Crossover Cafe

PANIC! (Disappearance Arc pt. 2)

[Gracie's POV]

Mike and I made our way to the doors. They were at the farthest end of the cafe and they came and went according to recent use. Almost like an app manager on a phone. Any one could be opened, but some were always visible due to their constant use. Such as the Hetalia door. If Rory was taken to a fictional world, it should be visible. After all, once karaoke was over very few people had actually left because we discovered Rory was missing. We came to the entrance to the fictional portals and I closed my eyes tightly for a second. Please don't let her be in a horrible place. I thought desperately. Mike looked at me with concern and I took a deep breath. I reached my hand out to open the door to the endless portals, and was instantly thrown back. 

"Ow," I mumbled, as I sat up. The door seemed to be laughing at me. But what was that sound on the other side? I stood up and went closer, without touching the door. This had never happened before. I was always able to get into the doors. There was muffled cursing on the other side. I rolled my eyes and threw open the door before the offender on the other side could try again. In front of me stood L Lawliet. I crossed my arms and glared at him. 

"You know you can't come in unless you accept the condition to use your real name, Lawliet," I told him. Mike stood awkwardly behind me as I stared Lawliet down. 

"You know why I can't Gracie," he answered, his thumb pushing his top lip up slightly. 

"Then you can't come in. Now excuse us please. We seem to have misplaced Rory," I explained brushing past him. Mike followed me silently. Lawliet looked at us curiously. 

"Misplaced? As in she got lost or disappeared?" he wondered. I grit my teeth and ignored the character. While I adored him, he was just being annoying right now.

"She disappeared," Mike answered. 

"Ah. And the doors work so that the most recent one is closest to the door to the cafe, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then by all means, she should be in Sword Art Online, correct?" I looked at Lawliet with a side glance.

"What are you getting at?" I asked. Sword Art Online was indeed near the front with Death Note being the only one in front of it. 

"Well, obviously her captor, or herself wants us to think that she went to Sword Art Online, but as I came out of Death Note, Sword Art Online was being replaced with another world. I couldn't tell you which one though. Only that it looked nothing like any of the doors currently visible." Lawliet crouched down and looked at the doors.

"But that shouldn't be possible. The only way to move the doors is to enter through them. It is possible to move a door from the visible ones, but only I have the key to do that," I explained. 

"Why don't you check your key ring?" Lawliet suggested. I pulled it out and noticed that the key was missing. My heart dropped. Had Rory been kidnapped? "Now, why don't you get me some cake and I'll help you find your friend?" Lawliet stared at me with mischievous eyes and I grit my teeth.

"Mike, would you mind calling someone in the cafe to bring us some cake?"

"But Gracie, we can't give it to him. He's not allowed in the cafe, so he can't have any of the benefits," Mike told me. I looked at him, with tears beginning in my eyes.

"Rory is like my little sister. The only way we're going to find her is if he helps us." Mike looked between me and Lawliet quickly before lightly touching my arm.

"I'll get the cake," he said softly. He left through the door and I sat down facing Lawliet. We watched each other in strange silence. It wasn't quite awkward, but it wasn't quite comfortable.