Behind Watanabe

Disappear.

It had been two weeks since Hanami went to public elementary school nearby their village. Everything went well and Junkyu had never seen Hanami so happy every time she got ready for school in the morning. Though, it was unfortunate that Junkyu couldn't take Hanami to school on her first day, he understood that it was every parent's dream to be by their children's side on the first day of the long-term, most memorable period of their chidlren's life. Junkyu had nothing to worry about, since the parents asked him to pick Hanami up from school in the afternoon.

Junkyu was standing in front of the school gate, waiting for Hanami to came out of her class after 1 PM. Normally, Junkyu would greet Hanami with a big smile on his lips and sometimes they would hug each other if Hanami was excited over something that happened during the day. Many students had left the building, some were accompanied by their parents or guardians, but twenty minutes had passed by and Junkyu hadn't seen a piece of Hanami's hair yet.

"What? No more students coming out?" Junkyu frowned and wondered, what took Hanami so long as the class should be over already.

At the distance, he saw a female teacher was about to re-enter the school building at the time. Junkyu then rushed approaching her, considering her a useful help to ask about Hanami's whereabouts.

"Excuse me, good afternoon, miss!" Junkyu stopped about one meter in front of her and bowed. "Do you perhaps know about a student named Watanabe Hanami? She is a third grader, a new student here."

"Oh? Watanabe Hanami? The new student from from 3-B?"

"Uhh, yes... I'm her caretaker. She hasn't left the class yet, I suppose?"

"Oh, right, we've met before. No, we've checked the class and everyone has gone hope, apparently. Did she not find you?"

"No...?" Junkyu was awkward and worried at the same time. "Did you see, when did Hanami leave the class and where to?"

"No, but she surely left at same time as her classmates as well. We thought you already picked her up."

Junkyu was puzzled and scared to death as the teacher, in fact, didn't know where Hanami was. It was strange, since Hanami had always been a good kid, even she would wait for Junkyu in front of the school when Junkyu came a few minutes late. After the short, unpleasant conversation, Junkyu left the school and tried to find Hanami just around the school area.

Did Mrs or Mr Watanabe pick her up without telling me? He questioned himself and decided to make a call to the parents, just to make sure that his assumption was — hopefully — right.

"No, we didn't pick her up. She didn't tell us about additional class either..."

For a moment, Junkyu's heart stopped beating and his breath became tight. Panic slowly began to flow through his body and made the young man unable to think clearly. "Calm down Junkyu, calm down... Hanami must not be far from here." Junkyu suggested to himself while taking a deep breath.

Before anywhere else, Junkyu stayed at school and made a phone call to home. Knowing Haruto was home at the moment might save him some time and energy. "Haruto?"

"Junkyu?"

"Is Hanami home yet?"

"Umm, no? Aren't you supposed to pick her up from school?"

And Junkyu's heart stood in the brink of turmoil.

Being considered irresponsible and fired from work was not scary, Junkyu's main concern was Hanami's whereabouts and condition at that time. "Hanami, where are you?" He kept muttering those words as he was running here and there, hoping to soon find Hanami and take her home safely.