Friends Are Friends Forever

Chapter 17: The Encounter

   "Ok, 1666 Briner Skarsgaard Road. This is it, Miz," I said as Mizu and I stood in front of the crimson brick house that was said to belong to Saiko Okanjiru, the ex-husband of the missing Muteki Okanjiru.

     "Isi," Mizu began, "is it the best idea to pry into a delicate situation?"

     Sighing, I explained, "Mizu, it's a missing woman. If were missing, I know I'd want to be found."

      Mizu just shrugged as we walked to the front door of the house. I rang the doorbell and momentarily, Mizu and I were greeted by a tall, Japanese Pure-Blood with black, wavy hair, a medium-length, black beard wearing a white suit and black tie with red buttons and white slacks. The man was Saiko Okanjiru and he looked at Mizu and me with a confused glare. "Can I help you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

          "Yes sir." Mizu started to explain, "We are investigating the disappearance of your ex-wife, Muteki."

          Saiko looked at us with sorrow on his face as he signaled for us to come into the house. We sat on the sofa across from the chair that Saiko sat in. I fidgeted with my hands and asked, "So, Mr. Okanjiru, what was your relationship with your wife like?"

         "We met in high school. Muteki was quiet and reserved and one day, I saw her getting bullied quite badly. Two girls were beating her in the courtyard and they were extremely violent about it. By the time I managed to fend the girls off, she almost passed out. I let her come back to my house and we became best friends. She said she had a near-death experience when she was 11 and thought the instigator of it was still out there. Over time, her mental health got better, and fast forward to 2009, we got married and a year later, we had our son, Kin, and our daughter, Heiwa," Saiko explained.

           "And then what happened?" Mizu asked, "Why'd you split up?"

            Looking down and shaking his head, Saiko told us, "She had violent flashbacks and panic attacks as well as her depression. Muteki didn't want Heiwa and Kin to see her like that, so she begged me to divorce her and set up a case to gain full custody of them. When I won custody of Heiwa and Kin, she left and never came back. She didn't feel like it was safe to be around them."

           "Have you kept in touch with her?" I questioned.

             "She only contacted me once. It was two weeks ago. She started to say that someone was following and then eventually hurt her but then, she hung up."

           
             I nodded and thanked Saiko for his time and cooperation and I was about to walk out when Saiko grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me around. He handed me a photo of him, Muteki, and their kids when Heiwa and Kin were maybe 2-years-old. "When you find her," Saiko began, "give this to her. She forgot it."

      
            I smiled and ran out. I now had three goals: stop Shiro, find Muteki, and possibly train and keep Charlie safe. Mizu pointed out, "She was last talking to Saiko over the phone so maybe we could trace the signal of her phone to find out where she last was."

         Mizu was good at that stuff, so I complied, and we checked the signal. It showed that at the time Muteki hung up and disappeared, she was in the alleyway by her flat. Mizu and I ran in that direction. "Let's see what we can find," I said as Mizu nodded.

           As we arrived in the alleyway, we came across Muteki's shattered smartphone. The fact that it was broken made me realize that she didn't hang up at all. Her call had been forcefully stopped by the perpetrators before they abducted her. I looked over to my right and saw two things, a trail of blood and a trail of bloody footprints caused by at least 10.5-sized shoes. I took Mizu's arm in my hand and dragged him with me out of the alley to follow the bloody trails. "Are you sure we should be doing this in the first place?" Mizu began to ask uncertainly, "If we're gone for any longer, Beth might get worried."

            I continued walking as I replied, "She'll be fine. Plus, I promised Saiko we'd find Muteki."

           Mizu stopped walking and stared at me like I was insane. "Are you nuts? You don't promise the victim's loved ones anything!" he exclaimed. 

             I knew he was right, but all I did was roll my eyes and continued walking, still dragging Mizu behind me. We followed the blood into a small warehouse on the outskirts of Robloxia. I could hear mechanical whirring and beeping all around me. When we walked in further, we were alerted when we heard the doors shut behind us. I heard slow, sarcastic-sounding clapping from where the doors shut. "Congratulations," an elderly voice rang out behind us, "you have fallen into my trap."

            Mizu and I turned around to see a Guest with grey hair, a grey beard, and a black eye. He was carrying an AK-47 and had it pointed at Mizu and me. Next to him was a woman, a woman with short, straight, magenta hair that was matted and oily. Her eyes were grey and lifeless. She wore a torn, raven-black jacket and a red sweater. Even though she was a mess, I recognized her almost immediately after examining her. It was Muteki Okanjiru. I knew why those eyes were so dull. Whoever that grey-haired-Guest was, he had taken control without using possession. The Guest snapped his fingers and sent Muteki running towards me with a saber in her hand. I dodged her as she came dangerously close to slitting my throat. "Mizu, keep the Guest busy!" I shouted. 

          Mizu nodded and started attacking the Guest. Fortunately for Mizu, the Guest's old age caused him to be pretty slow. I heard the Guest scream as Mizu pierced his heart with an arrow. I, however, was having a hard time. Muteki was very strong, and it was like she was weightless as she moved with ease. I didn't want to hurt her, so I just continued dodging and forcing the saber away with my powers until she managed to strike me in my abdomen. I fell over as Mizu watched with concern. I had to find some way to get through to Muteki otherwise I'd be dead. Suddenly, as she was about to finish the job, I pulled out the photo of her, Saiko, Kin, and Heiwa. I held it in front of her and while trying to speak through the pain I was in, I pleaded, "Muteki, look. This is your family. Your ex-husband Saiko, your daughter Heiwa, and your son Kin. They love you very much, Saiko especially. He helped me so I could find you. Please, you don't have to do this. You're better than this. Just come back."

             Instantly, Muteki froze as her eyes started to go back to the normal black that they were as she fell over in pain. She yelled out and groaned for a bit, but was eventually able to sit up. I grabbed her hand and she looked at me with guilt. I knew why. She almost killed me for crying out loud. I understood her since I felt that same way after I was rescued from Shiro's possession of me. Mizu and I pulled her up and she was shaking hard. I smiled. "Come on," I began, "Let's get you home. Your real home. You can curse me after this if you want, but someone very important is worried about you."

               She didn't seem bothered as she uttered this one simple word.

                      "Home?"