Dumping bright and colorful plastic balls quietly into an oversized pool was far from the strangest thing Shelly had ever ordered grunts to do, but she ranked it somewhere in her top ten. She stood outside Aogiri's open door, making sure no one got too rowdy or that watchful Dante got too agitated by so many people coming in and out. She wasn't worried about being attacked, especially not with Goliath beside her, but Ushio still cringed whenever someone brought up the head butt the Houndoom dealt out earlier.

Matsubusa didn't seem to notice, deeply asleep on Aogiri's bed. With the grunts taking care not to make too much noise, the redhead continued to sleep peacefully as Team Aqua did their work around him.

Aogiri had to do a double-take when he saw the work going on in his room. After a moment or two, he snapped out of staring and tapped Shelly on the shoulder. "What's going on?" he whispered.

Shelly's expression turned deadpan as she looked unblinkingly into Aogiri's eyes. "Doctor-patient confidentiality."

Goliath nodded, his expression sage-like.

Aogiri took another look at the plastic balls and blinked slowly before he turned back to Shelly. "Seriously?"

Shelly nodded sharply, folding her arms in front of her. "If you want to know more, ask Masky when he wakes up."

Aogiri scratched his scalp beneath his scarf. "I can't wait to hear the medicinal value of turning Levi's bed into a giant ball pit."

Leviathan looked at the canal as it was filled with colorful balls, then turned to Aogiri and flashed him a grin. Her long tail wagged behind her, forcing the various grunts around them to dodge it as they continued their work.

Aogiri snickered at the expression. "At least you're being a good sport about it."

The office of police captain Junsar was immaculate, save for the stacks of paperwork neatly sorted on her desk. The woman in question sat at her desk, her hard brown eyes rarely straying from the forms she filled out in front of her to regard the entrance of the visitor who barged in without warning and simply would not leave. "I don't know what more you expect me to do in this matter."

"I expect you to do a bit more than tell me that you can't do anything!" Homura snapped as he made a sweeping gesture, refusing to sit in either of the chairs in front of her desk.

Junsar swept an errant strand of teal colored hair behind her ear where it had started going gray. The lines on her face were severe as her eyes bore into Homura. "Once someone is outside of Kanto, they are outside my jurisdiction. I'm doing what I can to work with the coastguard on this matter, and the local authorities of Hoenn, but in international waters there are countless places for a team to hide indefinitely."

"You don't even know if they've left Kanto waters!" Homura retorted, hotly. "Have you even looked!?"

Junsar exhaled deeply before reorganizing the papers that were disturbed by her breath. "Of course we have. You severely underestimate how big the ocean is, Mister... Homura was it?"

"Without ever launching a single boat?" Homura asked, his tone icy.

"We've launched helicopters to search from the air," Junsar said with an edge to her voice. "I understand that you're worried, but you coming down here to disturb my officers and interrupt my work is only going to slow us down. Just go home and try and relax. We'll call you if there are any updates to Mr. Kazan's status."

"Which means you'd never contact me," Homura retorted as he remained firmly in place. "It's fairly obvious that you're not particularly concerned about Mr. Kazan or his status."

A low rumble of displeasure escaped Junsar as her expression shifted from cold to angry. "If you're so quick to point fingers, then maybe you should consider how reckless Mr. Kazan was to taunt Team Aqua then get on a boat. If you even glanced at the internet, you'd know he's a laughingstock for such idiotic behavior! It's almost as though he wanted them to kidnap him."

Outrage flooded Homura's face before he clenched his jaw. "He got on a boat because you failed to protect him three times! What the hell were you all doing when Team Aqua was running amok, attacking two hotels and a goddamn airport!? He got on a boat because he felt he had no other choice when you couldn't do a damn thing about a terrorist group running around the city like they owned it!"

Junsar was unfazed by the outburst. "Calm yourself. Yelling isn't going to bring Mr. Kazan back any sooner."

"And neither will you blaming him for what happened!" Homura snapped as he slammed his hands on the desk. "Is that why you're not even trying!? Because he called you out on national television!?"

Junsar finished up one of the papers, moving it to one of the stacks before taking another. "What do you expect us to do – pull every officer I have off their cases to look for a spoiled millionaire that got in way over his head? I have more dire investigations to focus on, like investigating Team Magma's involvement in the massacre at Shimajio estate."

"S-spoiled-!?" Homura sputtered before he gripped the edge of the desk. "You're more concerned about a dead man than a live one!?"

Junsar slammed her hands against the desk and glared hard into Homura's eyes. "It wasn't one man, it was sixteen! Not to mention the other victims of that real terrorist group running amok! Team Aqua might be a pain in my ass, but the worst they've ever done is hijack a boat for shits and giggles and beat up real criminals before tossing them at the police to deal with!"

Homura didn't flinch in the slightest, meeting Junsar's glare with a fiery one of his own. "Sixteen corpses that are beyond your help. You are saying that one man's life is worth less than a pile of corpses."

Junsar rubbed at the creases on her forehead as she let out an impatient breath. "Look, we're doing all we can for Mr. Kazan. Be thankful it was Team Aqua who was responsible and not Team Magma. Chances are they'll get their kicks with him then send him back alive even before we find him. They're just a bunch of clowns that think they can ignore the law when it suits them, not murderers or mercenaries. Probably some spoiled brats with too much time and money trying to make a statement about the environment or something."

Homura's eyes narrowed, his cheek twitching. His knuckles had turned white as his jaw clenched to the point that his teeth hurt. It took every fiber of his being not to flip the table and all of Junsar's work back on her, and he slowly stepped back away from the desk to prevent himself from doing just that. "...In other words, you are useless to me."

Without even waiting for a response, Homura turned on his heels and stormed to the door of the office.

"Finally," Junsar muttered to herself before she returned her focus to whittling down the mountain of paperwork.

Homura stopped in the doorway and glanced over his shoulder at Junsar. There were so many words he wanted to say, but he knew he couldn't say any of them. But one thing was completely clear to him – the police, as always, were useless. This was why Team Magma existed in the first place, this was why they had to do the things that they did. It was because of people like Junsar and her co-workers that Team Magma was necessary.

And once again, it was up to Team Magma to deal with the situation.

With grim determination, Homura opened the door and stepped out before he slammed it hard enough that the glass cracked in a spray of debris. Despite the other officers turning to stare at him, Homura swiftly strode his way out of the police station, leaving behind shattered glass and gawking bystanders.

Matsubusa was stretched out on his back, his breathing light and even as he enjoyed the comfort of the bed beneath him. Several hours had passed, unbeknownst to him, as his body recovered from the abuse it had been put through. With Dante by his side, Matsubusa had absolutely no intention of waking up any time soon.

However, it seemed that someone else had different plans.

Something lightly tapped Matsubusa's cheek. He barely noticed at first until the sensation was repeated. He tried to brush whatever it was aside, but then something tapped against his fingers. As he grew more awake, he realized that it was something light and plastic that bounced off of him. When he opened his eyes, he slammed them shut again with an instinctive yelp as a blue ball bounced off his nose and joined the others scattered on the sheets.

"Oh good, you're awake!" Aogiri said cheerfully, his arms full of colorful balls.

Matsubusa grimaced before he sat up, covering his nose. "You... are you throwing things at me!?" The redhead paused before he looked down at the balls, blinking. "...Balls?"

Aogiri flashed a wide grin. "I was hoping you could tell me. My crew brought in a buttload of them for you." He then gestured to the giant pool that was now filled almost to the brim with a rainbow of plastic balls.

Matsubusa glanced down to the pool, and in particular the sea of bouncy balls that replaced the water that had been there previously. "...Ah right. She... did."

Aogiri bounced a green ball off Matsubusa's hair. "So? You gonna tell me the story behind this or what?"

Matsubusa paused before he reached up to brush back his hair, his eyes drifting away to the other side of the room. He saw Leviathan resting atop the mountain of balls, seemingly quite content with them. The Feraligatr flashed him a toothy grin as she 'swam' through the plastic balls as if they were water. "...A-anyway, I doubt she put them in here to throw them at me."

Aogiri tossed another ball at Matsubusa, which bounced off the other man's chest. "You know, you can just say you wanted to play in a giant ball pit. I won't judge."

Dante let out a displeased rumble as he stretched out and eyed Aogiri. When the next ball came, he caught it easily, his gaze smug. However, the feeling of such a pliable ball in his mouth soon got his tail wagging and he turned to Matsubusa with pleading eyes.

Matsubusa glanced at his Pokémon, before a soft smile appeared on his face. "...Well, I'm sure Dante'd enjoy it."

Dante lightly nudged Matsubusa with the ball before he began hopping anxiously around, his tail generating a small breeze due to how fast it wagged.

Aogiri laughed. "Looks like it!"

Matsubusa moved to the side of the bed before he stood up and ventured over to the side of the island, looking down at the colorful balls. "...What exactly are you... expecting me to do, anyway?"

"I think Dante wants to play fetch," Aogiri said slyly.

Matsubusa paused and glanced over at the Houndoom before he picked up a handful of the plastic balls. Looking at a red one that he held in his hand, he then lifted it up and tossed it across the room – in to the other pile of balls.

In an instant, Dante launched himself off the bed and dove into the pool, sending balls flying in every direction, many bouncing off Leviathan's tough hide.

Matsubusa grinned slyly, watching as his Pokémon disappeared in to the sea of colorful plastic.

A pair of strong arms slipped around Matsubusa's middle and pulled him back. He squeaked in surprise and suddenly found himself with his back pressed flush against Aogiri's muscular chest, on top of the sea of bouncy balls.

"I can't tell you how happy I am to see that smile," Aogiri whispered, his breath ticklishly skirting across the back of Matsubusa's ear.

Matsubusa's heart skipped a beat in his chest before he glanced over his shoulder at Aogiri. He hoped his cheeks didn't look as hot as they felt. "...W-why?"

Aogiri rested his chin on Matsubusa's shoulder. "Because I was hoping that if we got to spend time together outside of missions and trying to one-up each other, we might be able to relax and just plain have fun together."

Matsubusa looked back over to the other side of the room, where he could see Dante still rooting around in the squeaking mass of plastic toys. He had to admit that sitting with Aogiri like this was rather pleasant, not that he'd say it out loud. The pirate was comfortable enough as a mattress, at any rate. "Is... is that so."

"Mmm hmm...," Aogiri murmured. "Since you don't want to answer me about the ball pit, I'm going to take a stab in the dark and guess the answer will probably take away that smile of yours, so how about we just play in it with our Pokémon after we've had some chow?"

Matsubusa went quiet at that. He imagined it would've been fairly obvious to Aogiri that Matsubusa had refused to answer his question, particularly since he had asked it point blank and got no answer. He had been prepared for Aogiri to press it, but actually felt fairly relieved that the pirate did little more than point out his awareness of the non-answer before moving on. "...What exactly do you do in a ball pit?"

"Whatever you want," Aogiri said with a shrug. "Jump in it, throw balls around, play tag or whatever. Just have fun with it, you know?"

Matsubusa glanced over to the other side of the room, where he could see the balls occasionally move – the only indication that Dante was in the room. "...Lose my Pokémon in it."

Aogiri burst out laughing. "Don't worry, Levi can fish him out if he gets stuck on the bottom."

Leviathan crawled over the top of the balls to where theoretically Dante was, then lifted her head to peer across the island at Aogiri. She flashed her teeth in a smile, wiggling her brow.

Matsubusa looked at the Feraligatr, then back at Aogiri. He was still very much aware that he was leaning back against the pirate's chest, as evidenced by the light blush on his face. "...Well, I... suppose... lounging about is... good too..."

"True enough," Aogiri said before playing with a strand of Matsubusa's hair. "I wouldn't complain if you just wanted to stay like this with me for the rest of the day."

Matsubusa's heartbeat quickened in his chest and he tore his eyes away to focus on the far wall. "...I'm... I'm sure you'd eventually get bored of me... l-lying on you."

Aogiri breathed in the scent of Matsubusa's hair, catching notes of the shampoo the redhead used. "Nope. Don't see that happening."

Matsubusa shivered slightly, as the breath tickled his skin. "...Is... is that so..."

"Mmm hmm..." Aogiri pulled Matsubusa a little closer, reveling in the other man's warmth. "You've got no idea how badly I've been wanting to hold you in my arms like this."

Matsubusa instinctively reached up to grasp at Aogiri's arms, holding on to them tightly. "...Why?"

Aogiri let out a wry chuckle. "You're not used to people liking you because of your charming personality, I take it?"

Matsubusa paused at that before he huffed and looked away. "...I'm very much aware that people... have difficulty interacting with me. That's their problem, not mine."

"Yup," Aogiri said, his voice almost sing-song. "Their loss. I get you allllll to myself~!"

Matsubusa furrowed his brow, even as his cheeks tinted lightly. "...I can't ever tell if you're making fun of me or not."

Aogiri smiled as he noticed the blush. "I've got a policy of being honest, and when I say I love the way you act and react, I absolutely mean it."

"Why... would you... l-l-lo-like that?" Matsubusa asked, his voice dropping to barely a whisper.

Aogiri tilted his head back and let out a hum as he considered his answer. "Well, there's the challenge of it, first of all. Trying to find out what buttons to press to make you notice me was so damn fun. Same with matching wits with you to see who could one-up the other better."

Matsubusa lifted his head and turned to glance at Aogiri out of the corner of his eyes. "...So I was a 'challenge'?"

Aogiri fought back the urge to laugh as he caught the slight edge in Matsubusa's voice. "That's just the first thing that got me interested in you. There's also that attitude of yours, the way you act when you're being badass or silly... the way you get so flustered when I flirt with you... It's all so appealing."

Matsubusa's eyes widened slightly before he quickly looked away again, his face turning red. "T-that... that doesn't make any sense!"

Aogiri nuzzled the nape of Matsubusa's neck. "And then there's the fact that you enjoy a good cuddle session as much as I do."

Matsubusa gasped at the action and shivered, tightening his grip on Aogiri. "I-it's not... c-c-c-cuddling!"

Aogiri snickered, the sound ticklish against Matsubusa's skin. "What do you call it then?"

"I-I don't know, b-b-but not cuddling!" Matsubusa retorted, his breathing rough.

"Snuggling?" Aogiri teased.

"N-not that, either!" Matsubusa snapped, his face deep red.

"Spooning?" Aogiri offered.

Matsubusa let out a squeak before he rolled over to glare at Aogiri, his blush having spread down to his neck. "B-bastard! You... y-you bastard!"

Aogiri smiled in satisfaction of just how flushed he made Matsubusa. "Okay, we'll just settle for calling it the good old hug!"

Matsubusa let out a noise of frustration as he scowled at Aogiri, the effect severely hindered by his deep blush. "Don't call it anything at all!"

"Oh, I get ya," Aogiri said with a wink. "Just shut up and enjoy having you in my arms, right? Not a problem!"

Matsubusa huffed as he frowned at the pirate. "You're insufferable."

Aogiri snickered before brushing his cheek against Matsubusa's. "Good thing then that you're not suffering like this, huh?"

Matsubusa felt his heart skip a beat at the touch, a slight tremor going through his body. "T-that's..."

"Hate to ruin your fun," a female voice came from the doorway, causing Matsubusa to tense with a startled squeak. He quickly glanced over his shoulder to see Izumi leaning against the doorframe, her arms crossed. "But we've got whalers."

A groan escaped Aogiri before he straightened up. "Damn it! How many times do we gotta kick their asses before they get the message?"

"A few more, apparently," Izumi said, with a sly grin.

"W-wait, what?" Matsubusa stammered, his face red as he glanced between Aogiri and Izumi. "Whalers!? Where!?"

Aogiri grumbled as he regretfully eased Matsubusa onto the bed beside him and offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Masky, but Team Aqua has some business to take care of. We'll continue this once I'm finished burying my boot up some evil asses."

Matsubusa stared at Aogiri as he found himself on the bed once more. "Y-you're... leaving?"

Aogiri took Matsubusa's hand in his and pressed his lips against the back of it. "Not for long if I can help it."

Matsubusa's fingers curled as his heart skipped another beat, and he quickly looked away. "...I-idiot."

A thoughtful hum thrummed through Aogiri as he looked at Matsubusa's flushed face. "Hey, wanna come with? We'll even get you a mask so no one will know it's you kicking their poaching asses."

Matsubusa paused at that, his body stiffening. "...On a boat?"

"How else?" Aogiri asked slyly. "If you ask nice and don't try to escape again, I'll even let you steer it for a little while."

"No," Matsubusa said as he jerked his hand back, holding it against his chest. "No boats."

Aogiri blinked, startled by the reaction, but then smiled with sympathy. "Oh, I get it. You're still not recovered and being on a boat makes you queasy, right?"

Matsubusa hesitated before he glanced away. "S-something like that." It was certainly a better excuse than having to admit to his issues with water. He could only imagine the mocking Aogiri would do if he knew. Worse, the pirate would use it against him.

Aogiri bent down to kiss the top of Matsubusa's head. "That's fine. Just relax here and enjoy your vacation."

Matsubusa trembled slightly, his face exploding with crimson. "I-if you're going to go, t-t-then go."

Aogiri chuckled at the intensity of Matsubusa's blush and winked. "If you think those kisses were hot, then just wait until I get back."

Matsubusa's eyes widened and he whipped about to stare at Aogiri, his blush spreading across his face. "S-s-s-shut up!"

With a jaunty wave and a laugh, Aogiri left with Izumi. As the pirate left, Leviathan emerged from the ball pit, Dante in tow. She set the Houndoom down on the island before she trotted after her trainer, her entire body swaying as she went.

Dante shook a little after emerging from the pool, as though it had been full of water instead of plastic, and turned to Matsubusa with a mouth full of colorful balls.

Matsubusa looked to his Pokémon and blinked before he let out an awkward chuckle. "I suppose ball pits have their uses. Let's just hope Courtney never gets wind of this, or she'd want one installed at the office."

Dante's eyes widened a bit as his tail began to wag harder.

Matsubusa hesitated as he immediately regretted his words. "...Well, I... suppose a small one couldn't hurt."

Dante did an impressive back flip, spitting the balls into the air in a playful display before he barked happily.

Matsubusa couldn't help but smile at his Pokémon. "But you're the one that has to convince Homura." The redhead paused at that before he frowned. "...Speaking of Homura..." Matsubusa glanced over to the entrance, in particular at the slightly ajar door. "They didn't even lock me in. What are they thinking?"

Before Matsubusa could even consider testing the boundaries of his confinement, a knock on the door made him jerk.

Matsubusa felt his heart racing in his chest, becoming flustered despite not having actually done anything – yet. "Y-you're back already!?"

When the door opened, a pleasant aroma of freshly cooked food wafted through the air as Matt rolled in a serving cart, his Blastoise walking not far behind him. He was briefly startled by the question, almost embarrassed. "Oh, you thought I was Aogiri? Sorry. It's just me."

Matsubusa paused at that, then had the good grace to look embarrassed. "I-oh. Ah. Y-yes."

Matt wheeled the cart over to the bed. "No one told me what you wanted to eat, and since you're probably still recovering from being sick, I brought a wide variety of things for you to try. Anything you don't want will be given to Pokémon, so don't worry about anything going to waste."

Matsubusa stared at Matt for a moment before the delicious smell of food drew him closer to the admin – and his cart of food. "This is... for me?"

Matt nodded and moved the curtain on the side of the cart aside to reveal another row of dishes. "There's some dishes down here for Dante. I figured I'd make something our fire and dark types prefer and hoped he'd like something of it."

Dante hopped off the bed and eyed the cart, suspicious, even as he followed the delicious scent to its source.

Matsubusa looked over the food as he sat on the bed, close to the cart. He hesitated a moment before he reached up to fidget with the collar of his changshan. "T-t... thank you."

Matt's cheeks pinked as he flashed Matsubusa an embarrassed smile. "It's no problem. You're a guest here, not a prisoner really." His mouth twisted a little. "W-well, I mean, I know we kidnapped you and all that, but Aogiri doesn't have anything bad planned for you, I promise. He's not that type of guy."

Matsubusa tugged at his collar. "...What... does he have planned?"

Matt rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat as his eyes drifted to the ceiling. "Well, um... ahh... how do I put this...?" He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I guess you could say this is his way of trying to be romantic and woo you?"

Matsubusa blinked as he stared at Matt, his expression blank.

Matt grimaced at the look of incomprehension. "Okay, I guess phrasing it like that when talking about Aogiri feels weird even to me too. The guy's got a crush on you and is trying to win you over."

Matsubusa continued to stare at Matt for several moments before realization dawned on him, and his face turned a deep shade of red. "W-what!? Me!?"

Matt bit back a groan. "Yes you! Who else could it be?"

"I-I... I don't know!" Matsubusa sputtered, flustered as he tugged harshly at his collar. "S-someone else!? He's never even seen my face! ...Until now!"

Matt shrugged. "I don't think it matters what you look like to him at all."

Matsubusa opened his mouth before he closed it with a click, unable to really reply. The words Matt spoke, while he understood them, he also didn't understand them at all. After several moments of awkward silence, he furrowed his brow. "I... I see."

"You ever hear what's inside that counts?" Matt asked. "It's not just Aogiri either – Izumi and Shelly have it bad for those two admins of yours... Homura and Tabitha I think their names are?"

Matsubusa's eyebrows shot straight up as he got to the feet. "T-Tabitha, too!?"

"Yeah," Matt said awkwardly. "I'm surprised you're surprised considering Izumi keeps leaving lip prints on his mask lately, and sometimes those two seem to disappear off on their own together during all the fighting and we never really hear about what goes on from her..."

"I-insubordination!" Matsubusa thundered as he clenched his fists. "Insubordination! They never got my approval for such... such shenanigans!"

"So you suspect they secretly got together already too?" Matt asked.

"N-no! Absolutely not!" Matsubusa snapped, furiously. "T-there are rules! There are policies! Y-you can't just hide things from me!"

"Well, you won't have to worry about that from Aogiri," Matt said. "He's pretty straightforward about what he wants if you haven't noticed by now."

Matsubusa stopped at that, his eyes widening. He then quickly looked away, reaching up to tug at his collar again. "I... I wasn't worried! I... it's no concern of mine!"

Matt's expression skewed up in confusion. "Really? It looked to me like you're as in to him as he is to you."

Matsubusa bristled, his blush bright on his face. "A-anyway! Why are you here?! W-why aren't you off chasing whalers!?"

Matt pointed at the cart. "I was cooking your food, which is getting cold by the way."

Matsubusa paused at that before he helped and quickly moved to grab the food off the cart. "S-s-stop distracting me, then!"

"Sorry," Matt said. "Kappa and me can leave you two alone if you want." He jerked a thumb towards the door. "There's couple people posted outside in case you need anything and Aogiri pretty much told us all to give you whatever you want, so go nuts."

Matsubusa paused at that and looked up, staring at Matt. "He... he did?"

Matt nodded. "Like I said, Aogiri doesn't have anything bad planned for you. This whole thing is just his own way of trying to get some time alone with you. He told me to try and wow you with my best dishes for example." He eyed the dishes in Matsubusa's hands significantly. "Speaking of which..."

Matsubusa looked down at the food, then looked rather sheepish before he proceeded to eat the food laid out for him. As the redhead scooped up some of the food with a spoon and put it in his mouth, his eyes widened drastically as his taste buds were assaulted by the delicious food. "...O-oh."

"So?" Matt asked eagerly, though his confident grin reflected that he already knew what the answer would be.

Matsubusa blinked slowly, momentarily speechless as he fully processed the food in his mouth. When he noticed Matt staring at him, his blush returned once more to loudly broadcast his embarrassment. "I... it's very good. I... I wasn't expecting... that-" The redhead trailed off, his words registering in his ears, before his embarrassment turned to mortification. "I-I mean-!"

Matt snickered. "You were expecting us to live off beer and anything made in a microwave, right?" He slapped his belly, which jiggled a little. "This stomach of mine could never accept anything so half-assed."

Matsubusa looked down at his food. "F-first a doctor and now a cook... what's next – Aogiri telling me he's a gym leader?"

"Nah, he turned all those offers down," Matt said. "We all had to laugh over it too, since if Aogiri says he's turning down being Champion of Hoenn because he didn't want to be tied down, why would he do it to be a gym leader?"

Matsubusa froze as he stared at Matt. His spoon fell from his hand, landing on the plate with a loud clatter as the redhead gaped at the admin in stunned silence.

Matt blinked, his mirth disrupted by confusion. "What? Is it really so surprising after he won almost a hundred tournaments?"

Matsubusa struggled to find his voice, blurting out the first thing that came to mind. "T-tournaments!?"

"You didn't know?" Matt asked.

"N-no! No, I didn't know!" Matsubusa said. "I-it was supposed to be an exaggeration!"

Matt rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh. I guess we all just assumed you would've figured out who Aogiri was by now and did a background check on him."

Matsubusa paused at that, his expression going blank.

Matt shifted in place. "Aogiri was convinced since you kept seeing his face up close and personal all the time, you'd figure out right away. He was pretty famous during his trainer days."

Matsubusa's face twisted in to a grimace, his blush burning ever brighter. He hadn't even thought of doing such a thing, not even for a moment. "I..."

"So...," Matt said slowly. "I'm guessing you and your team never even tried to find out who any of us are?"

"I... I'm sure Homura did!" Matsubusa sputtered. He doubted Homura'd ever let such a thing go, and would've extensively researched Team Aqua – even if it had been impossible. "A-and Kagari." Given that Kagari was in charge of espionage and infiltration, it would only make sense that she'd do research on her own as well. The redhead paused and furrowed his brow. "...A-and Courtney?" The deadpan Tech Master would've used the internet and various media sources to at least give a cursory look. After a moment's hesitation, Matsubusa grimaced again. "...And maybe Tabitha...?" As the head of security, it wouldn't surprise the redhead if Tabitha had taken it upon himself to research or go to his fellow admins for the results of their research. In the end, it left only Matsubusa as the one who hadn't even considered the need to do such work – and the grimace on his face made it abundantly clear that he was aware of it.

Matt covered his mouth, but he couldn't hold back the snort of laughter that escaped him.

Matsubusa bristled as he scowled. "S-shut up! I... I have other things to worry about! T-that's why I have admins – s-so they can take care of this sort of thing for me!"

"Man, Aogiri is gonna be disappointed," Matt snickered. "See, he's been going nuts trying to figure out who you are since he figured you already knew who he is and figured you were too shy to come to him and were waiting for him to come to you."

Matsubusa quivered, clenching his fists and shaking them at Matt. "S-shut up, shut up, shut up! I... I am not shy! I... I...!"

Matt coughed into his hand as he tried to get his laughter under control. "Hey, it's fine. If you're not interested in Aogiri that way, just make sure to let him know. He'll be fine with being at least friends with you."

"I didn't say that!" Matsubusa protested, before he realized what he said. The redhead quivered before he grit his teeth. "I-I didn't say anything! Nothing! Are you going to let me eat in peace!?"

"Sorry," Matt said. "I was just trying to make you feel more comfortable considering..."

Matsubusa paused at that, blinking, before he fidgeted and looked away. "...O-oh."

"Just..." Matt faltered for a moment before rubbing his neck again. "Don't feel obligated or anything. Aogiri wouldn't want that. If you want to give romance a chance, that's great, but if not, Aogiri isn't going to come down on you for it. Same for anything to do with sex. He cares a lot about you and he's trying very hard to impress you."

Matsubusa glanced back at Matt, his face nearly as red as his hair. He was getting a rather strong sense of déjà vu, and images of Courtney and the talk she had given him before played through his mind. "...I'll... I'll keep that in mind."

Matt backed up towards the door. "Okay, well, we'll leave you two to eat. Remember, just ask the two outside if you need anything and just think of this as a vacation you got dragged on."

Matsubusa reclaimed his spoon before using it to scoop up more of the food, using it as an excuse to not say anything else and risk shoving his foot any deeper in his mouth. Instead, he simply nodded.

The awkwardness hung in the air like a tangible thing, even after Matt and Kappa left. Dante looked up at Matsubusa, having long since finished his breakfast, then rested his chin upon his trainer's lap.

Matsubusa glanced down at his Pokémon before he shifted his hand to rest it atop the Houndoom's head. "...I'm so stupid."

Dante cocked his head inquisitively, his ears tilting upward.

"What am I even doing?" Matsubusa murmured before he closed his eyes. "Shouldn't I be escaping by now...?"

Dante nuzzled Matsubusa's hand.

Matsubusa spent the next several minutes in silence, alternating between eating the rest of the food Matt had brought for him and wallowing in self-depreciation. Many long minutes passed until everything was finally gone and, with heavy steps, Matsubusa pushed the cart full of dirty dishes towards the door.

As the redhead drew closer, the sound of talking caught Matsubusa's attention. At first he thought it might be Matt or even Aogiri returning, but he soon realized that the voices were unfamiliar.

"Ugh, I just can't see what Aogiri sees in that nerd."

"I know, right?" a second voice scoffed. "I was listening earlier, and he was throwing insults at Aogiri and Aogiri was just taking it. That's messed up!"

Matsubusa felt a surge of anger, bristling. He abandoned the cart to the side and moved quietly to press himself up against the wall. He craned his head to peer through the cracks in to the hallway, attempting to catch a glimpse of the gossipers.

Two people stood not far from the doors. Matsubusa failed to recognize either of them, but that was hardly surprising as to him, all the Team Aqua grunts seemed to blend together into a band of rowdy jocks and jokers.

"You're kidding," the grunt with the exposed midriff said. "Like what?"

"Like bastard and shit like that," said the other grunt who sported quite a number of piercings.

"Ugh!" the first grunt gagged, looking disgusted. "Like he's one to talk!"

Matsubusa's cheek twitched. Something about his conversations with Aogiri being overheard bothered him just as much as hearing them talk about him. What right did they have to snoop in on his private conversations with Aogiri? Neither their presence nor their input was desired!

"I don't know what Aogiri sees in that dweeb," the second grunt said. "I mean, everyone already here is way hotter than that scrawny pale geek."

The grunt in the midriff let out a wistful sigh. "If Aogiri flirted with me, I wouldn't wait to get a bedroom, I'd do him in the nearest closet!"

The second grunt let out a snorting laugh. "Right, like Aogiri would flirt with you when he could have me."

"You wish," the first grunt said.

Matsubusa clenched his fists as his jaw ground his teeth tightly together. He had to strongly fight back the urge to storm out and confront the two grunts, and instead held his fists against his chest to steady himself. More importantly, he wasn't entirely certain why he was angry. Their insults seemed the most reasonable explanation, and yet he couldn't deny that hearing them talk about Aogiri in such a way filled him with no small amount of anger too. Admittedly, he expected nothing less from the pirate captain. With how free Aogiri seemed to be with his affections, enough so that he saw no problem with showering them on an enemy, then it stood to reason that Aogiri had many people throwing themselves at his feet – and in his bed.

When the pierced grunt looked towards Aogiri's bedroom, Matsubusa froze. "Ugh. I still can't get over it. What's with his obsession with that nerd anyway? I just don't get what's so hot about him that deserves all this attention and wasting everyone's time bending over backwards for his pale ass."

The grunt with the exposed midriff shrugged. "Maybe he gives great head?"

The second grunt grimaced. "I can't see how Aogiri'd stay hard with a face like that near his dick."

Matsubusa jerked, his face turning solid red as his eyes widened. He clasped his hands over his mouth to keep himself from blurting out the protest bubbling up inside him.

"Maybe it's just a big power trip," the first grunt suggested. "We spanked his ass so hard this time, everyone's laughing at him."

"Right, so why is Aogiri so hot to plow his ass?" the second grunt asked.

"You've obviously never had good hate sex," the first grunt said. "It can be amazing! Especially later when you totally remind them you fucked. They'll never live it down!"

The pierced grunt gagged. "Even hate sex has to have standards."

Matsubusa quivered as he bared his teeth. Despite the redness of his face, his eyes blazed with rage. His fingers clenched and unclenched, as he visualized not only throttling the two mouthy grunts but Aogiri himself. What they were saying made sense, it was the only thing had made sense. Just like Aogiri used the pictures and video to taunt him, the pirate wanted one more trophy to lord over him – his body. He probably thought it'd have more meaning to trick Matsubusa in to thinking he wanted it, only to reveal in the end that he had fallen for the ploy hook, line, and sinker.

If Aogiri thought Matsubusa would spread his legs so easily, he was in for a surprise.

"The worst part is we've got to be on standby in case this spoiled asshole wants anything," the pierced grunt grumbled. "I can't believe the ball pit has to be shut down until we can get more balls for it just because that asshole didn't want to swim with the 'riffraff'."

"Ugh, I know," the other grunt groaned with a roll of the eyes. "I'll bet he'll start ordering us around like he owns us. I hope Aogiri fucks him and dumps him quick so we won't have to put up with him long."

Matsubusa's body moved without thinking, rage fueling his veins. He threw open the door and was out in the hallway in a moment's notice, startling both of the grunts. Neither had a chance to do much more than gawk at him before Matsubusa threw his fist out, punching the closest grunt in the face – hard. The redhead felt a swelling of satisfaction as the grunt's nose broke under his knuckles, but it wasn't enough to quell him.

Sweeping about, he struck the other grunt solidly in the jaw with the heel of his foot, sending the grunt in to the wall. The grunt hit the wall like a ragdoll before collapsing to the floor, joining the other one in a crumbled heap. The redhead stood quivering, glaring down at the grunts as he clenched his fists. "Who's the fuck toy now!?"

Dante was at Matsubusa's side in an instant, his playful mood gone as he surveyed the grunts with a critical eye. He nodded in approval after noting the grunts wouldn't be getting up and time soon, then dutifully looked to his trainer for commands.

Matsubusa was still trembling as he stood in place, glaring at the two grunts. He ground his teeth for a moment, visualizing Aogiri in a similar state, before he turned to Dante. "...We're leaving!"

Dante nodded sharply and followed Matsubusa closely as they raced through the halls of Team Aqua's base.