Where's Yuki?

I had no idea how long I sat there, but it was already the time to get up and leave. So I climbed down from the windowsill and pulled out of my closet my only and favourite coat which I then threw on, after which I collected a few more important things.

With a greeting, I went out the front door and, after a while, out of the entire spacious building. I was heading to the train stop nearby, from where I planned to go as close as possible to the venue of the race. Along the way, I put the hood on my head and of course I didn't forget to put my hands in the pockets.

At the bus stop I met a few people who were probably heading in the same direction as me. They all boarded from the same stop and then did not get off for a long time. I wasn't surprised. Many people came to watch the races. Mostly younger rather than middle-aged adults with children, but even those appeared occasionally, too. Everyone had to have fun from time to time, after all.

I leaned against the cold grey wall of the train carriage and looked around at the people around me. Some were talking in a small groups, others were looking out the windows or at their communicators. There was also someone sitting here and there who seemed to be sleeping.

I checked my communicator for the time and also for messages, but none came and time told me that I should be at the meeting point in a short while. So I leaned my head against the window, which was probably cold, but the hood protected me from feeling it. At the same time I listened to some music on my earphones which I put on on the way and that were at a few levels higher than the ones I saw in the antique shop not so long ago.

It didn't take long before the train stopped at a stop near the venue of today's race, where a considerable number of people got off, including me. I immediately set off with my hands deep in my pockets into the dark and pretty quiet aisles that were the shortest way to my destination.

Gradually, the intensity of the multi-colored light increased as I got closer and closer to the center of the action. I smiled at the thought that I would finally be there and buy something tasty to eat. On the other hand, I didn't like the idea of crowding in there. Crowds are understandably getting on my nerves.

Before long, I was at the end of the last aisle and in front of my eyes were a bunches of people, several stalls and all this was lit up and when I took off my earphones and turned off the music, I could also hear the noise that was echoing all around.

I started looking around to see if I could find any familiar face somewhere, but so far I haven't been able to. So I was lucky enough to see a few people I knew from school or from the neighborhood, but I wasn't looking for them. I didn't even plan to come into contact with them. It wasn´t like that all of them were some idiots or so on but we weren´t ever on really good terms.

I flinched and was ready to fight back when I felt a hand touch my shoulder. However, as soon as I looked at the person in question, I pulled my fisted hand prepared for self-defense back.

"Arno," I nodded my head in greeting to which the named person chuckled:

"You thought someone came to kill you?"

I rolled my eyes: "You never know."

Arno laughed at my words and looked somewhere behind me. He must have been looking for our friends just like I was. Yuki was supposed to come with us for the first time. For some reason he always avoided it, so today he was supposed to come with guide Mali so he wouldn't get lost on his way.

We waited for quite a long time, so then we agreed that we would go get something to eat before it all started. I looked at the people around me - or rather at the food they had, for inspiration. We ended up buying Okonomiyaki together and one Dango each. We each took something and walked away where we then started eating while keeping to look out for Mali and Yuki.

"So you're sittin´ here like that? And without me?" cried out Mali as soon as she saw us. I laughed softly with a ball of Dango in my mouth, but immediately looked around her. Arno must have been thinking the same thing, because he asked the question that just occurred to me:

"Where's Yuki?"

Mali's expression on her face suddenly became serious: "I don't know. He wasn't home and didn't even answer, so I went here. I texted to y´all."

I raised a questioning eyebrow and checked my communicator. I didn't even notice before that I had a notification for a new message. Yuki really didn't answer. But he had the meeting arrangement from today displayed. This situation was weird.

Mali sighed and shook her head: "Even his sister has no idea what's goin´ on. He left before ´cause he had to go somewhere, and she thought he was with us."

I nodded in understanding and wondered what could have happened that he didn't even text us that he didn't have time. But I couldn't think of anything. Arno, meanwhile, continued to eat his share in silence beside me, while Mali looked hungrily at the food in our hands, and then disappeared into the crowd.

A moment later, she was standing with us eating Piadina Romagnola, which she also shared with us, as we also gave her a piece of ours. We all thought about Yuki anyway, but decided not to deal with it now and leave it for later. The race was supposed to start at any moment, after all. Worries aside.