastated, eyes brimming with an unexplainable and empty dread that scarily reminded her of how Mafuyu looked at times.
Something about the pain in their expression had made Ena's heart lurch slightly as she gazed back at them, feeling like she'd been stabbed in the back with a lethal knife while her nerves hadn't registered the pain of it at all. It was an abrupt, piercing feeling that almost made it seem like Mizuki had committed some sort of act of betrayal, but that wasn't right. They acted as though they had done something deceitful, but Ena didn't believe they were that type of person. No — that couldn't be it. Whatever Mizuki's secret was, she sincerely doubted it would shake her opinion of them.
Even with art, her biggest passion and greatest burden, she felt flickers of impatience overtake her so often. But with Mizuki, it was different. It didn't matter if it took forever, it didn't matter if she had to wait so long for them to open up, even if it went against her values. She chose to wait anyway, because the notion of opening yourself up so vulnerably was something she knew could hurt them if they weren't careful.
Ena laughed a little cynically to herself as she opened her eyes again. We've gotten this close, but none of us can reach each other, can we?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud knocking at her door, and a pinch of irritation immediately overtook the sentimental thoughts.
"You do know I've called your name multiple times? Dad's calling us down for dinner," a dry voice said, belonging to her brother. He seriously didn't know how to knock normally.
"Okay, okay, I get it. Just give me a second, will you?"
Akito said another few words in a complaining tone (which Ena tuned out completely), but then he relented, and his footsteps slowly retreated into the distance. The room was quiet once more aside from the ominous ticking of her bedroom clock, the sound almost nausea-inducing to hear with its repetitive cadence.
Ena knew she had to get up before her father inevitably came knocking at her door next. Still, she decided to linger in her bedroom a bit longer, gazing at her art on the easel at the other side of the room. She then scoffed to herself, muttering a few curses under her breath before swinging her door open with her left hand.
It was a shame that she didn't seem to grow at all.
━━━━━
The wind whistled a hollow, mourning tune as if announcing someone's death with a morbid song. Well, perhaps that was a bit of an exaggeration, but they didn't know how else to describe the harshness of the wind that buffeted their face. Their eyes couldn't even tear up anymore as the wind pushed against the direction they were walking in. The air was too frigid and suffocating to be able to cry.
Snow was beginning to seep into their shoes, cold wetness immersing their feet and making it harder to trudge onwards. There were little specks of white in the top corners of their vision; snowflakes had landed on their pink eyelashes, and they could guess that there were also white crystals on top of their hair.
A few worries struggled to make it to the surface of their mind, fighting their way upward. Questions emerged in their brain, one after the other: how had they managed to get lost in this lonely snow landscape? Where were they? Could they even make it back home?
Those fears typically would have caused them to be up on their feet, trying to figure out a solution, but the freezing air made it hard to even move. They had no motivation to gauge where they were.
Instead, they continued to walk forward in a straight line, struggling to push their shoes through the seemingly thickening snow. Their thoughts kept glazing over even as their inner voice whispered and begged them to be more alert.
It was a bit terrifying not being able to think, but at the same time, it was relieving. Their mind had overflowed with worries and frightening thoughts about hiding who they were from their friends, but now their mind was peacefully empty in the cold snow. It was lonely, but it was quiet.
They could live like this forever. They could nap here in the winter landscape and camp out here for the rest of their life. Maybe it meant running away from everyone they cared about, but they were happy now. No one ever had to learn about their secret if they remained here. Perhaps true happiness could only be attained when one was alone.
Alone.
…Is that what I really want?
A single image of warm brown eyes staring earnestly back at them entered their mind, but they couldn't remember who the owner of those captivating eyes was. All they knew was that those eyes had an immense passion behind them, belonging to a person with unwavering values. Were they a friend? Had they ever had friends?
That was the last thing the teenager stranded in the snow saw in their mind before their thoughts turned into a haze again and their vision blurred. Soon enough, they could only see a suffocating white in the field of their vision, reflecting the snow that surrounded them. Their feet stopped moving, and the snow seemed to darken and melt away until it gave way to a dizzying black that was frightening but warm. It was a welcoming feeling in the cold temperatures.
They reached towards the darkness, a weak hand outstretched towards nothing, before collapsing in the snow.
━━━━━
"This illustration… it feels cold." Mafuyu's voice was as nonchalant as ever, and it was completely unclear if she was commenting out of sincerity or sarcasm.
"Eh? Yuki, can't you just tell me if it's okay or not for once?" Ena snapped, and Kanade couldn't help but laugh a little on her end.
This was quite the regular occurrence: Mafuyu often made blunt or off-sided remarks that even she didn't realize came across as too direct, and Ena was quick to reply with her hasty temper. She had been a bit off-put at how the two quarreled at first, but she had gotten used to it: it was just the way their friendship worked, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
Kanade looked away from her screen to reach for her instant cup noodles, only to frown as she brought some to her mouth with her chopsticks. She had left them out for too long after becoming absorbed in the production of one of her songs, leading her precious noodles to become cold and stiff. The chunks also felt dry and cool against her mouth. It looked like she would have to remicrowave them.
Sighing, she muted herself before typing into the Nightcord chat.
K: i need to rewarm my food so i'll be afk for a bit. yuki, you should talk about the lyrics for the song we were planning with enanan while i'm gone. we can decide what illustration we're using later.
Yuki: Understood.
Enanan: cannot believe i'm being left alone with yuki out of all people
Yuki: I don't know why you say that.
Enanan: youre awful. i actually wish amia was here for once
Kanade placed her headphones on her messy desk before making her way to the kitchen with her cup noodles. It had been two hours since their 25:00 work session had started, so the house was quiet beside her footsteps and the loud slam of the microwave as she placed her food inside. She waited silently, listening to the microwave's humming as she distantly heard the whistling winter wind outside.
Today had been a productive work day, and they'd almost finalized the illustrations and the demo they would be using for their new song. Even then, Kanade still worried about Mizuki's absence: it was strange that they still hadn't shown up. This was the third day in a row that they hadn't been online on Nightcord.
Then again, it wasn't like they had left without saying anything: they had briefly messaged the group chat a few days ago saying that one of their teachers had been chewing them out for skipping, so they had to take a break to catch up. However, something about the situation struck Kanade as strange: Mizuki was the type of person to keep up good grades even when they skipped, and it hadn't interrupted their nightly meetings. She wondered what made this time so different.
While Ena and Mafuyu tried not to talk about it, she could see how Ena seemed a bit affected by their absence, although she wouldn't admit it herself; her artwork had become more erratic than usual. While it still got the message across, she seemed to be struggling to convey the full meaning of things, similar to her slump a few months ago. It didn't help that they didn't have Mizuki to make the music videos, meaning they might have to release a bit later than usual.
"Maybe I should message Amia later," Kanade pondered before jumping a little at the sound of the microwave beeping. She smiled as she took out her cup noodles, the pleasant smell wafting in the air as she tentatively held the warm cup in her hands.
When she arrived back at her desktop, she saw that Mafuyu and Ena were both muted, and a couple of new messages had accumulated on the screen. At first, there had been a bit of discussion about the song (and a bit of Ena sending a few not-so-nice messages at some of Mafuyu's remarks), but the most recent ones seemed more serious in nature.
Enanan: hey yuki, have you seen amia online at all these days? i can never tell what they're up to sometimes
Yuki: No. They might be busy.
Enanan: but isnt it a bit weird???? amia isnt the type of person to be studious, and they don't even respond to my calls or texts
Yuki: I don't know. Have you tried going to Kamiyama earlier and checking?
Enanan: i did this morning… i couldn't find them and im pretty sure their makeup classes arent in their homeroom so that makes it harder. and i couldn't find an either or i would've asked her. are they even attending class like they said they were??
Yuki: I can't say. I do not attend the same school, after all.
Yuki: Do you think they purposely wanted to disappear?
Enanan: can you not say things like that so casually… i hope not
Mafuyu definitely didn't mince her words, and Kanade couldn't help but feel that she was probably right as a lump began to form in her throat. After all, Mizuki suddenly disappearing without a trace wasn't like them at all. Even if they were being forced to study, there was no way they wouldn't revert to their rebellious streak and log into Nightcord to check on them by now.
Unless something had happened to them.
Without missing another beat, Kanade suddenly unmuted, breaking the silence of the voice call.
"Do you think we should all go to Kamiyama tomorrow morning?" Kanade said a bit too quickly, before realizing she hadn't given context to her request. "For Mizuki, that is," she added on sheepishly.
Mafuyu unmuted next, her voice a bit quieter than usual even as she talked in the same level tone. "Are you sure they will be there? It could be possible that they purposely want distance."
"But… it's just strange that they've suddenly disappeared out of nowhere. I even tried to ask Miku in Sekai, but she doesn't even know where they went," Kanade explained, her voice betraying some of her worries.
Mafuyu made a slight noise on her end as if contemplating something deeply. After a few more moments of silence, she spoke up. "I don't know if I should go. It could be that they want to disappear on their own. In that case, there is nothing we can do."
The emptiness in her voice made Kanade feel nervous. It was possible that Mizuki may have left on their own accord, but she couldn't just accept that. She wouldn't.
"We've all helped each other, even when all of us wanted to disappear… so it doesn't feel right waiting," Kanade replied with more vigor, willing her words to reach Mafuyu in some way and hoping she could understand the emotions behind them. "Just like how I won't give up until I write a song that reaches you, I also won't give up on Mizuki."
Another painful pause followed her statement, leaving Kanade with only the silence of her house as she clenched the cup in her hands in anticipation.
Finally, Mafuyu responded. "I do not know what the right thing to do is… but going might be better. I will go with you. We can't do much without Amia."
Kanade let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad, Mafuyu. You all should rest soon then so we can get up early tomorrow. I'll take care of the rest."
"Understood." Mafuyu replied curtly as she often did, but Kanade smiled at her screen in response. Although she was blunt, you could still tell she cared, even if it was hard for her to express herself genuinely.
"Goodnight then, Mafuyu."
"…Goodnight, Kanade."
For a second, Kanade swore Mafuyu's voice sounded an octave warmer than it usually did as she said those words. Or perhaps it had just been her overactive imagination, which often was all over the place when it was so late at night. Even then, her heart raced a little as she heard those words, and she felt glad that she had been able to help Mafuyu, at least a little bit.
However, those euphoric feelings quickly faded as she once again became overcome with worry over the situation at hand. She stared at the music program on her screen but didn't feel like doing anything. Not when they didn't even know how Mizuki was doing.
Worst of all, Ena never unmuted again for the duration of the night even as she stayed on call. Kanade couldn't help but feel a bit queasy.
━━━━━
It could have been the easiest thing ever, to just unmute and say something, but Ena felt strangely isolated as she stared blankly at her computer, Kanade remaining unmuted on the other end even after Mafuyu left the call. She could hear the light shuffling and rummaging of papers, which were probably some of the songs she was working on, and sometimes a tune that cut in and out as she paused and replayed the demo, over and over, making slight adjustments each time.
Ena knew she should try to be productive, too, but the weight of her conversation with Mafuyu and what she had said on voice call with Kanade had left her frozen. It pissed her off, but she was angrier at herself than anyone else.
"Saying that Mizuki wants to disappear just like that… they're my friend. Giving up so easily isn't an option. Perhaps we're not friends who can just say anything to each other, but—" She cut herself off at once, knowing that complaining would do nothing.
It was the third day in a row that Mizuki hadn't shown up. The first day hadn't been too bad, considering all of them expected them to be back by the next day from how they had phrased their message. Everyone needed a break sometimes, after all.
The second day without them had been worse. As much as Ena hated to admit it, it had shaken her up more than it should have.
Perhaps if it were a few months ago when they all weren't so tight-knit, she wouldn't have minded, but their absence now caused knots of fear to twirl inside her, making it hard to focus on her drawings. All she could think about was that one scene from the rooftop, constantly replaying in her mind like it was torturing her.
It was now the third day, and she hadn't drawn at all tonight. She had shown what she had accomplished to Mafuyu, but it obviously wasn't her best work.
She didn't even have any guesses on where they could have gone. Perhaps they had holed themselves at home instead of going to their classes? But was it like them to isolate themselves for that long?
Shouldn't we try going to Mizuki's place if we don't see them at school again in the morning? It wasn't like they weren't at least somewhat familiar with where each of them lived by now; while they all preferred working at their own places on voice call, Ena did learn where Mizuki lived at one point when she was helping them carry some of their clothes home (they had bought a ridiculous amount that day, to the point that even Ena was perplexed).
As she ran over what else she could do to reach out to Mizuki, she heard the sound of a Nightcord notification and became painfully aware that it was nearing early morning. Looking back at her computer, she saw that she had a direct message from Kanade.
K: ena? are you there?
K: i don't know if you're awake, but i wanted to make sure since you didn't respond about us going to kamiyama in the morning.
Enanan: yeah. i'll be there for sure. sorry i didn't unmute i kind of wasn't feeling it
Enanan: we should also check mizuki's place and maybe even where they work if we're going tomorrow
K: that's a good idea. do you know their address?
Enanan: yeah, although idk anything about how the inside of their house looks like since i only dropped stuff off for them once.
Enanan: they didn't even invite me in after i helped them… how rude
Ena almost forgot Kanade was unmuted for a second, so she jumped a little when she heard her soft laugh in response to her message. She suddenly felt a bit embarrassed, cheeks reddening slightly. She was extremely fortunate no one could see her.
K: sorry for laughing, but i'm glad to see you guys have grown close. i'm sure with at least you around, amia will come back.
Enanan: ???? what's that supposed to mean?
K: haha sorry, it's just a hunch.
K: besides that, you should really go to bed so you can wake up in time.
Enanan: fine i get it but you better go to bed as well
K: okay, i will. i'll see you in the morning ena.
━━━━━
The wind was bitingly cold against her skin as she momentarily unlatched the window in her room, feeling the wind caress her hair and sweep a few strands into her field of vision. She saw the whiteness of the landscape outside: snow was still on the ground, but the conditions were at least a lot better than yesterday.
Cold, was the single thought in her brain, although outwardly, Mafuyu showed no signs of being affected by it even as she got her scarf. It was the only difference in her outfit today. Other than that, she decided to wear what she usually wore to Miyamasuzaka Academy before heading out of her room and to the table to have breakfast.
Her father was out, but her mother sat across from her as Mafuyu set up plates for them both obediently. Her mother smiled in her direction as she worked in a way Mafuyu knew held no weight or genuine care. But she didn't care.
Mafuyu was quick to plaster a smile on her face as she took her seat on the other end of the table, stiffly bringing her rice to her mouth and drinking her miso soup. The rice felt strangely bland to her, and the tofu in the soup felt tasteless. She wondered if it always tasted like this. Then again, she didn't have any food she particularly enjoyed.
"Do you like the miso soup today, Mafuyu?" her mother's voice chimed. "I added more green onions to it than usual, so I was worried about the flavor."
Ah. She hadn't noticed a difference in the miso soup at all, but that wasn't a surprise considering even the egg dishes she had for breakfast never stood out to her in flavor. Everything tasted the same: empty and flavorless, despite the varying textures of food she brought to her mouth.
In truth, she might have gotten tired of miso soup. Or maybe she liked it. She didn't know. She never knew.
"It tastes delicious as always! I think the green onions really enhance the flavor," Mafuyu responded. As if to further emphasize her like for it, she took another hearty spoonful of the soup into her mouth. It strangely tasted bitter and awful to her, but that was okay. It didn't look like her mother noticed her internal reaction to the food because she just smiled back in the taut, almost frightening way she did.
She also began to eat her food, and Mafuyu watched as her mother ate her rice, studying her expressions carefully. She noted how her eyes seemed to light up significantly as she brought more grains of rice into her mouth, and Mafuyu wondered why she never reacted like that whenever she ate something. Eating food was just a chore.
"By the way, are you going out today?" her mother inquired as she placed her chopsticks down again. "I see you're wearing your scarf today."
There was a moment of hesitation, but Mafuyu quickly masked it. "…Yes. I just thought I'd meet up with some friends from school, but I'll be back before curfew."
Her mother's eyes narrowed a bit, and it took all of Mafuyu's effort in that one moment to keep the peaceful smile on her face. For once, she found it very hard to maintain her front, and even she had no idea why.
"Very well. But please try to come early — those friends aren't class toppers, are they? Don't waste too much of your time around them."
"Okay. I promise I'll be home soon!"
She was fortunate that Miyamasuzaka wasn't in session today; if that hadn't been the case, she was sure her mother would never have agreed for her to skip classes to look for her friend (and Mafuyu, unfortunately, would not have been able to protest). However, she did know that she was disappointed about her leaving the house regardless.
When she finished breakfast, she said one last farewell to her mother before walking to the front door. As soon as Mafuyu stepped past the house threshold and into the snow outside, her model smile fell from her face, leaving nothing but a hollow emptiness simmering in her blank gaze.
She only hoped they wouldn't take too long to find Mizuki before her curfew came.
━━━━━
The three stood outside Kamiyama's main school gates, seeing if they could spot Mizuki anywhere.
Mafuyu looked the same as she always did, emotionlessly staring at the students passing by them as if sifting through them. Kanade seemed too tired to be out right now: even from afar, you could tell there were knots in her hair, and dark circles were imminent under her eyes, leading Ena to wonder if she had even slept as she had promised.
Not that Ena could blame her for that: she had only slept an hour before waking up to her alarm again. Usually, she'd be able to sleep just fine, but the lurking worries about Mizuki had left her awake longer than she'd like to admit.
"I don't think they're here…" Kanade said dejectedly, tiredness evident in her voice as she paced a little around the school gates. Mafuyu stood close to her side, and Ena saw her eyes flickered with concern as Kanade stumbled a little in her steps, using the fencing around the front schoolyard to maintain her balance.
"Kanade, Mizuki isn't at Kamiyama. We have already checked everywhere. You should not push yourself," Mafuyu said slowly.
"I hate to agree with you for once, but… yeah, I really don't think Mizuki's here either," Ena sighed dejectedly. Many thoughts were racing in her mind of what could have happened, but she suppressed them at once. Mizuki was strong, so they had to be okay. "We should go to their house instead, and probably the fabric shop they work at too on our way there."
The three of them walked their way down the street towards the fabric shop, Ena walking straight ahead with the other two trailing behind, Mafuyu clearly slowing her pace for Kanade's sake. As she stared at the two from a quick side glance, she couldn't help but smile a little. Perhaps if they at least had each other, things were bound to be okay.
She felt a bit hopeful again as she led the way into the fabric shop next, the other two following shortly after.
A young lady at the counter was currently absorbed in setting up a sewing machine, her eyes focused on positioning a piece of fabric under the needle. She only looked up after Ena cleared her throat a little, announcing their presence.
"Excuse the interruption," Ena said apologetically, although her impatience was clearly shown by the look in her eyes. "But has someone named Mizuki Akiyama shown up recently?"
"Oh, Mizuki! Are they your friend? I think they called me saying they'd be taking a leave for a while. Maybe two weeks?"
Two weeks? It was strange how Mizuki had seemed to completely disappear off the radar. That means... they have to be at home, right? Where else could they be?
They made the trek to Mizuki's home in silence, a sense of tension permeating the air as their shoes crunched through the thinning snow. This was their last destination, and hopefully the final one.
The house Mizuki lived in was moderately sized, but the yard space was generous considering how the homes on the same street were spaced out. Normally, pink flowers were evenly spaced out in the rectangular spaces of dirt in front of the house, but they had died out long ago due to the cold weather, leaving only the bare mud still covered with the white of leftover snow.
This time, Mafuyu was the one who walked ahead of the rest to ring the doorbell, and the three of them waited in anticipation, hoping to see the face of their familiar friend. She rang it once, but the tune only reverberated back from inside the house, with not a sound heard from inside. She rang it one more time, but nothing happened.
"I'm surprised even their parents aren't there," Kanade wondered out loud, worry brimming in her eyes as she stared at the windows, almost as if she expected someone to wave back at her from behind the curtains. However, the house was silent.
The three of them began to ponder for a second until Mafuyu briskly walked down the steps from the front door and began making a round around the house. Before the others could react, she vanished behind the fence leading to the backyard.
"Eh, where do you think you're going?!" Ena called after her, but Mafuyu just glanced back at her with a blank stare before continuing to walk forward. Ena exchanged a glance with Kanade, who just nodded stiffly in response before the two began to follow her.
When they finally caught up to their friend, they saw Mafuyu inspecting the rest of the windows and the empty driveway with a calculating gaze, as if pondering something to herself. Then, she turned back to them abruptly.
"There are no cars in the driveway, and no one is home. Their family must be out somewhere, and Mizuki may be just traveling," Mafuyu said matter-of-factly. "We're not going to get anything out of searching anymore. We just need to wait until they come home."
"W-wait!" Ena protested, although she didn't know what she was protesting against herself. A sinking feeling was settling in her chest, and perhaps it would be more rational to just wait for Mizuki to return, but something wasn't right. Even though Mafuyu's reasoning seemed sound, even though no one was home… "Can we really say Amia's not here just like that?"
Kanade let out a deep breath, and both of them noted that she clearly looked fatigued from having walked around all day; she clearly wasn't the type to venture outside too often. "I don't want to give up either. But it doesn't look like we have anywhere else to go."
Ena couldn't meet either of their eyes, shoes crunching slightly in the snow beneath her as she saw the white reflecting a tinge of orange: the sun had reached the middle of the sky, signifying that it was late afternoon, almost near evening. Had they really been out for that long?
Mafuyu looked up at the sky, and while she did not portray any sign of the emotions on her face, Ena saw her clench her hands slightly at the sight of the day becoming later.
"I can't stay here longer," Mafuyu said in a near-whisper, dejectedly looking to the side. "I have a curfew. I don't know what to do, but you both can keep searching if you want."
"… I'll also head home," Kanade said almost immediately afterward. "I don't think I can search any longer."
It looked hopeless to Ena, too, as she clenched the small bag slung across her shoulders, the only thing she had brought with her before she left the house today. She had to go home and get her schoolbag, check in with her mother and father, and make sure she arrived in time for her classes at Kamiyama later in the day – but all of that seemed so insignificant in comparison to the matter at hand that she just didn't want to leave.
"Okay, fine," Ena finally relented, forcing herself to smile in their direction and, for once, swallowing the emotions within her that were bursting at the seams. Kanade looked tired, and it wasn't like she didn't know about Mafuyu's conditions at home, so she couldn't blame them. They could only search for so long. "You guys should go home. I promise I will soon, I just... I'm going to stick out here a bit longer, okay?"
"Please let us know on Nightcord when you're going home," Kanade replied, and Mafuyu just nodded in addition to the statement before the two began to walk back. Kanade looked back with one last worried glance, but Ena smiled back at her, silently telling her it would be okay.
The two then vanished behind the edge of Mizuki's house, the sun's light highlighting their silhouettes. Ena felt something in her heart lurch seeing them go, but then she sighed and forced herself to look away.
She collected her thoughts once more, thinking about what Mafuyu had said. She was quite perceptive about things, so what she had said was plausible; Mizuki might just be traveling with their family, and there was nothing wrong and no reason to keep seeking after them. But wouldn't they at least mention that they were going somewhere? Why would they hide that?
They wouldn't just move away suddenly without telling us, would they? Her thoughts momentarily became frantic and irrational, but she silenced them at once. No, that made no sense. They wouldn't leave them like that, and Ena wanted to trust that her assumption was correct.
She took another round around the house, feeling more disillusioned than before as she peered into the windows, feeling a bit strange as she did so. Her shoes were the only sound in the crunching snow asides from the occasional car or walking person that came by, and she felt a bit self-conscious about being on someone else's property like this when clearly no one was home.
After going another round without finding anything, she decided to take a break from walking, sitting down on the stairs and idly staring at the concrete beneath her. The sun was even brighter than before, making her squint as she pulled her phone out to check Nightcord.
No new messages. Of course there were none; it had barely been half an hour since they had left, so there was no way they'd reply back that fast. Sighing, she stared back at the glimmering sunlight in the distance, the sky's brightness turning more orange by the second. She would really have to make a run for it if she wanted to be on time for her classes now. Not that she was planning on going.
As she stared at the empty driveway once more, speculating and trying to calm the rapid thoughts in her head, her eyes widened when she saw something in the snow that still encrusted the edges of the driveway. (Whoever had cleaned the snow in the driveway earlier definitely hadn't done a good job at it.) Pocketing her phone once more, she made her way towards the obscure object before tentatively picking it up, eyes widening when her fingers met the surface of soft fabric.
She felt her heart racing faster, already knowing what the object was before she even fully brought it into view, the red cloth glaring and bright in contrast to the white snow. She ran one finger over the soft fabric, her pulse hammering in her head at a frightening speed.
Mizuki's... ribbon?