Strategizing

It was late in the evening when Shunsaku arrived in Trylon City. The hotel he had booked was only three blocks away from the Ministry's North Branch, and while it was not the fanciest hotel in the world, Shunsaku had been in worse. He set his smaller bag down on the bed and started to unzip his larger one. He would have finished unzipping it if he hadn't been startled out of his wits.

"HI!"

"Uran!" Shunsaku caught his breath. "You nearly scared me half to death!"

"Sorry." Uran said as she pulled herself out of the bag. "So is this like a secret mission? I can keep secrets."

"What are you doing here?"

"You weren't gonna tell me so I decided to come and find out why." She smoothed out her pink dress.

Not that he minded her being there, it was just that the decision to have her go or stay was up to Ochanimizu, not him. "He doesn't know you're here does he?"

Uran giggled. "Nope! So come on, what's the secret?"

"There isn't a..." But Uran cut him off.

"Wait, wait! Let me guess! It's some mysterious journey to find a lost person who doesn't want to be found, and the only way is through a series of adventures that uncover something completely different!"

Shunsaku sighed. "You've been on those fanfiction sites again haven't you?"

"Uh-huh!"

"I'll let you in on something; this here isn't some neatly packaged little detective story. There aren't going to be any happy endings here, at least not for some people."

"Cool!"

He wasn't quite sure how to continue; he had to choose the right words so he wouldn't traumatize the girl. Luckily his phone rang before he had to. It was Ochanimizu.

"Hey, yeah…I just got here, and I seem to have found a stowaway." He said, glancing Uran's direction. "Yes….yes, she did…Here, do you want me to put her on?"

"No! No, I'm not here!" Uran cried, darting behind the curtain. She knew she was in for it.

"Well that's your decision to make…I don't mind having her around. Alright hang on."

Shunsaku walked over to the small lump in the curtains. "It's for you."

Uran hesitantly took the phone from him. He decided to give her a moment to talk, and went back to unpacking his bags.

"What'd he say?"

"He said I can stay here and help!" Uran replied happily as she ran back over to the bag and pulled out her scarf and small mirror, tossing them on the bed.

Strange… Shunsaku thought. He didn't seem too enthusiastic about Uran being there at first. I wonder what caused this change of heart.

If she was helping, Shunsaku figured he might as well tell her. "Uran, you're a brave girl right?"

What kind of question is that? Uran thought. "Of course I am!"

Shunsaku gave her a slightly teasing look. "How brave?" He knew the answer deep down, but he wanted to see how she answered.

"I'm really brave,! Brave just like Astro, well maybe not "just" like Astro. But still brave enough!

He heard the hint of desperation in her voice. Now it all made sense.

"So that's why you came along?"

"Yeah…" That's what Uran liked about Shunsaku, he was clever enough to figure out her thoughts without her having to outright say them.

"...I guess." she said with a slump in her shoulders. "Astro's always saving the day. I want to help him, but I always mess it up and he has to save me and the day." Uran flopped down on the bed.

"Surely it's not like that all the time?"

"It is!" Uran said miserably. "There's this cat that lives down the street, and he's always getting stuck in the big tree. I try to go up there and get him down but…" She picked up her scarf and balled it up in her hands. "I lose my balance and fall… and I can never reach him." She sniffed and buried her face in the scarf. "You hit the power lines enough times, and people start asking if they can use you to recharge their batteries!"

Uran shook her head. " I don't want to be like that. I want to save the day too."

Poor kid, living in her brother's shadow all of her short life, and now subjected to this?

"Looks like you came to the right place then, as far as I know Astro's never dealt with something like this."

Uran's head popped up. "Really?"

"Really. The Ministry sent me here because they believe something at their northern branch building is causing the blackouts." Shunsaku started to pace a little.

"But that sounds kinda like when Astro was in Angel Harbor."

"No, this gets better believe me." He said, raising a finger for emphasis. "The Ministry also thinks that a project that was being worked on by a Dr. Nirav Chaman is responsible for the blackouts."

"Oh," Uran's eyes were wide with wonder. "But wait...I heard about that guy on the news." She paused for a moment. "He's...dead."

"Exactly."

"So...if he's not running this project, if that's what's happening...who is?"

Shunsaku chuckled. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

"Wow" Uran whispered.

"I was thinking of scoping out the place tomorrow. That is…if you're up for it."

"Am I!?" Uran dug her jacket and a few other things from out of the bag. "Let's go!"

"Ok, hang on a minute, we have to strategize this."

He pulled out a tourist map of the area he had picked at a visitor's center. "We'll find a way to get in, and figure out where this project is from the inside out." Shunsaku never was the best at unfolding maps.

"We're just gonna go there right away? That kills all the suspense! What about hiding in the shadows, and finding a stalled car full of empty trunks?"

This kid has got to stop reading stories on the internet. Shunsaku thought as he finally got the map straightened out

"I know what we can do!"

"Ok, shoot."

" We stake the place out until everyone's gone, disable the cameras and sneak in."

"Well of course, but that comes later. First we need to find the right place to stake out."

"How are we gonna do that?"

Something out the window caught Shunsaku's eye. He walked over to get a better look by peering through the blinds. It was perfect! He turned back toward Uran "Ok, here's what we're gonna do."

[A/N: I swear, Shunsaku Ban and Dr. Ochanimizu have such a "bromance"]