Hoorah for quick updates! That should make up for abandoning you guys for a month a bit I hope. Having said that, I may not be able to do it as quickly any time soon. I'm off to New York soon :) to see the US Open! Yay! And then I get back just in time for school. I don't really know what to expect during the school year though. It's a new school so we'll see what happens. I'm actually really nervous, but enough about me. Here's the story!

Stelra Etnae: Yeah, well they are twins haha! Though I don't know if her looking like a guy (no matter how good-looking he is) is a good thing haha. I still don't know if she's going to be gorgeous or not...suggestions? Any input is welcomed. Thanks for reviewing! :)

invisible-gurl: I know, right? They're just afraid to take responsibility. Though I guess that that could also be blamed on lawyers. All the malpractice lawsuits leave doctors afraid. i actually have a whole rant about that but I'll spare you haha. Thanks for reviewing! :)

Jelotto: Wow, what a great review. Thanks for taking the time to ;)

AkimotoAyumu: Haha! I would respond to you, but seeing as you're dead I'll just send it to your next of kin haha. Your review cracked me up. Thanks for always reviewing even when you're too lazy to log in. I appreciate it a lot :)

(Azumi POV)

"…"

Silence enveloped the room, in its powerful, and rather awkward grasp.

And we're waiting…….and waiting……and waiting. My insides were ready to burst from all the pressure that filled the room. It felt like the walls were closing in on me as I waited for Tezuka's reply.

SAY SOMETHING! My mind screamed. Man, was I bad at this bedside manner thing. I would be patient though. I was going to leave that night anyway. I could stand to be professional for another 10 seconds or so…I thought.

Finally, he opened his mouth.

"Do we know if it's benign or malignant?"

Somehow, the calm way he was taking the news that he had small tumors in his bronchial tubes was NOT adding to the ease in the room. It was almost as though all the emotions in him and me were just screaming to get out, but the situation didn't allow it. So awkwardness continued to reign in the stead of his pain and my concern.

I shook my head. "We don't even know if there are tumors for sure. This facility is not equipped," I winced at my exact use of the words that I had heard from Dr. Peters just minutes ago, "to deal with this sort of thing. We do know that there is inflammation already due to your pneumonia, and the added blockage of…of whatever that thing in your lungs is, makes you very at risk."

He nodded and massaged the bridge of his nose.

I continued, "So, you and I will be flying to Tokyo at 3pm tomorrow. I'll be packing your things, as you have to rest. Just tell me how you want it done."

I was not pleased about being Tezuka's personal slave, but as I said, I was going to be ditching him that night anyways. Not that I was all that pleased about that prospect either.

He remained silent as I made myself busy packing his clothes.

Tennis shirt, tennis shorts, tennis shorts, tennis shirt, athletic socks, wristband geez! Did he have any regular clothes? I supposed that he WAS one of the Japan's top juniors so I guess if he was sponsored, than that would make sense of the bountiful amount of tennis attire he seemed to have.

Needless to say, packing his 50 zillion tennis outfits was going to take a long time. The only clothes that weren't tennis attire were the ones that had been left up to dry. I began to fold them and put them away, as I did, I noticed that they were still damp. That could get gross; nothing said, "Welcome home!" like a suitcase full of wet clothes to unpack when you're tired from the flight. I was going to have to dry them. Let's all give a big hoorah for slavery.

Ugh.

How'd he even manage to get his clothes this wet anyway?

Idiot.

"I'm going to go dry these clothes." I explained as I began to leave the room.

Don't ask. Don't ask. It's unprofessional. Why should he tell you? Don't do it. Don't d–

"Ne, Tezuka. How did your clothes get so wet?"

Dang it. Really needed to work on that self-control. My curiosity always seemed to win, which in the spy business was considered a good thing, a must even. As a doctor…not so much.

He looked at me, a bit dazed, like I had just brought him out of his own deep musings. Which, would probably have been accurate aside from the fact that he seemed to have the depth of a kiddie pool. The only things that I had collected about his personality thus far were that he was somewhat polite, very quiet, and had an aura that stunk of bored arrogance. Okay, so maybe that last one was just my own assumption, but I was sure that it was true.

"I got caught in the rain."

I made a mental note to add stupid to that list.

Really? Caught in the rain? Could he not see yesterday? It had been pouring. I got yelled at because this imbecile couldn't tell it was raining?! His glasses were obviously not thick enough, or maybe his skull that was too thick.

Don't say anything. Nope. Zip. Nada. Keep your mouth shut. Nope, no, no bad Azumi! Shut that mouth, don't you dar-

"How do you get 'caught in the rain' between the airport and the clinic?"

You came in a car. You can't get caught in the rain in a car. Unless it happened to be a convertible. And as soon as the clinic let anyone ride in that kind of style, they had better have notified me first.

Thank goodness I didn't say that part aloud.

He gave me his signature, irritating blank stare.

I had to add annoying on the list too.

Well, it looked like I wasn't going to get an answer, at least for now. Defeated, I strode out of the room to dry his clothes.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Regular POV)

Nishimura paced slowly in front of his four team members in the D-room, with the formidability of a drill sergeant. Each member was clam on the outside in perfect at-ease position. Eyes forward, chin up, feet shoulder width apart, hands clasped behind the back, and of course a tumult of fear inside.

Something was wrong. There was tension in the air that clenched at them like an icy blizzard. Nishimura was a leader, and supposedly, they were always supposed to show him this kind of respect, but it had never been that way with Azumi. The team was not used to it so commanding them with absolute authority proved difficult for Nishimura when he rose to leader.

This, this was too, too formal. Too unfamiliar and…and wrong. They all could sense it.

Nishimura stopped pacing in front of Mochizuki.

"We are on a mission. Correct?"

"Yes, sir!" Mochizuki barked, keeping his eyes looking straight ahead.

Nishimura began to pace again, before pausing in front of Koga.

"And on a mission, there is always an objective. Is there not Koga?"

"Yes, sir!"

He was looking straight into her eyes as she kept her gaze at the far wall in front of her. She fought viciously in her head to keep the fear from showing on her face that would give her away.

"What is our mission now?"

"To bring in a traitor, sir!"

"Right, quite right Koga." He began to pace again. "But somehow, it's been how long, Asai?"

"3 days, sir!"

He stopped and turned a ferocious glare on them all. "THREE days. That is unacceptable! I thought you were trained to be agents, not whiney children!"

He began to walk slowly back to where Mochizuki and Koga were standing next to each other.

He lowered his voice as he stopped in front of them once again.

"Or at least that's what I thought…"

A smile grew on his lips and he turned away from them.

"Glitch after glitch, problem after problem. Awfully convenient for Azumi isn't it? An interesting string of coincidences. At first I thought that I was merely stuck with a bunch of incompetent fools. It turns out I was wrong. Well," he refocused his gaze on Koga and Mochizuki and chuckled. "I was half right. You're not incompetent; no you're far from that. But fools, yes!"

By now he was right in their faces as they blankly stared ahead of them.

"You stalled for her! Why!? You said it yourself! She is a traitor!"

Mochizuki, slowly tore his gaze from the wall to Nishimura. When he spoke, it was gentle and calm as though he were patronizing a spoiled child.

"What…are you accusing us of?"

"You know! You know exactly what I'm talking about!"

Nishimura had officially lost it. He was practically foaming at the mouth in his anger. He grabbed a remote and pressed a button, directing it towards the speakers.

"So, who do you think screwed with the video?"

"I don't know, but it must have been someone from our team. The video was magnetized in just the right spot, for just long enough. Only someone trained in sabotage would know where the information on the computer would be stored and how to disable only the chunk of it. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure that Nishimura is beginning to suspect."

"Suspect who?"

"I don't know. We're going to have to be more careful. Maybe lay low on the sabotage for now."

"What are you saying Mochizuki!?! You're going to give up?!?!"

"No, no! Now keep your voice down and don't say my name. There's a REASON we're using code names, falcon."

"Oh, don't be such a worrywart, Mochizuki. I've switched the channels on our communicators, wherever the others are, searching the city, they can't hear us."

"I said don't call me by my name and I meant it falcon. And…did you seriously just use the word worrywart?"

Nishimura pressed another button that ended the recording with that same triumphant, sadistic, evil smile plastered on his face.

"Now what do you have to say in your defense?" he sneered.

Koga and Mochizuki had kept an even look on their faces through the whole thing as did Asai, though Tokaji looked as though he were having a serious eye twitch problem.

Mochizuki spoke again in the same calm voice, "Doctored tapes won't hold up anywhere, Nishimura."

Then he cracked. He really did.

"YOU'VE ALREADY BEEN CONVICTED! YOU'RE BEING SENT BACK TO THE ACADEMY!" At his words, a handful of teenagers stormed into the D-room. "GET THESE TWO OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

The other agents dragged Mochizuki and Koga away. They didn't protest as they were roughly handled out of the room. Asai and Tokaji looked on in a mix between amusement, shock, and complacency.

"Asai? Tokaji? Watch and learn from them. Do. Not. Cross. Me." Nishimura then gestured to two teenagers who had not left with Mochizuki's and Koga's captors. "These are their replacements, Tsubara Makoto and Saito Haru."

Tsubara, Saito, Asai, and Tokaji all bowed to each other, staring intently at each other, sizing the other up.

"I'm sure we'll all have fun working together." Nishimura said as the evil grin once again crept over his lips.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Azumi POV)

"So, why did you decide to start tennis?"

I had managed to get him talking quite a lot using my previous technique. Talk about tennis. It was an easy rule to follow and it was nice to have a little conversation as I folded yet another tennis shirt and shoved it in his suitcase. Not only that, but it was easier to not hate him when he was talking. His face almost looked…thoughtful.

Amazingly, this conversation had been going on for a total of 7 minutes! I think I must have broken the record. Okay, so we weren't exactly spilling out our deepest secrets to each other or anything but I had to start somewhere if I was going to break that poker face. And I was going to break it before I left that night, or rather sometime in the early, early morning. The sun had long since gone down as I had scurried around preparing things for our fake/his real departure.

"My grandfather. He wanted me to learn wing chun, but I didn't like the violence. People are violent enough without having a whole sport devoted to it."

I internally winced. If he had that much to say about even recreational violence, then what would he think of me? And what I had been trained all my life to do?

"In tennis, there is still a battle, but it's of the wills and the skills one has already acquired through hard work one puts in before. It should never used to intentionally hurt someone."

As he had talked, his right arm had moved to clutch his left elbow. I don't think he had even realized it as he had been talking. Interesting.

"You know I really haven't even done my job yet. I was originally hired to examine your elbow. Since we have time, may I diagnose it?'

"Ah…"

I moved over to the left side of his bed and took his arm in my hands. I forgot that I had been trying to avoid skin contact with him. My fingers felt hypersensitive, which was strange, but not entirely unwelcome. That would definitely help me in my diagnosing skills, which were rather rusty to begin with, also I was ready for the weird feeling this time.

What did surprise me was when I touched him, he stiffened and almost pulled back.

"Am I hurting you?"

He looked away so I couldn't read his face.

"No…"

A puzzled expression came over my face. It mirrored my feelings rather well at the moment.

Okay, so either he was putting up a false bravado and his elbow really did hurt (that one seemed most likely), or maybe…just maybe he was feeling like I did…which would make him gay…ewwww.

I'm really hoping for the first one.

I continued to probe the muscle and ligaments of his arms using my fingers.

Touching a pressure point, I asked, "Does this hurt?"

He made no response. I took it as a no. His macho routine was going to make this diagnosis extremely difficult.

Refusing to cater to his stubbornness, I moved to another point.

"Does this hurt?"

Once again, no response.

I moved again.

"And this?"

Silence.

"How about here?"

His arm gave a jerk as he recoiled.

Bingo! I know I shouldn't have but it gave me a bit of satisfaction. If he was going to make things difficult for me (i.e. getting me reprimanded, inadvertently making me his slave, and driving me up the wall with his very expression) than if I was allowed to get back at him even just a little, that was okay by me.

I creased my brow. I thought I knew the problem, but was it okay to lay one more thing on Tezuka? He already had more than enough on his plate. But I was curious to know how he got this injury too…

If any of you have been paying attention at all to my mannerisms this whole time, than I'm pretty sure you can already tell which won out in the battle between courtesy and curiosity.

Probing the area a little more making sure not to hurt him, I was now certain of my diagnosis.

"The inflamed area appears to be your bursa sac."

He nodded in understanding, which surprised me a bit. I mean, how many 17-year old guys know what a bursa sac is? Well, minus me of course, but I don't think that I really counted for several reasons I'll forgo mentioning.

For those of you who don't know a bursa sac is a sac (didn't see that one coming did you?) that acts as a cushion between bone and other tissues like skin, tendons, or muscles. When a bursa sac gets infected or injured than inflammation occurs that area (in this case Tezuka's elbow) becomes tender and irritated. The formal name for it is Bursitis and is caused normally by overuse, trauma to the area, or infection. I just wondered which had caused Tezuka's.

"This kind of injury is normally caused by overuse, trauma, or infection. To be able to treat this most effectively, it would be good to know which of those causes you think most likely contributed to your Bursitis."

Okay, so I was lying. It didn't really matter. The treatment would be the same no matter which had caused the injury, but I wanted to know.

"…" He remained silent for a bit, but it seemed as though he were searching for an answer and as long as he was going to respond, I didn't mind him taking his time while he did it.

"I did originally have…trauma to the area, which may have contributed to the problem." He said reluctantly, "But, I believe that this particular instance was probably caused by overuse."

I nodded, as though I were considering how to best treat his elbow due to that information. Ha! Not like he had given me much information anyways…

It seemed almost as though he were being deliberately vague. Questioning much more would raise too much suspicion, so I halted my subtle, incognito interrogation of Tezuka to pack.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(??? POV)

I let my chest rise and fall slowly, breathing heavily. Anyone who happened to still be awake at this hour would presume me asleep, which was exactly how I wanted it to be. If I was good at anything, it was blending in.

Cracking my eyes open just enough to scan the room to my right, I could see the slow rise and fall of the other team members' bodies in an actual slumber, I hoped. Slowly I rose, yawning as I stretched as though I had just woken up. I rubbed my eyes and took a better look around. No one had stirred.

Bolder now, I stood up and tiptoed over the sleeping bodies to the door. Always keeping a wary eye on the other sleeping members, I cracked the door open slowly and slipped out of the room.

I began to make my way down the hall to the bathroom, walking while my mind was screaming at me to run. I denied the feeling as I tried to appear casual and sleepy. You could definitely not be too careful, especially now that Koga and Mochizuki had been caught.

I opened the bathroom door and quickly checked all the stalls.

Empty.

I didn't bother to check the bathroom for cameras or bugs because that would just be so wrong. I didn't think that anyone on the team would stoop so low.

I pulled out the cell phone in my pocket and after pressing a few key buttons watched as it transformed into a mini laptop with all the settings a hacker could dream of and of course some that they never had.

Tapping furiously, I went to the browser any good computer hacker goes to, to find a website. Google.

Though we had all returned from our surveillance of Bremen without reporting anything about Azumi, it didn't mean that any of us didn't have anything to report.

I had found her.

And now that Mochizuki and Koga had been caught, I needed her help more than ever. I didn't know of any other agent who had ever defied the headmaster for the sake of her friends. She needed to know.

No, it was more than that, she deserved to know.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Azumi POV)

Done!

I wiped my brow and heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

I was finally done packing.

I glanced over at Tezuka who had once again fallen asleep. Though I felt guilty for keeping him up, the conversation helped to keep my mind from wandering too much. As much as I disliked him, talking him was enjoyable.

I rose from my seat in front of his suitcase, about to leave when I remembered the laptop by Tezuka's bed.

I might as well take it back to Dr. Peters while I was on my way out.

I walked over to it and picked it up.

I was about to close it when the screen suddenly lit up.

It startled me at first, but then I thought that it might just be the tennis team e-mailing back.

I decided to check.

But, upon looking, there was no e-mail.

Huh, that was odd. There was a chat box open. I didn't think Tezuka was the exactly the internet savvy type.

Curious, I click on it.

A message popped up. I nearly dropped the computer.

This could not be happening. How?

RM: Azumi. You need to go back to Tokyo.

Had someone found me? Was this some kind of test? Who was this person? And what did the RM stand for? How did they know my real name? How did they get access to this computer? Basically, WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!?!?!

Okay, Azumi, calm yourself. I hadn't realized it but the laptop was shaking because my arms were about to give out.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Okay, I can handle this. If they've hacked into a closed system laptop, then they must be from the academy. If they're contacting me instead of barging in and dragging me back to Tokyo, they must either want something or be a friend. So there was nothing to worry about….right?

I sure hoped so. But why did they want me to return to Tokyo? I was going to have to talk to them.

Guest: Why?

RM: Your friends are in trouble.

Guest: Which friends?

RM: Two of your team. If you don't hurry it'll be too late.

Guest: How do I know I can trust you?

RM: Click on this: [link]

It could have been a computer virus. But that's the worst and since it wasn't my laptop, I thought what the heck?

I clicked on it.

It was a video clip. I watched in horror. Nishimura was convicting Mochizuki and Koga.

"Doctored tapes won't hold up anywhere, Nishimura."

"YOU'VE ALREADY BEEN CONVICTED! YOU'RE BEING SENT BACK TO THE ACADEMY!" At his words, a handful of teenagers stormed into the D-room. "GET THESE TWO OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

I closed the window. I couldn't watch anymore. Furious, I was going to find out how this person knew.

Guest: How do you know all this?

But he had already logged off.

I closed the chat window.

I sat for a bit, mulling the recent turn of events over. My horror was fading at what I had seen, anger slowly taking its place. And then, the anger turned into conviction.

I didn't know who that person was. I didn't even know if it was a trap. But I did know one thing for sure.

I was going to Tokyo.

Another chapter done! Please, please, please review! You know how you can check your story's traffic? Doesn't it just KILL you when you have like 200 people who looked at it and then only like 2 of them review?! Well, it kills me. please let me know what you think! See, this is a person actually asking for your opinion. Yes you! Someone actually wants to know what YOU think because YOU can make me a better writer if you just leave a review. There's the button, right there! I mean, how many times have people actually CARED about what you think? Here's your chance to give your input or else I'll continue to be a crappy writer in total obliviousness. You'll just be another hit that I have no idea the impression you were left with. Okay rant over. *Breathes deeply*

Anyways, thanks for reading :)