A/N: Apologies this has taken me longer than I wanted to update. Multiple projects, RL work and so on and so forth have cut some of the time down more than I'd have liked, but in any case, glad to finally get the next chapter out for everyone!

Einherjar Stadium, Unknown Corridor, Basement

Pacing around the new area-having followed the notes temporarily "borrowed" from an intern who was probably debating his future as a stadium employee at the moment-Ryuji Yamazaki had managed to get ahold of some information that was pertinent to him in the current top sixteen.

He saw who he was going to be facing, and roughly when; he had about two hours to secure his victory, or at least pad things to come as close as possible to guaranteeing it. Thanks to the brackets getting properly made ahead of time by Roger and Jay, there was no longer a mystery hanging over who would be facing who, unlike the first round.

For Yamazaki, he considered himself lucky.

The scoundrel didn't consider himself an outright evil man. Hell, to be frank, neither did almost anyone else. An agent of chaos, definitely. A royal pain in the ass, absolutely. He wasn't a good guy by any stretch of the imagination, but pure, unadulterated evil? That was a little beyond his station. Hell, he'd even occasionally find himself siding with the 'good guys', if it suited him. At the end of the day, Yamazaki looked out for Yamazaki, and playing a bit dirty for the endgame was something he was quite good at.

The gangster was careful to avoid the prying eyes of Chizuru's strange "spies", not wanting to deal with them. He figured the ninja wouldn't pose much of a problem-especially after his fight with the assassin, which seemed to soften him up rather nicely-but the big kung-fu master was another story altogether. So far, so good , he thought.

He had a plan that was right up his alley, but he'd need to do a little spying of his own…and quickly, at that. He had about an hour and a half, give or take, to put everything into play, which wasn't long. It would be much easier to just jump his opponent…but while he was a cheater, he sort of liked having the goody two-shoes as a rival, and he wanted him just a little messed up, not completely out of it. And this plan would be behind the scenes-no one would really know it was a plan, if he pulled it off properly. Essentially, it would look like an unfortunate incident, just something that could happen to anyone at the food stands.

Plus, there was no guarantee an ambush would work, anyway-his opponent was not one to be taken lightly, or he wouldn't be going through these so a more subtle method would be useful as it was. Yamazaki wasn't exactly the most subtle man in the world, usually preferring to answer problems with his knife, or if wanting to keep things non-lethal to send a message, his fists(or, perhaps a roadside sign, or a board with a nail in it...) But this time, he'd need to play a little more carefully.

Moving around more, he finished formulating things in his head. He had the goods he needed for it in his pocket; it was easy enough to procure. He was careful that it was nothing lethal-simply something to tip the balance in his favor. But actually making sure it reached his target would take some thought.

Leaning against the wall for a moment, he folded his arms, thinking. Remembering how the intern was rather terrified of him, a big smile spread on his face.

He had his answer.

Einherjar Stadium, VIP Lounge

"Wow. They weren't kidding about these sandwiches." May Lee examined the large, perfectly deep-fried chicken sandwich. The breading was panko, and it was topped with a slightly tangy mayonnaise, lettuce and pickles, with just enough salt and pepper. The brioche it was served on was soft, though lightly toasted.

"Indeed. I was considering the chicken bucket place, but since we get these on the house if we compete…why not?" Jhun replied, taking a sip of his drink before tucking into his. Chewing the bite-the panko breading surrounded the chicken thigh meat perfectly, keeping the juices in-he swallowed. "This is usually not what I eat, but I'm sold."

"Oh, these are great," the young woman said, chomping down another bite before setting it down to grab one of the thick-cut fries. "This is probably one of the best I've had. I'm still gonna try the chicken place at some point, though. I saw the other guys eating it earlier." She looked around. "Never been in a VIP section like this, though."

"Really? What about the last tournament you were in?"

She laughed. "That was three years ago…at least. The big one. And…it was sort of…weird that year," she chuckled. "It was like everything went wrong. We didn't get that far in. The arena was messed up. I think the VIP section was like…some slightly better part of the bar," she chuckled.

"...Come to think of it, I recall Kim complaining that year, too."

"You didn't miss anything," she said. "But I'm glad you made this one. To make up for it. I mean." She coughed, going quickly back to her sandwich.

Jhun blinked a moment, shaking his head, unsure of why she seemed a touch nervous, but decided to not press the matter. He wasn't the type to pry into people's personal lives unless they came to him first. He figured she was still sort of settling into her new plans.

"Coming to a tournament again after training in the middle of nowhere has been nice, I admit," he said. "I was debating…but I'm glad I came." He took another large bite of his sandwich. After swallowing, he glanced at the bar. "Hadn't had this much in the way of variety in terms of drinks to pick from for a while, either. Not that I drank much during training."

May Lee glanced over at the bar. "I like sweeter drinks."

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me. After trying that coffee of yours, anyway." He chuckled at that.

This caused her to grin, as she looked around at the other fighters coming and going. She didn't recognize some of them; as she only really took part in one tournament, and not many after the fact, she only knew the people who were around that one year. "Who are some of these people?" she asked.

"Well, you know many of them, I think," he said. "I knew some of these from the one after that I had entered. With Kim and Chang," he said.

"That's right! You guys entered one more time together the year after."

"Yes. After that, I decided to take a bit of time off." He looked around, his eye catching someone familiar. "So those guys, they were quite the centerpiece of the last one I went to," he said, nodding toward Ash, Shen, and Duo Lon. The former two had followed Duo Lon and Leona, who were already in a corner together, though Ash and Shen were standing off to the side. "The burly fellow was a brawler. The tall, intimidating fellow who made short work of Kim…I heard is an assassin. And judging by what I've seen him do on the field, he's something else."

She blinked. "His braid. Looks familiar. Like the other guy that showed up in the one tournament I was in."

"They know each other, I'm told," he said, referring to Lin, who had been in the tournament a couple of times. "Same clan, or something like that."

"He…he's unsettling, but I can tell he is not unkind. He looks softly at the soldier. Leona."

This caused the Tae Kwon Do expert to smile softly. "You see it too, then."

"Yeah."

"I don't pry, but…good on them, if it's true." He looked toward Ash. "He…from what I've heard, caused trouble to solve it. I wish I understood the entire incident. But it's well beyond me. I just fight."

"I've heard very little. Kim wondered why he just didn't go to others for help."

"Only he knows that. Sometimes people can do things for people they care deeply about, I'd imagine."

She smiled softly at this, enjoying learning about the various people she had never gotten to meet. "The woman he's with seems extremely calm."

"From what I have heard, she had learned patience dealing with him," he said with a laugh. Given Ash's breezy way of talking and sarcastic sense of humor, he had a feeling he was more than a handful in other places, as well.

"The big, pale blond fellow," she said. "I heard he was the host the last year you were in?"

"Yes," he said. "We never got to meet him, but as it was said, the entire Ikari unit could barely beat him. They were left pretty worn out after, and as they tell it, only Ralf was left standing…and not for long after that. I only heard secondhand from Kim, who had heard down the line himself. But he's…something, from what I've been told. They're friendly now…as you can see," he said, grinning at the way Whip had reached up to push a lock of long bangs out of the man's face.

"Awww," she said, her eyes practically glinting. Glancing over at her friend and teammate, she stifled a cough again and quickly went back to her sandwich. She worked on a bite as Jhun did the same, before washing it down and letting her eyes scan the rest of the room, marveling at just how much she had missed. "I know Ramón, at least, joined that new wrestling team."

"Yes!" he said. "With the one old host. I never really got to meet them, but the trio seem to be having fun. I think the Griffin is back, as well."

"I was happy to see that. I liked his Griffin personality a lot more."

"I'm not surprised," he said.

"I always liked the big heroes." She scratched her hair; she kept it on the shorter side, but it had grown slightly messy. "Not that it would be a surprise to you."

Jhun laughed. "So did I." He looked back at his sandwich before taking another big bite of it, suddenly quite hungry again. He was happy he made it through his round two fight, and started to think about how he was indeed heading into the top eight the day after tomorrow. Who he would face, he had no idea…but he would try his best.

May Lee seemed to be able to read his mind. "How do you feel going into the top 8?"

"I feel pretty good," he said. "Going to make sure I watch as many fights as I can. Some of these fighters…I haven't seen as much."

"I believe in you. And I know Kim does, too."

"I…thank you," he said with a smile. He pushed back some of his bangs; he did find he liked the longer ones. He had let his hair grow out in the front while he was off training, and had decided to keep it. "I'll do what I can. If I can get past the top 8…we'll celebrate with dinner." He hadn't taken the team out before, and he figured he should rectify that. He'd probably do it anyway, as it had been awhile since a member of their team had even gotten into a top eight. It wasn't due to lack of skill, but simply put, the tournament housed some individuals that were of another caliber past 'human.'

"Yes!" she said, trying not to sound too excited, but failing. "Perfect."

As they continued their chat, K', with his hands stuffed in his pockets, wandered in quietly to the lounge and stepped up to the bar. He was in the mood for something to drink and to perhaps look over the menu to see if something looked good.

"Well look who's here," Whip said, noting how he was trying to avoid 'eye contact.' With his sunglasses still on, it was difficult to tell. She smirked, grabbing a fry.

"What?" he grumped, looking over. Adel laughed, patting him on the shoulder. The man didn't even tense up, to give him credit. He simply rolled his eyes and looked at the menu some more.

"Oh, just seeing how you are," his sister replied. "Food's excellent here, by the way."

"I heard. Figured I'd get something for Kula and I."

"Grab one of the sandwiches," he said. "Trust me."

Bob, overhearing, looked over at King. "Let 'em know. More sandwiches."

"What are they putting in those things?" the bartender answered, sliding drinks in front of her fellow South Town companions and walking over with a towel in her hand. "People have been ordering them left and right."

"I suppose that means we should try some on our break."

"Huh. Good idea." She went over to the computer, getting ready to set up the order.

K' looked over at Whip and Adel. "I didn't say I was ordering yet."

"We're buying," the soldier grinned.

"You mean your boyfriend's buying."

"Hey. The Ikari unit pays me well." She smiled. "But, well, I mean…"

Adel just grinned behind her. "Tell them what you want, Dash."

The white-haired fighter almost sputtered. "...Did you just call me Dash?"

Whip snorted laughter at this. "I kind of like it."

K' looked between them, a bit too flabbergasted to talk at the moment. Looking over at Bob first, before looking back over at the couple next to him, he folded his arms.

"So are you gonna buy me these take-out things or not?"

"Of course," Adel said, chuckling at his teasing of the man before walking over to the computer on the other side to make the order with King. Whip patted her brothers' shoulder, proud that he was almost learning how to take humor.

Meanwhile, Elisabeth was sitting over in the corner again with both Ash and Shen; Duo Lon was milling about, having been in the mood for some strong espresso from one of the stands before heading back to the VIP lounge. He felt very little wear and tear after his victory, and he planned on dropping in on Betty and them before he and Leona would go try out the one pizza place they had seen that they had gotten in the mood for. The assassin didn't often go for pizza unless he was visiting the Sky Noah, and that was just when the group would decide to go out to eat rather than eat at the lavish place.

"Are you still going to Europe or America fairly often?" Elisabeth asked Shen as she stirred her tea. She had a glass of wine at the table, as well.

"Yeah!" he said, his own beer in his hand. "Ever since I made friends with the rest of that lot, I've been trying to make it there. I've been to a couple of the Ikari's company parties at this point. Boy they're something," he laughed. "Always something new. I've only been to two so far, though. Sometimes I go over with Duo Lon if he leaves from Shanghai."

Ash chuckled. "I would love to see one of these, one day."

"I'm sure if you asked nicely, you'd get in. You're friends with us, after all."

"I never got to see any of the talent competitions," Shen said thoughtfully, grabbing a menu and looking over it to see the seafood situation. "I've heard stories."

Betty raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Ash looked at her and grabbed his wine, taking a sip he crossed one of his long legs over the other. "Talent competition, huh."

"What would you do?" she asked.

"I couldn't say. I'd probably decide something on the spot."

"Sounds like you," she said, smiling at him softly.

He touched her hand lightly as he would; no matter what Ash did, he was always seemingly light-hearted these days. It was as if he was never even gone. To him, he did what he had to protect those closest to him, including his closest. It was all a victory, even though it was not an easy one.

Pausing to swirl his glass of wine before taking a sip, he eyed her tea. "Do you know if they have the butterfly pea flower tea here? It is such a lovely shade of blue."

"I'm not sure. The place is somewhat standard…like a chain, even if it's fairly high-quality. But some specialty places around the city might have it." She sat back in her seat after taking a sip. "The color is pleasant. It makes for a nice milk tea, too, I find."

"I shall like to see, perhaps, on our day off tomorrow."

Shen chugged down a third of his beer in one gulp. "Dunno what I'm gonna do tomorrow. Depends on what my buddy is doing. He's probably gonna wanna see his lady, so I might go bar hopping."

"What if you win today?" Betty asked, smiling at his comment about Duo Lon.

"What do ya mean, 'what if?'" he grinned. "Nah, either way, win or lose, I'll be barhopping."

"Sounds like you."

"Hey, monsieur, have you seen this?" he said, holding up the menu.

On it were…soft-shelled crabs.

Shen blinked. "They…have them?"

"They aren't Shanghai Crabs…but mayhap they will be ideal."

"Hrrrrgh…maybe I'll wait til after my fight," he grumbled.

Elisabeth blinked, shaking her head. "Shen, showing temperance?"

"Hey now…I wanna try to at least somewhat look good. If I got a gut full of crabs, I dunno if that'll work." He looked at the two of them. "When are you guys gonna come to Shanghai again? I miss taking you guys around to my favorite places."

"Hopefully soon," Ash said. "Maybe we should try to time a visit when the others are there?"

"I rarely get to see you guys," Elisabeth said, thoughtfully after taking one of the thick shortbread cookies from the plate. They were of the packaged variety, but rather good, all told. "It would be nice for us to all get together there again, like old time's sake. I do not know the others well, yet, but I enjoyed their company the little I have spent in it."

"As have I," Ash said. "I have probably spent less than you, but they seem like charming people."

"Ahh, they're great!" Shen said. "We all went out to Shanghai a summer ago. Or, well, they came and I met them. Adel even took us out to a fancy-ass dinner."

"...You dressed up?"

The brawler scratched his head. "Yeah. They managed to get me in a suit."

"Oh, I would have loved to have seen that," Ash grinned.

"Well, get your asses back there some time, and I'll go to another snooty place."

Down the hall, Terry looked over at the kung-fu master and chuckled. He and his brother were waiting outside of a hot dog place, after Terry had heard the goods there were tasty enough. A fan of the particular cuisine, the kiosk had a rather huge queue, apparently very popular with the patrons.

"There's too many people," he said. "Might need to come back around later."

Andy scratched his head. "Think you'll end up going up?"

Terry shrugged. "Doesn't really matter when. I'll just eat after if I have to." He looked around, checking his watch. It was still a good twenty or so minutes before the next bouts would even be announced. There were four more due that day, and he had no idea which one he was due in. "I'll try somewhat soon, though. Maybe I'll go take a round and see if there's another place."

"It might clear out when the next fight goes up. Just cross fingers it's not you." the younger Bogard glanced around. "Hey, there's Mai. She's at the boba stand. I think I'm up for some of whatever's there." He paused, looking over at the VIP area. "You know, I've heard the stuff there is pretty good."

"Huh. And we do get it on the house. I dunno why I didn't think to go there earlier." He waved to Mai, who had turned to see the two of them. "Okay. I'll head in there. I think Ryo and the others are there at the bar anyway. We can meet back here."

"Take it easy." Andy put his hands in his jacket pockets and walked over to Mai, who managed to, despite his attempts to dodge, give him an obligatory butt-swat.

That said, he didn't really try to avoid it.

Over around the other side, despite the crowds still bustling, the plotting man still attempted to make his way around, thinking of a place he could get to.

It gave him more cover this way.

Yamazaki looked around, having made his way back up. He knew who he'd be fighting and when, but he needed to pay a visit to that intern again, given they had become friends(or something along those lines) at their first meeting.

Checking his watch, he had about an hour and a half, at best, to work. He was pretty sure he could do what he needed to, and after catching a glimpse of a certain person, he knew what he was going to do…he just needed a bit of help going about it.

"You again," a stern voice said, causing the man to jump. Regaining his composure rather quickly, he turned to face the arrogant kung-fu master who for some reason always insisted on popping up when he least expected it.

"Well, pleasure to see you too, Gato," the gangster replied, the grin appearing on his face again, as it always would. "How is it we keep running into each other?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he said, stepping up to him.

Yamazaki had to admit that the man made him somewhat wary. He didn't fear him, but Gato was not someone who could be intimidated, at all. His sister could probably provide some sort of leverage, but that would only make the man angry…and to be frank, while he played dirty, using her as leverage somehow hit that line, albeit thin, where his moral code was still somewhat located.

He attributed this to the time he spent with Chonshu and Chonrei; he sort of, kind of, understood the thing about younger siblings, and he would have reacted rather violently if someone had tried something on them, though he would never say this in anyone's hearing.

So that left Gato a rather impossible nut to crack. He also seemed to have an endless amount of endurance, and while Yamazaki thought he might be able to come out on top in a one versus one fight, he'd be left in a fairly sorry state afterward.

He also didn't like to admit that he felt the man could possibly get one over on him, if he was completely focused and in a bad mood.

"Hey, we were teammates," the man started, turning up what counted for charm, at least for him.

"I do recall you trying to hit me from behind afterward," the dour man replied, taking a few steps toward him. He did not take any sort of threatening stances, however. "Or did you forget?"

"Now, now, things were…touchy that year," Yamazaki said, scratching his head. Keeping his distance, he folded his arms. "A lotta weird shit happening. You know."

"Hmph. Anyway, there's nothing around here. Just an empty hallway. No need to poke around."

"Ahh yes. I suppose so." He rubbed his chin, unable to think about how to get the man away from here. "Anyway. Yes. We should catch up sometime. Have lunch. Maybe grab a drink. Watch a ball game."

Gato snorted-shooting him one last glare that could have peeled the paint off of the stadium-before shaking his head and walking back to the pillar that he was standing by, glancing out over things.

Coughing, Yamazaki started walking back the other way. It'd help if he was able to get into that one area, since he figured the interns would be walking around there. Gato wasn't about to move, however, so he decided to take his chances elsewhere. After scaring the crap out of the one-without even having to really threaten him, mind you-he figured they wouldn't be walking around any dark areas.

But, arenas were circular, so he figured that maybe the other side-or one of the floors-would have some luck. He only needed one, but his time was running a bit short. His mind started to formulate a sort of back-up plan if he couldn't pull off the one he was thinking.

I mean, I technically don't have to do this, he thought to himself, But tipping the balance certainly doesn't hurt, does it?

Employee Lounge, Einherjar Stadium

Having had enough of the crowds for now, Commander Heidern had stepped back to the lounge, which he had decided to take some more advantage of.

He knew Adel and Whip were at the VIP section having lunch, but he had decided to order some of his own and take it to the back. He was joined by Seth, who had spent most of his time back around this area for now, mostly since he had taken on host duties and liked to keep busy there. While the other Agents were helping him out, he didn't mind they spent their time at the VIP lounge, as he knew they preferred it out and about instead of back in the more isolated lounge, and they served as eyes and ears out there as well.

"How goes it? Heidern asked as he opened up the covered dishes they were offered.

"Fine. Had a talk with Adel about some of the more intricate things when it comes to hosting. According to him, they tend to run themselves. At least in his words. I trust him."

"For better or worse, he's right," Heidern chuckled. He had ordered one of these famed sandwiches from the VIP lounge's kitchen, along with some thick-cut fries, a side salad, and a wedge of apple pie for dessert. Pouring himself a glass of soda with ice-he put off beer for now-he settled down to his lunch while poring over another folder that had just been brought to him.

"I heard these were good," Seth said. "I miss cooking, but so far I haven't been able to complain about the food. And I haven't had to pay."

"I didn't know you cooked."

"Me and the lady take turns. The kid likes some things from her, and some from me. So we're kind of forced to," he said with a chuckle as he opened his own platter. He had opted for some sort of Thai-style noodles from another of the nicer restaurants in the stadium. "Refuses to eat my scrambled eggs. I sort of got used to them European-style."

"Those are good," the commander replied after he finished his first bite, now realizing why Adel put away three of the things. "I might even prefer them sometimes, though I'll take them any which way."

"Yeah, I can see why the kids don't like the creamy kind. Said they looked like snot."

Heidern chuckled at this, flipping the page of the paper he was looking over. Seth was a fairly private man, not going deeply into his personal life at all, even with his co-workers and friends, so the odd snippet of his home life was something quite special, much like the time when Vanessa saw him in a sweatsuit and sneakers after doing some yard work one autumn.

"I have been meaning to learn the art of cooking more," Heidern said. "I am not bad, but there are a few things I'd like to be able to do better. Maybe treat the crew once in a while."

Seth smiled at this and nodded; the man didn't smile too often on the job, but he was relatively easy going behind the scenes with people. "So where are we at? Any changes? None of mine reported anything."

"Nothing here. I did talk to Chizuru, and I believe she is going to send someone out to the other hotel to examine it. Probably Kisaragi."

"Yes. Adel had mentioned that. He even offered to go, but I said I'd rather have him here. I think the ninja would be better for this one."

"Does he know what to look for?"

"Yes," the agent confirmed. "He knows right now the priority is to try to find the killer, since we need a motive. That's what concerns me. If it was over money, or some personal beef, we can let the Norwegian authorities handle it and wash our hands. Which it could well be. If there are…other reasons, we need to discern them."

"If he finds them, just make sure they stay alive so we can question them."

"He has instructions for that, too. Chizuru made sure of that." He took another bite, washing it down with coffee. It stayed nicely hot in the insulated cup.

"Good," the commander replied. "I'm going to keep all of mine around here, as well. I think most of our people are better served around the stadium. They can hear more on the ground. I'll have a few go around Oslo tomorrow if necessary. And the commentators, of course, have instructions to come to us if they see anything off."

"Alright." Seth checked his watch. "New fight in about ten minutes, I think. I'll finish this up and watch it back here." He motioned toward the big-screen TV in the corner of the lounge, which had a pretty decent speaker setup as well, though it was muted at the moment.

"Huh. Seems pretty comfortable back here. I might stay for a match." Heidern sat back with his coffee after he polished off his lunch, opting to stay away from the loud crowds for now.

Business Hotel Oslo-Lobby

"Are you sure they saw something here?" Duck King scratched his mohawk, checking his phone as he looked around.

"Apparently they saw the vans here." Kisaragi simply leaned by the wall, completely calm. "In a hurry?"

"Well, I'd like to see the match," he said. "And I dunno why I'm even here. Feels like you have it under control."

"I mentioned that to Chizuru," he said, knowing that Duck and Billy worked well together. "But she wanted a bit of backup."

"I guess I get it," he replied, nodding. The priestess had wanted to keep Gato where he was; while Billy was a very good enforcer, and could be intimidating if need be, he didn't quite have Gato's terrifying demeanor.

This hotel was a bit less fancy than the Scandic, though it was nice and clean, like most things in the city. It was mostly used, as its name would imply, for people traveling through on business; it had kiosks, a buffet, and a fairly ample parking area. It was sometimes used during conventions, given it had a rather large convention hall on the second floor.

"I'm going to go check out the back of the place," Eiji said. "In particular, I'll run through the parking garage."

"Did they tell us what they wanted to do? Knock anyone out and take them back?"

"Follow them, if possible," he said. "She explained that right now, the priority is finding out who killed the host, so we can find out why." He spoke very quietly, but there was no one in the lobby at the moment anyway, and it wasn't like the police didn't know about the man's death, anyway, even if anything was overheard. "After that, it remains to be seen. If they did it for money, we can let the authorities do what they want."

"And if it was for…other reasons?"

"Depends on the reason."

"Hopefully it's nothing that involves weird gods or something. Or bug-shaped people."

The ninja, who was not one to smile often, chuckled at that. The year that the two of them happened to be in the tournament at once-it was Duck's first time, in fact-things were quite hectic, to say the least. "We are, of course, told to take anyone alive if possible. If push comes to shove and our lives are threatened…"

"I guess we still try," Duck continued, snorting a bit of laughter.

"Indeed. Dead men don't talk too easily, after all. But it's understood if it's us or them."

"Nice to see Heidern has our backs on that."

Eiji stood, checking his watch. "I'll be back in about ten minutes. Buzz me if you see anything suspicious."

"Will do." Duck sat back on the lobby chair, his phone in hand. He looked fairly nonchalant with his coffee and suit, as if he were waiting on a colleague.

The ninja swiftly made his way around back, to see if he could spot something in the parking lot that looked familiar. Simply taking on the countenance of someone casually looking for their vehicle-he had thrown on a more casual jacket and of course was not dressed in his mask or anything like that-he glanced around, trying to see if he spotted something that looked of interest.

There was nothing much on the first or second level, but on the third, he did manage to see something that looked somewhat interesting. It wasn't a what, so much, but a who. While he had seen a few people come and go in the parking lot, and indeed, several cars pull in and out, this figure seemed slightly out of place, not that it looked like the typical clientele, either.

The figure was slim, possibly even androgynous, with a hoodie pulled up over its head with hands in the big pocket. The hoodie itself was baggy, though Kisaragi felt, after examining the figure for a few moments, that it was male, albeit a shorter one, after he saw one of his slim, though long hands-he could have perhaps been an older teen. He looked shorter than Eiji, wearing a pair of black jeans and sneakers, seemingly just dressed about as casual as could be.

They passed by each other with no issue, the smaller figure not even paying him any attention as he kept walking. Waiting until he passed out of sight-he left out of the exit-Kisaragi stopped for a moment and looked behind him.

There was something about the person that Eiji couldn't shake as being familiar. He couldn't place exactly what, but there was something familiar. The person looked slightly out of place for a business hotel, but at the same time, so did he and Duck.

After a few moments, he continued his search, though sent a message to Duck via his phone.

Keep an eye out for a short, young man in a hoodie. No need to approach. Just let me know if he passes by.

After sending it, he put his phone back in his pocket and continued looking. At the moment, there were no cars that fit the description of anything he had, so he called it off, heading back in and downstairs to catch up with Duck.

As he arrived, he nodded. Duck stood, checking his phone.

"I got your message. There wasn't anyone who passed by. Were they suspicious?"

"That's the thing. I wouldn't say he looked suspicious, but there was something familiar about him." He looked around.

"Is there another way out from the garage?"

"Not that I know of. Not that isn't a fire exit that I saw."

"So he might still be here?"

"Maybe. He might be staying, though." He shook his head. "It's probably nothing. Just can't shake the feeling I've seen him before."

"He might be watching the tournament," Duck said thoughtfully. "I mean that stadium is huge. We probably ran into him there and didn't even realize it."

Rubbing his chin, he nodded. "That may well be it. Anyway, let's stick around here some more. If we don't see anything within a half hour, we'll head back and call it a loss. Maybe they'll find someone there."

"Yeah. I'll throw a message over."

Oslo, about five minutes from Einherjar Stadium

Tucking his hands back into the pockets of his hooded sweatshirt, the young man debated going back to the hotel to get his jacket, but decided that he was close enough to the stadium that it wasn't worth it.

He didn't recognize me. Not that it matters either way, I suppose.

His hood still up, hiding his hair, he had stopped to eat at an innocuous kiosk on the way, and would make his way back to his seats on the upper level. Mostly, he was just trying to stay out of sight of the other fighters, though anyone not a competitor would have no idea who he was, nor even care.

He knew the man in the parking lot. Not personally, but he was aware of him from the tournament. He could tell by the look on the ninja's face that he was familiar, as well, though he couldn't quite place him. He wasn't sure what would have happened otherwise.

Truth be told, he was walking somewhat of a new path now-at least, one of attempting to both atone, and to find out where everything went wrong, neither of which was something he knew. He had not gotten to really maneuver around the last, large tournament…but when this opportunity had come up, he took it.

It was only by chance he found out some potential darker things underlying this one, and he had taken the first steps to put a stop to them. He was fairly certain he had solved the biggest issue already, but he wasn't sure if there was more hiding. The problem was-his previous…transgressions, one might say, probably would lead him to not be trusted by anyone.

Understandably, he knew. He did not particularly want, nor need, forgiveness, but after having some time to recover and reconsider, he realized he no longer belonged anywhere. The best he could do would be, to perhaps, try to help out with something, even if it turned out to be smaller than what usually happened with these. If he had to disappear on endless worldwide travels afterward, so be it.

All of this was why he was working from the shadows as much as he could. He had occasionally slid around the stadium, catching onto where people were looking. He had decided to locate the vans around this area-well, the couple that were left-to no avail. He thought the men may have ditched them…if they were even around.

It could be that this whole scenario was done and over with, and the tournament would go on as normal. But one could never be so sure, as there were…things and entities that could feed off of powerful fighters. And given the history of this stadium, he knew in this world there could be remnants of negative energies realized.

He knew his target knew this, though he wasn't sure how.

What he wasn't sure of, though, is if his men knew. And if they did, would they try to continue, or not?

He planned on at least trying to find out. His idea was to stick around for another match or two, before heading to the local library, which wasn't terribly far away. He thought, perhaps, he could find a few bits and pieces there that could maybe further confirm-or deny-a suspicion of his.

Checking the watch on his slim wrist, he swiftly maneuvered back to the upper floor, passing by a few other familiar faces on the way, though paying them no mind…like they did to him.

"Hey," Leona said quietly, noticing Duo Lon enjoying his pipe off to the side at the outdoor smoking section. Einherjar had two smoking sections; one of them was indoors, and while large, it got awfully stuffy fast, given how many it could hold. The other was outdoors, up on the second level, and was roomier and far more comfortable.

"Hello," he replied, a soft smile on his face. "How is everything?"

"Just fine," the soldier said. "Did rounds. No problems. Chizuru's waiting for Eiji and Duck to get back, last I heard." She looked up at him. "How are you?"

"Pretty good," he said. "Though…" he trailed off.

Leona cocked her head to the side, curious. "Though?"

"I am feeling things that I am not sure about," he said. "I'm not sure what. Nothing was really felt after the last tournament, but…" he trailed off. "I don't know how to word it. I admit, I have never been particularly good at figuring out certain feelings."

She rubbed his arm, knowing what it's like to not know how to feel about something. "Maybe it'll come to you."

"Yeah," he said, looking out over the field at them preparing for the next fight soon.

"Just…let me know. If you need anything," she said.

He gently squeezed her hand, his pipe in his other one.

"Thanks."

A/N: Well, this was a bit of a chaotic 'in between' chapter, mostly dealing with things here, there, and everywhere. Sort of a 'necessary' bit of filler-tournament fics always need some downtime chapters, even if this one was perhaps a little messy and all over the place. But, in any case, I hope I was able to keep it together. (I am a sucker for character interactions, though.)

It seems we've run into our hoodie character a couple of times now; we'll see what he's up to, perhaps. He seems to be wanting to help…? But why won't he go to the others? What's this about redemption? Uhh…who IS he even? Will we find out soon?

And what are you doing, Yamazaki?

Hopefully I'll be back soon with the next couple of fights!