Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon. If I did, I wouldn't be writing a fanfic like this that contains such a questionable plot.

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Snooping

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The boy let out a sigh of relief, still not daring to move from the door. When the sound of footsteps faded, he whirled around and locked the door. "Sorry I'm la-la-la-what's she doing here?" Kouichi demanded, seeing Yumena seated several desks away from Arata. "Private lesson! Get out!"

The normally quiet Arata spoke up. "That's okay, Kouichi. She won't admit it, but she's in the same boat as me without Heima's help." He paused, noticing Yumena glaring at him. "But anyway, you weren't late. We-or…I was early."

You guys are more trouble than you're worth, Kouichi thought, walking over to the front desk and opening Arata's math book. "Hey, Arata, Hotaru says hi."

"Uh…okay…" He could see Arata blushing profusely, though the boy tried to hide it.

"Oh please, I can't believe you can't take a hint," Yumena snapped, folding her arms and looking away.

Kouichi's eyes narrowed on her. Haughty aura. Must – ruin – no! Resist now, Kouichi. The opportune moment has yet to reveal itself. "Oh?"

Arata's eyes widened in realization. Desperately, he began passing a flat hand in front of his neck, as if he were about to chop it off. "Yume-"

"Duh! They've known each other since kindergarten, maybe even before!" Yume declared, obviously not getting the message. Her eyes slipped shut, and she continued as if she were reciting something that had been said many times before. "Hotaru's been gaga over him since she first saw him. Even in her di-oh…" Yume's eyes snapped open. "Arata, why didn't you say anything?" Her words came out as surprised squeaks.

"In case you haven't noticed, he passed out trying," Kouichi muttered, helping the dizzy boy to his feet. "So…" Kouichi smirked. "How exactly do you know all of this?"

Arata groaned, falling down to sit on the floor again. "He knows," the boy moaned.

"Yep."

"Now look what you've done! Baku'll just get mad at me because you told him Hotaru is-" Arata stopped and looked at Kouichi. "You don't know! That was…tricky…"

Too smart, Kouichi thought. Yume's going silent for good (for now). Arata's seeing through the patterns too easily. Instead of showing defeat, Kouichi clapped, nodding for absolutely no reason. "Y-eh-hm…" He cleared his throat. "Good job, Arata. Now that you saw through those patterns…perhaps you could solve these problems," he said casually, grabbing the white board marker and quickly scribbling the problems down on the board for the boy to solve.

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Kouji. No. No, that's not Kouji…is it? It's Kouji? It is…

There was something…a shelf, Kouichi realized. He corrected himself a second later.

Display case, he told himself. There's something on the bottom…

A pearly light. Dark all around him, only he could see his brother. Kouji. Kouji was choking.

Choking.

Kouichi watched his brother fall to his knees, hands around his throat. His eyes were glued to the bottom of the display case, and slowly, a hand reached out, pressing against the glass of the case.

'Don't…let them…get it,' Kouji breathed, his whole palm pressed against the glass.

Kouichi sat up expecting to be in bed. He recalled the last part of his dream so vividly…

…that frightening thought…

…he refused to lose another person.

"Mr. Kimura, if you would grace us with your dream…?"

He looked up to find Mr. Kanemaru gazing at him expectantly, a whiteboard marker in hand. Kouichi smiled smugly.

"I'm sorry," he apologized slowly, "I must have gotten knocked out by the intense whiteboard marker fumes. Maybe the pen in your hand is getting old. You know, owner influence?"

The class erupted into laughter, and Mr. Kanemaru turned around, red-faced as he continued writing down the rest of the problem. Kouichi sat back in his seat with a sigh.

Saved for now…

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"So sue me. It's not like you were using the old thing anyway," Kouichi declared.

"That gives you no right to steal it!"

"Borrowed," corrected the older twin. "Just tell Dad and Satomi I'm over at a friend's house for the weekend. Arata really needs that studying…oh, and don't forget the dog. Listen, I know he ate your homework literally, but he's got his rights. Take 'em to Daisuke at the goggle head's if you need help."

"But Kouichi, it isn't the dog that's the problem, it's-"

"Bye, Kouji," he snapped, flipping the phone shut. Ridiculous. "Okay, covered," he said, meeting Heima's cold gaze with an equally icy look of his own.

Itsuma and Arata exchanged wary glances. "Okay," Itsuma began. "Let's break this down. Uh…" He began to scratch the back of his head. "Mon, this is awkward."

Nodding in agreement, Arata gazed at the ground as he explained, "I'm sure Yume already told you about how we're collected special stuff…? Well, we've got ten of the eleven necessary artifacts. I'm going to assume Yume didn't tell you exactly what our talon covers, because she's never been anything close to thorough. Our talon does the easiest work, in my opinion. All we have to do is search and recover the artifacts. If the latter is too complex for us, Heima's talon takes over. At the moment, though, the last artifact is…"

"…being difficult," Itsuma offered, seeing the other boy was unable to find the words. "Baku told us – or rather Yume – that it's a music box. As to why we need a music box-"

"A Pandora's box," Heima corrected softly. "You are well-learned in Greek mythology are you not?"

Kouichi sent him an irritable look and snapped, "This is Japan. What does Greek mythology have to do with us?"

A sigh escaped Heima. "I knew today's schools were lacking something."

"So are you," Kouichi offered dryly. "It's called sarcasm. Comprendo?"

Arata frowned. "Isn't it-"

Kouichi quickly told him, "I don't know, I don't care. Yes, I know about Pandora's box. Zeus had Hephaestus make Pandora, Hera gave her curiosity, and she was given to the guy with the box. The guy hid it and…" He frowned. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"Everything and nothing, depending on who you are," Heima returned. "That isn't half of the story."

"Yeah…uh…Zeus had the entire Pandora thing happen because of the Prometheus and fire incident," Itsuma murmured. "Gave her to Prometheus' brother."

"Again, what does this have to do with anything?" Kouichi retorted with a scowl.

"This Pandora's box gives its opener what they want. To those who don't know of its secrets, it's a music box. To those who do, it is said to hold the power to either bring peace or destruction to the world." Everyone turned to the owner of the voice. Yume stood by the door, eyes narrowed on the boys. "But only two people are able to open it."

"And they are…?" Kouichi prompted for the girl to continue.

Yume smiled smugly. "Classified," she declared, walking over and plopping down in the empty seat between Heima and Arata. "Itsuma, you'll take him-" she pointed to Kouichi and continued, "and go to the given coordinates to search for it. And try to keep noise down to a low this time."

Dare I ask? Kouichi hid a grin and asked, "What happened last time?"

Arata reddened as Itsuma mumbled, "We kind of…sort of…"

"Arata broke half the items in the store chasing after the kid with the artifact, and Itsuma broke even more trying to stop the mess Arata was making," Yume said, offering no mercy.

Ouch. "What are the other ten artifacts?"

"Nothing you need to know about. Itsuma, get going. Arata, come with me," Yume snapped, rising to her feet. "Get back here before dinner."

"'Get back here before dinner,'" Kouichi mimicked, making a face as Heima and Arata followed Yume out of the room. "But…" Sighing, he sat back and gazed warily at Itsuma. "You…can fill me in about your dad on the way."

Itsuma nodded slowly as he rose to his feet. "And perhaps you could answer a few questions?" he suggested, raising an eyebrow.

Kouichi just smirked.

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"I already told you this much. Dad's always drunk, never home. I have work, school and this to deal with. I would always leave Daisuke at the mansion whenever something happened at home. You came and I realized it was a bad idea. Truth be told, Yume used to love Daisuke. I don't really know what happened to her. And you know for sure that Arata's known her for longer." Itsuma paused to sigh. "So I took your advice and talked to Dad just because I don't want to bother you any more than necessary."

It was better than listening to Kouji snore at night, Kouichi thought. Little kids sleep through anything. "Eh, well…more like Takuya's burdened. But he isn't; he owes me a lot." I saved him from over half of Kouji's scams. You'd think they'd learn.

Itsuma shrugged. "It makes no difference. Dad and I settled a few things out yesterday. Really, though…Kouichi…I owe you. And it's probably hard for you too, huh?"

"Wh-what?" Kouichi sputtered, eyes widening. Does he…?

The older boy looked up at the sky. Sighing, Itsuma murmured, "I guess…we're all alike in one way or another…right?" A faint smile appeared on his lips as he turned to look at Kouichi. "We're here."

Trying to keep calm, Kouichi whirled around, pinching his cheeks and pulling on them again and again despite the pain. When at last he felt tears travel down his cheeks, Kouichi dropped his hands to his side, only after furiously wiping his eyes. Calm down Kouichi, calm, he told himself, turning back around and entering the shop.

Itsuma was already inside, gazing at a shelf full of little odds and ends. "Hey…can you find the music boxes…? I need to check something."

"S-sure," Kouichi muttered, slowly making his way toward the center of the store. This'll get my mind off of things. Feh…this is the day…me, of all people, walking through this…this jewelry store.

"Kouichi!"

The boy froze. It really is the day, he lamented, cringing as he turned around to find Kouji behind him. "H-hello…my wonderfully irksome twin."

"You can't get away by using big words! I thought you were at Arata's!"

"Yeah…Itsuma dragged me to find something for his girlfriend. And you?" Kouichi asked, turning to a nearby shelf and sorting through the items (which happened to be teapots of all kinds) so as to not look suspicious (which he guessed he did anyway, as he was sorting through teapots).

"So…you're…looking through teapots?" Kouji inquired, trying not to snort.

The older twin glared at his brother irritably. "Well I don't know what to get a girl! I'm single, FYI."

"Guess that means if I ask you for help with getting a present for Sumi you can't help…?" Kouji sighed and turned around to slouch. "I can't figure out what she'll like."

This was where Kouichi realized he hadn't been playing his part correctly. A devious smile crept onto his lips as he whirled around and placed a hand on his brother's back, slowly dragging the younger twin towards the music boxes.

"I can help you there…" Kouichi pushed his brother to the side and gazed at the music box in front of him. "I know she'll like one of these," he muttered, frowning as he pushed aside a few to look at the music boxes in the far back.

"Hey…you're right!" Kouji's fist slammed itself lightly into the palm of his other hand. "She told me she wanted this one music box from this store. But…" The depressed look returned. "It's expensive…"

Could it be…? "Show me," Kouichi demanded, poking his brother in the stomach viciously.

Scowling, Kouji led his brother to a display and knelt down. He pointed to the lowest shelf of the cabinet and said, "Thirty thousand yen."

"Done!" Kouichi snapped, pulling his wallet out and shoving the money into his brother's hands. "Buy it. No…wait…" Kouichi pushed his brother aside and gazed through the glass, shivering at what he saw. This is…my dream? He swallowed as he rose to his feet. Then let's turn this organization around. "Yeah…she'll really like it," he said, his words coming out dry and unconvincing.

"What's the catch?"

Brother stared at brother. "What?" Kouichi asked blankly.

"What's the catch?" Kouji repeated, glancing suspiciously at the money in his hands.

"You'll be doing me a favor by buying it, believe me. I won't have to listen to your pathetic whining about your relation with Sumi. Just…don't tell anyone I told you to buy it, and I'll gladly give you the money," Kouichi said in a low voice, yanking his brother up off the floor. "I'll even do your homework next week."

Kouji brightened. "Really?"

"No. That costs one thousand yen."

"Fine. Let me go get someone to open this thing," Kouji muttered, wandering off.

Kouichi let out a sigh of relief and sank to the floor. Good. Now all I have to do is find the other ten artifacts.

"Hey."

"WHA-!"

Itsuma stood in front of him. Frowning, Itsuma asked, one eyebrow raised, "Resting on the job…?"

Quickly, the younger boy scrambled to his feet and shook his head. "N-no. My brother was here, so I thought I'd help him out a bit. Can't find a present for his girlfriend even with the two eyes he has," Kouichi laughed, hoping he didn't seem as anxious as he felt. There was a bubbling feeling in the pit of his stomach that churned over and over as he thought, I wonder if he can tell I'm lying.

Even if he knew, nothing was said about the matter. "That's cool," Itsuma said instead, gazing behind him at the music boxes. "Yume says the alarm'll go off on our readers after a while. It'll take a few minutes."

Damn. Kouichi gazed at the display case behind him and cringed. "In that case…we have to get Kouji out of before he starts asking stupid questions!" Kouichi declared, pushing Itsuma towards the shelves of music boxes. "You look, I'll get rid of…Kouji…uh…" He swallowed. "Nice to see you again…" Double damn, Kouichi thought, putting on a fake smile at the sight of his twin with a clerk behind him.

Kouji turned to the lady behind him. "Uh…the music box on the bottom, please. And ignore that guy," the bandana boy said with a grin "He's just jealous I look better."

"WHAT?" Kouichi yelled, glaring at his brother. He opened his mouth, ready to retort, but stopped, seeing the chuckling clerk take out the music box and hand it to Kouji. For a split second, he remained calm, his eyes focused on the extreme detail of the music box. Operation: Pandora…complete. Quickly, Kouichi turned back to Itsuma. "Let's find it and go!" he hissed, pushing Itsuma back towards the more common, cheap music boxes. Kouji had made it to checkout by now.

Itsuma proved rather difficult to budge. Staring at his reader, he informed the other boy, "Kouichi, it's coming from that direction."

He was pointing to where Kouji was.

It had to work. It had to work, or he had just put his very blood in danger.

He acted in a split second. Release 'Crazy Kouichi prototype one.' "Whaaaat?" His hands fumbled frantically with his reader as he pulled the item out of his pocket and gazed at the disc. There was a grid, and on it was a large, red dot. Fine, be that way, he thought, glaring childishly as he flipping it around. "You're mistaken, Itsuma, it's coming from the other direction," he said loudly, certainly receiving many, many stares.

"Kouichi–"

He jabbed a finger at the cheap music boxes. "From that way."

"Kouichi, turn it around," Itsuma said patiently.

"I'm reading it correctly!" Kouichi insisted, looking up.

"Kouichi!" Itsuma snapped, grabbing the boy by the shoulders. "What do you think you're doing?"

He dropped the act. Kouichi pushed Itsuma away and shook his head. "What I should have been doing a while ago." He pocketed his reader and apologized. "My opinion doesn't change so easily." Reluctantly, he turned around, just in time to watch his brother exit the shop.

Itsuma remained quiet. When they finally walked out of the shop a few slow seconds later, any signal of the box had disappeared. They could only head back. And they did; nice and slow, just as the air around them felt.

The older boy released a heavy sigh. "Your brother…doesn't know about any of this, huh?"

"Not at all. Wouldn't dream of telling him," Kouichi said. As they kept walking, he found himself divulging information he never dreamed of spewing out. "He'll give it to his girlfriend," he said, talking about Kouji and the box. "She's the cousin of the guy who's taking care of Daisuke. And because they all live under the same roof…" He sighed and his hands tugged at the ends of his hairs. "I'm really sorry to drag you into this, Itsuma. The only one who'll recover it is me, because I brought it upon them. I…really don't want to talk to Yumena. Just…tell her that if Baku sends one of the assassin or whatnot groups to retrieve it, I won't hesitate to tear his pretty mansion down," Kouichi swore quietly. There was a pause. "I'm sorry, Itsuma."

Nodding, Itsuma murmured, "It's okay. You have to do what you have to do. Actually, Kouichi…" He trailed off, hesitant on the matter of continuing his sentence.

"Yeah?"

Better not encourage him, Itsuma thought, smiling inwardly. "Nothing," he said instead. But really…thanks.

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"What do you mean you didn't get it?" Yumena screeched.

Kouichi let out a sigh. "Exactly what we said. Someone must've gotten to it before us. Poor people. Tsk…tsk…" He shook his head and turned to head for the main hall door. "I'm gonna go take a quick nap before dinner."

"YOU DON'T DESERVE DINNER!"

"Calm down!" Itsuma snapped. "It wasn't our fault the reader took forever to load the scanner. The alarm didn't even go off! It's completely faulty, and you expect us to work faultlessly?"

Lover's spat, Kouichi thought, trudging slowly towards his room. Their voices faded away even slower. "Man, today stunk. Or…rather…mon," he muttered, suddenly feeling awkward. "Huh…did this place get bigger?" he wondered aloud, standing in front of the door to his room. Or maybe I never realized how large it is until now. Shrugging, he threw open the door and immediately shut it.

That's not right, Kouichi thought, gazing at his door in shock.

"Y-YUMENA!" he shouted, whirling around and storming back to the entrance of the hall where he found Itsuma and Yumena. Hands clenched at his sides, Kouichi demanded through gritted teeth, "What are you doing to my room?"

"Well, you said you wanted a kitchen, didn't you?" Itsuma asked in return.

"Asked?" Kouichi frowned. "No, I thought that. I never said anything…did I?" He just shrugged. Log it away, Kouichi. Remember it for next time.

Folding her arms and looking away, Yumena asked icily, "This is what you asked Baku for, isn't it?"

His frown deepened. Now this definitely can't be overlooked. "How could I," he asked in an equally rude tone, "when I don't even know the guy?"

"What?" Yumena and Itsuma stared at him incredulously. Then, slowly recovering, Yume insisted, "H-he said…but…you…Baku told me you wanted a kitchen. He said you asked him!"

When will she actually bother to listen? "I. Don't. Know. Who. Baku. Is. Got it? Comprendo? Comprende? Comprenda? Understand? Savvy? Comprehend? W–" Kouichi paused and shook his head. "Maybe someone else asked him. But thanks, I was planning on getting a kitchen anyway. Saves me the trouble. Just…next time, tell them not to break my locks and replace my doorknob. I pay for them, you know." He was fuming inwardly. Absolutely anxious, furious, scared. And all he could tell himself was, Act cool. Act calm. Log it away and keep it in mind for next time. For now, keep calm. "Are they almost done?" he asked, lacing his fingers together behind his head.

Yumena grabbed his right hand in her own, and Itsuma's left in another. "After I finish yelling at you two for failing!" she scowled, dragging them to the entrance hall and ushering them towards the couch. "Do you have any idea how long it will take before we can locate it again? It's ridiculous! You blew it! You totally blew it!"

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The persistent knock refused to stop. Growling, he reluctantly rose to his feet and answered the door with a yawn.

"Don't tell me you aren't hungry," Itsuma said, seeing Kouichi slowly trudge back towards the bed and fall face flat on the mattress.

The boy just snorted. Lifting his head and turning it to the side to look at Itsuma, he returned, "I have a kitchen. I can cook for myself. You think I'd trust Yumena, Heima, or anyone else to cook for me? For all I know, they could poison me." He rolled over onto his back. "Why don't you join me for dinner?" he suggested.

Itsuma didn't bother to hide his grin. "It might be poisoned," he joked, ignoring the irritable glare Kouichi threw his way. "Besides, I wouldn't miss the pie for anything in the world."

Kouichi sat up and scowled. "I could make a pie better than any of the pies they can cook!"

"I'll test that sometime!" Itsuma laughed. Slowly, the amusement faded. "But Kouichi…you've got a job tonight. Yume'll be briefing you and Arata on it during dinner, so you have to come."

"I don't 'have to' anything, Itsuma" Kouichi corrected quietly. "And I know you know what she'll be saying. Stay…" His eyes narrowed on the older boy. "Won't you?"

Letting out a sigh, Itsuma nodded. "I figured. So…I snatched your copy of the briefing. But like I told you, I'd never miss the pie." He broke into a grin as he threw the folder to Kouichi.

Kouichi frowned at the folder he caught in his hands. "And like I told you…I can make a better pie any day." He quickly lost interest in Itsuma's presence. When he finally looked up to thank the other boy, Kouichi discovered Itsuma had left.

Pie is evil, Kouichi concluded, returning his attention to the item in his hands. It was a plain manila folder. Opening it up, Kouichi saw the briefing was indeed brief, completely to the point that it was a waste of paper to print. A smirk slowly formed as he scanned through the single paragraph on the page. "Well, well…" Here's my chance to shine!

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"Where is he?" Yume demanded as Itsuma took his seat. "Lagging behind?"

Shaking his head, Itsuma informed her, "He thinks the food is poisoned."

The girl's eyes widened. "What? Why would we do that?"

"Why would we not do that?" Arata returned. "I think it makes sense."

Her eyes narrowed on him. "You seem better, don't you Arata? Ready to talk to Hotaru?" Yumena sneered.

Arata let out a sigh. "I don't get it. What's so funny about that?"

Chuckling, Itsuma took a bite of his dinner, swallowing before he told the other boy, "You really need to get out a bit more."

"Still don't get it…"

"Yumena!" Heima suddenly snapped. "Briefing."

The girl nodded. Turning to Arata, Yume began, "You see, we have…rivals, it seems. They say they have an artifact that we do. I want you and Kouichi to go meet them. We plan to take their artifact whether it's real or not. Baku wants to crush their spirits so they won't even think of competing with us."

Arata nodded, slowly taking the matter in fact by fact. "Do you know which?"

"No. You'll be taking a bag full of marbles to act as our artifact. Baku even thinks they might be fakers."

"Black cloaks?"

"Most definitely."

"Pocket or bracelet?"

"Bracelet."

"Where and when?"

"The alley behind the candy store at eight-thirty, because they have to go to bed at nine."

Arata rose an eyebrow and turned to Itsuma, who had started on his dessert. "Bed at nine, huh? Hey, Itsuma, Daisuke goes to bed at nine, doesn't he?"

"Yep. Man, I waited all day for this pie…" Itsuma dug in quickly.

Patterns. He told me everything is a pattern. I wonder if it's what I think. "Alright. I'll get the cloaks and then Kouichi." Arata gazed at his untouched food as he rose to his feet. As he walked to his own room, he smiled softly to himself. I think I'm starting to see it…

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"Marbles, huh? We should return these to Baku. He might need them," Kouichi insisted with his most serious look on as he looked up at his partner and pushed off the crates stacked against the back wall of the alley. They were early, it seemed, for there was no sign of the so-called 'rivals.'

Arata bit his lip, trying not to laugh. "Here," he murmured, throwing a cloak to Kouichi.
"Then we can actually get on with it."

"Aw, come on. They'll be a no-show," Kouichi insisted, throwing on the cloak. "This really stinks."

"Yumena's orders."

"No…I mean…it stinks. Do you guys wash this?"

Arata slapped his forehead in exasperation. Itsuma. "Alright, take out your reader," he said instead, taking out his own.

"Oh! Disc-thing," Kouichi said after a straight minute of silence. Quickly (technically slow, but quick considering his handicap) he took out his reader and held it out.

"Press this button," Arata instructed, pointing to the long, thin button under the screen of his own reader, "and it'll change into this!" What he held out in his left hand was now a dull gray metal coil with the reader mounted on top.

Odd…really. Kouichi pressed the button on his own reader out of sheer curiosity. It was a laugh. "What a fashion statement." I wonder how much I can make off this…

"The slot is over here…and the rest of the functions are the same. And it can spin around, too, for easier access to the slot," Arata added, motioning to random buttons. Kouichi was lost; it didn't help that Arata spun the reader around several times. "It's supposed to be easier to work with during battle."

"Battles…" Kouichi gazed at the bracelet. "Uh huh…and no place to put the cards?"

"We're working on it!"

Me and my big mouth. Kouichi shrugged and shoved his cards (which had been taken out along with his reader) into the pocket of the cloak. "Ooh, I hear someone!" Kouichi whispered excitedly, pulling his hood on.

"Probably them," Arata murmured, pulling up his own hood.

"There you are! You're late!" The speaker turned out to be short, his deep voice cracking every other word as he asked, "Do you have the artifact?" He wore a cloak similar to that of Kouichi's and Arata's.

"Do you?" Kouichi returned in a deeper, more threatening voice. Funny, I think I'd know that voice anywhere…

A second cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows to stand beside the first, holding in his hands a small cardboard box. It was easy for Kouichi to hide his smirk with the hood on and (despite its smell) he was grateful for the cloak. Trying to maintain his intimidating presence, he walked forward and paused in front of the two. "Well?" he demanded in a hiss.

"Here!" Frightened, the second figure thrust the box up into Kouichi's face so quickly the taller boy had to take a step back to avoid getting hit.

…And I was right, Kouichi thought as he stepped towards the two again. I'd know that voice anywhere. His hand reached for the box, but quickly turned towards the first figure, yanking the hood off. "Shinya," Kouichi growled, dropping his deep voice act (but not the hood). He didn't bother to look at the second figure. "Shinya, and Daisuke. Are you two insane? What if they sent actual assassins?" He quickly seized Shinya's wrist before the young boy could run away. "You better have a good reason…"

"Kouichi…you know him?" Arata pulled off his hood and stared at the struggling Shinya in surprise.

"Remember Takuya in our class? This runt's his brother," Kouichi informed his companion coolly while twisting Shinya's arm behind his back. "Take a seat. You too, Daisuke." Kouichi motioned to the wooden crates beside them, shoved Shinya in their direction, then yanked off his hood.

"You know," Shinya laughed, scrambling onto a crate, "It's a funny story, really! I mean, we were just…just…uh, help me out here, Daisuke!" He hissed this last part frantically, trying to avoid the dangerous glare Kouichi focused in his direction.

Trembling, Daisuke removed his hood and inched his way to Kouichi. "I…I didn't mean…Shinya didn't…I'm sorry," Daisuke mumbled, hanging his head in shame.

Kouichi let out a sigh when he looked at Daisuke, then placed a hand on the boy's head, ruffling his hair a bit. I wonder if he's doing this little innocent act on purpose, he wondered, kneeling down after withdrawing his hand. "Look," he told the boy, "You can't expect that you'll be safe just meddling with groups like these. It's like dealing with the yakuza, except without the motorcycles and baseball bats–"

"Kouichi, that's not true–" Arata began.

"–and I don't want to know how you know," Kouichi returned. "The point is you need to think before you act. And even if you did already think this out, you two are too small of a rebel force, don't you think? So tell me what's going on."

Daisuke's eyes fell to the ground after meeting Kouichi's eyes for a brief moment. "Shinya found out," he mumbled. "It was an accident, but then…I had to tell him…so he said we should…stop Baku, b-but…"

He couldn't help but smile. He was smiling, and Daisuke was on the verge of crying. It was absolutely evil of him, he knew. Kouichi just shook his head when Daisuke stared at him, speechless and ready to bawl. "Y'know," he said quietly, his hand falling on the boy's head again as he rose to his feet, "although I love how you two think…" He was grinning ear to ear now. No, that's not possible, Kouichi thought, snorting at the thought. "…although I love how you two think," he started again, "defeating old man Baku is my job, okay? No more interfering, no more blabbing. I don't even want to know how you got Daisuke to tell you," he said loudly, glaring in Shinya's direction. "Both of you…go home now."

Shinya and Daisuke exchanged glances. Then, pointing to one another, they told Kouichi in unison, "We don't know how to get back."

His hand slapped his forehead in disbelief. "Uh…Arata…you don't mind if…"

"No, no…I'll come with you, if that's okay," Arata offered.

Kouichi grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. Alright, you two, let's get you…home…"

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Takuya stood at the doorway, blinking at the robed Kouichi. "Uh…so…let's go over this again. You guys were filming a movie…?"

"Yeah. Itsuma's homework. Daisuke must've told Shinya or something. Guess they got carried away." Kouichi lied easily, as if it were another day.

"Uh…huh. What kind of movie?"

"Harry Potter–" Arata began.

"We were the dementors!" Shinya declared loudly from behind his brother.

Takuya blinked. "Oh…I…think…?"

"Really? That's new!" Kouichi exclaimed innocently. Then, as fast as he could, he said, "Alright we need to get back to filming, and you need sleep, got to go bye!" The next second, Kouichi had successfully pushed Takuya in and pulled the door shut. Without second thoughts, he turned around and ran, Arata at his heel.

"That," Kouichi breathed, "was close. Do we report to her now?" He snuck a glance over his shoulder long enough to see Arata nod. "Good. I'll do the talking."

Yeah, I think I'm seeing a pattern. And it isn't that I keep getting cut off every time I try to speak, Arata thought with a frown. They both slowed to a brisk walking pace. Itsuma and Daisuke split. Daisuke telling someone else about Baku, that someone being the brother of a classmate and friend of Kouichi…and yet…it starts with him too. Why is it that since he came, we've proved ourselves to be successful idiots instead of hardworking people? He makes us look so…small…

Kouichi returned Arata's observant gaze with a confused look. "Something wrong?" he asked.

He's mature, but he acts like a spoiled toddler sometimes. I don't get him. I give up, Arata decided, closing his eyes. He shook his head, hoping all the thoughts would float away. "Nothing. Just wondering what to tell Lady Yumena," he lied, biting his tongue a second later in realization of his mistake. Does he…?

But Kouichi just gave him a weird look. "I told you," the boy said somewhat impatiently, "I'll take care of the talking!"

"This can't be good…"

"What?" Kouichi exclaimed as they reached the door. "Come on, even Mr. Kanemaru can't tell if I'm lying or not! I'm just that goo–not that I'm going to lie," he added hastily. Could I get anymore comfortable behind enemy lines? What other secrets did I give away?

Arata shook his head in disbelief. Lying through his teeth.

Clearing his throat, Kouichi threw the door open. "We're back, and there's nothing you can do to make me say home!" he shouted, taking his cards and reader out before taking off and throwing the robes to the floor. "Helloooo? Anyone ho-horse?"

"Good save," Arata muttered.

"Thank you," Kouichi returned dryly. "Looks like they're busy…Ah, well. We can have some victory dessert. I have some purin waiting for me in the fridge…and I'm sure there's lots more stuff too…" He trailed off as they made their way down the hall.

"Wow…you filled the fridge already?"

"Nah, it was already filled, but most of the stuff looked disgusting, rotten, or poisoned. Mostly the latter. I had to throw a lot away…that is, to the compost. Satomi has this thing for gardening. I have to buy stuff tomorrow, though, mission or no…" Kouichi stopped in front of his room and frowned. "I spent a whole hour and a half installing the stupid lock again," he muttered to himself, opening the door with a sigh. "An-n-new…whatcha?"

Even Arata could only gawk, seeing the new furniture in the room. The bed looked a lot more like his own bed at home, the table was larger…there was a table in the kitchen…so much. "Wow…did you ask Baku for this, too?" he asked in awe.

…Two more chairs, a new stool, the small table is still there…there's another desk. Huh, I guess I can use that for Daisuke, Kouichi thought, swallowing. He was unsure of what to think of himself. "Uh…let me…get you that purin," Kouichi said quickly, feeling his legs turn to jelly as he approached the refrigerator. Someone…touched my fridge. Who? He swallowed again as he opened the fridge, left eye twitching. "Wh-who…touched…my food?" he hissed, taking out the lone purin that was left and glaring at it. "Hey, Arata, I'll give you a blank check on that victory dinner. Do you mind?"

"Something wrong?" Arata asked, walking over.

"Yeah." Kouichi's eyes narrowed on the purin he held. "Snoops."

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A/N-

I'm sure you're all tired of hearing this: No excuse for not updating. I'm behind in everything, my classes are killing me…lame excuses. Sorry for any mistakes in the chapter. Tell me, would you, if there are any?

PURIN: A custard-like Japanese pudding dessert eaten with toppings such as caramel, cream, etc. This definition was stolen from somebody. If you are that somebody, thanks a bunch. It is yummy, purin is. If you need a visual, it's the stuff Kero eats in Cardcaptor Sakura. I made some a few days ago after discovering a Japanese market with it…and…

Daifuku. Is. Good. I don't know about mochi, but daifuku beats dango (but dango is good too). If you have no idea what the heck I'm talking about and just want to try them, do so (they're all yummy anyway) but daifuku is KING.

Since I've started this fic I've forgotten my original plans for the story. Hopefully I can fix that from this chapter on (too much work at the moment to go back and fix each and every chapter).

Thank you ever so much for the reviews: GemmaniGirl, Ritachi, koyuki kimura

Do what you will, preferably: Review, PM, or Flame.