A Chance at Something
Sukai, Arashi, Norio, and Ame spent some time thinking about a plan to contact their parents' old friends, Irie and Spanner. The two aided the family in the past and would most definitely aid them now. However, contacting them was the challenge. They couldn't just go out into the streets and use a payphone; that would be dangerous with the enemy patrolling the streets. Besides, none of them had information on how to contact them. Phone, messaging, all of them seemed fruitless without proper contact information. It was frustrating to say the least.
"Sukai, do you know anything? Your dad must have told you something about them," Ame asked. It was unfortunate that Sukai responded with a shake of his head.
"Dad never said anything about how to contact them. I'm sure he spoke with them every once in a while, but that's it. He hasn't said anything other than what they did for the family."
"Well that makes things difficult," Arashi stated blankly. "Maybe the others have an idea." Turning, he looked toward Taiyō and Raiden, both of them sitting next to Annalise. "Excuse me you two, but do you have anyway of contacting Irie or Spanner?" Raiden stared back, confused until he shook his head.
"Nope. Dad never really talked much about them. Probably because he wasn't that old when he first saw them."
"Yeah, me neither. They helped dad, but I can't say for sure how to get in touch with them," Taiyō responded.
"This is getting us nowhere!" Norio shouted. "There has to be something! We can't wait any longer!" They all knew that fact, but they had nothing to go on. Sukai hung his head in defeat, racking his brain for an answer that wouldn't show itself.
They all seemed in low spirits, but that was until Annalise began to stir, groaning softly and closing her eyes more tightly before slowly opening them. Taiyō, the one closest to her, put his hands above her body, a gesture to tell her not to move.
"Don't work yourself too hard Annalise. You're still exhausted from using too much Mist Flames." However, she couldn't up but move his hands away from her and sit up slowly, supporting herself with her hands on behind her, palms on the ground to keep her upright.
"I'm alright, I think anyways. But you guys sure are loud. I heard something while I was asleep, something about Irie and Spanner."
"Do you know something?" Sukai asked. She nodded her head.
"Yeah. Haru told me something about them, but I think it's a little vague. She said something about them being professors or researchers at some university, teaching about robotics and stuff. I don't know how much that'll help, but it's something." When she finished, the others had to process the information a bit longer.
University professors? Sukai thought. He wasn't aware of that fact. In fact, everyone other than Annalise was clueless to that little piece of trivia as well. They were aware that Haru was a part of the intelligence section of the Neo Vongola, but keeping tabs on old friends seemed much more difficult than making sure the Neo Vongola was well informed. Deep in thought, it wasn't until Arashi softly pounded a fist into his palm that everyone looked up.
"Oh, now I know," he stated. However, everyone was still a bit confused.
"Know what?" Sukai asked.
"I know what university their residing in." Everyone just looked at the black haired boy like he was a bit crazy.
"How?" Norio asked. Arashi prepared his thoughts and words before responding.
"Well, they specialize in robotics, so the way I see it, if they wanted to keep in contact and be able to stop by every once in a while, which they've done quite a few number of times, they would have stayed in Italy. And in Italy, there is only one university that specializes in robotics."
"The Laboratory for Integrated Advanced Robotics," Norio finished. Everyone turned to look at him, clearly surprised at his knowledge of the name of the university. Looking back a bit irritated, he saw how confused they were. "What? I find robotics to be interesting. I was kinda hoping to go there," he grumbled. No one knew that little tidbit, but then again, they all didn't know every single thing about one another. It was something that Norio decided to hide, probably because his father wasn't fond of robots, not since that fight with the Mosca he had when their parents were younger. Still, Arashi cleared his throat to continue his explanation.
"Umm, yes that's correct. That university is the only one in Italy with a priority on robotics. If I were assuming correctly, they would be located there. I suggest checking it out first thing in the morning." Sukai nodded.
"Yeah, we can do it tomorrow. It's late and we don't know if we'll have another chance to rest like this. We should all rest and take up shifts to keep watch," he suggested. Taiyō was the first to raise his hand.
"I'll take the first watch. You can leave everything to me." The others nodded, each of them taking a place somewhere on the uncomfortable concrete floor. It wasn't what they were used to, comfy beds with a multitude of pillows and layers of covers, but they had to do with what they had. At this point, it was a matter of survival.
With Taiyō taking the first watch, he stood and walked a few feet away from the group, hands raised and ready to knock down anyone that would barge in. He wasn't going to let anyone harm his family.