A.I. Takuya

Chapter 12: Finding out More

By KellyQ

They both turned their heads after they felt they were being stared at. Kouichi stepped out of the shadows, holding in his right hand his brother's bandana, in his left hand Takuya's hat and goggles. With one quick motion, Kouji swiped the cloth out of his brother's hand. He placed it on his head and tried to tie it around his hair. Kouji's hair looked a little unkempt.

"Now come on. I know where your friends are located," Kouichi informed.

"Give us a moment!" Takuya snapped without realizing it. "Here, let me help you."

He walked behind Kouji, and he gently took hold of all of Kouji's hair. Takuya gently ran his fingers through Kouji's hair, asking if he could hold it while he tied it. Kouji held his hair as Takuya tied the cloth around it, asking if he was if it was too tight.

"No. But Kouichi, where were you?"

"We have no time for that! Do you want to save your friends or not?" Kouichi responded. He turned and was about to make a run.

"No!" Kouji snapped, tensing up. Takuya wrapped his arms around his angry friend. "I want some answers!"

Kouichi's eyes shifted to the right. He looked back at the two, ignoring that he would bring much pain to Kouji afterward when he found out what he had been doing. Kouichi led Mr. Kanbara to the factory, working for the FBI and skimming behind Mr. Minamoto's back to get the man arrested. For the big part, which would be tricky, Kouichi had to lure 6-2-5 without noticing that it would be a trap and might put Kouji in danger.

"Your questions will be answered when we get to your friends ... now we must hurry! Your friends are safe ... for the moment."

"Z, are you all right?" came Junpei's voice. She opened her eyes to see two worried faces. Izumi felt something like sandpaper rubbing against her wrists. She lifted her arms to see that her wrists were bandaged. "Your wrists were bleeding, so I tore a big fabric off my sleeve ..."

"Thanks, Junpei. But you didn't have to do that ... but where are we?" Izumi wondered.

Junpei and Tomoki looked around. The surroundings were all metal, including the door with one small opening, but it was too high.

"What will we do now?" Tomoki asked in a small voice.

"There's not much we can do but hope that Kouji and Takuya get help," Izumi concluded.

"Since when did you give up Z?" Junpei asked almost mockingly.

"I'm not giving up ... I mean ... what choice do we have?"

"I hate to say this, but Izumi's right, Junpei. There's not much we can do, let alone find a way out of here," Tomoki exclaimed.

The three came to what looked like a reasonably large warehouse. It's much taller and broader than the last one.

"How are we going to get in?"

"You two go that way. And I'll go around back," Kouichi suggested, pointing to the other side. "If neither of us finds a way in. We'll meet here. Sound good?"

"Okay," Takuya said, feeling uneasy.

They took off in their directions. Scanning the building carefully, Kouji and Takuya said nothing, but their hands were still laced together. Kouji glanced at Takuya, wondering how something so deadly could simultaneously be so caring and gentle.

"There," Takuya said, breaking Kouji out of his thought, pointing to a window seven feet high off the ground. "We can get in through there. Now put your arms around my neck ..."

"Like this?" Kouji asked, wrapping around Takuya's shoulders and lacing his fingers together.

Takuya smiled over his shoulder. He then looked back at the window, his expression stern. Taking a mighty push, they were in the air. Takuya reached out his arms to the window seal. Gripping the edge of the window seal, their bodies slammed to the side like rag dolls. Kouji reached out to the side and touched the window seal. Takuya leaned to the side to make sure that Kouji was safely hanging. The android heaved himself up and pushed the window open. He peered in and looked down to see they had only a few feet to jump.

"Okay. It's safe," Takuya reassured.

Kouji nodded his head, heaved himself up, and crawled in. They both jumped down, and a cold atmosphere created them. Kouji wrapped his arms around himself, feeling a chill run down his body. He jumped slightly when he felt strong arms around him. Kouji realized that it was Takuya who started to rub his arms.

"Feeling better?" He asked gently.

"Thanks, Takuya ... I never really liked the dark."

"Here," Takuya murmured, lacing his hand around Kouji's hand again. "Now, let's get going, shall we?"

They had just started walking when the lights came on. The two froze when they realized they were surrounded by some of Mr. Kanbara's stronger men. Takuya pushed Kouji behind him.

"We've been waiting for you," Mr. Kanbara said, walking up.