Sorry it's taking me so long to update, sometimes my brain needs a little break, and it decided it needed it last week. So, this chapter wasn't started until this week. I hope you like it! Please review…
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The sun shone brightly on Sano's closed eyes at seven o'clock the next morning. He woke up and rolled over two minutes later, from the intensity of the light. He was about to fall back asleep when an unfamiliar smell reached him. It was strange, but his body recognized it as nourishment.
He walked into the kitchen yawning, eyes still most of the way shut.
"Boker tov! What do you want for breakfast?"
"Rice and miso would be terrific."
The Russian man shook his head. "I'm sorry, I do not have those things. I have bread with cheese and vegetables that you can make sandwich, or a bowl of Ugi with milk. Here, drink this, it will help you wake up." He handed Sano a cup of some very dark liquid which must have been the odd smell that drew him out of bed in the first place.
The Japanese teen eyed the contents of the cup suspiciously. He slowly took a drink, and then immediately sprayed it back out. "Kuso, what the hell is this stuff?!? Che, some method of waking up... It may smell alright, but it tastes awful!"
"It is called coffee, and it does take getting used to. I did not like it much when I was younger either. You wake up not just from drinking it, but also from the caffeine in it... Here, breakfast is ready."
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Sano was out the door and up the hill by nine o'clock. He had been disappointed by the meal, but then again, he had also been rude enough to ask for something different... He pulled out a magnet on a string. "Alright, let's head north." And he took off towards the mountains.
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"[yawn] What time is it?" Benny asked as he sat up. "Oh, man, we fell asleep during the movie... Hey, guys! Wake up! It's 9:45!"
"Ma pitom? It's only... holy shnikees, it is that late! Come on everyone, we gotta get moving!" Adam stood up and straightened out his clothes. "We can eat on the way. There's no time to lose, I have a feeling we have a long day ahead of us."
The Israeli teens moaned and stretched to undo the stiffness, and then the girls went to put together a small breakfast and some snacks while the guys worked out a plan.
~
They searched the entire city - parks, stores, hostels, they spoke with their neighbors, they even walked into Rambam just in case...
At lunch time they met back up in the park near their homes. None of them were accompanied, and none of them showed any sign of having gained new information.
"It's not like he'd be tough to spot..." Leave it to Dina to be so blunt.
"And, there are still a few places we haven't checked. We'll try those, and that'll probably be all we can do today."
They sat and ate, thinking about Adam and Dina's observations. The process was slow going, and the fact that they didn't know the 'why' wasn't helping.
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At 3:30 pm, the four Israelis found themselves at the door of a small youth hostel. Chava knocked.
"Ken, ani ba... Oh, efshar la'azor lachem?"
"Hi Avi, we were wondering if you could help us."
Avi recognized the voice, but couldn't tell who was who. He put his glasses back on after he finished cleaning them and blinked a couple times. "Oh! Chaverim, please come in. What can I do for you?"
"We're looking for someone. He just came in on the boat a few days ago. His name is Sano, which is short for something a little complicated. He's Japanese, and the Agency asked us to be the ones to keep an eye on him."
It didn't take the man long to realize they were talking about his unusual visitor. "I had a guest last night - Japanese man about your age, with spiky brown hair. I knew there was something different about him because of how he dressed and the way he held himself. He left pretty early this morning without paying... [general face-fault] didn't tell me where he was going, either..." He paused to see if there was anything else he could tell them. "That's it, I hope I was able to help. Can I get you guys something to drink?"
Dina's spirits rose and then fell right back down again as the various pieces of news about her crush had been revealed. "Just water would be plenty, right guys? And anyway, thanks for the info."
"My pleasure. Here you go." The Russian immigrant handed the kids glasses of water. "He told me he met up with you guys. Nothing specific, just that a group of kids his age picked him up at the boat. I guess he wanted to share just enough to get me to trust him..."
"Well, at any rate, we appreciate your sharing. This guy is apparently very important to the Agency, or else they wouldn't have sent us out searching for him." It was the first thing Benny had said since they arrived. He handed the man 100 shekels. "This should cover the room and board. We should be getting back to the search."
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Sano walked beside the highway towards Tel Aviv as the sun was setting.
'Man, I am such a baka... I gotta get to the next town, or I might collapse from not having anything to eat or drink! Kuso! Maybe I should have trusted them a little more, at least then I'd have a bed to sleep on..."
As he rounded a bend in the road, he saw a small but busy rest area. Out a little farther sat the vast, green sea, but that didn't matter right now. The important thing was to find out what the hell was going on.
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End chapter 7
A/N: Yay! It's alright, I was getting bored in Haifa anyway… and yes, Tel Aviv is south of Haifa… we all know about Sano's sense of direction. :P
I don't know if a youth hostel like that really exists in Haifa. I based it off an experience I had at one in Tsfat, cozy place!
Rambam is the name of the big hospital in Haifa. It's part of the system of Hadassah hospitals.
Efshar la'azor lachem – kinda like 'efshar la'azor l'cha', except that l'cha makes the singular form of you, while lachem makes the plural form
Ugi – one of the great Israeli cereals, it's kinda like Cookie Crisp, especially because the word for cookie in Hebrew is ugiya
Boker tov – good morning
Ma pitom – what the hell, or, what are you talking about
Chaverim – friends
PS. If it seems unclear, the Israelis are all talking in Hebrew when they're not around Sano. It's a whole lot easier for them… it's easier for me to convey the story to you by direct translating, rather than write it all out in Hebrew with English letters, and then have the translation at the bottom.