So, that wasn't exactly how I originally thought that chapter would go. At first, I thought that I would just leave it at Aki finding out about the team, but then I decided, about halfway through typing the chapter, that Aki's motherly instinct would allow her to see through the Fuyuki clone. So, now I have to keep typing about that… But I'll get back to Fuyuki and Momoka next chapter!
"What do you mean, mom?" Natsumi asked, eyeing the Fuyuki clone, who was sweating profusely and twitching.
"I'm Fuyuki," he said weakly, his mouth going dry. Aki shook her head, frowning.
"Am I really the only one who noticed? The real question is where Fuyuki went," she said.
"You're not Fuyuki? Could've fooled me," Natsumi said.
"But that's impossible. How could you tell it wasn't him? Kukuku…" Kululu asked.
"Motherly instinct, I guess. I take it you were in on this?" Aki asked.
"Kukuku… you could say that. I was the one who cloned him. Although I was hired to do it, so you can't really blame me," he said, shrugging.
"No, blame him all you want. He did it willingly. Didn't even get paid. He did it because he wanted to, so you can totally blame him," Kulala said, and Kululu shot her the evil eye.
"I don't care who's to blame, I just want Fuyuki back," Aki said. She glanced at the clone Fuyuki. "No offense to you, or anything."
Stunned out of any coherent words, the Fuyuki clone merely shook his head.
"So where is Fuyuki, anyway?" Aki asked Kululu, who shrugged.
"I wasn't let in on that part. I was just in charge of cloning him. He might know, though," Kululu said, gesturing absently at the Fuyuki clone.
"All I know is it's somewhere tropical," Fuyuki managed to force out. "I can read his thoughts, to some degree, and that's all I've been able to pick up… Other than that Mistress Momoka's plan is starting to have an effect."
Kululu and Kulala started laughing.
"Wait. Momoka?" Aki exclaimed, wide-eyed. Natsumi sighed.
"Mom, have you seriously never noticed that she's obsessive?" Natsumi asked. "I mean, Fuyuki's the only one too naïve to realize she's head over heels for him."
The group nodded as a whole. Aki sighed.
"So Momoka's the one who kidnapped him?" she asked. Kululul, Kulala, and Fuyuki nodded.
"Hey Kululu, do you still have the Aki-bot?" Aki asked, getting a glint in her eye.
"Kukuku… Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Why do you want to know?" he replied. But before he'd finished his sentence, Aki had disappeared down into the bowels of the base.