A skinny girl stood beside the man in the suit in the alleyway. There were no streetlights, so the teenage boy could barely make out their features in the night. He could tell the girl was unhealthily skinny - with spider-like legs and bony elbows. Dark circles framed sunken eyes. She had wiry black hair and the t-shirt she was wearing was much too big on her tiny frame. She stared at the teen boy for a long time and then nodded. The man in the suit walked forward. The boy didn't understand, but he was terrified. He pleaded for them to let him go, but got a confusing response.

"Hold your breath. Make a wish. Count to three…" The man said and began to hum the tune of Pure Imagination, a song from the old movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The boy's heart pounded hard against his chest in panic. The man was so close now. He reached out with a gloved hand, removed the white glove, and tapped the boy's forehead. Then there was blackness.

SARUHIKO FUSHIMI's morning went by maddeningly slow. There was no trace of the virus that only erased the security footage and reports of the arrest of the strain and the Red King. It was beginning to really annoy him. However, just after lunch, Akiyama came up to Fushimi with a thin manila folder.

"We just had a couple come in stating their son was kidnapped," he said, handing the folder to Fushimi. He opened it and flipped through the few pages.

"They're sure he's not just a runaway?"

"They tracked his phone this morning, since he never came home last night. It was smashed at the end of an alley. Which definitely raises suspicion."

Fushimi studied the file; seventeen-year-old Eiji Ito was an honors high schooler. There is a chance he ran away. "Wait, why are we dealing with a missing person case?" Fushimi asked.

"He's a strain," Akiyama replied.

Two hours of looking into Eiji Ito, a strain came in saying their friend had been approached by a man in a suit and then hasn't been heard from since. By the late afternoon, four disappearances had been reported. He took it to Lieutenant Awashima.

"They were all strains," Fushimi said. "Do you think someone is actually kidnapping them?"

Lieutenant Awashima looked doubtfully at the small stack of files, "I don't know… remember, the Circus that came to town is full of strains. My sister joined because she's a strain and she wanted to be with those like her. They could have taken this opportunity to do the same."

It made sense, but something told Fushimi that wasn't quite it. The Lieutenant offered that a few of them go to the first show tonight and take a look around, to see if the missing strains were indeed there. Fushimi didn't like the idea of going to the circus but reluctantly agreed to be one of those to go.

The show was to begin at 6:30. Fushimi, Lieutenant Awashima, and Akiyama kept their uniforms on and made their way to the red and white circus tent. Outside of the tent were food trucks, offering kabobs, cotton candy, and other treats for the teams of children swarming the area. Fushimi clicked his tongue. They approached a big fat man sitting in the box office, collecting tickets. He was pink-faced and looked overall jolly.

"Hello!" He greeted happily. He wore a red and white vest and a name tag that had the name 'SHO' written in block letters, "Tickets?"

Lieutenant Awashima held up her badge, "Actually, we are from Scepter 4. We need to conduct a quick investigation."

Fat Sho raised his eyebrows, "Ah, of course. Do you need to speak with the owner?"

"Yes, that would be helpful."

Sho nodded and smiled a pudgy-faced smile, "Step right on in and I'll let him know you're here."

The circus tent looked much larger on the inside than it did from the outside. There was a foyer with bathrooms and a crystal chandelier with red curtains that lead to rows of seats. It was an amphitheater-style stage, with the audience rising and a flat, circle stage.

"Welcome!" A flamboyant voice sang from behind them. A man with gelled black hair, sharp eyes, and dressed in a suit with white gloves approached them. "My name is Nazar, I hear you have to investigate my circus?"

The Scepter 4 members all introduced themselves. He seemed a little off, but that should be expected of someone who owns a circus. He lead them to the areas between the curtains where the performers were preparing for the show. He explained what things were and who people are. A short blonde girl dressed in a red corset with gold fringe along the hem came bounding up to them. The Lieutenant smiled.

"Hey sis," the girl said to the Lieutenant, "You came to see the show?"

"For work reasons, yes," Lieutenant replied. The girl rolled her eyes but didn't drop her smile. She turned to Akiyama and Fushimi.

"I'm Sora, Seri's sister. You both work with her I see."

"You are related to my little star!?" Nazar exclaimed to the Lieutenant. He grabbed Sora's face between gloved hands, squishing her cheeks. She looked extremely uncomfortable. "Sora has become one of the crowd's favorite acts! What a little performer she is!"

"Oh I know," Lieutenant Awashima replied.

"Well, the show is going to start in a few minutes. Why don't you run along, Sora, and I'll show our guests to the best seats in the house!"

Sora just shrugged, waved, and was gone in the hustle of brightly colored costumes.

The first number was with the entire circus coming through the audience to loud, high energy jazz music. There were people on stilts with frilly ruffled collars, fire breathers, acrobats and a man with a lion. Fushimi leaned back, uninterested, and scanned the crowd. To his surprise, sitting only a few sections away was Misaki, Kusanagi, Anna, Totsuka, and the King. The King also didn't seem very interested and turned to make eye contact with Fushimi by chance. Immediately Fushimi looked away. All he hoped was that the King would know he wasn't there for pleasure.

The next number was the Lieutenant's sister's solo. She was lowered by a hula hoop from the ceiling. The music was slow at first, only strings and clashing of symbols. She twisted and bent herself in ways that made Fushimi squirm in his seat. She dangled herself by flexing a foot against the hula hoop and hung upside down. A white stallion then came barging into the ring just as the music picked up to the high-energy electric jazz like before. There was no reigns or saddle, only red feathers braided into the horse's mane. Sora let go and landed right on the stallion's back. She began to do gymnastics tricks while the horse galloped around the ring. She flipped, did back handsprings, balanced on one foot while holding the other straight beside her head. She'd flip off to sing some lines in a smooth, pretty voice and then continue with her tricks. Fushimi had to admit he was actually impressed with her. She stood in the middle of the ring, waving to the audience, and the stallion charged right for her. The entire audience tensed – unsure if this was part of the act. But it was, and she leapt up, landing sitting backward on the horse, and then flipped off and landed in a split just as the song ended suddenly. The crowd cheered extra loud for her.

"I'm surprised," Akiyama said as the trio left the circus tent, "I thought it would be a lot more geared towards children, but all the performers were really talented and did really cool stuff."

The Lieutenant nodded, "I agree. I didn't even know my sister could do half of what she did in there..."

Fushimi looked around, annoyed because it seemed like even the Lieutenant forgot why they had come to the circus in the first place. They didn't ask any questions nor really look into anything suspicious. His eyes found his old clan members again, this time standing with the Lieutenant's sister. She was handing one of the bright red feathers to Anna. Although Anna's face was stoic, as it usually is, her eyes were beaming with excitement. Even Fushimi could see that from here.

TATARA TOTSUKA took a deep breath of the summer evening breeze mixed with the yummy aroma of the food in the trucks. The HOMRA members who went to the circus with Anna was still standing outside of the tent with Sora Awashima. Only a few other stragglers from the audience were left getting food before the trucks closed for the night. It didn't take long for Tatara to decide he liked Sora. She was friendly and funny. It seemed like the others enjoyed her company as well. They were hooked onto her stories of touring America and Europe. They were hooked on her stories of touring America and Europe and the way people were overseas. She would mimic people's voices and her face got more and more animated as she got to her favorite parts of the story. It made them laugh.

They talked until the trucks closed. The HOMRA men met the little boy Reo and Sora's closest friend, Ichika. They showed off their abilities, Reo can teleport via bubble, and Ichika can track and pick up scents from many meters away. They joked around with each other, and Reo played a little guitar. He was extremely skilled for a young boy. Tatara began to sing, then Sora joined in.

"Soraaa," a voice sang. She turned and her smile fell a little.

"Hi, Nazar. Hi, Talia." her voice was tight, like she was trying to stay friendly. The man had gelled hair that looked like black grease was in his hair. His smile was too wide and forced to be sincere. In fact it made Tatara feel uneasy. There was a girl beside him, probably 13 years old. She looked sickly skinny with dark bags under black eyes. The girl pulled at the man's suit sleeve and pointed at the group.

"Who are these gentlemen? Oh, and the little lady?"

Sora's smile was more forced now. More worried, "Um, they work at a local bar…"

Nazar's eyes narrowed, "Ah,"

"Hi!" Tatara began, "It's nice to-"

"Well it's getting late and we have another show to prepare for in the morning so Sora has to get going, kayy?" The creepy smile widened. His high, exuberant voice sounded like he was singing everything he said in a hissy tone. HOMRA's King looked at Sora. She didn't protest. Instead she glanced awkwardly at the ground.

"Sorry," she muttered, "I'll see you guys around I guess."

"Oh, alright. Bye, Sora." Tatara waved. The others said their goodbyes. When Sora reached Nazar's side, he gripped her arm tightly and tugged her along. Tatara turned to go, and saw the look on his King's face. Angry, narrowed eyes glared at Nazar's back.

"King?"

Mikoto snapped out of his angry trance. He placed a cigarette between his lips and muttered, "Something's weird about him."

"I agree," Tatara agreed, glancing back over his shoulder, thinking of Sora's uneasy look.