Sukeban (Discontinued)

Chapter 59: Meeting

"I can't believe Mami would just disappear like that!" Aina grumbled beneath her breath as the trio walked along the sidewalk's path. Walking just behind her, Tomomi raised her head, glancing up at Aina. She could see the short haired brunette shake her head, running a hand through her dark locks. Beside her, Yukako sighed softly at her friend's words.

"This is Mami we're talking about, you know," Yukako chimed in softly. "She disappears all the time."

"Yeah... But this time, she could have at least told us where she was going. You know... With Haruna still being missing and everything, we don't need her disappearing on us as well," Aina reasoned with Yukako. Tomomi glanced over at Yukako to see the pigtailed brunette slowly nod her head in agreement with the brunette's statement.

Yukako couldn't deny that Aina held some truth in the words she was saying. Even if Yukako would shrug it off, she would admit that she felt worried for Mami's whereabouts as well. Despite the small text message Mami had sent her about not returning to school, it hadn't eased the thoughts that almost instantly began flying through Yukako's mind.

She knew how worried Mami had been about Haruna and she knew that worry had probably only grown when Haruna failed to show up for school. Mami wasn't the best at making rational decisions when she grew overly worried. Often times, her decisions would be more rash than anything and it worried Yukako. What kind of trouble could Mami be getting herself into this time?

There was no use in worrying too much over it though. Yukako knew this. Right now, the girls could do nothing else than follow Mami's directions to meet up with her after school. They could worry all they wanted that Mami had gotten in trouble or that she wouldn't be waiting for them... But it would do no good. It would only cause negative feelings and Yukako felt like the girls had had enough of that already.

"Let's just get moving, alright? At this rate, Hinako and Sumire are going to beat us there if we keep lagging behind like this. It's not going to do us any good to stand around and worry. We should just get going so we can see what Mami wanted us for," Yukako spoke up once again.

Her eyes glanced across the small group of girls until they fell onto Tomomi who stood near the back, shifting uncomfortably on her feet and looking down at the ground. She sighed softly, ruffling her curled brown hair lightly. Of course... There was still the matter of Tomomi and whether she could come along.

"If you need to go home, you should get going, Tomomi." Yukako's words captured Tomomi's attention, forcing the brunette to look up with a shocked expression on her face. "I'm positive that Mami would understand if you needed to get home. We don't need you getting into any more trouble."

"No..." Tomomi's response was soft as her eyes shifted downward again, a hard gulp making its way through her throat. "I still have a while before my parents come home. I can spare a bit of time. Please don't worry."

"If you say so," Yukako said with a soft sigh. "Just let us know when you need to get home and one of us will help you out in getting there before your parents, okay?"

"Of course..." Tomomi nodded her head after she had spoken, her breathing picking up slightly. What was she doing? She knew that it would be safer for her to simply head home... But she didn't feel like she was able to. Yukako and Aina weren't alone in feeling worried about Mami. There was no way that the brunette could deny that she felt some worry over the sudden way Mami had disappeared from school today.

She couldn't simply go home now. The brunette knew that if she did, she would only spend her time thinking about where Mami could have gone. She was going with and finding out no matter what.