Shardclaw: First off, I'm glad to know that they are still people out there who stuck around to support me, thanks to those who took the time to send the reviews for the last revised chapter and to those who were pleased with the updated and renewed casting list, but more on that at the end of this chapter...
Just to let everyone who read it and noticed it was a bit shorter than my usual offerings in the past, that's because I had planned to post it as a whole chapter, but somehow I've been encountering problems uploading it a while back, so I decided to cut it in half for the time being, meaning this chapter is basically still part of what happened in the last one. (Anyone else out there whose experienced this similar problem, let me know if there's a remedy around it or else I may have to start shortening updates from now on until FFnet recognizes and fixes this.)
Yeah, I know it sounds a bit confusing at first, but it's not like much has happened yet story-wise aside from all the character appearances and references that will start popping up from this chapter, not to mention I can get the updates cracking again on a more frequent pace as before. Also, now that the Elfen Lied manga has at last come to a close, I'd want to welcome two special guests from that series who will occasionally assist me in the hosting of these revised chapters as a little test of service towards the fans.
As I said that, none other than Lucy and Nana appeared onstage with big smiles on their faces and sat next to me.
Lucy: Greetings, Shardclaw-san, judging from the comments the readers gave about to our long awaited appearance in the previous chapter and how everyone in the series were portrayed, we felt we should repay you for the good job he's done by doing this.
Shardclaw: Ah, think nothing of it, Lucy-san. You and Nana are welcome anytime to help me and the other guys out, after all the things you two went through in the manga, it's the least I can do until the next set of SX chapters with you guys start up soon following this one. But really, I'm going to miss getting to know more of the Elfen Lied universe from now on, and not only it was my second most favorite manga read for the year, but that means I got to look for something else to start reading by the time and I doubt no other manga or anime out there other than Gantz can do what you guys accomplished...a big tip of the hat to the geniuses behind the whole concept, you've won my personal thank you for making EL happen.
Nana: As much as we'd feel honored by hearing you say that, Shardclaw-san, you don't look sad at all. As a matter of fact, you've already made reading ecchi manga one of your priorities, now that you've started to read the manga version of Sekirei being one of them...
Shardclaw: Ikou. Thanks very much for pointing that out to the fans out there, Nana-chan. Now, I'm in an even bigger risk in the case one of them is generous to send the hawt girls from that one anytime soon...but before that can happen, we got bigger fish to fry, namely the story continuation of last chapter's recent developments as to what has happened, what to expect and who we'll be seeing this time.
Nana: That's right; though it's too bad we won't be seeing a particular character who's a regular of the story up to this point in this chapter as we've read the script for this chapter earlier.
Shardclaw: Just making things more tense for the readers into what to expect soon, since the real focus is on everyone else for now, though they're in for a couple of big surprises near the end of this chapter...
Lucy: In any case, let's get things started on this chapter that's still more or less tells the continuation of the growing developments for the upcoming Soldier X chapters ahead, meaning that there's going to be a another round of surprises for the likes of the grateful fans out there to look out for and enjoy.
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The meeting of forces, both good and evil alike continues while challenges anew shall confront and test them. Rest will no longer be tolerated.
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Metal Gear: Soldier X
Chapter 13: A Brief Respite, Part 2
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BUUUZZZ! BUUUZZZ!
"Alright, already! I'm up, dammit!" Rio cursed as she shot up from her bed in response to the ringing alarm clock next to her pillow. She swore that if she had to hear the noise of the clock's alarm any longer, she'd toss it out of the nearest window. What stopped her from going through with that was the feeling in the back of her mind that it was partly her fault that she had woken up in a sour mood. "Ah, I stayed up longer than usual…no wonder I still feel like crap."
Rio knew that she had had a good reason to, as since last night she had been talking to various people over her cell phone and been trying to get information on what's been happening lately in Japan, but so far, she had had little luck in getting the really vital information that she needed on the current events that had occurred in the past couple of days.
"Geez, with everything's that happened, I thought I would have found some luck getting through to at least one of our contacts, but it seems most of those guys are hard to get through to by phone these days. I can't even get in touch with the people from the L.P.G.…I guess I'll just try again later when I get chance, that's all. I hope Maya had better luck than I did getting through to at least someone…" Rio yawned as she took her time to get up and stretch herself. "Well, I guess it's time to get back to reality and out of this slump."
Getting herself refreshed after a long night was a way to start things off, with a quick stretching exercise and then a cold shower. After she felt rejuvenated enough, Rio got herself into her trademark Police Town uniform that was brought over when Nanvel and Maki arrived at the Uruha mansion the day before. Fortunately for her, she had always held onto her badge, purse, and handgun as she knew that she would need those as soon she got back to work.
Until she could get back to her apartment to reorganize, Rio knew that she would have to make do with she had right then. After taking a look in the mirror to see that she was all set with her sexy appearance to appeal to the male eyes that would certainly be glued to her figure once they see her, Rio nodded to herself.
(Alright, I can at least check up on how Greggie's doing before I leave here, to give me some clarity for the day, I hope. I just have a feeling it's going to be another rough one.) Rio thought as she left her room to walk across to her surrogate son's room where she saw Serina now stepping out of the door.
"Oh, good morning, Rio-san. I hope you managed to sleep well." Serina bowed to Rio as she returned the greeting.
"Serina, wasn't it? I never got the chance to personally thank you for all that you did for my son, not to mention to the rest of my team when we got checked up afterwards yesterday." Rio said as Serina smiled at Rio. "You also did a great job with looking after him while he's sleeping, he can be a surprisingly restless guy at times."
"It was just part of my duty as a medic, Rio-san. I'm sure Oboro-dono felt the same when she did her part as well." Serina said as Rio took a glance at Greg's bed through the open door.
"So, have there been any changes yet?" Rio asked as Serina shook her head.
"I'm afraid not. Although he's been sleeping comfortably and peacefully since he was brought in, he hasn't shown any voluntary movement to show that he's about to wake up thus far." Serina spoke as Rio hung her head.
"I see…well, it's only been almost one day. I'm sure given enough time he will pull through, though I never really considered myself a patient person before." Rio said as Serina placed her hand on her shoulder.
"I think so as well, your son Greg will pull through. And if things do get complicated, you've got his friends to rely on as well." Serina said as she looked at her Police Town uniform. "In any case, do you have to work soon on your profession?"
"Yeah, as much as I wanted to stick around here and help out, that's got to wait until later. If it weren't for those mass prison breaks yesterday…" Rio lamented as Serina spoke.
"You needn't worry about Greg; we'll do our best in taking care of him. You just focus on your work, Rio-san; it may even get your mind of off his condition for the time being." Serina said. "Could you excuse me now, my boyfriend is supposed to be on his way back from his assignment and I need to greet him soon. Don't worry though, your son will be under our watch around the clock, but if you want to, you can check on Greg before you leave."
"I may do just that. I don't want to hold you back, so you go on ahead, and handle your thing. It sounds to me like you two have got it seriously going on." Rio smiled at Serina who walked away from Greg's room area with a blushing smile of her own.
(Thanks for the advice; I hope you're right about the part about my work getting my mind off things, Serina.) Rio thought about what Serina just said before she left. (But, who'd have ever thought that she was romantically involved with someone. Hmm, well, that's good for her, hope I get to meet the lucky guy eventually.)
Rio then walked into Greg's room to take a quick glimpse of her sleeping student/son and stood close enough that she was in smelling distance of him. Now that she thought of it, she was starting to feel a sense of understanding of what Greg was musing over when he came to see her upon hearing what had happened before their meeting with Seraph and Farfarello of Schwarz a couple of days back.
The only difference now was that the positions had been switched and the one who was gravely hurt was now in a more serious condition than she was. In a way, she felt responsible for not being able to do more than what she could have done for him to have a happier life, but she also knew that for the moment, the most that she could do is try to pick up where he left off.
"Don't you worry, Greg, we'll take care of things from here. You did a great job taking care of us these past few days, so just let us return the favor. You deserve a much needed rest. For now, just try to re-gather your mind and body until I can get some help for you, okay?" Rio whispered as she bent down over his bed to give him a light kiss on his bare forehead that left her glossy, pink, lip marks on his skin from the lipstick she was wearing. "I'll see you later, my son."
Expecting some kind of reaction from him as she did this, but didn't get any at the end, Rio sighed in disappointment for a bit as she stood straight up once more to head out of the room and shut the door quietly behind her. As she turned around to walk on the corridor, she met Maya Jingu, already dressed in her own Police Town uniform, waiting for her.
"Good morning." Maya said simply as Rio replied with a quick nod.
"Good morning yourself, Maya. You look like you had a better time sleeping than I had last night." Rio said as the two walked together to the kitchen area.
"Well, despite having being told to take things easy for now, I was actually busy prepping for today, among other things. A police officer's work is never done." Maya lamented.
"That is so true, girl." Rio sighed in a tired tone. Ever since the day before last, her mind had been full of uncertainties over everything that's been happening recently. Now, with her going back to work because she had no choice but to, it was just adding more strain to her worries.
"Hey, don't let it get to you, okay?" Maya said supportively as she patted Rio's shoulder.
"I know, I know, we'll somehow deal with this, one thing at a time." Rio said.
"So, how is he? Does it look like he's going to wake up soon?" Maya asked as Rio smiled lightly to her friend first before sighing once more.
"I'd wish that my answer was yes, but not even I know how long that guy's going to stay asleep. But then again, he's always had bad sleeping habits" Rio replied. "Despite all that he was able to do up till yesterday, it just goes to show you that Greg's just a regular human like the rest of us."
"Yeah, you're right about that." Maya said as the two made their way to the kitchen area, where to their surprise they met Yuji and Lilica there, having their style of breakfast.
"Wow, I didn't expect to see you guys about this early, especially after all that happened yesterday." Lilica said with a light brown toast in her mouth, dressed in nothing but an American, XXL sized football shirt and her hair loose. Yuji was dressed in a casual t-shirt, blue short pants and was just finishing up a plate of bacon and scrambled eggs.
"Morning, Lilica. We could say the same about you, being the one who we went through all that trouble to rescue just yesterday." Rio said, observing that Lilica was busy. She had a laptop in front of her which was playing rock music. She was able to get it courtesy of both Nanvel and Kurei's connections when she asked to get one to get her work done on.
Since Maki had permitted Lilica to stay at the mansion where she could re-gather her bearings over the time from being a captive, she hadn't been called back to work yet, even with the present crisis at hand. In other words, there was no need for her to go unless she wanted to. However, it was Lilica who decided to stay since she made up her mind that she would be needed when Yuina wakes up in order to help her cope with things.
"Well, I need to hurry and finish up things here before Yuina wakes up. That girl's got a long day ahead of her if she's going to understand all of what's happened to her and Seraph, so I'm going to stick around with her so I can help her out." Lilica said as Maya nodded.
"Oh, yeah, those two got caught up in this mess even more than we have, huh?" Maya asked solemnly as one of the maids of the mansion bowed before Rio and Maya as they entered the room.
"Good morning, Rio-sama, and Maya-sama. How would you like your breakfast, Western or Japanese style?" She asked as Maya replied.
"Japanese, I'd like potato miso soup and curry bread, please." Maya requested.
"Western style for me, thanks. Plain coffee, straight and black, and I'd like to have some croissants too." Rio said as she sat down on one of the stools near the counter in the kitchen as she waited on her breakfast.
One of the benefits of being an ally of the Uruha and Hokage clan that she had learned while she was staying here was the unlimited access to such requested meals courtesy of the culinary trained and skilled maids in the mansion. She would have requested something larger, but she didn't want her appetite to get in the way of her work and she needed to be extra alert this morning.
"So, is that why you wanted hang around here today, Lilica?" Rio asked as Lilica nodded, getting back to the topic at hand. "I understand what you mean; the kid and Seraph really never did anything to get themselves mixed up in this. That Reese must really get his kicks by picking on defenseless people, huh?"
"But yesterday, you said that Yuina's father was also targeted by the enemy for his work on biodroids and emulates, meaning that in turn those two would eventually have been targeted as well." Maya said as the maid returned with her and Rio's breakfast on a wheeled cart tray.
"Right, we just didn't see something like this coming when we were so intent on watching Greg's back all the time from the shadows when he came back to Japan for that mission in Tokyo-3 for FOXHOUND, which was two days before Yuina's aunt was killed." Rio said, as she started to sip her coffee. "By the time Seraph came to us for help, it was too late to know or do anything about it since it was only just after Nastasha gave us the news about Reese."
"Speaking of that creep, what do you think he's up to now?" Yuji asked as Rio sighed with a serious look on her face.
"Well, since we do know for now that Greg's psychic abilities were something that Reese knew of and wanted to get his grubby hands on, along with the biodroid and emulate technology, but couldn't attain either of them, he obviously won't stop there." Rio said. "Chances are he's going to move onto bigger things in order to win back his favor with the enemy until he gets a second chance since he lost his shot with both of them. For the time being, I'll bet he's probably gone into hiding to start devising another plan. That, I can be sure of."
"Meaning that there could be other people that could be targeted by him and his supporters?" Lilica asked.
"Yeah, people like Yuka-chan to start with, which was why I was thinking all of this over just last night. She was essentially the core of a project involving warfare not too long ago, after all and considering what happened to her old man after that whole MD incident, I won't be surprised if Reese has already learned about that by now." Rio said seriously.
"Let's not forget the civilizations from the Underground too. Basically, they were forgotten by their own government at the time Second Impact took place, so records of all the scientific experiments that took place since then, as well as the ancient dragons that are still sleeping beneath the Earth and how they progressed over the years would eventually reach the enemy." Yuji said.
"Including the ones for Ruri's powers and the others with special elemental abilities, as well as the mutants like Rayon-chan, I bet." Rio said as she rubbed her head as Maya spoke up now.
"Hey, I just thought of something now that you mention it. Do you think it's possible that Ruri's powers of resurrection could work on Greg's comatose state?" Maya asked as Lilica and Yuji looked at Rio, expecting a good answer.
"It's possible, but then again, her powers are way beyond Yanagi's in terms of effectiveness for someone her age but when I took a look at it, their powers are still similar enough and even Yanagi's power couldn't wake him up as we found that out yesterday when we got here. It'd be kind of pointless to ask Ruri or else we'd be just risking her own life, since that power of hers is not something to be used so frequently or to be tapped into for one's own convenience." Rio inputted.
"I guess you're right. The people of the Underground are powerful, but if they use their powers too often, they tire themselves out and risk going into a coma themselves, but only for a short period of days." Lilica said.
"I don't like to say it, but I'm sure we wouldn't want to trouble Chelsea and Kashin when they find out what had happened to Greg by asking Ruri for help." Rio said. "I'm sure even Greg would want to respect their wishes, especially since he's played a vital part in that whole Underground incident."
"Still, it wouldn't hurt to find out how things are going with everyone so far. I mean, it's been a month or so since we last visited the Asagi dojo, right?" Lilica asked. "I think one of us should pay them a surprise visit to inform then on what's been going on these past couple of days."
"Agreed, but without Greg around this time, its going to be rather difficult to find out just where that lecherous old man keeps his booby traps for the guest that comes every time to visit." Maya muttered. "Anyone else you can think of?"
"We could always contact Nagase and tell her to spread the word on what's happened to Rumina and the others. She did help us too during that adventure after all, and Greg said if something were to happen to him that they needed to know, we should contact her about it." Rio said.
"Sounds like a plan. I'll ask Nanvel for Greg's Codec later and dig around for his contact list, her frequency should be in it." Lilica nodded as she heard this from Rio.
"Well, that takes care of contacting our buddies as a head start, but what else should we do from here?" Rio asked. "Man, I knew a day like this would come somehow, but I didn't expect it would hit us this hard or so suddenly."
"Maki said there would be times like this, but it's kind of hard to accept that so much has happened in such a short space of time. We haven't been hit this hard since the MD incident." Yuji said as Rio tapped his head with her back fist lightly.
"Yuji, you'd better fix that sorrowful look, it's starting to bug my appetite now." Rio complained to the perverted male officer, who had a bit of a sour look on his face as he looked down on his empty plate. "Besides, I thought you had enough free time to look over all those dirty downloads last night, aren't you supposed to have a satisfied look on your face after dirtying your conscience?"
"It just wasn't the same with Greg like this, you know that, Rio." Yuji replied as Rio got his point and sat back down.
"Y-yeah, I guess you're right about that. Sorry if I implied otherwise." Rio lamented as Yuji thought to himself.
(Even though I 'enjoyed' that very satisfying harem ending of the Giri Giri Sisters hentai manga that I got to read last night as one of my downloads, I still feel down over everything that happened yesterday, especially with Greg. He was so looking forward to the latest Gantz manga chapters this week too, just when things are starting to pick up story wise now that he's reached the end of the Osaka arc and from the looks of things following Kei Kurono's long awaited revival for the start of the 'Catastrophe' arc, it looks like something quite big and nasty is bound to happen soon.) Yuji thought as he sighed with a small smile. (At least that's one thing I know he'll be excited about for sure, given that if he ever wakes up…)
"From the looks of things, we won't be able to keep everyone of our friends and allies that we've made over the years safe from the enemy much longer if Reese has already known about Seraph and Yuina." Lilica said. "And to top it off, with Greggie's current condition…"
"Damn, this just messes things up for us, huh?" Maya asked as the group looked on in silence at each other before they heard voices coming in from the other room. It happened to be Riku, Nagi and Tot, all dressed in casual clothing, and accompanied by two, tall Chinese girls, both of them appearing to be twin sisters; one of them with long, black, streaking hair that was tied back and the other with short black hair.
"Ah Rio, Yuji, Lilica, and Maya, good morning; I hope that you all slept well." Riku said as he noted the mood in the room among the Team Warrior members before stopping and then making a light gesture with his right hand so as to tell Nagi that he needed the three of them to talk courtesy of Nagi's telepathy.
(Okay, I'm ready.) Nagi said.
(Well, as you can see, this is one serious atmosphere brewing inside here, huh, guys?) Riku began.
(Well, you can't blame them for that, Riku. All of them have been having a rough time lately with all that's happening. I know I would be upset too like everyone else if I were in their position and it was one ours.) Nagi replied in thought.
(That's true; in fact I almost feel the same way they do right now, even if it's somebody like Greg-san since we've only known him for two days.) Tot replied. (Let's do whatever we can to keep cheering Rio-san and our new friends up, okay?)
Nagi and Riku replied by giving each other silent nods before they saw Rio force a smile as she greeted herself to Riku and his partners, as well as to the newcomers that she was now seeing for the first time.
"Hey, good morning to you guys, too. We had a good night's rest, thanks for asking." Rio said as she looked at the twins. "And may I ask who your other two friends are?"
"Yeah, we didn't see them at all yesterday when we got here." Lilica asked as Nagi spoke and introduced them to the Warrior group.
"These are two of our members of the Uruha Ryu, Xia Yu Lan and Xia Yu Fan. They arrived here a while after you guys went in for the night." Nagi said as the twin girls bowed to Rio and her group with light smiles on their faces.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet the members of the famed Team Warrior. Riku-sama is the one who briefed us on all that has been happening and we managed to arrive to the mansion to assist Gennosuke-dono and the rest of his group in time when you left the underground base yesterday in your helicopter." The long haired twin, Yu Lan, spoke as a puzzled look came on Rio's face.
"You helped us yesterday?" Rio asked. "Then, that means, while we were making our getaway, you were the ones who took down those Death Squad's army jeeps?"
"That is correct, Rio-san, that was all our doing, though it was mostly Nee-san's." The shorter haired twin, Yu Fan, replied while Maya exclaimed.
"You guys have got to show me how you made that possible; it must have taken real firepower to put those guys in their places." Maya said.
"It wasn't totally possible to do by ourselves, we just had happened to have our Arm Slave with us for time like that." Yu Fan explained. "Nee-san is its pilot."
"An Arm Slave, huh? That's a new one to me." Yuji said. "Still, we pretty much owe you guys one for covering our backs back there, I doubt it would have been easy for me to evade those guys, especially with the load the copter was carrying on the way here."
"Yeah, thanks a lot for the back-up, you two. It came in at just the right time when we needed it." Rio said as Riku talked now.
"Oh, you guys will pretty much get to see what an Arm Slave does and how these two are so good at using it in battle, eventually anyway. As a matter of fact, Nanvel got the chance to meet these two earlier before we came here and she's looking over at it right now." Riku said.
"Whoa, I don't think that's such a good idea, Riku." Rio cut in. "Nanvel's the last person you'd trust involving anything mechanical, especially when she sees something new to her interests."
"How could you say that, Rio-san, even though she helped us out during our mission yesterday?" Nagi asked as Rio shook her head.
"I didn't mean it in that sense, Nagi. It's true that she always is a big help, but when it comes to gadgets and anything involving robots and stuff like that…well, let's just say that she can become a little eccentric when it comes to them. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she'll start dismantling that Arm Slave Yu Lan and Yu Fan talked about, just to see how they work." Rio said and stopped as she saw signs of worry appearing on the Chinese twins faces before she smiled. "Hey, now, it was just a joke, no need to get frightened."
A sigh of relief came from Riku nervously as the twins looked at each other before turning back to Rio.
"Actually, Rio-san, when your friend spoke to us about our Arm Slave we asked her if she could analyze it as best as she could and if possible see if she could find out what's inside its black box." Yu Lan said.
"Really, but why would you need her to do that?" Rio asked, blinking a little in confusion.
The twins, their faces now serious, looked over at Riku.
"Is it alright if they know, Riku-sama, Nagi-sama?" Yu Fan asked.
"Well, we told Nanvel when she asked, so it's alright by us, right Nagi?" Riku turned to his partner who nodded in reply.
"Very well." Yu Lan nodded and then returned her attention to Rio, Maya, Lilica, and Yuji. "The reason that we asked her to do this is because it may help us find our lost memories."
"Lost memories, do you mean you guys have amnesia or something?" Rio asked.
"Possibly…" Yu Lan lowered her eyes a bit as she thought more on the matter.
"Just what do you mean by 'possibly'?" Yuji spoke. "I mean if you're missing a lot of your memories, that's amnesia, right?"
"Yes, but not if those memories were erased by someone." Yu Fan said.
"Erased?" Lilica asked. "But why and by who?"
"That part we're still trying to figure out." Yu Fan answered.
"But as for the second part of your question, it seems that it is likeliest that the ones responsible are the ones who you call the Patriots, or one of their agents anyway." Yu Lan added.
"I think it would be best that I explain things a little first, you two." Riku spoke before turning to Rio, Maya, Lilica, and Yuji. "To sum things up, Nagi, Tot, and I came across these two a couple of years ago when we were doing an investigation type of mission for FOXHOUND concerning smuggling and the like. To make a long story short, we ended up finding both Yu Lan and Yu Fan among the cargo, along with the Arm Slave that they currently use."
"After that, we found that neither of them could recall anything about themselves except for their names and the fact that they were twin sisters." Nagi explained. "We couldn't get anything out of the smugglers themselves after we brought them in and no one in FOXHOUND could find anything about them."
"And to make things even more complicated, not too long after the smugglers were taken to the proper authorities, every single one of them died in what was ruled to be either an accident or a suicide, and each death wasn't that far apart from the other." Riku added. "Even now we're still trying to find something that could shed some light on this mystery, but we haven't found anything yet, and neither have any of our allies or informants."
"Sheesh, sounds like that must be pretty frustrating." Maya commented. "But then again, we've kind of been in a similar situation with Greg ever since we took him in…Anyway, what happened after that?"
"We decided to let Yu Fan-chan and Yu Lan-chan stay with us until they could get their memories back." Tot then paused as she remembered something. "It was actually harder than we thought it would be because even though everyone else at FOXHOUND was fine with that, Reese didn't like the idea at all for some reason."
"Now that you mention it, I do remember how the guy seemed to throw a real fit over it, I wonder why…" Riku said as he paused to think about it a little.
Meanwhile, Nagi spoke as he saw Rio and Maya were wearing their work uniforms.
"So, Rio, it looks like you and Maya are off to work, huh?" Nagi asked.
"Yeah, I was called over by Miyuki last night to lend a hand in yesterday's recent investigations into those mass prison break outs and possibly, whatever recent criminal happenings that may have had happened over the course of this mess. Hopefully, Maki's got things under control for now, but we'll see for ourselves when we get there in regards to the situation." Rio said seriously. "I know that it sounds a bit unfair that I'm thinking of work instead of taking care of my son at a time like this, but…"
"I don't think so, if anything it looks to me that in doing so you're just proving yourself just how strong you are in dealing with times like this, Rio. I don't think anyone else in here disagrees with your choice." Riku said while Nagi, Tot, and the others in the room nodded in agreement. "As you can see, everyone here knows that it's been rough on you the most since you and Greg have been brought closer because of this whole thing, and if you ask me, I don't think that he'd wanted you to sit around and do nothing about this situation."
"Just be sure not to bury yourself in your work, even though Greg's asleep now, it wouldn't hurt to spend some time with him. You should do so whenever you get the time until we get some help for him." Nagi said.
"I know, thanks you guys again for everything. I appreciate what you're all doing for us so far." Rio said. "I just hope this thing doesn't get even crazier than it already is with so much happening. I can tell already that it's going to be hard to keep up with all of this later on."
"What about you guys, you're going places yourselves today, right?" Lilica asked as Nagi nodded.
"That's pretty much the case, Lilica. We have got some very important friends to meet with, namely some more remainders of our Uruha Ryu team to pick up, plus we also have some things to check out when we get to the city." Riku replied as Rio looked at him silently.
(Ehhh? So it's not just Nagi and Tot, as well as those twins we just met, but Riku's got more people in his team to gather here soon?) Rio thought to herself. (Just how large is Riku's group alone compared to Warrior's, not to mention how did Riku manage to get so many allies in the time I've known him?)
"Rio, you're staring into space again." Lilica said as Rio chuckled nervously.
"Oh, was I? Sorry about that, I was just thinking of things." Rio rubbed her head as she heard some music from Lilica's laptop, which started with a woman singing a hymn before hard rock started to play afterwards which caught Rio's attention. The rock band was named 'Kamelot' that was singing, 'Karma'. "Ohh, this is…?"
"Yeah, this just happens to be Greg's all time favorite of Devil May Cry gameplay videos aside from the famous 'The Stupid Files' series by Blackmamba from over the web which always cracks him up." Lilica said while eating her ramen noodles. "I heard this player is now a declared DMC 3 as well as 4 god among players worldwide who goes by the name of 'Kail' and two of his most famous DMC 3 videos are 'The Elysuim' and 'The Elohim' which we're watching right now and Greg watches most of his vids to help him with his own style whenever it came to playing Vergil as he was more used to playing him, sort of like an advanced gameplay tutorial since he's gotten better last time I saw him play."
"Oh, yeah, that's true, Lilica. He would spend almost every hour when he had time in the past just training with Vergil just to master the Aerial Rave canceling while spamming Summon and Spiral techniques using a custom setting he made up and sometimes, I wonder if we had raised a little Kail on our own." Maya nodded. "He even named his play style, 'Kinezono Style: Silent Eclipse Slayer' for the fun of it."
"I take it that Greg must be a pro at this, I bet?" Riku asked with a smile as Lilica replied with a contemplating look before answering.
"Hmm, not on a master level as yet although he completed all of the Heaven or Hell mode recently, but he can still make battles entertaining for other people like ourselves whose not so used to the series as he is to watch while still getting SS rankings for almost all the missions except for the Vergil Must Die mode, in which it is really hard to accomplish since you need to beat those missions on that level without even getting hit once, but with enough practice and strategy, its possible. His Total Ranking screen for Vergil is almost full of just 'S' about now." Lilica said while Nagi and Riku whistled as they heard this.
"I think you guys must have created a gaming monster out of Greg when he was growing up, which is almost a good thing." Riku said as he thought to himself as Lilica tilted her head. (Okay, now I know if Alec meets and hears about Greg's skills after things calm down later, he'd want answers to all the secrets the pros have for this particular series from him if Lilica says he's that good, I'm sure he'll be willing to share what he knows with him too, as well as with Aki, Yuuhi and Toya, not to mention Kyoko Kirisaki, since she's into the gaming scene as much as the rest of us guys are.)
"Hey, was that supposed to be a compliment, Riku?" Lilica asked with a smile while Rio thought to herself with a small smile of her own while hearing the group talk as she was thinking about herself as an average gamer time to time again, especially whenever she has the time to play the ever popular The World online game that was still the rage all over. She also recalled having Greg meet one of its players through a pen pal program by the time he went to start living in the States, a young Japanese girl who went by the name of An Shouji, who played as a Wavemaster in the World as Tsukasa.
(Now that I think of it, they used to write to each other often soon after he found out about An's problems. He would often find some sort of solace from reading her letters, too, one of the few things I personally know of that would give him peace of mind at times.) Rio thought after hearing some of the details of what Greg told her about he read of An's childhood and present life which was almost similar to his as well, which made him pursue to find out more about An and keep her hopes up with his letters. Through the fact that they had harsh childhoods, they managed to communicate on a frequent basis.
As Rio wanted to dwell some more on the thought, she suddenly snapped her senses back to normal as she didn't want the others notice that she was still seriously worried about her surrogate son's condition as she heard Nagi speak while he watched the video.
"I have to say that all this is truly impressive." Nagi said. "I hardly ever knew there people who can play the game that way."
"Only this guy on the entire planet does, and I think no other person can pull off such sick looking and impossible combos thus far since he's better at the canceling techniques than most others not unless they studied under him personally." Lilica said.
"I have to say this is pretty impressive." Nagi said. "There aren't very many people I can think of who can play the game that way."
"As far as I know, this guy is the only person on the entire planet who does, and I think no other person can pull off such sick looking and impossible combos thus far since he's better at the canceling techniques than most others not unless they studied under him personally." Lilica said.
"Well, while you guys get introduced to something only game fanatics like Greg can be interested, its time for me to go and do my thing as well." Yuji said, getting up suddenly as Rio looked at him.
"Already prepared to go and handle your side of business, Yuji?" Rio asked as Yuji nodded at her silently as she already had an idea what Yuji has planned for today. Before breakfast, he already made arrangements to meet with certain members of his family to discuss what has happened recently and give them a heads up on any possible danger of them being targeted by any of the enemy groups later.
Before doing so, he had to run an errand for Nanvel to pick up some pre Second Impact spare mechanical parts from the shopping district of Akibahara, which specializes in junk and useful material that still has its uses by inventors and the like for current standards, (not to mention, his one stop for the classic to the latest hentai material ranging from DVD's to Bishoujo games) and before making a stop to the Roppongi district to meet up with two of the people they mentioned to the Hokage and Uruha members last night.
(Hopefully, that store should have the hentai material that I listed from yesterday ready by now and some new ones to boot. If I'm lucky, I should be getting the really good ones like the classic Words Worth, Body Transfer, Black Gate, Maple Colors, andall six episodes for Discipline!) Yuji thought with a big grin on his face. (Also, I should consider getting Consenting Adultery as well, since it was done by the same artistic genius who did both volumes for Milk Junkies, so I hope there's a copy of that one at least and it's bound to be good.)
As Yuji thought of this, the people in the room, including Rio the most looked at him with a puzzled look on her face.
"Uh-oh, step away from the pervert." Maya muttered as Rio spoke.
"Just keep whatever perverted notions going on in your head right now in there, Yuji. You've got to keep a focus on everything around you when you go on the outside; chances are that the enemy could be watching our every move, so you shouldn't act too conspicuous." Rio warned him.
"Now what would make you think that since I'm only going to that area known as the 'best known pleasure zone' of the country to handle my affairs and to contact Misaki about what's happening recently like that?" Yuji asked as Rio shook her head.
"That's what I was afraid of hearing you say. You make things look so obvious sometimes." Rio lamented. "I'm just telling you to watch your ass out there, okay?"
"I understand that, Rio, I'll be sure to keep a low profile on the way to the city." Yuji said seriously. Despite the fact that he's the biggest pervert Rio has ever known, she knew that at least she could trust him to act rationally in situations like this.
"You're heading out to the city now, Yuji? How about I offer you a ride of instead letting you go through the trouble of traveling there by yourself?" Riku asked him.
"I'd like that a lot, but are you sure that's okay with you, Riku?" Yuji asked him back.
"That's really fine with me, Yuji. I've got no problems acting as an escort; we may even be heading to the same direction anyway." Riku said as Nagi spoke.
"Knowing him, Riku's probably got something there of the same nature that Yuji's after. My best guess is it's something Tsubaki recommended to you." Nagi said as Riku blushed hearing this while Tot prepared her harisen just in case.
"Hey, for your information, it's just business, okay?" Riku asked, trying to save some face as some of the people in the room chuckled at Riku's reaction, even though most of them weren't entirely sure what Nagi had just meant.
(They're certainly at it again. Greg would certainly get a kick from these three whenever he's feeling down later after he wakes up, I bet. He's going to need it.) Rio smirked.
"Rio, we're going to get chewed up by the Chief if we don't hurry and get to Police Town on time." Maya called out to her, which made the blonde return her thoughts to reality.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I get you, Maya." Rio lamented as she drank up the remaining coffee. "Lilica, you and Nanvel take care of things here till we get back. Call me if any change on Greggie's condition occurs, just in case it does happen, okay?"
"Don't worry, we've got it covered." Lilica replied with a simple wave to her friend as Rio, Yuji, and Maya left the kitchen with Riku, Nagi and Tot to enter the living room area; Yu Lan and Yu Fan, meanwhile, had excused themselves and left for another part of the mansion. Before the group exited the room, however, they ran into Kenshin Mori, who was talking to three people that seemed to be close acquaintances with him.
(I didn't know we would get some more newcomers between last night and this morning. They must have come here after Maki got dropped off at Police Town last night since Kenshin-san is back.) Rio thought to herself as he noted the appearances of the trio of strangers. Two of them were of Japanese descent, a tall Japanese adult male with short straight black hair and brown eyes and a sullen looking girl with short black hair and brown eyes who looked to be of the same nationality, but was slightly younger in age; both of them were wearing casual clothing. Next to them was an American girl with long, curly blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and green eyes, wearing a red and black motorcycle suit.
"Good morning, Aniki. I see you've come back with Reiji-san, Elen-san, and Cal-san." Riku remarked, as the group from Kenshin's side noticed his younger cousin, his group, and Rio's group.
"Ah, good morning to you too, Riku and the same for Rio-san, Maya-san, and Yuji-san as well." Kenshin replied as Riku greeted the trio that was with Kenshin.
"Cal-san, Reiji-san, and Elen-san, it's good to see that you three are doing well, even though it's been a month since I heard from you guys before you left for a vacation after a tiring mission I heard from my uncle that you guys had." Riku said. "Sorry if this matter cut short of any free time you were enjoying, especially for you both, Reiji-san and Elen-san…"
"Our vacation time was almost up, so it was no problem that we were called back earlier than scheduled." The male known as Reiji said.
"Well, our vacation would have been longer for one more week if we didn't have to come back due to Kenshin's request, since it was very urgent." The blonde girl said to Riku in a clear, American accent as she noticed Rio, May and Yuji. "Kenshin's been telling us what's been happening here, so you're the Warrior group that's going to be staying here?"
"Yeah, we're part of Team Warrior alright. I'm the point leader, Rio Kinezono and these two are Maya Jingu, the gun nut marksman and Yuji Naruo, the pervy pilot." Rio introduced herself and her friends. "And you are…?"
"We're a part of Kenshin-san's Hokage Ryu group. I'm Reiji Azuma." The male introduced himself as he bowed to Rio. "This is my wife, Elen, and this is our partner, Cal Devens."
"Nice to meet you, we were told on how you aided Riku and his partners throughout their mission yesterday." Elen said courteously.
"Yeah, Kenshin gave us the details on everything that's been happening these past couple of days." Cal added.
"At least you guys were brought up to date." Rio lamented. "I hope we can get to work together soon under better circumstances from now on."
"You can very much rely on these three, Rio-san. They are very efficient and reliable in the field of combat and they are among my most trusted of friends." Kenshin said as Riku spoke.
"Now that you guys are back, I take it that Madlax and Limelda were also been contacted about this, including Margaret, Elenore, and Vanessa as well?" Riku asked.
"Yes, just last night after I returned here from dropping off Maki-san to Police Town and I filled them in on what's been happening. They're relieved over that you and your partners, as well the people involved in your mission along with Greg-san, made it out alright." Kenshin said. "Chances are that they will also be dropping in due to the urgency of the situation soon enough since they also have things on their end they'd liked to speak with us about."
"It looks like we'll be seeing them and almost everyone in the ninja clan and teams again soon, which is almost a good thing, Aniki." Riku said. "It's too bad it had to be under a condition like this…"
"I can take it you guys must have a large number of groups allied to you, huh?" Maya asked. "I'm willing to bet they're pretty strong, right?"
"I always told Greg that you guys will get to meet them eventually, but it looks like you guys are getting to do that before him." Riku said. "And if you all thought that this isn't great enough, the variety of people we've got who are going to lend a hand goes even wider than you can imagine."
"Whoa, you'd better stop while you're ahead, Riku. We'll make friends of your allies soon enough once they get here, no matter how strange they may be." Rio lamented. "It's not like having our group associated with a spirit medium who works part time as a dominatrix time and again is weird enough, so I wonder what else out of the paranormal we'd be getting mixed up into next since we'll be hanging with you guys for awhile now?"
(Actually Rio, aside from the other psychics, the spirit mediums, the Sweepers, the Lotus Masters, the descendants of an ancient alien race, a harmonixer, living dolls, Non-Humans, vampire hunters, and even quite a few vampires we were able to make allies out of in the time we're around, you'll be in for some serious surprises later. In fact, I kind of wonder what your reaction will be when I introduce you to Jun and the Rozen Maidens.) Riku thought with a nervous grin, as he tried to imagine just how Rio and the rest of Warrior would react later on if they were to meet them.
"Oh, yeah, that reminds me of something, since you brought it up, Rio-san." Tot asked as Rio looked at her.
"Oh, yeah, Tot? Was there something you needed to ask?" Rio asked as Tot nodded.
"Yeah, up till now, I really don't understand it since I heard it for the first time last night, but just what does a dominatrix do anyway?" Tot asked all of a sudden as the people in the room suddenly reddened around their face areas at that question.
"Whoa, now that's bold! Out of the blue, just like that!" Maya exclaimed as Tot looked on at her with a confused expression on her face at Maya's reaction. (Does this mean she doesn't even know the actual meaning of that word?)
"Do you know, Maya-san?" Tot asked as Maya replied nervously.
"Uhh…you asked Rio first, let her answer it." Maya said nervously as Rio exclaimed.
"Huh?! Why do I have to do it?" Rio asked as he pointed to Riku. "Riku's the leader for his team; he should take the responsibility of answering!"
"Okay, Riku, can you answer my question?" Tot asked as Riku tried his best as well to dodge answering the question.
"Hey, I'd like to help, but her boyfriend's the one who should be able to tell you these kinds of things." Riku said as Nagi reacted nervously to this, but not before shooting his friend a really nasty glare that promised some form of retribution in the future. "So, Nagi, you do the honors of answering Tot's question."
"You're kidding, right, Riku?" Nagi asked as Riku mentally pleaded with him.
(Please, man, at least do it in your best description so she can understand.) Riku thought.
(But you know how Tot is when it comes to these things, why do you think she asked anyway?) Nagi said. (Even Rio and the others knew answering her right away wouldn't be healthy for her personality.)
(I know what you mean, but if no one tells her about it, she'll only keep on asking us anyway until someone answers her question.) Riku replied. (Besides, you're the one who usually informs her about things, like when we have homework from school.)
(That has absolutely nothing to do with this.) Nagi then gave a mental sigh. (But, I guess I don't have any choice. I'll try to explain things as best I can.)
(Would you rather have Mayu explain it to her when she, Mana, Shizuru, and the rest of our vampire friends show up? Knowing her, I think she'd be more than happy to explain.) Riku asked before lapsing into his own thoughts. (Though from what I remember hearing, this is more something Mana's more experienced with…wait, why am I even thinking about that?)
(…You have a good point.) Nagi conceded, not wanting to think of what Tot's reaction would be considering how that particular half of the Sonohara twins could be on the more 'intimate' subject matter. It wasn't that either of them had anything against Mayu or Mana, as they considered them, and the rest of the 'family' they had formed with Shizuru and the other girls after that incident at Chisakura Island, to be very good and reliable friends. It was just that they both knew that from the last outcome of the 'girl talk' that had occurred between Mayu and Tot, the blue haired former assassin's curiosity would not lead to a very good outcome.
Unfortunately, before Nagi could say something to Tot, whether vocally or through speech, it was Yuji who broke the nervous silence among the group as he started to explain to Tot.
"Well, you see, Tot, there are these kinds of people who…" Before Yuji could finish, Rio and Maya were already on him and in front of Riku and Kenshin's groups. Soon a cloud of dust could be seen as loud punches and kicks were heard from the position Yuji had been standing on. Soon afterwards, Rio and Maya were seen, panting heavily holding onto their tonfars and standing over a bruised and swelling Yuji Naruo.
"What was that for, you two?" Yuji asked as his cheeks swelled up. "All I was going to do was answer Tot's question."
"Yeah, leave it up to you to try totally and disrupt Tot's innocent personality. Like we'd let that happen." Maya said, fixing her tie. "You've got no shame whatsoever."
"Sorry about that everyone, just keeping a certain someone from going beyond just coming close to saying something very repulsive this early in the morning." Rio chuckled nervously as she held the beaten Yuji up. "You think he deserves anymore?"
"Well, no ah, I think he's had quite enough." Kenshin said as he and his group nervously sweat-dropped. (Looks pretty bad…)
"Really, Tot, in all honesty, we'd best leave the question for when after Greg wakes up, he can explain these kinds of things to you with a straight face. Or better yet, when you meet Misaki Saiki soon, I'm sure she will answer all of your questions for you." Rio said. "She's the spirit medium I mentioned last night, though I hope she does something about that attitude of hers once she lands a better job."
"Well, it's not like the L.P.G. has been getting big jobs lately since last we heard from them." Maya said.
"The L.P.G.?" Elen asked.
"Short for the Livelihood Preservation Group, a small group of people including Team Warrior and Greg himself who gets things done for a certain price, whether it being investigating paranormal cases or just giving somebody in trouble a helping hand." Rio said as she looked at Yuji. "Yuji, don't forget to stop by Soichiro's office when you do get your business fixed to let him know what's been happening, okay?"
"Understood, Rio." Yuji mumbled through his swelling mouth as Rio sighed to herself with a small smile.
(That was a close one back there. Now when I consider Tot's innocent personality from the short time I've known her, I don't want to give her any twisted notions about what kind of job a dominatrix does or else it could possibly corrupt that poor girl.) Rio sighed, as Tot looked on with a confused look in her eyes, not fully understanding what had just happened.
"Alright, Rio-san, whatever you say. I think it's probably a better idea to wait till Greg-san wakes up as well for my questions to be asked. I hope we get to meet this Misaki and the people of the L.P.G. soon as well." Tot said as Riku spoke now.
"I'm going to get the car warmed up, as well as get some other things ready, but before that… Nagi, Tot, I want you guys to come with me as I've got something important to discuss with you before we leave the mansion. It's about that thing we talked about yesterday…" Riku said as the two nodded at him in understanding at what he meant before they began to follow him out of the room, but not before Riku stopped and called out to Rio before they left.
"Rio, I'll call you when we're ready to leave. Why don't you guys hang around with Aniki and get to know him and the recent arrivals a bit, you guys seem to be getting along fine." Riku said as Maya nodded to him.
"Yeah, we'll do just that, we still have some time to spare." Maya said as Rio pondered to herself.
(Hmm, now what could it be that would have Riku and his buddies bothered enough at a time like this that they need some privacy by themselves? Must be pretty urgent, I guess.) Rio thought as she looked at Kenshin and his small group of friends. (Well, I guess I can hang around till it's time to move and get to know Yu Lan and Yu Fan, as well as Kenshin-san, Reiji-san, Elen-san and Cal-san some more.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"What's up, Riku?" Nagi asked his friend as the trio went out to the patio area of the mansion where they made sure that they were the only ones there. "Was there something important you wanted to talk with us about?"
"Yeah, that is why I wanted to talk about it privately, so Rio and the rest of Warrior won't find out about Kohta and Lucy just yet." Riku replied. "I was thinking about asking about how things are going over there for the moment."
"I bet you're worried about them at a time like this like the rest of us, huh?" Tot asked.
"That pretty much sums it up, especially when Reese was using Mantis to look for psychics or other people with paranormal abilities like it was with Yuina." Riku said and looked over at Nagi. "You've got your laptop with you, right?"
"I always do." Nagi replied with a knowing smile. "Thinking about giving our friends at the Kaede Inn a call, I suppose?"
"I thought it was high time that we gave them a surprise call, just to check up on them." Riku said as he used his cell phone and have Nagi hook it up to his laptop to check to see that it's clean and not bugged.
"How's it looking, Nagi?" Riku asked as Nagi replied to him.
"Okay, the coast is clear through the lines, leader." Nagi said to him with his back turned, gesturing to Riku a thumbs up. "You're good to go."
"Alright, I'm going to make the call to Kohta and the others now. Hopefully, they should still be home at this time." Riku said as he used a speed dial on his cell phone to call a specific location known as the Kaede Inn. While he was waiting for the call to connect he looked over at his two friends. "Would you guys like to talk with anyone?"
"Thanks, but we probably shouldn't keep your friend Yuji waiting anymore than we should." Nagi said.
"Yeah, and aren't we probably going to visit Kohta and everyone else soon anyway?" Tot asked.
"Probably, though we'll need to see first." Riku said. "Anyway, I hope someone's home…"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Near an antique grandfather clock at another location, a phone's ring tone echoed through the small hallways of the Kaede Inn as a young woman with short chestnut brown hair in the midst of getting herself prepared and dressed for morning classes, hurried to get the receiver in time.
"Don't worry, Kohta, I'll get it." She yelled as she picked up the receiver after the second ring. "Hello, this is Yuka, of the Kaede Inn residence."
"Ah, good morning, Yuka. It sounds like I managed to get to you before you guys left for campus." Riku said from his end as a surprised, yet delighted look appeared on her face.
"Wait, is that you, Riku?" Yuka asked as she recognized his voice. "Wow, how long has it been since we last talked?"
"Almost too long, I'd say." Riku said sheepishly.
"Since you haven't called in a while, I guess you and your friends have been on another business trip for the company you work for." Yuka assumed.
"Yeah, actually we just got back some days ago." Riku replied. "The trip was to Australia this time, and boy did we have a tight schedule to keep..."
"You know, I'm actually kind of jealous of you guys, always traveling all over the place." Yuka said with a sigh. "And Kohta and I are still stuck in college while you somehow manage to get a glamorous sounding job like that. Actually, we've been up since late last night cramming for some tests today and Kohta's still getting himself dressed, the lazy bum…"
"There is quite a bit of hard work involved in the job you know, Yuka, not to mention the fact that the job benefits don't always outweigh some of what we have to work with." Riku admitted. "Trust me; I seriously doubt it would be your kind of job, or Kohta's for that matter."
"Maybe...but still, I bet you guys must have really enjoyed Australia when you had your off time." Yuka then sighed. "From what I've seen of the place, I'd like to go there some day..."
"Let me guess, so you and Kohta can hang out by the beach, just the two of you, and then have a nice and romantic stroll as you watch the sunset over the horizon." Riku said with a chuckle, causing Yuka's cheeks to redden. "And then after that..."
"That is none of your business!!" Yuka half shouted into the phone, blushing furiously.
"Gomen, gomen (sorry)." Riku said with a light laugh. "I just couldn't resist."
"Well, at least you're still sounding as high spirited as usual if you're still going to joke around like that, Riku." Yuka said. "Anyway, how are Nagi, Tot, and everyone else doing?"
"Oh, they're all just fine, it's just that we all could use some sort of slack considering how stressing the jobs we do are getting these days, but they can manage." Riku said with a tired sigh. "Nagi and Tot wanted to tell you hi, but let's just say they've got some 'private time' to catch up on, if you know what I mean…"
Before Riku can finish, a sound of something hard being hit against another object was heard in the background as Yuka swore she heard Riku cry out in a bit of pain as Tot already passed her harisen on Riku's head from his end.
"Is everything okay, Riku?" Yuka asked as Riku shrugged it off.
"Ah, I'm fine, Yuka. It's probably how these cell phones work these days with the reception and everything." Riku replied as he held his smarting head. "Not to mention how these past couple of days were quite taxing on all of us."
"You know, now that I think about it, you do sound a little tired." Yuka commented. "I guess you were telling the truth about your job being tough."
"This last one was mostly during when we were beginning to wrap things up with the assignment." Riku replied. "Nagi, Tot, and I were so busy we practically had to pull all nighters to finish things up, and even after we finished, I spent most of the flight home working on the report for the assignment itself."
"I know what you mean; I've pulled quite a few of those myself with the projects given to me for most of my classes." Yuka said.
"It gets worse, no sooner do I submit the report and try to get some shut eye, my boss calls me up for another job." Riku said in reply. "Don't get me wrong, my boss is generally a pretty nice guy, but he can be a real slave driver sometimes." There was a brief pause before Riku continued. "Still, this new assignment is local and hopefully should be finished soon, unfortunately that would mean..."
"That would mean what?" Yuka asked, curious at Riku's sudden silence.
"Well..." Riku began, mentally kicking himself for nearly talking about actual FOXHOUND business.
(Nearly let things slip there, I really must be tired.) Riku thought to himself. (Oh well, guess I'll have to improvise...)
"Oh, it's nothing really..." Riku replied to Yuka. "It's just that we recently found out that one of our company's higher-ups was actually an industrial spy who'd been going out of his way to screw things up for everyone all along. Actually, his most recent action really messed stuff up for a colleague of mine and his foster family."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Yuka said sincerely.
"Thanks, but it's alright, I'm sure we'll be able to deal with it somehow." Riku replied. "Actually, I'm kind of embarrassed to admit it, but it was sort of obvious about that particular higher-up. The guy was a total jerk to everyone."
"What was it that this guy could have done to have gotten your fellow workmates and even you to hate him so much?" Yuka asked.
"Believe me, it's best that I don't get started on him after finding out what that guy was guilty of. Let's just say that the guy has quite a list of felonies that I don't think I should even be mentioning over the phone to you." Riku said with a hint of bitterness in his voice.
"Okay, then. I won't ask you further about the guy, but I do hope things turn out well for that colleague of yours and his family soon." Yuka said.
"Thanks, I'm sure he will be pleased to hear that someone outside of his family and friend's circle is concerned for his welfare." Riku said before stopping a bit as he remembered why he called Yuka in the first place.
"Anyway, that really wasn't the reason I was calling." Riku said. "Actually, I was calling to check up on how everyone's been doing lately."
"I understand, it has been a while since you guys were over to visit, after all." Yuka admitted. "In any case, Mayu and Nana have both been doing well at school and are making a lot of friends, Kohta is still trying to catch up to his studies since we've both got exams coming in a couple of weeks, but with Nozomi staying around, she's helping in making things easier for us and Nyu's also helping out in the Inn and keeping it in order."
"So, in a nutshell, things have been pretty calm since we last got together. I'm really glad for you guys." Riku said with a smile.
"Yeah, but we still miss you guys as well. We had a pretty fun time the last time we all managed to get together, especially when Nana cooked for you guys along with Tot." Yuka said.
"Ah, please don't remind me of that one, Yuka." Riku said nervously, his whole entire body almost quivering at the memory of the ordeal of having to eat, and digest, what those two had prepared, as Yuka chuckled. "Well, if that's the case, I guess I really shouldn't be worried for now."
"What's that supposed to mean, Riku?" Yuka asked. "Are you implying something about me and Kohta again?"
"No nothing like that, not yet anyway." Riku said with a smiled as he sensed Yuka was starting to blush once more. He then gave a small sigh as he realized he had to get back onto the subject as to why he was really calling and his tone suddenly went back to being serious when he spoke to her again.
"Anyway, there's one last thing I need to talk to you about, Yuka." Riku said. "I've read in the newspapers lately about some major terrorist activity going on in Tokyo-3. Has anything...out of sorts been happening in the area lately?"
"Riku, you do realize we live in Kamakura and not Tokyo-3, right?" Yuka asked in reply. "Actually, why are you even asking about that?"
"Well...I'm just concerned, that's all." Riku answered her. "Can you blame a friend for that?"
"No, I guess not." Yuka replied. "And I guess you have a point in being concerned, Kamakura is in the Kanagawa prefecture, so we are pretty close to Tokyo-3 if you think about it."
"Yeah, that's about right." Riku said.
"Well, aside from the very close shaves we've had since those stupid Angels started attacking Tokyo-3, especially that one just the other day, we really aren't in much danger from the battles that take place in that city, but other than that, nothing out of the sorts has happened in this district. It's pretty much boring and quiet around here as always." Yuka said.
"I see…well, that definitely is a relief to hear." Riku said with a sigh of relief before his tone of voice became serious again. "Anyway Yuka…I know this might sound strange, but if you, Kohta, Mayu, or Nana see or hear anything out of the ordinary, then please call me and tell me about it."
"May I ask why?" Yuka asked, a little surprised at Riku's sudden seriousness since just a moment ago he had seemed more relaxed.
"I...well, let's just say I happen to know some people investigating what's going on in Tokyo-3 and any information should help them." Riku answered, carefully choosing his words. "That and like I said before, I'm a bit worried about you all. Let's just leave it at that..."
"Well, if that's confidential business matters that you need to uphold just like the matter about the boss you and your colleagues hate, I won't press on any further as well." Yuka said as she looked at the old grandfather clock down the hallway. "Oh, Riku, I'm sorry that I have to cut this conversation short, but I've got to hurry and join Kohta for class soon. We've got another report to hand in this morning."
"I see, well, I've got errands to run myself on my end, so we'll keep in touch, alright?" Riku asked. "It was nice talking to you again, Yuka. And tell everyone I said hi."
"I'll make sure to pass the message, Riku. Take care then." Yuka said as she hung up with a sigh before placing her finger at her chin. (I wonder what was up with Riku just now? He sounded more concerned about us than usual, not to mention the question he had kind of bothered me….)
"Yuka, who were you talking to just now?" A young man's voice spoke as a dark haired boy wearing casual clothing came downstairs, followed by a younger girl with dark pink hair, wide crimson eyes, and was wearing a hat over her head.
"Oh, Kohta, Nyu, you both just missed Riku on the phone." Yuka said, surprising the two. "He said something about just coming home from a business trip from Australia and was wondering how everyone's going."
"I see, so he's been pretty busy with his work, as usual." Kohta said. "No wonder he and his friends haven't visited us in a while."
"Something or the like seems to be going on at where he works, or so he told me." Yuka said. "Still, he called asking if anything weird was happening recently..."
"I can understand if things are getting jumpy because of the Angel attacks and the recent terrorist activities at Tokyo 3. Considering that, he has every right to be concerned, Yuka, I'm sure I'd be if I were in his shoes." Kohta said. "In any case, did he ever say if he, Nagi, and Tot were coming here?"
"Nah, unfortunately, it seems that they're trying to get their bearings together with all that's happening at their work." Yuka said. "So it will probably be a while before we have any get together with him and his friends soon."
"Aw, that's disappointing." Nyu said, hanging her head some. "I know Nozomi would have been glad to hear from Riku again too, but for the past couple of days, she's been staying with her parents and wouldn't be back until the day after tomorrow."
"Well, I'm certain we'll be hearing from them soon enough, Nyu." Kohta said as he handed Yuka her schoolbag. "Well, it's about time we head off, but where are Nana and Mayu, by the way?"
"Strangely enough, they made breakfast together and left for school early. They've been doing that often these days, I wonder why." Yuka said. "They left extras for the both of you, so you should get some before you leave."
"We might as well do that then, don't want to starve on the way to a big test." Kohta said as Nyu followed behind him. "What about you?"
"Instead of waiting for you, I already had mine, thank you very much." Yuka said as she was a bit jealous that Nyu was going to share breakfast with Kohta instead with her and was feeling upset about it.
(Geez, was it something I said?) Kohta asked himself, rubbing his head. "Just wait for the two of us to join you on the way to campus, we won't be long."
Yuka pouted a bit as she went on to put on her shoes, while Kohta and Nyu together went into the kitchen to reheat their morning meals when Nyu spoke to Kohta.
"Kohta, do you think that something's happened at Riku's side?" Nyu asked seriously, as her voice changed some, signaling to Kohta that he wasn't talking to Nyu anymore. Kohta sighed as he didn't want to worry about what Yuka said nor cause either Nyu or Lucy to worry either, but he couldn't help but consider that it's possible that there was a need for concern.
"I…I just hope nothing too serious has happened. If something has, it could mean that there could be people after you again, Nyu." Kohta said; shortly after she had come back to Kaede Inn, Lucy had told him that she would rather be called by that name rather than the name Kakuzawa had given her, and he could understand why. "Considering that it's Riku and his friend's job to make sure people like that man, Kakuzawa, don't show up again; maybe something unexpected happened on their end that they need to take care of."
"Maybe…Kakuzawa wasn't the only man in this world to seek those like me and Nana; there are surely others more than willing to pick up the pieces." Lucy said. "You should know that not even our friends from the Hokage can prevent such a thing from happening."
"I do, I know it very well." Kohta said. "But as long as we can have this peace in this Inn, it doesn't matter as long you and Nyu are both with the rest of us. Even when things get bad to worse, I'll do what I can to protect everyone in this home we've built."
"Kohta…" Lucy smiled at Kohta as she stepped behind him, wrapped her arms around Kohta's waist, and rested her head on his back. "…thank you for still accepting me into your life, despite all I've done in the past. Please, let me keep making amends for everything that's happened like you've always done. I'll do anything in my power to do that without killing needlessly anymore, so…"
"I really appreciate your feelings, Nyu, but I think we'd better stop while we're ahead…" Kohta said as he felt Yuka's murderous intent fill the room as she glared at them, while holding on very tightly to a slipper. "…because Yuka is watching us at this moment with that look in her eye."
"Nyu?" Nyu's personality suddenly switched back as she, not aware of the current situation, suddenly started to tickle Kohta, letting her hands go about his lower abdomen area.
"Hey, Nyu! Watch where you're…?" Kohta stopped mid-speech as he soon remembered and saw a looming Yuka coming up to him from behind as she cracked her fists at what she saw. "Wait, Yuka, this is just a complete misunderstanding, it isn't what you…"
"Kohta, so is this the kind of thing you want to teach Nyu to do at this time of morning?!" Yuka screamed as she raised her fist. "Unforgivable, you pervert!"
(Why am I the one being beaten up for something I didn't do again?) Kohta thought as he shut his eyes before Yuka's incoming slap registered to his left cheek. (Well, it must be one of Yuka's charms, I guess…)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Somewhere on the Kamakura shorelines, a man who looked to be in his early thirties, with light tanned skin, short cut brown hair, and wearing sunglasses, cursed lightly while picking up some litter in the sand and emptying it into a bag he was carrying while nearing the end of his cigarette. His right hand had wires and metallic restraints surrounding its wrist area and made mechanical noises every time he moved any joints of his artificial hand.
"I swear...it's because of how kids these days are on parties and such that they always make it my job to pick up after these messy bastards every morning." The man said to himself as he wiped the sweat from his brow and looking at the morning sun. "Ah, and to do it in this damn heat to boot...God, do I need a drink."
"Bandou-san!" A young girl's voice called out as the man, a former soldier for the SAT, Bandou, turned to see two girls he was very familiar with, the first being a girl in her early teens with short black hair and brown eyes and the second was a girl of the same age with short light purple hair and pink eyes, approach him wearing their school uniforms. The second girl was wearing two bows on her head, each to cover up the horns she had. The two girls were Mayu and Nana, and Bandou could also see Mayu's white puppy, Wanta behind her.
"You two are pretty late this morning, I'm beginning to sweat buckets in this damned heat." Bandou said with a light smirk, as Mayu smiled at the man lightly, even blushing slightly, seeing him again for the day. For a time since they knew each other, Mayu had begun looking at Bandou as more than a friend, but he was in truth to her, her personal savior who at one time along with the help of Riku Hanabishi, another friend of hers, saved her and Nana from a sadistic attacker who worked for Kakuzawa that had broken into the Kaede Inn looking for Lucy.
Even Nana had started to notice the way Mayu was feeling towards Bandou and she too had become friends with him even more as she was in debt to him as well since he gradually changed from being an enemy to an ally. Nowadays, the two visit him during the mornings around the beach area to deliver food for him, though it was Mayu who had been doing it more often since she had grown closer to him.
"Sorry about that, Bandou-san. This morning's breakfast took a little longer to make." Mayu said, offering Bandou a covered basket.
"Let me guess, it was Nana who kept you back again?" Bandou asked as Nana glared and then pouted at him.
"It's nothing like that!" Nana said as she folded her arms. "I was just making sure the sandwiches came out alright, especially since Mayu said she wanted to give them to you since last night, so I was just giving her a hand."
"Actually, Nana-san, even Nozomi-san had a better shot of getting these done without the meat in them burned too much. You made at least three attempts at making a good set of sandwiches just like mine and still they came out messed up." Mayu said as Nana hung her head.
"Okay, so I still have a long way to go, I guess." Nana said as Bandou laughed a bit before he lifted his shades, as both of his eyes were artificial due to his first encounter with Lucy.
"So, is everything still quiet at the inn? No suspicious characters or the like snooping around these days?" Bandou asked, as he would normally do each time they came to see him so as to keep up on how things are.
"Well, everyone's still okay despite all that's been happening in Japan lately, though everyone stayed at home the day that Angel attacked Tokyo-3 some days ago." Nana said seriously. She, as well as everyone else at the Kaede Inn and in the community were well aware of the happenings of Tokyo-3 these days through the news reports and everyone was hoping that such things didn't hit any closer to home.
"Yeah, I heard the country went into a serious red alert when that thing landed into the turf of the guys in charge of dealing with those damn things. I heard it did some nasty damage to their defense base too before they somehow managed to kill it." Bandou said as he was also keeping track of what's happening as well, thanks mainly in part to the fact that too many people left their newspapers lying around on the beach when they were done reading them. "But, at least it's over for the time being until another one of those bastards show up again."
"Umm, Bandou-san..." Mayu looked at him as if she was ready to ask him something important. "...Are you still planning on going after Nyu-san after everything that's happened?"
"Well, I do still have a score to settle with her, but I've still got bigger fish to fry at the moment in making sure those creeps from my old boss's doesn't show up, at least until that ninja kid shows up again." Bandou said as he turned his back. "But from the looks of things, I don't think I have to worry that much about them being on the move from what I last heard of them...Still, after hearing what's been going on in this country, I wonder just how much longer everyone can keep up this charade of peace around here?"
"What do you mean, Bandou-san? And who were you talking about just before?" Mayu asked as Bandou stayed silent before speaking again.
"Hey, you two kids should hurry up and just get to school, or else I'll chase you out of here." Bandou muttered. "The deal was we can only meet for a set time, I don't want your other friends to know that you're hanging out with me just yet, since things are still rocky with us in terms of friendship."
"I understand. We should be going anyway so we don't want to be late, Mayu." Nana said as Mayu looked at her friend and nodded.
"Hai, I also promised Musia-san that I'd return her cookbook that I borrowed a couple days ago for new recipes early this morning." Mayu said as Nana bowed to Bandou.
"Well, until next time, we'll keep in touch then." Nana said as Mayu and Wanta followed after her.
"Take care, Bandou-san!" Mayu waved at Bandou as she happily skipped past him. "I'll see you later, okay?"
As the former soldier grinned back at Mayu while she left, he couldn't help but get a small feeling that he thought he never had before as he looked at the glimmering ocean before him.
(Why am I starting to feel soft over a kid like her? There's no way someone like me can be worth her time...she's just getting the wrong impression about me.) Bandou thought as he took a bite of one of the heart shaped sandwiches and his smile grew bigger slightly. (Hmm, this isn't half bad at all...)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"It seems like everyone's doing okay for now, so we should put our worries for that particular area to rest." Riku said as Nagi and Tot sighed in relief.
"Well, that's good to hear, I was beginning to think Reese has already made his move again, but we won't have to worry much since Kohta and Lucy are doing their best to keep things under wraps after everything's that happened on their end in the past." Nagi said.
"Still, it doesn't mean that we can let our guard down, though. I'm sure that soon enough another incident similar to what happened a couple of days ago could happen again and we won't know about it until it's too late." Riku said seriously. "That's why I want to make sure of things before we talk with the rest of the clan members as well as with our Uruha Ryu teammates about what we should do."
"Considering the height of the situation, I bet Arakawa-san would have enough time to come and report to us on anything that can help us when everyone else has gathered." Tot said. "Maybe she can help Nanvel-san about that whole situation regarding Greg-san as well and even ask her if she's ever heard of that Soldier X program that we've just heard of."
"It could be a possibility, though I really hope that it doesn't turn out that way." Riku said bitterly as he thought to himself. (But then again, Kakuzawa WAS her boss, after all, so he too would have come across knowledge of it before he died. But I really can't be too sure until Greg wakes up and can recall something that can help us unravel the mystery...which makes all this waiting for something to happen all the more tense for the rest of us.)
"Riku, are you alright?" Nagi asked him as he noticed the distressed look on his face.
"Yeah, I'm just fine; it was probably something we shouldn't be too concerned about." Riku replied. "Remind me later to contact Arakawa-san and request for her to come to the mansion once she gets time, I've definitely got some questions in mind I need to ask her about." Riku then paused as he remembered something. "That reminds me, we should also contact Annabella-san since I'm sure she can help both Arakawa and Nanvel with this."
"Do you think those two will be able to work together?" Tot asked nervously. "I mean, considering how those two can get when it comes to being rivals…it's kinda scary…"
"In a situation like this, I'm sure they'll put aside their rivalry for this, though I have to agree with you on the scary part." Riku answered with a nervous grin as he remembered what had happened the last time the two scientists had tried outdoing each other in terms of experiments.
"Well, considering they're both two very ambitious scientists, it's no wonder those two have been trying to outdo other in the area of science ever since they met." Nagi said and then paused he remembered something. "By the way Riku, have we been able to contact Himena, Hyou, Justine, Arc, and Kureha yet?"
"Dad and Uncle Kurei talked with me about that earlier; at the moment we haven't been able to make contact with them, but considering they've been pretty busy in forming that group of theirs and trying to keep it hidden from GoI it's understandable." Riku replied. "Maybe once we make contact with our allies at MITHRIL it will be easier since they and our clan have been helping them with that and that program we've implemented for the Non-Humans we've helped to rescue or hide from GoI, the ones that decided to try to continue living normally as humans anyway."
"Speaking of which, that's another thing we need to talk with MITHRIL about." Nagi pointed out. "We don't know what the Patriots' stance regarding Non-Humans is, but we can't take any chances."
"Well considering what we just found out about Greg-san, it's probably the same as GoI's." Tot said.
"Probably, but I think the Patriots would probably use any Non-Human they came across as lab rats rather than exterminate all of them except the really exceptional kind, that just seems more like them." Riku gave a bitter sigh. "In that scenario too many would end up suffering the same fate as Marianne did…"
"Yeah, that's something that should never be repeated…and I know Himena would agree since she was the one who had to put Marianne out of her misery." Nagi said.
"Yeah…" Riku, Nagi, and Tot were silent for a moment before Tot broke the silence.
"So, what about everyone in Hell Valley? Have we contacted them yet?" She asked.
"Actually Tot, that will be our job as soon as we get the chance to." Riku answered. "Even though Kabuto is gone and our friends from the Kiryuudo are normal people now, the Patriots and who knows who else could still target them and that's something we have to prevent. We can't let the peace that was attained after everything that happened when we all helped Shido out be destroyed."
"I think I understand what you mean, Riku." Nagi said, as he had an idea what Riku was pondering about, but decided to drop it for now. "In any case, back to what we were talking about before, we'll probably need to get in touch with Kohta and Lucy in person eventually just to make them reassured that we haven't forgotten them through this mess."
Both Nagi and Tot nodded to him, but before anything else more was said regarding Lucy, Rio Kinezono soon entered the scene as if she was looking for them.
"Hey, Riku, I was looking all over for you guys." Rio suddenly walked in from the corner into their conversation as she stopped midway to see that they were busy. "Um, am I interrupting something important between you guys?"
"Ah, no, Rio. We were just having a friendly talk with ourselves about what we should be doing after we get back with our teammates, that's all." Riku replied quickly.
Rio looked quizzically at the three youngsters as she placed her hands on her hips. "Hey, you three were up to something just now, what's going on, Riku?"
"Hey, look, it's nothing you need to be worry yourself about, Rio. We just remembered some friends who live a bit close to Tokyo-3, so we were just making a call to see that everything was alright. Can't be too careful nowadays, right?" Riku said as Rio tilted her head. "Anyway, we were about to get to discussing a way to find anything on Reese be it information or possible locations where we could find him and then you showed up."
"Uh-huh…right." Rio said as she started to tap her shoes, noticing that even though Riku's answer wasn't a lie, at least from what she could see, there was obviously something important behind what the ninja was saying. She may be an attractive officer for the police, but there's hardly any fooling her keen detective senses. The look on her face showed that she took her profession seriously. "Well, things are already on the edge now thanks to him, so let me or Maki in on anything new you can find out on Reese. The faster we find him, the better."
"Okay, we'll be sure to do that." Riku said as he nodded to her before turning to his two partners. "Well guys, let's get going."
The three youths walked away back into the mansion, silently averting their eyes to Rio in quick, concerned glances as they did so. Rio relaxed as she shook her head.
"Man, what's coming over me? Ever since we got here, my head's been spinning because of all this stress. If Greg were awake, he'd say that I was probably just being paranoid or something." Rio told herself as she then considered what Riku was just saying over the phone, what she had overheard from the conversation that followed, and how he and his partners were reacting when they saw her just as the conversation ended.
(And just what the heck was all that about anyway? Riku and his partners sure were acting a bit out of the ordinary as if they were hiding something. Maybe I am just being paranoid over everything that's been happening…I've just got to calm myself a little.) Rio thought as she looked at her watch and cursed herself. "Aw, crap…I can't dawdle here any longer; I have to be in Police Town ASAP to see Miyuki regarding what's been going on while I wasn't on duty for days now."
Meanwhile, Riku, Nagi , and Tot were continuing their conversation, mainly to wrap things up so that they could get ready to leave.
"Alright then, now before we go I'm going to ask if we've managed to make contact with Ren and Shio yet before I send a message to Miyaka-san." Riku said. "If we're lucky maybe she can contact Ren for us. I can tell that we'll definitely need his help and Jinmu Corporation's on this. After that I'll get a car ready."
"And Tot and I will talk with Beatrice and see if she's found any information that could help us." Nagi said. "By the way, Riku, is it alright if we discuss a bit more with her about that data cache we took from GoI's main computer during that raid we made with MITHRIL on Hate Breed?"
"It's fine by me, you can fill me in on the details later. Besides, you already told me before what you, Kaori, Yukie, Reina, and Akane were able to get out of it, so it's not like I'm missing too much." Riku said. "Anyway, let's get this taken care of."
With that, the three friends split up so as to finish up what they needed to do before setting out with their friends from WARRIOR.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Nagi and Tot opened a door in front of them that opened up into a large library filled with shelves of books and also cabinets that were filled with files and scrolls on various subjects. Further back there were some cabinets that contained a multitude of CDs and external hard drives that carried even more information on them. This library was where the Hokage clan stored some of their most crucial information, which was hidden even in the library itself and had several hidden forms of security around them in case enemies were to somehow get into the mansion.
Sitting at one of the nearby tables was a lovely looking woman with pale skin, long black hair, and red eyes wearing a somber looking black dress who looked to be in her late twenties to early thirties. On the table in front of her was a laptop computer along with several books, file folders, and scrolls, some of them opened. At the moment she was alternating between looking at, and then typing on, the laptop, and then examining some of the file folders.
"Beatrice-san…" Nagi said, causing the woman, Beatrice, to pause from her work and look up over at Nagi and Tot.
"Ah, Nagi-san, Nanami-san, it's you." Beatrice, the Hokage's recently appointed record keeper, said with a light yet kind smile as she greeted them. "I was informed by Recca-san about the mission you two were on, are the two of you and Riku-san alright?"
"We're just fine, Beatrice-san." Tot answered. "I'm glad to see that you're doing well too."
"Thank you, Nanami-san." Beatrice gave a light nod of her head in appreciation as she knew that Tot was a bit concerned about her health. Ever since that incident on that island almost a year ago, when the Hokage and MITHRIL, with the help of Himena and Hyou Tokiwara as well as Justine, had managed to sneak her off the island before it sank into the ocean and away from GoI's eyes, Beatrice had been under the care of the Hokage's medical sect to try to improve her condition which had so far been pretty successful.
"Well, is there something that I can help you with?" Beatrice asked.
"Actually, yes, it's about that information regarding that place where the mission we just finished took place. Have you been able to find anything yet?" Nagi asked in reply.
"Not at the moment, no." Beatrice answered. "I've tried finding information regarding its origins and so far have come up with nothing. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that it doesn't seem to have been something GoI or any of the Non-Humans made. I'm sorry."
"It's alright, Beatrice-san, no one expected this to be easy." Nagi said. "I'll try to look around on the net sometime later for anymore information, but if we keep running into dead ends…I guess we'll have to try seeing if MakubeX can find anything in the Archive." Nagi then paused for a moment before speaking again. "Anyway, there is something else…it's about that data we managed to retrieve when we attacked Hate Breed."
"Didn't some of GoI's safety measures corrupt most of the data though?" Beatrice asked.
"Yes, but we managed to crack into some of it and from what we could find, it looks like GoI was interested investigating a location close to the Tokyo-2 area." Nagi answered as he took out a portable USB and stuck it into Beatrice's laptop, a moment later a window opened and an image file was then accessed showing a map like image of what appeared to be a series of tunnels.
"According to this," Nagi paused as he clicked on another file in the window, this one a document file. "GoI was planning on investigating this area as they had been receiving incoming reports of strange activities in that area, some of them close to the subway lines. It looks like there was a slight rise in the activities a year ago, but it doesn't seem they gathered any further data on it."
"Well since it looks like that happened only a few months before we met Himena-chan and Hyou, so maybe when we helped them, Justine, Arc, and Kureha-san destroy their headquarters in Italy six months later, those guys couldn't do it anymore." Tot suggested.
"You may be right there, Nanami." Nagi nodded in agreement.
(Though now that I think back on it, I still can't believe we were able to pull that thing off with capturing Hate Breed without GoI even noticing before we destroyed their headquarters a couple of days after.) Nagi thought to himself. (But then again, that man who leads that group, Christophe Thomas Chavanel, seemed to know we were coming, so maybe…)
Nagi then stopped as he knew there wasn't much time left and he needed to wrap things up and decided he'd speculate later.
"Anyway, the reports seem to suggest that the activities may be originating from some point underneath the railway system." Nagi paused and looked at Beatrice. "So do you think that it's possible that there may be a tribe of Non-Humans living there?"
"I'm not sure…" Beatrice paused as she looked at both the document and map. "It does at first seem like the right place, but…generally our people prefer more secluded places than this. Places humans generally wouldn't venture anywhere near…"
"Did any of the Non-Humans on that island mention anything like this? I mean you were…" Nagi paused as he knew that what the subject matter he was about to touch on were not very good memories for his friend.
"I may have been seen as their goddess, but aside from Vergilius, Anes, and Mukai, there weren't very many others who saw me or even knew what I looked like." Beatrice sighed as she thought back on her memories. "And I don't recall any of those three mentioning any place like this." She then paused as she shook her head. "Still, regardless of that, if someone is indeed down there, they need to be warned about GoI."
"I agree with you there and I'm sure the whole clan does too." Nagi said. "Since that group practically vanished almost as soon as their headquarters was destroyed we have no way of knowing what they might be planning next. Though…I'd still like to know more before we try anything…"
"Hmm, maybe Mishiba-san can help us." Tot suggested. "He always seems to know a little bit of everything, so…" Tot then paused as she realized something. "Uh, I mean…oops!"
"Tot, you do realize you've pretty much spoiled the surprise now." Nagi said.
"It's alright you two, I sort of figured out that Satoru would be here soon considering what's been happening recently." Beatrice said.
"Still, we wanted you to be surprised since we thought you'd be happy to see him when he got back." Tot said.
"You don't have to worry about that part, because I am." Beatrice replied appreciatively. "I'm sure you and the rest of the Hokage probably tired of hearing this from me, but the two of us truly are grateful to you all, as well Himena and her friends, for helping to reunite Satoru and I and also everything you and your friends have been doing for us and our people."
"And like we keep telling you, don't mention it, we're your friends and besides, it's our job to stop people like GoI, right Nagi-kun?" Tot said as she turned to Nagi.
"Yes, also we…" Nagi then paused as he looked at his watch. "Oh, it looks like we need to get going now. I'm sorry, Beatrice-san, but Tot and I have to meet with Riku and get some important things taken care of. I wish we had more time to discuss what I just told you, but…"
"It's alright, Nagi-san, I still need to look into what you needed to have a look at, and also I need time to take some of this new information in." Beatrice then gave a sigh. "But still, I get the feeling that this will be something that we'll need to discuss with at least you all, Riku-san, Recca-san, Kurei-san, Kagero-san, and Gennosuke-san present."
"Yeah, anything that involves GoI does, and we need to talk with MITHRIL about it too." Nagi nodded in agreement. "Anyway, one last thing, Beatrice-san…"
"Yes, what is it?" Beatrice asked as she noticed something about Nagi's expression.
"Well…I know how things are probably going to be getting busy soon, but please don't push yourself too much." The young psychic's eyes seemed to move to the side for a moment before continuing. "I'm sure Mishiba-san wouldn't like it if you collapsed just after he came to see you and hearing that your condition has taken a turn for the better."
"Yeah, and since we all know how much you both have been looking forward to seeing each other too." Tot added, causing Beatrice to lower her eyes and blush a little at that.
"Is…is it really that obvious?" She asked.
"Well, sort of." Tot said before turning to Nagi. "Anyway, shouldn't we get going, Nagi-kun?"
"Yeah we should." Nagi nodded and the two of them turned to leave, but not before stopping to glance back. "Take care of yourself."
"You two be safe as well." Beatrice gave a light bow at them. "And I promise I'll take care of my health."
With that, the two of them exited the library, and a few minutes later, none other than Lilica Ebett emerged from behind one of the nearby bookshelves with a slightly troubled look on her face.
"Did you find what you were looking for, Lilica-san?" Beatrice asked, unaware that Lilica, who had come into the library with the permission of Recca and Kurei a few minutes before Nagi and Tot had to do some research, had heard the whole entire conversation Nagi and Tot had had with Beatrice. "Umm, is something wrong, Lilica-san?"
"Huh, oh, oh it's nothing. Nothing at all." Lilica said quickly and nervously with a somewhat forced smile. "A-anyway, I just remembered something really important so I'll see you later!"
With that Lilica quickly hurried out of the library, leaving Beatrice alone with her thoughts.
(I guess she must have found what she was looking for.) The three hundred year old Non-Human thought to herself as she continued her work. (Anyway, I'll need to check a couple more things before I get to what Nagi-san just showed me…)
Meanwhile, Lilica gave a short sigh as she leaned against the wall in the hallway not too far away from the library's entrance, pondering on what she had accidentally overheard.
(Sheesh, just how many more surprises are we going to run into?) The pink haired hacker thought to herself. (It's obvious that the place Nagi, Tot, and that Beatrice were talking about was the entranceway to the Underground, and that rise in activity a year ago must have been then…Still, just what were they talking about just a moment ago? What could this GoI be that seems to have these two so worried and just what the heck is a Non-Human? And also…whatever a Non-Human is, that Beatrice woman said that they were her people and something about being a goddess to them…so just what is she?)
Lilica then shook her head and decided to head back to where her computer equipment was and just continue with doing what she could to help the situation with Greg for now and wait to discuss this with Rio and the rest of her friends at Warrior when they all got back and Greg had recovered.
(Well whatever this may be about, I'm sure if we ask, Riku and the other people here at the Hokage clan will answer our questions when the time comes.) Lilica thought to reassure herself. (Riku trusts all of us as both allies of his clan and friends, so we should do the same for him and his family…)
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Sometime later, Riku managed to get a station wagon from the mansion's garage that was suitable enough to carry himself, Nagi, and Tot along with Rio, Maya, and Yuji for the ride from the Uruha mansion to the city areas. As Rio didn't bother to dwell any longer on what she saw and heard when Riku was conversing with his teammates, she decided to leave it alone while thinking on what she could do for Greg's current condition. Soon, as she was contemplating on that, time seemed to pass by quickly as the drive went on without any problems.
"Alright, this should be good enough for our ride; we can see the station now." Rio said as she waited for Riku to stop his car in front of the ascending steps of the Police Town building that she and Maya were being dropped off at, as Yuji himself had been dropped off just moments before at a taxi stop where he would get a ride that would take him straight to the Roppongi district. After stepping out of the cart that also carried Nagi and Tot along with Riku, who was driving it, Rio turned around and looked at the trio in the car.
"Well, thanks for the ride, guys. I'm sure we can manage from here on out, even with all the crazy things that are happening." Maya said as Riku replied.
"Think nothing of it, since one of the main things we were planning on doing was meeting with some friends of ours who can really help us in this situation, we figured that we might as well take you two to your workplace while we're at it since we're also concerned about those mass break-outs that we were told about." Riku said.
"Yeah, so we wish you guys and Maki-san the best of luck in handling this." Nagi said as Rio nodded her head.
"Considering how things get handled by Maki every time a crisis involving national security comes up, I shouldn't be too worried at the moment." Rio said. "Anyway, I know that you guys, on the other hand, have got things to do yourselves, so don't let our already escalating problems get in the way too much of your fun that you'll have with the reunion with these friends of yours later today."
"Rio-san..." Tot said as she knew that she was also referring to Greg's condition and how concerned they would be for him, especially how Rio was looking at the situation. "...Yeah, I'm sure we'll have lots of fun, but more importantly, don't push yourselves. You both came home from some serious fights just yesterday when we went to rescue Lilica-san and Yuina-san, remember?"
"She's right, try your best to take things easy today, it won't be good if you two get mentally fatigued during the day after everything that's happened." Riku advised them.
"We'll try to, Riku, but try telling that to the chief in the state of things right now." Rio said. "Well, we're off now. Hopefully we'll be back later depending on if things have calmed down, but we'll have to wait till Maki tells us what really happened during the course of yesterday at those prisons to learn more and what we'll be doing about them."
"I see…" Riku was about to tell his friends to take care before he suddenly remembered something. "Oh by the way, Rio, could I ask you one thing first?"
"Uh, sure, what is it, Riku?" Rio asked in reply.
"Well considering the situation with those breakouts, I was wondering something." Riku said. "With the fact that you guys are going to be dealing with some pretty nasty criminals, will you be putting out notices on these guys to the Sweepers' hangouts?"
"Sheesh, you're good at guessing things sometimes, Riku." Rio shook her head a bit. "Actually a friend of mine I talked with last night said that she'd heard that the police would be sending out a request to the Sweepers for help in recapturing the escapees with a paid bounty depending on the criminal's classification."
"Still, that hasn't even been officially announced yet, so does that mean you guys know some people who are Sweepers?" Maya asked.
"Well, actually we only know three of them, Maya-san." Tot answered. "All three of them are really nice and fun people and they've even told us about some other Sweeper friends of theirs that we'd like to meet someday too."
"Anyway, Rio, Maya, that's the thing I wanted to ask you two." Riku continued. "Since Japan's been pretty stable until recently in terms of law and order, there aren't as many Sweeper hang outs in this country when compared to some others. Therefore, I take it that Police Town will be sending officers to post the pamphlets for the criminals and also to announce what's been going on in person, right?"
"Yeah, probably, especially since most of the Sweeper hang outs I've heard of aren't too far from Police Town." Rio answered, and then stopped as she paused to remember something. "You know, back when I was a bit younger than you three I did consider becoming a Sweeper myself…"
"So what changed your mind?" Nagi asked. "The fact that there wasn't much of a Sweeper presence in Japan at the time?"
"That and I also found out that Sweepers don't really have a very steady pay rate since it depends on the criminals they capture." Rio said with a sigh.
"That's very true, in fact…" Riku paused as he remembered something and had gave a light chuckle as he realized something.
"What is it, Riku?" Rio asked.
"Oh nothing…" Riku bit back a grin. "Well…actually it is something, but…I think it would be better after a more proper introduction to some friends of ours."
"Would these friends happen to be these Sweeper friends of yours?" Maya asked and then looked at her watch. "And anyway, we don't have much time to talk anymore so tell us what you needed to ask us."
"Them and two others, to answer that first part." Riku answered. "Anyway, if either of you happen to be among the officers sent to the Sweeper hangouts, could you keep an eye out for three people? A guy with spiky brown hair who wears a collar with a bell on it and loves to drink milk, an older guy with green hair with a right eye patch and usually is wearing a hat and suit and is also usually carrying around a suitcase, and the third one is a little girl with short blonde hair, though it might be longer now, and she's usually reading something. Their names are Train Heartnet, Sven Vollfied, and Eve respectively."
"Alright, so what do you want us to do if we see them?" Rio asked.
"Just tell them that you're friends of ours and that my Dad, uncle, and I need to talk with them as soon as possible." Riku said. "Don't worry they know where the Uruha Mansion is."
"Alright, consider it done. Anyway, you guys remember to keep in touch and be careful out there today, okay?" Maya said.
"We plan to, ja ne." Riku then started the car and it then drove off.
Maya waved at the now departing car as she then turned and looked at Rio. "So, partner, ready to face the music?"
"Yeah, I'm set." Rio said as she looked at the entrance with a stern look on her face. (I'm sure everyone's going to have questions about where I've been for the past couple of days that I haven't shown up, so I'd better be ready to answer them. But even so...I just hope today won't be as full of headaches as yesterday was.)
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"Do you think they'll be okay?" Tot asked Nagi as Riku was now steering the car into the direction that they were planning on heading towards originally.
"Yeah, they should be fine. I don't think the Patriots would have sent spies to look into them, especially after all that's happened, but then again, there's always a chance of them being there..." Nagi said as he paused to think about that but possibility, but was interrupted as Tot shook her head.
"Well, yeah, Nagi-kun, but that wasn't what I was talking about." Tot said as Nagi realized what she meant now.
"Ah, I see now, you're still worried about how Rio-san was taking this matter, huh?" Nagi said as Tot nodded.
"Yeah, she was really trying her best to look strong with us, but I'm sure that she's probably still worried about Greg-san's condition even now." Tot answered.
"Well, I did tell her yesterday that once the rest of our nakama from the Uruha Ryu meet us and we tell them about what's been happening, we can probably find a way to get to the bottom of why Greg's state has taken an unexpected turn for the worst with him not waking up even though his body has recovered." Riku said. "Don't worry, you guys. I'm sure with Alice's help later; we'll be able to dispel any further worries Team Warrior will have about their loving son once he starts getting treatment."
"I certainly hope so, for their sake, Riku." Nagi said as he leaned back to his seat. "And one more thing, despite what you just said, the two of us can tell that you yourself are a little worried about Greg too."
Riku was silent for a moment before he spoke again.
"Is it really that obvious?" The young ninja asked.
"Hey Riku, Nagi-kun and I have known you for almost three years, so there isn't much you can hide from us." Tot commented.
"Heh, I guess not." Riku gave a light laugh at that before his tone became a slightly more serious one. "Still, you're both right, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't have some worries about the guy's condition…It's not that I'm not confident in your abilities or Alice's to be able to get Greg out of the state he's in, it's just that…it's more that I'm worried about what's going to happen next with him."
"Well, only time will tell for that, Riku." Nagi said and decided it would be best to change the subject. "Anyway, just what was it that you wanted to keep from Rio and Maya until later that involved Train, Sven, and Eve?"
"Well…" Riku paused for a moment. "Now don't tell Rio I said this, but I've heard from Maki, Maya, Lilica, and Yuji that Rio…has had a bit of an infamous history of debts and from what Greg's told me about it, that's putting it nicely."
"And let me guess, that part where Rio mentioned the pay for Sweepers got you thinking about how Train and Sven are also usually in debt." Nagi gave a light smirk.
"That and it also had me thinking…if we were to compare Rio's debts, with Train and Sven's, and also with Ban and Ginji's, which of the three would have the highest debt?" Riku, while keeping his eyes on the road, looked deep in thought as he said this because he was seriously wondering about this.
"Heh, I think we'll find that out soon enough." Nagi gave a light laugh as the thought was kind of funny even to him. "Though if you ask me, my money's on Ban and Ginji."
"Uh…don't you think this kind of sounds like we're having fun at our friends' expense?" Tot asked.
"Not at all, Tot, we're just making a very important mathematical comparison, nothing wrong with finding a little humor in it, right?" Riku said matter of fact-ly, causing Nagi to sweatdrop as he could tell that this wasn't an excuse, Riku really meant what he had just said.
"You know sometimes I really wonder about you…" The young psychic gave a mock sigh.
"Hey now, what do you mean by that?" Riku asked.
"Oh nothing at all, so, what's first on the agenda for today?" Nagi replied, once again changing the subject.
"Since we've got a good several hours before the rest of our team arrives at the location that we decided on from our recent Codec conversation with Akira and Alice last night, and since it sounds like things are still okay at the Kaede Inn at the moment, which means we've got some spare time to even visit Kohta and Lucy anytime, the first thing we should do for now is go and tell the guys at Weiss about what's been going on so far." Riku said.
"Hmm, I'll bet Ran, Yohji, Ken, and Omi must be either pretty busy or preparing to get busy considering they probably know about the prison break outs by now from Kritiker. I hope they're not upset that we haven't contacted them about it, Ran especially." Nagi said, remembering the leader of his former group of foes. "Though we're going to have a lot to tell them once we get to that flower shop, right Riku?"
"You can say that again, Nagi, and considering everything that Reese has done to boot, we've got more than just a good excuse now for not having contacted them." Riku said seriously.
"I guess you're right about that." Tot said as Riku continued to drive around as he stopped into a familiar street. "Hey, why are we stopping here?"
Riku stopped the car, opened the door, and then walked out while his two partners followed after.
"Since you two never saw this part of the area, I just thought I should show you guys the ramen shop that Rio and the others were staying until a couple of days ago." Riku said to them. "They actually share ownership with this couple and their children who originally owned the place. It's a good thing they're away on a vacation right now, considering what's happened."
"Still will our checking it out be alright?" Nagi asked. "I'm certain the police are still around the area after what has happened."
"I know, I'm sure that place is still under investigation by now." Riku said as he rubbed his head. "Ah, if only things weren't the way they are now, you guys could have gotten a special deal of a ramen bowl of your choice for a low price...it was one of Greg's ideas at the time when he worked part time at this place." Riku then smiled as he remembered something. "I'm sure you probably know this, but after that first part of our mission against the Mikage when we helped rescue Chidori and Shota, I stopped by with Yuhi and Chidori before we got back. I have to say they both enjoyed what they ordered. It's too bad that guy and his wife weren't there at the time, considering Yuhi plans to open a restaurant with Chidori after he graduates and they get married, maybe they could have given him some pointers."
Riku then paused as he remembered something.
(Though from what I remember hearing, up until Rio and everyone decided to do that co-ownership thing, she and the rest of Warrior were practically that restaurant's only customers.) The young ninja sweatdropped a bit as he thought a bit more on it. (Then maybe it was for the best that Yuhi and Chidori missed them…)
"So that's the place those two mentioned, too bad. Well, I'm sure things will get back to normal eventually once we get Greg-san back, Riku." Nagi said as Riku nodded.
"Yeah, I know that, Nagi. I guess this only serves to prove that you and Tot were right. It looks like I am starting to feel almost the same as Rio is right now about this ordeal." Riku said as he looked at his watch. "But that's enough dwelling on that. Anyway, since it looks like there's still plenty of time, I think you two really deserve some time alone before we go and meet the others, why not go and treat yourselves for the time being while I take a look around and see if there's anything that can help us?"
(I see, so that was part of his plan, huh? Well, it's reasonable since it's been some time since Nanami and I were alone for a date, maybe this can help us forget the troubles for now.) Nagi thought as he smiled a bit in gratitude. "You'll be fine by yourself, then?"
"Yeah, it shouldn't be a problem at this time of day." Riku said. "So basically, you now have my permission to have fun on my account; I'll contact you if I run into anything suspicious."
"Alright, leader, we'll be back in a little over half an hour at the most." Tot said as she took quickly Nagi by the arm and walked off as Nagi's cheeks turned red while they went on their small date, leaving Riku by himself to ponder on things.
(That reminds me, we haven't been to school for awhile too, and I wonder how everyone's doing right now?) Riku thought to himself, as he remembered most of the schoolmates and friends from his school, Daimon High School, from various people such as Ryoko Mitsurugi, Hitomi Yuuki, Daisaku Kamiya, Shizuma Kusanagi, the fighters of the enforcement group, the Shinsengumi, and the other students who were strong fighters that he, Nagi, and Tot were friends with.
Of course, their list of friends didn't just consist of fighters as the three of them were friends with the more ordinary crowd of people both at their school and the outside world, such as Kouhei Kagami, Aeka Shiraki, Takeshi Iogi, Misaki Sayama, Tsubaki Hirofumi, Kiyoka Daimon, Yuki Yoshikawa, Shinobu Misono and Takako Kuga. Though he, Nagi and Tot had missed over a week of school now, Riku hoped that all their friends were doing as well as they were the last time they had seen them. Riku also hoped that especially for Kiyoka, who he was a very closes friend with, especially considering the circumstances of how they met had met. Still, Riku didn't think he had anything to worry about for now as the closest thing to trouble that had ever happened at his school was when a ridiculous delinquent named Gaito Yakushiji and some punk friends of his had tried to stir up trouble there, but that attempt had ended in failure as that bunch had no idea they decided to try to stir up trouble at a school where martial arts fighting was a popular extracurricular activity. Suffice to say, Yakushiji had made the mistake of picking a fight with one of the strongest fighters in the school, Shizuma Kusanagi himself, and had suffered more than enough damage than he ever could in his lifetime both from the beating and the aftermath. As Riku remembered that an interesting thought came to mind.
(Still, I wonder what would happened if Greg, Rio and the others from Warrior would have done if they had been in my shoes and heard about everything what that punk did and how he had to pay for his deeds.) Riku thought with a near smirk, as he had felt very little pity when the aforementioned punk when Shizuma had went all out on him and in fact, after hearing about how the guy had made life miserable for two of his good friends before he had met them, it only made the young ninja think that the punk had gotten more than what he deserved. (Considering Greg's love for the Devil May Cry series to no bounds from what Lilica told us earlier about those videos, he'd probably have turned that ridiculous brute into a practice dummy for his techniques if he had ever gotten wind of what happened. It probably wouldn't have been as good as the beating Shizuma gave him, but I'm sure I'd have enjoyed seeing it immensely...)
After holding onto that particular series of images for a moment, Riku then shook his head and pushed those thoughts aside. As much as he hated Yakushiji for what he had done to his two friends, Kouhei and Aeka, the young ninja knew that now was not the time to dwell on that, especially considering that the punk had been sent to a pretty secure detention center where he couldn't really harm anyone, the main reason being because he didn't want something like that to cloud his mind in case anything serious actually did happen while he was waiting for Nagi and Tot. Having decided that, Riku then headed for the ramen restaurant that he had mentioned to his partners mainly just to look to see if there was anything important there, and also to see how badly it had been damaged.
As he was walking, Riku then suddenly remembered something he had forgotten.
(Oh no…man, I can't believe I forgot about this…just before we headed back to the US from our mission, I e-mailed both Kouhei and Kiyoka-san and told them that Nagi, Tot, and I would be coming back the next day and I'd call once we got back and that was almost three days ago…) The young ninja mentally kicked himself for that mistake and reached for his pocket. (I'd better call them soon or…oh great, I forgot I left my school cell phone back at the Uruha Mansion and turned it off…man, I just how am I going to explain this?)
Riku gave a sigh and decided to wait until he talked with Nagi and Tot about that since at the moment there wasn't anything he could do about it. He just hoped he hadn't caused his friends to worry too much. With that, he then continued on towards where he remembered the restaurant being.
(Hmm, I haven't been to this place in awhile, too bad it's in such a mess now that no one can stay here until things calm down, if it ever does.) Riku thought to himself as he arrived and saw the evident police tapes wrapped around the broken door and a window, along with barricades of no entry signs and a 'Closed for Stocktaking' sign was put up as well.
(Well, I'm sure it won't hurt if I snuck inside to see and analyze this situation for myself to the best of my ability, but then again, I'm no Shinichi Kudo or Kojiroh Amagi.) Riku thought as he stopped midway to see somebody was already past the tape and barricades and standing near the entrance of the abandoned restaurant. Riku then quickly stepped back and out of sight as the person turned and looked in his direction. (Whoa, I almost got spotted entering a place like this by a civilian whose already there, got to be more careful next time…hey, wait a minute…)
Riku then carefully took a closer look and saw that the person at the entrance was an attractive looking girl, who looked to be around his age, or slightly younger, in appearance with straight and long, dark black hair that went down to her waist, and wearing a thin pair of shades over her eyes. She was wearing a loose t-shirt with only her shoulder areas exposed, and was holding onto a small handbag that she was carrying with her that went along with a long and firm black jeans and sneakers she was also wearing.
"What's a girl doing here at this place?" Riku asked himself as he looked at her more closely. (I don't think I've seen her around before. Could she be a long time customer or someone who just moved around here?)
"Um, excuse me?" Riku asked the girl in a quiet, yet friendly manner so that he would not startle her since she seemed pretty focused at the moment. The girl suddenly turned her head to look at Riku as she heard his voice and removed her shades to look at him closely.
"Ah, yes?" The girl replied as Riku noticed that this girl looked a lot prettier up close and without the shades, yet he maintained his composure as he continued to talk to her. "Was there something you needed?"
"Actually, I should be asking you that, seeing you here for the first time in these parts." Riku replied with a light smile. "I just thought you might be a customer here, so I thought that you'd know about what went on here."
"Well, I don't know, to tell you the truth." The girl replied to him. "Although I don't come here that often, it was just that the sight of this place caught my attention. Also I've heard from some people who live here that this place serves pretty good food so I wanted to check it out. I do hope the owners are alright and are able to repair this place soon."
"Yeah, I'm hoping for the best for them as well, and whoever told you that was right, this place does serve some good ramen. In fact, two of my friends kind of went on a first date here and they liked it. " Riku replied as he was careful not o mention either Warrior or anything mission related into his comment. "By the way, I take it that you're new here as well?"
"Um, yes, I moved into the city about a week ago with my sisters." The girl said. "My name is Rie Petoriakowa."
"I'm Riku Hanabishi, at your service." Riku replied as they looked at each other in silence for a few seconds as Riku spoke again. "If you'd like, I can show you around the area for good spots where you can get groceries and other necessities for a good price around these parts. Especially since this city's pretty close to Tokyo-3 and things can happen during emergencies."
"Are you sure I won't take up any of your time?" Rie asked him as Riku shook his head.
"Not really, I got some friends to meet later, but it won't be for another half hour or so. And I usually act as a tour guide in my spare time to people who don't know the location they're at better." Riku said. "How about it, unless you've got other plans right now, in which case I understand."
"No, it's not a problem; I'd like to look around with you. Also, I don't have many friends in the area; you might be my first since I feel a bit comfortable with you." Rie said as Riku felt himself blush lightly.
"I…Is that so?" Riku replied almost nervously, but not too much as he was giving it away. "Well, allow me to lead the way and show you some good spots around the town."
"Thanks, I'd like that very much." Rie smiled as she started to walk with him as she began to think to herself.
(I just hope this disguise isn't overdoing it for me by making me look suspicious, it's been awhile since I dressed for an urban recon mission like this for the Delmos.) Rie thought to herself as she glanced at Riku. (And this Riku guy…something tells me that I might learn what's going on if I stick around him for awhile, but I doubt he may know anything about that Gregory Kinezono guy even if I asked. I'd better keep my act up and see where this little investigation takes me for now…)
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New allies, friends and developments have finally entered the stage! Just what will happen next while Greg is…?
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ShardclawK: Well, that concludes this chapter for this time around, I hoped it met everyone's expectations with all the character arrivals, appearances and developments that was portrayed and mentioned thus far once more. Also, I hoped everyone all the little references I've thrown in, especially for the Devil May Cry series as I really couldn't help but make those DMC references, as I had been fervently training in DMC 3: Special Edition to be nearly as good as the combo masters out there you see on YouTube during the long hiatus, like Kail for instance. A couple of good DMC3 and 4 vids to look for aside from the famous 'Elohim', 'Elysuim' and 'Azarel's Evil Eyes' are '5Styles of Dante Remake', 'Nothing'and 'Emotional Devil.' And if you haven't seen them yet, check out Blackmamba's 'The Stupid Files' series, though I should warn you first that you must be over eighteen because all of the clips will have swearing and lots of crude humor and really effed up randomness.
Ran: Well, it's not like anybody's bothered by that, Shardclaw-san. They know that you do have other priorities to deal with in real life; they just have to be patient about things, though with your new upcoming revised chapters and story arcs ahead, you're only keeping the readers and fans more in suspense in finding out what's going to happen next.
Shardclaw: You're sure right about that, Ran. Now I know it's going to be troublesome for yours truly to keep up at this rate if even this story has become that popular and still is with all the new anime/manga as well as games being thrown in.
Ran: You mentioned something about it for the updated casting list before, what was it?
Shardclaw: Since you brought it up, there could be a number of people who has yet to play some titles, especially for the Bishoujo titles section, I'll provide some helpful info while looking into them as I'm pretty much still in the dark about them, though they all are very good. As you can see from a number of games were added, especially the four in particular from the eroge horror game developer, Black Cyc, such as MinDead BlooD, Gore Screaming Show, Gun Katana and Mushitsukai as they have all yet to be translated to English, these games not only have some wicked art styles as well uber cool stories, they also are quite VERY DARK content wise, especially both versions for MinDeadBlood, which is considered one of the longest games you'll ever play while translating Japanese to English.
Youji: If anyone else out there want more helpful info on these as Shardclaw-san has yet to complete them, you can ask DarkFusion as he knows a great deal about it as he was the one among the circle of writers for the COE/SX stories to complete it more than our beloved perverted host.
Shardclaw: Hey, cut me some slack over here! Try sitting through some of the scenes just to proceed through the story in that game and see if you can say the same thing afterwards with a brave face…well, at least I had an easier time through Yume Muri Kusuri, probably the BEST drama eroge game anyone will play...wait, why are you making me say all these things?
Omi: In any case, we do hope this little news of ours has brought some light to the fans out there, as Shardclaw-san is still planning to deal with the minor mistakes and clarify some things in the past chapters to tie in with what was revealed in MGS4, while still focusing on the revised updates. If anyone out there has spotted any that needs doing so during the progress of these set of chapters from 1 to 12, let him know along with your suggestions too and he'll be on it to fix them.
Ken: Until then, I'm sure you can still get by any problems you may encounter, because you still have your trusty harem to assist you, am I right, Shardclaw-san?
Shardclaw: You guessed right, Ken, and what better assistance to do just that, is the first ever set of anime girls that Dark-san sent to me as a birthday present all those years ago, which up to present time have not failed me in 'curing' me of my writer's block time and again!
As I said that, Ai Yori Aoshi's Tina Foster, Taeko Minazuki and Miyabi Kagurazaki entered, all of them wearing skin tight office uniforms with low cut blouses, microskirts, garters and coloured stockings as they started to snuggle against me.
Taeko: Shardclaw-sama, are you only saying those nice things about us, not just because you've recently completed the PC game version of Ai Yori Aoshi in your spare time and got to know more about our...'endearing qualities'?
Shardclaw: I do mean it when I say you helped me out that time and kept on doing so from then, so I'm really grateful for the opportunity of ever getting the chance to be with such lovely ladies such as you three, especially Miyabi-sama as my most personal favorite female character of the series, as the game featured some more pleasant qualities about the appealing personality that I enjoyed the most about her, only making me fall in love with her all over again.
After I said that, Miyabi turned her head to the side with a heartwarming and blushing smile as she held her cheeks, while Tina got a bit jealous and almost suffocated me by squeezing my head against her chest.
Tina: Mou, you always go after the most appealing and mature ones, Shardclaw. What about Tae-chin and myself?
Shardclaw: Hey, you said it yourself about Miyabi being number one in looks, but you yourselves are a class by itself that I also enjoy as well and can't get enough of until I can conclude the manga online, then my life will be complete. Which was why I wondering after this chapter is finished, let's re-enact that joyous moment the first time you guys ganged up on me, at a time like this, I can use some 'inspiration' for the next chapter with your 'help' if you know what I mean...
Miyabi: But, Shardclaw-sama, that means we would have to use Tina-san's famously known, mysterious drink on you once more to get you into the mood. Do you recall its aftereffects?
Shardclaw: Aside from the passing out after one sip; yeah...was there something I missed?
The three girls' faces turned crimson as Miyabi answered my question.
Miyabi: For average people, yes, but remember due to your awesome power growth as a writer and a wanker killer over the time we've known you, it is quite different. Not even Tina-san predicted it, but the first time we had you drink it, it soon turned out to be quite a powerful aphrodisiac and pheromone attracting agent.
Shardclaw: What did you just say? Then that must have meant since that time, whenever I wanted to have a drink because of its unique taste...
This time, it was Shardclaw's turn to turn crimson as he clearly guessed what was it they were talking about and swallowed hard as he stood up.
Shardclaw: Ah, what the hell? What do I got to lose than just my stamina and several extra hours of sleep? I suppose a little trial run with you guys until the next update wouldn't hurt, or you're not up to the challenge?
The three girls smiled slyly to each other before they grabbed me by the arm and dragged me offstage.
Tina: Heh, oh, we'll accept it alright. Just don't expect us to go easy on you as usual; we're going all out just like the first time, even if we have to use the handcuffs again on you.
Shardclaw: Just the kind of words I wanted to hear, and likewise in my case as I've found new ways to eat whipped cream off of you three as dessert toppings. See you later, guys.
As they group takes off, Ran cleared his throat as he continued with the closing message.
Ran: With that aside, I guess its time for departure until the next chapter is ready, huh?
Youji: So it seems, though I was really glad that Shardclaw willing to go through the trouble of including us as well in the next revised chapter with new material provided by Dark-san, but I'm sure he doesn't need to know from us that he's being thanked for doing so, when he's in the process of already...
Ken: Let's not give the readers any more funny ideas than they have to of Shardclaw-san's personal time than it is, Youji, I think he deserved it since this was a new chapter development wise and all.
From the background, Shardclaw can be heard giving out certain commands to the girls that carried him off.
Shardclaw: Now, Tina-chan, to start things off, I'd like for you to make Tae-chan more comfortable doing that usual 'routine' to kick things off, as well making her say my now favorite quote from her yet.
Tina: Heh, you got it.I hope you're ready, Tae-chin, I won't hold back since it's by the master's request. Rawr!
Taeko: Hanyaa.
Shardclaw: Ah, music to my ears.
Back to the Weiss boys, they only shook their heads as his friend continued.
Youji: Yeah, we'll leave it at that till the next time, I suppose. During the time, let's hope the readers got some nice things and suggestions to leave for Shardclaw that can also give him inspiration as well for this chapter.
Ran: Until the next update of this uber cool side story, this is Weiss, signing off.