Chapter 2: The Floorboards That Break

By Yev and Nagyra

Fujima kicked the door to his and Mitsui's apartment open and threw his bag onto one of the bunks before promptly closing the door behind him and banging his head repeatedly on the rotting wood.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," he muttered every time his head made contact.

"Hey, take it easy. The door's not as strong as your head you know."

Fujima sighed heavily and turned around. His roommate, Mitsui, was at the corner of the room, sitting on the counter with his legs and arms crossed. He looked particularly dashing--as always--in his nice black leather attire. Then again, black leather WAS Mitsui's standard attire--but that didn't necessarily mean Fujima ever got tired of seeing him in them.

"Few things ARE weaker than this stupid door of ours," Fujima countered, jumping onto his bunk and wincing as the rusty metal creaked under his weight.

"What's wrong now?" Mitsui asked, sliding off the counter and making his way to Fujima's bunk.

"I'm such a big idiot!" Fujima groaned, covering his face with his hands.

"Uh-huh, I gathered that much when you entered," Mitsui said, sitting down at the foot of the bed and pulling Fujima's arm. "But banging your head on an already beaten down door won't make you any smarter. Now come on, you need a massage. BADLY."

Fujima was only too happy to comply as he sat up and laid back down the other way around so his head was resting on Mitsui's lap.

Mitsui then proceeded to slowly knead at Fujima's temples with his strong fingers. "What happened? Bad day at work?"

"Did you have to ask?" Fujima muttered, closing his eyes. "Work's ALWAYS bad."

"Yep, but then you usually come home tired and indifferently pissed."

"Indifferently pissed? What the hell is that?"

Mitsui shrugged. "Something only you could pull off. Well, anyway, I figured work today was worse than bad."

"Oh, Mitsui, it was TERRIBLE!" Fujima said, attempting to sit up but stopped when Mitsui restrained him.

"Uh-huh."

"I met this . . . guy."

"Another one of those harlot-loving bastards?"

"Hardly," Fujima said, shifting on his back. "He was . . . great. Wonderful. God, Mitsui, he was SO hot and he had gentility!"

"Which, I'm sure, scores a couple of points more than the regular scoundrels."

"It scores a hundred points more!" Fujima corrected. "A thousand even! Mitsui, this is a DECENT guy we're talking about here."

Mitsui whistled under his breath. "Well damn it all. I should've been there and gotten to him first."

Fujima chuckled. "Not a chance. Then again, maybe everyone else has a better chance at him than I ever will. I made a complete fool of myself!"

"Details."

"First, I forgot my name."

Mitsui burst out laughing.

Fujima opened his eyes and glared at him.

"Well, you don't have to go to the second one, Fujima," Mitsui said, his eyes gathering mirth.

Fujima rolled his eyes. "Bottom line is, I don't think I'll ever see him again."

"You never know--"

"Oh come off it," Fujima snapped. "Well, he DID have a companion with him. Redhead. Good-looking too."

Mitsui's eyebrows shot up. "I'm listening."

Fujima giggled and sat up. Mitsui let him. "I don't really know much about that one. But they're both working for the Quisterra Restoration Council."

"QRC people?" Mitsui asked, leaning back and lying on the bed with his arms cushioning his head from the rough mattress. "Government people, huh? Well that scratches him out of my list."

Fujima looked thoughtful as he turned around and crossed his legs under him. "You know, Mitsui. You should just stop it with your job."

"You kidding me?"

"It's dangerous."

"It's profitable."

"It's ILLEGAL."

"Its never bothered you before."

Fujima sighed and turned to lie right beside his friend. Mitsui scooted closer to the side to give him some space as the bunk was already barely big enough for two.

"You're right," Fujima said. "The illegal bit's never bothered me before. Besides its what keeps us a bit well-off than most of the others. But then I'm worried for you."

"Aw, that's sweet, Fujima," Mitsui said with a chuckle. "But I can very well take care of myself, dear."

"Oh, would you be serious for once!" Fujima snapped, rolling his eyes. "Come on, you're the only family I have."

"Same here," Mitsui said with a shrug. "It matters a lot to me that you care but, face it, Fujima, I was born a thief. I'll always be a thief. Its the only way I know how to live."

"So when's your next break-in?"

Mitsui pursed his lips. "Um . . . not sure. I'll confirm with the others first and then I'll tell you the details tomorrow."

"Liar."

"Fine, fine," Mitsui mumbled. "Its best if you don't know the details. Got a few new people joining in the club and well, I don't trust them. The fact that everyone in the 'club' thinks we're fucking isn't helping at all. I'd rather not leave too much information with you lest you become valuable to them."

"Oh that again," Fujima said with a groan. "Why the hell do they insist on that?"

"Maybe because we're two gorgeous guys who've been living together since time immemorial and they're jealous because we've never really shown interest on anyone else?"

"Anyone else?" Fujima repeated. "Mitsui, you're hot and all but you're not exactly the type of guy I'd find myself--"

"I know, I know," Mitsui said quickly. "I was only kidding. And you DO know that you're pretty and all that but you're like a brother to me."

"Oh shut up," Fujima said, punching Mitsui playfully on the arm.

The two boys laughed for a few minutes before lapsing into a long companionable silence.

Mitsui was the first to break it. "When's the last time you ever had sex, Fujima?"

"Excuse me?!"

"Seriously."

Fujima groaned. "You KNOW that I've never . . . done that sort of thing before."

"Oh," Mitsui said. "Yeah, I know. But then I was hoping you'd confide something interesting tonight. You know, like . . . 'Hey, Mitsui, I haven't told you anything before but I can't keep it a secret any longer. I've secretly been cavorting with this guy I met in the bar for three whole days now.' Or something to that effect."

Fujima rolled his eyes. "Mitsui!"

"Hehe," Mitsui chuckled. "Come on! Last time I did it was . . . last year. Been pretty drunk I could hardly remember his face. Sheesh!"

"Well don't vent out your sexual frustrations on me," Fujima muttered, turning to his side. "I've got enough frustrations as it is. I'll die a virgin, most likely." He yawned and closed his eyes.

Mitsui sat up and crossed his arms. "I was thinking," he said, sounding thoughtful. "You don't really have to die without getting some. I mean, its such a waste! You're missing a whole lot. And have you ever wondered if maybe . . . you know, WE could . . . get together?"

Fujima's eyes snapped open and he turned to face his roommate. "Mitsui. You're my FRIEND."

"It's possible," Mitsui said. "Look, I'm only entertaining the idea because there's no one else out there and I can't imagine spending the rest of my life celibate!"

"If you're considering me just so you could shove your dick up somewhere, then don't even bother!"

"All right, I'm sorry," Mitsui muttered, getting off Fujima's bunk and trudging over to his. "But I really meant it. You CAN'T deny that it's very probable that we'll eventually get together--at least given that we go on like this and nothing drastic happens. Like maybe the guy you met a while ago comes by and spirits you away."

Fujima sighed heavily and groaned. "Okay, I didn't mean it to sound that way, Mitsui. And do you actually think I'd leave you if that happens? I mean, we're brothers . . . right?"

"Well, yeah. . . ."

"So where one goes the other one follows, right?"

"Right. . . ."

Fujima grinned. "Good. Just clearing that up. I'm getting out of this damn planet. Wanna come?"

"Did you have to ask?"

Fujima's grin widened and he laid back down, closing his eyes. "Good night, Mitsui."

Sakuragi trudged along the pathway to one of the most sleaziest inns he had ever seen. "We're spending the night in that?"

"You've got no reason to complain," Maki said calmly, knocking once on the rotting wood of the front door.

"No reason? I've got TONS of reasons. One I could think of now is that we've got plenty of money. Why choose to be economical now?"

Maki sighed heavily as he turned his back to the door in order to face him. "We have two months of travel ahead of us. We need as much money as we could spare."

"We're leaving for Asa tomorrow," Sakuragi reminded. "We don't NEED that much money in Asa! They've got resources everywhere. EVERYTHING'S cheap there."

Maki rolled his eyes. "We're not STOPPING at Asa, Sakuragi. We go to Rhea after that, then Frater, then to Fidelis. We might even end up in Vehetus or Genuseris, for all we know."

"It's useless complaining to you."

"Thank you for finally realizing it."

Subtly, Kogure intruded into the brewing argument with a slight cough. "Um, Sakuragi, I understand your . . . reservations about spending the night in this place, but Maki's right. We'll need a lot of money in our travels and its wise to choose to be economical now."

Sakuragi raised his eyebrow at his second companion and sighed heavily. Oh well, one could never argue with Kogure. "Fine."

Maki flashed Kogure a grateful smile before turning back to the door which was now being opened--with much difficulty--by a grumpy-looking old man with a crooked nose and thick rimmed glasses.

"Yeah. What do you boys want?"

"A room for the night," Maki quickly replied.

"Just the night?" the man asked, scratching the tip of his nose. "Okay. Come in. Oh, and watch your step. The floorboards are weak. Got two or three last week going through. Left the damn floor with three wide holes."

Sakuragi froze. "Maki. . . ."

"It's not THAT bad."

"Yes it is! Look, Maki, I'm not denying it. I'm a big guy. Those floorboards creak under that old man's frame already. I don't think they'll just be creaking under mine combined with all these bags I'm holding."

Kogure sighed heavily. "Look, I'll go first, all right?" He smiled at the old man, who by now had found his way behind a counter at the other end. He took a step forward, released breath when it creaked under him but didn't do anything more, and moved to stand in front of the counter by the stairs, carefully avoiding the padded up floorboards that, Sakuragi assumed, covered the "holes" the old man was talking about.

Maki shrugged. "See?" And then he followed suit.

Sakuragi stood outside, still unmoving.

"This place has got four floors. The top two floors have five apartments each but since you're looking for simple rooms, there's one free on the second floor." He took out a small key and handed it to Maki. "Third door to your right. Got three bunks. The bathroom's at the end of the hall. We follow a first come first serve basis."

Maki nodded and turned to Kogure, handing him the key. "Go on ahead." Then he faced Sakuragi. "Come on. Unless you want to spend the whole night out there."

Sakuragi sighed. "Fine." He took one step forward and sighed with relief when it didn't give in under him.

"I'm going out," a voice from upstairs filtered to the first floor as they heard footsteps heading down.

The old man chuckled. "All right. You've got three hours before I close up," he called out as a figure appeared at the top of the stairs. Said figure came jumping down, not even the least bit fearful of the creaking stairs under him as shown by his gait.

"I know," the guy said, grinning as he stopped three steps from the bottom. "New guests? They certainly look like they could afford some more."

Sakuragi raised an eyebrow and turned to Maki. "Uh-huh."

Maki ignored him. "Hey there," he called out to the newcomer.

"Hey," the man greeted back. "It's a worn down place but it keeps you sheltered well enough." With a tilt of his head he asked, "New in town?"

"We're from the Quisterra Res--"

"We're new, yes," Maki said, cutting Sakuragi off with a glare.

Sakuragi bit his lip. Of course, they weren't a part of the QRC anymore. And no one's supposed to know they worked for the Consul. "Yeah, we're . . . tourists."

"Tourists?" the man repeated, looking incredulous.

Kogure groaned and Maki slapped a hand to his forehead.

The man raised an eyebrow and grinned at the caretaker. "Tourists? In Quisterra? Okay. That's . . . weird. What the hell do you expect to see in this dump?"

Sakuragi blinked. "Uh. . . ."

"We're actually researchers," Kogure said. "From . . . Asa. We're from an independent group in the local university and we were sent here to study certain environmental patterns."

"Oh."

Sakuragi was silently thanking the heavens for sending Kogure to them.

"I see," the man said with a grin. "Well, in that case, good luck. I'm Hisashi Mitsui, by the way. I live up on the fourth floor."

Maki nodded. "Nice meeting you. Maki Shinichi. These are Kiminobu Kogure and Hanamichi Sakuragi."

"Pleasure. Okay, that's done. I really have to be going now," Mitsui said, turning to the old man behind the counter. "Um, Fujima sort of . . . doesn't know I've gone so if he wakes up and ask, tell him . . . I'm working."

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks," Mitsui said, finding his way down to the bottom of the stairs.

Kogure shifted his bag from one arm to the other and moved towards the staircase. He never made it though. The moment he stepped forward, the floor gave way under him and his foot got stuck on the floor.

"Ah!" Kogure exclaimed but a strong hand grabbed hold of both his arms and pulled him out of the cavity immediately.

"Careful," Mitsui said, grinning. "You better know these floorboards well. The ones in the middle are VERY weak so try taking the ones at the sides."

Kogure swallowed thickly. "Um, thanks."

Sakuragi looked at the meager hole on the floor. "Okay, that wasn't deep at all."

"Actually, the bottom's just a feet down," the old man said, leaning on the counter.

"I wouldn't have minded if you told me that earlier," Sakuragi muttered, taking Mitsui's advice and scooting over to the side then approaching Kogure from there.

"Well, good night people," Mitsui said, patting Kogure on the shoulder and flashing him a charming smile before trotting to the door and disappearing behind it.

Maki gestured to the stairs. "You want me to go ahead?" he asked Kogure.

Kogure nodded fervently. "Yes, please."

Once in the room, Sakuragi promptly collapsed on the middle bunk--very much minding how uncomfortable it was but choosing to just shut up about it. "I can't believe we're leaving for Asa tomorrow. It's been a long time since I've been there and its not much of an eyesore compared to THIS planet."

"It's not an eyesore at all," Maki agreed, sitting on his own bunk and turning to Kogure. "So, what have you got on those sentries?"

Kogure set his bag on the side of his bed and pulled out some papers. "Um, the ones in Asa are headed by this Genuseris commander. Wait, I'll look for his name." He scanned through the papers and grinned. "Kaede Rukawa. Yep, that's the one."

"Never heard of him before," Maki said with a frown.

"He's recently been promoted," Kogure informed him. "I printed out his profile. Apparently, he's been under Akira Sendoh's training for three whole years. Well, I wouldn't be too surprised then. Sendoh's one of the best generals Genuseris has to offer."

"Which makes you wonder what he's doing working for that Minami," Sakuragi spat out. "I met him before and he's a fairly decent guy--too dang talkative if you ask me, and a tad bit too arrogant, but then he's decent still."

Maki chuckled. "Look who's talking."

"Shut up, Maki!"

Maki raised his hands. "All right. Anything more?"

"Yeah," Kogure said. "The sentries in Asa are directly under the command of the Aquila Potens. They won't be leaving that place unless Minami says so and it seems like he won't be giving orders for that anytime soon."

"And the other sentries?"

"There are four groups based in Frater, and three in Vehetus."

"And they're all under who now?"

Kogure scanned through some more of his papers. "Hiroaki Koshino in Frater and Toru Hanagata in Vehetus."

"Koshino," Maki repeated. "Funny thing that he's stationed in Frater. He almost never leaves Genuseris from what I heard."

Kogure shrugged. "Well, that's what the reports say."

Sakuragi closed his eyes and shut out the small discussion between Maki and Kogure. He'd hoped they would be leaving for Asa that night so he wouldn't have to spend so much time in this place. His eyes snapped open when the thunder cracked outside and the rain started to pour. "A storm. Just great."

"You don't have to worry about that," Kogure assured him. "I read in the newspaper that it'll be gone by tomorrow."

"Give me that newspaper," Sakuragi said, sitting up. "I need something to bore me to sleep."

Kogure smiled apologetically. "Sorry but I left it on my desk."

Sakuragi sighed and lay back down on his bunk. "This is so not my day." From his side he could hear something wet hitting the floor on regular intervals. "And we've got a stupid leak. This is supposed to be the SECOND floor for crying out loud."

"Why do you always have to complain?" Maki asked, exasperated.

"I complain because I have something to complain about," Sakuragi muttered, closing his eyes and listening to the continuous tapping of water against wood. Eventually he dozed off. A few hours later, he opened his eyes and found both Maki and Kogure asleep in their very own bunks. Shifting on his bed, he closed his eyes again and tried to will himself to sleep, turning to the tapping of water for help. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tog. Tog. Tog. Tog. Tog.

Sakuragi eyes snapped open. "Eh?"

Kogure and Maki had risen from their bunks and were approaching the door--the source of all the noise.

Sakuragi blinked and sat up. Indeed, someone was insistently knocking on their room door. "Who is it?"

Maki shrugged sleepily and went over to pull the door open. A man dressed in jeans and a purple sweater stumbled forward, messy hair flying about and covering his face.

Kogure blinked. "Are you all right?"

The stranger picked himself up from the floor and stood up on shaky legs.

"Kiyota!" a voice called out from outside the room. Almost immediately, a boy came running inside, kneeling on the floor to help his fallen companion.

Sakuragi stood up and walked over to the two boys. "What's going on? Why were you knocking on our door."

The boy that had been called Kiyota, threw his head back and glared at Sakuragi. "You! You're Minami's spy aren't you? You were sent here to kill the Consul!"

Sakuragi blinked. "Excuse me?"

His companion flushed with embarrassment and tried to pull Kiyota away. "Um, listen, Kiyota. I don't think we're here to accuse anyone yet."

"Accuse?" Maki repeated, closing the door and crossing his arms. "What's the meaning of this? Who are you?"

"My name is Soichiro Jin," the boy said. "This is my partner, Nobunaga Kiyota. We work for an independent agency stationed in the capital. Our leader's name is Takenori Akagi. Does he sound familiar to you?"

Maki's eyebrows shot up. "Akagi? You're from HIS agency?"

Kiyota gave him an enthusiastic nod. "Yes and we were sent here to investigate on Minami's spies. And that's you!" He pointed at Sakuragi, then at Kogure and Maki. "And the two of you too!"

"Spies?" Kogure asked with a frown. "I don't understand. We're not spies."

"Ha! That's what they all say!" Kiyota said, standing up and putting his hands on his hips. Meanwhile, Jin was doing a very good imitation of a ripe tomato.

"Look here, buddy," Sakuragi muttered. "We're NOT spies and we weren't SENT to this place. We LIVE in this planet, and we're leaving tomorrow to do our own investigation! And it's an official investigation, I'll have you know. We've got orders straight from Consul Miyagi!"

Kogure's eyes widened. "Sakuragi, you're not supposed to say that!"

Kiyota's eyes narrowed into slits. "Are you saying Miyagi's in this too?"

Sakuragi groaned. "NO you idiot!"

Kogure slipped between the two warring boys with his hands held up. "Listen, what made you think we're spies? And how did you know we're here?"

Kiyota prepared to speak but Jin promptly covered his mouth. "Um, we've actually been following you since this afternoon when you left the QRC office."

"Following us?" Sakuragi repeated. "Why would you want to follow us?

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Maki muttered. "They think we're Minami's spies."

"About that bit," Jin began, taking out a newspaper from his backpack and handing it to Maki, "its here. Page 8. The article was written by Hikoichi Aida."

Maki raised an eyebrow and leafed through the newspaper while Sakuragi and Kogure scooted over at either side of him.

"Hey, that's us," Sakuragi said, pointing at a blown up picture of the three of them in front of the newly built QRC building. "What are we doing there?"

Maki raised an eyebrow. "Read the heading."

"Minami's Men Infiltrates the QRC," Kogure read. "What?!"

Kiyota wrestled himself from Jin's grasp. "Yes. You've been caught red handed! The very moment Director Akagi read that part he sent us over immediately to aid Consul Miyagi!"

"Actually," Jin said. "We were just sent over to investigate if what Aida reports is true or not. He says that all three of you have been working under Minami for the past three months and you were planning to make a getaway this morning."

"What crap!" Sakuragi exploded. "I can't believe this! Who's this Hikoichi Aida?! How dare he mislead the public--"

"Actually, he's a good fabble spinner," Maki commented, flipping through the other pages. "He wrote an article about Consul Miyagi saying he's suffering from hypertension and hallucinates every so often. And he even mentioned you being 'the traitorous scoundrel who is at our dear Consul's side everyday, weaving his tricks like the brilliant infiltrator that he is and shrouding our great leader with lies and false reassurances.' What do you think about that?"

"Well, I AM brilliant and all. . . ."

Maki raised an eyebrow. "Of course," he said wryly. "Well, no doubt about it." He folded the newspaper up and threw it at Kiyota. "That reporter's a hoax. We're not working for Minami. In fact, we're working AGAINST him. We're leaving," he looked at his watch, "in two hours. Good thing you knocked, we would've almost slept through the whole morning. Kogure, pack your bags."

Kogure blinked. "Oh, okay," he said, moving to the side of his bed and zipping his bags close.

Kiyota's mouth dropped open. "Wait a second! You can't leave! We still have to report to Akagi. If you're not Minami's spies, we need proof."

Maki sighed. "You can take my word for it or you get your own proof."

Fujima woke up at exactly six in the morning. He yawned and stretched his limbs before picking himself up and trudging to the comfort room to brush his teeth.

After doing so, he washed his face and began to change his clothes. "Good morning, Mitsui," he called out.

No one answered him.

"Mitsui?" Fujima tried again, buttoning up his shirt and leaving the bathroom, he glanced at Mitsui's bunk. It was empty.

Fujima raised an eyebrow. "What the hell--"

Before he could say anything more, a pale-faced Mitsui burst through the door, panting hard. "Fujima!"

"Mitsui?"

Mitsui cast him a strained smile and dove for the closet right beside his bed. He pulled out two large bags and started to stuff random stuff in them.

"What on Quisterra are you doing?" Fujima asked, rushing to Mitsui's side.

"Packing," Mitsui promptly answered, zipping up his bag once it had been packed to the brim and proceeding to dump Fujima's belongings into the other. "We're leaving."

"WHAT?" Fujima exclaimed.

"Long story," Mitsui said, closing Fujima's bag and throwing it to him. "But the gist of it is that I've been screwed. NO, not THAT kind of screwed. I meant betrayed, turned over, exposed. That kind of screwed. Some nosy rascal tipped off my old boss--the one I ran off from? The horny old bastard? Remember him?"

Fujima frowned. "You mean the one you stole the hundred gold pieces from?"

"Yep, that one," Mitsui said. "Well, he now knows this place and he's after my head. If we're not out of here in ten minutes, my old boss's people will come busting through that door to slit my throat. And maybe yours too." He grabbed Fujima's arm and hauled him out of the room. "I got shuttle tickets to Asa. Youhei arranged them for me."

Fujima's mouth dropped open as he was helplessly dragged to the stairs and to the third floor. "Remind me who's Youhei again?"

"A friend," Mitsui answered simply, catching Fujima as he tripped on a step and practically carrying him to the second floor. "Sorry about this."

Fujima was about to speak when he heard some footsteps coming from the bottom and two consecutive sounds of floorboards breaking. "Uh, I think we've got visitors."

"It's them!" Mitsui hissed, pushing Fujima back. "We have to hide."

Without thinking, Fujima chose a random door and kicked it open, shoving Mitsui inside. The two boys closed the door and leaned back on it, breathing hard.

"Mitsui?"

Mitsui's head snapped up. "Oh, er, the new people," he greeted. "Kogure, right?"

Fujima blinked. A comely young man with glasses stood a few meters away, looking at the two of them curiously. His eyes shifted from the boy to the other occupants in the room. Two men were standing right behind him and his jaw dropped to his chest when he saw the other two men standing at the side.

"Hey, you're the bartender!" Sakuragi said, pointing at him.

"You're name's Fujima, right?" Maki asked, smiling slightly.

Fujima stood there, frozen.

Mitsui got the hint. "Oh, so you met my friend," he said, grinning. "Um, we're just stopping by--" he paused when there seemed to be some commotion directly outside the room then continued when the noise died away, "--to greet you a wonderful morning!" He grabbed Fujima's arm and pulled open the door. "We're going now!"

He didn't get far though when a man popped out of nowhere from the other side of the door and promptly punched Mitsui in the stomach.

"What's going on?" Sakuragi demanded as Mitsui doubled over and fell to his knees.

That was when Fujima snapped out of his shock and knelt down to help his friend.

There were three burly men outside the room and all of them looked just about read to crush Mitsui's skull. Fujima had NO doubt that they could do so.

"Um, listen," Fujima began as he tried to drag Mitsui away from the door. "I know why you're here. But can't we . . . negotiate or something? We don't have to resort to violence now, do we?"

The trio didn't reply and marched into the room.

"Wait a second," Maki said, moving forward and holding up a hand. "This is our room and I didn't recall saying you could come in."

Kogure stepped back. "Maki," he whispered. "They've got knives."

Fujima gulped. He figured if he was going to die, he might as well do the right thing. "Okay, um, these people have NOTHING to do with us, all right? We'll come with you to wherever you want us to go, but you leave these people alone."

"All right then," one of the men finally spoke up. "Come with us." He reached out and grabbed Fujima roughly by the arm, dragging him up and throwing him to his companion as if he was merely a doll. Then he grabbed Mitsui by the shoulders and delivered another good one on his stomach before hauling him up on his feet.

"Hey, that's enough!" Sakuragi said, moving forward until he was nose to nose to the man holding Mitsui. "Let go of them. They didn't do anything wrong."

"Um, Sakuragi, please don't get involved," Fujima pleaded. "They'll kill you!"

"We're not allowing you to take these two away," Maki said, ignoring Fujima and standing right beside Sakuragi. "Please let them go and leave."

The man who wasn't holding anyone stepped forward and grabbed a fistful of Maki's shirt. "Listen, buddy. We've got our orders. Be thankful we're not coming for you."

"Wait a second," a man Fujima didn't recognize emerged from behind Maki. "Maybe YOU'RE the spies!"

Sakuragi groaned. "Kiyota! Would you quit it already?!"

The other boy's companion rushed forward. "I don't think they're spies, Kiyota."

"Jin, don't you remember what Director Akagi told us?" Kiyota asked. "Be skeptical about everything."

"But this is a little too much," Jin said.

"We've got no time for this," one of the goons said, pushing Sakuragi backwards and turning around.

"Hey, don't turn your back on me!" Sakuragi said, grabbing his shoulder.

The man turned around swiftly and delivered a hard punch on Sakuragi's jaw. The redhead stumbled back, quickly recovered then charged angrily, landing a blow on the goon's stomach.

Mitsui grinned and wrestled himself from one of the men's grip, turning a hundred and eighty degrees and kicking him on the chest while Maki shrugged off the last one's hands from his collar and roughly shoved him away.

Fujima had to scoot over to the side to avoid one of the goons who had stumbled back and had fallen to the floor. Surprisingly enough, the three men seemed to have fallen unconscious.

"What a bunch of weaklings," Kiyota muttered.

"Not like YOU did anything," Sakuragi spat out.

Jin had to hold Kiyota back when he attempted to jump the redhead.

"All right, this is not good," Kogure said. "I think we better go."

"Yeah, I think we should," Mitsui agreed. He grabbed his bag. "Let's go Fujima."

Fujima simply nodded and followed Mitsui out and it was only then when he heard heavy footsteps from the upper floor. "There's more of them?!"

"Seems like it," Mitsui said and then he turned back to the others. "I'd suggest you leave too."

"Don't need to say it twice," Sakuragi said, kicking one of the goons who had started to come round on the back and sending him tumbling back down onto the floor. The sound of the floorboard creaking made him blink. "Er, yeah. Let's go. Any objections, Maki?"

Maki simply shook his head and led Sakuragi and Kogure out.

"Leave with us or die," Sakuragi said simply to Kiyota and Jin.

The two looked at each other and scrambled out of the room, following the five others who were making their way to the first floor.

Fujima gulped as the footsteps started to get louder. "They're coming down!"

"Go, go, go!" Mitsui shouted, jumping to the bottom of the stairs and running out the front door. Sakuragi, Kogure and Maki followed him and just as Fujima was about to step out, Kiyota and Jin came stumbling down the steps.

"Don't pass by the middle!" Fujima called out. "The floorboards--"

Crack!

"Wah!" Kiyota exclaimed, plunging knee deep into the floor. Jin ran to him and tried to pull him out.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Kiyota kept on saying as Jin desperately pulled at his arms. Fujima left the doorway to assist him and just as two large figures appeared at the top of the stairs, Kiyota came free.

His heart working into a panic, Fujima grabbed both Kiyota and Jin's arms and dragged them outside.

Maki and Mitsui were rushing back to meet them.

"What took you so long?" Mitsui demanded.

"Kiyota got stuck--literally," Fujima explained before all five of them jumped off the front porch and ran for their lives.

As they passed by an alleyway, Kogure's head popped out. "This way!" he shouted.

The five skidded on their feet as they made a quick detour and followed Kogure down the narrow passage and out the other end where the market was. Sakuragi was already there, leaning on the wall behind him and breathing hard.

"Who were those people?" Maki demanded. "They looked like they wanted to kill you or something."

Fujima opened his mouth to speak but froze once he realized who it was he was about to talk to. And as luck--and fate--would have it, his mind replayed the past events when he made a total fool of himself before going blank.

Mitsui grinned when he noticed this. "Um, long story."

Kiyota's eyes brightened. "Maybe the two of you ARE the spies--"

"Oh, come off it!" Sakuragi snapped.

Jin pulled Kiyota back by the arm. "Listen, maybe we were wrong about them. We should send a report to Director Akagi to tell him that Aida's articles are all false."

"You do that," Sakuragi suggested.

"Um, but I think you should concern yourself on staying alive first," Kogure said, pointing ahead of them where a dozen beefy goons were making their way past the heavy throng of people. "They're coming."

"Into the crowd," Maki ordered and the seven sped off.

"Look, we have a shuttle leaving for Asa in half an hour," Mitsui said, running and panting at the same time. "We have to get a ride."

"We're leaving for Asa too," Kogure informed him, almost tripping over a basket of fruits--which quite surprised him since the local market in Quisterra hardly had any food to sell. Most were garments and other such merchandise.

Turning into another alley, the seven boys stopped to catch their breaths.

"Look, there's a stop up ahead. We can ride a bus to the airport," Jin suggested.

"We?" Sakuragi repeated.

"Of course," Kiyota said, brandishing two tickets in front of the redhead. "We're going to Asa too. Director gave them to us just in case you slipped past us. Once we got info on you spies--"

"Kiyota," Jin said in a warning tone.

"Figures," Maki muttered, breathing hard.

Mitsui shifted his bag from one arm to the next. "We better get going before they catch us here and have us running again."

Maki nodded. "Good idea." He turned to Fujima. "You having difficulty with that?" he asked, gesturing at Fujima's bag.

Fujima managed to gather up two words for an answer. "It's . . . okay. . . ."

"If you say so," Maki said. "Move it gentlemen. It's a long way to Asa."