CHAPTER VI

Monster Without A Name Pt. 3

Surprisingly, the kids were well behaved. They got dressed and grabbed their little respective backpacks, stuffing them with snacks, and the ones that had some electronics went ahead and put those in there as well.

Sakura needed help with getting into her dress and Alu went ahead and helped her while Kousuke took on the role of Big Brother and helped his younger siblings get dressed- bossily but efficiently. "Okay, we're ready!" He said triumphantly, grinning, hands on his hips.

He grinned at Alu and Alu honestly was impressed. "You're a good big bro, you know that?" She said, giggling. Kousuke's cheeks went pink and he just looked away, rubbing his nose, pleased.

"Aw, it's nothing," he giggled.

"Kousuke has a crush!" Katsumi crooned, teasing his brother and nudging his shoulder, grinning, dressed as well, with a blue backpack slung over his shoulder.

"What! I do not! Moron!" Kousuke raised his voice, shoving Katsumi who in turn, yelped, and he would have fallen back but Alu was quick enough to break his fall with her arms.

"Boys! Please keep it down," she scolded, and both the boys quieted.

"Sorry, Big Sis," Katsumi sheepishly said, straightening up from her arms.

Alu smiled. She knew this was bad. She was getting attached. This had been what she'd been afraid of when getting involved before. But, at the same time—this also felt right? So what was really right to do in the end? Ugh, her head hurt. She'd have that moral philosophical discussion after these kids were safely away from here.

Her determination just became even more firm. She realized that there was no way she would have been able to live with herself if she hadn't taken this risk. She was determined to make this work, no matter what. Ensuring everyone was ready, she opened the door once more and peered out. No one was there. The earlier sense of danger she had felt seemed to dissapear. She breathed with relief. Maybe she'd been on edge for no reason. She beckoned for the kids to follow her.

"What's the big prize?" Kousuke asked, cheerfully leading the pack, falling into step next to Alu as they descended down the steps.

Alu knew this kid was chatty. He was really energetic which, if she wasn't tired and wary—would be more fun. "Ah, it's a secret," she winked at him, and rustled his hair.

He made a noise and she removed her hand, smiling. She led them down the steps and checking their surroundings, she began to head with them in the direction of the Armed Detective Agency.

She had considered bringing them to Cafe Lupin- but they were children and she didn't want them going down those much less safe streets at night. No, bringing these children to the A.D.A. Had to be the right decision. If anyone would know how to help them—it would be that Silver Wolf and his Super Deduction Side-kick.

"Oh yeah, Big Sis," Katsumi walked on the other side of her on the sidewalk, as they walked away from the building. "You still need Sakunosuke's number, right?"

Alu blinked. Oh, she'd forgotten. She chuckled, rubbing her head, embarrassed. "Ah, yeah."

Shinji tugged on her sleeve. She blinked, looking at the shy boy behind her. Yu trailed behind with Sakura, holding her hand and following behind them. Shinji held out a piece of paper. Alu took it. Oh good, it was Sakunosuke's number. She took out her phone, quickly typing it in while they walked.

The streets weren't busy. Surprisingly, it was rather uneventful. Alu felt uneasy though. This felt too easy. There was something wrong about this. Or maybe she was just overly paranoid. After all, this was the first time she was getting involved with gangs and well, these kids were affiliated with not one, but two members of the Port Mafia. Katsumi and Kousuke talked amongst themselves about how to tackle Odasaku when they would next see him. Alu looked to Shinji who looked quietly scared. She realized he may not like being out in the cold, at night, even if it was with his siblings. She held out her hand to him. He blinked and looked at her but her reassuring smile, made his tense shoulders relax. He took her hand, his fingers trembling slightly. She squeezed his hand, reassuringly.

Shinji wasn't very talkative, but the small smile on his face was all Alu needed to see to know that she was doing the right thing for these children. She took them down some streets, and eventually, she found herself at a crossroads. She sweat dropped. She forgot if it was a left or a right turn.

Kousuke blinked and he put his hands on his head, frowning at her. "Hey, Big Sis, where are we going?"

Alu wished she actually knew where they were. Crap, she was totally lost. She smiled at Kousuke, "The super secret base!"

"Super Secret Base?" Yu piped up, curious.

"Huh, Odasaku is really going out of his way to make this a mystery, huh?" Kousuke sighed, but he was smiling. "I can't wait to tell him that I obviously won."

"Hey, I packed half as fast as you did," Katsumi retorted.

Alu could tell these two bickered a lot. "Boys, you lose brownie points if you fight on the way there," Alu chided.

"Agh, I don't wanna lose!" Katsumi whined, kicking a pebble. Alu smiled. She wasn't great with kids but there was something nice about these kids. She couldn't quite place it. She'd been alone for so long, she wondered if she was just lonely. That was probably it. She decided to go right and she directed them in the direction that she hoped was the agency building.

To their luck, it wasn't long before they arrived at the street of the building. Her eyes lit up as she saw the familiar building. "Huh, ne'er been here before," Kousuke commented, looking around.

"Duh, we don't go places often for our safety," Yu pointed out.

"Exactly, Sakunosuke is very smart," Alu agreed. "He's kept you safe but even so, it's good to live a little too, no?" She smiled at Kousuke and the others. "You're all very brave."

Kousuke and the other boys looked pleased with the praise. Sakura smiled shyly, hugging her teddy bear to her chest. Alu turned to the door to the coffee shop. She jiggled the knob. Crud, it was locked. She couldn't exactly use rewrite for something so minor. She rubbed her forehead. Well, time to old school it. She wrapped a piece of cloth from her own satchel around her fist, and punched the glass. It shattered, causing the kids to jolt.

"Whoa—Big Sis?" Kousuke's eyes widened. Alu smiled at them, though her hand hurt like hell—it was probably bleeding a little too but she didn't want them to worry.

"Shh, this is where the fun stealth begins," she put a finger to her lips, beaming as she let hte cloth fall off her fist and using her hand, felt around for the lock of the door. Finding it, she clicked the door unlocked and opened it. "Quickly, inside," she said cheerfully.

The kids looked uneasy. Alu felt a pang. She looked to Sakura and then she smiled, kneeling in front of the kids. "Hey, I know its a bit scary—"

"I'm not scared!" Kousuke protested.

"Yeah, me neither!" Katsumi agreed.

Yu was quiet along with Shinji, eyeing her. Sakura eyed Alu, hugging that teddy bear to her chest. It was almost as big as her. Alu wanted to reassure them somehow. She stepped inside, making sure to kick some glass aside. She beckoned to them to follow her. "Alright, brownie points for the brave!"

Kousuke and Katsumi both fought to get through the door, it was almost comical. They finally managed, and the others trailed in. She shut the door. And turned to them all. The cafe was dark as it would be at this time of night. She had been here a few times during the day before—to stake out a route mostly. She also knew the agency's office was upstairs. For the night, she was hoping to stall and have the kids stay there until the agency members could see them in the morning. She worried if she broke into the agency office she'd get in far more trouble than a coffee shop. Plus, this wouldn't be the first place brainless thugs would look.

Alu couldn't quite shake the uneasy feeling though. These kids weren't out of the woods yet, that was what her instinct was telling her. She would do her best for them, regardless. She owed them that much for not helping sooner. And she'd somehow keep Oda Sakunosuke alive in the process. It was the leader— Gide of the misfit band of homicidal maniacs— that she was most worried about. How could she possibly turn his obsession away from Oda? Something didn't feel right. He was specifically targeting Oda but he even admitted that he wasn't even from Japan. Somehow he'd gotten into the country and was oddly fixated on having Oda kill him. That wasn't a coincidence. Alu also felt strongly that there was a puppet master—but who?

She heard Sakura sniffle. Alarmed, she looked over her shoulder. Yu held Sakura's hand. "Don't cry," Yu said, flustered.

"I'm scared," Sakura sniffled. "I want Odasaku…"

Alu felt a pang. She quietly knelt before Sakura and she opened her arms. "I'm not Odasaku, but...I'm willing to try to make you feel safe, regardless," she said gently. Sakura hugged her teddy bear and letting go of Yu's hand, hugged Alu back. Alu pet her head.

"You're very brave, Sakura… your brothers are all proud, aren't you?" She said gently, focusing on the trembling child in her arms. Sakura had done good, holding out this long. She heard another sniffle and looked up. Shinji was trembling as well, clutching the hem of his jacket, also nervous. Kousuke, Yu, and Katsumi looked at each other and at Alu Awkwardly. They weren't crying but they still felt awkward about their two younger siblings starting to.

Alu gestured for Shinji to come over. He hugged her tightly too. "It's been… a long time.." Shinji sniffled.

Alu blinked. "A long time since what?" She asked puzzled.

"Since...since I got a hug...f-from someone that reminded me of mommy..." Shinji choked, and the tears began to fall harder. The kids all quieted, including Alu. Alu teared up. She hugged both the younger kids tightly. They sniffled, clinging to her and she did her best to hold them as tightly as she could. Shinji couldn't be more than five and Sakura was definitely still just around that age, herself.

She felt her heart twist with sympathy. That's right. She didn't actually know anything about these kids. "You...do any of you remember your parents?"

"They sacrificed their lives in a big battle two years ago," Kousuke said, subdued. "Odasaku took us in… we had nothing…"

"Big battle?" Alu frowned.

"We don't know much about it...Odasaku said he'd tell us what happened when we're old enough," Katsumi sighed.

Alu pet the two youngest, sitting on the floor of the coffee shop. She sensed car lights coming their way and instantly went on the alert, quickly straightening up, and smiling at Kousuke. "Kousuke, you and Katsumi are on big brother duty with Yu okay?"

Shinji and Sakura wiped their eyes, falling into place with their other siblings, as Alu peered out the blinds of the window into the street. Her eyes widened with shock. There were members of Mimic patrolling! Shit. Her heart pounded. She hadn't gotten a vision! Was this punishment for selfishly using her power? Alu's heart raced. She had to get these kids up to the upper level of the agency. It wouldn't be long as it were before someone would realize there was a smashed window here— whether or not that would link them to the kids, she could only hope wouldn't be the case.

"What are you looking at?" Kousuke climbed up on the booth to peer out with her. Alu let out a noise of surprise.

"Kousuke, don't!" Alu's tone was sharper than she'd intended. Kousuke flinched, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Hey, I've been wondering this for a while, but is this really a game?" Katsumi frowned, eyeing Alu. Before Alu could stop Yu, Yu had clambered up onto another bench and peered out himself. His eyes widened.

"There are people with guns out there—and an armored vehicle too!" Yu looked on with horror at Alu.

Alu grimaced. Great, so now the kids were going to panic and be in danger at the same time. She had to keep calm. Okay, what would a cool headed person do with their back up against the wall like this. She tried to think like Dazai. Nothing came to mind other than running with a skip into the crossfire hoping to get shot to death. Sweating she realized that probably wasn't the best tactic.

Her eyes fell on Sakura again. She put a finger to her lips and gestured to the door. "Okay, real talk, those men are real, the danger is...unfortunately real—there's someone who wants to hurt our friend, Odasaku— and he asked me to get you all to safety."

The kids stared at her with wide eyes. Shinji and Sakura began to sniffle again, stressed out. Yu and Katsumi's expressions turned grim but they held their siblings, while Kousuke punched his fist into his palm. "Why didn't you say that from the start!"

Alu grimaced. "Well, he and I both didn't want to worry you—" well, it wasn't a wrong assumption she figured.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Kousuke tugged Sakura to himself, glaring at Alu. Alu flinched. She swallowed. Finally she put her hands together. She formally bowed before them.

"Because I have no desire to stand aside while innocent blood is shed in a fight that isn't even yours," she said earnestly, looking at everyone. "I swear, on my life...that I won't let any harm come to any one of you."

Kousuke teared up. "This is wrong!" He backed up. "I ...I want Odasaku!"

Alu grit her teeth. She knew she couldn't compare to that guy. She had gone and gotten herself involved. What was even more unnerving is the fact that they must have been tipped somehow to this particular area. Why else would they be gathering at this time of night? In the original scenario, Mimic hadn't even made a move until the following day. No...something changed. Some factor—but what?

Alu felt uneasy. With no visions and no clear way to move forward, she looked to the door. Wait—that was it. Her eyes widened. She looked to the kids. "All of you, hide behind that big counter."

It was a command and Kousuke hesitated, before he finally grit his teeth. "Come on, we have to hide. Big Sis says so," he said, gesturing to his siblings to follow. They all piled behind the counter. Alu straightened up. Kousuke had a good head on his shoulders.

"Sakura… I told you, I would keep you and your family safe," Alu said, watching Sakura hug her doll behind the tall counter. She leaned against Yu, sniffling. Alu closed her eyes, and she put her hands together. "I'll protect you all...that I swear," Alu murmured, and the runes glowed, flowing from her hands. The kids stared at her with wide eyes.

"Whoa—you're an ability user?" Kousuke's jaw dropped.

"I am," Alu said softly. "Kousuke," she looked at him in earnest. "You are the one in charge while I'm gone—stay here, all of you. Don't come out until either myself or Odasaku come back."

"Are you really friends with Odasaku?" Yu asked, apprehensive.

Alu didn't want to lie. "...I would like to be," she said, straightening up. "I saw how he took care of you all...and I guess…"

"Wait, are you his girlfriend?" Kousuke gasped. "Does Odasaku plan to keep this a secret?"

Alu had no idea how they came to tht conclusion considering she looked 15 and Odasaku was at least...in his 20's.

"She's not his girlfriend," Katsumi scoffed. "Odasaku is married to work."

Alu figured that wasn't entirely wrong. Still, she shook her head. "Listen, I'm going to direct their attention elsewhere. You stay here—Odasaku or I will return. Okay? Stay safe...Stay hidden…" Alu trailed off.

The kids looked at her with wide eyes. Stay alive, she wanted to say. Her eyes flickered. She closed them before she opened them again. Her eyes glowed blue, just like the runes on her fingertips.

It was time to get serious.