Beverly Hills High-The Next Day

The Spies were still working on the case involving the missing fashion designers as they watched the footage they had retrieved from the surveillance camera. No matter how many times the girls viewed the footage it still didn't make any sense to them. They were at their lockers, looking at the footage, again.

"OK, this is like Twilight Zone freaky," Clover said as she watched the fashion designer being snagged right through the window.

"I have to agree with you on that," Sam said, "I mean, this just looks like something from a Sci-Fi movie. But, then again, we've seen a lot of freaky things."

"No wonder we couldn't find any clues when the kidnapper just lunged out of the window like that," Alex said, worriedly.

The Riders had all returned to Smart Brain but promised that they would call the girls when they themselves have gotten any important information from the camera as well. Sam thought that the Riders knew something about this case, something the Spies didn't know about, but was hiding it from them. She didn't know what it was, but it had to be a big secret. She really wanted to trust them but there was just something off about how they were treating the case.

Aside from that, Sam couldn't wait to see Tazuka again. He mentioned that he was a musician as well as a fortune teller and she wanted to hear him play the piano.

Clover wanted to see Takada again because she needed a date for the Autumn Ball. Arnold had asked her yet again and she once again declined as politely as possible. Finally, Alex wanted to see Ryuki again. She really liked the boy and wanted to help him cheer up. She could see how his mother's disappearance was affecting him. He was depressed and she wanted to help him with that.

"I just can't figure out how that guy did it," Sam frowned as she looked over the video. "What could possibly make a person capable of that?"

"Not sure," Clover sighed. "But forget about that for a moment. We have a way more pressing issue to deal with."

"Huh?" Alex blinked. "Like what?"

"Like, the Autumn Ball?" Clover asked incredulously. "This is THE event of the season and we can't afford to go stag. The good dates are getting snagged as we speak."

"Oh," Alex sighed wistfully. "I wanna go with Leo."

"I know what you mean," Sam nodded. She could understand what Alex was talking about. "I'd like to ask Tazuka. He's got that older guy charm, y'know?"

"And Takada would be a killer date," Clover smiled. She then got depressed "But I bet they're all the way back in Japan now."

"Or a couple of feet behind you," a male voice spoke up.

"WAGH!" the girls cried out in surprise.

They instantly turned around to face who was talking to them. To their great surprise, they were looking at the faces of the boys they were just talking about. Sam blushed slightly, hoping that Tazuka hadn't heard her talking about them while Alex began to smile brightly.

"Hello, ladies," Tazuka nodded to the girls with a smile. "It is nice to see you all again."

"Hello," Ryuki nodded with his smile noticeably brighter than before.

"Yo!" Takada saluted with a goofy grin.

"Takada!" Clover squealed as she ran over to the smooth talking genius. "We were just talking about you."

"I know," Takada said, pointing to his ear, "We heard."

"How much did you hear?" Sam asked, blushing slightly.

"Well, we heard you were talking about the case," Tazuka answered. "We just got back from HQ after giving our reports to Ichijyo." Clover seemed to glower at the mention of Red-X's real name. "So, how have you been since we last saw you?"

"Great!" Sam said, "And you were right about my Biology test."

"You're welcome," Tazuka nodded.

"What are you guys doing here?" Alex asked, excited to see Ryuki again and glad to see him smiling brightly.

"Ichijyo," the boys answered in unison.

"He said something about improving relations between Smart Brain and WOOHP," Tazuka explained. "So, we got ourselves enrolled here for a temporary basis."

"Well, if it means spending time with you girls, I'm up for it," Takada added.

"So, this is Beverly Hills High School," Ryuki looked around. "You've got a nice school here." The previous American school he had been to was in New York when he had gone to recruit Jake. "It's very shiny." The hallways were clean and so were the lockers.

"Well, if you want a grand tour then we'll be glad to show you around," Clover offered. Internally, she was laughing victoriously. There was no way that Mandy could steal Takada way from her.

Of course, not for a lack of trying.

"Wow, fancy seeing you boys here," Mandy spoke as she walked up to them with her clique, Caitlin and Dominique. "We missed you at the mall."

Takada once again was having the uncomfortable shiver running up his spine from listening to Mandy's voice. "We…had an important errand to run." He wanted to get away from the snobbish Mandy, desperately, but his chivalrous side couldn't allow him to leave the Spies.

"I see you've met the losers," Mandy said, looking disdainfully at Alex, Clover and Sam. The three Spies responded by glaring. "Why don't we show you around? I think you'd like our company more."

Ryuki looked between Alex and then Caitlin who was waving at him. He gulped. He kinda liked Alex and didn't want to leave. 'Yaminekoryu, a little help?'

'Sure thing, aibou!' the demon in him replied before they both switched control. Ryuki's eyes momentarily flashed before he looked at Mandy and her two friends.

"Sorry, Mandy-chan, but this is a bitch free zone," Yami-Ryuki replied. The Spies gasped as Takada and Tazuka looked at their youngest friend, surprised by his tone and that he used the word 'bitch'. Mandy was speechless as were Caitlin and Dominique. "So, fuck off!"

Mandy fumed and turned on her heels as she stomped off, followed by Dominique and Caitlin. Yaminekoryu then returned control to his host. He saw the others looking at him. "What?" he asked.

"That…has got to be the first time I've seen you being mean to anyone," Takada blinked.

"Gomen," Ryuki blushed guiltily. "With having okaasan missing and knowing that she's alive out there…my temper is not where it usually is."

"That's okay, Leo," Alex said with a forgiving smile. "I know this whole deal must be hard on you. I'd go nuts too if someone kidnapped my mom."

"Yeah!" Clover nodded. "Besides, Mandy has this gift for making people lose their tempers."

"So don't worry about it," Sam nodded. "We all have our low times."

Tazuka smiled. His otouto had that strange ability to get people to like him after just meeting them. Of course, seeing his little brother being mean was somewhat new, but everyone was entitled to being cruel when they were in Ryuki's situation.

"So where to first, ladies?" Takada smirked. Then the bell rang. "Aw, man!"

"Maybe later, we got class," Sam said.

"So do we," Tazuka nodded. "See you girls later."

"Can you tell us where we're supposed to go?" Ryuki asked as she showed the girls his schedule. They gasped in surprise.

"Wow," Clover said, "You have the same schedule we do."

"That's really lucky," Takada grinned.

"Well, as for me, I'm in the Senior class so see you all at lunch," Tazuka waved before turning to where his class would be.

The girls showed Takada and Ryuki to their chemistry class. After they showed the teacher their schedules to prove that they were supposed to be in the class, the boys gabbed seats next to the girls.

It really didn't escape Takada's notice that there was a rather geeky-looking guy who was sitting close to the girls, but not close enough to be noticed. He knew that position well. It was the standard seating for guys who had crushes on a girl but didn't want to approach them for some reason.

Class soon began and the teacher began his lesson. The girls were in various stages of attention or boredom. Ryuki dutiful paid attention to what was being taught, much like Sam and Alex, but Takada and Clover were ready to fall asleep. In Clover's case it was because she was bored, but in Takada's, it was because he knew it already.

"All right, everyone," the teacher spoke up. "Grab a lab partner and we'll begin today's experiments."

Clover immediately snatched Takada's arm. She knew that Arnold would have gone for the position and even though she didn't have anything personal against him, she didn't really want him as a lab partner. Alex had snatched up Ryuki for her lab partner and Sam decided to go with the two of them just for the sake of it.

"So what are we doing again?" asked Takada.

"We're looking at various chemicals and recording reactions when they're mixed together," Sam explained as she got her lab equipment ready.

"Oh, is that all?" Takada yawned. "Sounds okay I guess."

High school science was nothing new to him. He was way beyond that. Still, there were ways to make even small experiments like this more interesting.

"So, Leo," Alex smiled as she and Ryuki began picking out their supplies. "Think you can handle high school chemistry over here in America?"

"I've done it before, Alex-san," Ryuki smiled. "So long as Takada-san doesn't blow anything up then I can handle it."

"Blow up?" Alex blinked. "What do you mean?"

BOOOOOMM!

"Like that," Ryuki sighed.

Everyone's attention was turned to where Clover and Takada were working together. Smoke was rising from the beaker that they were using and amazingly enough; it was changing colors as it wafted about.

"How did you do that?" the teacher gaped.

"I just used the same chemicals you told us to use," Takada smiled. "I just mixed them up in the proper proportions. You'd be surprised what chemicals can do when they're mixed properly."

Several students were clapping with amusement as they saw the smoke. Clover loved the attention as she marveled at what Takada had done. Of course, one student in particular didn't like it so much.

Arnold didn't like the new guy with Clover just by laying eyes on him. At first Arnold took him at face value as some jock, but seeing what he did with the chemicals was astounding. He knew that the reaction was possible, but the amounts needed to make it had to be precise. The new guy knew his chemistry. But the fact that he was showboating was a mockery to science!

He would have to keep an eye on the new guys.

Class had ended on a light note with Takada earning some serious social points for his little stunt. Word was spreading through the school pretty quickly. Takada took the complements when they were handed out. Some cheerleaders asked if he could do it for them while they went through one of their routines. Takada was instantly glad to help.

"All this for a little smoke show?" asked Sam as the five friends walked through the halls.

"It's a pretty complicated formula," Takada explained. "One thing wrong and you could make the smoke change the colors of anything it touched or even make it poisonous."

"What!" Alex cried. "You mean you could have killed us!"

"Heck no," Takada laughed. "I'd have to use major amounts of one of the chemicals if I wanted to do that. At worst, I might have turned your hair a different color."

"I like my hair fine thanks," Clover smiled.

As they were walking, they began to hear the sounds of music coming through the halls. They were tones that belonged to a piano and the tune was almost heavenly.

"Wow," Sam breathed. "That tune is lovely."

"Niisan's playing," Ryuki smiled. "He loves to play the piano."

The three girls and two boys followed the tune until they got to the music classroom. Even though the bell had rung, signaling the end of class, the students were still inside, captured by the music. At the front of the classroom, Tazuka was sitting at the piano with his fingers flying over the keys like a professional.

"Oh, wow," Clover gasped. "He is good."

"Yeah," Alex nodded.

"Niisan is quite talented with the piano as well as the electric keyboard," Ryuki said as he admired the music.

"Hey, I'm not so bad with a bass guitar myself," Takada boasted.

Sam was just listening to the music that was flowing through the air. She could just stay and watch as Tazuka played the piece with little to no error. He then ended his little concert by playing the final notes with a smooth finish. His audience clapped as he stood up and bowed his head in appreciation. They then groaned in disappointment as he left upon seeing his friends.

"Tazuka," Sam began, cheeks flushed, "That was amazing!"

"Thank you, Sam," Tazuka smiled charmingly.

Takada muttered in amusement, "Show off."

"So, what's next?" Ryuki asked. He liked this school or maybe it was just spending time with his new friends.

"Well, we got Phys Ed next," Alex pointed out. She loved Phys Ed. It was the one subject she would guarantee to pass.

"I'm looking forward to it," Takada grinned suggestively. Girls in white t-shirts and shorts, doing jumping jacks. Once again he was slipping into one of his many perverted fantasies about girls.

"What about you, Tazuka?" Sam asked.

"I have Phys Ed too," Tazuka said. Sam smiled. It may mean both their classes would be using the gym as well.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Clover asked, wanting to see what the Riders could do in Gym class. "Let's go!"

Since Takada, Tazuka and Ryuki were new their gym clothes were a lot different from the rest of the class. Mandy and her clique were there too, much to their annoyance. Takada had stated before that even though Mandy was pretty, she was annoying since her voice irritated his ears. Ryuki wanted to apologize for his previous outburst due to Yaminekoryu but was advised against it since it may give her an incentive to approach them again.

Takada grinned as she saw the girls in their gym clothes before Tazuka and Ryuki whacked him up the head. "Hey!"

"Don't be a pervert," Tazuka warned before walking over to his class.

"My sentiments exactly," Ryuki said as both of them walked over to join their own gym class. Ryuki wasn't so naïve anymore thanks to Tazuka.

"Okay, everyone," the gym teacher spoke. "It's volleyball today. I'm going to break you all into teams of five so that we have an even number of teams."

Surprisingly, the girls found themselves teamed up with Takada and Ryuki. Both Clover and Alex were more than happy with the situation. As they were setting up the nets though, Sam was letting her gaze wander to the senior gym class which was all boys. They were playing basketball and it was shirts versus skins, to many girls delight. A number of the boys were nice, fit and so yummy to look at. One of those shirtless boys was Tazuka.

Sam found herself admiring his trim body and nice muscles. He wasn't buff by any means, but he was lean and very attractive.

"Earth to Sam!" Clover's voice shouted in her ear.

"AHHH!" Sam cried, caught off guard. She turned to glare at her friend slightly.

"I know Tazuka's a little stud-muffin, but we've got a game to play," Clover snickered. "Now, come on."

The games started quickly and the combination of Ryuki and Alex quickly dominated every game they played. The two athletes were easily able to keep the ball moving before spiking it into the ground on the other side of the net. By the time the games were over, both Ryuki and Alex had bright smiles on their faces.

"Does anyone else feel totally useless right now?" Clover deadpanned.

"Ah, don't worry about it," Takada chuckled. "He did this all the time back at our old school."

His gaze turned to the groups of girls from the senior class who were watching the red haired boy work up a sweat. The groups of fangirls were pretty darn familiar too. It only served to annoy Takada, but he was fairly certain he saw Alex throw them an annoyed glare of her own.

"Sugoi!" Ryuki said, wiping the sweat off his brow but with a wide smile, "That was great!"

"Yeah!" Alex agreed as she looked at Ryuki with a bright smile.

The gym teacher approached Ryuki and said, "Kid, you got some pretty good skill out there. How would you like to try for the boys' volleyball team?"

Ryuki was reluctant to agree. He was only going to be in Beverly Hills High until the end of the mission. "Ano…sensei, I don't think I'll be able to join. I'm busy with other stuff."

The gym teacher nodded, "Well, if you change your mind you know where to find me." He then left.

"Wow, he must think you're good," Alex said in amazement. Takada rolled his eyes as Ryuki bashfully rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, it does feel nice to be a normal kid," Ryuki said, remarking that he didn't have much of a normal life as his mom had sheltered him and kept bodyguards watching him 24/7.

The bell rang and the gym teacher shouted, "Hit the showers!"

After several other classes, it was soon lunch time and the girls led the boys towards the cafeteria.

"Nice place you got here," Takada admired the cafeteria. It looked really hip.

"Thanks," Clover said, "And the menu is also totally awesome."

"I'll take your word for it," Takada nodded.

Ryuki eyes went over to the food instantly as he grabbed a tray and began to fill it with the food he could grab.

"Wow, he works fast," Sam admitted.

"Ryuki-kun loves food," Tazuka said. "But he can somehow eat a lot without gaining weight. It's a mystery to us."

"Well, I'm gonna go grab something too," Alex said as she grabbed a tray as well before walking over to select her meal.

"Ladies first," Takada said to Clover who giggled.

"Why certainly, kind sir," Clover said. Tazuka and Sam also went to get their trays. Takada was about to follow them when he felt a tug at the back of his jacket. Turning around, he was looking at Arnold who was glaring at him.

"Um…can I help you?" Takada asked curiously. He wasn't sure what Arnold problem was.

"Who do you think you are?" Arnold demanded sharply from Takada. The young genius quirked an eyebrow. "You just waltz in here and show off in class and suddenly you're popular. Not only that, you're hanging around Clover. I saw her first!"

Everyone turned to stare as Arnold raised his voice at Takada. At their table, Clover groaned as she slapped her forehead.

"Oh, Arnold…" she groaned.

"What's going on?" Ryuki asked worriedly.

"Arnold's had the biggest crush on Clover since ever," Alex said, "He's a nice guy, but…"

"He's a geek and I don't date geeks," Clover frowned.

Tazuka and Ryuki shook their heads. Clover, they could vouch, was a nice girl but she was still a little shallow. Then again, Takada could be too so they made good pair when one thought about it.

"Shouldn't we stop this?" Sam asked.

"Oh, relax and watch," Tazuka said. "Takada won't hurt him, I think."

"This has happened to Takada-san before," Ryuki nodded. "It's happened a lot of times when I think about it. He knows what to do though."

Back over with Arnold and Takada, things were tense. While Takada was a notorious flirt and womanizer, he still respected women and their opinions. When they said no, he knew they meant no. It didn't mean he wouldn't try again later, but he respected their decisions. Arnold made it sound like he owned Clover or something.

"Look, pal," Takada sighed. "What I do is my business. If people like it and talk about me than that's cool. What Clover and I do is none of your business. She was single when I met her so seeing what develops shouldn't be a big deal. Besides, who are you to say who she dates?"

Arnold scowled at Takada, but didn't offer a retort. The new guy was making some good points and he didn't have a lot of ammunition against him to make him back off from Clover. That didn't mean he didn't have anything to say about it though.

"Oh yeah?" Arnold frowned. "I've been trying to get closer to Clover for a long time now! Then you come in and just think you can sweep her off her feet? No way!"

"Again, what business is it of yours?' Takada sighed. "Clover wanted to get to know me and I want to get to know her. Now I'm going to eat lunch with my friends before the period is over, so excuse me."

Takada then left the upset boy as he walked over to get something to eat. The girls had been paying rapt attention since it was almost like a soap opera. Ryuki and Tazuka were watching since it was their friend involved.

"Poor Arnold," Alex sighed. "He just can't catch a break can he?"

"Well, there are plenty more girls than me out there," Clover frowned. She then began to snicker. "Although he does have good taste in women."

Sam just sighed and shook her head. Clover's vanity has reared its ugly head yet again.

"So, anyway," Sam began, "We've been looking at the security footage but haven't gotten any new leads. We still don't know how the guy did it or who he is."

"Weird outfit, though," Clover pointed out, "I mean, who'd go around looking like a frog."

"Chameleon, actually," Tazuka clarified, "The armor was designer after a chameleon but I can see anyone making that mistake."

The Riders knew who it was. It was Mirage and Facade. They were known as the Chameleon Knights of Gemini who specialized in creating illusions. They always worked side by side and never alone. If one of them was involved, you could bet the other one was too. Unfortunately, they couldn't tell the Spies about this since they'd vowed to keep the Mirror World's existence. A question nagging in the back of their heads was why the Gemini Knights were after fashion designers.

"But how did he pop out of the window like that and who knows if there are others out there?" Alex questioned.

Ryuki gulped and nearly choked on his food. All Zodiac Knights could travel through the Mirror World to get to anywhere in the world. It was the common ability they all shared to make sure they could fight the monsters on an equal level.

"Well, we know what they look like, sorta," Takada shrugged, "But why kidnap fashion designers? You got any clues, girls?"

"Maybe an old foe?" Tazuka suggested. "I mean this sort of things seems to happen in your missions a lot, if what we read from the files available to us anyway."

The girls began to think until a name suddenly popped into their heads.

"Helga Von Guggen!" the three girls said in unison.

"Who's that?" Takada asked.

"One nasty fashion designer," Sam gagged, "She once mutated people so that she could turn their skins into fur coats."

Ryuki nearly spat out his drink. "Alright, in the words of a friend of mine that is sick and wrong!"

"Mutating people?" Tazuka questioned, "This woman has problems."

"I say she's nuts!" Takada added, "I mean I would never mutate people on purpose!" He left it unsaid that he had done exactly that when some of his experiments went horribly wrong. He didn't do it on purpose, but when it happened, things got really wild.

"And she turned Alex into a catgirl!" Alex said and this time Takada paused.

"A catgirl?" Takada repeated and then looked at Clover while imagining it. Although he was the Dog Knight, he was still a little perverted and catgirls were awfully sexy.

"Yeah," Clover grimaced in disgust. "I had a lot of hairballs."

"I would've wanted to see that," Takada said, "The catgirl thing, I mean. Sounds hot."

Tazuka and Ryuki rolled their eyes. Trust Takada's hormones to make a play.

"So, what happened to her?" Tazuka asked, wanting to change the subject.

"We happened," Alex said proudly. "We kicked her butt and sent her packing."

"But, she could still be responsible for all the kidnapped designers," Sam deducted. "It's just a theory, but…"

"But why would she have designers kidnapped?" asked Ryuki. "I mean, what would she hope to gain from it?"

"Probably wants to make her designs the only ones left," Clover frowned. "As if I'd wear her outfits. Yuck!"

"But do you think she's the one who had that chameleon suit made?" asked Alex. "I mean, she did have that whole turn people into animals thing last time we met her."

"It's a thought," Sam frowned. "We'll have to find out if we ever run into them."

'Pray that you don't,' Tazuka thought to himself. Mirage and Façade were both deadly fighters and you didn't want to mess with them. Their illusions alone could make a person think they were dead before their body acted accordingly.

"So, have you boys heard about the Autumn Ball?" Clover asked.