Everything Keigo did from that point onward can be rolled up into one giant rubberball of mistakes.

First, he immediately responded to Kimi WhatsHerName by muttering "Oh, shit" right at her face.

Then, suddenly panicked, his eyes flickered very obviously to his friends inside the parlour - all of whom were looking back questioningly and inadvertently drawing attention to themselves.

Then, in even more panic, Keigo decided that the best course of action would be to run the fuck away.

In hindsight - which came exactly 5 seconds after his feet took control of his hind-brain and dragged him almost a block over - this was one of those decisions that would forever haunt him in the middle of the night just when he's about to sleep out of sheer fucking humiliation, if nothing else. He just about heard her "damn it, get him!" to realise that not only were his suspicions correct on her identity, but also that she wasn't alone.

Just his fucking luck.

Keigo had no idea who was following him, too scared to look back and unconsciously slow down. It could have been an entire fucking troop, tanks and guns blazing and he wouldn't be able to tell you; his ears were ringing with the roar of the wind and the bustle of the crowd that he pushed past without consideration, and, in a split second of subconscious decision-making, swerved left towards a plaza that he recalled sold wholesale stuff.

The barely functional part of his brain supplied that he could easily lose them in a place full of cold, angry middle-aged women if he planned this out smartly. As he stumbled into the store, Keigo rebutted that thought by reminding his brain that he was a planning nightmare on a good day. Quickly scanning the open area, he rushed towards the free sample stalls; it was the most crowded location thus far. Heart in his throat, Kiego made past the bustle of shoppers, mind on complete overdrive and only instinct carrying his body through the end of aisle. Despite the general noisiness of the place, Keigo could hear fast, heavy footsteps somewhere behind him that he could only guess were his assailants.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit!

He took another sharp left, ending up in the grocery section and hurried up the escalators to the first floor. The crowd on the ramp visibly jostled at his disruption but Keigo soldiered on, uncaring and turning a blind eye to their loud protests. His palms were sweaty and he was panting out loud despite not feeling even close to tired; too amped up on adrenaline and fear. His eyes darted for anyone suspicious in the mean time, fully knowing that whoever they were, weren't far away.

Fuck. Keigo couldn't find anyone suspicious, they all just looked like people. He sucked at this. Cursing under his breath he ran through the child-care aisle filled with toy stores and a giant fun pit. He passed the play area full of snot-nosed brats running about, causing a goddamn ruckus that could be distracting enough for Keigo to get away from whatever he was trying to get away from. Biting his lip nervously, the teenager stopped in front of a bouncy castle and side-stepped the employee at the booth next to it as casually as someone with the obvious body jitters could. When said employee turned to handle a particularly impudent child, Keigo quickly slipped through and managed to hide in a corner behind the castle. It was a horrible hiding place, Not-SHIELD could be 5 feet away from him and he wouldn't even realise until it was too late. But it gave him some time to figure out how in Aizen's Moth-Faced Name he was gonna get out without getting killed. He took a deep breath and tried to steady his trembling hands, wiping sweat off his face, eyes frantically darting for anyone holding a rifle.

Ha. Tough luck.

Kimi Whatever, though, he might recognise. He kept an eye out for her while trying to press himself further into the corner.

Keigo fished out his phone and called Urahara. The call went straight to voicemail.

"Kisuke you useless piece of-"

The words died in his mouth as he came face-to-face with a bug-eyed toddler staring at him with his fingers in his mouth.

Okay, calm now, Keigo. Just smile and make up a stupid-ass excuse for the stupid-ass kid. Keigo gave a tight smile and a weak wave to him. Children, he could deal with; they didn't go about stalking teenagers with government secrets right?

"-Mommy!"

Or not.

Keigo was going to die, right here on the kid's floor of a goddamn mall.

"Mommy! Mooooom! There'sa-"

"Shh! Hey, hey no no no hush. Hush now." Keigo tried placating the kid who now looked like he was about to throw a fit right here, in the middle of a fucking chase for Keigo's life. He scourged his pockets for some coins, "Here," he said, handing out 500 Yen, "Go get yourself something to eat or whatever just. I'm gone okay? Gone." With that, Keigo slipped out of the corner and fled the kids area.

Man, fuck those loud-mouthed devils.

Keigo went another two floors up, slowly growing tired with the stress and exhaustion. He shucked off his jacket, too warm with the combination of the heater and the chase, and discretely pushed it in a woman's giant shopping bag. One man's trash and all that eh?

His mind was a mess of haywire thoughts, questions of who and what and why circling his head as he tried to make sense of the situation. Keigo briefly wondered if he over-reacted when he ran away from that lady. His friends could attest to his tendency to do that. Maybe she was a friendly.

But then she would have no reason to run after him right?

Keigo nervously twirled the phone in his hands and got off on the second last floor - the food court - wondering if it would be a terrible idea to hide in the bathroom. Spy-training would have been pretty fucking useful right now. Keigo needed to get out of here stat and hide somewhere safe until this thing blew over. Kisuke wasn't picking up, so Keigo wasn't sure whether he'd even be in the store if he somehow managed to flee the plaza. Swallowing heavily, Keigo thumbed Fujikawa's number for a few moments. Then, deciding to not waste any more time, he pressed the 'call' button.

"-eye's on him, 3 o'clock, I'm locking in-"

Fuck! There was someone on his left. Keigo turned to see a man in a black hoodie looking right at him and a frown on his face and-

Okaaaaay. He needed to run. Like, now.

So Keigo did, phone clutched to his chest as he zipped past food-trays and hangry shoppers alike.

"Mr Asano?" the voice on the phone answered. Keigo almost crashed into a family of five at that. He brought the phone to his ear, panting heavily.

"Are your people following me?" He asked shrilly, looking for a fire-exit. It was the shortest way down without him having to turn around. Risky as hell, but Keigo was running out of options. He heard the man's voice behind him and scrunched his eyes, "Shit!"

"No we're no- What's going on? I'm locking into your location."

"Some people who are not SHIELD are running after me and I don't know why." Keigo yelped and barged through the doors of the fire-escape in a corner, barreling downwards two steps at a time, scared shitless. Fujukawa's voice was telling him something but Keigo couldn't make them out; his steps were too loud in the empty staircases, followed by another set of heavier ones right on his tail.

"Asano Keigo-" The male voice huffed, barely an arm's length away, "We just want to talk-" Keigo ducked instinctively as the hand behind him reached out to meet air. Should Keigo stop and listen? No. He couldn't right? He didn't know, Keigo wasn't a goddamn spy- fuck fuck fuck there was a person on the floor below him. Shit. It was Kimi.

"Keigo," she said calmly as he glided to a stop, backing up into a corner.

(Rookie move, kiddo, Bando's voice echoed in his head).

"There's no need to be afraid, we just want to talk." From here, Keigo could see that she looked older, her face had stern lines, with a certain seriousness to them. There was nothing bubbly or nonthreatening about her. She sounded weird, she smelled weird. 'Kimi' raised her arms to her shoulders, "I'm unarmed, see? Just a chat, and we'll let you go."

It was something similar to what SHIELD has said to him all those months ago. Except Keigo didn't have any proof apart from the dreaded feeling in his gut that told him that these weren't the good guys.

SHIELD wasn't a 100% either, despite their apparent honourable intentions. But these guys definitely weren't.

The guy behind him stopped a couple of feet away from him, seemingly on 'Kimi's' orders, judging by the look she shot him. He was probably restraining himself from smacking Keigo unconscious.

Keigo gulped.

Fujikawa's voice rang through the sudden silence.

"Don't say anything. If they want to talk they can book an appointment."

Kimi's eyes traveled to the phone before she slowly opened her palm to it.

"Is this your handler?" she asked carefully, face neutral. Keigo didn't say anything - mouth filled with cotton and stomach heavy with lead. "I'd like to talk to him. Keigo, can you ask him if I can talk to him?"

"Not-"

"Just to set up a meeting, like he said. You have my word. We're not your enemies, Keigo-"

They were on the third floor. The railing was unguarded. The guy behind him was mostly likely prepared to hurt Keigo if he made any sudden movements. It was a three-story drop.

Fuck it.

Keigo grabbed the railing and leaped over it.

His shoulder hit the metal bar on the way down, and he fell ungracefully in a heap of pain pain pa- no. Gotta get up, fuck - on the ground floor. Keigo heard loud voices from somewhere above him and immediately scrambled to his feet, grabbing the dropped phone and running out the door.

He clutched his right side as he sprinted as fast as he could towards the central courtyard outside the plaza, not once looking back. His gaze narrowed to the buses on the station right at the edge of the property. Keigo raced towards it with a focus he never recalled possessing (but had used only once in the last year; with all but a zanpaktou and some chutzpah). He climbed onto the closest bus a millisecond before its doors slammed shut. The bus took off and Keigo slumped against the door, head turning to see if they followed him.

There was no trace of them.

Keigo closed his eyes, wincing at his throbbing shoulder and turned to swipe his bus pass. His phone screen was cracked, and the call had disconnected. Keigo sighed and called Fujikawa again.

The call went straight to the voice of a lady telling him that it was no longer in service.

Keigo groaned and thumped his head in frustration. Great. Now he was truly alone.

And his shoulder hurt like a motherfucker.

So did his head. Is this was a concussion felt like?

His phone suddenly rung and Keigo visibly startled, fumbling before answering.

"Hello?!"

"Dude, where the hell are you? I can't find you outside!" Mizuiro. Right. Keigo sighed.

"Mizruiro, hi. Sorry... just got carried away."

"You could have told me your lady friend was coming to meet you-"

"It's not- I didn't know. Um. How-how long was I gone?" Keigo checked the time on his screen.

"Like, almost half an hour? I thought you guys were still talking so we let you be."

30 minutes? Real-life chases were horrible.

Keigo nodded, glancing at the stops as they passed by. "I'm gonna have to take a rain-check for ice-cream I- ow! Fuck," the unexpected speed-bump jostled Keigo's shoulder. Damn it.

"Asano, you okay? Where are you?"

"I'm- ah- I'm fine, really. Just. Can't meet you today, something came up last minute." Keigo fibbed. "And Mizuiro- if she. If anyone you don't know asks about me, just don't say anything okay? Doesn't matter who they say they are."

Silence. Then,

"Don't say anythi- Wha- Who was she?!"

"Wrong crowd at self-defense. They're up to no good and I'm trying to keep them off my back, ya know?" he forced out a chuckle.

"Are you sure you're okay? Do you need me to come get-"

"No! No, I'm good. I'm... fine."

"We could talk to Ichig-"

"God no! Don't even think about- it's a horrible idea that we shall never speak of ever again! I've got it under control. Just... don't say anything, under any circumstances. Please." Keigo begged. The last thing they needed was Ichigo putting his nose in this business. Knowing him, he'd topple every goddamn secret organization with how fiercely protective he was with Karakura.

"I don't like this, Keigo."

"You don't have to, just. Do me this favour. I- uh," the stop to Central Tokyo was nearing, "I gotta go now, I'll talk to you later."

Keigo hung up before his friend could reply. The bus stopped and he clambered from his position to step out. Just as he did, his phone rung again, this time - Keigo checked - from a private number.

Great. Not-SHIELD probably found his number. He didn't pick up, too scared to risk being caught out of sheer stupidity after he just made his heroic escape. The dial tone suddenly changed to a voice message.

"Keigo, it's me. Please pick up," Fujikawa's voice rang out. Keigo immediately obliged.

"Hello?" he asked tentatively, scanning his surroundings.

"There will be a car waiting at the Gamers store closest to you in five minutes."

"Dude. What the fuck is happening? I- why- who were they?"

"Gamers, five minutes. And I need you to break this phone and dispose it immediately."

"Wha- Fucking- Ugh, fine!" Keigo hung up and let his head fall backwards. Tears began to gather at the corners of his eyes in frustration, and his exhales condensed into the cold air.

Cool it, Keigo. Penta-man's gotta have an explanation, he told himself. Crying and ice-cream are for 1am. Pull yourself together.

So Keigo dropped his phone on the ground, stomped on his with anger lacing each crushing step as it broke into pieces. He picked them up carefully, threw the hardware in a nearby trashcan that he was lucky to find and walked towards Gamers. He then threw the SD card and micro-sim in the slit covering the sewers in the alley next to the store. Trashcans weren't abundant in Tokyo, the last thing he needed was for Not-SHIELD to find all of his information. He had no idea what tech they were operating on, but he could only assume the worst.

A sleek, black car rolled up a few minutes later that Keigo knew inherently belonged to SHIELD and he got in. The driver shifted the gear without a word and pulled out of the busy streets.

This time, SHIELD HQ was in Minato district, not too far from their previous offices. They got out of the car in the parking lot and Keigo was escorted towards one of the many buildings he was too tired and in pain to pay attention to. He blindly followed the guy in the suit, not Agent McBroody this time, but Keigo didn't bother finding out more.

He entered the new office in a daze, cradling his arm to his chest before he was pushed- not into a cubical, but into a series of rooms lower in the building that clearly had medical supplies. Huh.

Oh yeah his shoulder. Right.

A doctor sat him down at one of the beds as she fussed around his right side. Keigo took it as an opportunity to casually scope it out, seeing as he didn't really get to do so the last time he was in one of these places. SHIELD medical was- well, a lot like a hospital, except everyone knew you were a spy, he supposed. It was plain, no-nonsense, suited for efficiency over comfort - Keigo expected nothing less. Looking around did make him weary though, his body drained from running and hurting himself (very badly) as he stifled a yawn.

"I'd recommend that you rest," the doctor spoke a good while later, not looking away from his shoulder, "But Agent Fujikawa will be here shortly to talk to you. And I need to set this back,"

"...Oh, okay yeah." Wait, "Set it? As in my shoulder?"

The doctor simply raised an eyebrow, "Yes your shoulder. It's quite obviously dislocated, how could you not notice?"

Keigo attempted an aborted shrug that shot pain right up his back and cursed. She was right, that's not where his shoulder was supposed to be. The doctor stared at him for a few moments before shaking her head.

"Oh God, you'd fit right in, and I really wished you didn't," she said. Keigo did not know what that was supposed to mean, "It will only make my job harder- now count to three."

Before he could, a resounding crack, followed by literal agony and a howl that Keigo realised was coming out from his mouth echoed in the room.

"Fuck!" he tried his best to pry himself away from Dr Fucking Mengele but she held on and gave him a stern look, gathering a bandage to wrap him in. "That was highly unnecessary."

As if on cue, the door to Medical opened and Fujikawa strode towards him in an urgency he had never seen the agent express before. Dr Jekyll quickly finished up on his arm and left them alone.

"Penta-man," The agent's mouth twitched at the name, "What did I just go through?"

Fujikawa sat beside him, "I was hoping you would tell me that. I've got people scouting the areas you were in, but we need to know more about them."

Perhaps it was because the adrenaline finally wore off, leaving him exhausted, yes, but with a sharp set of memories of the past two hours. Keigo didn't know how his brain did it, immediately spouting back every single detail of the events in HD - like an IMAX disaster in the making - from his talk with Kisuke to the bright colours of the almost empty ice-cream parlour, to the warmth on his shoulder where Mizuiro's arm rested for 8 minutes, to the scent of earthiness wafting from Tagua Kimi's coat layered with something oddly clinical as she cornered him at the staircase. Those couple of hours felt like years and just a few moments at the same time, so Keigo honestly couldn't understand when he had the chance to register these tidbits of information in such clarity, so much so he wondered if his brain was making this up.

With his messed-up shoulder and concussion to be, it probably was.

"I was walking with my friend to this ice-cream parlour in the new shopping lane by the Karakura community park." He began anyway, eyes now drooping and unfocused, "This girl I've never seen before calls out my name right as we're about the enter the shop, I tell my friend to go inside and wait. She said her name was Tagua Kimi and that she was from SHIELD. For some reason I knew that she wasn't, so I ran."

"We don't have a Tagua Kimi as an alias or an employee-"

"Yeah, I know."

Agent Fujikawa looked at him imploringly, "And how did you deduce that?" Did the agent figure out he was behind the mini cyber infiltration? Judging by the suspicion lacing his features- Keigo couldn't tell. Then again, Agent was showing his hand by looking at him that way, purposely, so maybe he wasn't really suspicious - fuck. Keigo didn't know. He will never be able to wrap his head around spies. They certainly wouldn't want him to.

He refrained from shrugging again, instead making a face that expressed a similar sentiment, "Didn't seem right, not your style - she wasn't a native speaker either."

At that Fujikawa did the spy equivalent of whipping his head around in horror: he twitched. "What else can you tell me about her?"

"Brunette, medium to long hair, brown eyes, kinda short - I'd say 5'3" or 5'4" - wore a blue short skirt, white t-shirt, light pink pea-coat," Keigo rattled off, "- had a beige handbag I think? Or mauve? Is that a colour? Anyway she was- um. I think she smelled like mud? And disinfectant. There was also this other guy with her, like 6 feet dude with a crew cut, black shirt and thick hoodie. They chased- well, like I said I ran first, and they chased me to this giant wholesale store at the edge of Karakura Honchou and eventually cornered me by the fire-escape."

"And she wanted to speak with me."

"But she didn't know you- called your my handler."

Fujikawa frowned properly at this. Keigo would have given a shit if his mind wasn't racing with absurd conclusions while simultaneously trying not to fall asleep. "I should hope not. And you didn't ask who they work for."

"Didn't say a word. I've seen criminal shows man, the less you say, the better."

"Hmm. Good. We will need you to write all of this down later, if that's okay." Keigo nodded. Fujikawa got up and pulled out a device that could be either a phone or a taser or both - Keigo wouldn't know if he tried. The agent looked at him for a moment then, back to being Mr. Stoic, before his gaze visibly drifted to Keigo's shoulder. Keigo shifted uncomfortably, not used to the agent blatantly staring at him like that It was disconcerting, if he was being honest; he'd rather be dismissed with a flick of a finger than be exposed to a spy looking into his entire soul.

"They did that?" the agent asked after a pause.

"Uh- no."

Fujikawa nodded. "You wouldn't happen to have jumped from the fire-exit to make your escape, would you?"

Keigo wondered if Fujikawa had eyes on him this whole time, "I may have," he shot back, "I can live with a broken shoulder, as long as I get to live. You know- life? Cool concept, once you overcome existential dread and puberty, I've heard."

The agent looked at him for a bit longer and Keigo was tempted to ask him to cut it out. Then, out of no where - and looking like it physically pained him to do so - he said, "Today, you have done SHIELD a service that very few would have done in your place. Especially since you claimed you no longer wanted to involve yourself in our business just yesterday. For that and for your injuries, we are willing to compensate with anything you require- within possibility, of course."

"My sister-"

"Will be watched, at all times, along with the friends at the parlour. We will ensure that no harm comes their way."

"Oh thank fuc- I mean. Thanks." Keigo gave a tired smile. SHIELD wasn't as squeaky clean as they claimed to be, but at least he knew them. And Kisuke apparently had his back on this so Keigo assumed they wouldn't hurt his family and friends.

"I would also appreciate it if you re-assessed your decision to join SHIELD academy-"

"-Are you fucking joking-"

"-to ensure an event like this does not happen again. Not only was our information at risk, but so was your life. Despite the Krav Maga classes you had been taking, you are still and untrained civilian who has too much-"

"-I handled myself pretty alright I think-"

"-and are unfamiliar with the lengths people would go to know what you know. Keigo," Fujikawa stressed, "Today could have gotten so much worse - and it has, for countless others. You were out in the midst of civilians with no protection, no training and a potential enemy agency on your tail. Do you realise how this sounds?"

Well... when he put it like that.

But Keigo couldn't just leave Karakura High and join an academy all of a sudden. Granted, SHIELD still didn't know about Ichigo's and Co's involvement in the stuff they were researching, but that didn't mean the carrot-top idiot won't come sniffing the second he senses something off. Powers or no, he'd been braving a hero-complex for years now.

This was his entire life Keigo was giving away just to be protected from an enemy that wanted SHIELD, not him. Not really.

He told this to the agent, who stood in silence for all of two seconds before suggesting Keigo maintain his old contract again.

"You realise this is the opposite of 'I don't want to work with SHIELD' right?"

"Mr Asano, you're on another ghost organization's radar, and I can assure you they're not the only ones who have information about you. They knew how to find you, and despite SHIELD protection for your family, they will keep finding ways to contact you unless we get more intel. So we either remove you entirely from the picture by hiding and training you in our academy, or we give you field agent training until you're eighteen so that you're able to stay here, in Karakura. After that, we can discuss official recruitment and other steps."

"Official recruitme- You want me to be an agent? Me." Keigo stared at him dumbly. Spy school was different, spy work was a whole new ball game.

"Only when you are of legal age. They underestimated you, which you used to your advantage and got out of an incredibly sensitive situation by jumping two stories down a building-"

"Three."

Fujikawa paused, "Three stories down a building with nothing to go on except pure intuition, I presume. Do not make me repeat what happened to you a third time. You were their Op, they failed. Because you didn't let them pass. This was you without training. Imagine being prepared for it next time; which there will be. When they bring in the big guns - and I mean that quite literally as well - your fight or flight instincts can only take you so far, so please. For the love of God, let us train you."

The agent looked like he wanted to pull his hair out, but instead only straightened himself and buttoned his suit.

Shit.

Shit.

Keigo already knew he was folding like a paper crane. Barely a day out of this godforsaken organization and he's being pulled back like a fucking magnet. Fujikawa made sense. If SHIELD did not find out who his attackers were, there will be more incidents like this, and more agencies out for blood or whatever it was they wanted. And then Kisuke would have to handle all of them and eventually the Supernatural Squad would find out and they'd hate Keigo and might even kill him, oh my God what if the Soul Society found out too? Keigo was toast.

On the other hand if he joined SHIELD, Kisuke would have to know about it anyway because Keigo cannot handle this shit all by himself, and he would have more to hide from his friends. Being secretive is only so much fun until it takes a toll on him and eventually he would slip up and Ichigo would find out anyway and ugh.

There's also the fact that Keigo still did not trust SHIELD out of sheer principle - trying his best to ignore the amount of times they saved his hide in circumstances that were technically led by them in the first place-

This was giving him a headache. He needed to rest first, think about this rationally, talk to Urahara before doing anything stupid. Who's to say SHIELD didn't sic Kimi and her bodyguard on him just to get him on their side? It's a convoluted thought, and Keigo cannot imagine being important enough for them to waste such resources on him, but it's also a very SHIELD thing to do. Or a spy thing to do, at least.

Damn it.

"I need to think about it," he mumbled after a while. Fujikawa nodded in agreement.

"Usually I would say take your time but we're sort of on a time crunch. Still, only your full consent will be accepted." With that, he walked to the door and gestured outside, "In the meantime, if you will."

Keigo groaned.

SHIELD was true to their word on keeping tabs at his home. Keigo saw a lady he had never seen before walking a dog across his apartment building and only glance at him briefly. She was middle-aged and aloof, with a huge, grey hoodie and heavy winter boots. Nothing like Kimi. Total SHIELD material. Keigo gave her a smile that resembled a grimace and went on with his day. Kon was supposed to come over to get the academy brochure, just as Kisuke promised, but Keigo had no idea how the guy was supposed to reach his place with Ichigo inhabiting his own body for the time being. Perhaps another gigai? Keigo had to keep a watch out.

Not to mention, now that both SHIELD and possibly Not-SHIELD were keeping an eye on him, his trips to Urahara's had to be cut to non-existent. So, Keigo wrote a letter explaining the events of the previous day to give to Kon when he arrived. Which happened at around 4 in the afternoon, just a few minutes after he got back from school.

(School, where Mizuiro had looked at him with an unamused, and surprisingly, hurt expression the whole day, eyes constantly darting to Keigo's right side despite the teenager having covered it up with a jacket the best he could. Keigo would have felt guilty if he hadn't been on the receiving end of kept secrets so many times before. Keigo threw him a tight smile and said nothing.)

Turns out gigai are a completely redundant investment when stuffed-toys do the same job.

"What happened to you?" Keigo asked after opening the door to greet a plush lion in a school-girl's uniform with its hands on its... hips.

"Nothing happened. This is my body now."

Keigo wanted to laugh so, so bad. But he held it in for the sake of discretion. Looking at either side of his apartment, he ushered the toy inside and tried to comprehend what he was seeing.

So this was his reality now.

Christ.

"So. The boss-man said you had somethin' to give ta me?" Keigo put his fingers to his lips, "What? I'll say what I want! And I'm not an errand boy, so you better tell Ura- mmph!" Keigo shut the loud-mouthed nuisance with a couch pillow and carried him to his room. He wrestled both the brochure and the letter into Kon's stuffing with mild disgust, ignoring the toy's muffled protests before bringing him back out.

"I won't let you go until you promise to shut up," Keigo put as much warning as he could in that sentence without choking on laughter at the sight of Kon struggling in that ridiculous costume. Whoever did that to him did him dirty. He could relate.

With a final, failed attempt at struggle, Kon huffed an angry assent and Keigo slowly took off the pillow and tossed it elsewhere.

"What was that all about?!" the idiot blurted anyway.

Was this what it felt like hanging out with Keigo? He certainly understood where his friends were coming from then. God, now there were two of him.

"A necessary precaution. Now, be careful when you go out, do not attract any attention from anyone. Not little girls or sick, old bastards. Just straight to your guy okay? We can hang later at the arcade or whatever."

"Really? Awesome! Fine, I'll do this, but no take backs!"

"Cross my heart. Now go! Shoo. And don't get caught!" he called out at the lion, who pranced away happily. Yeah okay, that was definitely another Keigo. Well, he knew how to handle himself, at least.

Keigo closed the door, ensuring it was locked and went back to his room. The teenager was requested to stay at home as much as he could, to make SHIELD surveillance easier. So he had to resort to homework and gaming for the rest of the week. He was more than okay with it - happy to take advantage of Mizuho's absence for the next two days - not accounting the anxiety of being attacked and his every move watched. But for now he had all of one week to think about Fujikawa's offer and wait.

...

...

God, he was bored already.

On an impulse, Keigo opened his laptop, went on his online social profile and typed in a new message.

xxRaizerDelicatexx: Hey! Long time no talk! what are u upto?

Kuneida_R: ...get fucked.

Kuneida_R: ...

Kuneida_R: fine. what do you want.