Marin is Missing

A short story about my magical girls' reactions, mostly Kiki's, to the announcement that Marin Vaughn has mysteriously vanished without a trace.

“HF Alumni Marin Vaughn has been missing since Monday, May 1st. If you gain any information on her whereabouts, please inform the administrative offices immediately.”

 

    And there it was….already dangling above her wits end like a glass pendulum, Kiki’s fragile ego fell from the string and shattered into pieces. H-Huh? ….What...no way…. As soon as classes were over, she frantically darted around campus asking people if it was really true. And to her dismay, the students, the faculty, the announcements, everything confirmed it. Marin was missing, the person she cared about and idolized so much. “No...there’s no way….”

    Her heart ached as she made her way to her room, with Safia nowhere to be found. Crawling into her bed, a few tears slipped from her eyes as she sat cross-legged on the sheets. Her eyes moved to her desk, scanning a variety of items and pictures on it. She felt a tug on her heart, but she stopped on one particular picture of the group together. That’s right...I should go talk to Misaki. She’s probably super upset too….

    Drying her face and gathering herself together, she hopped out of bed and made her way up to Misaki’s room. She didn’t hesitate to knock on the door and nearly barged in with impatient eagerness, “Hey Misaki?”

    The bluenette flinched a bit from the inside from her desk, but called back, “Kiki? Come in.” The blonde threw open the door, then stopped, staring into Misaki’s blue eyes. “...Are you alright?” The girl before her asked after some hesitation.

    “Marin’s missing….” Kiki said after some time. “Aren’t you upset?”

    Misaki’s face fell into a mix of concern and sadness, “Of course I am.” she replied calmly.

    But that wasn’t quite the answer Kiki wanted to hear, “...You don’t look like it.”

    “I’m sorry, Kiki,” Misaki spun back around to a pile of papers and books on her desk, “I’m...just swarmed with work right now. I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

    Kiki crossed her arms, “But...one of our friends is missing and you’re worried about some stupid papers?” Her heart twinged again, desperately wishing Misaki would have just given in and lamented with her.

    Misaki sighed to herself, conflicted on what she should do next. Homework, Royal Tea things, reviewing Honors submissions...and all of it needed to be completed fairly soon. She wanted and felt obligated to help Kiki, but she just didn’t have the time or mindset at the moment. “Kiki…” She said as carefully as she could, “...This stuff is really important. We’re still students and we have to do our duties….”

    “Do your duties then!! Aren’t you a Royal Tea now? Organize a search party or something!”

    “Th-...That’s not how it works, Kiki. Besides, I’m sure the staff already has some plans worked out.” Misaki gulped, on the verge of crying a bit because of all the pressure she’d been under lately.

    “So...you can’t do anything?”

    “I...I don’t-”

    “Then what good are you, then?!” Kiki shouted, face red from anger. She choked back the tears and turned to storm out of the door.

    “You can…” Kiki froze just before she left, listening to what Misaki said from her back turned, “...You should go talk to Xanthe. She’s really upset about Marin. Maybe she’s not as busy.” She hated to pin an angry Kiki on Xanthe, but the ravenette had more control of herself and might be able to sympathize with the blonde on this.

    And Kiki said nothing. She acknowledged it with a slight noise, but then left without another word. Misaki, as the door shut, rested her head in her hands, leaning onto her elbows and letting a couple tears fall as Beni floated up to her and nuzzled her cheeks. Her body trembled a bit, feeling as if she did something wrong, but she eventually dried her tears and kept working. She can always talk to Kiki later, or at least...she can try.

     

     

    With a scowl on her face, Kiki stormed through the hallways down to Xanthe’s room. She was having a war in her head on whether or not to see the stone-faced girl, as Xanthe’s been fairly distant from Kiki lately. But if she was missing Marin that much too...then maybe they could put their differences aside for a moment. Or is that even possible? But Misaki did recommend it, so….

    Before she knew it, she was in front of Xanthe’s door, knocking impatiently. “Xanthe?”

    From the other side, Xanthe sighed quietly with dread, then replied, “Yes? Come in.”

    Kiki rushed in, “Marin’s missing!” She crossed her arms, “Can you believe it?!” She waited for a response, which came after some hesitation. “Hello?”

    “...It is rather strange, but even people like Marin can slip up sometimes.” Xanthe shifted a few papers around as Dmitri rolled around on the desk lazily. Her brow furrowed a bit for letting her own distaste for Marin’s enforcing Kiki’s actions slip into her words, but it wasn’t as if she could take it back.

    “But…” Kiki stepped back, “No! Not Marin! How could you say that?!”

    “Nobody is perfect, Kiki. But I’m sure Marin will be alright, okay? So just relax.” She said as she continued her work.

    “But don’t you miss her?”

    The ravenette internally sighed, “Of course I do. It’s painful to see someone disappear like this, and Marin was someone I was fairly close with.”

    “You don’t sound like it!” Kiki accused, despite the fact that Xanthe’s tone nor face barely ever moved in the slightest.

    But Xanthe replied without missing a beat, “I’m very busy at the moment, Kiki, as you can see. I apologize, but now isn’t the best time.”

    “You don’t look very busy….” Kiki frowned, as Xanthe just looked like she was scribbling things and shuffling them around to only appear as if she was occupied with work. And truth be told, Xanthe had finished her necessary work a few hours ago. She just wanted Kiki to leave since the girl wasn’t exactly someone she could tolerate very well for long periods of time.

    “Oh, I am quite busy.” Xanthe was just writing on her own time just for fun, but it wasn’t completely a lie. “I want to try and get this done before I leave.”

    “...Where are you going-”

    “With a few friends of mine. We’ve had these plans set for a while.”

    “Oh…” Kiki shuffled around, nearly about to get to shouting-anger again.

    Xanthe sighed, “...Why don’t you go speak with Francesca? I was speaking to her earlier about the subject, and she could use someone to vent with.” She finally turned and met Kiki’s eyes.

    Kiki’s scowl returned a bit, “Hmph...fine.” She stomped out, leaving Xanthe to stare down at a lazy Dmitri. Xanthe had found Fran on the way to one of her classes, bawling her eyes out in a semi-secluded area. She had sat with her for a moment, patting her on the back and reassuring her to stay strong. Maybe it was a bad idea to send someone like Kiki her way, but they might be able to get along since they’re both suffering for the same reason.

    “You didn’t have to do that.” Dmitri interrupted her thoughts, rolling onto his side.

    “I’m aware…” Xanthe sighed and moved back to her writing.

     

     

    “Fran!” Kiki banged on the girl’s door, but instead of seeing those dyed-pink bangs, she was greeted by tight brown curls. Her roommate, Dawn, had answered, “You here for Fran? She left a little bit ago.”

    Kiki huffed, “Okay, where is she?”

    “She’s outside on one of the benches. She wanted to be alone though. She’s really upset about that missing girl, Marin.”

    “‘Kay.” Kiki turned on her heels and began to make her way outside to find the girl.

    “Hey, she’s really upset though! I don’t know if I’d go bother her!” Dawn called out, but her words fell on deaf ears. “Hm...well alright then.”

     

     

    Outside, Fran was curled up, her head in her knees. She had been going back and forth from staring at the sky to burying her head back in her knees as she cried. “Fran!” Her head shot up when she saw Kiki stomping towards her, “Marin’s missing!” But Kiki stopped for a moment, noticing that Fran’s eyes were red and puffy.

    “Yeah…” Fran replied quietly. Finally...someone Kiki could relate to.

    The blonde quickly took her seat beside the ravenette, “So you’re really upset too…”

    “Yeah…” Fran put her head back in her knees for a moment, then put her legs over the edge of the bench and sat properly. “Marin...Marin was just saying how she wanted us to spend more time together again. She wanted to get the gang back together, just like we used to hang out….” Kiki sat and listened as Fran went on, “She…” She smiled a bit, tears escaping her eyes, “Just before...she went missing...she was asking me about how she looked. Misaki and I were helping her pick a new outfit and hairstyle because she wanted to look more “mature” or something. I told her she was being ridiculous, but she insisted she wanted me to help her look “like an alumni should look” or something.”

    Kiki glared at Fran for a moment. Oh, so she’s the culprit for that. Kiki wasn’t too happy to see Marin had one day gotten a new look and hadn’t come to her about it. But Fran continued speaking, not noticing the look she received, “I wanted to know why she had come to me about it, and she said she thought I dressed stylish and mature, so she wanted some advice. And then she said something like “I want to look good for you” or something.” Fran leaned over a bit, her smile dropping and she shed a few tears, “...That’s so stupid…”

    “W-Well…” Kiki was still too upset to give a proper answer, “...Dwelling on that won’t being her back.” She said with a pout.

    Fran wiped her face, “I know...I just can’t help but think that if maybe I had said or done something differently, she wouldn’t be gone. I know it’s probably not my fault anyways, but…” She hesitated, “...Xanthe told me that Marin is a strong person, so she should be okay. I’ve got to believe in her.”

    Kiki nodded, “Yeah, that’s right! Marin’s….Marin’s super strong! She’s amazing! So everything’s fine. It’s no one’s fault, Marin’s just gotta fight a couple demons to get back here, right? Things happen but she’ll pull through!” She felt a little uplifted now after listening to the girl beside her, or maybe it was a combination of delusional hope and feeling above Fran for not crying as badly as she was. She had always acted superior to the girl anyways.

    “Yeah, but…” Fran looked at the sky, “I just...have a bad feeling, y’know? I’m scared...I know Marin’s strong but I’m still scared….”

    “Then...if you don’t think she’ll come back, then you don’t know Marin!” Fran froze at the statement, green eyes focusing on Kiki with a slight bit of anger. “Now I see it...she’ll definitely come back safe and sound!”

    “...You don’t know that. It’s still dangerous. Marin is strong, but she’s reckless. I just hope she comes back alright…”

    “She’s not reckless, she’s brave!” Fran’s eye twitched as Kiki continued, “You don’t know Marin like I do, she’s going to be okay!” Kiki had stepped all over Fran to climb back up to her own conceited pride, and Fran has had just about enough of it. Now is not the time.

    “No, she’s reckless. That’s not a bad thing though, Kiki, but if she’s not careful, she-”

    “No! She’s super brave and can take on anything! You don’t know her at all.”

    It was Fran that was glaring now, “Kiki...I’ve known Marin longer than you. I know more about her than you ever will.” She stated venomously.

    “Obviously not! If you did, you wouldn’t be crying so helplessly right now! Maybe if you’d spend less time reading those stupid books and pay more attention, you-”

     

    Smack

     

    The sound of Fran’s hand meeting Kiki’s face echoed for a moment, and the world seemed to slow for the both of them for a few seconds. Kiki was frozen, stunned that someone would lash out at her like that. Fran was now trembling, tears pouring from her eyes, “...I...I may not have been the closest person to Marin’s heart...but I know I was a hell of a lot closer to her than you!” She managed to choke out angrily. She sniffed, bringing a hand to her face to try and hide the waterfall dripping down it, “And...I’m the person she always went to talk to. I know so much more about her than anyone.”

    Kiki finally recovered enough to relax her body a bit, but simply stared down at the ground. “I wish….I wish she would have seen how much of a jerk you are before she let you act the way you do to everyone. She was so stupid…” She shook her head, “And now she’s disappeared to who knows where...probably being stupid and reckless as always...but I guess that’s what hurts so much. She was always smiling and so confident, and I loved that about her so much, and now I’m worried she’s gotten too full of herself and that she’s off somewhere hurt…and I can’t do anything to help her. I’m always just watching her run headlong into the future while I just stand back and watch. She...she doesn’t deserve someone like me in her life. And she definitely doesn’t need someone like you.”

    Kiki finally tilted her head towards Fran’s direction, then slowly peered up at the girl standing before her. But Fran turned away, “I want her to come back. I miss her so much. Please just stay away from me until then, okay?” She wobbled away, and was luckily met by Dawn waiting on the inside that had been watching everything go down. Her roommate gently shushed her and guided her down to their room, leaving Kiki alone.

     

     

    Wordlessly, Kiki stood and made her own way back to her room. Safia was still gone. She curled up on her bed, blankly staring at the wall and ignoring her stinging cheek. She stayed that way for several minutes before her head tilted over to her pictures again. A framed photo of Mahiru that she had taken with her after the funeral caught her eye. That’s right...she had one last person she could try. She swiftly got her phone and dialed Misao, Mahiru’s twin sister that she had once been separated from and out of contact with. She met Misao at the funeral, and the girl promised to stay in touch with Kiki as much as possible. But Kiki found herself listening to, “We’re sorry, this number has been disconnected.”

    Kiki hesitantly hung up, tossing the phone half-heartedly beside her. Her eyes wandered over to her mirror, and she had just noticed that tears were streaming from her face, and her makeup was running a small bit. Her heart ached as this was the first time she ever thought of herself as ugly, and she brought her knees to her chest and rested her head in them. She had never felt so cold and empty before.

    Misaki didn’t want to talk, Xanthe didn’t either, Fran had slapped her in frustration, Mahiru is dead because of her, Misao lied about keeping in touch, and Marin...was missing. Had she really pushed away all the people in her life that she held close to her? Did she even care for them at all, or was she just using them all as steps to her own personal throne of glory? For the first time since Mahiru’s death, she was putting her life into perspective again, and realized that maybe she’s not the lady she has always thought she was. She thought that after she cut her hair, she became a new woman, and promised Mahiru that she’d be the lady she was raised to be. It was just a little teasing though...right? She didn’t really say anything that bad...right?

    ...Marin’s going to come back, Kiki decided. She has to, she has to so she can tell Kiki that she hasn’t been that bad. If she hears it coming from her role model, then she’ll be back to normal. Marin would say that...right? She couldn’t just leave Kiki dangling on string. Lea eventually floated up to her handmaiden and nuzzled her head, but Kiki waved the tea spirit away.

    As Kiki ran different things through her mind, she eventually drifted off to sleep. If Marin returns, then she can set the whole situation straight between all of them. She could be the catalyst for bringing the group back together.

Author's Note

This is old and rushed btw, lol. It was for an RP group, but I figured I'd post something here since I haven't in forever.

Also, if you just happen to be curious, yes they did indeed find her...
...body. They found her body.

: ^ )