Shigeru stopped at the side of the road and parked. The sun was beginning to rise to their right. He looked down at Satoshi in the passenger seat, sleeping and leaning against the side of his seatbelt. "Sato-kun, wake up," he said and nudged him. He stuttered a moment and opened his eyes. "What?" he asked. "Get up, we're here," he said. "No..." he moaned and plopped his head on the rest of his seat. "I'm too tired..." "Come on, Sato-kun, we're so close to finding Kasumi's building," said Shigeru. "They say it's up north of the city by a dirt road. That's where we are!" "Can we at least have breakfast first?" Satoshi asked as Pikachu started to wake up and stretch on his lap. "There's no time for breakfast, we have to go and fight Kasumi while we have the chance!" Satoshi shook his head. "Really, Shigeru-kun, do we have to go right now?" Shigeru growled under his breath and sank down in his seat. "Okay, look, driving at night wasn't a very good idea. Let's go back, and tomorrow morning we'll go here." Satoshi nodded, closing his eyes. Shigeru sighed and started the engine up again. * What am I doing here? How... How did I get into this mess? Kenji blinked for a moment. He was still in the girl's bathroom. Ayame was next to him, huddled up in the far corner of the toilet, only half awake and clenching his gun. Oh yeah. The gun. The one she took away and almost fired when he told her he had to kill Botan. Oh great, he was going to get even less pay now that he had wasted a whole day at the casino. There was a knock at the door and Kenji looked up a little. "Excuse me, but there are people waiting here!" called a muffled voice. "Go away, we're fixing the toilet! It's out of order!" shouted Ayame nonchalantly. She turned her head to Kenji. He looked back. "So, are you going to turn me in or what?" he asked. Even if she tried he'd just kill her somehow. Most likely knock her out manually, shoot her, and escape out the window. There was an uneasy silence and Ayame gripped the gun harder. After a minute, she started shaking her head and sat up straight. "No," she said finally. "Are you sure?" he asked, placing his elbows on his legs and resting his head in his hands. She nodded faintly, not looking at him. He felt stupid asking, but almost dared himself to do so. "Why not?" Ayame blinked once and turned her head to him, looking at him in the eye. Kenji suddenly had the urge to turn away, but he still looked right back at her, eyes locked in the position. She seemed to stare at him for a long time, studying his eyes. They were so innocent and bright, unlike his own, which had grown dark from the many witnesses of crimes and death. But there was something in his eyes that grabbed Ayame's attention. Kenji made a quick glance away from her and at the window, but then returned back to her in a split second. She moved forward and kissed him. There was another knock at the thick door. "Hello? Is the toilet fixed yet?" came the same voice. "We're coming in weather it's out of order or not!" said another. The door swung open and a few women from the large crowd peered in. Two looked near the toilet, where they found nobody, one immediately looked down at Ayame and Kenji, screaming and the rest of the crowd gasped in surprise at the sight. -- "Do you even care? At all?" Kenji stopped at the red light and looked Ayame. "Yes. I care about the people I'm sent to kill. But as Kasumi's employee, I know I must, and I can't let her down. I'm sorry to do this to you, Ayame. I don't believe now was the right time for me to meet you." The light turned green, and Kenji drove around the corner. The sun was up at high noon, and high clouds drifted slowly in the air. "I don't mean to be harsh when I say this... but I would hate you for this if I didn't love you," commented Ayame. Kenji nodded. "But why?" "What do you mean?" "Why do you love me?" Ayame looked out the window. "You seem kind of special to me... some how." "But how? How could I be so special? Am I so different from every other man?" "Well, I don't know. It's just that something weird kind of hit me. How do I explain this?" Ayame looked up in thought, gazing at the clouds above. "I guess... when you first asked me if I was going to turn you in, I had the sudden urge to say no, but I kept silent because I didn't know why. So I thought about it for a moment, and I guess what I found out was that you seemed like a really nice guy for a murderer, and I guess I just felt..." she realized she had been going on too long. She looked at Kenji, who had already parked in front of the Hanada Strip Club. He looked at her attentively, and she closed her mouth and started to open the car door. Kenji walked through the back door and Ayame followed in with reluctance. A shout echoed through the dusty hall and two officers, Nanako and Taichi, were thrown back against the wall by the doorway. Somebody dressed in light blue backed up a little, a gun pointed at Botan's head as she tried to struggle away from the man's arm. "Who are you?!" demanded Kenji. He ran up to the man to see his face, but realized he knew him. "Takeshi? What are you doing here?" Takeshi looked at him. "What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" "I was sent here to kill Botan," he replied, looking at the woman. "Sorry, Kenji, but I came here to replace you. Don't you know? Kasumi only ordered you to go back so she could fire you easily. I'm on top of this now." "What?" Kenji stepped back. Kasumi fired him? Was she so sure that he couldn't accomplish something like this? Takeshi could see the fear and surprise in Kenji. "If you must know... I overheard her talking with Hiroshi. She says she sent you to kill Botan so you can just stay with her," he pointed at Ayame for a short while with his gun, then returned it to Botan's head. "She felt it was time you left. She said you were 'getting tired in your duties.'" Takeshi turned to Botan. "Now if you don't mind, I have a job to do." "No!" cried out Ayame and grabbed Takeshi's arm where her sister was. "Ayame?" wondered Botan. -- Shigeru started to slow down as the light changed to yellow. "We're almost home," he said to Satoshi. They heard a gunshot nearby, and they lifted up their heads in surprise. "What was that?" asked Shigeru. "A gunshot coming from the Hanada Strip Club. There was one a couple days ago as well," replied Satoshi. Shigeru pulled over into a parking space and they got out of the car. A few other stunned people got out of their own cars, curious as to the loud bang. Satoshi burst into the hall with Shigeru, only in time to see Botan drop to the floor on her side. Everybody turned their heads to the two in confusion. "Who are you two?" asked Kenji. "Well, I'm going to just have to kill everybody now. Acquaintances aren't allowed, as some of you know," said Takeshi. "I'd feel sorry for all of you, but under the order of Kasumi..." "Kasumi?" repeated Satoshi and Shigeru. "...I just can't do that," he put his hand on his chin, "Now how am I going to do this...." He tossed out a monster ball, letting out an iwaaku. Its long snake-like form reached up to the ceiling and it's hard, yet slightly scaled skin wriggled as it let out a cry. It tossed its head to the side a little, ready to strike at any of them. "Dinner time, Iwaaku," said Takeshi. "Make it a circular taitari." It gave out another roar and charged at one group of people at its right, lowering its head and moving in a circular motion. Kenji grabbed Ayame by the arm, pulling her out of its way as it knocked down a few boxes. "Don't kill me," said Kenji. "You're not part of the organization anymore," said Takeshi as the monster raged behind him, chasing Nanako and Shigeru. "You're just like everybody else here: an acquaintance that must be destroyed. Sorry, Kenji." The iwaaku slurred next to Kenji, and Satoshi bumped into him and Ayame. The monster swung its head at the three of them, sending the three to the pile of boxes on the floor. "Are you okay?" asked Ayame, getting up off one of the empty boxes and rushing to Satoshi, with his head still inside one of them and Pikachu knocked out on his stomach. Kenji stood up, running to Satoshi as well. "He's not getting up..." said Ayame, and at that second everybody quieted down. The iwaaku crawled over, its head loomed over Takeshi. "I don't know who you are, but from what I've seen, you're not on my list," hissed Shigeru, and he held up his gun, aiming it at Takeshi, and he fired immediately. The bullet whipped past Takeshi, leaving a strip of blood leaking down his left cheek, and a few of his spiked hairs fell to the floor. "Yeah, real nice aim," he said, sarcasm dripping all over. Takeshi crossed his arms and looked up at his iwaaku. "Taitari," he said. It charged at Shigeru, only missing by an inch as he backed away, and the large creature slammed into the wall, making a large hole in it beside the door. "Beirefu!" shouted Nanako, throwing out a monster ball. She was still seated on the floor, tired from running. "Mega dorein!" "Bei!" shouted the monster and it ran out in front of the iwaaku, closing its eyes in concentration. It started searching for it's target, and aimed straight forward at the iwaaku. A green ball of energy surrounded it, draining out its energy and it roared in pain, twisting and turning wildly. It dropped to the floor and the energy was sucked into Beirefu. The ball of green energy blinked out and Iwaaku gave out a huff of breath before going unconscious. Takeshi pivoted back in surprise and returned his pokemon in the monster ball. He turned to Nanako and crossed his arms again. "You just made a big mistake!" he yelled walking towards her. Nanako bit her lip, but looked at her beirefu. "Tsuru no muchi!" she ordered and pointed at Takeshi. Two vines whipped out from her Beirefu and wrapped around Takeshi, and he almost fell forward, his face leaning in only an inch away from hers. Takeshi narrowed his eyes and his breath smelled like sawdust and sweat. She felt her throat tighten up and she tried to move her head away, but only hit the wall behind her. Taichi snuck behind Takeshi, and immediately grabbed his wrists, placing a pair of handcuffs on him. Nanako stood up, letting Beirefu back in the monster ball. "You're under arrest," she said, and Taichi backed away, letting Nanako do the rest. * "Excuse me, Onee?" said Shigeru. Nanami looked down at him, slightly teary-eyed. "Yes?" "Can I please see Satoshi for a while?" "Of course," she replied. Shigeru walked inside the door of the health clinic. She knew the two were in love, and it hurt her sometimes that Satoshi went to her as well. But she sighed and walked away to her next patient. Shigeru sat down in a chair next to Satoshi's bed. He looked at Satoshi take his breaths, watching his chest and stomach go up down slowly. His mouth was gawked open a little. His pikachu was laid on his chest, only half awake. He suddenly thought maybe it'd have been better if the pokemon hadn't been let loose. But it must have been Kasumi's fault, right? She was the one who started the crime wave, didn't she? And it wasn't like the Roketto Dan's poaching. The door opened and a tall woman with light brown hair walked in. She was wearing casual clothes and a yellow scarf around her neck. Shigeru recognized her. It was unmistakable. "Aren't you Hanako? The actress?" asked Shigeru. She nodded and smiled a little, but when she looked at Satoshi, she immediately frowned. "Kapika," squealed Pikachu and it jumped into her lap when she sat down on the other side of the bed. "Hello there," she said to it and stroked its back a little. Why was a famous movie star sitting down in a room with this unconscious boy? But she'd have to know him. Pikachu seemed so friendly with her. "Umm... why are you exactly here?" asked Shigeru. Hanako looked at Shigeru for a moment, then Satoshi. "Because I heard that my dear son was injured in a fight. I immediately came here to see him." "You're son?" repeated Shigeru, stunned. "Yes. This is my son, Satoshi," she said and placed her hand on his forehead. "He'll be alright though... I'm sure. He always got into trouble like this when he was a little boy. He'd always try stunts and get hurt. Most of them near the set." "I had no idea that he was your son," said Shigeru. Satoshi always dressed in such rugged clothes, how could it be that he just decided to live like a simple boy? "Excuse me?" said Hanako with a confused, but stern look, "how do you know my son?" Shigeru bolted his head up. "I.. well, I'm... you see I'm sort of his.. um.. mate," he managed to say. "I see. So you're a friend of his?" "Well, more like.. um... I don't know how to put this..." he said and looked down at Satoshi. "You're... you're his partner in something?" she asked. "No. I'm actually.. well, I'm his boyfriend," he said finally. Hanako looked at Shigeru, and then down at Satoshi. Her expression shifted a little. Shigeru couldn't quite tell what she was thinking, and she ended with a face full of mixed feelings. "This... worries you?" asked Shigeru. She let out one small laugh, still looking at Satoshi. "I didn't realize what his choice was, that's all." She turned to Shigeru, looking up and down slightly. "What's your name?" "Shigeru Okido," he replied. "You're related to Okido-Hakase?" He nodded. "I'm his grandson." Hanako nodded, impressed and she smiled widely. "So now this amuses you?" asked Shigeru. She made a short laugh again and stood up. She ruffled his bangs a little. "Well, you seem to help amuse me. I need to go now." Hanako walked over to the door and opened it, but looked back at Shigeru. "But perhaps it'd be better if you'd amuse my son instead," she said, and then left. Shigeru looked back at Satoshi. He was going to have a talk with him after he woke up. * The moon began to rise behind the building. Kasumi sank down in her chair in depression. "Takeshi... you fool," she mumbled. "How could you? I thought you would last much longer." "And his name is said to mean 'unbreakable,'" said a female voice, very similar to Kasumi's. "Too bad it doesn't also mean 'un-arrest-able.'" Kasumi looked up and sat straight in her chair as she saw... herself? It looked as if a duplicate of herself appeared in front of her. But something was different about her. She had thicker eyebrows and her eyes... her eyes were red. Yet she had a togechiiku just like Kasumi. "Imite," said Kasumi. "Get out of that silly disguise immediately." "Yes, Kasumi-sama," said Imite. She undressed the outer layer of her disguise, letting her uniform show. She didn't wear the suits that all the others did, though. She wore casual clothes and a blue scarf almost identical to Hanako's. She had a belt, which held an monster ball. "Come back, Metamon," ordered Imite. The togechiiku made a quick formation into its pink little slimy form and was drained into the apricorn ball. "That Takeshi," said Imite "Sometimes you can't rely on him. But don't worry," she bowed in front of Kasumi, "I can handle your missions without trouble." "Good," said Kasumi. "Because the last thing I need is trouble with these two certain individuals." Kasumi showed Imite a picture of Satoshi and Shigeru. "I want them knocked out of the way so they don't interfere with a future visit," ordered Kasumi. "It will be done, Kasumi-sama," said Imite. "May I ask who your visit will be?" Kasumi smiled. "With Takeshi in the hands of the police, I think there could only one type of company joining me soon. Now go and kill those two men." Imite nodded. "Yes, Kasumi-sama," she said and closed the door after she left. But her voice could still be heard through the glass. But first, I want to play with them a little.