Contact and Information (Part 1)

Several hours past, many shifts changed and the Neo Vongola second generation had a somewhat decent rest. It goes without saying that the sleep wasn't pleasant, what with the concrete floor they were forced to lie on, but they caught some Z's and were able to awake fully prepared for the task at hand.

Sukai was the last one to take the shift, looking outside every so often in suspicion that they would be found. Fortunately, no vehicles or men past by their hideout and they could get a move on with their plan, or idea at least. They couldn't be sure whether or not they would be able to find Irie and Spanner at the university, they could only hope fortune was on their side.

After dawn broke and several minutes of daytime entered his systems, Sukai went over to Arashi, crouching down to shake the boy up.

"Arashi." No response other than a twitch of the Storm Guardian's leg. "Arasssshhhii." Again, only a twitch. "ARASHI!" With that, the black haired boy awoke from his slumber, startled but still otherwise expressionless. Looking around, he saw Sukai staring at him, the boss having a bit of annoyance in his eyes.

"Oh, hello Sukai. You woke me up."

"Yeah, that was the point." Looking at the others, he saw Annalise stirring from her rest, her hands slowly lifting toward her eyes to ward off any remaining sleep. Removing her hands from her face, she glanced over to Sukai and Arashi, sighing deeply.

"You guuuysss," she yawned loudly, "I was sleeping." Sukai lifted his hands in an apologetic gesture.

"Sorry Annalise," he whispered. "I was hoping to wake up everyone one by one, but Arashi here was being difficult."

"I don't think I was. I'm just difficult to wake up."

"Well you woke us up too," a new voice submitted. Turning, the two saw Norio rubbing the back of his head, groggy from being woken up in a horrible manner. Taiyō and Ame joined him in his grogginess, but Raiden seemed surprisingly calm.

"Umm, Raiden, why are you so calm? You act like you've been awake for a while," Annalise asked. Raiden nodded in response.

"Yeah, I've been awake for a while. I'm a catnap type of person, so sleeping for too long in one day doesn't do me any good. I've been awake for a good half-hour I think."

"You sure fooled me," Sukai interjected. "But at least now we're all awake. I think it's time we got down to business."

"Aww, so early?" Ame whined. "Alright then." He got up from the floor, the others following suit. With them all awake, they could finalize their plans.

Sukai went over the plan quickly with the others. Since the university was not too far from their current location, thanks to Norio and his knowledge of the facility, they would split up into two groups, one that would search for Spanner and the other for Irie. None of them were sure whether or not they would be together, and this way they wouldn't attract too much attention and they would be able to cover more ground. The group that would search for Irie was Sukai, Arashi, Annalise and Raiden. Norio, Taiyō, and Ame would search for Spanner. It would all go down to luck, but if they could find just one of them, it would give them some sort of information on their enemy.

After the briefing, the teens began heading to the university, taking discreet alleyways and long routes to reach their destination. It took them quite a while, half an hour for a ten-minute walk, but they were finally in front of the establishment, a large archway standing in front of them that read "Laboratory for Integrated Advanced Robotics" on it. It was a stunning entrance, but the campus itself was much more beautiful, trees and plant life surrounding various buildings, bathing them in colorful arrays of beauty. The students didn't seem to pay much mind to the detail, but there were some that were intrigued by the group of teens that entered their campus, some students giving them strange looks while others ignored them, frantically moving to get to their next class or to a building where they could peacefully study or finish their assignments. It was a foreign environment for the Vongola children, but it was breathtaking nonetheless. It was Ame that broke them out of their spell.

"Guys, it's pretty and all, but we need to stay focused." Sukai shook his head, trying to realign where his focus should be.

"Yeah, he's right. Let's split up from here. It's…two thirty," he stated as he checked his watch, "so at four we should meet back here. If either group is attacked, send a signal with your flames. We don't need any heroes." The others nodded in response. "Alright then. Be safe. I don't wanna lose anyone here." Again, they nodded in response before splitting up and heading off. If they could succeed, they could get something useful.

Sukai's group headed off toward the western campus, entering a building that looked like the main building. Inside there were several small restaurants and a somewhat big store filled with merchandise based around robotics and the university itself. It was a bit intimidating for Sukai to be in such an environment where they knew they stuck out like sore thumbs, but Arashi seemed unfazed, most likely because he was as smart as these guys, maybe smarter. Annalise looked around and fixed her gaze at what looked like a directory of the building. It showed the layout of the floors of the building, a key on the bottom that showed the different room numbers and what class was taught there or what store or restaurant was located there. She seemed to be observing it for quite a while until she looked like she memorized it. Raiden couldn't help but let his curiosity get the better of him.

"Annalise, what are you doing?" he asked. She raised her hand in a "wait" gesture, keeping her eyes on the directory. The boys didn't bother her until she turned to face them, a glint of victory in her eyes.

"I know where we can ask for Irie. There's a information desk a short ways from here, so we can ask whoever is there where he might be."

"But why were you staring at the directory for so long?" Sukai asked. Annalise only smiled and tapped her head.

"I was trying to memorize the map of the building. I got most of it memorized, but there are a few gaps here and there. Mom and Haru were teaching me how to memorize anything, but it's still a bit difficult to get everything memorized." The boys stared at her for a bit, Annalise doing a small courtesy to show her pride in her ability.

Once they recovered from their shock, Annalise led the group to the information desk, a young woman staring at a computer while typing away at the keyboard. Annalise approached the woman, a charming smile on her face.

"Excuse me," she softly said, the woman looking up as Annalise stood in front of the desk.

"Can I help you Miss?"

"Yes you can. I was wondering if you could direct me to Professor Irie. My friends and I are visiting him for our parents, but we don't know where he's located." The woman nodded her head and began typing on the keyboard, searching for information on Irie. After a minute, she looked back at Annalise, a small smile on her face.

"Professor Irie can be currently found two floors above here in room 3170. Do you need help getting there?" Annalise shook her head.

"No, we're fine. Thank you very much." The receptionist nodded her head and Annalise walked away to the others. After telling them what she was told, they followed her up two flights of stairs and began walking around the third floor. They examined the number on the doors until they reached what a dead-end. The floor created a circle of rooms, the doors not too far away from one another. However, the room capped off at 3160. The room that Annalise was told was nonexistent apparently.

"Annalise, did you hear the room number correctly?" Sukai asked. She nodded furiously.

"Yes. I'm positive that she said 3170. But, now that I think about it, there wasn't any room numbered 3170 on the directory. We should be in the right building though." Sukai sighed. They were so close, but they were being delayed by the lack of a proper room. It was frustrating how such a small thing would cause a huge dilemma.

"I suggest we go back then. If we spend too much time, we may miss the others," Arashi suggested.

"But we're right here! We can't go back yet!" Raiden shouted. He seemed the most annoyed, probably because he was the impatient one. "There has to be something we can do."

"Actually," Arashi began, "I think there is. Look." Arashi walked over to the wall and placed a hand against it, moving it across the wall.

"What is it Arashi?" Sukai asked.

"Well, I think that that woman knows something we don't. She sent us here when the room clearly doesn't 'exist,' but there's a large gap between the two doors here." He pointed at the doors to the sides and then returned to examining the wall. "If my guess is right, which it usually is, I believe there should be something here, something that is just simply hidden."

"Mist Flames," Annalise realized. Arashi nodded. "Well if it's an illusion, then it'll be difficult to expel unless we get rid of the area affected by it." That's when Raiden raised his hand enthusiastically, shaking it fervently. "Umm, yes Raiden?"

"I know what to do about this. Just step back." The others had a faint idea of what he was going to do, but they didn't have time to argue with him. Hopefully the school would accept some amount of damage. Sukai, Arashi and Annalise stepped back as Raiden reached into his pocket, pulling out the bag of marbles that served as his weapon. Grabbing a couple into his hands, he clenched his fist around the marbles and began charging it with Lightning Flames. The marbles were designed by Giannini to absorb flames and utilize their abilities and return to the one who gave it flames. Raiden was the only one of the second generation who decided to use such a strange tool, but it proved to be a powerful weapon in his hands. Once he charged the marbles enough, he threw them at the wall, the marbles quickly charging toward the wall until it made contact with it, erupting into a burst of destructive Lightning Flames. The Flames spread throughout the wall and eventually destroyed it, leaving a cloud of smoke in its wake. The smoke made the others cough and cover their eyes, keeping the smoke out of their system. Once the smoke finally lifted, the bystanders opened their eyes and saw Raiden looking back and grinning at them.

"So, wanna go inside?" He gestured toward a door that appeared from between the two doors. Sukai nodded and walked toward the door, Arashi, Annalise, and Raiden behind him. The group hesitated a bit at the door, hoping that they wouldn't be subject to a trap, but Sukai gathered his courage and opened the door, a soft creak emanating from the door. Inside, a red headed man sat down at a computer, typing away more furiously than the woman at the information desk. At the sound of the door opening though, he turned himself toward the group of teens that just blew a part of the wall off, staring blankly at them.

"Hey! You didn't have to blow up the wall, but I guess I should say 'hello' now that you're here." The teens stared at the red head, a little bit of disbelief in their eyes. "Well, hello there. I'm Irie Shoichi, associate of the Neo Vongola family."