One of these days I'll get better at not keeping people waiting so badly, I swear it. I have not given up! So here is Chapter 2! Sorry for the wait everyone...

The taxi ride was probably what drove him to complete insanity. No surprise, the living nightmare was getting no better. Hiyono sat with barely a seat between them, or so it seemed, staring intently out the window. She turned to him and gave a quirky smile, "You know, I don't know if I'll ever get used to them driving on the other side of the road like this."

She did her best. That was all she could do, while a certain someone glared furiously out the window, pausing to glance at her occasionally when she spoke. He had spaced himself as far away from her as he could, and, swallowing the temptation to feel any pain from it; she slapped on a smile and tried to keep the subject away from the proverbial elephant in the taxi.

Unconsciously heaving a sigh, she returned her attention to the world outside the ticking emotional time bomb encased in a black and yellow shell. This wasn't exactly how she planned on spending the next couple weeks either.

When they had arrived at the airport, no one was there to greet them, and all they received was a letter with the name of a hotel and directions, along with instructions to take a cab. Granted, with the letter came a small wad of cash for the trip, but Hiyono could tell just by the fact that none of it sat well with her that it would definitely be suspicious to her partner.

As if he needed any more hassle at this point.

A sudden sound bolted her from her thoughts, and it took her a few moments to recognize the sound as her partner's voice.

"It shouldn't be that surprising. America has a different system for just about everything…measuring amounts and distances, language rules and structure, so it shouldn't be that strange that they would drive on the other side of the road."

She couldn't help but gape at him. He was still staring out in the other direction, but his expression had softened a bit, and she realized that he was actually trying to make conversation. Her expression drifted into a smile, and he slowly shifted his brown eyes to her, "What?"

Hiyono shook her head and repositioned herself at the car window. There was a moment of silence, and the only sound was the rumble of the engine and the taxi driver humming to some tune stuck in his head. She felt a light, comforting warmth flow through her, and she spoke, "Thanks, Narumi-san."

The response came as a gruff mumble, "Hn. Whatever."

The rest of the ride was pretty much silent, and still somewhat tense, but the air felt much more comfortable than before. Hiyono handed the cash to the taxi driver and both exited the car, dragging their luggage along behind them. Walking into the hotel, Ayumu's eyes narrowed and Hiyono's sparkled.

The interior was beautiful, decorated with polished wood and gold and green accents, finely dressed bellhops carting luggage back and forth, coming and going from the elevators on either side of an extravagant cascading stairwell in the center. The waxed floor reflected perfectly, casting a bright golden reflection of the sparkling chandelier overhead.

Hiyono clasped her hands in awe, "Narumi-san…look…"

"I am." He discreetly scanned the area, undoubtedly for suspicious persons. Sighing and puffing out her cheeks, Hiyono rushed over to the large, elaborate reception desk, "Excuse me, ma'am. Could I have a room?"

The woman behind the desk glanced over her glasses at a computer screen, her eyebrows rising and creating lines on her forehead, tightened by the sleek bun in her hair, "Very well, do you have a reservation?"

Stunned into a blank, Hiyono blinked, the woman's eyes drilling into her from over the glasses. The reporter nearly jumped when she felt a firm hand on her shoulder, and turned as Ayumu leaned over her shoulder, "Oshiro. I am Ryu and this is my sister Miki."

The woman glanced down at her computer screen again, and raised her eyebrows, nodding, "Alright, I have your double room ready. The bellmen will be down in just a moment to transport your luggage upstairs. Here is your key, sir."

Ayumu took the key, and shook his head, politely declining, "That's quite alright, ma'am. We'll transport the luggage ourselves, thank you."

The woman very nearly rolled her eyes and replied robotically, "Enjoy your stay."

The two travelers then took their luggage and stepped into the elevator. As soon as the elevator doors closed on them, Hiyono released a snort of laughter. Ayumu's eyes narrowed on her, "What?"

Covering her mouth as she chuckled, she managed a response, "Those names. Who made THOSE up? I mean, "castle", "dragon", and "princess"? This is exciting!"

Crossing his arms, Ayumu frowned, a furrow forming between his eyebrows, "Believe me, it wasn't my idea. It was written on the back of the letter that those were the names under our registration."

When she finally stopped laughing, she sighed, "Well, I guess while we're still travelling cross-country like this, we can't very well use our names, can we?"

His low grunt of affirmation answered her.

The rest of the elevator ride was silent, and the crawling awkward feeling began to rise in the air. Hiyono watched Ayumu for any sign that said what he was thinking. Nothing. She sighed and began to stare at the elevator doors, as if beckoning them to open. All in all, she was really beginning to worry about him.

After getting lost in the halls once or twice thanks to Hiyono's directions, they finally arrived at the hotel room. Upon entering, Hiyono could see the neat living room decorated with polished curved furniture and a bedroom off to one side. Immediately, she rushed to the window to inspect the view, admiring the sunset over the rolling hills.

Her stomach growled and something dawned on her, "Narumi-san? What are we going to do about food? Could we get—"

"No. No room service."

His slightly harsh, abrupt answer left her slightly stunned. Seeing the expression on her face, he elaborated, his voice dulling to a logical, apathetic drone, "The possibility of a Hunter, or any other weirdo for that matter, coming in here would be increased exponentially. And…I'm not always going to be here…"

When his tone suddenly dropped in speed and volume, Hiyono watched him curiously as he turned his face from her.

"Narumi-san?"

When he faced her again, there was no evidence of emotion on his face, "You can't call me that, you know. If this disguise is going to work, then we have to call each other by our other names."

He continued, a snarky hint to his voice, "Of course, that just means that you lose out, because as your brother I can still call you "stupid"."

She squinted at him and huffed, "You're horrible, Na—I mean, Ryu-kun. Or should I call you "Otouto", little brother?"

Hiyono could have sworn she saw him cringe.

"Let's…just stick with the first names."

Her mouth quirked in a small smile and he sat down on the couch, his hand exhaustedly rubbing the bridge of his nose, "We'll go out to eat in just a little bit. After that, we're not going anywhere today. You'll sleep in the bed. I'll take the couch."

Hiyono began to protest, "But Narumi-sa—"

"Don't, Hiyono. What kind of man would I be if I let you sleep on the couch?"

She sighed and both were silent again. After a few moments, he rose from the couch and walked towards the door, "C'mon. Knowing you, you're probably starving."

She nodded and fell into step behind him.

Hiyono wasn't complaining too much. He had taken her to a small café down the street, so the portions weren't that big, but the food was rather tasty. Ayumu had situated them at a table near the back of the room. And, with all the customers and staff busy, Hiyono found it appropriate to take her pink notebook out of her pocket.

Scribbling a few notes down, she began, "So, Nar—Ryu-kun…what do you think is our mission this time?"

Glancing at her once and looking away, he leaned his chin in his hand before answering, "There is no mission, Miki. You know my only objective, I don't think I need to say it again. Anyways, if those backwater bums are correct, then we can expect two sides to be lurking around. Judging by what we know, the one is already after us, and probably either already here or close to it, and the other party should be waiting for us."

Jotting down something else on her notepad, she spoke without looking up, "So what do you think we should be looking for?"

Thumbing his chin for a moment, Ayumu continued, "Well, the cab ride and hotel bill weren't cheap, especially at the length of time we're staying, so we're looking for someone with a good amount of money at his or her disposal. On the other hand, those who are looking for us probably sent someone we would never expect to keep an eye on us until more of them can get here. They should have a wide variety of agents and informers to cover a wide area, so it would be no surprise."

After thinking for a moment, he added, "Our best bet is probably to get information. Discretely, mind you. Don't give any real information on us; if we have to, we'll make something up. Those who are looking for us probably already have an idea who we are, so report back to me if anyone acts suspicious. Also, I want you in the vicinity at all times. Stay where I can see you, but keep it natural. They will probably suspect you to be close by, especially after their last failed attempt."

Hiyono nodded, writing one last thing in her notebook before closing it and putting it in her pocket. As she was about to rise from her seat, he spoke again, "And hey."

When she turned to listen to him, he continued, "Be careful out there, okay? Last thing I wanna do is have to clean up a horrible mess."

Hiyono smiled, "Don't worry, I'll be alright."

Ayumu stared after her for a moment before shaking his head and glancing around the café. Hiyono went about her business, walking up to the counter and ordering a hot beverage. Her eyes carefully scanned the area for anything out of the ordinary, or at least interesting. Her eyes merely fell on customers conversing with each other, on their cell phones, or working on their computers. Hiyono took the beverage from the girl behind the counter and spotted a young boy, probably no older than thirteen sitting at his computer in the corner, chewing on a wad of gum that was stuffed somewhere inside his cheek. She slowly made her way over to him, giving a polite smile and inquiring, "What are you working on?"

The boy barely glanced up at her, his long dark hair hanging over his face, "A project for school."

Meanwhile, Ayumu stood from the table and slowly walked across the café and out the glass doors, scanning the sidewalk for a moment before turning around just quickly enough to run smack into a young woman wheeling a briefcase and carrying a coffee. Naturally, the coffee spilled all over the front of her business suit and she let out a hiss of pain before turning her attention to the perpetrator.

Poking a finger into his face, she scowled, "Hey, you better watch where you're goin', Mr. um…."

"Oshiro. Ryu Oshiro." Ayumu replied blandly, attempting to pick up some of the papers that she had dropped. Handing them to her, he turned his gaze to the woman, tall and mature in appearance, with rich brown hair that cascaded over her shoulders in curls. Her presence honestly reminded him a bit of Madoka.

She raised one eyebrow high into her forehead as her facial features twitched for a moment, "Oshiro, eh? Well, you have a cute face so I'll let you off the hook this time. Maybe I'll see you around. My name is Margaret." She nodded politely and walked away, turning back once to yell, "If you ever need saving, look me up, hot stuff."

Ayumu continued to study her back as she walked away as he pondered his observations.

Inside, Hiyono sat down in a stool next to the boy, a smile on her face, "So, what kind of project is it?"

The boy stopped typing for a moment to flip his hair out of his eyes. It was a few moments before he spoke, his voice low and barely audible, "Just a project on culture and redemption."

Hiyono scooted closer, tilting her head, "Redemption?"

The boy slightly rolled his eyes, "You know, salvation."

Her lips formed an 'o' and she slowly nodded. With a giggle, she stood to her feet, "Sorry to bother you. My name is Miki. Miki Oshiro."

The boy finally looked up from the computer and into her face, "Oshiro, huh? Okay. My name's Vince."

She smiled, "It's nice to meet you, Vince. Why do you come all the way down here to use the computer?"

He shrugged and returned his gaze to the computer screen, "Well, we don't have internet back home, so I walk over here for online resources."

Hiyono nodded, though was surprised when he continued, "We don't have internet at work either. We don't even have computers."

The reporter raised her eyebrows, "You work?"

He nodded, "Not much, but it's not bad and it brings in some cash. Maybe you can come visit sometime."

Hiyono studied the floor for a minute before answering, "Sounds like fun! I'll have to check with my family first to get a ride and such, but it does sound nice! Maybe I'll see you around."

He was silent for a moment, "Okay…you'll probably find me here in the evenings."

Hiyono walked away, going through the café doors to go outside and meet her "brother". Heaving a sigh of relief, she turned and found her quarry leaning against the wall of the shop next door. As she was walking toward him, he fell into step a couple yards ahead of her, muttering only loud enough for her to hear, "I want you to go into the hotel first. I will follow you in a few minutes."

Obeying, she walked in the front doors, accidentally looking back at him as he continued to walk down the sidewalk. Shaking her head, she made her way back to the room.

Sitting on the couch, she flipped on the television and began to switch channels. It was beginning to get into late evening and he still had not returned. Finally, after switching the focus between the clock and the television, her eyes began to droop.

Giving a deep exhale, he opened the doorknob, preparing for a barrage of questions, attitudes, and demands. What greeted him was nothing of the sort.

The room was quiet, except for the droning sound of the news on television. His "sister" was nowhere to be found.

Until his eyes landed on the young girl curled up on the couch. Slowly, he walked over to her, staring down and tilting his head, clearly unsure of what to do with her. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but his eyes lingered on her face too long. Closing his mouth, he watched her for another moment.

How could she continue to look so peaceful?

Ayumu's gaze washed over her face, holding on the way her hair fell like honey over her face and shoulders. Something like a shiver ran up his spine and he shook his head of his thoughts and knelt beside the couch, slowly shifting his hands under her sleeping form and scooping her up into his arms. He was slow and steady, though his movements seemed a little awkward.

Standing, he brought her back into the bedroom and gently laid her across the bed. A few shadows cast over the bedroom, bathing it in a stark black and grey. He gently covered her with the blankets and stood there for a moment. He then quickly cleared his throat and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him. Under his breath, a few words came to his mouth, "Foolish girl."

With that, he assumed a seat on the couch. He folded his arms and frowned, having full knowledge that above anything else he must speak with her in the morning. The situation was very disturbing indeed.

The sound of a door opening and closing, followed by the sound of footprints were all that one could discern from the dark room. Finally, a voice boomed from the back of the room, "Did you make contact?"

Another voice came from the door, issuing the demanded response, "Yes, sir."

A moment, then, "And what did you find out?"

There was a slight chuckle on the other end, "Only that this is going to be fun."

Preview: After a strategy meeting, Ayumu and Hiyono go to steak out the territory and investigate leads. However, with two sides avidly trying to gain control of the situation, the air becomes tense and the possibility of danger grows as the two sides may have shown themselves.

Curious to know what you guys thought of this chapter. I'd like to think I'm getting pretty good at all this serious angsty mysterious danger stuff. And yes, I do acknowledge the amount of angst in this chapter. Anyway, I hope you guys keep reading! Thank you so much! Prayin' and Lord bless!