*RIIIIIIIIINNNGG~*

*RIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNGGG~*

*RIIIIIIIINNNGGGGG~*

The man picked up the phone as usual. Another call meant that any moment of rest which lasted for about fifteen seconds now was over. It wasn't very long but that was all part of the job; not that it was something he liked. It wasn't like he was getting any younger and as much as he didn't want to admit it; he was getting on in the years. He could feel retirement coming all ready and he knew there was no escaping that. All he just hoped for were two things: a peaceful retirement and that whoever replaced would be sensible and the second one looked pretty bleak but more on that later.

"Hello?" he said. "This is Detective Onigawara speaking. Yes, all right. I'll head there now."

He hung up and looked around. "Now where on earth is he?"

"Hey there!" A woman with long brown hair in a brown jacket greeted. With a dress shirt, long yellow vest, and black belt and stockings and brown boots, her calm yet cheery demeanor and casual behavior towards just about every law enforcement in town, one would think she was a detective as well. Oh, how Onigawara wished. She was much more competent than some of the officers here, his partner included.

It was too bad she just wasn't interested, fancying herself as a freelance reporter. Despite how she acted, she had a good head and that black belt of hers didn't just serve as an accessory. To those who knew her well, it was a warning to anyone who was willing to pick a bone with her.

"Off again?" she said. "And I came all the way down here to ask you a favor."

"Well, jot it down on a notepad will you? I'll check on it later." Onigawara answered.

"By the way, I believe you were asking about your partner earlier?" she said with a silly grin. "I just saw him on my way here. He was talking to a woman. It looked they knew each other."

"Well, I hope he doesn't losing face in front of his girlfriend." He grumbled.

"I highly doubt that." She said. "She was way out of his league. She was gorgeous and dressed in pretty expensive looking clothes."

"Is that so?" he said. "They probably cost as much as what's going out of his next month's pay."

She chuckled but it was a sympathetic chuckle. A detective and his assistant. It reminded her a bit of the old days but the professor was much nicer to work with and his assistant was the best there was. "Maybe I should give him a call." She said.

"What?" Onigawara asked but she shook her head. "Oh nothing. Just reminiscing. I'll see you later then."

"Sure." He said.

"Hmm…" Tsurugi groaned, his eyes slightly stuck together from the usual morning sand. He was a bit surprised to find that he had slept on a couch when he remembered why exactly he was here. Here was room 815 at the Inazuma Hospital where an acquaintance of his had been admitted. The why was an even more difficult question to answer.

He got off the couch to look at the person resting on the bed. Strange, even after all the madness yesterday, he looked so peaceful now like nothing had happened at all. When he looked back at things; that was something he did everyday after every, grueling match. It was a bit startling how he could smile like it was nothing…like everything was all right. It made him wonder what he would say if he woke up right that second but that wasn't going to happen, was it?

"Mm…huh? Tsurugi?" a voice moaned groggily from under the bed. He bent and lifted the cover to see Hikaru with a rat, half asleep on his stomach. So he spent the night here as well. Why on the floor though he had no idea. There was a couch outside but he guessed he wanted to sleep inside but why under the bed…?

Once Hikaru realized where he was, he jolted up, accidentally hitting his head above against the bed's steel frames. "Ow, ow, ow!" he yelled. Tsurugi shushed him quickly and helped him out.

"Be quiet! Do you want to make Tenma's condition worse?" he snapped, causing Hikaru to lurch back down in apology.

"S-Sorry…" he said. Tsurugi couldn't help but feel bad and calmed himself with sigh.

"Ugh." He groaned. This was just hard. He eyed Tenma for a moment who was still unconscious. He was the calmest person in the team. If he was this rattled…

"Hey, they're coming back today, right?" Tsurugi asked. "What time did they say they'd arrive?"

"Huh? Uhm," Hikaru muttered before taking a look at the clock which said that it was seven in the morning. "About now."

Tsurugi and Hikaru looked at each other with the same thought crossing their minds. Just how were they supposed to tell everyone what had happened?

….

….

…

"…ugh!" Tsurugi grumbled to himself. Where on Earth could he have run off to? He had just passed the school and it was empty. The chew toy or anything that looked like a chew toy wasn't there anymore. It turns out breaking into a school was easy or their school at least. The gate was actually open. They really needed to up the security at school.

So he figured he went to his home but something made him stop. The more he thought about it, the more worried he got. He had no idea why but he phoned Tenma's cousin which was probably the best decision he had ever made. He wasn't home. Heck, she thought he was still with him.

After saying good-bye, Tsurugi remembered that Tenma had told him that he was planning to go and help Hikaru buy some toy for his rodent pet and so he went off to where Tenma said they would meet. He ran into Hikaru but Tenma hadn't showed up like they planned. Frustrated, he phoned Tenma but, no one picked up.

"I'll come with you and help you look for him!" Hikaru offered. And so the two went off. As they did, he tried phoning him again and again, the two walking around and about idly and still nothing. And then, they were just walking by near the Steel Plaza when they heard Tenma's phone ring.

Tsurugi fumed and looked towards the park where he could hear the sound reverberate faintly. "Tenma! Would it kill you to answer your phone?!"

…no answer. Tsurugi felt a little irritated now and marched to the parked with Hikaru behind and tried calling him again.

*…..RIIIIIIIIIINNGG~*

There it was and it came from up the steps. Tsurugi sighed and just walked up the steps, wondering if Tenma was just messing around him for not willing to help. He helped loads of times! He chooses not to this time and…

Tsurugi thoughts went on a standstill and for a moment, it seemed like time stopped. And then, he thought he was dreaming a sort of nightmare that he couldn't explain. For some reason, it felt like when he fell from that tree when he was young; when his brother lost his ability to walk but this, it was much, much worse.

Suddenly, Tenma's phone which was lying far away gave out another, happy and eerie ring and reality dropped within the second.

"Tenma!" he yelled and quickly came to his teammate's help who was curled in a fetal position. Hikaru was too shocked to do anything. It wasn't until Tsurugi and yelled at him to call an ambulance that he finally came back to his senses. His hands were shaking but he managed to dial the numbers.

As Hikaru called for help, Tsurugi was cradling an unconscious Tenma who was now cold but he could hear him breathing but it was extremely weak. He wrapped him in his jacket and his mind began to fill with questions he couldn't even think of answers to.

What could he do? Should he try to wake him up? Should he try tending to his wounds? But he was obviously bleeding from the stomach. What should he do?

What should he do? What should he do? What should he do!?

The same question continued over for what seemed like hours until he heard the sirens. After they took him away, he realized, he hadn't been able to do anything.

What should he do?

What did he do?

The answer; he did nothing.

….

…..

"Tsurugi!" Hikaru called in concern as he shook him a bit, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Huh!? Oh…hey, Hikaru. Are we at the airport yet?" he asked.

"No, not yet." Hikaru answered. "It's just that, are you all right? You seem a little down."

"I think the reason should be obvious." He answered.

"No, I mean," Hikaru tried to explain. "Sorry. It must be just me."

Tsurugi looked at him and looked back out the window of the bus. How exactly could he tell them what happened? How exactly could he tell someone that in spite of everything; his training on God Eden, his experience in soccer, and knowledge on Keshins, he did nothing to help Tenma when he was in trouble?

He was stronger than Tenma, there wasn't much doubt there. When they first met, he beat him with a soccer ball over and again when he joined Raimon. He berated him often and he thought him as a weakling; an idiot who knew nothing of soccer and just went around talking about it without even knowing anything about it.

And in one second, it dawned on him just how wrong he was. Maybe it was from his time training in Fifth Sector or maybe it grew slowly on as he beat each team he was told to, either way, when did he become so conceited with himself?

He should have realized it sooner. He was an amazing and powerful striker who could make a winning goal and unfortunately, that seemed to be all that he was capable of. Just thinking about it made him wish….. he couldn't put it into words. Perhaps…a miracle of some sort? Anything so that things can just back to the way were.

"So that's the story?" Onigawara asked his assistant who was nodded his head under his cap.

"Yup! It's heart-wrenching is what it is! It's as horrid as the one that got me fired the last time!" he said. Yes, his partner was fired repeatedly as an officer but for various reasons, one which included letting a fire start in the evidence room.

"Go and ask the other officer for the reports. I'll look around the area." Onigawara said and his partner saluted. "Yes, sir!"

Onigawara wondered if he would be all right. This case was a nightmare for him. The victim attended Raimon Junior High. He must have heard about it by now.

….

…

…

What!? When did this happen…!? I can't say….. Could you please look into it for me until I get there? Thank you…

*beep!*

Tch! This is bad. If it is him then I have to get there now! Ugh…!

You just heard her, right? Please…you have to tell me what happened. You can't just say that…

Please…you have to tell me about what happened…!