Entering the mansion was easy since Tazuka and Takada were familiar faces as well as being Ryuki's friends. Having Ryuki present also helped since all the Spies needed was for the staff to see him before being allowed entrance.

"OK, where was the last place she was seen?" Sam asked.

"Her studio," Ryuki pointed. "She's almost always there, drawing up new designs."

Clover seemed to like the idea of going into a fashion designer's studio. She'd be the first to see unreleased designs. It was her dream come true! Heck, maybe after this she could be asked to model! She was not going to miss this chance!

Alex, however, was paying most of her attention on Ryuki. This was affecting him greatly. Why shouldn't it? His mom had been kidnapped and he felt personally responsible for it. Maybe she could help cheer him up.

"Leo, are you OK?" Alex asked carefully.

"Oh, I'm fine," Ryuki said. "We should go."

They then met with both Ryuki's grandparents. His grandfather, Kokoru, was from his dad's side while his grandmother, Sonomi, was from his mom's side. They didn't usually get along but right now they were still distraught over Emiko's disappearance as well as hoping that she'd be found.

Sam said, "OK, Tazuka and I will interview everyone here. Takada and Clover will go and look for clues in the studio."

"And what about us?" Alex asked, gesturing to herself and Ryuki.

"Well," Takada smiled, implying something, "Why not have Ryuki here take you on a tour of the house.? You might find some clues."

Ryuki had no clue what Takada was implying and thought that it could be a way to find some more clues on his mother's disappearance. "Hai," Ryuki nodded. "Ikuyo, Alex-san," he said to her, leading her away.

"You set them up," Tazuka said with a frown.

"Hey, the kid's depressed," Takada countered. "I just wanted to help."

"Then help find clues while Sam and I interview Ryuki-kun's grandparents and the staff," Tazuka said seriously before going off with Sam.

"Geez, what crawled up his butt?" Takada muttered before smiling towards Clover, "Shall we?"

"Sure!" Clover smiled. Being in a famous fashion designer's house was one thing, but with a cute guy was definitely a plus for her.

"So where do you think we should start?" asked Alex.

"Well," Ryuki frowned slightly. "If the people who took okaasan had to escape, they might have gone through the garden. Lots of places to hide out there."

"Sounds good!" Alex nodded. "Let's go!"

The Rider and the Spy quickly went through the doors to the outside of the property. Ryuki led the way until they reached the gardens which were planted on the estate. Alex's eyes went wide as she took in the sights of the exotic flowers and the smells they gave off.

"Oh, wow," she gasped as she saw it all.

"I know," Ryuki nodded. "Let's search."

"Right!" Alex nodded.

This began the search between the yellow-clad Spy and the black and red-clad Rider. What they were looking for were signs that someone had gone through the garden with something that they shouldn't have. The main pathways and some of the smaller ones were checked, but they didn't find anything that looked like what they were looking for. They only tracks they found were wheelbarrow and gardener's boots.

"I used to play in the garden with my sister," Ryuki mused to himself. Alex overheard him.

"You have a sister?" Alex asked, interested.

"She's my twin sister, older by 10 minutes," he elaborated. "I haven't seen her much, lately. For some reason she's been avoiding me." He frowned. "I just don't understand it. We used to be so close."

"Maybe she wants to be alone after your mother disappeared," Alex said consolingly as she placed a hand on his shoulder. Realizing her action, she blushed and pulled away. "Well, let's try to look for more clues," Alex suggested, cheeks warm.

Alex's touch was warm and Ryuki's cheeks turned red for about a second. Had he gotten over Caitlin already? Takada did used to tell him to never get hung up over a girl after breaking up with her. But, Takada has had numerous girlfriends in the past so it was probably easy for him. It wasn't easy for the red haired Rider with green eyes.

Sam and Tazuka sat down across from the grandparents. They didn't seem too surprised to see a girl dressed in a tight green bodysuit. Kokoru did stare at her chest for a bit too long before Sonomi bashed him in the head to get him to stop.

"So, when was the last time you saw Mrs. Hasuma?" Sam asked, trying to get information.

"It was about 3 days ago when it happened," Sonomi said, still distraught over her daughter's disappearance. "Usually she'd call if she was going to be somewhere for too long but we haven't heard from her since."

"Can you tell me what happened?" Sam asked again.

"Well, Emiko was in her studio as usual, going over some new designs," Kokoru explained. "I was training my grandson. My granddaughter, however, was out."

"Granddaughter?" Sam asked. This was new.

Tazuka explained, "Ryuki-kun has a twin sister. Her name is Neko but she prefers to be called Kat. She's… a bit difficult to get close to and has a very nasty temper."

"She's not here right now," Sonomi frowned, "Probably just as upset as I am over her mother's disappearance, the poor child."

Kokoru crossed his arms, grumbling, "If you ask me, she should be here trying to help instead of walking around out there doing nothing."

Sam asked more, "Tell me what else happened?"

"Well, when she didn't leave her studio the next morning, we thought she might've fallen asleep. We tried waking her up by knocking the door but there was no answer," Sonomi said. "So, I unlocked the door and when I opened it she was nowhere to be seen."

"I was like she just vanished, without a trace," Kokoru added.

Tazuka frowned. He remembered going over this information with Ichijyo and the only response was that Emiko had been taken by a Mirror Monster. However, Ryuki flat out protested, firmly believing that she was alive. He knew that when a person was taken into the Mirror World they would never be seen again. Ichijyo assumed it was denial but then he allowed the investigation to go on. He also had a feeling that maybe Ryuki was right and the missing designers weren't eaten.

The studio hadn't been disturbed since Emiko's disappearance. As much as Clover wanted to gush for being in a famous designer's own studio, she knew she had a job to do. But, it was difficult to do when you were in the same room with a total hottie.

Takada examined the door, "No signs of forced entry." He then walked over to the windows, "Locked from the inside." He knew that these were signs that a Mirror Monster could've taken Emiko, but there was one glaring piece of information that denied that.

The home of a Zodiac Knight would be guarded by their Beasts. A random monster would've been stopped by one of the Knights' contracts. It was a simple security measure to make sure wild monsters didn't go after the Knights in their sleep.

Clover was trying to find clues too. Aside from the papers strewn all over the floor with design patterns on them, there was nothing else that could lead them to a solution.

"This is just so weird," Clover said, scratching her head.

"When you're in this business, weird is only part of the job description," Pluto said. "Got any prints?"

Clover had also been dusting for fingerprints and only found Emiko's. There were also other prints but they were old and didn't fit the time frame.

Both Alex and Ryuki had moved from the garden and were now in the dojo. He was giving her a tour of his home since they hadn't found any clues.

The dojo was fully equipped with all the necessary equipment for training and had enough space for over 100 students. His grandfather would often train students while Ryuki watched before being personally trained himself. His grandfather was also a photographer and Ryuki had seen the pictured he'd taken of many martial arts forms.

"Your mom knows?" Alex was surprised.

"Hai, she does," Ryuki said, referring to when he told Alex that his mother was fully aware of his status as a Smart Brain Operative. "Doesn't your mother know about you being a Spy?"

"I haven't exactly told her," Alex confessed. "She'd freak out if she found out."

"Well, she is your mother," Ryuki reasoned. "She should be worried."

"Does your mom worry?" Alex asked.

"Every time I'm out there on a mission," he replied, "But she knows this is what I want to do. She knows I want to help people."

"Wow," Alex said, impressed. "That's like so heroic."

"I've always wanted to be a hero," Ryuki admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "Want to check out my room?"

"Sure!" Alex perked up.

Sam and Tazuka had just finished interviewing the staff in the mansion and didn't get much info out of them either. They weren't around when it happened and Emiko didn't have a security camera in her room either.

"OK, nobody saw anything before she vanished," Sam said, growning. "Oh, this is hopeless."

"Calm down, Sam," Tazuka said.

"I mean, we usually find clues and get witness statements when there's a missing persons case but we haven't gotten anything!"

Tazuka frowned and then said to elevate her stress, "You're a smart girl, Sam. You'll find the answers."

Sam smiled at the compliment and blushed shyly, "Thanks, Tazuka." She then asked, "Is that another one of your predictions?"

"You could say that."

"Wow!" Alex smiled as she looked at the room. "This room is bigger than mine!"

"Well, this used to be my mother's room before," Ryuki explained. Alex turned to see the biggest TV screen she'd ever seen.

"Woah, that's big!" Alex exclaimed.

"Well, this is my home theatre system, emphasis on theatre," Ryuki said. "I like to watch my movies on the big screen like this and with the lights off, it has the perfect atmosphere."

"You live like a prince," Alex said, complimenting him.

"I…thank you, but I prefer being just a normal kid," Ryuki blushed. Alex then noticed something sitting on his bed and then walked over to pick it up.

"Aw, it's so cute!" It was a plush doll. "It looks familiar though."

"Okaasan made it for me for my tenth birthday. It's supposed to be me," Ryuki told her.

"It does look like you," Alex giggled.

Ryuki's heart was elevated by her laughter. She had so much energy and was funny too. She had a great sense of humor and loved sports. Not looking where he was going, he suddenly tripped and fell towards Alex. He accidentally caught her by the waist as they fell on top of the bed.

Alex was trapped under him and could feel his hard muscles pressing against her petite body. He was also quite warm. Ryuki looked down on her, blushing profusely, before he jumped off her.

"G-Gomen!" he apologized as he helped her back to her feet. She smiled shyly as she too was blushing.

"I see you play the drums," Alex commented as she saw the drum set.

"I'm still practicing," Ryuki said modestly.

Awkward silence.

"We should get back to the others," Alex said.

"Right, we should," Ryuki agreed.

The 6 secret agents regrouped in front of the mansion.

"Any clues?" Tazuka asked.

"Nope," Takada shook his head. "Didn't get much from the scene."

"And no other prints aside from the victim's," Clover reported.

"The grandparents weren't much help either," Sam said, looking over her notes before apologizing to Ryuki, "Um, no offence, Leo."

"None taken," Ryuki said, smiling. "Alex-san and I didn't find anything either in the garden."

The three Riders knew that this was Mirror World related. It could be a monster, but why fashion designers? And why did the monster (if it was a monster) go around kidnapping them all across the world? Monsters tend to remain in one area where it could catch prey easily. There would be no need for it to travel great distances just to get a meal. This was so strange, even in their line of work.

Mirror World or not, they couldn't let the girls know about the alternate dimension. Ichijyo had warned them about the consequences if outsiders were allowed to know of its existence as well as the existence of the monsters that dwelled in it.

"So, where to now?" Alex asked.

"Well, we could try checking out the other victims' homes…but I doubt we'd find clues either," Sam said.

"Maybe this was unrelated," Clover suggested.

"Maybe…" Sam's X-Powder began to beep. She opened it and Jerry's holographic image appeared. "What is it, Jerry?"

"Girls, another fashion designer has just vanished," Jerry reported, "You must go to Paris at once."

"Great, another victim," Takada grumbled sarcastically.

"Well, it's off to Paris!" Tazuka said.

Paris, France

The sky was clear and the sun was bright in the romantic city of Paris. The Spies and the Riders were currently inside of a high rise building in which the most recent disappearance had occurred.

It was a designer's studio and it looked like it was in use before the designer in question had vanished.

"No signs of forced entry, no signs of a struggle," Takada muttered, "Same as before."

"Not exactly," Sam said, pointing at the surveillance camera. "Maybe that can answer some questions."

"We'll have to ask security for the tape then," Tazuka said.

"Then we'll be one step closer to finding okaasan and the other missing persons," Ryuki smiled.

It didn't take much to get the security tape. Soon, the Spies and the Riders were seated in front of a security monitor as it replayed the last moments.

"Okay," Takada sighed as he tapped at a keyboard. "These are the last hours before this designer vanished."

"Good job," Sam grinned. "Now we may be able to see who's behind all this."

"You are like, so good with computers!" Clover smiled brightly.

"You bet I am," Takada smirked. "I'm not just another pretty face after all."

"If you two are done flirting," Tazuka sighed. "We want to watch this."

The Riders and Spies settled in to watch the designer work. Clover thought it was like watching Da Vinci at work as she watched the designer putting together a new dress. Ryuki was familiar with this process since his mother liked to use him more than one of the dummies other designers would use. She said it made for better outfits.

They watched the designer work as her assistants left the room. The most action they saw was when she started yelling at one of her assistants for spilling coffee on some of the fabrics. The boys were starting to get bored when the designer was finally alone and leaning back against one of the windows.

"Hey," Alex blinked. "Is it just me or is the window starting to ripple?"

The boys now had their attention burning onto the window behind the designer. They feared that it was a Mirror World Monster that was going to snatch the designer.

To everyone's surprise, they saw the torso of someone dressed in green and black armor that had some chameleon aspects on it rise from the glass and wrap their arm around the designer. The designer fought a little before she was dragged back through.

"Woah!" Sam gasped. "What was that?"

"I dunno," Alex blinked in shock.

The boys knew. They knew very well what had happened. The designer had been snagged by a Zodiac Knight.

But the question was why?