"Hey, Melissa?" asked Kenny suddenly. "Did you open Samantha and Kai's statistic file?"

"Me?" Melissa looked up from the papers she was reading. "No, I didn't."

"It's been accessed at four p.m. yesterday."

The papers fell to the ground as Melissa raced to his side. She pushed his hands away and typed in a pass-code quickly. "Impossible," she said finally. "Nobody knows the code except us and Kai."

"You think he did it?" asked Kenny nervously.

"No. He dropped Samantha home yesterday."

"Did he tell her the code?"

"That's possible, but why would she want to look at this?" Melissa bit her lip and read through the notes that had been saved. It was critical information. In the wrong hands, they could be badly defeated.

"Then who did this?" asked Kenny.

Melissa hesitated, then shook her head. "I don't know. But nothing's missing, so we shouldn't really worry."

"But still!" insisted Kenny. "I think we should tell them to change their attacks. Or at least let Kai know. Maybe he knows something we don't."

Melissa shrugged and agreed. She seemed to forget about it and the subject dropped. But Kenny couldn't shake the feeling of panic. Somebody had gone through Samantha and Kai's battle strategies that they came up with themselves. Their attacks, defenses and Bitbeast information had all been read carefully. He couldn't understand.

Who could have done that? He searched in his pockets for his cell-phone. Kai had to be told immediately.

!

"Sir, urgent message from the city." The principle guard saluted his master respectfully as he entered the dark room.

"Room Seventeen?" a voice asked from the large chair that faced the window, the only medium of light available.

"Yes, sir."

"Stream it through," the silver-haired old man turned around in his chair as the machine next to his desk began whirring. Papers came out the slot, with what looked like notes on them. He picked one up and glanced at it carelessly. The next second, he was impatiently waiting for the rest.

"Some new information, sir?" asked the guard.

"Yes," Voltaire nodded, then his face broke into a smile. "Call Agent J in the city. Tell him I have a mission for him."

"Assassination, sir?"

The man tapped his chin thoughtfully as if he had just been asked what he would like to have for dinner. "Possible, not definitely. I want him to find me two people, preferably alive and well. But the boy…" he paused again, then an evil smile crept upon his face. "Well, he can do what he likes with him."

"Shall I give him the information or will you, sir?"

Voltaire smiled grimly and picked up the phone on his desk. "I'll give him a call. That will be all, Russel. You may leave."

!

"Rissa, you're being very dramatic."

"Tala, you are seriously starting to annoy me now. Stop following me!"

"I'm not. I just happen to be your escort to every class today."

"Leave me alone."

"No," he said simply. Samantha glared and walked off to her next class. Tala kept pace with her easily. "If you're trying to outrun me, it's not working." He hinted.

"I'm trying to ignore you. So far, you're not making it easy."

"Would you ignore me if I told you Kai regretted talking to you like that?"

Samantha pretended to be oblivious. "Like what?"

"He was an indifferent and heartless idiot. His words, not mine," Tala shrugged. "He feels bad."

Samantha snorted. "Right. Well, tell the indifferent and heartless idiot that I really don't care what he thinks of himself."

"Sure you don't, Rissa."

"Do you know something I don't?"

"He knows you were upset, okay? Just admit you were and everything's fine again."

"Why should I admit it to you?" she asked irritably. "Just because he's too big of a coward to come and talk to me himself?"

"No, he just didn't feel like coming to school today."

"Of course. Well, I have an hour of Boris to endure, please excuse me."

"We don't have Boris for fifteen minutes."

"If going into his class early means getting away from you for a few minutes, I'm willing to risk it."

Tala rolled his eyes. "Okay, you know what? Don't forgive him, don't even talk to him. But you're still talking to me, right?"

"At the times you're not annoying, yes."

"Good. So let me give you a lift home," he offered. "Cleo's sick today, and your car's home."

"Alright, fine," Samantha shrugged. "But we are not discussing Kai."

"Deal," Tala nodded seriously. "But just one more thing, before Boris makes life hell for us again."

"What?"

"Did you access the statistic files yesterday?"

"In the training room?" Samantha rubbed her nose with the palm of her hand, something she did only when she was confused. "Melissa said something like that this morning."

"Did you?"

"Nope. I don't even know the pass-code. Kai does."

"He didn't tell you?"

"I was with him for an hour yesterday, Tala. We didn't even come near to discussing statistics."

"So neither of you did it?"

"No. I'm sure it was a misunderstanding. They probably did it themselves and then forgot."

Tala shook his head. "Maybe. But Kenny was freaked out. That file had all your battle data in it. Anybody reading it could seriously damage your blade, if not destroy it completely."

Samantha stopped walking abruptly, her mouth hanging open. "So the idiot who read that stuff could actually beat me?" she asked, her voice disbelieving.

"Not exactly," said Tala slowly. "But they could hurt you, really badly."

Samantha shook herself slightly and closed her mouth. "Well, I'll just have to practice then, won't I? I have a reputation at stake."

Tala nodded, still serious. "Watch your back, though. Voltaire knows where you are and Boris is teaching at our school. Anything could go wrong, Rissa. Japan isn't the safest place right now for you."