Hey everyone!! I promise, after you read the first bit of this chapter, the rest will be all action!! Sorry for dragging it for so long. Little ideas kept dropping into my head, so I thought that I would experiment, this being my first fic and all. Thanks for all of the reviews and opinions (and advice I suppose) They are helping me somewhat. As for that really bad chapter…No comment. I guess thirteen really is unlucky eh? But I can't blame superstitions. I don't know what state of mind I was in while writing it lol. Hope that things pick up from here on out. I think I may be finishing soon too, who knows. Enough of my rambling. Enjoy!

Mask of Deception

Chapter 15: Realization!

Takaishi Residence

Saturday 9:32 AM

When TK got back to his apartment, it looked as if it had been ransacked. There were various clothes and possessions thrown in every direction. He thought nothing of it and announced that he was home.

"Mom, I'm home." His voice traveled through the house.

"In here TK" She yelled from what sounded like her room. TK made his way to his mother's room and was a little bit surprised at what she was doing.

"Mom, what's with all of this?" he said, referring to the half-filled suitcases and folded clothes on her bed.

"No time to explain son, I'm in a hurry and I have to pack." She told him.

"Pack? For what?" He said, definitely shocked.

"I was asked to go to London for a few weeks for a special project. Sorry hun, but I can't take you with me, you have school to attend, and besides, you would be so bored if you did come." She informed him.

"Then what about me!?" What am I gonna do while you're gone?" He asked.

"You, are going to stay here, and your aunt is going to check up on you every once in a while." She said while folding a t-shirt and putting it neatly into one of her suitcases.

"You're trusting me to stay here, by myself?"

"Well, yeah. Or would you rather stay with your aunt like last time?"

"No, no , no that's quite alright. After all, someone has to look after the apartment, but can I stay with my friend instead, I mean if it's okay with him." He asked hoping that she would accept.

"If he agrees then I suppose so."

"I'm going to be busy all day with packing. I leave tomorrow. Why don't you go out and have some fun? Surely you don't want to stay cooped up here watching your mother pack."

"Uh, okay then, see you later mom."

"My hun"

Streets of Odaiba

Saturday 9:45 AM

"Tai, where are we going?" Sora asked as he dragged her down the busy streets of Odaiba.

"Well, I was thinking of somewhere, let's just see if we end up there okay?" He said with a nervous laugh.

"Are you meaning to tell me that you don't know where we are going?" She asked teasingly.

"Not entirely," He said, but once they turned the corner. "Here we are."

"The aquarium? Wow Tai, you actually found your way!" She said with a laugh.

"Oh shut up, be happy I'm taking you out."

"Yeah yeah." She said, smiling. Her smile caused Tai to smile, and they entered the aquarium.

Location Unknown

Saturday 10:00 AM

*pft "Beetle, Have you started up yet?"

*pft "Not quite yet sir. We still need to obtain a few things. Then everything should be ready for set up."

*pft "Very well. Proceed. I want everything set up for Monday within ten hours.

*pft "Yes sir."

Streets of Odaiba

Saturday 10:00 AM

"Go out and have fun she says. By myself? How can a guy have fun all alone?" TK said to himself while kicking a small stone as if he were dribbling it like a soccer ball, sending the small stone skipping down the sidewalk. "Guess I'll go to the mall or something…"

Odaiba Mall

Saturday 10:23 AM

"How about this one Miyako?" The brunette asked her friend.

"No no no. It won't do. You need something that shows off your figure. Something elegant. Hikari are you listening!?"

"What was that Miyako?" She said, looking out the window of the shop. Can we go somewhere else now? There are so many other stores! I don't like anything in here either." The girl retorted.

"Fine! But you have to buy something, anything! We've been to four other shops, and you didn't even pick one dress!" Kari smiled in triumph.

"Oh wait Miyako" Kari said when she spotted an ice cream stall. "You want a cone?" She asked as she walked towards it. "No thanks." Miyako called after her.

"One vanilla ice cream please!" Kari told the man happily.

"Two dollars please." The man told her. Kari rummaged through her purse, searching for loose change. The next thing that she had on her was a fifty, much to large for a small ice cream.

"I'll get it," a voice from behind her said. She turned around to meet two eyes of deep azure blue. "TK!" She said, but he was busy asking for a cone for himself too.

When they had gotten their cones. He gave Kari a smile, a smile big enough to make her blush. She came back to her senses and asked, "What are you doing here?" She asked the boy who was licking away at his ice cream. "I don't really know myself. My mom said to get out and do something so I wouldn't waste my day, and here I am, and I saw you over there so…"

"Hikari! Hurry up, we still need to find something for you to wear remember? Oh, Hi TK, I didn't see you there." She said, looking at the boy. "Hey, I see you guys are shopping." He noticed. "Yup. We're looking for a nice dress for Hikari. We set her up on a blind date." She told him. "It's about time she found someone you know!" Miyako said. TK lightly chuckled. "Well, I better let the two of you get back to it." He said, then turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Kari called out. "Are you busy right now?"

"No…Why?"

"Well, I guess we could use a man's opinion. Y'know, help me pick something to wear."

"Yeah! That's a brilliant idea!" Miyako chirped. TK agreed, but didn't know what a long day he was in for.

Odaiba Park

Saturday 9:30 PM

"Man am I beat!" Sora exclaimed as she dropped down on the nearest bench.

"You're telling me! I never knew entertaining you could be so draining." Tai told her. "But it was fun."

She gave him a smile. "Yeah. That's the most fun I've had in a while to tell you the truth. Thanks."

"Anything for a friend."

"Tai?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think it was destiny? That brought us together?"

"What?" He said a little confused.

"Well, you know, after that day that I first met you, I have to admit, I was a little sad that you had left, and I thought that I wouldn't see you again. To tell you the truth, I couldn't stop thinking that I might not." She said looking strait into Tai's deep eyes of brown. "Then," She continued. "On that Monday when you came to the school, and when I realized who you were, I felt really happy for some reason, I cant…really…explain." She said, moving her face closer and closer to Tai's face.

At first, he was going to give in, but he remembered that she was taken. It would ruin her relationship with Matt, and he didn't want to be the cause of it. He reluctantly turned his head away. He couldn't help but notice, that there was a small look of disappointment on her face, but she instantly covered her expression.

"I-I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking." She apologized.

"No, it's okay." He assured her.

"I think I better get going…" She said as she got up.

"Wait!" He called out, grabbing her hand. "I'll walk you home."

She smiled. "It's okay, I wouldn't want to trouble you, and I think I need some time to think."

Tai nodded in understanding, then held out a wrapped parcel. "Here. Happy birthday Sora." He said, handing the beautifully wrapped parcel.

"Thank you…" She said. Then she left.

Sojoku High (in the bushes)

Monday 4:35 AM

"Okay, lets run through this one more time. We all take different entrances to the school and thoroughly search one floor each. I'll take the top, Mimi, you take the main floor, and TK, you search the basement area." Tai commanded. "Got that? He asked. The other two gave him a nod.

"Mimi," TK asked, "do you still go by the same alias?"

"No, I changed it to Princess!" She said jokingly.

"Seriously!" TK asked in annoyance.

"It's still the same." She told them.

"Okay, lets go." Tai said.

They all set off in different directions. Their goal was to find the research papers before the organization in question, did. They carefully made their way to the entrances. Kreeping quietly. They assumed that the security guard had left the grounds, and that the school was deserted, but they kept themselves alert.

Tai, who was at the main entrance, shut down the school's alarm system, so that they could get in without notice.

*pft "Stealth here. Alarm systems in check."

*pft "Got it."

*pft "Me too"

*pft "Falcon here, I'm going in."

*pft "Princess here!" The voice said with a giggle "I'm going in too"

*pft "Whatever. Good luck guys"

Mimi pushed the top entrance open, and glanced inside. It was dark and gloomy in the halls. It looked like she was in a horror film, creeping through the halls of the school. She searched the first classroom. Neatly rummaging through the teacher's desk and belongings. After ten minutes of a thorough search, she decided to move on to the next class.

Underneath her, Tai, on the main floor, searched the school office first. He switched on the computers in hopes of finding the location of the research, or the research itself, but he too, had failed to obtain any information at all.

TK looked around the dirty old basement area. He expected to find nothing at all, but followed instruction and started his search. He started at the farthermost room of the basement level, and started to search for a safe, or anything that stood out. He searched around the rooms. Knocking on every wall, every cupboard, searching for a hollow 'knock.'

When he came upon his last room of search, the janitor's room, as he walked in, he noticed something on the floor, gleaming from the little light that shone through the window. He bent down, scanning the floor for a shiny object. Finally he came across the shiny piece of metal, in the form of a ring. A gold ring to be exact. When he took a closer look, he saw the word 'cobra' inscribed on the inside of it. He decided to think nothing of it and went back to report to the others.

"I found nothing." He told Tai and Mimi. They gave the same reply.

"Maybe there aren't any research papers in the school, and those guys at the restaurant received the wrong information, or maybe they already took it." Mimi suggested.

"Perhaps, but we can't be too sure." Said Tai.

"I guess, all we can do now is wait." TK concluded.

"Yeah, wait…" Mimi trailed off.

"We will still act as if the group is coming into the school, better to play on the safe side. If they do appear, we'll be ready.

There was an uneasy silence, so they all decided it best to go back home and get all the rest that they could from the remaining hours.

Sojoku High

Monday 1:20 PM

TK glanced nervously around the room, knowing that there might be a group of shady characters inside of the school. The only question that lingered in his mind, was 'When?' He wondered if the time would even come. They had made it through lunch without coming out of hiding. Were they really there at all?

TK's thoughts were interupted when he heard a small constant tapping. When he really started to listen in, the tapping had stopped. TK thought that it was probably from the lack of sleep or from the long lecture that the teacher were giving them, but again, he heard a small tapping sound, followed by a very faint, but audible 'achoo' TK knew that something was up.

"Excuse me sir." He called out to the teacher.

"Yes Takaishi, what is the matter?"

"May I go to the bathroom?"

"Right now?"

"Yes"

"Alright, but don't take too long."

When he left, he decided that he would peep in on Tai and Mimi's class, to see if anything there had happened.

When he got there, the class was completely emptied. That's when he remembered, that they had PE during this block. He decided to enter the classroom anyway out of pure curiosity.

*pft "Weasel, have you started yet?"

"No sir, but the class is in PE right now and should be with 'pigeon', should I raise the alarm?"

A surge of horror struck TK, but he quickly recovered. He quietly approached the chalkboard, where he had heard the voice.

*pft "No not yet, wait for another 5 minutes."

"Yes sir"

*pft "I'll leave the rest to you Weasel. It's your big chance to show me what you've got. The succession of the plan is depending on you. Do not let me down'

"Yes sir"

TK took this as his opportunity. He took out his gun and held it to the floor. He took a deep breath and slid the chalkboard as hard as he could to the side, then pointed his gun squire at the man hiding inside. The man was startled, causing him to drop his radio and weapon. He was about to give out a cry, but TK threatened to shoot him. The man went white as a sheep, his pale skin stood out from the black clothes that he was wearing.

"How many of your men are in the school?" TK asked the man. The man couldn't speak, he seemed to have lost all words. The horror of being discovered was too much for the man to handle. His head was spinning, and TK could see that he would soon pass out. 'Weakling' TK thought to himself, then said again. "How many?"

When the man saw the dangerous look in his eyes, he spoke. As he spoke, his voice cracked, and his sentences came out in broken words. "There…five…inside...."

"Is that all?" TK asked, gun still pointed at the man. In response, the man shook his head vigorously, hoping not to be shot. TK could tell that he was new just by looking at his cowardice.

"Where are they all located?" TK further questioned.

"P-pocket…right…vest." He spoke. TK reached into the man's right vest pocket using his free hand, and pulled out a piece of paper. When he unfolded it, he discovered that it was a blueprint of the school with red circles encircling a number of classrooms. The blueprint was labeled with the aliases of what he presumed to be the different people assigned by their organization.

"C'mon" TK directed the guy after he had picked up the man's gun and radio. "Take me to the place where the research papers are being held, if you value your life, that is." This scared the man immensely. He started to lead TK down the stairs into the basement.

He was a little bit puzzled though, since he had not found anything in there earlier that morning. The man stopped in front of a shelf and pushed it to the side. He knocked on the wall twice, and TK heard that the wall was hollow. The man proceeded to knock when he came upon a place of satisfaction. He pushed in part of the wall, and underneath, a small square section of wall popped open, revealing a hidden safe.

The man stood back, allowing TK to examine the box. To his disappointment, the safe was emptied.

"What!? Emptied!?" Cried the hostage. "But we were ordered to…and…It's over."

TK decided that it would be troublesome to have a hostage with him, so he led the man to the janitor room. He told the man that if he stayed here and quiet, he wouldn't shoot him. When TK turned around, he heard a 'click' He quickly ducked, and the man shot, missing him by a few inches. TK spun around and tripped the man, causing him to fall with a big 'thump' TK then hit the man over the head with the back of his gun, knocking him out completely. He took a look at the blue print and set out.

He went to the gym where Tai and Mimi were. He watched them doing some weird exercise or stretch, but reminded himself that he didn't come there to watch them. He noticed that the teacher was not the usual Mr. Sameru, but a substitute. He came to the conclusion that the teacher must have been and imposter, and from the small window on the door, tried to get either Tai or Mimi's attention. He caught the eye of Mimi, and she looked over to the door.

At first she waved, thinking that TK was skipping, but she remembered that TK would never skip unless it was important. He pointed to the teacher, and slid his hand across his neck to signal that he was to be dealt with. After a few other hand gestures, Mimi finally figured the message that TK was trying to give. She whispered something to Tai, and he gave a nod.

He watched as Mimi walked over to the teacher, interrupting his lesson. She said something, then suddenly kicked the Man Square in the privates. Everyone gasped, TK laughed because it looked so comical from behind the door. He could see a few people yelling at Mimi. She ignored them and started to run. Everyone was watching her run, but didn't move. The rest was up to Tai.

"I didn't think you would do it in front of all those people." TK commented.

"Well…" Mimi shrugged. "So what's up?" She said seriously. TK took out the blueprint and explained to her what was going on. They decided to split up. She would take the class on the top floor, and he would take the two on the ground floor.

Mimi went to the top floor and braced herself for her act. She took one deep breath, then made her entrance.

"Hello everyone!" She said, cutting the teacher inside off mid-sentence. "I'm so sorry to interrupt, but I'm looking for my manager you know, he ran off saying he didn't want to come to my press conference, and now I can't find him. I think I saw him come in here, so if you don't mind," she said while sliding the chalkboard open, revealing a man. "Oh my, what are you doing in here Johnson? Running away like that." The man was too surprised to react and didn't move. When Mimi grabbed hold of his arm, he grew even more rigid still, she held a knife on the inside of her hand, half of it concealed in her sleeve, and was poking the man with it. She whispered for him to get out, and to play along.

Once the man was infront of her, she took out the knife that was hidden from the student's view, and poked his back. The man stammered an appology to the class. "I-I'm S-ss-sorry for d-d-dist-ur-urbing your c-laass s-sir," He said, smiling and laughing nervously.

"We'll be off then!" Mimi said in her perky tone, and rushed the man out of the room. In the hall, she smiled evilly at the man, and took out her gun for safety reasons. The man was twice as wide as her, and very tall. How he fit in the compartment of the chalkboard puzzled her, but she was happy that her part was done. The rest was up to TK. She brought the man to the janitor room in the basement as TK instructed her, then, with a swift swing of her hand, she hit the man across the head with her gun. It had taken three hits to completely knock out the man. She then went back to the gym to help Tai with his situation.

"Class one twelve.." TK said to himself while looking around the hall. When he came across it, he knocked on the classroom door. The teacher told him to come in, so TK asked to have a word with the Teacher. The teacher came out, wondering why TK was out of class, and wanted to see him.

"You have to evacuate your students out of the school, and warn as many classes as you can." He warned.

"I have to what? Now see here young man, I don't know what joke you are trying to pull, but-"

"It's no joke sir, don't make me have to use force." He warned again. The teacher shot an alarmed gaze at TK, and threatened to suspend him. TK sighed, then walked into the classroom.

"Everyone, may I have your attention. Please don't scream after I do what I'm going to do."

Everyone just stared at him as if he were mad. TK pulled out his gun, and shot at the chalkboard. One girl gave a small shriek, but everyone kept silent, scared that they would get shot.

TK opened the chalkboard. When he opened it, a man dropped out. He was shot in the arm. TK gave him a big whack on the head then picked up the thin man and walked over to the teacher. The teacher looked scared, but TK assured him that he wasn't going to hurt anyone, and told him to avacuate his class, then all of the other classes one at a time, accept for room 104, his classroom. The teacher nodded dumbly.

TK wasn't sure whether he would listen or not, but could only trust in the man. He brought the injured man to the basement where he hoped to find the other two people, sleeping soundly. He did and added the injured man to the collection. He then made his way to his last destination. Room 204.

As he entered the classroom, he walked strait up to the teacher.


"Takaishi, where have you been? I'm sorry but I am giving you a detenti—" He stopped half way.

TK had gone behind him, and put his gun to the teacher's back.

"Don't be alarmed." He said. "I need you to get the students out of here, there is someone behi—" He too was cut mid-sentence.

"Don't move!! I'll slit your throat!" a voice from behind TK whispered in his ear. One of his classmates screamed.

"Drop it." The man ordered TK dropped his gun. His classmates still hadn't noticed that he had one, which was a good thing. TK held up his hands and the man slowly got out of his place. "You!" He yelled at the teacher, "Go over there with your students."

TK's teacher slowly joined the students. TK looked around the room. Daisuke looked scared. You could no longer see the laughter in his eyes. All joy had vanished. Then his eyes came to Hikari. They made eye contact, and he could see the fear in her eyes. She was scared.

TK was sweating now, thinking of how he could get out of this mess. He glanced into the hall. He saw a figure run past. The figure had a huge mass of hair. A light of hope flickered inside of him. The man was saying something to the class. TK could care less. He saw Taichi peep his head behind the door's window. Tai mouthed 'run' and TK gave him a look that told him that he understood. Tai aimed carefully, hoping that his bad aim wouldn't harm TK. With a deep breath, he pulled the trigger. The next think TK knew, was that the man was on the floor. TK quickly reacted. He picked up his gun and hid it from the other student's sight. He kicked the man hard in the head, hoping that he knocked him out, and then, he ran across the classroom yelling "Basement!" To the teacher and then smashed through the window [Remember he's on the ground floor] making a dash across the field away from the school.

He caught up with a running Mimi, who appeared to be chasing the sub gym teacher, Tai was right behind TK. TK had risked a lot, leaving the man back there, but he didn't care. All he could think about was running.

He had an odd feeling about not only the pursuit, but the past events as well. As he thought them through, realization struck him. He finally knew who had set this all up, and who was out to get him…

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So?? Was this sufficient? Are you all content? How did you like the chapter? Too long? Boring? Please give me your thoughts and Review!!