The day's a blur. Nothing registers in these eyes. Colours and movements are all ignored, only thing concerning me being Hana. Are her classmates and Teacher treating her better? I hope so.
The classes pass by without much substance, nothing to say engaged to. Getting all students, faculty, and data set up took a while. It's like the first day of school again, just halfway through the year.
The thing that drags me out of my mind is when a slash comes from the left. On reflex, the hips are lowered and torso shifted fifty degrees back. The practice blade passes an inch over the nose. Shifting back and nearly releasing a punch, I see Joon Woo.
His face was full of irritation. I look around and see we're in a Gym, Dojang, type thing. There's even Instructor Kim who was overseeing the sparring. I look back to Joon Woo who had a practice Wodao extended for me to grab.
While grabbing the handle I apologize, "Sorry, I was out of it."
He nods and we take up our stance. How long has it been since we've sparred, three weeks? In that time, I've gotten better so let's see how this goes.
His stance is usual, left foot forward, right foot back, both feet width apart. He sits into a semi-squat, ready to advance or retreat at the drop of a hat. Sword held firm, no trembling is seen in the hands or blade.
He shifts his foot forward, leaning into the strike that rises from below. My blade shifts to intercept, and our swords clash. They interlock for only a moment until he whirls his sword into an overhead.
Hands leap into action, holding the handle and sword in place like roof over my head, the point dipping down. His edge clashes in the guard before drooping off. I circle around the blade around my head, rushing to his neck.
This time, my edge gets caught in his guard. He lets go with left hand while moving his right arm to his left side, my sword getting dragged along. With sword dipping down, he grabs the blade and slams the pommel into my face, stopping only an inch away.
We stand for a moment, entranced by the fight before setting down our weapons. We shake hands with pleasantries and then taking a break. Once done, we start again, and again, and again. I forgot how much fun it was to simply spar, no blood, no serious injuries, no death, just sparring.
-
The Martial Arts class ends some hour later and is also the last class of the day.
I give Joon Woo a fist bump before heading over to Ryung and Hana's school. Walking four to six blocks, I see Ryung standing at the school's entrance. It's only upon getting closer that I see his worried look, his eyes tense with worry.
In an instant I'm by his side, his surprise evident. I ask him, "Why are you worried, what happened?"
He stares for a moment before speaking, "I haven't seen Hana all day and she wasn't here to meet me."
"Does she usually meet you?"
"Yeah. We used to walk home with some friends."
Don't think too bad, it could just be that she's running late and will come out soon. The body doesn't listen though, as it sprints through the halls and into class rooms. Most have a few students either cleaning up or studying. They look up in surprise yet not are Hana. I close the doors again and again. In the span of a few minutes, twenty classes were examined and none Hana were in.
Another few minutes, Hana is still missing. My blood starts pumping faster and harder. Every single classroom doesn't have Hana, where is she?
The last Classroom I visit is Hana's homeroom with the teacher in the back. He seems surprised at my sudden introduction into his classroom. His hands cover the papers he's looking at.
I walk over while asking, "Hey, have you seen Hana?"
His eyes always shift, "N-no... no I haven't. Did she perhaps skip school?"
"No, no, she likes studying too much to do that."
I'm closer now, right in front of his desk. I can see the papers now, they're documents detailing, something.
He notices my looking at them and explains with shifty eyes, "These are the students' essays. They're learning about the Second Night right now."
"Mhm."
I get down on my knees, look him in the eyes, and ask in a false breaking voice, "Please, look me in the eyes and say you haven't seen Hana."
It takes him a few seconds to say it, and he doesn't even look at me while saying it, "I haven't seen Hana today."
I nod my head and stand up, getting ready to leave. After five steps, I stop and question, "Why was Ryung and Hana's name on that document?"
The room goes deathly silent. The teacher makes no moves. Neither do I. We stay perfectly still, waiting with bated breaths. Then the teacher explodes out of his chair and lunges at me.
His movements are slow though, nothing comparable to Joon Woo or even a Red-Skinn. My hands grab his hand and pull it down while my knee rises to meet his face. A sickening *crunch* tears through the room.
I let go and the teacher slumps onto the ground, barely breathing. I pick him up and ask in the calmest voice I can muster, which isn't very calm, "What, happened, to Hana?"
"Esefbj"
"Answer correctly or I will kill you."
That wakes him right up, clarity coming back to his eyes. "Guah, hu ah yu?"
"That doesn't matter, what matters, is where Hana is, and why you have both her and Ryung on a document that has nothing to do with school or schoolwork."
"Wy shuld Iy tel yu?"
"If you don't, I will break every bone in you hand, and then your arm, and then you. Am I clear?"
His eyes shrink back into his skull, fear now clouding his every thought.
"Hana's in a cah, goyn ta te dopov poynt."
"Where's that?"
"I on't know."
I take a deep breath in and breathe out. Dropping the teacher, I head over to his desk and grab his phone, calling 112. After a few rings, a male voice picks up, "112, what's your emergency?"
"My sister's been kidnapped."
Instantly his tone shifts, "Sir, do you know where she last was before you called?"
"She was at... Soonsa Middle School before she disappeared. One of her teachers admitted to kidnapping her."
"One of her teachers? Is he with you right now?"
"Yeah, he's currently on the floor?"
"Can you tell us his name?"
"Mhm," looking over his stuff, I eventually find a name, "His name is Kwang Si-Han."
"Is there anything you can give us for a description for the girl?"
"She's fourteen, wears twin tails black hair, is maybe one point six meters tall, had a butterfly pin in her hair? Need anything else."
"No, that's good. Stay there, we're sending an officer on the way."
We stay on call, with me providing more and more details while he probably writes it down. It only stops when I tell him an Officer's cruiser has pulled up. He says to follow what the officer says and hangs up.
I look through the window and see Xin and and Officer Korinn exiting the vehicle. Would be nice in separate circumstances.