i'Why do you want to be a treasure hunter?' /i

It was a question that was asked rather often. His father didn't mind, his mother worried about him. Every time he went away she demanded that he would call her the moment they arrived in the country; and every time he did as she asked, phoned home and let her know he was fine.

But everywhere he went, every new friend he made always asked him the same question.

i'Why did you want to be a treasure hunter?/i

Well why shouldn't he want to be a treasure hunter?

Everyone thought it was the same as being a thief, but that was further from the truth. He was usually employed by the government or had some form of contract with the government, as far as he was concerned he was trying to keep ancient history ialive/i by finding it first and letting the public see these ancient artefacts rather than have them hidden away in private collections.

Ryuuto stretched as he got out of his tent, looking out for his team and finding that they had packed up and left.

iThey… left me? /iHe looked at the tire tracks and noticed that everything was gone;i I never heard them leave… /iHe frowned and remembered the tea he had last night had tasted a little off, although he had been reassured that it was just due to it being a different type of tea; iIt's later in the day… /iHe also found that he fell asleep a lot faster than normal; iThey did this on purpose!/i

He packed everything up, grateful that his stuff was left behind, vowing to only work with other's that he trusted and even then he would only work with a few people.

iI hate large groups./i He grumbled into his head, hitching the bag onto his back and began to walk onwards.

iWhy did you want to be a treasure hunter?/i

iWhy did I want to be a treasure hunter?/i Ryuuto finally wondered, feeling like he had been taken as a fool with that group of men, they viewed him as a kid, which he was but he knew so much more than they did. He was the one who figured it out where the treasure was.

The men kept looking down at him, seeing him as a skivvy, someone they could boss around and he would let them, his parents had taught him to respect his elders but now he could see the difference between being respectful and being taken for a ride.

iNever again/i. He vowed, seeing a city near; iFinally! Feels like I've been walking forever!/i

He finally walked over to the hotel that he knew his boss was staying in and managed to get to speak to him.

"You were supposed to be with the team!" The man yelled at him, but Ryuuto didn't flinch, if anything he was blank faced which was unusual for him.

"The iteam/i," He spat out the word; "Are wanting to do this iwithout/i me. This isn't what I signed on for. I came here to do my job, to find you the treasure, but if I have to work with some men who are insecure around me because I have a greater knowledge of these things than they do… Well I don't want to be part of this job,"

His boss just looked at him; "What?"

"I quit," Ryuuto said bluntly and walked out of the room, not letting the man have a chance to speak.

iThat's it… It's over./i He realised as he walked out of the hotel, hailing a cab to take him to the airport;i I have just ruined… /iHe mentally shook his head;i No, no, I can figure something out…/i

Why did you decide to be a treasure hunter?

He sighed;i I decided to be a treasure hunter because I love history, I love puzzles… I wanted to help preserve history for the rest of the world. I love the adventure, the rush when you find yourself somewhere… almost like another world. /iHe closed his eyes and sighed; iI guess I have to stop doing this now. Get a proper job./i

He walked into the airport, buying himself a ticket back home, checking his phone and seeing that his former boss kept calling him.

iI should just ignore it, just let this all go… /iHe thought to himself, but the phone kept ringing, as though it wouldn't stop; iDamn it./i

"Hello?"

"Ryuuto! Hurry up!"

"What?"

"They've found something! You might want to see it!"

"Nah, they can do whatever they like," Ryuuto said and was about to hang-up.

"Ryuuto! You realise this was a wind-up?"

He glared at the mobile; "No. I was serious before,"

"What? But this… this is something you'll know about…"

"Yea? Well if that was some kind of practical joke or a type of initiation, I don't want any part of it," Ryuuto informed him; "I came here to work, I might goof off at times but I always stay true to what I am focused on. Playing games on someone, just because they are new doesn't exactly make me want to work with that team,"

It could have ended rather badly, for the team and for Ryuuto, but somehow his boss managed to get him to return, although he didn't remain with that team given that his boss decided that he wanted Ryuuto to have a smaller team together to get more clues to what the symbols of the rock told them.

And so Ryuuto fell back in love with what he was doing, his life as a treasure hunter hadn't come to an end, if anything it was growing.