Ais sez: Sorry this chapter took so long to get up—my internet went out. . I love this chapter. 32 already? Wow, Hyde! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Disclaimers have a way of getting old. See previous 31 chapters for disclaimer.

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to mango ice cream from Iwataya Japanese restaurant. It is quite yummy (Ais, again, can attest to this, and also to the yumminess of the green tea flavor). Yay ice cream! Yay witnesses to its yumminess!

Hyde A/N: I'm always glad when people review and tell me that I have another reader. It makes me happy. My work here is not in vain! Yay! I feel so loved…sniff

I have SO had liver twice in a span of like two weeks. It's exciting. Liver makes me happy. And so does butter pecan ice cream. And Lord of the Rings, of which soundtrack I just got done listening to for almost an hour. Does that sentence make sense? I can't decide. Oh well.

P.S.—Yes, Hyde does actually love liver. Also a strange substance called 'tomato.' Ais cannot understand this concept.

…………………

As Amon and Robin headed for Harry's to begin their search for Touko, Robin pulled out her communicator.

"What are you doing?" Amon asked, stomping on the gas pedal and nearly escaping a three-car pile-up.

"We can't search all of Tokyo ourselves. Doujima is off tonight too. She can help."

"Mutter."

"If she hasn't been drinking tequila," Robin added as an afterthought.

"Mutter."

Doujima met them at Harry's. Neither the proprietor nor any of the customers had seen any sign of Touko, so they prepared to split up.

"I'll check some of her friends and the other members of the Elizabethan English Forever Club of Japan," said Robin.

"Amon," Doujima interrupted, "Are any of your underworld contacts good for anything except the acquisition of large dangerous illegal weaponry?"

Amon shot her a brief Sullen Glare, resenting the disparaging reference to his Secret Room of Huge Dangerous Weaponry. Wait, how did she know about the Secret Room of Huge Dangerous Weaponry?

"I'll check the mall," Doujima was saying enthusiastically.

"The mall?" Robin said dubiously.

"That's where I go when I get depressed."

"Oh."

"There are a lot of…cute…things at the mall," Amon pointed out.

"Oh. Well, I call all the nightclubs then!"

"Uh, okay," said Robin, as Amon shook his head in despair.

"I'll drive around; maybe she's just walking somewhere," Amon said.

They split up. Robin got in to Amon's car so he could take her back to get her Vespa. Amon hung back and snagged Doujima's arm.

"Do not…drink…anything," he said softly but firmly into her ear.

She gave him a Doujima glare and flounced off.

………………

As he scoured the streets for Touko, Amon made a phone call. Someone picked up on the other end.

"Hello, what does a cow say?"

"Quack," Amon answered. "Could I get a cheeseburger?"

"One moment please." There was a thunk and some rustling on the other end and a new voice came on.

"Hello, what does a chicken say?"

"Squish," Amon replied. "I need to discuss the whereabouts of a certain shipment of parsnips."

"The second one?"

"No, the third one."

"Affirmative," said the voice, and they both hung up.

Amon pulled in at a large fish market and slouched ominously next to a bin of squid. A few minutes later another customer approached the squid bin. Amon ignored him, but slid an envelope containing a photo and description of Touko under a small squid.

"Look through them until you find a good one," he told the customer as though making polite conversation. He stalked away. The customer surreptitiously snagged the envelope and went to pay for an assortment of fish and shrimp he was holding.

Outside Amon drove around for four more hours with no luck and then returned to Robin and Touko's apartment for a rendezvous with the girls.

It was no luck all around. Well, I guess it depends on how you look at it.

"I gave my phone number to ten cute guys and three really hot guys and one really rich guy who was sorta cute…" Doujima was telling Robin.

"Oh really?" said Robin, not sure how to respond.

"Oh yeah, and I gave Miho's number to this ugly drunk guy," Doujima tittered.

Robin smiled but her eyes were pleading with Amon "Can we move on now? I'm getting worried."

"I'll take care of it," Amon's eyes responded darkly.

"But you didn't see Touko?" he interrupted her almost accusingly.

"Uh, no."

"No one had seen her?"

"No."

"Then we'll look again in the morning."

"But we have work in the morning," Doujima pointed out.

"Finding Touko is more important than work."

"But what about my beauty sleep?"

Amon sent her a Despising Glare in reply.

"I'll see you in the morning then," she sighed, and went for the door.

Robin opened her mouth to say something and then didn't. Amon, as though sensing this, turned and said, "What?"

"We don't know where she is…I feel bad, sleeping instead of looking for her. What if something happened…"

"Don't worry. I've got people looking for her. Professionals." He put his hand on her shoulder.

"Okay." They stared at each other in silence for a moment. "Good night," she said. His hand fell from her shoulder and he turned to go.

"Give my regards to Cream Puff," she added. He paused and then left muttering to himself.

Robin went to the door and watched him drive away.

"He cares about her so much," she whispered to herself, staring out into the darkness that had swallowed him up.

Then she turned and closed the door and began to let down her hair for the night.

…………………

Aw. Sniff sniff. Another Sad Emotional Robin Scene has worked its way in. They always just seem to happen all by themselves. Maybe I'm in a Sad Emotional Scene mood after having just recently watched The Place Promised In Our Early Days.

But anyway. Another chapter done! I'm beginning to wonder how long I'll keep this up. I hit the 150 review mark. Yay! Miniature virtual party for self and all reviewers past and present!

May a squadron of Orcs armed with silly putty never besiege your house,

Hyde