Here's the continuation of the filler chapter in the form of another filler chapter. I quite like this one. It's pretty long by my standards as well. I hope you enjoy it, too, my kittens!

Chapter 9: Life Without Investigation Isn't Life At All

And so, Ayumi and Yoshiki continued onward to Yoshiki's place of residence. When they arrived, Yoshiki's door was indeed broken in half on the floor.

"See, Class-rep, that's what Keichi did!"

Ayumi was skeptical that a boy with arms as skinny as Keichi-kun could break a door in half. "How do I know that it was Keichi who did it? You could have framed all of this."

"Are you seriously considering that I broke my door in half myself just to get the contact information of the cousin of the girl I'm in love with?" Yoshiki asked.

"Yes." said Ayumi.

"Thank you for clarifying." Yoshiki looked around for any incriminating evidence, when his eyes rested on a half empty protein shake lying on the ground in front of the door that had eluded his sight before. "Look, class-rep."

Ayumi had noticed it, too. She crouched down and picked up the shake. She then stuck her fingers into the bottle and then sniffed them. "Muscle Milk. Keichi's preferred brand. Alright, Kishinuma. You've convinced me to at least look into this case a little closer. I can't have the students of class 2-9 known for breaking down apartment doors."

"Wait, you're coming with me? I appreciate it, class-rep, but all I really need is some basic contact info, so-"

"Not a chance, pervert. Again, the students of class 2-9 are my business, and so is students of class 2-9 misbehaving. I'm coming with you."

Yoshiki couldn't argue. Despite his disliking towards Ayumi, maybe a little company in this investigation wouldn't be so bad. "So, where are we off to, class-rep?"

"Well, here's the thing… I don't actually know where Keichi lives. He doesn't have a cell phone, either, in fact, the only information I have for him is the address is the 12 gyms he's a member of."

"What? Does he freakin' live at the gym? And hold on, he has 12 individual gym memberships? How does he even pay for all of those?!"

Ayumi just shrugged.

Yoshiki sighed. "Alright. So, I guess our only option is to search all the gyms in town to see if we can find him."

"Sounds good to me," said Ayumi.

And so, the two went to every gym within a 30 mile radius, showing everyone there a low-resolution picture of Keichi's face, asking if they'd seen him recently.

"That guy? Oh, yeah, I know that guy. Have I seen him here recently? No, actually, I haven't." This, and similar responses, are all they got out of most everyone there. It was a mystery. They showed the picture to the manager of one of the gyms, and he showed them surveillance footage from a week prior displaying Keichi with empty protein shakes strewn all around him struggling to lift the lowest weight of the shoulder-lift machine.

"That's him, alright." Said Ayumi, pitying the poor soul.

"Hey, wait," Yoshiki asked the manager, "He signed up for a membership, right? So you probably have his mailing address on record."

The manager rubbed his scruffy chin. "Yeah, s'pose so. But I'm not allowed to disclose private information of customers."

"Oh, come on! We're in his class! We just need to know his address! My landlady literally threatened to slit my throat in my sleep unless I pay for the door he broke, can you just help us out?"

"Well, now… It's against my contract to disclose private information, but…"

"But…?"

"You seem like nice kids… I'll give you his address. For a price."

"A price? We're not exactly loaded with cash." Yoshiki said.

"Not money…"

"Prostitution is out of the question." Ayumi said stiffly.

"Actually, I was thinking along the lines of cleaning the men's locker room."

Now, what must be understood is that this was no ordinary gym. This gym was only allowed to stay in business because all of the health inspectors would die when they got to the locker room. There was a bucket of gas masks for public use right outside the locker room doors, and the membership (Which was incredibly cheap) included a mandatory waiver claiming that deaths due to severe biological trauma were not the responsibility of the gym. The women's locker rooms on the other hand? They were fine. Yoshiki audibly gulped. He had seen the bio-hazard sign over the locker room door when they were asking around.

"We'll do it." Said Ayumi.

"Class-rep, what the flip?!"

Ayumi shook the hand of the manager, and walked briskly out of the door towards the locker room.

Yoshiki caught up to Ayumi and laid a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Class-rep, what are you doing? It seriously isn't worth it, no matter how you slice it. We'll find out his address another way."

"No, Kishinuma. This is our last chance."

"Why are you saying that? Class-rep, I'm saying this for your own personal safety, you can't go through with this. Seriously."

"Kishinuma, I want to do it."

"What?" Yoshiki stood frozen for a moment. There's no way that this dainty little class representative actually WANTED to go into a locker room which could be smelled from three blocks over. It simply made no sense. Yoshiki turned ayumi around and saw a little smile combined with glazed over eyes and just a little bit of drool hanging from the corner of Ayumi's pink lips.

"What the diddle corn? What's wrong with you, Class-rep?"

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong, Kishinuma. Hee hee." Ayumi's cheeks flushed.

"Ayumi, don't tell me this is turning you on. Please, please tell me that this is NOT turning you on right now."

"Heeeee. Hoooo, no of course not-haaa aaaah…"

"Don't even try to hide it. Sheesh, of all the situations that you would find stimulating… You seriously creep ME out, and I'm the pervert here."

"What? Can you blame me? I mean, just think about it… Who knows what's in there? Maggots, flies, Dead bodies… Angry vengeful spirits seeking the souls of the living... It all just sounds so… Wonderful, doesn't it?"

"Class-rep, do you take therapy?" said Yoshiki, becoming legitimately concerned for the psyche of his class representative.

"Therapy? I started skipping that years ago. Doctor Ugi, if that IS his real name, couldn't grasp the majesty of the human anatomy splattered all across the walls in a murder case I found online. No, I don't go to therapy. Anyways, let's get going, Kishinuma-kun! Locker rooms don't clean themselves, you know!"

"Right. Yeah. Okay. No, that's fine. I'm just stuck here with a mentally disturbed person who wants me to go into a quarantine zone. All I wanted was some money to fix my freakin' door."

You know, I really wouldn't leave it on a cliffhanger, but it's too dang long already! Rest assured, kittens, it's gonna be good! I'll see myself MEOWt. (^≗ω≗^)