Okay, this took longer than expected, I have to figure out what things to change and what to keep and that takes a LOT of planning. This chapter is mostly to explain some things, but I promise we will get to see more action on the next one! Thank you all for all the nice comments! And thank you so much for being so patient with me, I appreciate it!
Chapter 37- Outside help
The door opened and Inukashi glared at Rikiga. "It's polite to knock, you know. What if I'd been changing clothes or something?"
"How many times...in your life..have you ever...changed clothes?" Rikiga asked while gasping for air. He looked like he had run here, which was surprising in itself, he only ran when he felt like he was in danger.
"Clothes? I could make some…" Yogi walked in followed closely by a curious niji, carrying a sleeping cat in his arms. Inukashi had only seen them once but they looked really out of place so it was easy to remember their names, and everything.
"The manhunt finally happened and they got Shion!" Rikiga ignored Yogi's comment and sat down on a chair complaining loudly, "I'm so worried I can't stand it!"
"And everything is going according to plan, isn't it?" Inukashi answered calmly, Nezumi had let them know how they were going to infiltrate the facility before. Inukashi had thought it was suicide but Nezumi wasn't about to start listening to them, and when his brothers agreed to the plan it was only a matter of when and where will the manhunt would take place.
"Yeah, the main objective was to get inside the correctional facility, they pulled off, now we just have to move to phase two." Yashiro stepped inside the room carrying his red umbrella with him even though it wasn't raining outside. He was another mystery, he looked so young, but from what they had heard he was one of those Kings of Nihon with superpowers.
That was intriguing, why was a King here? Something fishy was happening since those monsters appeared and attacked- varuga? And those with the Circus badges on their clothes- like Yogi and Nai- were they here because of those things? Did the city of No.6 call for them? But why were they here with Nezumi?
"That's good, right?" Inukashi asked instead of sharing his thoughts out loud.
Rikiga frowned before looking at everyone angrily, "It's only good if they manage to get out of there alive! Poor Shion...When I think of the horrors he'll have to endure…"
"Look, gramps. Shion didn't infiltrate the correctional facility by himself. His partner is with him, aren't you worried about him too?" Inukashi asked. Shion was easy prey, but Nezumi was dangerous, and he barely knew his brothers but they didn't look like the type to mess up with either. They were carrying katanas for crying out loud!
"What...you mean Eve? Who gives a damn about that guy?" Rikiga waved his hand.
"Aren't you his friend?" Yogi called out, Nai lifted his head from where he was playing with Neko and looked at Rikiga confused, "Aren't you even a little worried?"
"He deceived me! Behind that face and that voice is a horrible personality! That-"
"Calm down, they will be fine." Yashiro spoke up, and sat down on top of the table, his movements light and graceful, "Kuroh is with them, he will not let anything happen to anyone. He is strong, and so are his brothers, they have the same goal and they need Shion for it. I assure you he will be in the best hands."
"Are you completely sure?"
"I promise he will be fine!" Yashiro smiled.
"We just have to give them a hand, right…" Rikiga wondered out loud after staring at his lap for a whole minute, "I mean we'll have to do our part from the outside to help make sure Shion comes back alive, of course!"
"And who decided that?!" Inukashi demanded.
"You're not going to help?" Yogi asked, he had been playing with the strange cat as well but was still listening to the conversation. Inukashi wondered why they were even here. He hadn't invited anyone and that poor cat was going to end up as dinner for one of the dogs if they didn't leave soon. Honestly, how did they even walk in here? Rikiga had some access as long as Inukashi didn't command the dogs to attack him, but all these people should have been attacked the moment they placed a foot inside.
How strange.
"I don't owe them and that airhead a thing, they can figure it out themselves."
"Well, he is still our comrade, isn't he?" Rikiga argued.
"Comrade?!" That was ridiculous!
"We're all comrades! Aren't we?" Rikiga turned his attention on the others. Everyone nodded in confirmation, except for Nai who asked what "comrade" was and Yogi tried to explain.
Rikiga stared at the poor kid before he pointed at him, "Shion is like him! A veritable angel! There aren't many around as pure as him! We have to protect them! Do you hate them?"
Inukashi lowered their head a little caught off guard, "I don't know...I guess. I don't dislike them…"
Rikiga kept going with his speech after he got an almost positive answer, "We put everything on the line for someone who risked his life to infiltrate the correctional facility and save his friend!...and their brother! How can you not help now? When they need us the most?! Shion believes in us. He must be waiting for our aid!"
Inukashi thought for a moment, he was way too excited to help. The man who would throw you under the bus to save his own skin. Something else was happening. These people with him were shady, they weren't from the area. Clothes too clean, they probably slept on warm beds and were allergic to dust or something, and they had become fast friends with Shion and Nezumi.
"Under the circumstances, I suppose I could help out-"
"Yes!" Rikiga cheered, "Just as expected of Dogkeeper of the ruins!"
"-But put aside the hogwash, and tell me your real reasons."
"My real reasons?"
"Yeah, what are you after? What do you gain from all this?" Inukashi asked, making sure to watch for any change in posture, and there it is! Rikiga looked around nervously before speaking again.
"What am I after? I'm only thinking about how to help Shion…"
"Nezumi threatened both of us to get our help infiltrating the facility. But that's as far we go...normally. We grab the money we earned and crawl back to our holes. We don't care about what happens after...do we? But this time you're poking your head out of your safe little nest and sticking it right in the fire line. And you say it's for Shion? Ha! I don't believe that for one second." Inukashi faced the rest of the group, "What is really going on? I want answers. It has something to do with those things, right? Those Varuga!"
"Of course!" Yashiro stood up and balanced his umbrella over his shoulder. Inukashi waited patiently while Yashiro explained everything, how No.6 was using their people for experimentation. How they had broken the Babylon Convention for developing weapons and murdered anyone who opposed them. How they had aligned themselves with other shady groups and were using Nezumi's brother for his power.
"Wait, so this is way bigger than us! This is dangerous!" Inukashi complained, "I don't do dangerous, I'm not stupid."
"You will not be in danger, I merely wish to use your contacts." Rikiga smiled.
"Contacts?" Inukashi was confused.
"You got guys inside who send food scraps your way, don't you?"
Impressive, Nezumi. Truly impressive, to be able to use this guy, "I guess I can do that."
Yashiro and Yogi both smiled, were they here to make sure both of them did their part? Nezumi must have told them something, or they smarter than they seemed.
"Yogi, there is a baby." Nai tugged on Yogi's shirt before pointing to the door.
"Wait, what?" Yogi looked around, "Where?'
"Waaaaaahhhh!"
"A baby crying!" Rikiga stood up and opened the door to the hallway. Inukashi stared at Nai, how did he know before the baby started crying? All these people were strange. Yogi followed Rikiga outside and all the dogs started to growl.
"Uh, Inukashi... What is this…?"
"Just one of my dogs." Inukashi came closer and stared at the baby.
"Why do you have something like that? Are you planning on selling it?!" Rikiga looked like he was ready to pass out.
"What?!" Yogi asked, "You can't!"
"Aww, he is so cute!" Nai kneeled in front of the baby and Inukashi took a step forward, fully expecting the dogs to attack him and that cat on his arms, but all the dogs calmed down while Nai petted them happily, "Such good dogs! You're just keeping him warm and taking care of him, right?"
"But how?" Inukashi asked out loud.
"Don't worry, Nai is super good with animals!" Yogi ruffled Nai's hair and smiled. One of the dogs barked as if agreeing with him and licked Nai's face.
Inukashi knew there was something else. These dogs were trained to attack anyone, no matter who it was unless Inukashi ordered them not to. Shion had helped them before so they saw him as one of their own...but Nai hadn't seen them for more than five minutes and they were acting like he was one of the pups.
Anyways…
"I didn't pick it up, it was pushed on me. By your precious little angel." Inukashi picked the baby up and held him close. Right away the baby stopped crying and Nai lifted the cat to the baby's eye level.
"Shion?!" Rikiga exclaimed before tearing up, "And when his own life was in peril...he truly is an angel!"
"Angels don't push babies on people, inconsiderate bastard!" Inukashi argued. They barely had enough food for themselves, and now Inukashi had to think of a way to provide this kid with food and milk or wait for Shion to come back which sounded less likely by the minute.
"So what is his name?" Nai interrupted their argument, "Neko wants to know too!"
"Shion." Inukashi declared while staring at the cat. Did he really name the cat, "cat"? How was this kid part of Circus anyways? The organization was huge and Inukashi didn't know much about it. but everyone knew that they worked for the government higher-ups. Maybe he was the kid of someone important?
"Huh?" Everyone stared.
Inukashi added, "He is the one who dumped the kid on me. They should have the same name, just look at him gramps...don't you think his eyes are like Shion's?"
Everyone stepped closer to take a look, "Now that you mention it, they are the same color. How cute!" Rikiga smiled.
"But his original color was brown…" Yashiro trailed off.
"Right, the child of an angel. Now take him home." Inukashi pushed the baby forward at the same time that Rikiga stepped back.
"No. I'm a bachelor."
"Well, I'm single too!" Inukashi protested.
"But here you don't need any baby clothes! Just let the dogs lick him! And they can keep him warm!" Rikiga started to nervously walk away, "Tell you what! I will track down some formula and bring it to you! I will come back soon!" The door closed and everything got quiet.
Nai looked between the baby and the door, "Why is he scared? It's just a baby."
"He is not lying is he?" Yogi turned towards Inukashi, "I could get some clothes and blankets, would that work?" He offered. The whole place was run down and he couldn't see anything baby-friendly.
"I guess that's better than nothing." Inukashi gave in.
Yogi beamed and pushed Nai towards the door, "Let's go Nai! We have work to do!"
"Bye, everyone! We will come back soon!" Nai called back.
"Well, I guess they will take care of that," Yashiro poked the kid's nose and smiled, "Now, about that plan of yours."
"Is this...a real gold piece?" The man asked. He was one of the facility's employees that was in charge of the lower areas and the only person with whom Inukashi traded since he usually only asked for money and stayed quiet.
"Yep, and it's all yours."
"Huh? But a gold piece- this is too much!" Getsuyaku argued, but Inukashi could see that he wanted to keep it. Bingo!
"Well, I'm not just giving it to you. You'll have to work for it."
"Work? What are you talking about?" Getsuyakyu was suspicious now, "You mean besides the food and clothing I'm already sending you?" He stopped for a second before opening his arms wide and stared at Inukashi with a frown, "Let's get this straight- I am not doing anything dangerous! We've got a baby coming this spring! I have to work hard to earn my salary! If it means risking my life, count me out!"
"I want you to drive the cleaning roots a little crazy. It's something only you can do! Getsuyaku." Inukashi explained, "You don't just dispose of the garbage. You also manage the cleaning robots for the whole facility, right?"
Getsuyaku was silent, he lowered his hands before replying, "Well...kind of...I don't control them...I just do maintenance on them once a month, that's all."
"Can you arrange for that maintenance to happen tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow? But that's the 'Holy Day'."
Inukashi thought about it, Nezumi did plan for everything didn't he? With all the excitement about the Holy Day of the city, all the eyes would be in the main courtyard of the Moondrop Hall. A perfect day for a sneak attack, "Come up with some reason-like, something's bothering you about their performance. You can do that, can't you?"
"Well...it's possible, but…What's the point in screwing up the robots?"
"I want them to spew up all the garbage in this place!" Yashiro came out of his hiding spot with a huge smile, that cat was attached to his shoulder and Inukashi was surprised she hadn't fallen with all the spins Yashiro was doing.
Inukashi looked around just to make sure nobody else had followed them. It would be a problem if more people showed up.
"What? Who are you?" Getsuyaku demanded.
"No one important! I'm just here as an observer!" Yashiro stood next to Inukashi and looked at them expectantly.
"Just mix these in with the garbage." Inukashi gave the man the bottle of pills they had prepared. Johnny had helped mix some extra things and now the pills were going to be extra effective. The odor lasts for at least another hour, but easier to clean to avoid suspicion.
"What are they?"
"Nothing dangerous, really. They just make things a little stinky." Inukashi repeated what Johnny had said. He had also said that they melted when they got in contact with the air, leaving no trace behind but he didn't need to know that.
"Why do you want to mix these? And why make the robots spew trash?" Getsuyaku stared at them confused.
"For laughs." Inukashi smiled while Yashiro gave the man a thumbs up, "The cleaning robots acting up and spewing out stinky garbage would cause quite a ruckus, wouldn't it?"
"Of course it would, it would cause a huge one for certain. We keep the whole place spic and span."
"That must be so much work for you," Yashiro commented while petting Neko's head.
"Exactly, none of them realize just how difficult and how vital your job is. That's why I want to cause a little trouble." Inukashi stepped closer while explaining the plan, "So the robots spew out garbage, the guys inside go into a panic, and then…" Inukashi whispered the rest in the man's ear. They couldn't afford anyone else knowing the plan after all.
Getsuyaku jolted when Inukashi finished, "If they find out about this I will be fired, not just that, I will be hauled in by the public security bureau...No way I'm doing this! Get out of here you two and take this back!"
"It's too late to go back now," Inukashi told him, "You have sold me confidential information, like the electrical schematics for the whole correctional facility, right?"
"I needed money! I've got a baby coming…"
"Of course, you're a good man who thinks of his family. But do you think that excuse will fly with the authorities?" Inukashi asked.
"Are...are you trying to threaten…!"
Inukashi took another golden coin and showed it to Getsuyaku, "If all goes well, I'll give you three more of these, take the deal Getsuyaku." Inukashi placed the coin in the shaky hand of the worker who remained silent, most likely thinking of his options.
"Just this one. Only once."
"Your persuasive skills are impressive," Yashiro commented when they came out. They had managed to accomplish their part of the plan. Yashiro only had to report back to Hirato and just wait a little longer to give their inside team enough time to get to their objective. Patience was key.
"I have to, it's the only thing keeping you alive out here," Inukashi replied, "Now everything depends on them, I have done my part of the deal."
"Thank you for doing that," Yashiro smiled, "I know I was too much to ask of you."
"I can handle a little deal!" Inukashi said embarrassed, "This was nothing!"
"Of course, of course!" Yashiro laughed.
"What the hell is this smell?" Yukari wondered out loud. He placed a handkerchief over his face, his eyes were starting to cry. A tall scientist was yelling at the guy who did the maintenance on the cleaning robots. He dismissed the man with a reminder that anyone else could do a better job, and turned away to leave. Yukari was about to leave when he noticed the man stepping on a strange pill on the ground. Right away the smell grew stronger...so that was it?
Right away everyone started to complain more and pushed the man to the side in their hurry to escape the horrible stench.
Yukari acted like he was distracted with something else, but kept an eye on the man. He looked frustrated and his hands were shaking. The man pushed a button for something, nothing in the vicinity opened so it must be for something else...a door? A window? He waited until the man walked away to keep cleaning and repairing the robots before he made his way to the button. After checking the area and the map he had acquired he realized that it opened a locked door to some underground place. It wasn't a storage room or anything similar. According to the map it led nowhere. Interesting…
He tried to see the security cameras, but there were none on that floor, so he looked for more places that could serve as entrances. The only places going underground were top secret, and he needed a code to enter those archives.
No big deal, he could go and check it out himself if needed, but for the moment he had something else to do first. Elyurias had given Gareki specific orders, and they didn't have much time either. Both Safu and Gareki had a time limit. They couldn't fail.
The only people capable of infiltrating this place were those who already knew the area, or had acquired information about it.
Gareki did say that his brothers were on their way. Nezumi had apparently spent a few years in this facility...They could come undetected, like rats. What better way to infiltrate than to take the enemy by surprise? They never expect the enemy to attack from the inside.
Yukari took his phone out and sent a quick message.
'They are here.'
"Okay, here we go." Nezumi spoke up when they reached the door, "Are you nervous?" He asked Shion when he noticed his expression.
"No...I'm just thinking about how close we are to Safu and Gareki. I want to find her soon, and meet your brother."
"Listen, Shion. When the door opens, we'll be inside the correctional facility faculty. Keep your wits about you." Nezumi said while they waited for his brothers to catch up to them. "We will be following your instructions. You're the lifeline, all depends on you. We need to find a way to contact Circus once we are inside."
"Of course. There is no need to tell me this now, I got this." Shion answered.
The door's monitor started to turn green, and then all the doors to get inside were ready to be opened. All according to plan, "Perfect. I will have to thank Inukashi."
The door opened and light illuminated the entire room, "We did it!" Kuroh exclaimed behind them. Yuu walked forward without waiting for them, and Nezumi grinned. Things never changed with him, always the first one to jump into danger.
"Let's go, Shion. You're supposed to be the leader from now on." Nezumi laughed.
"Okay, follow close, and don't fall behind." Shion looked at Nezumi and Kuroh with serious eyes before laughing.
"What?" Nezumi asked, confused.
"Nah...I just thought it was cool that I could tell you to follow me. That's always been your line." Shion smiled again and Nezumi didn't know how to answer that.
"Shion, you…" He tried to say but Kuroh was already laughing at his expression.
"Hey, stop wasting time!" Yuu called them already a few doors in front of them.
"Let's go Nezumi!" Shion exclaimed before taking off. They were so close to their objectives, they needed to be faster. Safu and Gareki were depending on them.