"Naru," said Haruka, "can you get Motoko and Su? I've something you all need to hear."
There was a flash of hope, then a scowl, then a carefully-nuetral expression.
Haruka shook her head, quite aware of Mitsune's calculating look, and of the completely vacuous one of Mutsumi. The latter of the two was currently trying her hand at knitting. Knitting what was anyone's guess. Haruka was currently putting her money on a sweater for an octopus.
The others filed in, Haruka ignoring the individual inquiries or responding with noncomittal comments.
"Shinobu's coming back, WITH her new Master," said Haruka once they were all in.
Motoko stumbled in midstep. Mutsumi started yet another sleeve, tongue slightly protruding from the corner of her mouth. Kaolla pushed the odd gadgetey goggles back off her face.
"All right, that deserves a parTY," said Mitsune. "Any word on our wandering landlord?"
"He wasn't wandering," said Mutsumi, still apparently concentrating on her knitting.
"What do you mean?" asked Haruka, expecting a vague answer that wouldn't make any sense.
"He didn't vanish of his own choice," said Mutsumi.
"Can you, I don't know, EXPLAIN that?!" asked Naru.
Mutsumi put the knitting down carefully and reached around into a pocket. "I ran across someone who had run into him."
Haruka blinked. An old picture of Keitaro, with the sort of 'Have You Seen Me?' query underneath that you might post on traffic posts. "You've been carrying this around, showing people?"
"Some," admitted Mutsumi. "It was on the bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka."
There was some silence as everyone waited for Mutsumi to continue and Mutsumi waited for something or other.
"WELL?!" practically growled Naru.
"He was a muscular boy who had gotten lost and seen Keitaro in his travels," said Mutsumi. "He was kind of vague as to WHERE he saw Keitaro. He thought it might have been Wakayama..."
"That's it then!" declared Naru. "Let's go!"
"...or it could have been Hokkaido..." continued Mutsumi.
"Eh?" asked Naru. "But those are completely different..."
"...though he thought it MIGHT have been near the Pit Of Karad-Dum," finished Mutsumi.
crackle- BOOM!
"Huh?" asked Naru, barely noticing that the sky had just gone from sunny to overcast. "Never heard of it. What about you Motoko? Motoko? Why are you so pale and covered with sweat?"
"He didn't seem to be good with directions," said Mutsumi, as if confiding a secret. "He wandered into my compartment and we had a nice chat while he tried to find the exit."
"Not-," whispered Motoko, "not the Pit Of Karad-Dum."
crackle- BOOM!
"Uh huh, Carrot-doom? Sounds like a place with a lot of rabbits," said Mitsune.
"Why didn't this guy with no direction sense feel that Keitaro was NOT there willingly?" asked Haruka.
"Well, because," said Mutsumi, pausing as she obviously tried to remember a detail, "oh yes, it was because-"
(Posted Sun, 23 Dec 2007 18:15)
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