--------------(19)----------------

Touya stared at the speaker, trying to de-jumble the thoughts that had sprung up at the sight. The Go game, his worries about Kenichi and Kenji, his frustration with Shindou as Sai--all of that had derailed in an instant. "You... What are you doing here?" he heard himself ask.

The panicked eyes stared at him. "I..."

His companion straightened, and shook his head sharply, as though to stop him from talking.

Touya flinched as he finally caught sight of the other's face. "You," he said. "It was you."

"Don't-" the man said, putting out a hand as though to prevent the two of them from getting closer. At the same time, he reached out with his other hand, almost casually, and flipped the switch that powered off the computer.

There were gasps of protest--Touya realized he was not the only one who had the same protest as the Go game flickered from view. Even the dim light of the monitor disappeared, and by the light of the flashlights, Touya felt as though he was in a particularly disconcerting dream and facing a pair of alien creatures.

"We've got to get out of here," one of them said, his voice so harsh and urgent that Touya could not pinpoint the speaker.

"You can't leave."

It took Touya a moment to realize that the words came from the doorway. Someone else was there: someone who seemed to be comfortable in the half-darkness.

"Who-who are you?" Light beams from the flashlights danced crazily in the room as the two men at the computer turned to the doorway.

"I'll get to that," the man said in reply, and spoke again, this time as though to someone else. "Have you fixed the lights, yet?"

There was the softest buzz of a reply, probably from a miniature microphone, and seconds later, the lights came on.

Morita, standing at the doorway, seemed to be surveying them: Touya, holding a unused flashlight in front of him like a weapon, and the two standing in front of the computer, inching away slowly.

"Thank you." As always, when he was at a loss, Touya took refuge in courtesy.

"You're welcome," the detective said. "That was my assistant, by the way, at the power mains," he said to Touya, with a sideways jerk of his head, presumably at the person who had restored the electricity. "I'm afraid we broke some of your stuff coming in--I'll pay you back for them."

"It's all right," Touya said. He turned back to the pair, resolutely ignoring one while staring at the other. "You haven't answered my question, Kuroda-san. What are you doing here?"

Kuroda paled so much that he looked grey, but he seemed incapable of answering. Instead, he only cowered behind his companion, as though to use him as a human shield.

"Kuroda Itsuki," Morita said, eyeing him thoughtfully. "You're Shindou's student. And you." He addressed Kuroda's companion. "I can't say I'm surprised."

Touya's ex-boyfriend glared at Morita, hostility seeming to radiate from every pore. "Who are you?" he finally asked.

"I'm a friend of Touya-san's. He was worried about someone sabotaging the game, so he asked me to keep an eye outside his home," Morita lied.

Shindou, of course, Touya belatedly realized. Of course Shindou would have wanted Morita to keep track of things.

"Liar," Takeshi said. "I know Akira's friends, and you aren't one of them." He glanced at Touya, but Touya refused to meet his eyes.

Morita remained unruffled. "It doesn't really matter whether you believe me or not. Like Touya-san, I'm simply curious about your purpose here."

Takeshi replied, with a glance at Touya, "We didn't mean any harm. We just wanted to stop him from playing with Sai."

"Why?" Morita asked.

"Why?" Takeshi repeated. "Do you even need to ask that? Akira playing with Sai. He'll lose, and Sai will disappear."

Even in the midst of his shock, Touya couldn't help reacting with indignation to the assumption that he would lose to Sai.

"So? Sai is only a NetGo player," Morita said innocently.

Takeshi frowned. "Sai is a legend. But I don't believe that in this day and age, he can remain hidden much longer. All I need to find him is time, and I can't do that if Touya makes him disappear."

Kuroda, avoiding Touya's eyes, added shakily, "B-besides, Touya-sensei has been getting death threats because of this game. What if someone really hurts him?"

"So you decided to come and stop the game?" Touya asked. "Because you didn't want me to play with Sai?" He had no idea which one of them he was addressing, but he was aware of an anger inside him that grew stronger and stronger as the on-goings began to make sense.

He finally met Takeshi's eyes, but Takeshi looked away a second later. "It's important that Sai doesn't disappear," he mumbled, staring at the floor.

"Sai," Touya spoke softly, but Takeshi's head rose at the name. "It's all because of Sai, isn't it?" he said, in a voice so faint that it was almost inaudible.

Takeshi said nothing.

Kuroda opened his mouth to speak, then thought better of it, and tried to look as though he were invisible.

Morita said nothing, but stood watching all of them.

Touya drew breath slowly, as though it took effort to detect air in the tension-filled room. Suddenly he was furious. This was not a mere game he set up for fun. This was an opportunity to lure the person who had such an extraordinary interest in Sai. This was a chance to find whoever had taken Kenichi and Kenji. But it was all ruined now.

It had been difficult enough for Shindou to create an alibi by having Touya pretend to be Sai, but Touya was falling under suspicion too, simply because of his long association with Shindou. There were all the times he was unavailable as he played as Sai--those absences would be remembered. If rumours connected him to Sai, they might never get another opportunity--and it had been two months already.

"You idiots!" he screamed.

---------to be continued---------