Updates once a week, I said, but I think I'll squeeze two into this week. (Mainly as I'm already liking the third chapter and I want to get to it sooner~~~)

Big thank you for the reviewers! Yes, keeping it up & having fun. ^^

Chapter 2

Hikaru sat quietly on his chair, staring at his clasped hands, while the police officers were talking with the hotel staff in the next room. It was the morning of the next day, and there had been no sign of his parents. Sai hovered behind the police, trying to listen in, but although he possibly was better in English than Hikaru, he didn't understand much. What little he did understand did nothing to reassure him.

I'm not sure, but I have a feeling they still have no idea what has happened, he said when he returned to the boy. No… clues? Is that the right word?

They can't have just vanished into thin air, the boy thought back, very quietly, but with a sharp tinge of anger that made Sai twitch.

No, but…

"Shindou-kun?" A voice cut Sai off, and he turned to look toward the door as Hikaru too finally looked up. A young police woman entered the room, a friendly (though in Sai's mind somewhat forced) smile on her lips. Tomoko Hart had been their main contact with the police during the incident, generally very kind though at times abrupt enough to border on rude, though Sai assumed that was mainly due of not being quite fluent.

Another woman followed her in, this one older, maybe in her forties, dressed in a smart skirt suit, dark brown hair tied on a tight bun. Jennifer Mitchell was there as the representative of the Consulate-General of Japan in Chicago. She had appeared at the hotel already before the police and been quite determined to take Hikaru under her wing. With a Japanese husband and having lived over ten years in Japan she was even more fluent than Tomoko, but Sai liked her less. He couldn't really say why, but there was something off-putting in the woman, even though she appeared to have nothing but Hikaru's best interests in her mind.

"I'm sorry, Shindou-kun," Tomoko said as they sat down with Hikaru, "but could I ask you some questions about when your… you got separated from your parents?"

The boy sighed. "I've told you all I can," he said. "I don't know where they went, they just disappeared somewhere when I wasn't looking."

"Please, Shindou-kun," Mitchell said quietly. "I understand this is trying for you, but it is important. Just in case there is something, the tiniest little thing that you might now remember…"

Tomoko was nodding and gave him an earnest look. "Would you tell me again where and when that happened?"

"I'd stopped to look at that game store window! I told you. It was after 5 pm, maybe half past, mom was in a hurry to get to that contemporary art museum. She'd wanted to go there earlier, but dad's meeting didn't end on time."

"Did your parents seem stressed? Were they fighting?"

Hikaru gave her a blank look. "No."

"So there wasn't…"

"I've told you before, no! Dad was on phone, like always, some business stuff. Mom was just talking of everything she wanted to do and buy. I think. I wasn't listening!"

"Is your father's business going well?"

Hikaru heaved out a sigh and rolled his eyes, and answered more-or-less politely just for Sai's urging.

...

Later that day they were again alone in the hotel room. Once again Mitchell had attempted to get Hikaru to move elsewhere, saying that it wasn't good for him to be alone at the hotel – being a minor, too – but he adamantly refused. "If my parents come back I want to be here," he just said. He had strictly refused company as well, and for now she had agreed – but only for one day longer, and she too seemed quite adamant of that.

Hikaru was lying on his back on his bed, staring at the ceiling, after a long, overly emotional phone call with his grandfather. The old man was quite beyond himself, home in Tokyo. If he hadn't just barely been recovered from an influenza, he would already be halfway to Chicago. Even so, it had taken a lot of convincing from Hikaru to make him stay in Japan, no matter how strictly his doctor had forbidden traveling.

"So you didn't hear the police say anything useful?" the boy asked Sai.

The ghost shook his head. No. But I'm afraid I understood very little of what they said. They are clearly doing all they can. That he added just in an attempt to make the boy feel better. He had a bad feeling of the situation. The police were clearly worried. Tomoko's smile always disappeared the moment she turned her back to Hikaru, and her eyes were troubled.

"It's ridiculous," Hikaru muttered. "People don't just disappear like that. It's like, like…" He sat up suddenly.

What is it? Sai asked, eagerly flying to his side. Did you remember something?

No… I mean, yes… Hikaru jumped up and grasped his jacket. He fingered his pockets and then pulled something out, a small, slightly crumpled card.

Oh! Sai exclaimed. The onmyouji gave you that, right? What is it?

"A visiting card," Hikaru muttered. "With a phone number." He hesitated only a short moment and grasped then his phone. Sai hovered anxiously by his side as he made the call.

The phone rang, once, twice, seven times. Hikaru was biting his lip, hard, by the time someone finally answered.

"Dresden," a bit out of breath voice said.

"Finally!" Hikaru exclaimed. "I thought no one's answering me these days! This is Shindou Hikaru, remember, the boy with the ghost in the pub, you gave us a ride to our hotel, and now my parents have disappeared and I was thinking maybe you could help?"

There was a moment's silence. Then, "Uh, could you say that again? My Japanese was a bit… rusty."

Hikaru blinked. "This is Shindou Hikaru," he repeated then, slower. "You gave me ride to my hotel from that pub day before yesterday…"

"Yeah, right. Thought it sounded like you. So, what's up? About to leave country?"

"I…" Hikaru paused and glanced at Sai, as if beginning to second-guess whether this was a good idea. The ghost nodded, urging him on. "The thing is… my parents have kinda… disappeared. They weren't here when I came back that day, and no one knows where they are."

"…you've called the police?"

"Yeah, the hotel people did. But I don't know if they have any clue what's happened. They just keep on asking me stupid questions. And I was wondering… if… if you could…"

"I don't know kid, I'm sorry to hear about your parents, but finding missing people isn't really…"

"Please?" Hikaru cut in, in a tight voice. "Couldn't you try? It says so on your card too." He squinted at the card. "Lost… found," he read out the English words.

"It's 'lost items found', to be exact. People are different. But… ugh." There was a moment's silence at the other end. Then something like a quiet sigh carried over. "I can take a look, I guess. You're at the hotel? Wait there. I'll be there in half an hour."

"Thanks," Hikaru said quietly. He ended the call and gave Sai a look. "Think this is a good idea?"

I can't see what harm it would cause. And if someone had disappeared, back when I was alive, I would have gone to an onmyouji for help.

Hikaru nodded, but the troubled look didn't leave his eyes.

The boy was much too restless to wait in the hotel room. Barely ten minutes had passed before he jumped into his shoes and headed to hang outside the hotel. Sai would have wanted to tell him to calm down, to settle somewhere to wait, but guessed it would be pointless, and so he just hovered behind the boy who was walking back and worth, uncharacteristically silent.

After they had waited for what felt much longer than half an hour Sai finally spotted the form of a tall man in a long coat striding toward them.

Hikaru, he's coming, he said quickly to the boy who spun around to look where he pointed, and right away hurried over there.

"Uh, hello." Sai glanced at the boy who came to a sudden stop as he reached the man, shifting from one foot to another, hands clenched tightly on his side. The boy's emotions were in such a confusing mix of worry, anxiety, fear and something he couldn't quite name that Sai felt like this time Hikaru might be the one making him sick.

Dresden gave the boy a nod, accompanied with a smile that turned into a frown. "Hi. So. How you doing? You don't look too good."

"I… guess. Didn't sleep well." Hikaru bit his lip. "I, I'm sorry I bothered you with this, but, but… the police, I don't know…"

Sai stood behind him, wanting to say something but not daring to, for he suddenly feared the boy might break into tears right there and then.

The awkward look on Dresden's face said he might have had similar fears. "Hey, don't worry about it. It's a quiet day and I'm between cases anyway. And, don't worry about your parents either, you know, lots of people disappear in the US every day." The boy's face fell and the man hurried to continue, "And they're found in a few days, so there's no need to panic, okay? These things just… uh, happen." He frowned again and cleared his throat. "But. That's no need just to sit back and wait, right? I'll help you if I can."

"You think you can find them?" The hopeful tone in the boy's voice was enough to wrench Sai's heart.

Possibly Dresden registered the tone too, for he nearly flinched. "I sure hope so," he muttered. "So they disappeared on the day we met?"

"Yeah. I'm starting to think I didn't get lost, but they did. There's been no sign of them since then."

"I can try to track them. You've got anything of theirs I could use? Hair would be good."

"Hair?" Hikaru blinked. "I'm sure we could find at least mom's hair in the hotel room…"

As they entered the hotel, Sai was watching the man with a certain tinge of hope in his thoughts. He didn't mean to disparage the police forces, but he remembered from the time he had been alive that if you really needed to get something done, getting an onmyouji to help was much more efficient than the police could ever be. He had been under the assumption there were no onmyouji left in the modern world, and he was quite happy to have been proved wrong.

There was a moment's confusion by the elevators, when Dresden refused to enter one.

"But… it's the fifth floor…"

"Fifth? That's not bad. Beats spending hours in a broken elevator. Tech and magic, remember…?"

And up the stairs they went, to the fifth floor. Truth to be told, it wasn't that bad.

Having arrived to the hotel room Hikaru headed straight to the bathroom to search for his mother's hairbrush. As he came out, Dresden was standing in the middle of the room, holding something in his hand.

"Are these your father's?" he asked the boy, showing him spectacles.

"Yeah, his reading glasses. He was pretty peeved cause he forgot them here. Would have needed them at the meeting."

Dresden nodded. "They might work. And I see you found some hair," he added, nodding at the brush Hikaru was holding.

"Yep."

He took a few hairs from the hairbrush and dug something out of one of the big pockets of his coat: a roll of duct tape. Hikaru watched it with slightly raised eyebrows.

Dresden saw the look and raised his eyebrows in return. "Hey, forget 42, duct tape is the answer to the universe and everything. I'd have been screwed many times without this." He cut a piece and taped the hairs to the glasses. "Now…"

Someone knocked on the door. Hikaru glanced first at Sai, then at Dresden, who nodded while slipping the glasses and the tape into his pocket.

A nervous looking staff member, accompanied by a hotel guard faced Hikaru as he opened the door. The man smiled at him. "Ah, hello! Is everything alright?" The smile, plastered on his face, twitched a bit.

"Umm, yes?" Hikaru managed to say in English, thinking he had probably understood the question correctly. Hoping so.

Dresden appeared behind him, drawing the attention of both of the men. "Who are you, sir?" the guard grunted.

"Harry Dresden," Dresden said, pushing Hikaru gently back out of the way. "PI." He went on talking and showed the men something, ID-like. After a short discussion the guard took out his phone and made a call.

Dresden glanced back at Hikaru and gave the boy a smile, if a bit tightlipped. "They're just checking I'm not here to kidnap you too. Which is just good, I guess. Though they're kinda slow, if that's what I…" he cut himself off as the boy's expression turned a bit wary.

Sai bit his lip. True, if Dresden had been a threat to Hikaru, the hotel staff was much too slow to react. Of course, they were only hotel staff. Maybe some kind of police protection wouldn't have been a bad idea? How big was the chance that if someone had taken the boy's parents, they would come after Hikaru too? He shifted nervously on his feet.

"Who's he talking with?" Hikaru asked.

"Lieut… Sergeant Murphy. A friend in Special Investigations. I sometimes help the police when they're up against… something unordinary. She'll tell them I'm not some dangerous lunatic." He frowned at the guard who was still at the phone, and added, "Hopefully."

"Hello?" the guard was saying. "Hey, hello, do you hear me?" He looked at his phone, frowning, and grimaced at the screen. "Damn."

He put the phone away. "Everything seems to be in order," he said. The scowling look he gave Dresden said something different. "Just remember, he's a minor. He can't hire you."

"He's not hiring me, just asked for help. …come now, don't be such a cynic. Can't a man help someone out of the goodness of his heart?"

"Last thing he needs is some charlatan…"

"So is everything ok?" Hikaru asked over the discussion he couldn't understand, impatience in his voice.

"Sure. That guy's just being a jerk, but hey, don't hold it against him. Bet his granny didn't tell him enough fairytales when he was a baby. Oh, and," he glanced at the boy, "you might want to turn off your phone before it breaks too…"

"Oh, you speak Japanese, Mister Dresden?" the hotel staffer asked, the twitchy smile again on his face.

Dresden gave him a wide grin. "Not really. It's magic," he whispered confidentially.

The man's smile faltered. The guard snorted. After a few more sharp words the two went their way. Dresden watched after them with a raised eyebrow, and glanced then at Hikaru. "Could you show me the place where you last saw your parents?"

The boy nodded and they left as well, driving on the same old multicolored car toward that game store that had distracted Hikaru. On the way there he told Dresden once again all he had been repeating to the police. While the boy talked, Sai's attention was stolen by the long wooden staff that had been waiting in the car, and the intricate carvings on it.

"Here," Hikaru said, coming to a stop in front of the store. They'd left the car in a parking lot a few blocks away, and walked from there. Dresden had his staff with himself this time, and it drew some glances from passersby, which the man ignored. Hikaru gave the shop window a blank look. "I didn't even stop for a long time, I swear! And we were going for the subway over there, I was sure I'd catch up with them easily, but they just… disappeared."

"Hmm." Dresden shot a glance around and waited a moment, so that a young couple passed them. "Okay, now," he muttered when they were gone, and took out a piece of chalk.

"What are you doing?" Hikaru asked as he drew a circle on the pavement around himself.

"Whatcha think? Magic," Dresden muttered. "Hush, give me a moment," he added when Hikaru was about to say something.

The boy fell quiet and watched in silence as the man took out the glasses with the hair taped into them and just stood in the circle. Then he said something vaguely Latin sounding and smudged the circle with his foot.

Oh, Sai breathed.

Hikaru glanced at him but said nothing, just watched quietly but now with somewhat incredulous look as the man put the glasses on and grinned. "Perfect."

"What is perfect?" he asked suspiciously.

"I've got the trail," Dresden said, seeming to follow something with his eyes. He took the glasses of and nodded. "They've not gone to the subway, though. Turned to that side street." He nodded ahead.

"What, why?"

"Isn't that the question," the man muttered. "Let's take a peek."

They turned to the side street, and soon to an even smaller one. Hikaru followed the man quietly, without a word, but Sai could see the doubt in his eyes, and his worry grew again. Then Dresden came to a stop by a metal door on an old brick wall. There were letters on white paint on the door, saying D NOT ENTLR.

Dresden watched the door with a grim look, leaning against his staff. "Undertown," he muttered. "Of course it's got to be Undertown."

"What?" Hikaru asked. The man just shook his head.

"Okay. Next I take you back to the hotel and…"

"No!"

Dresden frowned. "I'm not going to drag you along on an investigation," he said sternly. "Wouldn't do it even if you were grown up, and definitely not now. You be a good client and stay out of the way while I work on the case, okay? Besides, I'd just get distracted, having to worry over you."

"Okay," Hikaru said reluctantly. "I get it. But you don't need to waste time taking me there and coming back. I can take the bus. It's easy from here, right?"

"Yeah." Dresden was still frowning. "I took you out, I should also see that you get back safely. It doesn't take that…"

"I can get back on my own," Hikaru cut him off. "If someone wanted to kidnap me they'd have taken me with my parents. And I've got my fare card with me so... I'll just return to the big street and take bus number… 6, right?"

"Right." Dresden nodded, but he didn't look quite convinced.

"I'll be fine," Hikaru said dryly. "I'll send Sai for help if something happens before I reach the bus."

Dresden nodded again, but he still walked the boy back to the street, and made sure he'd head to the correct direction this time.

As the man disappeared again on the side street, Hikaru watched after him with a strange expression.

Hikaru? Sai said questioningly. What are you thinking?

The boy didn't reply, just shook his head. Then he started walking after the man.

Hikaru! I really don't think this is a good idea!

I just want to check what he's doing.

But, but… seriously, it might be dangerous!

I'll just take a peek! "Sai, stop fussing!" the boy suddenly snapped aloud, making the passersby look at him with a start. Mom and dad could be there somewhere! In this… underground place.

It would be better to leave it for the onmyouji to look for them, Sai still tried to say, but to no avail. Hikaru wasn't listening.

They reached the little side alley just in time to see Dresden enter through the door. Hikaru hurried to it and gave the broken lock one glance. Then he licked his lips, pushed his jaw determinedly forward, and entered after the man.

They had taken only a few steps downward the stairs behind the door, before the boy stopped, and Sai could guess why. It was dark. Pitch dark. Far ahead they could see a dim light – apparently Dresden had a flashlight.

"Sai, can you see?" Hikaru whispered.

Probably better than you, but it is really dark.

Okay. Here's what we do. You walk ahead and keep an eye on his light. Don't lose him. I'll follow you and… Hikaru scrambled out his phone and turned it on, grimacing as it played the little tune. I've got torch on my phone, but I got to stay far enough behind so he won't notice me.

Sai gave a mental sigh and considered simply refusing. Whatever this place they had entered was, he had a bad feeling about it.

"Sai!" Hikaru whispered sharply. "Go after him before we lose him!"

The boy's face was tired and drawn, the phone's light threw strange shadows on it. But his eyes held that stubborn, designated look which Sai knew all too well, and he sighed again.

Fine. But if I deem it best for us to stop following him at some point, we will come back right away, and I'll listen to no complaints.

Hikaru said nothing, just nodded, tightlipped, and they set out to follow the wizard.

The bad feeling Sai had of the place only intensified the deeper they went, and he considered making good of his threat not to go further. Of course, a dark musty tunnel is unpleasant to begin with, but he was quite sure that wasn't the only reason behind his anxiety. There was something menacing in the air, something… wicked and threatening.

What is this place? he heard Hikaru's thoughts from behind. Perhaps the boy felt it too.

I don't know, he replied, but I'm pretty sure we really shouldn't be here.

The network of tunnels seemed never-ending. Soon he started to worry if they would be able to find their way back anymore. They'd walked straight, straight, turned left, straight again, then right… he hoped he would remember the crossings. Of course, one could think this wasn't any overwhelming task for a go-player who could recall entire games – but those moves had reason behind them. He tried to think of the turns as moves on the go board, if that would help.

Suddenly he realized the little light in front of him didn't move anymore. Hikaru, I think he has stopped, he told the boy quickly. He saw Hikaru turn off his light, and the boy groped his way to him.

What is there? the boy asked.

I'm not sure… but I get a feeling of a bigger room. I'll go to take a look.

Sai glided soundlessly through the darkness. He had been right, the tunnel ended into some kind of a hall. He could see Dresden's shape in the light of his – was it his staff that was emitting it? – when the light suddenly died and he was left in darkness. Sai froze. He could have sworn he felt his heart beating like a drum, though how exactly that would have been possible he didn't know. It was completely silent. Was Dresden still there? He had to be, surely he hadn't disappeared too. But was he just standing still… he couldn't possibly be that silent…

Hikaru? Sai asked, panic intensifying. Are you there?

Yeah, the boy thought back. What happened? He heard a soft rustle, and the boy swore. Damn, there's some plastic bags or something here… why did he turn off the light?

I don't know, Sai thought back. I really think we should go back, this is not a good place, and…

"Got you!" someone snarled, and Hikaru gave a shriek.

Hikaru! Sai's rushed toward the boy, fear surging into the pit of his stomach. Hikaru, what is happening, are you alright, did something…

Suddenly there was light again, and Sai blinked his eyes. In front of him, Dresden was holding Hikaru with one arm, his staff in his other hand – yes, the light did come from his staff – and the boy was flailing frantically with his arms.

"Hell's bells, boy!" the man exclaimed and let go of him. "What are you doing here! Idiot!"

"I, I just wanted to, that is…"

"You have any idea how dangerous that was? How dangerous this place is? Or me? When you're in Undertown and something's following you, you attack first and ask then! You're lucky I didn't just blast you to hell!"

"Uh, sorry, I…" Hikaru backed a step from the absolutely seething man, then another. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I just… just…" His shoulders slumped and he fell silent, not even producing one from his unending list of excuses.

Dresden heaved out a sigh, visibly forcing himself to calm down. "My bad, I guess. I knew I should have taken you back myself."

Hikaru just shrugged. "What is this place?" he asked.

"Long story short: the underground city. Network of tunnels, passages, sewers, pipes… layers of them. Also the place where many of the more unpleasant inhabitants of this city – natural and supernatural – like to have their dens."

"And my parents have been here?"

"Yes." Dresden shot a frowning look around. "But the trail ends here."

Hikaru looked up sharply. "Ends?"

"Yep." Dresden started walking around the hall they were in. "It leads here, clear as sunlight. And then just… ends."

Hikaru shivered. "Why?"

"There are various possibilities. A spell to distract tracking. Or… well, other, more complicated things. But that's what's most likely. They might have cast the spell here, which is why I could follow them as far. Okay. Wait there while I examine this place."

Hikaru said nothing, just watched as the man started walking around in the hall, at times mumbling something. Once he bent and seemed to be picking something from the ground, but when he finally returned to the boy, he was shaking his head. "Nothing. Let's get going, I can't find anything here."

They started walking back in silence. Then Hikaru opened his mouth. After a couple of false starts he managed to say, "Could it be you can't find them because they're, they're…"

Sai knew what he was trying to ask and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. It stiffened under his light touch.

"If they were dead, I should still be able to find their bodies," Dresden said softly. "The fact that something is messing up my tracking spell is a good thing. They'd hardly do that just to hide bodies."

Hikaru nodded, but his shoulders didn't relax. "I don't get it," he muttered. "Why? Why would anyone want to kidnap my parents, of all people?"

"That's something we need to look into. Two options: either they were after your parents specifically, or then they just needed two people, and your parents were suitable, for whatever reasons. The latter sounds more feasible to me. Your parents don't sound like people who'd have enemies like this. Your father's company was car manufacturing…?"

"Yeah," Hikaru snorted. "And he's not even that high up. His superior was supposed to come here, but broke his leg, and then dad was sent in his stead."

They reached the doorway, and Sai gave a relieved breath as they stepped into the sunlight.

"Well. I'll take you now to your hotel, and then go home to…" Dresden fell silent at the look Hikaru gave him. "Fine," he huffed then. "I need to go home to check something. You can come along there, it's anyway closer than your hotel. But after that I will take you back to your hotel. Hell, I'll call Murphy and tell her you need police protection, if that's what it takes to keep you somewhere safe. Got it?"

Hikaru just smiled at him, thinly. Sai was shaking his head behind the boy's back.