Chapter 1
"We have a situation," Kousuke read aloud. He was holding his cell phone out. It was displaying a text message from Eyes Rutherford.
"Eh eh?" Rio bounced a little, trying to read ahead of Kousuke. They were all on the roof of the school, skipping of course. Kousuke grunted and moved the phone higher to make sure Rio couldn't read it.
"Narumi has been - what!" Kousuke exclaimed. Rio and Ryouko waited with baited breath to hear what happened. Kousuke read the rest on his own. Text messages could only hold so much.
"Well? What happened to Ayumu?"
They all looked over and saw Hiyono glaring at them. She'd tried to call Ayumu twice today, on his house phone of course, and was worried sick about him. Ayumu never missed school, even when he was sick.
"You're not gonna like it," Kousuke replied, closing his phone and his eyes.
"I don't care. Tell me," Hiyono ordered, taking out her stunning electric device. Kousuke took a step back from her.
"Rutherford just sent me a message that read 'Narumi has been captured by the hunters. Come to the studio at 5.' That's all I know," Kousuke put his hands up as if that would defend him from the shock if she were to attack him that very instant.
"Ayumu...has been kidnapped!" Hiyono gasped, dropping her stun gun and covering her mouth. "What do we do?"
"Rutherford obviously has a plan, so calm down. Geez. We'll go and see what's happening and then... Rio will call you. Okay?" Kousuke offered as a plan.
"What!" Rio and Hiyono both responded with angry faces and surprised tones. They began to close in on the red haired blachi, so he decided it was time to opt out. Muttering something about seeing them later, Kousuke sped off the roof as fast as he could.
– – – – – –
"Where could you be hiding, Little Narumi?"
A map was spread out on top of a sleek black surface, paper weights holding down each corner. Where oh where could he be hidden? Eyes just wouldn't know anything until the hunters gave him a clue at six. The young pianist nearly hit his piano in aggravation.
Meanwhile, a brown haired protagonist was hiding behind a barrel. He glanced over the top and saw the man responsible for his capture was walking around the opposite side of the room with a gun in his hand.
"You've miscounted, Little Narumi," a chuckling voice whispered into his ear. Ayumu jumped away, knocking over the barrel he was hiding behind.
The hunter across the room gasped and turned to see what Ayumu was planning and saw his partner had grabbed Ayumu, holding his arms behind his back. The blonde hunter with the gun walked over to them with a smile on his face.
"Thanks, Liam. I almost thought he'd escaped," he shrugged, pocketing his gun.
"Wouldn't have that problem if you'd just tied him up the way you was supposed to, Eric," Liam grunted in reply.
"I don't know what game you're playing, but I want no part in it. I told everyone the same thing weeks ago," Ayumu spoke up. He grunted in pain as Liam pulled his arms backwards a bit tighter.
"Well too bad you don't have a say in this. This is a game for the blade children. You're just a means to the prize. Now shut up and be good and we'll consider not killing you too," Eric glared at him. The defiant look in Ayumu's eyes annoyed him, however, and he punched the teen in the gut.
Ayumu gasped and went limp in Liam's grasp. Liam released Ayumu's arms and glared up at Eric.
"What did you do that for?" he yelled.
"He was staring at me, and I didn't like it," Eric replied. "Tie him up and report back when you're done."
With that, Eric walked away. He had a phone call to make soon. Liam wanted to argue back, but Eric was already gone. With a sigh of annoyance, he lifted the unconscious Narumi off the floor and carried him back to his holding cell.
– – – – – – – – –
Eyes Rutherford stood at his window, watching the sun get closer to the horizon. Without even one knock, his door opened and the other blade children entered the room. They sat on Eyes' couch and waited for the pianist to speak. Kousuke noticed the map laid out on the piano and wondered if Eyes had any idea where Ayumu was.
"Rutherford," he spoke up. Eyes turned from the window and walked to the middle of the room.
"The hunters said they'd call at six, but I wanted you all here in time to hear it. Also, I wanted your opinions on what has happened," Eyes explained, arms crossed as per usual when he was in thought.
Eyes sat down at his piano and began to play a simple, soft tune. Everyone would still be able to hear everyone else.
"I'm worried about him! We have to help Ayumu!" Rio declared fiercely. Eyes did not stop playing.
"Ya but... Ayumu got kidnaped. How often does something like that happen?" Ryouko asked, unsure.
"She's right. If Ayumu got caught by them, we might be in trouble. Whenever one of us gets in trouble, Narumi's usually the one who comes up with the bright ideas to get us out. If they outwitted even him, we don't stand a chance!" Kousuke voiced his worry.
And Eyes stopped playing.
All stares were drawn to Eyes. The pianist's fingers were poised over the keys as if he'd forgotten the next one to push.
"Eyes?" Ryouko asked.
"He wasn't outwitted. I'm guessing he was kidnapped like anyone else," Eyes said, letting them in on his thoughts for once.
"So... is he a tool or a victim?" Ryouko asked.
The room was enveloped in silence. No one knew and all they could do was wait until six. Their minds were filled with questions. Was Ayumu alright? What were they doing to him, and how did they capture him in the first place? Was he scared? Why Ayumu?
A melody of music began to play and Eyes looked at his cell phone suspiciously.
"That's not what plays when I call," Kousuke commented, almost if upset about it.
"Who's calling?" Rio asked. She bounced over to Eyes and spotted 'Ayumu Narumi' on the caller id before Eyes answered it.
"Hello?"
"Hey," Ayumu's voice replied in an almost offhanded manner.
"Narumi? What's going on?" Eyes asked.
"I thought you'd been kidnapped!" Kousuke yelled at the speaker phone.
"Heh," Ayumu went quite. "I have been."
For a moment, no one spoke. They were all waiting for Ayumu to continue.
"It's a little embarrassing for me. They've got me stuck in this big tank of room. I don't even have my cell phone. They hooked it up through some gizmo and I'm only talking through this weird headset they gave me," he explained.
Ayumu was sitting against the wall in a big blue room. His right leg was out straight while his left leg was bent up. He frowned at his feet.
"How the hell did they catch you?" Kousuke asked.
"Yea! And how come you haven't escaped yet? You've helped us out of sticky places before," Ryouko added.
Ayumu was silent. Maybe he was choosing his words carefully. The hunters were no doubt monitoring his call.
"Last night, I went home and I made Rio her cake. On the way to school this morning, I was grabbed from behind and knocked out with chloroform," Ayumu replied, pausing while the blade children took this in. "And trust me, I've tried to get away. I tried to sneak out, but I can't get to the doorway. Especially with... heh."
Ayumu's voice faded out. He lowered his head. He reached his hand down to his ankle and pulled on the chain there. It was relatively long but it wouldn't help him even if it were twenty feet long.
On the other end of the phone, the blade children heard the rattling of his chain across the ground around their friend.
"You're chained to the ground," Eyes guessed, although it sounded like he knew for certain.
"Yep." Ayumu nodded.
"Alright, enough of the dull drums," the hunter's voice entered in. "You know why we let you call them, Little Narumi."
"Right," Ayumu replied. "Alright, guys, I'm in a fish tank."
"A fish tank? Are you sure?" Rio asked, getting as close to the phone as Eyes would let her.
"Of course. It's in an aquarium sort of place. When I tried to escape I saw barrels of fish food and sea salt for water. So I'm almost sure I'm at an aquarium," Ayumu explained.
"That's enough." The hunter said and a sound caused static over the phone.
"W-What the-?" Ayumu's voice sounded and his chain clattered as he moved.
"What's going on, Ayumu?" Kousuke asked, clenching his fists.
"The tank is beginning to fill with water. It doesn't have a ceiling of it's own, so there's no way to cut off his air supply completely, but being attached to the floor does pose a problem. Soon, the water will rise above his head. You have approximately four hours to figure out where he is and save him before Little Narumi runs of out time," the hunter said.
The phone cut off with an audible click. Eyes snapped his phone shut and stood by his piano.
"W-What are we gonna do! Ayumu's gonna drown!" Rio whined.
"I want to save him as much as you, Rio, but it's obviously a trap. They would never let him reveal so many clues to us if they were just going to hand him over quietly," Ryouko said, putting a hand on Rio's shoulder.
"But we're still gonna try! Right Eyes?" Rio asked hopefully, looking at her favorite pianist. Eyes said nothing, nor did he show any signs of hearing her.
"He's at an aquarium where they have an empty tank big enough to last four hours of water spilling into it before it fills... or at least until Ayumu's chain runs out of length. That's also banking on Ayumu being able to keep above the water that long. So we're hoping he has a lot of strength in his body besides just his mind. Not to mention, there'll be traps all over the place if they're anything like the other hunters," Kousuke thought aloud.
"He's at the Enchantment Under The Sea Aquarium," Eyes spoke up.
"Wha-? How did you figure that out?" Kousuke asked, annoyed at being thrown off his thought process.
"It's the only aquarium within reasonable distance that is under construction," Eyes explained, grabbing his coat and sliding it on.
"Oh."
Following Eyes's example, they all got up and left. Ayumu Narumi's life depended on their ability to find him amidst building supplies and traps. He needed them, that's all Eyes could think about.
