DISCLAIMER: What is Oda's shall forever be Oda's, while cover image belongs to Kris Cane. One more chapter doesn't mean this statement will change, duh. And that goes for both the crappy thingies too.

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Waves of Struggle
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It was a three-hour drive with a van arranged by Capone to their so-called battleground.

The base was settled in a lively neighborhood near the coastal area, stretched across the region and surrounded by sturdy walls—putting some distance between it and civilian houses. The multiple buildings that were set up within it stood out like a sore thumb, for the design the owner chose wasn't really one that you might want to call as plain. Or better yet, it was quite…fancy. Like, you could totally think the place belonged to a ringmaster rather than some mafia boss. Well, could expect nothing less from an ex-disciple of Roger. He inherited his ex-master's nutty trait just fine.

Yet under that eccentric facade lay a fairly high-tech mechanism that ran nearly all the systems in the base. And that, obviously, included the security. Not really on the same level as that sci-fi stuff usually had, still, it was pretty problematic to the group's dismay.

"—…already on the move. WHITE team has begun searching for the control room as we speak and your team should locate the vault room in that main building before them. We don't know how long it will take until they realize our presence, so make it quick and stay hidden. Do you read me, boys?"

"I heard you the first time, old man…" Apoo murmured against the walkie-talkie in his hand. He was in the backyard of the base's main building, crouching behind storage boxes piled near the stony border. He shuffled a bit so his eyes could wander to the surroundings outside through little space the boxes created.

"Just double checking." Capone light chuckle still could be heard along with the low hiss static noise, "Keep me updated. I wish you luck."

"You too."

"Ah. And kiddo?"

"…"

Crouching behind the boxes pile across Apoo, the said redhead remained silent, though he still seen frowning at the call. He too kept an eye on the surroundings through the same space as his companion.

"Don't get jumpy, okay?"

Kid snapped, "Why yo—"

"—Over and out." And the connection was cut off.

"Tch, that midget old fart…" Kid continued to grumble under his breath.

"Easy, Reddy," Apoo didn't hide his amusement, putting the HT back into his red jacket pocket, "Now let's just hope Law and the other can find the control room soon so we can also finish our job. You can settle the score with the old man later."

"Hmph," the redhead was back to his watch again. There seemed to be less guard around their vicinity, "So even the geezer's network cannot find those rooms' exact location, huh?"

Apparently only a few people were allowed to know the location for security reasons, or so Capone said.

"That proves their importance to these people I guess. Even if we manage to find the vault room, we need somebody to open it through the control room." Apoo shrugged, "And I assume it cannot easily be opened by force either so your brute strength is practically futile."

Kid snorted, "Importance, huh? Well I hope that chairman's stuff is important enough to be kept in that vault room."

"Most likely so. The chairman said it means a lot to him—that millionaire did. Guess it's safe to think the stuff is valuable."

"Yeah." The redhead straightened his back, feeling sore from the long crouching, "Now if only those two can get back here qui—Huh?" He blinked, looking straight to Apoo, "Wait. Scratchmen, tell me who are our team members again?"

"Huh?" The man raised an eyebrow, "Is something wrong?"

"Just tell me."

"Well, aside from us, there are Drake and Killer. They went ahead to scout the path we're gonna take, remember?"

"Then why do I see Straw Hat behind you?"

"Str—Whoa!" Apoo jerked to the side as he turned around, "Luffy, what're you doing here!?"

"Shishishishishishi!" The boy in question only grinned his trademark smile, crouching. He didn't get noticed by the redhead earlier thanked to the wall namely Apoo's towering body that completely concealed him, "Oh I just thought it'll be more fun with you guys here."

"And…why is that?"

"'Cause if I'm with Traffy's team, we must 'do nothing to raise suspicion'," he lowered his voice when quoting Law's words, "I should blend in with the crowd! That is so boooooring!"

"You do know we must stay hidden too in here, yeah?" Kid tried to sound as composed as he could though the vein popped out on his forehead might fail him.

"Yeah, I know~! But over there, Traffy said I AB-SO-LUTE-LY mustn't make enemies of them 'cause we'll definitely be outnumbered. So I think I'll try my luck here! Come on~! We've come here so far, better off doing some fun too, right?"

"Which part of 'stay hidden' don't you understand!?" The redhead seethed. They had barely begun their first join hands and already this? "We cannot just kick their ass to make way in here, you moron! Think of the consequences!"

"Whoa…I never imagined I live the day Kid lectures someone to think." Apoo was astonished, glancing up to the sky, "I hope the ice storm won't be that deadly…"

"And when I s—"

"—Oi, you guys! Keep it down!"

Running covertly from Apoo's opposite direction, Killer hissed at them, "There's no meaning in hiding if you can't ke—Ng?" He stopped right in front of them, "Straw Hat? Why are you here?"

"He—"

"—Straw Hat?" Drake had followed close behind the blond, light jogging before came to a halt beside him, "I thought you are part of WHITE team."

"Yeah! But I wanna be here~! Shishishi!"

"Alright, listen up." Kid decided to step in before things turned complicated, "We have no time to waste so he's coming with us. Got it?"

Killer shrugged, "If you say so."

Drake was still mutely eyeing the black-haired boy.

"Drake?"

"…Very well."

"Good. Now how's the situation?"

"There's not many guards as we've expected, mostly have gone to that place WHITE team is currently at," Killer told them, "We also have secured the route. We're good to go."

"Okay, think it's time for us to move outta here. But before that…" A clear look of impatience crossed the redhead's face when he turned his head, "Straw Hat, I have warned you so IF you try to do anything funny in there I'll ma—"

He was interrupted as Drake held up his hand in front of him. The older man kept fixing his focus on Luffy.

"Listen well," he calmly spoke, "For every single enemy who gets to notice your presence, you will lose one chunk of your meats."

"EH!?"

"Are we clear? Now try to save your precious meat from the brink of extinction." Drake looked at the rest of them, "Let's go."

They all nodded, and quickly sneaked their way out of that place. Luffy was still rooted in his spot, at a loss of words, while Kid seemed to lament his own regret as well.

"Damn, why I never thought of that method before?"

"Hurry up, you two!"

.

.

"You are not to move a muscle from here, understand?"

"Tch. Why should I?"

"Because you'll get lost, duh! Have some self-awareness already!"

Standing in a sea of men, Bonney and Zoro were exchanging their peppy banter. They were in the other part of the base at an open ground where a lot of people gathered. Ranging from the syndicate's members to civilians, though the former was mostly seen scattering in the perimeter, guarding. It seemed they all came here to attend some sort of event. That, of course, was something already known by these young intruders.

"You do realize this base is near that beach we went to on the last school trip, don't you? And you also do realize what happened to you back there, don't you?"

"Alright, alright…" Zoro heaved a sigh of resignation. He didn't have any choice but to stomach it lest he had to stay with Capone in the van outside the base as a support team. That would be uber boring. "But anyway, are they gonna have banquet or what? This is quite a number of people." He scanned around him.

"We still don't know. They do like having party but from what Capone knows they never invited civilians before." The pinkette could see fifty—no, maybe more than seventy civilians had assembled in this piece of ground. "Let's just keep tabs on the boss."

Their eyes immediately darted back to their main target in front of the crowd. The man was sitting in his 'throne' on some kind of stage, circled by a few of his men like how a villain boss was mostly seen. Just as in the photo the group already saw the other day, this Buggy guy did look like a jester. Or might be even one. Certainly not one capable of soothing a crying child though. He seemed to be in a good mood when studying the mass before him. And on both side of the stage, there was a super big curtain that covered something behind it. Whatever the thing was it should be either really huge or wide for it had taken almost half of this field area.

"From the look of it he won't go back to the main building in anytime soon."

"Yeah. He should be stuck in here attending his own event. Meanwhile, I'm gonna stuck with you lot." Bonney exhaled, shaking her head, "By the way, Trafalgar and the other are late. What's taking them so long?"

"No clue," the marimo guy dully replied, "But Luffy won't come back here. He left to join the RED team."

"What!? Why didn—"

"—There's no stopping him." He stated, to which the pinkette actually submitted. They all had already known the boy's obstinacy too well to complaint about it now.

"Oh well, it'll be Eustass' job to babysit him then."

"Welcome, welcome!" A deafening voice suddenly booming from the loud speaker made the crowd turn their attention to the stage. A black-haired man was seen talking through his mike while riding a unicycle, "I know you've been tired of waiting, but before Boss Buggy delivers his speech I want you to take a look at this!"

At the man's cue, the big curtain fell down.

"What is—what the hell are those?"

Lining up across the other half of the ground were dozens of tall poles. A really tall pole. And there was some kind of ring attached on top of each pole at which a wide variety of things were hanging on it. Bonney could see some clothes, home appliances, boxes of groceries, and even bikes among the goods.

"I…too have no clue." Zoro stared at the view with the same dumbfounded expression as her.

"That is called Panjat Pinang [1]."

Bonney whipped around, "Trafalgar! Oh, Hawkins you've come back too."

The said men were about to stop in their track right behind her when she saw them coming, walking side by side, composedly studying the view.

"What the hell is Panjat Pinang?" The moss head queried.

"…The name of the game." Hawkins answered him, "A game in which one needs to climb all the way up to the summit of Pinang in order to seize all the loot."

"Pinang?

"A name of plant. The pole is made of Pinang tree actually." Law crossed his arms casually, "We unintentionally saw the hidden thing when we were scouting, so I asked Capone to give it a look-up earlier. From what he obtained, we can presume Buggy invites the civilians with the intention of making them the game players."

He was right. The man on that stage was currently announcing the news to the crowd.

"A game, huh?" The glutton snorted, "It doesn't look so tough. The pole is super tall, alright, but that's it."

"It is coated with thick lubricant."

"Lubricant? Uagh…sounds like it's gonna be one hell of messy game." Zoro scrunched his face at the thought, "Oh. So how's your scouting? Found some lead?"

The sophomore exhaled tiredly, "No. We couldn't find a secure route to go in, let alone know where the control room is. Guards are all over this area."

"Well, the old man did say almost all the syndicate's members will be present here. At least things are gonna be a bit easier for the RED team in the main building. Should we try another area then?"

"…Perhaps."

"Ng?" Bonney had her puzzled gaze shifted to Hawkins. The man was quite like usual but his stare was intensely examining the pole, "Something wrong with those poles?"

"…"

"Hawkins?"

"…We all should partake in the game."

"Huh?" The moss head furrowed his brow, "Oi, you know we have more pressing issues, don't you?"

"…I can see our victory lies atop that Pinang."

"Can se—wait, don't tell me your cards were telling stuff again!?"

Hawkins turned his cold stare to him, "They are not telling stuff. They are showing path."

Zoro rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

Law was deep in thought. After what seemingly like taking matters into consideration, he uttered, "Are you really sure about this?"

"I merely follow the path that has been shown to me. Our winning key is on the peak of that bar."

"…Alright." The man shrugged, "Let's do it."

"Eh!? Seriously?"

"I am as serious as a heart attack, Jewelry-ya."

She scowled, but only for a moment until she was sighing, "Yeah…it's not like we found any other trail to that room either…" the pinkette narrowed her eyes at the oracle, "Honestly, Hawkins, if this wasn't because of your cards I'd swear…"

"Well," Law started striding his way to the game location, "This is the thing capable of finding a lost marimo, so let's just do it justice."

The said grass-lad frowned, "Since when I became the standard here?"

.

.

The sound of metal cover clattered resounded through the corridor.

"Kid!"

"Oops."

Kid jumped down from an open vent in the ceiling, bending one knee on the cold floor. The vent cover that he had forced open earlier was now lying near his feet. He promptly shifted, giving some space to the other men as they followed suit behind him. The corridor they were in was devoid of guards and they hoped it would stay like that regardless of the little mess they made before. They had come far from the back storage room by crawling their way through the ducting into the building, it would be a total waste if someone found them this instant.

Drake was the last one came down. He didn't spare any second to shoot his disapproving glance at the redhead, "You should have been more careful."

"I'm sorry, okay!" Kid spat defensively, "I didn't know this stuff is so brittle."

Apoo hissed, "It's your freaking power that is wrong!"

"Ssh!" Killer shushed them both, piercing look despite the long bangs, "Will you two, please, shut it? We can't afford to have anyone come when we've proceeded this far. I think you should learn from Straw Hat. He's been so careful since we got in here."

"Whoa!"

A voice rang. It was Luffy's. His presence was nowhere near them.

"Whoa!" Came an unfamiliar voice. "Wait, who ar—"

BAM!

A sound of hard blow.

The four men immediately turned to their left, to the corner of the corridor's intersection. A sound of something heavy being dragged and door closing was heard from the other side of the corner. Shortly afterwards, the black-haired boy was seen peeking from there, spreading an awkward smile while raising his thumb up, "It's okay! It's okay! No one's noticed us yet. Everything is uuuunder control."

The redhead gave Killer a look, to which the blond only face-palmed.

"Alright, where should we go from here?" Apoo inquired.

"We split up," answered Drake, "Killer, take Straw Hat with you up the right corridor. Eustass, Scratchmen, and I will take the other way. Anyone found the vault room first shall inform the other and don't do anything before we receive word from WHITE team. It might trigger anything if it is opened by means other than through the control room. Any question?"

"Yes." Killer spoke, "Why must I be with Straw Hat?"

"Because I said so." The man directed his stare to the others, "Anyone else? No? Good." Drake swiftly strode to the opposite corner from where Luffy stood, checking up their route in case another guard was seen around.

The hyper boy walked close to Killer, patting him on the shoulder, "Pleased to partner with you, Masky! Oh, and don't worry!" He pumped his fist, "We'll find that room faster than Reddy's team 'cause we're like, super strong! And if we bump into enemies I just need to kic—O-Oh! I mean, of course we're not gonna let them find us 'cause I'll be this really, reeeeeeeally careful. And you should too, yeah?"

Even words escaped the blond at the moment.

"The coast is clear." Drake announced, "Let's move."

They muttered in approval. Kid walked past his childhood friend when he spared him a smug smirk, coupled with a stifled snicker, "Good luck."

.

.

"This is some serious freaking tall pole they've got here."

Bonney whistled, glancing up and down the pole that stood a few steps before her. They picked this Pinang bar among others simply because it hadn't been occupied yet. Around them, so many people had flocked to almost all the poles, some even had been already halfway on their quest to seize the loot hanging at the summit.

She furrowed at that sight, "And I think we lack of manpower. We need at least eight persons clambering on each other's shoulder to reach the top. Like, look at the other poles! They've been swarmed by that many yet those men still don't succeed! And there's this oil too. It lubricates the whole pole! Hey, do you guys thin—Huh?" The pinkette blinked, "Uh, guys. What're you doing?"

Circling their pole, the girl's three companions were in the middle of stripping off their shirt. When you looked at them again, those rough days in the brawl seemed to leave behind effect on their body after all, considering how nicely shaped it became. In fact, theirs wasn't one you would regard as what average high schoolers usually had.

Zoro, for starters, had all these hard muscles built his frame from head to toe. Yes. Head. Seeing how his train of thought usually functioned, that hypothesis was more than sound enough. He was mostly seen working out in his spare time too so that washboard abs of his was plausible. And even if the other two men looked fairly lean, they actually possessed the same set of abs under that fabric. Although, for Law's case, what made him stand out the most were those tattoos adorned his entire upper body. Oh just your regular tattoos, like, a full-set of tribal-style tattoos, not to mention, glaring D-E-A-T-H printed on each of his fingers. It suited his sick personalities perfectly well. And in case you were wondering, the school counselors had also given their consent to this—in which, obviously, some blackmail and other dirty tricks came into play.

But we digressed.

The thing was that these attractive young males had stripped down to their boxers.

Bonney wondered how many damsels would die to trade place with her right now.

"Making sure to get home later in clean clothes, of course," Zoro threw his white jeans on the ground, "What else do you think we do?"

"Oh," her stare blanked, "Okay."

"So what're you waiting for?"

"Huh?"

"I suggest you do it too." Law had begun stretching his upper body, "Unless you don't mind bathing in oil with your tank top on."

"Ugh…" The pinkette pinched the bridge of her nose, "Do I really have to climb up this with you boys?"

"What?" The moss head sent her his glare, "You said yourself we lack of manpower. Now don't you try to slack off. Look!" He beckoned to their gloomy companion, "Hawkins is so ready to climb he's poking the pole all by himself. Be more considerate to him, will you?"

"Oh, are you that type who concerns about some skinship, Jewelry-ya?" The tattooed man let out a dark suggestive chuckle, "Should I teach you one or two things first to get you accustomed?"

"Die you pervert!"

"Why should she concern about skinship?" Zoro was puzzled, "It's between us guys, there should be no problem."

"There is!" Bonney snapped, pointing at herself, "I'm a girl!"

His puzzled look grew even more intense, "You are no girl. You're just no man. And that's only because you don't have them balls. Now move your butt over here and let's get this done!"

.

.

Room after room. Corridor after corridor. Guard after guard.

The tedious occurrence had been running for a short while now in Killer and Luffy's exploration. But the place they were looking for had yet to come into view. This was unsurprising. If the room was that accessible, they wouldn't need to dispatch men this many to comb the building. Capone had fixed them up with the structure's map he obtained through his network. Still, this was nowhere near simple task when avoiding the security was also part of their topmost concerns. Really. Not simple at all.

Especially for Killer.

"Whoa, look at these things! All of them are from overseas!"

Honestly, the blond had failed to understand why they still managed to survive the guard surveillance with all the racket that straw hat boy made. He could only thank to whatever deity reigned over his luck that the guards weren't that keen. Anyway, the boy's comment had actually piqued his attention too. There were a lot of uncommon items lining up on both side of the corridor they were currently in.

"Seems like Buggy loves to collect unique things from around the world." Killer couldn't help observing the things as they passed by.

"Oooh this armor looks cool!" Sparkling eyes upon Luffy's face, "Uwhoa I like that train set!"

"Keep your hands off them, Straw Hat."

"I know, I know," he waved his hand, "There will be this alarm goes beeping if I touch things, right? I know that muc—Ooooh they have skull too in here!"

"And shush!"

"Oops, sorry—Ng?" The boy abruptly came to a halt, "Masky, hold on." The look on his face was unusually stern when he held up his hand to block the blond, made him stop as well. His orbs even darted back and forth as if trying to locate something.

"What is it?" Killer was instinctively on his guard, "Enemies?"

"…No." Luffy's voice stayed serious, "I think I smell something good."

The blond took all his willpower to refrain himself from rolling his eyes. "Not now, Straw Hat."

"But it might be the thingy, you know!"

"Something tells me it might not—Oi!" The boy had already dashed off, "Wait up—Tsk!" Killer begrudgingly ran after him.

He had thanked his deity earlier, hadn't he?

It seemed Luffy didn't stray too far from him. The room he was in when Killer found him kind of looked like storage room, though it gave off different nuance than the usual one. Maybe because the air was rich with this nice smell—the blond quickly knew he was in food storage. Boxes of what seemed like food supplies were stacked up everywhere. Then in the farthest end of the room, he could see food samples lining up on the table. From the look of it, they were also imported goods. And to nobody's surprise, the straw hat boy was seen standing there.

"Mazgy! (Masky!)" Luffy turned to him, too busy stuffing himself, "Yow gobba dry diz! Diz zis zow gud! I nebar heed diz bebour. (You gotta try this! This is so good! I never eat this before.)"

Killer bored him a dry look. He scanned his surroundings. It seemed no guard was present. He then strolled his way to his companion.

"Are you done?" The blond blandly asked, "We must continue to search for the vault room."

"Oghay, Oghay. (Okay, okay.)" The boy gulped down his food, "Man, I wish I can eat this again. I wonder what this is called."

"There's a nameplate next to it." Killer already stood beside him. He picked up the plate to get a better view, "…It's called Tempeh Bacem [2]."

"Tempeh Bacem?"

"Yeah." He read the details printed on it, "Apparently it is made of soybean."

There was a long silence.

…

They shared a glance.

"…Bean?"

.

.

"How's…this…!?"

"Still…can't…reach!"

"Uagh!"

"WHOA!"

A painful sound of men falling apart on a certain corner of this field area had become recurrent in these past minutes. However, this was left ignored by the other game participants for it also what exactly happened to them all. Even though the objective sounded simple, it didn't go as one when it was put into practice. In light of this, groups with lots of members had certainly more advantage in the game, though they might still not make it if they couldn't maintain their balance when heaping up themselves to clamber up the pole. And of course, the lubricant coated the pole was also a big hindrance.

"I never imagined climbing up a pole can be this frustrating." Zoro lied on the ground, chest heaving up and down from exhaustion.

"And it's too fucking slippery! Dammit!" Bonney cursed, messing up her cherry hair that had dirtied by oil from the pole in rage. In fact, all of them were in the same filthy condition. At least she clad only in her black bikini now.

No one spoke again. It seemed they still hadn't regained their spirit to proceed with a retry.

"…Then why don't make use of the situation." Hawkins broke the silence, "This slippery crisis."

They looked at him, confused.

"Ah…" It took only a brief for Law to relate to his words, "Indeed. It sounds possible."

Unfortunately the other two still didn't follow, "What possible?"

His grayish orbs landed on Zoro, "Can you push people up a pole?"

"Push?"

"Yes." He raised one finger to point at the grass-lad, "Can you, with those muscles and strength, push people up a slippery pole?"

"Ah." The pinkette finally caught up. It was super slippery, alright, so theoretically it might be possible for people to glide instead of climb up the pole. But then she realized something, "Don't tell me that 'people' is me?"

"What is the matter?" Law's lips slyly quirked, "Did those foods finally weigh on your body, Jewelry-ya?"

"Hmph, I'm always in my perfect size, mind you." Bonney gave a light smack to her creamy hip, showing them her flawless three-sizes that could encourage any straight blokes to ogle. That, before she opened her mouth.

She sighed, "So it's up to me, the lightest of us all, huh?"

"It's up to me, the one makes the miracle." The marimo guy scowled, though he looked somewhat freshened up knowing they had a more concrete plan this time. He had enough crashing down on hard soil for the umpteenth time today. "Fine, I'll try your crazy idea. Come, Bonney!"

They didn't spare a moment to back to their formation to clamber up the pole. Bonney was the top of the stack, hugging the slippery bar while Zoro supported her weight right below her.

"Tsk, it'll be quite tough to push you up at this height." He gritted his teeth, "If only we could close the gap a little more." Well, their biggest problem was still the lack of manpower after all so they didn't have much choice.

"Argh!" The pinkette loudly seethed, "Where are those giant freaks when we need them the most!?"

.

.

Urouge sneezed.

"Hmm…I didn't know this side of coastal area can be suddenly this cold…"

The ex-monk let his glance drift around while rubbing his hands together. He was squatting down behind some wild bushes that barely hid his massive figure. Then again, he had been careful enough to shelter himself in shadowy spot near the base border so at least, he would safe for now.

Unlike the youngsters, his assignment only required a one-man team. Or rather, the man preferred to do this alone. His own skill was sufficient enough and he was sure the teens' excessive energies were better used in those other crazy works. The children themselves were in favor of that.

Urouge's task was none but simple. He only needed to set these things all over the base.

Oh it was nothing weird, really. Just some knickknack that kiddo had made on the other day. He suggested putting the things too in their plan to 'make a grand closing', or so he said. Urouge couldn't help bringing back his amused smile at the thought. If he was to sort out the things where the redhead always put his 110%-self into, that would be the endless fight he never failed to pick and his workshop. The hot headed boy could be so skillful with his hands if he wanted to.

And actually, that went for the other teenagers as well. Each of them possessed a quality that made them unique. Made them special among others. Not that one kind that brought troubles, but an actual talent they could feel proud of. Although their rowdy nature was indeed too obvious for not standing out the most.

Urouge shook his head. It wasn't like him to think over the children in that way. Thinking of how to tease them more, yes, but definitely not in that kind of way. And yet, his mind had been dawdling over this matter for quite a while now. That was all thanked to the man who was responsible for causing them to take this bothersome request.

.

"Is this all?"

"Yes." Roger was toying with his pen, didn't even take his gaze off it when his lips spread into a playful smirk, "I believe Bege will do something about the rest should you find it not enough."

Urouge chuckled, "Indeed." He slipped the documents into his coat pocket. The young'uns should have been waiting for this piece of info in the storehouse by now, especially that redhead. His stare still rested on that man who was sitting in his armchair behind his work desk. "I am still astonished though you let the children involve in this kind of work. I am more than aware you have better men to employ for this chore." Urouge lifted an eyebrow, "Is this one of your pranks again?"

The accused man let out a hearty laugh, "Do I look like that type in your eyes?"

"You always look like that type in my eyes."

The laughter slowly turned into short chuckles as Roger ran his orbs over the window beside him. A cloudless sky was seen from outside. It was a fine day, just as fine as his current mood it seemed. On the desk, his pen was still spinning in between his fingers.

"Has any of them complained yet?"

"No." Urouge paused, "And I presume they rather choose this over an exam."

"I figured as much." The chairman gave an amused snort, "And you?"

"This hasn't violated my line of work."

Roger hummed contentedly.

A comfortable silence soon befell the space. Urouge didn't say a word nor excused himself out of the room. The man before him gave off this feel that he still didn't finish with his talk. Well, the gardener never expected him to answer his earlier question anyway. He was merely curious as to what the chairman actually thought about the issue. But again, his actual thought was most probably the one Urouge had already known all along.

"What do you think of the children?"

Now that was unexpected. Yet the gardener didn't falter, "A bunch of entertaining rascals with too much trouble in their spare time."

"You are part of the rascals."

"Why I am humbled by your compliment."

A soundless chuckle escaped the chairman, "…Do you know what I think of you all?"

Urouge shrugged, "Enlighten me."

The pen in Roger's hand stopped spinning, sounding a soft thud as he laid it down on the wooden desk. He shifted his gaze to meet the gardener's, offering him his trademark goofy grin when he spoke in bright tone.

.

"—...Hahahaha! You bet!"

A loud chortle instantly pulled Urouge out of his trance. Someone was about to walk past his hiding place. Without wasting a second he scrambled to his feet, sneaking into a gap between two buildings near him. Thanked God it was wide enough for his size to fit in.

"Oh. I think I must go now."

"You're going to that event?" Another voice answered.

"Nah, I've got guard duty. You know, at 'that room'."

The emphasis the voice gave on that particular word made Urouge's ears twitch.

"Ah, that room, huh? It should be easy. Outsiders won't know it either."

"Haha, yeah."

"Alright. See you again tomorrow."

It seems those two had gone separate ways. Footsteps of one of the man were shortly heard approaching. Urouge could see the figure's shadow drew closer to his spot. And once he caught sight of the man's swinging arm, the gardener quickly yanked him into his hiding space.

"!? Who—mmmmppph"

Urouge already clamped the man's mouth with his one big hand as he pushed him hard against the wall. The poor fellow kicked and wriggled but Urouge held him firmly.

"Good day to you too, young lad. Now if you would be so kind to share your knowledge about the room you were talking earlier, I would be very grateful."

"Mmmmphmmmph!"

"Oh, please rest assured as I am perfectly fine to use both hard and less hard ways to squeeze the knowledge out of you. I used to walk the path of peace after all."

A pleased smile curled along the ex-monk's mouth while he watched his victim writhing under his immense force.

"Now tell me, which prayer chant would you like to hear before I make you meet your Maker?"

.

.

Drake didn't know why he abruptly felt this tingling sensation crawled down his spine.

"What's wrong, Drake?"

"Nothing. I just suddenly have this feeling I am supposed to be somewhere else climb—Never mind." He peered over his shoulder, "Do you find anything?"

"Nope." Kid was tracing his hand across the smooth wall, "Can't find anything resembles bird either. Tch, I thought that'll make things easier."

"Bird?"

"Nah."

They were in a circus stage—or so they would like to call, but actually this was the leader's bedchamber.

A freaking huge chamber if you asked them. Perhaps because there were another multiple rooms within the room, not to mention, a stage at the center of it. All the goods decorating this place matched the building's overall theme just perfect.

They managed to get in after tricking the men guarding in front of the chamber. Kid suggested putting them into sleep with one or two jabs, Apoo proposed cathartic would do more vicious. So Drake went along with the latter tactic. They later split up again, and now Kid found himself in a situation where he was stuck with his solemn senior in one of the room.

But seriously, wasn't it the time for them to discover the vault room by now? He meant, among these rooms and none was correct? What in the blazing hell that clown was doing with this so many rooms anyway?

"…I thought you would say no."

Kid blinked, turning his focus to the older man when he heard him talking. There was a short break earlier so it took time for him to realize what he implied. Though the redhead was still confused, "I said 'nah', okay? And it means the same. "

"I didn't mean that one." Drake's gaze drifted over his, "This request. I thought you, of all those people, would turn it down."

The redhead groaned, threw up his hands incredulously, "Should we really have to talk over this again?"

"Just saying."

"Hah," he retorted, "If I against this I wouldn't be here, alright."

"So it is true then." The senior sent him a somewhat amused look, "You really love being in that storehouse. Does the place really mean that much to you?" His voice when quoting Apoo's word the other day irked the hell out of the redhead.

"What's this, suddenly up for pop quiz?" Kid scorned, "'Cause I ain't join no game."

"Even if that place is gone, you can still meet those people at school, you know."

Now that went quite overboard, "Who said I wanna get buddy-buddy with you freaks?"

"Oh but you are buddy-buddy with them just fine." A hint of mischief in Drake's tone, "Want me to list the proofs?"

"Argh, then let me ask you." Kid crossed his arms, annoyed, "Why do you consent to this request?"

The man shrugged, "Because I don't want to lose the storehouse."

"See, you do wanna get buddy-buddy yourself too!"

"This and that are different matters," he stated, "I simply have my own purpose regarding that place."

"What's that?"

"Something that is none of your business." Drake flatly said.

The redhead blinked twice, and then growled, "And so is mine, dammit!"

"You aren't very creative with answer, are you?"

"Get lost!"

Grumbling, Kid immediately turned his back on him. His companion shook his head and back to his own search. There was a quiet moment. Sounds of things moving or flipping open were the only one heard between them.

"I just want things to go back to normal, alright." Kid suddenly spoke, earning a stare from his senior. The redhead still didn't face him, hand slipping through a wide crack he found in the wall, "So I don't have to think this crap like want or don't want to lose the storehouse. I ain't cut out to be no like you thinkers but at least I know if I get this done, I'll get what I want. End of story."

"Heh." Drake allowed himself a rare earnest chuckle, "That is more like you."

"Ekhm."

A sound of clearing throat made both men shift their attention toward its source. Apoo was seen leaning against the door frame of the room.

"Uh, hate to break your heart-to-heart session but we've got problems under way."

"Oh." A dull reaction. And that came from Kid.

Even the habitual sternness on Drake's face was unperturbed, "From our people?"

"Obviously."

"'Bout damn time." Kid stretched his arms, preparing himself, "Took longer than I thought."

"That is because no one has yet to break your record in this department." Drake approached the entrance at a leisurely pace, his voice sounded as calm, "So, which buffoon has done it this time?"

.

.

"UWHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~!"

"…Somehow, this outcome is predictable."

Two teenagers were seen running down the hall. Behind them was a crowd of people, shouting at them angrily. If only that was the case, it should have been no problem for the two.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Yes. That was the sound of the real problem they had now.

"I'M SORRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYY—Oh, but this is really good. I'm glad I bring some with me."

"Don't eat while we're running!"

"No worries! I'm used to eat while running every time I'm late for school."

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"

[1] Panjat Pinang, roughly translated as 'betel nut climbing': One of the most popular traditional game in Indonesia to celebrate the country's Independence Day. Though it's actually shrouded in dark past for it's also the game the commoner used to play for the sake of the colonist's entertainment.

[2] Tempeh Bacem: Sweet marinated Tempeh—a traditional soy product originally from Indonesia (check out Wiki for more details).