It was pitch black. But something was not right. Aya knew the problem as soon as a laser beam ran its criss-cross course along the far wall, ready to come back towards the wall they found themselves leaning against. The door acted as a teleporter! They were now really, truly, and unbelievably inside the Schwarz lair, and were about to become laser-incised fried humans!

Ken sat down to the good dinner of steamed rice, miso soup, several types of sushi, some light tuna-style okonomiyaki, and some dessert.
"This dinner is very good, Mrs. Migasushida. Tell me, how did you get the soup so perfectly seasoned?" Ken said earnestly, wiping his mouth with the cloth napkins that were worn but very clean.
Mrs. Migasushida chuckled kindly. "Please, call me Sachiko. It is the family recipe. I shall copy it for you later on. I hope you enjoy your stay. We haven't really much to offer here."
"I am sure I'll have a nice rest. But I am leaving bright and early tomorrow morning. I am on a journey far away," Ken explained.
Misato looked up, her eyes huge. "You're only staying one night, Ken? Couldn't you stay longer?"
Mrs. Migasushida was shocked. "Misato! How impolite! Mind your manners! If he must leave, then he must leave! We cannot change his schedule plans just for our own benefit," she admonished her child severely.
Ken looked a little uncomfortable. "Oh no, no, I wasn't going anywhere special. In fact, if you would like, I could stay a little longer. Would you like me to help you with anything? Anything at all, I'll be happy to help," he said quickly, recovering himself.
Misato's eyes practically shone like the stars. "Would you really? Oh please! That would be…that's just the best!" she said, so happy she was at loss for words.
Mrs. Migasushida was also delighted. "That would be wonderful, is it, Ken? Yes, that would be very good. I do not want to push work upon you, if you don't wish to do something, then just tell me. You need not burden yourself with excess work."
Ken nodded, pleased that he could make such generous and kind people happy. "What would you like me to do?"
Misato answered for her mother. "Paint!" she squealed happily. "I'll bet your first impression of this motel was, yuck, it's so ugly! I know it is. It hasn't been painted for a long time now because my mother is too busy to paint and she won't let me do it. I know I can do it, but she just won't let me!" She looked at her mother with as much of a scowl she could muster. But she couldn't; she was ecstatic about Ken's help.
Mrs. Migasushida was about to reprimand her daughter again but Ken spoke first. "Sure. I can do that. Do you have paint and paint brushes?"
"Of course! We wouldn't ask you to paint if we didn't have supplies!" Misato told him, helping herself to another bowl of miso soup.
"Sorry," Ken said sheepishly. The small, delicate cakes were piled high before him. He took one and took a sip of tea. It was also delicious.
"Even though I'm twelve, mama still thinks I'm a baby," Misato remarked, slurping at her soup. "I don't see how painting is dangerous at all. If it was shingling, that would be a different story."
Mrs. Migasushida sighed. "I guess you can help him, too," she relented slowly, thinking it over. "You can probably paint the doors."
Misato was even more overjoyed. "Really, mama? You'll let me?" she paused, and when she saw her mother was actually saying that she could, she let out a whoop. "I'm sure I'll do a good job, I promise!"
Ken chuckled. It was a rather interesting sight. "You're twelve, are you? You remind me of one of my work partners. He's seventeen." Then he paused, thinking about Koneko no Sumu Ie and the other Weiß members.
But Misato was interested. "Seventeen? What does he look like?" she inquired, curious about Ken's work and such. She peered over him like a suspicious cat ready to leap.
Ken shrugged. He wondered if he still had that group picture they took, and stood up slowly. "Excuse me, I think I have one in my bags."
"Oh, please, finish your dinner first. I'm sure my daughter can wait just a while longer," Mrs. Migasushida said, glancing at Misato reproachfully.
Ken shook his head. "That's okay, I'm full, anyway. Thank you for the wonderful dinner. It's right over here, so it won't be any trouble at all." He reached into the bag and pulled out the little picture. Misato looked at it, then grinned.
"This is you," she said, pointing, "And this must be your partner, right? What's his name?" She was looking at Omi, then wondered about the katana Aya had at the side. "What's that sword-thing that man has?"
Ken chuckled a little nervously. "That's Omi, and that's Yoji. The red-haired guy is Aya-san. We all work in a flower shop called Koneko no Sumu Ie, Kitty in the House."
Misato contemplated the picture. Yoji had a cigarette in one hand and a flower in the other. Omi carried a little pot of freesia, his darts, Aya his katana and a rose, and Ken had his soccer ball under one arm, and his normal goggle/sweater/jacket/boots wear. He did not have his bugnuk out, fortunately for him. At the moment, he wasn't wearing his usual attire, so Misato did not recognize that outfit. Why does that man, Aya, did you call him? Have that sword?
Ken shifted. "It's a sort of prized possession." It was true, Aya did take utmost care of it, but he also used it to kill. He couldn't let them know that he was part of an assassin group and he worked as an assassin during the night.
"Really?" Misato said slowly, as if she didn't believe him. Then she must've thought of something else because then she asked about the flower in the window in the picture.
Ken grinned. "That's my flower. It's a Gentian." Then he remembered that it was probably dead from lack of water. "That was a long time ago, though."
"It must have not been so long ago," Mrs. Migasushida remarked, vaguely hinting Ken to talk about it. "You wouldn't have that picture so fresh off and you wouldn't be so eager to let others see. Why did you leave, really?"
"What? I suppose it's easy to see through," he said, looking at his hands. Mrs. Migasushida remained silent, waiting. She seemed so understanding. So Ken related his little story for the kindly woman to hear.

Aya did not know what time it was. They had gone inside and dodged those laser beams for what seemed eternity. Finally, when at last they seemed at the end of the interminable corridor, the floor gave way. They found themselves falling down endless tunnels of darkness. They got separated, and then Aya knew nothing more.
He was sitting in a puddle within a dark, damp little cell with rounded walls and a small pad-locked grill-gate. A little light in the shape of a circle came through a hole in the ceiling. Water dripped off all corners, smoothing the wall with its trails. Aya noted that during rainstorms the torrents of water must come through here and erode the walls away. He fervently hoped it would not rain.
Meanwhile, Yoji was wandering through a maze of metal chambers that seemed to move in every direction depending on each turn he took. He would go through one door to come out again three doors later in the same room. Some rooms only had one door, some had up to six. But it was a never-ending maze. He soon began to feel probed and desolate. He wondered where Aya and Omi were, and finally realized he was alone. Completely and utterly alone.
Omi, on the other hand, was in the worst of situations. In a similar cell as Aya's, his was a long tunnel filled with slime and deep water. In order to keep out of the water, he had to hang onto small footholds built into the slick walls. The only problem was that they moved back a forth. Sometimes he would find himself at ease, and others in the splits, his legs as far apart as they could possibly go. Once, however, his arms became crossed and his legs far apart, and he fell in. The water was extremely turbulent and metal rock, razors, saws, and spikes came up out of nowhere. A little platform saved him by a millimeter from being cleaved asunder by a metal razor. He soon began to cry in exhaustion and exasperation. [waaaaaahhhhhhhhh poor Omi!!!]

Crawford was grinning silently. Their perfect plan was finally going to annihilate the Weiß crew! Farfello watched the video cameras that focused on the three. Nagi was silently playing with a little kitten that had wandered in. He had no part in this plan until later and did not bother with the other three. Schulderich, however, was having fun probing Yoji. He soon grew tired of this little game, and suddenly noticed that the fourth chamber of death and doom was empty. His little enemy opponent was nowhere to be seen.
"Crawford," Schulderich said, not sure at all that this plan would work. "Fourth member Ken is not in his doom chamber. Was he with them?"
Crawford rubbed his chin. "I don't know. But no matter, I'm sure he can't do anything without the other three. Remember? They work as one and without all four they're doomed!" He laughed horridly, the walls echoing.

"Ken! Aya! Yoji!" Omi screamed, tears streaming down his cheeks. He had once again been saved by that metal block. Obviously Schwarz wanted to torture him for a long time. He sat sullenly upon it, crying out all sorts of names, swears, items he cherished, incoherent words, absolutely anything that came into his mind. One thing he could remember, however, was that only his father could do such a terrible thing.
Aya sat, the water in the cell about four inches higher than it had been only an hour before. He noticed that some of the water would be going out through the grate-grill that was a foot off the ground. They would not kill him so quickly. Takatori would have to pay for this, also.
Yoji finally gave up. He was back in that same room with the six doors and the pedestal in the middle. There must be some way to get out without going through the doors. Out of the six times he passed through this room, he had tried all the doors. Each led through several rooms with only one door, and then he'd find himself in that room again. He stared at the pedestal of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty. The base seemed to be a separate part. He began to look it over.

Ken finished his story. Mrs. Migasushida had begun to wash the dishes, and she listened politely. "So you see, I had to leave."
Misato had left to gather some laundry, so she hadn't heard the story. Mrs. Migasushida put in her comments. "I think they miss you now that you've left them. Did you ever think that this Omi, your youngest partner, might think it was his fault though it wasn't? He certainly sounds as if he would blame himself."
Ken pondered this thought. "I suppose he might have. But still, I could never go back and apologize. I would die, first."
Mrs. Migasushida shook her head. "No, Ken, I am sure they will accept your apology. You were almost like brothers. A quarrel now and then is always to be anticipated. You miss them, don't you? And you also miss more than that. You have a lot to miss, young man."
Ken nodded, silent. He cleared the table for her and placed all the dishes in the sink. He began to look around for a dry dishtowel to dry the washed dishes.
"What a good boy you are," Mrs. Migasushida complimented, then continued to speak. "You know, you should go back. What did you say your occupation was?"
Ken started, and almost dropped the plate he was holding. "Um, I work in the flower shop, too." He added the "too" as if he had already said he did something else, also.
Mrs. Migasushida's eyebrows raised slightly. It seemed she did not believe him, and that she knew he did something else. But she did not force him to tell her. "I see. Well, I hope you'll take into consideration what I've--"
Ken coughed. Or, more like choked. He felt compelled to tell her the entire truth, why he left, what his other job was. She glanced at him, worried and curious. He finally spilled it out when she held her silence, waiting.
"I'm an.....well, I work with the other three to rid the world of the bad and evil. It was getting to me. I just couldn't handle it anymore. I-I'm sorry I ever bothered you with my problems…I'm not supposed to even tell--" he broke off, ashamed and also confused and rather afraid.
Mrs. Migasushida did not say anything for a while. Ken thought perhaps he had offended her by coming to her place, knowing he was an assassin and killed people. Then she said, quietly, "We can see that you do not kill the innocent." She paused, unsure about something. "My husband used to go out to town twice a month. He wouldn't come back for days at a time. We used to hear stories of the duels he fought. He used to take my eldest, my son, along with. My son used to sit around and move things with his weird powers. It scared me, and my husband used to say he would grow up to be a strong boy. I was afraid he would become too powerful and wanted to see the doctor. We had a row, and--they disappeared together a few years ago. It was awful," she ended, in a whisper.
Ken looked at her, his eyes full of sorrow. So she knew how it felt to know an assassin. He was not relieved. Such people should not have to deal with such emotions and experiences. "I'm sorry…I-I don't know what to say!" he exclaimed suddenly.
Mrs. Migasushida smiled her sad smile. "That's okay. There's nothing you can do. But you have to promise me you'll go back and help your friends. I have a feeling they might be in trouble without you. With such people as my husband and others like him, the world would not go 'round without equal but opposite forces to beat them down. Be wary, Ken, my son is also an assassin." The way she said it almost made Ken feel as if he had met this son of hers more than once before. But he thought nothing of it. He had to hurry back to help. He thanked her profusely, promising to visit and write often as he loaded his bike. He was reminded my Misato he had a painting job to do, and they all had a hearty laugh at his departure. He whizzed off, shouting goodbyes on his way down the open dirt road in the fields.