"Train!!" Katie yelled excitedly as her alarm clock
went off. Her adrenaline was already pumping and she was all ready
to jump out of bed when she opened her eyes. Katie almost screamed,
except she clasped a hand over her mouth. Floating above her head
was a spider web, with a grey spider in the middle of it. "Mmmmmm!"
Katie whined as she squeezed her eyes shut and winced. When she
opened her eyes, it was gone. She blew out a huff of breath to
see if the web was still there. It wasn't very strong. Then she
blew a second time, stronger. Then she blew a third time. Nothing
moved. There were no shiny, glinting spider webs to be found.
Katie waved a hand around above her head. She saw nor felt anything.
"Henna," she thought, then sat up when her door flung
open. "Ready yet?" Amanda happily asked. In the blink
of an eye, the room was crawling in spiders. "Uh"
Katie managed to say as she pointed above Amanda's head. "Huh?"
Amanda looked up to find a huge tarantula right above the doorframe.
She made a big-eyed face. By this time, there was a whole army
of tiny spiders marching across Katie's covers. This was enough
to send Katie sprinting out of the room, dragging Amanda behind
her. "I hate spiders!" Katie yelled as she and Amanda
went stomping down the stairs. The lady of the house popped up
at the bottom. "Hey!" She exclaimed with her hands on
her hips. "What big idea, eh?" She inquired in broken
English. "Kumo!" Katie motioned with her hands. "Dai
kumo!!" Katie spoke in broken Japanese. "Kumo?"
The lady asked with an eyebrow raised. "Hai, hai! So da yo!!"
"So?" She asked. "You do it." The lady of
the house turned around and walked away.
"Aw!" Katie said as her jaw hung open. "That was really weird," Amanda commented. "They just appeared all of a sudden, ne?" "Yeah," Katie confirmed, "just like in the movies." "Let's go see if they're still there," Amanda suggested as she headed upstairs. "They could be gone for all we know." Katie followed her. When Amanda opened the door, Katie's room had returned to normal. "Gone??" Katie asked as she peeked her head in the doorway. "They're all gone!" Katie said, amazed. She took a few steps into her room. A big black spider slid down from the ceiling right infront of her face. "Ack!" Katie said as she backed away from it. "Noooooo" she whined. "It had to be spiders!!" She complained. "I can't stand spiders!!" Katie crossed her arms and pouted at Amanda. "No way. Absolutely not!" "Not what?" Amanda asked. "There is no way I'm letting one of those things bite me!" She said, pointing at Amanda. A flash in the mirror caught Amanda's eye. "Hey," she commented, "since when did you get blue highlights in your hair?" "Me?" Asked Katie. "I've never highlighted my hair before. Why?" "It's just that in the mirror" Amanda trailed off. "In the mirror?" Katie turned to the little oval mirror on her wall and played with her hair. "I don't see any," she noted. "Well, anyways," Amanda said, "we need to get going." "Alright," Katie replied. "I'm on it."
"So," the blue-haired man thought, "can't stand spiders, eh?" He put a finger to his chin. "So much for that approach." He shrugged. "She didn't see me like I thought she would," Kuroda commented to himself. "Only the other woman did." He stopped pacing. "This could be a problem," he said as he stared off into the deep maroon that surrounded him. In his mind, Kuroda opted for Plan B. She'd have to find out where he was sometime.
"Hey guys!" Katie waved at Linda and Moira. "Hi!" Amanda waved. Linda and Moira smiled. "You both got here just in time," Linda remarked. "The train leaves in ten minutes." "Ack!" Katie said. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!!" She panicked as she dragged the three other ladies along with her. Amanda-tachi gave yelps of surprise. As they passed by the ticket window, Amanda saw it again. So did Moira. "What's that?" She asked. "It's the same guys again!" Amanda replied. "The same guy what?" Katie asked as she continued to drag everyone along. "They guy with the blue highlights!" Amanda yelled at her. "You mean," Katie said, catching her breath infront of the train, "the one I didn't see yet? The one I missed this morning?" "Yeah," Amanda said, raising a finger. "That's the one!" The ladies made it to the train in record time, and got on board. "It was strange," Moira commented. "It looked like he was dragging us instead of you!" "Really?" Katie asked in amazement. Moira nodded. "Can I try it again and see if I can see him?" Katie asked. Amanda snickered. Moira and Linda sweatdropped. "Just kidding!" Katie laughed. "But you really didn't see it?" Linda asked. "Even I saw a glimpse of whoever it was." "Hm," Katie said with a surprised look on her face. I must be missing out!" She said with a bit of a pout. "Oh well," she laughed. "I think this is probably more than an 'oh well' situation Katie," Amanda told her. "It most likely means something." "True, true," Katie replied, "but I'm here to enjoy the scenery. Shuten and his buddies will have to wait." With that, Katie took a quick look out the window. The train was starting to move. She didn't even notice the man with one eye staring at her.
At noon, a light lunch was served, starting with ice water. "So, are you enjoying it so far?" Linda inquired. "It's fantastic," Amanda replied. "It's been wonderful," Katie said. "The scenery's awesome!" "Here's your water," a waiter announced as he approached them. "Oh good," Moira smiled. "I'm really thirsty." She waited for the man to hand out the glasses and thanked him. As the waiter handed Katie her drink, Amanda saw it again. "Oh" she gasped at the glass. "What?" Everyone else asked. "Look, look!" Amanda said in a rushed whisper as she poked her best friend in the shoulder. "What, what?" Katie asked. "Your glass," Amanda hissed. "What?" Katie was completely oblivious. "It's just condensation." "Wipe it off," Amanda ordered, "and look." So, Katie wiped all the condensation off of the outside of her glass. "It's just water," she said, stirring the ice around. "Can't you see it at all?" Amanda asked her. "Look carefully." She stressed. Katie rolled her eyes. "We can all see whoever it is except you." Linda pointed out. "Well, maybe I'm not supposed to see him." Katie objected. Linda and Moira got up and went to the other side of the table and stared at the glass. "You're not in the reflection," Moira noted. "Just like last time." "Really?" Katie asked. She put her nose up to the glass, but all she could see was her own warped face. "He does the same thing that she does!" Amanda said as she saw the man's face warp. "That's no ordinary person." Linda declared. "It's one of the men we were asked to free," she spoke quietly. "Hm," said Moira, Amanda and Katie. "I really can't see him, though." Katie said with a wrinkled brow. Her face warped again in the glass as she tried hard to find what everyone else could easily see. "There's no one else there," Katie commented. "Well," suggested Amanda, maybe we should wait." She leaned back in her chair. "Nothing much has happened yet." "Perhaps," said Moira with a smile, "you just need an akward glance." "An akward glance?" Katie asked. "Yeah," replied Moira. "Like out of the corner of your eye, for example. Something that you're not really expecting or looking for." "Ah! That's right!" Amanda said, smacking a fist into her palm. "He might not be strong enough to get your attention, Katie." "It doesn't take that much to get my attention," she said with a pout. "But, he's trapped, so any power he has could be weakened." "Hm," said Katie as she stared at the glass, then flicked it twice with a fingernail. "I guess you guys are right," she commented. "I'll wait," Katie spoke with a smile. "Looks like you'll have to," said Moira, "lunch is here!" Moira and Linda went back to their seats across from Amanda and Katie. The rest of lunch was served, and the ladies switched the topic of conversation.
Kuroda realized he was now being completely ignored. "Shimatta," he cursed to himself. Now he'd have to let all the loonies in the bin out. By this, he meant that he'd have to re-animate all of the suspended soldiers surrounding him. They were all ready to trample over him- except they were frozen in stance. Right now, they all thought they'd been paralyzed by an Ultimate Goddess. Once Kuroda removed this illusion from their warped brains, they'd all run to the mirror looking for the exit. That didn't matter. Kuroda knew the soldiers could be easily handled, and once he had the lady with him, his safe passage would be granted. He and the lady would be the only ones leaving. The poor demented souls would all be left to crash into the following darkness. He was ready.
"Lunch was great," said Moira, quite satisfied. Linda, Katie and Amanda agreed with her whole-heartedly. The waiter came around again to collect the noontime dishes. Katie asked for some more water, and as she motioned to her glass, she knocked it over. "Agh!" Katie panicked. She madly wiped up the remaining water on her side of the table, and Moira did the same infront of her. On the glass, the man glared at her as he shouted something silent. Katie's gaze narrowed on the glass. "You saw it, didn't you?" Amanda said as she elbowed Katie out of the way. "I" Katie trailed off. "I need to go visit the ladies room. 'Scuse me, girls." Katie smiled at them. She got up from the table and walked in the direction of the washrooms.
On her way, Katie stopped infront of a big mirror to see if she could find the man with the eye patch again. "Hm," Katie thought as she stared. "Where'd he go?" She put her face right infront of the mirror. Kuroda vanquished his hold on the soldiers. Suddenly, the mirror infront of Katie turned dark. "Eh?" Katie said as she backed away. "Yahhhhhhh!" A voice yelled as a chain lashed out from the mirror. "Nnnnngh!" Katie heaved as she tried to pull the chain away from her neck. It started to drag her towards the mirror. Katie braced her feet on the wall, pulling in the opposite direction. There was a huge pull on the chain, and Katie was pulled headfirst into the dark mirror.
"Wagh!" Katie yelled as she plunged into the strange dimension. Chains were surrounding her from every direction. She was tied and bound. "Well, well, look at what we have here," a rough voice commented. Katie stared up to find a large number of greedy-looking soldiers. "Lemmie go, you jerks!" She yelled at them harshly. One hand picked her up. That soldier looked at her and laughed. Katie wiggled this way and that, trying to free herself. "You're a feisty one," it commented. "We like to play with the feisty ones," it said evilly. "You'll never touch me!" Katie whipped back. "Heh, heh," it laughed as it gripped her face. Katie shot it a dirty look as her necklace bristled under the chains. It turned her face from side to side, pondering something altogether evil. Katie shut her eyes and thought, "Stupid asses!!" She visualized her shield, and it breaking off the chains in a huge wash of light. "Uagh!" Cried the soldier who had gripped her face. He lay smoldering on the ground infront of her. So did most of the others. "Armor of Patience! I call for you! Don yourself!" Kate felt a rush of positive energy as her armor materialized. The remaining few soldiers looked at her hungrily. "The next one who moves," Patience said as she loaded a fist full of arrows, "dies." As the soldiers dared to test her threat, they moved, and Patience let her stash fly. "Fatal flash!" She yelled. It finished them off.
Patience stopped to look around. "Hm," she thought. "No eye-patch man." Then she got an idea. "Hey!!" She yelled as loud as she possibly could. "Heeeeeeeeeeeey!" She cupped her hands around her mouth. "Hey! Eye-patch man!" She looked around. Nothing. She walked forward for a few paces then stopped again. "Hey!! You want to get out of here, ne?" More soldiers surrounded her again as they pinpointed her quiet yells. "Guh!" She said at their sudden assembly. "Sorry boys, but you're not who I'm looking for." She loaded up some more arrows. "Fatal Flash!" The shards of gold light hit the men and took them out. "They grow just like weeds," Patience thought with a frown. She continued her journey onward, avoiding the cobwebs that she found.
"Tochimou!" yelled Kuroda. All of the soldiers stopped in their tracks. Then they turned to face one another and started grappling. "Useless fools," Kuroda said to himself as he hopped across heads and shoulders, avoiding chains and blades. He made his way towards the mirror and Patience, who was walking in his direction.
It seemed that the further she got, the more cobwebs Patience found. She was pushing them out of the way with her bow. "Eeeeewwwwwww" she complained as they made horrible crackling sounds. "Still no sight of the eye-patch man," she thought. "Ugh." Patience found a cobweb right in her face. She madly wiped it off. "Where are you?!" Patience said to herself. "OI!!" She yelled. "Anata wa doko desu ka?" She stopped and put her hands on her hips. Sighing, Patience walked on.
"Does she usually take this long?" Moira asked. "I don't think so," shrugged Amanda. "She's probably playing infront of a mirror trying to find that guy," she finished. "That's probably it!" Linda said, blinking twice. "What if she got sucked in?" Amanda blurted out, putting fists infront of her mouth. "I bet that's what happened!" She said. "Well, let's go check it out," Moira said calmly. The three ladies got up and wandered towards the washrooms. When they got to the mirror in the hall, they stopped. "Look's like the writing's on the wall," Linda said, carefully running her fingers over a scratch mark. "I'll go check the bathroom," Amanda said.
"Katie?" Amanda asked, knocking on the door. "You in there?" No response. She knocked again. "Katie?" Amanda tried to open the door, and when she did, it was unlocked and Katie was nowhere in sight. "She must be in the mirror!" Amanda frowned at her revelation. She turned around and ran back down the hall.
"Guys!" Amanda said, "She has to be in the mirror!" "She's not in the washroom, then?" asked Moira. "Nuh-uh." Replied Amanda, who stared harshly at the mirror. "All evidence points to the mirror," Linda remarked. She touched the glass, but it stayed solid under her fingertips. "And it doesn't look like we're going in either." Linda knocked on the glass. Nothing special happened. "Guess we're waiting." Amanda decided as she leaned against the opposite wall, crossing her arms. Linda and Moira nodded in her direction. So, they all settled in to wait.
Kuroda quickened his pace. If he was going to get out of here, he'd have to hurry. His illusions wouldn't last forever, and they'd all be after his ride out of this hellhole. "Where is she already?" He thought impatiently. "The blasted fools must have dragged her in by now," he assumed to himself. "Oi!!" "Eh?" Kuroda stopped in his tracks. "Anata wa doko desu ka?" "It's her!" He realized. He sprinted on ahead as fast as he could, not daring to say a word back. He'd rather the soldiers broke his illusion later rather than sooner.
Patience kept walking, when she heard the sound of thudding
footsteps. "Ngh!" she said as she drew back another
arrow. Whatever it was, it didn't sound friendly. Patience decided
it would be a bad thing if she didn't take care of it. "Fatal"
The thing had the speed of an oncoming train. Patience glared
at it. It was a person! And they still didn't stop! Patience waited
a few seconds more. It looked sort of maroon-ish not quite
like the rest of the soldiers she had run into. "Nani?"
Patience didn't have enough time to think as the maroon thing
slammed into her. "Ugh!" Patience yelled as she was
knocked backwards. Her arrow flew into the air, and exploded into
a thousand tiny shards. "Great!!" Yelled Kuroda as he
roughly tossed Patience over his right shoulder. "Fireworks!"
All of the soldiers that had been grappling a few kilometers
behind Kuroda stopped to look above themselves. Then they faced
Kuroda's direction. "Yaaah!" Yelled one. Then, a great
roar came from the rest of the soldiers. Kuroda didn't spare them
a single glance. All Patience could see was darkness. "Leave
it to a woman to bring something useless like fireworks!"
"They're not fireworks!" Patience objected. Then, a
low sound like thunder reached both sets of ears. "Hear that?"
Kuroda questioned her as he continued to run, "that's your
fault, little woman!" "It is not!" She yelled back
at him. "You were the one who threw me off!" "What?
What's that?" He asked. "I can't hear you! Speak up!"
He couldn't help himself but to tease her. Slamming a hand on
his shoulder, she turned to face his Kuroda's ear. "I said,"
she spoke, "IT'S NOT MY FAULT!!" Patience yelled as
loud as she possibly could in his ear. Kuroda laughed at her.
"You can't yell too loud, can you?" "I'm soft spoken,"
Patience replied coolly. "Soft spoken, eh?" He said
mischievously. Then he laughed again. "Look," Patience
said, rather annoyed, "you want me to cover your ass or not?"
"I don't need you to cover my ass!" He told her. "Oh
yeah? Then why are all those men getting closer?" she asked.
"Fine, do what you want." Kuroda said. "Just give
it to them." "So, you're not interested in getting trampled,
then?" Patience yelled over the den. "Not particularly!
Now fire already!" Kuroda ordered. "About time,"
Patience commented, rolling her eyes. She pulled back a fist full
of arrows. "Fatal flash!" She said as she let them go.
The attack took out a huge chunk of soldiers. She did this for
a few minutes more while Kuroda ran.
Then, someone attacked from the front. "Ragh!" Kuroda
yelled as he smacked a blade away with his forearm. "They're
waiting at the mirror!" He thought. "Shimatta!"
He hissed. Patience just kept firing her stash. Kuroda could deal
with whatever was infront of him, she decided.
The soldiers infront of them were still attacking with all of their might. Kuroda was still knocking all of the blades away, only now he was having a tougher time doing it. Patience was still firing arrows over his back. The blades were flying everywhere as they came and left. One whacked Patience on the head. "Watch it, will 'ya?!" She yelled at him. "They're all infront of the fricking mirror," he yelled at her. "What do you expect me to do?!" "Put me down!" She told him. "I can take them out!" "Hell, no!" He returned sharply. "You're my only way out of here, so let's go!" He jumped up in the air and yelled, "Tochimou!" The soldiers paused for a brief moment, then started fighting with each other. "Now don't fire!" he told her strictly. "Or you'll break it!" "Yeesh!" Patience replied. "Alright, I won't!" "We're almost there, so don't screw it up," he replied. "Oh please," Patience snapped at him. "Have a little faith." "Hmph," replied Kuroda.
Blades and chains were still flying as they reached the other side of the crowd. As Kuroda dropped down to the ground, a blade whizzed by Patience's ear and sliced her left shoulder. She hissed. "Nani yo?" Kuroda demanded. "Nothing! Get going!" Patience ordered him. "Just move!" She looked at him out of the corner of her right eye. "You want to get out of here, ne? So move!" Kuroda rolled his eyes and began to run again. Then, he got an idea. "There's a force field around the mirror," he lied. "But it's special. People like you can't feel anything once you enter it." He concentrated on his next illusion. Patience turned her head to look. "But I can't see it!" "You wouldn't," he told her. "Put your weapons away before you loose them," Kuroda instructed as he finished his illusion. "Mienai," he mumbled under his breath. "What?" Asked Patience. "What was that?" She asked as she put away her arrows. "Nothing," he told her. As she let go, her arrows spilled all over the place. "Didn't I tell you to put them away?" He demanded. "I did!" She yelled back. "They went everywhere," he pointed out. "Had you waited to go into the force field, I wouldn't have this problem. I can't even feel my bow, and I'm still holding it!" "Well, I couldn't wait any longer. Besides," he replied, "we're almost there. Kuroda kept running. "Get ready." He advised.
"This is my chance," he thought. "Now that she's got that open wound, I can slip in, then out." He looked ahead and smirked to himself. "Perfect." "Uh hello?" said Patience. "Earth to eye patch man!" "Nani?" He asked. "What do you want me to do to get ready?" Patience asked with a wrinkled brow. She had no idea of what he was intending to do. "Just hang on." "Hang on?" she laughed. "To what? How can I hang on when I can't feel a bloody thing?" Kuroda sighed exasperatedly. "Put your bow around your neck and grab on to my shoulder." Since she really didn't have much of a choice, Patience slung her bow around her neck, and grabbed Kuroda's shoulder with both arms. "Alright, you'd better be ready!" Kuroda tightened his grip around her waist. "Mochiron yo!" She replied. "Get going!"
With the mirror only a few steps away, Kuroda dug his fingers into Patience's wounded shoulder and jumped. He thanked himself that he'd put that illusion on her. Not only would a scream be bad, it would break his illusion on the soldiers fighting with each other behind them. Any scream from this lady would just sound, well, bad.
Kuroda ran into the mirror and passed through it like nothing
was there. When they got to the other side, only Patience appeared.
The mirror fell off the wall and broke with a loud crash. "Katie!"
Amanda exclaimed. She, Linda and Moira ran up to her quickly.
Then, Kuroda appeared out of nowhere, crashing into the remains
of the mirror. "Where'd he come from?" Linda asked.
Katie turned around. "The mirror!" she said. "Hey,"
Amanda spoke, noticing Katie's shoulder; "doesn't that hurt?"
"Huh?" Katie asked, unarming herself. "You mean
this?" she asked, pointing to her left shoulder. "Mmmmm."
Moira commented. "Looks bad." "It does?" Katie
asked as she turned her head to look. "I don't feel a thing."
Kuroda shook the glass out of his hair and found Katie just in
time. "Don't look!" He shouted at her. "Naze?"
She asked, annoyed. Kuroda took off the dark green sash from his
waist and pinned Katie against the wall. "Listen, little
woman," he ordered; "you're NOT to look at it!"
He nearly growled all of this at her as he deftly wrapped the
sash around her shoulder. Katie watched him. "Heythat's
mine." She spoke, looking at Kuroda's left hand. "So?"
He replied. "I'm talking about the blood, y'know." Katie
pointed out. "I know," confirmed Kuroda. "That
force field thing was a lie, wasn't it?" she asked him. Kuroda
finished tying the sash. "I still can't feel anything."
Katie told him. "You want to?" Kuroda threatened, smirking.
Katie didn't say anything; she just gave him some kind of pout.
"Nemuru," he said to her. Katie slowly blinked her eyes,
and leaned her head back against the wall. "I know who you
are," she smirked. "You don't say," Kuroda commented.
"Yeah," Katie yawned. You're the" she said
sleepily. "Gen" she held her forehead with her
right hand, trying to fight Kuroda's illusion, but she was honestly
too tired. The loss of blood was starting to get to her, and her
armor was taking her energy to heal her. Clenching her teeth,
she stared at him hard. "Masho!" she continued to stare
at him, but her head was getting heavy for her to hold up. "Nemuru,"
Kuroda told her as he poked a finger at her forehead. "They
were right about you," he commented. "You are a feisty."
He smirked. "When I wanna get my point across."
Katie told him as she fell asleep. Her body glowed a dim green.
"So, you're the Gen Masho?" Moira asked. "What
did you do to her?" Amanda demanded of Kuroda. "She's
sleeping. And yes, I am the Gen Masho," he replied proudly.
Linda walked over and carefully picked Katie up. "You never
told us how you got here," Linda reminded him. Kuroda laughed
lightly. "Like Yamanouchi, I too had a body outside of my
sanctuary." He continued to smirk at the three girls. "The
little brown spider behind the mirror," he thumbed. "Yamanouchi?"
Linda said wonderingly. "Is that his name?" Kuroda laughed
again. "You mean the man with the snake eyes, ne?" he
said, stretching an eyelid. "Yeah, that's him." Linda
said. "He was having a bit of a bad hair day too," she
pointed out. Kuroda had a good laugh at her last comment. "I
believe we've got the same person," he said between bits
of laughter. "And your name is?" Linda asked. Moira
looked at her best friend and sweatdropped. "You're not having
too much luck with names, Linda." Moira mumbled to her. Kuroda
also laughed a little at Moira's comment. "So Yamanouchi
was an aho, eh?" He placed a hand on his hip and harrumphed.
"Nothing changes," he commented. "Did he say anything
about Koma?" Kuroda asked. The ladies shrugged to each other.
"Who's Koma?" Amanda asked. "Koma Toshitada."
Kuroda said. "Or Shuten Doji." "Oh," Moi-tachi
commented. "Shuten. Of course!" Moi said, tapping her
forehead. "Nope, nothing about him." Amanda confirmed.
"You're putting me on," Kuroda disagreed. "Noooooo,"
Amanda said, wagging a finger at him. "Not a peep!"
"Hm!" Kuroda replied, scratching his head. "He's
changed!" All of the ladies got weird looks on their faces.
"Don't ask me," Kuroda told them. "Ask Koma."
"Your name?" Linda asked again. She was determined to
get at least more than one of their names. Kuroda raised his eyebrows
at her. "Tenacious," he thought. "Kuroda Jirougorou,"
he spoke with an actor's bow. "And now," he commented,
"kieru!" In the blink of an eye, he vanished into thin
air.
"Oh!" Moira did a double take. "He's gone!" She walked over to where Kuroda had been standing. "Nothing!" Kuroda smirked to himself at the end of the car where he was leaning against the wall. "What are we going to do with Katie?" Linda asked as she looked down at her. "I can't carry her forever." "Let's go sit her back at the table," Amanda suggested. "I think the tour is almost over, and she's not glowing as much any more." So, Linda, Moira, Amanda and Katie headed back to the dining car.
Even after twenty minutes, Katie was still asleep at the table. Amanda was trying madly to wake her up. "You can't wake her," a voice echoed around them. "Kuroda!" Amanda objected. "It's okay," Linda assured her. "I should be able to take her to the car." With a lot of movement, and a small grunt, Linda had Katie in her arms again.
"Y'know," commented Amanda outside the train, "that's really amazing!" "Thanks," smiled Linda. "She's good like that," Moira commented. Linda-tachi made their way through the crowd and got to the rental car that Amanda and Katie shared. Amanda opened the passenger side front door, and Linda popped Katie down in the seat. Then she buckled her in. "Thanks a lot," Amanda said with a bow. "We'll follow you to your place," Linda told her. "Then I can carry her in for you." "Arigato gozaimasu," Amanda accepted. "No problem," Moira said. "What are friends for?" She smiled at Linda and Amanda.
Kuroda spotted Koma and Yamanouchi in a far corner of the train platform. "Banzai!" Yelled Koma when he saw Kuroda. "She did it!" He beamed at Kuroda when he stopped infront of them. "It's been a while," Kuroda commented. "Good to have you out," Koma told him. "Yeah," Kuroda agreed as they walked away from the platform, getting weird stares from those around them. Kuroda took a deep breath and smiled. "So," he began, "I've heard you're a changed man, Yamanouchi!" Yamanouchi just coughed in reply. "At least I thanked her." "Oh yeah?" Kuroda asked. "What makes you think I didn't?" "Hmph," Yamanouchi said, crossing his arms. "I'll bet you didn't thank the lady." "That still doesn't answer my question" Kuroda trailed off as they walked into the parking lot. Koma and Yamanouchi got into the front of Koma's car, and Kuroda sat in the back. "Well?" he insisted as Koma started the car. They drove off to Koma's home. Kuroda still got no answer that he considered reasonable from Yamanouchi. He intended to bug him, all the way back to the house.