Okay, so it's not two chapters in a row, but three! This is awesome! I'm on a freaking roll!

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Takeshi's POV

If Ryu was ever going to get married, then I'd say he's gonna make a pretty good "house-husband." He makes the best tea, the most awesome egg sandwiches…crap. What I wouldn't give to drag this man over to my realm and turn him into a maid.

Sorry. That sounded kinda cruel. This man's a shaman, not my slave, and he's willingly helping me, so maybe I shouldn't be thinking about him like this.

But, if Anna was looking into my thoughts right now, I'm sure she'd be proud.

"All dried up, Takeshi-sama?" Ryu said, pouring me another serving of tea.

Takeshi-sama. This is really starting to make me feel like I'm in charge. And I'm in Ryu's little house. Ryu really has a way of making guests feel good even in his own quarters.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. I put the cup down and threw Ryu a sober look. "Let's start."

Ryu stared at me, confused. "With what?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Ugh. So slow. "With changing my identity and our plan to uncover more information about the Black Oni."

"Oh."

This is getting nowhere fast. "Ryu! We're not getting anywhere here."

"I know."

I sighed. "I just need to borrow some clothes so I can change how I look."

"Oh, is that it?" Ryu chuckled. He quickly got up and ran over to his room. "Follow me, Takeshi-sama!"

I did. Ryu had just swung his closer open and he was busily rummaging through it, searching for something that will fit me.

He tossed a spiked, black jacket behind him. I narrowly missed it and it fell on his bed. I quietly picked it up and gaped at it in disbelief. The spikes looked all sorts of freaky. Sure I've seen stuff like this before, but I never even imagined myself wearing it.

Ryu tossed me a pair of shades, a pair of wristbands (still with the spikes) and a neckband (with spikes, of course). A clean black shirt and a pair of torn jeans also came next. I felt my mouth fall open.

"What atrocity is this?" I suddenly found myself saying. Okay, now I know I'm really starting learn from Anna. Is this good or bad?

"My old get-up," Ryu answered proudly. "I used to wear them when I was still a teenager."

"And that was how many years ago?"

Ryu's ears went red. He frowned at me, outraged. "Hey! That was only a few years back!"

"More than seven years ago?" I offered, cocking an eyebrow.

Ryu swallowed, embarrassed. "Uh, yes."

I smirked. "This stuff is way out of style."

"Well, you said you wanted to look different!" Ryu argued.

I nodded slowly. Yeah, true. "I did." I eyed the jacket pleasantly. "Actually, come to think of it, this does look like the perfect disguise. Even if it is out of style."

Ryu sweat-dropped. I'm starting to think he doesn't like whenever I call his clothes out of style. I laughed and punched him in the shoulder. "This is great. Thanks, Ryu."

"Ow!" He stepped back.

I stared at him, confused. That punch was supposed to friendly, not painful. Jeez. Is this guy really a shaman? Well, yeah, he is, and he's one of the best out there, so maybe he's just trying to humor me or something.

Ryu, still massaging his shoulder, grinned at me and said he'd just go and look for a pair of spiked boots to go with my get-up. I nodded. Good idea.

He left the room. I closed the door as he did.

I took off my wet stuff and put on the clothes Ryu lent me. After strapping that scary-looking neckband around my, well, neck, I walked towards the full body mirror near the window and stared at myself.

To simply to put it, I looked like someone only the Yakuza would spew out.

But, don't get me wrong, I looked awesome! If this was how I was gonna look like as a gangster, then I would've given up teaching and gone the mafia way instead.

No, I was joking. About me turning into a gangster.

But, no kidding about this outfit. This get-up is friggin' awesome.

Ryu opened the door with a loud creak and beckoned me to leave the room. I did and he led me back to the living room. He was holding that now-cool-looking pair of spiked boots up. He grinned, sizing me up top to bottom.

"You don't look like yourself, Takeshi-sama," he commented.

Thanks. "Yeah, I know, right?"

He dropped the boots between my feet. He smirked. "This oughta complete the mix."

I slowly crouched down and sat on the floor. I put on the boots. They fit just nicely.

I grinned excitedly. "There!"

"No, wait!" Ryu suddenly ran off and came back with a comb in one hand and a bottle of hair gel in the other. I raised a brow at him. No. You're not going to do what I think you're going to do…right?

"If you really want to change how you look, you still gotta change the way your hair looks!"

I sweat-dropped. Ryu sounded like a fashion consultant.

"Are…are you sure about this?" I said. I never really liked hair gel, but if this is what it took to attain the perfect guise, then I'm willing to have Ryu turn me into some sort of punk rockstar.

Ryu nodded excitedly. "Yup!"

I sighed. I nodded. "Fine. Pour it in."

Barely a minute later, I looked back at myself in front of the mirror. I didn't look bad, actually, I look just fine, but…

"Ryu! I look like Horo-Horo!"

I wasn't really complaining, just stating a fact.

"Then good." Ryu looked pretty confident. "At least you don't look like your old self anymore. That's what we're trying to do, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so…"

My hair was gelled straight up, just like how Horo-Horo's hair looks like. It wasn't blue though, just plain black, and I had a small strand of hair that was hanging down the side of my face. I guess it's still a bit different.

I heard shuffling behind me. "Don't forget the shades!" Ryu then slapped them on my face. I almost fell back in surprise. Hey…! I gazed at my punk reflection. Oh, I forgot about that.

I felt Ryu smile triumphantly beside me. "Now…the disguise is perfect."

"Not yet." I turned to him. "I still need a new name. Any smart ideas?"

Ryu frowned, thinking. "Well, I don't know if this is classified as 'smart', but I have some ideas."

"Forget I ever said 'smart.' Tell me what they are."

"Uh…Mikihisa—"

"That's the name of Yoh's father. I don't want to sound like a lost member of the Asakura clan."

"Ayame Yamaguchi."

"That's a girl's name, Ryu."

"I know. Ken Watanabe."

"Do you even realize whose name you're giving me?"

"Sorry. How about Shinichi Kobayashi?"

I paused. That actually sounds good. "Nice. But it's a little too long. Any other ideas?"

"Touya Kobayashi?"

Where does he get these names? "That's perfect."

"Should I start calling you Touya from now on?"

I nodded. "Yeah, for now."

"Touya-sama?"

I smirked. For some reason, that felt nice. "Yeah?"

"Nothing. I was just trying to see if your name sounds okay."

"Of course it sounds okay," I said, laughing. "I wouldn't have picked it out if it makes me sound pathetic."

"That is true…"

It's time to wrap this up. "Anyway, you're a genius, Ryu. Thanks." I grabbed his arm and began dragging him out of the room. "Now let's get out of here."

Ryu pulled away from my grasp and gawked at me in disbelief. "Where are we going?"

"To look for the Black Oni's HQ, what else?"

Ryu looked absolutely mortified. "Their hideout?! Are you crazy?"

"Well, it's the only way to know what's going on," I said, trying to justify my plan. "I don't have any other choice here. And we don't have much time left. They could strike at any time and—"

"It's almost night-time! Can't we just wait it out until tomorrow?" he said hopefully. I glared at him. He sounded like a total wimp. What happened to the tough Bokuto no Ryu I've known since seven years ago? And puh-lease. It was still 2 in the afternoon. That doesn't sound like "almost night-time" to me.

"I'll let you stay the night," Ryu offered, obviously trying to bribe me into not going.

"No!" I barked at him, frustrated. "If we do, we might be too late!"

"We don't even know what they're planning, Touya-sama. We could be worrying about nothing."

"We're not!" I shot back heatedly. "I just know there's something major that going to happen, so please, just trust me on this one!"

"How do you know something's going to happen, Touya-sama?" he asked me, probably trying to prove to me that I was wrong.

"Look, can't you just trust me on this?" I said, almost furiously. "If nothing's going to happen, then nothing's going to happen, okay? We'll just leave. If something's really going to take place, then I don't want to be too late to stop it! Do you understand me?"

Ryu sighed. "Yes."

"But do you understand how important this is?"

"Not rea—"

I was starting to get horribly pissed off. "Why not?!"

"Because we're just riding on mere presumptions here. How can we be sure that—"

"We can't be sure unless we get there and see for ourselves," I shot back, now undoubtedly furious. "That's the time we can turn back and you can tell me I was just overreacting."

Ryu sighed again, more deeply this time. "You're not gonna let up, are you?"

"No," I said with venom. "Not until I'm sure everybody's safe from this Black Oni."

Ryu fell silent. He kicked at the floor, thinking to himself.

"Ryu, I can't do this alone," I said quietly. "You have to help me. You promised to help me."

"I know."

"So, I ask you now—are you with me?"

I heard another sigh. But this time, it sounded amused. Ryu looked at me and smirked. "Of course, Takeshi-sama, always."

I felt total relief sweep through my body. Finally, I got through him.

"It's Touya, Ryu."

Ryu scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Sorry, I meant Touya-sama."

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I cut the chapter; I thought it was too long. This was supposed to be almost 15 pages long, but I thought that was more than enough. ;)

Anyway, I'm not sure I like this chapter very much, except for the latter parts. I dunno about you guys. Lemme know what you think through your reviews.