Touko sighed, her head hanging off the side of the bed as she stared up at the ceiling in boredom. Her arms and legs were splayed out on the bed; her hair fanned out against the side, tips brushing against the floor slightly.

"After that night, I thought Concordia might be more lenient…." She thought, resting her arm against her forehead. "And yet, N so far hasn't come by at all these last couple of weeks."

She flipped onto her stomach, eyes glancing over at the DS that laid unused on her bed stand. She propped her head onto her hands, her gaze turning to the window. Outside, the sky was filled with clouds, some menacing while others just purely fluff. The sun still found cracks through the white armor though, mercilessly beating down on anyone that crossed its path. The streets were empty though; the weather was hot and muggy, and anyone with half a brain would be inside enjoying air conditioning rather than be outside. Even through the heat however, the grass and trees stood strong and tall; the perfect example was the one by her window, the one that N used quite frequently to visit her.

"No," She thought as her gaze landed on the tree, imagining the many times N had come by. "Something's telling me it's not Concordia. Something…Something's off about all this…"

The door to her room suddenly burst open, Touya leaping in with a water gun in hand. "Cool off a little bit love birds!" He shouted, immediately squirting Touko and her bed. He laughed crazily with his eyes closed as Touko shrieked, completely oblivious to the fact that it was only her voice that could be heard. Once the gun was empty, he opened his eyes to survey the damage, a grin on his face. He blinked in confusion however when he only saw an extremely soaked and angry Touko sitting on her extremely soaked bed.

"Wait…I thought…" Touya began, before being interrupted by Touko.

"Yes, please tell me what you were thinking before I interject with murdering you," Touko growled, her hands balling into fists. Touya's eyes widened as he waved his arms in defense, water droplets from the squirt gun flying everywhere.

"No no no, you've got it all wrong sis! It was just so quiet in here; I thought you and N were, you know, making kissy face," He explained quickly, "So, you know, me being me, I went out and filled up my water gun to barge in on your alone time like any obnoxious brother would do! So please don't hurt me too bad!" He cried out, falling to his knees and clasping his hands together in prayer. Touko sighed, running a hand through her wet hair.

"Yeah yeah," She grumbled, flopping back on her bed. Touya looked up, noticing the loss of desire to kill him in her. He crawled forward, crossing his arms on the edge of the bed and resting his head against them. He looked at her, her arm splayed against her forehead and eyes staring at the ceiling.

"Something the matter?"

She sighed, rolling onto her side so she could look at him better. "I think…something is wrong in that Harmonia household."

"So you think N, Anthea, and Concordia are in trouble?" Cheren asked, his fingers laced together to make a resting place for his chin.

Touko nodded, glancing down at the chess patterned floor. "It's just…a feeling I have."

After having confided in Touya about her uneasiness, he immediately insisted upon calling an emergency meeting between the four of them. No matter how she tried to argue that it had nothing to base itself on and would probably pass eventually, he still insisted that if it wasn't just passing and was actually happening that they should do something about it. And so it led to where they were now; in Bianca's kitchen, with a plate of chocolate chip cookies in the center, discussing her suspicion that something was amiss.

Touya nodded, face covered in chocolate as he swallowed a mouthful of cookies. "Yeah! And why shouldn't we believe her? I mean they're like soul mates; from all those crummy romance chic flicks I've been forced to watch, soul mates practically read each other's minds."

"Didn't you cry at the end of Titanic though?" Bianca asked, nibbling on a cookie.

"That's not the point," Touya shouted, face a bright red, "The point is that Touko is like connected to N by some string of fate, so since she has the feeling that something funky is going on, we should believe her!"

Cheren sighed, pushing his glasses up his nose. "As nice as that sounds, the fact still remains that we have no solid evidence that anything suspicious is going on. Therefore we can't go to the police with mere 'soul mate' suspicions and expect them to do something."

"Well then let's get some hard evidence!" Touya said, slamming his hands on the table. The other three looked over at him, eyebrows raised in confusion.

"And just how," Touko began, "Do you plan on us doing that?"

Touya grinned mischievously, "Stakeout."

"Whoa," Touya said, looking through binoculars, "I totally know what I'm being for Halloween this year!"

"What are you talking about?" Touko asked, staring at him confusedly. After Touya's suggestion, they eventually came to the agreement to proceed with the stakeout, resulting in them lying on their stomachs behind some bushes, their binoculars trained on the large mansion.

"I think he means the guards patrolling the grounds," Cheren said, staring intently at the guards. The outfits that the guards wore closely resembled medieval knights; blue hoods drawn over heads with matching blue shirts, complete with blue gloves and boots. They wore black tights, and over the shirts wore white smocks tied around the waist by a black band, a shield with black and white pattern with a blue letter "P" standing out on it.

"It is a rather interesting outfit," Bianca muttered, "Do you think they're cosplay guards?"

"That's a real thing?" Touya asked, looking over at her. Bianca shrugged, staring up at the mansion.

"Possibly; stranger things are out there."

"Can we bring our focus back to the matter at hand," Touko snapped, glaring at the two of them. Bianca and Touya looked at her sheepishly, muttering apologies under their breath. Touko sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she turned her attention back to the house. She looked on hopelessly; the number of guards seemed to increase by the second, and no doubt they would be heavily guarding the secret passageway into the house.

"We need a distraction," Cheren said, putting down his binoculars. He sat back on his heels, staring intently at the ground as he thought, "Something big; something that's so obnoxious that nobody could withstand not being drawn to it."

Immediately, all eyes were directed towards Touya, who was still staring at the mansion. He shuddered slightly, feeling six eyes bore holes through the back of his skull, causing him to slowly put down his binoculars and look at his friends.

"…Why do I feel like this is going to involve me getting hurt in many creative and abstract ways?"

One of the guards standing watch of the secret entrance yawned, his eyes watering slightly. His companion glared slightly at him, her elbow jabbing him in the side. He yelped, grasping his side as he glared at her.

"What was that for," He asked incredulously.

"You seemed to be falling asleep on the job," She retorted, "And I refuse to have my pay docked for your fatigue."

He rolled his eyes. "Relax; this is the most boring job we've ever had to do. It's not like someone's going to pop out of the bushes to try and bust in here."

Just as she was about to reply, rustling came from the bushes. The two stood on high alert, their bodies tense for any conflict that would arise. They rustled again, and soon a squirrel jumped out of the bushes, running across the lawn. The two sighed, shoulders slumping as they relaxed.

The male looked towards his female companion cheekily, a slight blush on her face. "Well that was-"

Before he could finish the sentence a toy army jeep burst through the bushes, a seemingly male teenager and a young girl riding inside it. Their faces were covered by dragon masks; the male guard screeched, jumping into his companion's arms in surprise. The young girl laughed, pointing at him as the jeep made doughnuts on the lawn.

"Geez, what a sissy," She called out. The male guard flushed, getting to his feet and glaring at the intruders.

"Halt," He shouted, "You're trespassing on private property! Identify and remove yourselves from the property immediately!"

"Don't wanna," The girl shouted, pulling out a large water gun. The boy drove close enough to the guards so that the girl could spray them both, giggling madly the entire time. The jeep then drove off, the girl waving farewell to the guards from the back.

"You'll never take me alive coppers!" The boy shouted, his head thrown back. The guards gritted their teeth, giving chase after the two of them.

"Get back here you delinquents!" The male shouted, waving his fist at them. The jeep sped through the bushes, prompting the two guards to follow them through it. The yard grew peaceful once again; Touko poked her head out of the bushes, looking around to see if anyone was nearby.

"Coast is clear guys," She whispered back to Bianca and Cheren, "Come on!"

The trio climbed through the bushes, dusting off their clothes and picking twigs from their hair. "I can't believe Iris let us use her toy jeep for this." Bianca said, dusting off her hat.

"I can't believe Iris actually wanted in on it," Touko said, leading the way to the passageway. Cheren pushed his hands into his pockets, following the two to the crawlspace as he added his own comment.

"I can't believe Drayden was able to trick it out to go thirty miles an hour."

"Wow, these guys have some stamina!" Iris said, watching as the two guards chased them.

Touya nodded, glancing over his shoulder before returning his attention to the road. So far the two of them had to dodge a woman walking her dog, the mailman, and any cars that drove down the road. They were able to swerve and avoid them fine, but the guards behind them had less luck doing so smoothly; there were multiple twigs in their hair and stains on their uniform from diving out of the way.

"I'm still wondering about the dragon masks," Touya called over his shoulder, "They kinda make it hard to see the road!"

"They keep our identities secret from these guys, duh!" Iris said, rolling her eyes. "Plus, dragons are cool!"

Touya rolled his eyes before turning down a side street, swerving to dodge a car as it began to pull out of its driveway.

"Ooh, how much longer?" Bianca whined as she crawled behind Touko in the tight space. Touko and Cheren sighed; this hadn't been the first time Bianca complained about the length.

"We're almost there Bianca, I promise." Touko said, seeing small rays of light ahead. She crawled faster, her heart beating faster at the thought of discovering what was happening inside the mansion. She got onto her knees, using her hands to push upwards on the trapdoor. Unlike the many times she was there before, though, the trapdoor didn't budge; Touko's eyes widened as she pushed harder only to get the same results.

"What's wrong," Cheren asked, sensing Touko's sudden panic. She looked back at him, her eyes wide.

"It…it won't budge," She said helplessly.

"Maybe it's stuck?" Bianca offered helpfully, smiling. Touko shook her head, looking down at the ground.

"It's never been stuck before…We always made sure it was in working order." She muttered, remembering all the times she had snuck in, and all the times N would tell her if something was wrong with the trapdoor. She looked up, her eyes filled with determination as she met Cheren and Bianca's curious gaze.

"Come on," She said, turning back around, "We need to find N."

N sighed as he tossed a baseball up into the air, catching it as it came plummeting back down. His DS lay forgotten on his bedside table; ever since Ghetsis had permanently grounded them, he had lost all passion for the device. His days were usually spent with learning from his tutors, staring longingly at the outside world while the guards patrolled the grounds, or spending time with his sisters. He sighed again, lying on his side to stare at the floor.

"I hope you are well…Touko," He thought, head resting on his arm. The times they spent together replayed in his mind every day; the games they'd play, their time as a couple, even the night dancing away at Castelia Café. All of it replayed tauntingly in his head, casting him even further into sadness since he knew that Ghetsis would make sure that N never saw her again.

"He doesn't know about her though," He reminded himself, "There's still hope that we will meet again."

The trapdoor burst open suddenly, causing N to bolt upright in surprise. A hand shot up out of the hole, followed by Touko's torso as she began to climb out. Right after her came Bianca, her breath coming out in pants as she slumped onto N's floor.

"Finally," Bianca said, eyes closed in exhaustion, "I thought we would never get out of that tunnel! I'm not made for places like that you know."

"We know," Cheren said, climbing out, "You told us so every ten seconds."

"Touko…" N said, not daring to believe his eyes as she dusted herself off. She headed towards him, taking his face in her hands as she looked into his eyes.

"Are you alright," Touko asked worriedly. N smiled, placing one hand over hers as his other came to cup her cheek.

"Yes I'm fine," He said, "How did you get past the guards though?"

"It involved a neighbor, her toys, and Touya." She said, grinning. N chuckled, imagining the spectacle that must have played out in his backyard. He suddenly tensed though, feeling eyes staring straight into his room, watching his every move. He turned away from Touko, looking around his room; Touko watched, worry etched onto her face.

"N," She asked, gently touching shoulder, "What's wrong?"

"Shadow Triad," He muttered, turning back to look at her, "You have to get out of here now."

"What's a shadow triad?" Bianca asked, looking over at Cheren. He shrugged, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"The Shadow Triad is almost like secret service," N explained quickly, "One is assigned to each of us and they've been tracking our movements throughout the house."

"So that's why you haven't been able to sneak out!" Touko exclaimed. N quickly put his hand over her mouth, effectively shushing her. He looked around his room, trying to pinpoint where the feeling had come from; the feeling had however left him as quickly as it came. He carefully removed his hand from her mouth, looking at her with worried eyes.

"You need to get out of here. Now," He said. Touko shook her head, defiance blazing in her eyes.

"No! I won't leave you here to his devices," She said defiantly, "You're coming with us!"

"You don't understand," He said harshly; Touko involuntarily flinched, "He's a powerful man, running both big businesses and underground jobs throughout this city. He's not a man to be trifled with; he is extremely dangerous."

The door to his room opened suddenly, causing the four to whip their heads towards the entrance. Ghetsis stood in the entrance, hands clapping slowly, a small smirk on his face. Beside him stood a white haired man, his face covered by a black mask that matched the black pants, boots, gloves, and shirt that he was wearing. Ghetsis himself wore an incredibly ornate robe; half was purple while the other half was gold, with both halves having menacing eyes that were the color of the other side. The cloth was attached to a brown intricate collar, blue stones shining around the inlays while the shield symbol on the chests of the guards shone on his.

"My," He began, his lips turned upwards into a menacing grin, "I'm so glad to finally meet your friends, N."

A/N: *hides behind rock* Before you all go ranting on me, I would just like to say, IN MY DEFENSE, I started my senior year of high school when I last updated this. And senior year allowed NO TIME for me to write because I was too busy applying to nine colleges, many scholarships, getting service hours done, practicing for competitions, and keeping up with school work. AND trying to sleep. This is the exact reason why I usually don't post stories unless I have them all written out/almost done.

Anyway, short chapter is short, and I apologize. I kinda wanted to leave it off as a cliffhanger here though, because really I don't know what the next chapter will entail. Okay, I kinda know the beginning. But that's beside the point. Review and you'll receive a giant cookie to let you know how much I love you all for sticking with me!