Sorry about the delay. I was on a vacation from hell for the week. No really. Anyway, on with chapter two here.


They were all dressed casually, undercover as photographers for Shinjuku's new archive. The Chief booked them reservations at a half decent place called Keio Plaza hotel. They all paired in two's as far as rooming went. Pazu and Borma, Saito and Ishikawa, Togusa and Azuma, who was reluctantly brought as back up. And last but not least, Motoko and Batou. The Major told them to rest up, and they'd start their search in the morning, since night had already fallen. Snooping around town at night would raise unwanted suspicions.

Motoko was in her shared room with Batou, going over all the different ways they could handle the situation. But other thoughts were pushing their way to the surface, breaking her concentration. No matter what she did to distract herself, the thoughts of a certain white haired refugee over powered her. So she sat on the edge of the bed, biting her thumb, lost in herself.

Batou kept a close eye on her when she got like this, worrying silently that she would snap. She'd go down gracefully, that's for sure, but she'd still go down. He sat on the other side of the bed, flipping through the channels on TV, but not really paying any attention to it. He kept his eyes focused on her, the fact that she hadn't noticed yet irked him, but he didn't say anything.

She always told him he worried about her too much, but usually, he really couldn't help it; and she knew that.

"You know you passed that channel 5 minutes ago right?" She spoke up quietly from next to him.

He looked down at the remote and realized he hadn't stopped changing the channels since he turned it on. He hit the power button and the screen went black. Now, they sat in silence, the only sound was Motoko biting her thumb nail.

"Of there's something you need to get off your chest, you know I'll listen,"

No answer.

"…Motoko,"

She looked up at him.

"It's nothing," She tried her best at a reassuring smile, but it came out looking pitiful.

He sighed, looked down. He knew, he always knew.

"You're thinking about him again, aren't you?"

She looked down sadly, the sign that let him know he was right.

"I don't think he'd want you dwelling on the past,"

She only responded in silence.

"It's not the easiest thing in the world…" He looked up at her voice. "To keep him off my mind,"

"I see," he moved to get up, but she moved faster and grabbed his arm.

"Batou, wait,"

He turned back to her. She looked away, not meeting his eyes.

"I'm sorry,"

He was slightly surprised at her apology, but then again, she'd been apologizing for a lot of things lately. Ever since Kuze, she'd been acting funny, and it worried them all.

"It's fine, but it's not that I'm worried about,"

"Oh?"

"It's you,"

He then stood up and wordlessly headed towards his back to unpack the few things he had with him. He felt her eyes on his back the entire way. For some indescribable reason, she felt cold without out him sitting there, and she stood and walked towards the window. The view was amazing, beautiful, and romantic; looking out over the National Park the way it did. It was perfect for a couple enjoying the star filled spring night. She looked over to Batou. But, she hardly felt that way, and they were hardly a couple.

He caught her gaze once he was finished closing the dresser drawer. He gave her one of his goofy grins. He closed the space between them and rested a hand on her shoulder. She looked back out the window at the trees and the buildings off to the side.

"You ok?" He asked.

"I'll live,"


"So you want us to just run around the city looking for someone that we don't even have as much as a gender for?" Togusa asked blatantly.

"There's not much else we can do, not until the Chief gets back to us with information," Motoko reminded sharply.

"If he has any," Batou added grimly.

Motoko ignored Batou's comment, even if it was true, and gave out the orders.

"Pazu, Saito, Borma, you all cover the Eastern half of the city. Togusa Batou and I will cover the Western half. We'll worry about the rest of the city tomorrow. Ishikawa, you and Azuma stay here and dive around on the net and see if you can dig anything up. If this is anything like the Individual Eleven case, you'll be able to find something. Rendezvous back in front of the hotel at 8:00 P.M. If you find anything out of the ordinary, contact me immediately,"

"Roger that,"

While everyone was scattering off into the city, Ishikawa passed Batou and spoke quickly to him.

"Take care of Queen Kong for us will 'ya?"

"You got it,"


Pazu, Saito, and Borma walked down the streets of upper Shinjuku. It kind of felt like they were wasting vital time, but there was nothing that they could do about it…not yet at least.

"Hey, isn't this supposed to be one of the more populated places in the city?" Saito spoke up.

"Yeah, we're right near Shinjuku Goyen National Garden, where the Cherry Blossoms grow. Supposedly a big hit," Borma answered.

"Well then, where is everyone?" The streets were practically deserted, save for a few people here and there.

"Good question,"

'Hey, Major,' Saito brought up his comm link. Motoko's avatar popped up almost immediately.

'What is it?'

'Is it crowded over where you are?'

'Yes, very,' She said it like it was a bad thing…and it probably was. 'What makes you ask?'

'It's completely dead over here,'

'That's strange, it's usually over populated over there around this time of the year,'

'That's what Borma said,'

'Keep me posted, and stay on your toes,'

'Right, you too, Major,'

Batou looked over to the Major.

"Looks like we cam to the right place,"

"Looks like it,"

The crowds were growing quicker by the minute it seemed, and it was getting harder to walk around freely.

"Why is it so damn crowded around here, this isn't normal for Shinjuku is it?" Batou asked as someone crashed into him, bouncing off because his body was bigger.

"No," Motoko answered simply.

Togusa was having an even harder time then the two of them. Being completely human, he didn't have the strength or the weight to plow through the crowds like the other two. He'd be lucky if he didn't get lost. They all perked up when they heard yelling coming their way. An older man was running from a shop keeper, probably took something and ran. He had his head turned back and wasn't paying attention to where he was going, and didn't realize he was about to crash into a purple haired woman. He plowed right into Motoko and Batou caught her before she could hit the ground. The man, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. He tumbled to the ground, change spewing forth from his jacket pockets. He looked up and was about to run, but he froze.

"Motoko Kusanagi?"

Her eyes widened slightly. "How-" The man cut her off.

"Follow me, all of you; I think I know what you're looking for here,"

Batou cast a warning glance at the Major, but she reluctantly followed the man anyway, her interest caught.

'Major,'

'I know, but it's the only lead we have,'

He sighed, but then turned to Togusa and motioned him to follow along, and they ran after the man into and alley.


This will make more sense in the next chapter…I promise.