Chapter 6

„No! This just CAN´T be true" said Billy in disbelief. Their lessons for the day finished, he, Lola and Lily lingered in the classroom. The girls seemed to be very tense since the visit of the detective and spent most of the breaks between classes talking to and questioning many of the girls in their class and even some in the Student commitee. He himself also asked the boys, but hadn´t found out anything they didn´t already know. He also noted, that Lola was looking increasingly worried and confused. Now however, Lily told flat out, what they suspected.

„Billy, I don´t want to believe it myself, but think about it. Chichi´s worn out state, secretivity, the stuff we heared and finally the fact, that Phil and I saw detective Wiseman near the Tofu house and he seemed to be making notes." said Lily sadly. Billy shook his head again.

„Chichi doing drugs? No way! He´s too smart for that." he said fiercely and looked at Lola.

„That´s what I thought too. But I can´t think what else could do that to him. And he keeps insisting nothing is wrong." Lola replied to his silent question. She didn´t want to believe her brother would do something so stupid. Why should he? Could the new passion in alternative music and style, combined with the time he spent in Megacity attracted him to try something forbidden? What if it was all true and he was addicted? What then? Not to mention, how Mom, Pop and Buba would react? She was completly lost at what to do. The feeling of Billy grabbing her hand broke her from the musing.

"Look, let´s talk to Chichi. Then we´ll see." he said in an assuring voice.

"We can, but will it work? He apparently doesn´t want to say a thing about it." Lola´s voice was hopeless.

"Then let´s watch him. Follow him anywhere he goes." Lily responded as though it were the obvious choice. Both Lola and Billy looked sceptical at this.

"Is that a good idea? How are we going to do this, without him suspecting anything?" Lola asked knowing very well her brother´s cunning by now. He may easily worm his way out of this.

"How about a sleepover at your place? That way we can be with him all the time and check up on him as much as we want."
Lola started to think about it. The idea was starting to sound appealing. The numerous sleepovers at the Tofu household always had the girls bunking in one room and boys in the other. This would be a perfect way to have Chichi under their eyes until the next day. The only problem was...

"What about when he´s somewhere outside?" asked Billy voicing her thought.

"Outside we will either follow where he goes or we will go with him."
Both Billy and Lola scrowled at that.

"The last part isn´t the best plan in the world." Lola said and Billy nodded. Lily only shrugged.

"It´s a plan. And that´s a good place to start."

...

It was just after the last lesson of the day with Starchy, when Chichi left the principal´s office. All in all, the conversation with the principal wasn´t that bad. The man was merely curious. He asked about Chichi´s relationship with the detective, also not very happy about the interrogation, that took place in the class. Against his better judgement Chichi had to tell the tale of the Megacity arrests, that occured three weeks ago. He recounted most of it, as he and his newfound friends checked out the rumors, visited a couple of shady places and informed Roger, who in turn alarmed the police, thus all of them helped indirectly. Also, the principal asked about detective Wiseman, already hearing some of the rumors going on in Megacity. And after agreeing with Chichi, who knew it first – hand shared his belief about Wiseman´s limited intelligence. After that the conversation has moved on to his state and the rumors going on in the school. Genuinely concerned for his well – being, he inquired and Chichi assured him, that his condition was merely fatigue, though he didn´t say the reason. When assured, he urged Chichi to seek the help of a doctor. Just then the schoolbell rang. He dismissed Chichi and now he was hurrying to the classroom to retrieve his schoolbag.

"No time to lose. Gotta get the file from the public records, before things get too bad." He thought as he entered the classroom. As he saw, most of his classmates were grouped in the back of the class, conversing so feverishly that they didn´t even notice him entering.

"Incredible. So the biohazard is involved in this." said Archie.
"I said it was drugs." said Nick and many now nodded swiftly.

"April, you said that medicine can be used to make drugs, right? asked Chloe and April nodded before she continued.

"You heared the detective. According to him, the drugs are being made here in Beauvillage."

"What does this have to do with Chichi? Why did the detective choose him in front of the entire class? Why not speak to him privately?" wondered Oliver and many others were at a loss to explain.

"Maybe he wanted to save time." said Mia with a dreamy look at Oliver.

"Looked to me, like he wanted to denigrate Chichi in public. But why?" spoke Emily thinking heavily.

"Wait a minute ... I got it!" exclaimed Tex suddenly catching everyone´s attention.

"Tofu´s mysterious sickness! He´s an addict!" The girls except Mia inhaled in shock, and the boys were just stunned. April had her hand on her lips and her breath quickened, she looked at Phil who was looking as though he was struck by lightning. Suddenly a loud slap made them all turn around. Chichi was standing right behind them, his hand on his forehead and a look of anger and annoyance on his face. No one said a word as he sighed deeply, then moved angirly to his desk, took his schoolbag and without a word headed to the door. Phil and April quickly grabbed their bags.

"Hey Tofu!" called Nick and Chichi turned his head to him slowly.

"Shut it, Nick! I don´t have the time for this." he said and exited the door slaming it loudly.

Eyes full of excitement, Nick made to follow him.

"Stop it Nick! Leave him alone!" shouted Phil as he and April moved past him towards the door.

"What? Siding with a junkie Phil?" responded Nick agressively. Phil´s eyes flared and he turned around, but April grabbed his arm.

"Drop it Phil. Let´s go before we lose him." she said and Phil´s anger subsided. She was right. He nodded and the two left, not caring what their classmates might think or say. Once out of class, the two started to sprint, trying to catch up with Chichi. Running trough the main door, they spotted him exiting the school yard.

"That stupid, demented idiot Wiseman! He made things worse, and its probably just the begining." ranted Chichi in his mind. He should´ve expected something like this to happen as soon as he went out of class with the principal. It´ll probably be all over Beauvillage by evening. He was really glad now, that Mom, Pop and Buba are out of town. He was trying to quickly calm himself. Now was not the time to go into a fit of rage. He needed to make sure, Wiseman doesn´t mess up even more. Hearing someone running behind him, he spun around swiftly. His look softened somewhat upon seeing his two friends, but his anger had yet to subside. He stopped and waited for them.

"Chichi... wait... for us." said Phil as he and April were trying to catch their breaths.

"What... was... that...about?" asked April. Chichi sighed again before he looked at them and answered.

"After the detective´s incedible deductions, the principal only wanted to have a word with me about it in private. He asked me how I know him and about the occasion when we met."

"You haven´t been expelled have you?" asked Phil in concern.

"No. Luckily the principal shares my views on detective Wiseman and his methods."

Phil and April both sighed out of relief. Chichi knew from the looks they were giving him, that they wanted to ask him more and he held out his hand, before either could speak.

"Look, I have to hurry up and get to the Mayor´s office. Don´t ask me why! I just need to."

When they looked at eachother, Chichi sighed again.

"You can come with me, as long as we hurry."

"Fine, but you have to tell us, what´s going on." said April in a defiant voice. Chichi rolled his eyes.

"All right. Just let´s get going."

...

As soon, as Lola and Billy arrived at the Tofu household, they sprinted to Chichi´s room. Knowing he´s not at home, but unsure how long would it remain that way this had to be done fast. Though both of them felt uneasy about what they were about to do, the possibility of getting chaught by Chichi left no time for regrets.

"I´ll look in the drawers you look under the bed." she commanded and the two swiftly started to search the contents of the room. Lola never thought she would do this one day, but she needed to know. After searching the entire room they came up empty handed. Making sure, everything was just like it was before, they left the room and came down into the living room. Suzie and Curly looked on in cofusion, as Lola sat herself down and sighed as though a large weight was lifted from her. Billy sat next to her, grabbed her hand and kissed her cheek.

"See? Nothing." he said comfortingly. Biting her lip, Lola looked at him.

"I don´t know Billy, I just don´t know..." Billy frowned, scooted closer and wrapped one hand around her.

"Look, we know now, he doesn´t have any drugs at home. All we have to do now is watch him. I still say, I should at least talk to him, but even if he doesn´t tell we´ll find out what´s going on. Furthermore you´re not in this alone. Lily´ll be here soon and we´ll call Phil and April too. And I´m here as well." he finished, pressing her closer to him. Lola gave him a small smile and snuggled into him, laying her head on his shoulder.

"You´re the best, Billy."

They stayed like that for a moment, until they heared the door opening. Chichi, Phil and April came in. Lola and Billy moved into the kitchen to greet them.

"Chichi mind telling us, what was that about?" they heared April asked as they entered.
"Yeah. What did you need to do in the public records?" asked Phil.

"As I said, I´ll explain it to you all in a few days. I merely had to check up on something." said Chichi in a calm voice. His mood brightened conciderably since they left the mayor´s office. Oddly enough, the mayor seemed to be very compliant with whatever Chichi was there to do, but Phil had the impression, that Chichi did much more than he agreed on with the mayor. Suddenly he cringed.

"Uh oh. Excuse me for a bit guys. Looks like I have a small bathroom emergency."
With that he set the bag down on the seat and dashed past Billy and Lola out into the yard and their bathroom. Lola looked at the remaining two and inquired.

"Public records?"

The two nodded and explained their enigmatic visit to the mayor´s office. This really baffled both of the older teens.

"This is getting to be really wierd. First detective Wiseman and now this." said April more to herself than anyone. But Billy and Lola looked at her suddenly.

"You´ve seen the detective too?" Billy asked. Both Phil and April nodded and asked the same question.

"He came to our class in the morning and questioned us about a person named Michael Miles." Lola explained. April and Phil looked at eachother in shock.

"That´s the person on the photograph Chichi identified." Phil said, drawing shock from Lola now.

"So it´s true. He was involved in that case." she said quietly.

"Lola, Mary said that he helped to get those people in jail." injected Billy, grabbing her hand.

"He also wanted Chichi to give his opinions on the list of items, that were stolen. He said that the man is Chichi´s friend, but Chichi said that he barely knows him." finished April.

"See Lola? Maybe the detective only wants Chichi to help, since he helped them three weeks ago." Billy tired to soothe his girlfriend and also find some reason in this chaos.

"He did say, that he looks forward to Chichi´s cooperation, but I can´t understand why did he have to do this infront of the entire class. Oliver was right, he could´ve asked him in private." wondered Phil. All of them were silent for a while, trying to figure out what is happening, when they heared a knock on the door. Lily entered and sat down to them.

"Good, you´re all here. Listen. Detective Wiseman organized some of the townsfolk to help him search some of the areas around. Many of the adults and some of our classmates voulenteered. They are supposed to make night watches during the night in case Michael Miles shows up."

"Search? What are they searching for?" asked Phil moving closer to her.

"The detective mentioned something about a hideout or a laboratory, that can be hidden in Beauvillage."

The others looked sceptical. Which location could be secret in Beauvillage? Is there any at all? Lily looked at Phil and April, then directed her gaze on Billy an Lola.

"Do they know yet?" she asked. When they shook their heads, Lola and Lily nodded at eachother and Lola stood up and went to the living room to spy, if Chichi was returning from the yard. Lily quickly used the time to explain her and Lola´s suspitions and their plan for tonight. April and Phil didn´t look much surprised by the suspitions, but while April looked worried that it may actually be true, Phil was staunchly saying that it was impossible. Nevertheless they agreed to speak to their parents for a sleepover. April had it pretty much in the bag, since her parents were doing the night shift this week and she sleeped over many times. Phil would have to do a little persuading, but it should be no problem. Lily was already granted permission and Billy had yet to ask his parents. As they were agreeing upon keeping a close eye on Chichi, Lola entered the room giggling.

"What´s so funny? What´s keeping Chichi?" asked Lily as Lola was trying to stop her giggles.

"He left the door open for a while and Cracker jumped in and stole the toilet paper. Now he´s spending his time chasing Cracker around the yard trying to get it back."

The others rushed to the living room and indeed outside there was Chichi running around, trying to catch the mischievous rooster, barely holding up his pants. Quickly, before he could notice them, they retreated back into the kitchen laughing.

"I did ask him to stall Chichi a little, but that wasn´t what I had in mind." Lola giggled.

"Smart little bird, isn´t he?" April asked happily. Billy and Lily nodded. Phil only shook his head with a smile and looked at his cell phone to check the time.

"Allright I gotta go home and ask Mom. I´ll be back in a while." he said, grabbing his bag and moving to the door.

"I´ll go as well." said Billy also standing up. Giving Lola a goodbye kiss and wispering "Wish me luck." to her, he left with Phil. April moved to the phone to call her parents. As she was dialing the number she chaught a glimpse of Chichi throwing himself on Cracker and wrestling the toilet paper from his beak. Finally doing so he released the bird in triumph, then stood up but instantly realizing, that in the jump to catch Cracker, he let go of his pants and they fell down. With a yelp he quickly yanked the pants up with his right hand and glanced around, praying to the Great Oneness no one had seen his naked backside.

With a blush that rivaled that of Chichi´s and a hand on her mouth to stiffle the giggle that was threatening to escape, April turned to the other side of the living room, hoping to stop the giggle before her father answered the call on the other side.

...

"This is an interesting situation." Chichi said to himself as he looked into the faces of his sister and friends all of them surveying him with a sort of hadrened curiousity. Unsuprisingly they asked him to retell his involvement in the Megacity case. Thistime much to their surprise however, he complied. Telling them everything or rather, almost everything. He left out his involvement with Miles and they left out the suspitions they had. Then Lola and Lily announced the sleepover and his suspitions grew. That and what he overheared on the yard. Titus Hubbub was asked by one of the local neigbours to help them assist detective Wiseman in the investigation. He didn´t thnik it possible that his sister or any of his friends would have allied with Wiseman against him. But it was possible, that they believed the rumors. That was precisely why he agreed to speak about the drug gang arrests in Megacity. He didn´t however budge, when asked about other things. More importaintly his secret. While promising to share it with them when the time was right, he doubted that would be soon with the project incomplete and Wiseman on the prowl. Of course the sleepover would mean, that he will remain for the remainder of the day inside and under their gaze. Sure, there were fun things to do, but he also had things to figure out back in the Hidehole. On the other hand, there were things about it to figure out here as well. As they all got into the living room and turned on the tv, he took his notebook and started to think about the problem as he sat on the floor. This was probably a good thing too, when he thought about it. With Wiseman and the townsfolk searching the town, he would be completly in the clear by staying with his friends at home. Without solving the small problem he was facing, any work in the Hidehole was out of the question anyway. He´ll just quietly plan in the safety of his home. Let Wiseman search high and low. With the file safely in his pocket, Chichi was completly calm and sure, that Wiseman wouldn´t find a thing that could lead him to the Hidehole. Miles was in the meantime checking in Megacity and they were supposed to rendezvous tommorow in the evening to solve the thing for good. He took solace in the fact and directed his gaze to the problem and designs in the notebook as Lily and April picked out the movie and Phil returned from the kitchen with some popcorn.

"Chichi, what´s that?" asked Billy, noticing the notebook. Inside there were series of complex notes and drawings, that Chichi was apparently working on. Phil peeked over Billy´s shoulder too.

"Solar energy?" he asked in confusion drawing the girls´ attention as well. Chichi grinned at them.

"I told you, that I´m working on a project. A major project at that. And these babies are a part of it." he said proudly sounding exactly like the Chichi they all knew and loved.

"Why didn´t you tell me about it? I could´ve helped." asked Phil in a almost hurt voice.

"Sorry Phil, but this project has been going for a long time now. No offence but its one that I intend to finish alone."

Phil looked thoughtfull for a while but then nodded.

"But you know, if you need any help..." he started but Chichi cut him off and nodded.

"What do you need to power?" Billy, having some skill in mechanics could make out some of the things Chichi wrote and it seemed that the thing on the paper was meant to produce a lot of energy.

"Nu-uh. Not telling." said Chichi in a sing-song voice. Billy pouted playfully. He reached for the book, but Chichi moved out of his reach and on his feet before he could reach it. Taking it as a challenge, Billy jumped up as well and started to chase Chichi around the living room. Catching him at the foot of the kitchen, he held him in a headlock and promptly gave him a noogie, both of them laughing.

"Come on, Chichi. Give the notebook to big brother." he said as though speaking to a child. Phil grinned and got into position, slipping into the kitchen.

"No way! Phil catch!" he shouted and in swift motion threw the notebook to Phil, who jumped. But Chichi threw it too high. Phil missed catching the book and it flew across the kitchen just as the door opened. Beth Hubbub came in carrying several bags with food, when the said book landed on her face. The three boys froze as it slowly fell of her and landed on the ground.

"Boys! What the heck is going on here?" she demanded with a small scrowl. The three started to explain hurriedly, when the girls came into the kitchen to greet her.

"I just brought something for supper since all of you are sleeping over." she said setting the bags on the table. Unsurprisingly it contained food from her Burger Palace. And lots of it. Curly also peeked on the table curiously until Beth shooed him away gently.

"Come on, scat! These are for them, not for you." she scolded Curly a bit and the sheep obeyed her. Since on friendly terms with the Tofus, she and her husband relaxed somewhat around the animals. Even when Billy showed them the pidgeon, he admited to have kept in the house for years.

"Well I think you need a little break from all that green food you keep eating." she said good naturedly, placing a hand on Lola´s shoulder. The gang in the meantime started to serve the food onto the plates. Lola giggled.

"Mom wouldn´t be too happy if she saw that." Although Mom and Beth reached a small understanding on food, since Beth tried to use natural hamburger bread and vegetables in her burgers, they still had their differences. Especially when it concerned food in the house.

"What Violet doesn´t know won´t hurt her." said Beth with a mischievous wink. She turned and picked up the small book and scanned it with interest.

"What´s this?" she asked as the gang dug into the food.

"Chichi´s new project." said Billy.

"Oh, so you´re already working on something new, Chichi?" she asked handing the notebook back to him. Chichi nodded and as he took the notebook from her, he looked at Billy and wiggled his eyebrows, to which Billy rolled his eyes playfully. After a small chat with Beth, she left and the gang was able to watch the movie April picked out. Characteristic for her it was a Indiana Jones style movie. Action – romance, her favourite genre. Over the course of the movie she kept throwing lovesick looks on Chichi, who was spread on the ground, enjoying the movie, not noticing. But when the heroes of the movies entered some ancient temple of light, Chichi flew up, as though recieving an electric shock. "That´s IT!" he exclaimed and moved to the notebook. He started drawing and writing something in it and didn´t stop for a while. When he finished, he moved back to the group and turned to April.

"Thanks for that movie, April. It was exactly, what the doctor ordered." he said looking at her with appreciative affection leaving her blushing and stuttering. As the movie was slowly ending, Chichi completed his small plan in his head. Afterward they moved to the kitchen to chat. He showed the others his new Gzorbial phone. Of course it drew an exaspirated sigh from the girls, but looks of approval and admiration from the boys. He gave them all his new number, so that they can reach him with theirs. After a few talks about plans for the next days, the gang decided to call it a day. It was 10 p.m anyway. After deciding, that Lola will sleep in her room with Lily, April in Chichi´s room and the boys will bunk down in the living room, which took a bit of time, the gang went to close down the house, change and head one by one to the bathroom. Finally they all lay to rest.

...

It was 1 a.m when Chichi began to stir. He looked around and saw both Phil and Billy sound asleep in their sleeping bags. He slowly and quietly got up and slowly climbed up to his room. Opening the door, he walked in slowly. On his bed, he spotted April, asleep and snuggled into his pillow. Moving carefully not to disturb her, he picked up his backpack and swung it on his shoulders, still in his pyjamas. He went quietly to the window and slowly opened it. Settling himself on the sill, he closed the window without making a sound and climbed onto the familiar tree. "Luckily, April is a notoriously heavy sleeper." he thought as he climbed further down and jumped from the tree into Phil´s yard, avoiding the silent alarms as he had many times before. He silently crept out of the yard and on to the empty street. A sence of excitement filled him as he set out towards the Hidehole.

"I´m too close to wait any longer." he said to himself as he went into the night.