Return Trip

Chap. 4

By now, many are missing, and Goku was confused. He had forgotten even to dress himself…he merely wandered about in his pajamas, calling for Konzen. But the blonde is nowhere to be seen.

"Oi, saru!" Kenren came up, seeing the lone itan. "Where's blondie?"

"Konzen's…gone." Goku said softly, almost not believing it himself. "Konzen's gone…where's Konzen, Ken-niichan?"

"I don't know…Ten's missing, too. Gojun as well. What the hell's going on here?"

"Ten-chan's gone, too! You're not gonna go away, are you, Ken-niichan? Are you?" Goku nearly cried on him. Kenren shook his head.

"No, Goku. I'm not." He took Goku by the hand, and led him down the hall. He had to get Goku dressed at the very least.

Kenren found out that Goku could indeed get dressed by himself, which gave him time to think. What could have taken Tenpou and Konzen? Forget them, whoever it was had kidnapped Gojun. Now that one took talent. There were claw marks on Gojun's chair...perhaps it was a youkai. But what youkai would be brave enough, or stupid enough, to come up to Tenkai anyways? It must be one IDIOT of a youkai, then….

Somewhere beneath Tenkai's surface, in an underground dungeon, a certain youkai sneezes. She rubs her nose, and looks around. "Someone's simply out to get me…" She looks back at her clipboard. "Remarkable…I didn't expect results this good. He's incredible." She looks at the chart of the cells that are filled. "Yes, this is indeed amazing…who next? Hm..how about…" She flips some papers, and smirks. "Ah yes. 'You're not gonna go away, are you, Ken-niichan?'" She mocked Goku's voice. "Sorry, Goku-chan, but it looks like Ken-niichan's going away after all…we'll go straight for the big time after this." She glances out a window…much time has passed, and the sun is setting. (A/N: Go with it!) Yes, now is just the right time. She pulls out a small remote, and presses a small red button on it. "Wakey, wakey!"

Somewhere above her, golden eyes snap open.

Kenren yawned; to make Goku feel safer, he had agreed to stay with the boy the entire night. The boy was sleeping in his room, and Kenren had stepped out for a smoke. He was just lighting the cigarette when he heard a soft creaking from Goku's room. He shrugged it off; probably just Goku's bed creaking with his weight. The kid was probably rather restless after the day he'd had. All they'd done the entire day was search for their missing friends, and found nothing. Goku had been upset, which made Kenren feel kind of bad. It's hard…watching a kid cry.

The door clicked shut, and Kenren turned to look at the door. That was odd…it was already shut…how could it shut again? Had it opened without his noticing? He backed off, away from the wall, and looked about the room. The candle on the table suddenly flickered out, but he made no move to light it again. This was it…whoever it was…was finally targeting him.

Claws scraped the table, and a child's laugh echoed through the room. He looked around. No one in sight…yet. But at any moment, the one kidnapping these people could just appear out of nowhere. "Ken-niichan, you're so tense!" A child's voice laughed. "What's wrong?" Footsteps…light but steady…they were surrounding him, circling him, like a shark ready to capture its prey at any moment. "Aw, are you really that scared of li'l ol' me?" In the darkness, golden eyes shone brightly, and Kenren grit his teeth.

"C'mon out!" He called.

"Gladly!" Two clawed hands reached out from behind, an odd smell coming from the gloves on those hands. They cupped around his mouth, and the world began to spin, but he managed to take that cigarette he had lit not long ago, and grind the burning end onto one hand. The cigarette burned through the glove to the hand, and not seconds later, the child's voice cried out in pain. "ITAI!" Kenren took the chance to throw the small form over his head in front of him, hoping to be able to see who it was. The child was sprawled on the floor for a few seconds only, but Kenren made no move to catch him. That voice…he'd heard it so many times before, with that same line, no less. And as the child ran out, he didn't move still. His head was pounding, and he fell to his knees. Chloroform…that's what the kid had on his gloves, most likely. That's how he knocked the others out. But…that voice, and it almost looked like…his vision was starting to fade. No, it couldn't be. It couldn't be….it just couldn't.

A/N: TEH HOLEH CRAP, IT'S AN UPDATE!