003 // forward dated to early 6/18

[cardcaptured]

Xiaolang Li shared a photo. 6/18 near Birch Hills

The man in the first photo is my cousin and legal guardian, Leon Zhong. He hasn't been home since yesterday afternoon, and some of his Retrospec-related items seem to be missing. The woman in the second photo is his girlfriend, Mio Sonozaki. She's the most likely candidate of people he may have been with, but I haven't been able to get in touch with her since last night. If anyone has seen either of them in the past 24 hours, please let me know. It's of the utmost importance.

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[invocate]

[the moment they realized neither of them could get ahold of Leon (and that Xiaolang couldn't contact Mio) Li-Na hasn't left Xiaolang's side, and she's not going to leave it until they find both Leon and Mio]

Still nothing.

[she looks down at her phone, where she's tried texting Leon for the umpteenth time, with no response]

They have to be somewhere. If Leon was dropped from the network, we would hear him. So he has to be somewhere in the city. Surely someone saw him yesterday.

[cardcaptured]

[His head glances up as Li-Na speaks, his own phone in a tight grip in his hands. As much as he's trying not to show it, to keep a cool facade under all of the stress, his worry is leaking out of him like a hairline crack in a glass. The crease in his brow, the stiffness in his shoulders, the constant glancing at his phone, in the off-chance a reply from Leon had slipped through...]

I just put up a post on Retrospec to see if anyone might have seen them. Some of Leon's classmates are on the network, so if they heard him around campus or during class, that could answer that question. And Mio...

[He bites his lip, considering. There were other reasons to worry about her missing, but they were reasons he promised not to speak of, and he wasn't one to break promises, even for family.]

We have to find them. If they're not off the app, it could mean a lot worse.

[invocate]

[Li-Na forces herself to slide her phone into her pocket. As worried as she is, Li-Na knows it must be worse for Xiaolang. She's only known Leon since this winter. Xiaolang has known him all his life. It would be as if his older brother was missing, and that Li-Na can empathize with.

So she has to keep to together. For Xiaolang's sake. As much as she wants to cry from sheer worry, she can't. She needs to pretend she's on stage and it's the second half of the ballet. Even if she's tired or worried or scared, she can't show it. With Leon missing, she needs to be the adult; she needs to be the responsible one.]

The post is good thinking. The more eyes we have the sooner we will find them.

[She touches his shoulder gently.]

We will find them. We should start by listing all the places they normally go. We can check those places first.

[cardcaptured]

[His eyes glance at the hand on his shoulder, and for a second, his posture slackens. Even if he knew Li-Na for hardly a year, he still held her close in his heart, and he was grateful for the extra presence of family during this ordeal. He wasn't sure what he'd do, exactly, if he had to go about this by himself-- it was already terrifying with just her around, but to try to keep calm on his own, and not dwell on the very real possibilities of what may have happened to his cousin...

It wasn't time to panic, or get upset. He had to remain cool and rational over all of this, even if the urge to hit something in frustration was strong. They had enough worry between the two of them, and letting his emotions get the better of him wasn't going to do them any good. Funny, though, that Li-Na was holding back her emotions to be the responsible adult in this situation, when Xiaolang was reigning in his own to prove his maturity.

He sucks in a steadying breath, expression tight, as he resists the urge to check his phone again.]

I hope so. With the way things are, they're our best bet at finding them. It's not like we can go to the police about this, either.

[Because, you know... majority of the force being NPCs and all. Thanks, Retrospec!!!]

I don't know where they usually go together, but... chances are Leon could either be at the university or the library. That, or the arcade or zoo, if he's working on those tasks Zee wants us to do. Mio...

[And it's clear by the way his eyes shadow slightly, as he mentions her name, that the very thought of her possible whereabouts concerned him.]

It's hard to say. She wouldn't be at her house, since she's been avoiding it since last month, and probably not the high school, either.

[spiritoso]

[ Kaede immediately tries calling Leon when she sees this post, and when he doesn't pick up after several calls, she feels extremely worried. ]

I haven't seen either of them. Where are you? I'll help you look for them.

[cardcaptured]

[Honestly, between Xiaolang's calls, Li-Na's calls, and now Kaede's, Leon is going to have one hell of a voicemail to pick through when he finally gets to his phone.

He can't help but bite back a mild curse when he reads Kaede's response, though-- that was one lead already dead. With her being friends with Leon and all, he thought maybe she might have at least seen or heard him at the university...]

At my apartment, with my other cousin. We haven't gone out to look for him yet, but-- if you're at the university right now, I can meet you over there to see if anything turns up.

[spiritoso]

I am! Let's meet up at the entrance. Maybe we can figure out a plan there?

[drizzle]

So that's the girl he's currently dating, huh? Glad to hear that he has good tastes when it matters.

[Ava, this may not be the best time to rate Leon's girlfriend. Really, not a good time.

So, she will have to go with plan B, as she had no idea Leon was in charge of someone so....much younger than her own Yuuichi.]

I do apologize for my first earlier comment. I understand you have been searching for your cousin and must be feeling very concerned for him. I had no idea he has been gone for over 24 hours. [Which, definitely, explains his sudden silence over not wanting to study for finals with her.] It's nice to meet you. My name is Ava Stewart. I'm a classmate of your cousin. If I may inquire, are you absolutely certain he is missing? You do not happen to suspect he may have gone on a trip with his girlfriend? Or maybe they've been studying for finals? I do believe he has been offering his services to study via the request asked of us by Zee.

[Did all that sound formal? Did it flow well with the other boy's speech patterns? Ava hopes so because she didn't feel the most comfortable in reacting formally, even if writing it was easier.]

[cardcaptured]

[Had he been in a less stressed mood, he probably would have added to that comment, maybe mentioning that Leon's good tastes definitely didn't extend to women if he was dating Mio of all people. But with his cousin gone who knows where, and Mio's own issues, he didn't want to speak badly of them.

... of course, with Ava's formal speak, and this being her first introduction to him... Xiaolang's going to get a very different idea of what sort of person she was by just reading that. His post may have seemed a bit stiff, due to his stress, but formal speak was something he wasn't the best at, despite his upbringing. He didn't want to come off as rude to this lady trying to help him, but concentrating on keeping his speech polite when he was worried was hard...]

I'm positive he is. He's gone on trips and dates with her in the past, but he's usually reliable when it comes to answering his calls and texts. It's not like him to ignore things like that for this long, and considering the state of the city, he couldn't have gone anywhere with no service. As for finals... from what I know, she's fairly smart herself, and if in the off-chance they did need to study, they most likely would have done it at our place instead.

[Although with Mio and her disease, he highly doubts finals are on her mind right now.... not that he's going to spill that secret of hers, of course.]

There's also the matter of some of his Retrospec items vanishing too. That's something a bit more than just him forgetting to use his phone.

[drizzle]

It's true. Leon does have the type of personality that would not so easily renounce his responsibilities to simply spend some quality time with his significant other. On the contrary, he would have informed you and other interested parties about his plans especially if the trip would require him to remain without contact for very long.

[It didn't help he had disappeared after a weekend. To Ava, it wouldn't be unheard of for couples to go on a secret getaway; however she supposes Leon wasn't the type to leave without a word especially when he was responsible for someone. Even she wouldn't disappear without informing Yuuichi and the rest of her family about it, no matter if she had to lie about it.]

Have you checked if his id was in the network? I do believe it is one of the signs if someone has been returned to their ordinary lives. At the very least, I have been informed of such signs to look out for other than items disappearing as he could easily have taken them with him. Correct?

[adoringpast]

[ oh dear... wait, retrospec items? ]

is it okay to ask what retrospec items were taken?
maybe they were off on a little honeymoon of sorts but considering the current layer situation i doubt it

[cardcaptured]

It was his swords. I'm not aware of what other items Retrospec might have given him, so I can't check to see what else is missing, but five swords vanishing overnight isn't normal.

They've been off on long dates in the city before, but it's not like Leon to ignore his calls for this long. It's possible his phone died, but it still doesn't explain his things missing.

[adoringpast]

swords? why would he bring something like that?
what if he and sonozaki went off to bosuma or the other 3 places and it just so happened that his phone got misplaced or died along the way

[keystaff]

Leon-san and Mio-san are missing? You mean like with my brother? I can come help you look, we can probably cover more ground with Fly, but. Are you staying there alone now? I could ask Fai-san if you and Jasmine could stay with us while we look and figure out what happened to them?

[cardcaptured]

[... shoot. He hadn't wanted Sakura to see this, especially with what had happened with her brother earlier in the month, but making the network post private wasn't going to help the situation. It was inevitable she was going to come across it, one way or another.]

... I don't know. I can still send Mio messages through the network, and I haven't heard Leon's voice in the apartment, so it's possible they didn't lose the app. But Leon's swords are missing, and things Retrospec gives us doesn't usually vanish...

[Unless you lose the app or you die, but he doesn't want to consider that last option. Still, Sakura's offer to help does muster the smallest of smiles on his face, despite the worry roiling in him.]

My cousin Li-Na is with me right now. She moved in with us a few weeks ago, so she's been helping me look for him since this morning. But... thank you for that. If anything happens here, I'll take you up on the offer.

But if you don't mind it, I... would really appreciate it, actually. Trying to find him with your Fly card, that is. There's a few places he could possibly be, but I haven't had a chance to go out and check them yet.

[keystaff]

I haven't had anything from Retrospec disappear, no. I wonder what that means? It's just those without the app that have gone but we still hear them, right? I'd say maybe that was it but you said you haven't even heard him.

But that's good. That you're not alone and have her with you at least. Just let me know when and where and I'll meet you with Fly.

[me_matey]

did u check if they still on the network?

[cardcaptured]

I have, yeah. I've been trying to get in touch with both of them through there, but I haven't gotten any answers.

[me_matey]

no shit

ill keep an eye out in the usual spots i ghost

[blondferret]

Since I technically don't have to go to work, I can help you search. Maybe there are some sort of clues to figuring out where they are?

[cardcaptured]

I can't say. He was home when I went out yesterday, but he wasn't there when I got back or went to bed... I thought he was just staying out late, though. I didn't see or hear him when I woke up this morning either. It's possible he may have left earlier in the day, but we're usually awake around the same time...

The university and the library are my best guesses, but some of his classmates already told me they haven't seen him there.

As for his girlfriend... I have no idea. I don't know her usual locations, and even if I did, I think she'd be avoiding them.

[blondferret]

Would you like me to come by and take a look around your place? Maybe my CSI training can notice things you aren't. And if his phone's still on I might be able to track it.

[floret]

Jamie Doh
I haven't seen or spoken with either of them recently, but I'll be on the lookout. I'm more than willing to join a search party or help out with the effort in any other way that's needed.
What about you? Would it be helpful for someone to come to stay, or prepare a few meals?

[cardcaptured]

... thank you. The help's very much appreciated. We haven't organized any teams just yet in trying to find them, but the extra eyes never hurt.

I'm fine, though. My other cousin has moved in with us recently, so I'm not alone in the apartment, if that's your concern. I'm usually the one who cooks too, so meals aren't going to be an issue...

[Although, with the state he's in right now, whether he'll remember to do it and keep up with it is the real question, so after giving it some thought:]

... but not having to focus on that for a night or two would be helpful.

[floret]

OK.

[ before he starts Googling "simple recipes to take to a friend in need"... ]

Any dietary restrictions?