Andromeda

The Inner Man – Episode 12 – Innocence

"What? What is your name?"

"Silly its Kohana! Don't you remember daddy?"

Mashiro stared at Chiko confused. He pulled Chiko off of his neck and looked at him closely. He was staring at him with a genuinely happy expression that was not hiding fear. It was not the same Chiko that collapsed on the stairs or that was afraid of him for the last two days. 'What is going on here? What has happened to Chiko and who is this Kohana?'

The sudden change when Chiko awoke had Mashiro confused and hardly able to find the words he wanted. He did not know what had happened to Chiko, but it seemed as though that Chiko was no longer there. Mashiro wanted to say something, anything that Chiko might hear yet he could not find the words he wanted. In the state he was in now, he did not even know where Chiko was within the mind and body. 'I don't understand any of this.'

Then Mashiro looked back at Chiko who was smiling at him. He knew it was not Chiko in there, though it made him a little warm inside seeing him comfort around him again and not being completely terrified. They had been fighting and unable to even be in the same room for long. He was so lost by everything that he could not even protect him if something happened.

"Daddy?"

Mashiro looked up at him a little in surprise, "Chiko…I…"

"Why do you keep calling me Chiko, daddy?"

"W-well, I…" Mashiro looked away not certain what he was supposed to say at moment like this. He had been without words for so long it seemed like all he could do was stubble over himself. 'What am I suppose to say? Is Chiko in here? Can he hear me? What do I do with this other person?'

"Daddy?" Kohana said again stepping closer to Mashiro with a curious, though confused look on her face. She grabbed his hand looking up at him smiling.

It was hard for Mashiro not to want to smile back; there was a warmth in that face that seemed to ignore everything that had happened. She looked up at him as though it did not mean anything and all was forgiven. Yet it seemed too simple and easy, he wanted to accept it, but there was something holding him back from blindly stepping forward. 'What do I do? I guess I will have to play along until I figure something out…'

Mashiro bent down to look at her a little more closely. He looked into her eyes; there was no hint of Chiko. Whatever had happened there were no signs of hesitation or fear. "Kohana…" he said softly with hesitation.

"Daddy!" Kohana said with great excitement and clutched him in her arms as best as she could. The sudden force from her grabbing him knocked him off his feet to the ground sliding across the floor until he smacked into the wall. The impact dazed him enough that his eyes were spinning trying to find their center again. Kohana puzzled by his sudden incapacitated state climbed up on him painfully. Her knees dug into his stomach waking him from his confusion screaming.

"Gah! I'm awake!"

"Daddy!" she said clinging to his neck.

"C-can't breathe…" Mashiro said gasping for air and trying to pulled the arms from around his neck away. "Ch—I mean Kohana, please."

"Huh?" Kohana suddenly let go of him letting him breathe again.

Mashiro coughed; finally able to breath again he was taking deep breaths. He looked at Chiko or rather this Kohana who was sitting rather heavily on his chest straddling him and staring him in the eyes. The look was a little unnerving being so close to him, he was not used to Chiko being this friendly with him. Chiko always remained an arms length distance away from him at all times. There was always something bothering him that gave him that sour expression he had most of the time. Mashiro was seeing a smile on that face, an actual genuine smile with happiness. It was a pleasant sight, even if he felt like he was being pushed inside the wall at the moment.

He tried to pull himself up off of the floor, but found Kohana dangling from his neck still. She had eased up off of him, but she was still keeping her arms wrapped around him. "Um…Kohana can you let go of me so I can get up?"

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Nothing…"

"So I can stay with you then?"

Mashiro sighed as she hugged him again. 'Then again, I think I wish I had Chiko…'

The scarred man walked out of the building finding it to be another empty lead. He had been searching Osaka for that female assassin for the last two days. There had been no sign of her anywhere he checked out. Every time it seemed like there was something it would turn out to be a dead end. The endless pursuit of a phantom was starting to aggravate him.

He knew that the assassin had learned something, he needed to know what it was if he was to find Chiko Toyozama. All of his previous attempts to find the man were equally empty, there was even less to find of him than of the assassin. The assassin at least had left some breadcrumbs to follow, even if they had all been eaten up before he was able to find the end.

The assassin was smart enough to clean up her mess, yet left behind enough to send him in the wrong direction. The intelligence and resourcefulness of the woman was wearing his nerves thin. Each of the men that had known something about the assassin turned up dead before he arrived. Their deaths were old, as though someone was going back over their tracks. He knew that if he was unable to find her soon there would be nothing left of a trail to follow.

His men followed up closely behind him. "Sir, we are not going to find anything."

He glanced back at them venomously; though he was not going to strike he did not want them questioning his methods. These two men were the only ones he trusted enough to take with him on his assignments. They respected him and his skill, as he trusted their aid when he required it of them. Normally, he would not have been bothered by what they said, but he was tired of this chase.

"Sir, you have not reported your actions to The Superiors. And even more, you are going against-" The other man cut him of by placing his arm in his path knowing that if he continued that there was nothing that was going to stopped the scarred man from silencing him in whatever fashion he wished.

The man was about to speak again, but he was stopped. "He has his reasons, better not push it." The two stayed back away from the scarred man as he continued towards the car. In a low voice he spoke to the other. "I've never seen him like this before."

"I know that has me concerned. If the Superiors discover the truth…"

"Yes, but he will not listen to what we have to say at a time like this. There is something eating at him like I've never seen."

"He has dealt with things like this in the past though. We've seen him do it. Why should this be any different?"

"Those were resolved, this is still unresolved and the Superiors took him away from this. It has become a matter of honor."

"But if this continues, there is more at stake than just his honor."

"He knows the risks. All we can do is follow him and watch."

"If you are finished talking about me behind my back, get in the car," the scarred man said. The two men looked towards him a little worried. It was pretty obvious what they were doing. They just hoped that they would live long enough following him to wherever his actions took him.

They both entered the car at the front, one as the driver and the other a passenger. Since they had arrived in Osaka for the second time, they did not have a driver. It was just another sign of how the scarred man was handling the situation. The car drove away with just silence until they came to the intersection where there were two men standing in the crosswalk.

As they approached the crosswalk, the two men refused to move from their spot. They were not intending to cross since they were facing the car as it approached them. The two in the car looked at each other knowing that there was something more to this. It was uncertain to them, but their guess was that they hit someone's nerve with all of their investigation. These two men outside were here to halt their searching one way or other. That was their guess at least, though they preferred not to be wrong since this could be their only lead at the moment.

They stopped the car just at the men's feet who remained unfazed by the act. They stepped out of the car walking towards to two in the crosswalk. The two were wearing masks, half white and half black. As they approached the two on the crosswalk turned to face them.

The masked men were wearing all black, nothing that distinguished them as being part of any group. It was simple black pants and shirt that were as ordinary as they appeared to be. The only strange part was their masks that left the two puzzled by their meaning aside from hiding their faces.

The scarred man's two men faced them in simple suits, appearing almost as businessmen. It made the job of blending easier if they appeared to just be ordinary men working a normal nine to five job. That was obviously not the case, but appearances were everything.

The four of them stared at each other not saying a word for a minute, none of them wanted to give an opening. Then one of the scarred man's men, the driver opened up the conversation. "Mind moving along?"

"Were we interrupting something?" one of the masked men replied.

"Nothing, though you are impeding traffic."

"Goin' to call a cop?"

"Hardly. Then you shall not be moving?"

"Depends on you."

"Hope you don't mind us getting a little rough then."

"Oh, but please try," the masked man said as he slowly entered into a defensive stance. The other masked man did the same. The scarred man's men did the same staring at their foes. "No manners? Not even an introduction?"

"Who needs introductions for those that will die!" the other one that had been the passenger and quiet until now said.

"A little old fashion are we?" the driver said.

"We like to know the names of those we kill."

"Confident aren't we?"

The masked man on the left that had been doing all of the talking leapt forward striking with his leg across the driver's face. The driver blocked the attack quickly without too much effort. The attack felt more like he was being tested than a striking blow. "I shall greet you then, I am called White Rain."

The driver pushed the leg back smirking as he returned with a kick to the man's mid section, also blocked easily. "I am called Kitsune."

The other masked man was then introduced to the passenger of the car with a fist to the face. The masked man caught the punch with his hand. "I would be Shisa," the passenger said.

The masked man pushed back on Shisa's arm knocking him back a step. "Seems I am the last one, I'm Black Snow."

The four took their fight to the side of the road in the grass. The car was still parked in the street with the scarred man not moving from the back seat. He sat watching the fight, examining them as the two fought his men. It was still early in the fight for him to judge the outcome, but he trusted his men to be able to handle them.

Kitsune exchanged kicks and punches with White Rain, neither seeming to be putting in their full effort. Both of them were underestimating their opponent and the match was almost like sparring. The two were not really landing solid hits as though they were just toying with the other. Neither was getting serious anytime soon.

However, Shisa was already going all out on Black Snow. He was putting his full force into each punch and kick. He wanted to end the fight as quickly as possible and did not want to waste time on these two masked fools. The fight was not going as well as he had hoped though. His attacks were being blocked without much effort by Snow. Shisa was running out of ideas quickly in the fight.

Shisa took a hard kick to his ribs that he was unable to block that sent him backwards several steps. He was panting hard trying to catch his breath while Snow did not seem to be affected by anything. However, he was not about to let that stop him from winning the fight as he charged towards Snow again. His attack was side stepped out of the way as Shisa just grew angrier.

Snow then charged suddenly at Shisa sending his knee into Shisa's stomach knocking him to the ground. Shisa was stunned by the attack that he could not get up as Snow kicked him in the side causing him to roll in the grass painfully. As Snow brought another kick down on him, Shisa caught the leg his eyes opening pushing away the pain. Shisa's eyes narrowed as he could see the surprise through Snow's body. He pulled in Snow's leg and threw him by the leg into the grass.

Shisa's throw made Snow slide in the grass until he slowly came to a halt. He immediately stood up rushing over to where Snow stopped to follow up the attack. Snow was already ready for Shisa when he arrive, but Shisa broke through his defense landing his kick square at his chest. The blow knocked Snow back again and to the ground. Snow waited on one knee for Shisa to come at him, but Shisa was waiting this time having suddenly changed his tactics.

Kitsune and Rain continued their stalemate until Kitsune decided it was finally time to stop toying with him. He spun a powerful kick in through Rain's block and hit directly in the ribs sending him to the ground. Rain coughed through the mask looking at Kitsune stand over him.

"Finally got serious," Rain said. Rain then spun around sweeping his legs at Kitsune who leapt to avoid the strike. But Rain continued the assault as his legs were behind him he pushed up off the ground at Kitsune. Kitsune was able to block him, but the force knocked him backwards. Rain then threw a punch at him that was too fast for him block that hit him in the jaw. The impact dazed him enough that he was off guard for the next attacks that sent him to the ground.

Kitsune was unable to keep up with the speed of the attacks after being put on the defensive trying to avoid what was being thrown at him. He was quickly cornered by Rain who finished him with a kick to the head that knocked him out completely. Shisa's fight with Snow ended in the same fashion with Shisa being knocked out. The two men left unconscious as the masked men approached the car where the scarred man waited.

The scarred man opened the car door facing the grass and stepped out of the vehicle looking at the two men that had just taking out his men. He narrowly stared at them as they approached undaunted by his presence. The two men took up sides around the scarred man. Rain was on the left and Snow on the right. "So you're the one in charge of those two?" He remained quiet to their question keeping an eye on their movements. "Silent type, huh? What's your name?"

"I don't make it a habit of giving my name to those who shall be dead soon."

"Big words, your men said the same thing." The two charged at him quickly preferring haste against a single opponent. However, the scarred man was ready for them. He opened the passenger side door quickly at Rain knocking him to the ground. Immediately without pausing, he turned his attention to Snow coming at him and brought up his leg as he approached. Snow attempted to block, but the attack came so quickly before he was about to strike that there was no time.

The two were on the ground quickly with the scarred man above Rain pointing his gun at him. "Which ever of you two answers my questions shall not die." The two remained quiet not replying to the man. "Do not test my patience." He began to squeeze the trigger still pointing at Rain, while Snow got up pointing a gun at the man. However, the scarred man immediately pointed his gun at him and fired knocking the weapon out of his hand.

Snow clinched his hand staring at the man. The two still remained quiet not speaking, even though they knew the resolve and strength of their opponent. Rain and Snow looked at each other, they did not say a word though it still seemed as though they were communicating with each other.

"Last warning, first one to speak does not die."

Snow started to utter a word, which decided everything. The scarred man immediately pulled the trigger killing Rain. This sudden act silenced Snow, which did not reveal if he was surprised by the action or not, but it was clear that he just killed his partner. Now that was Rain was dead, the scarred man faced Snow completely with his gun pointed at him now.

"Time to answer, you spoke first. Whom do you work for?"

Snow stared at him not saying anything while the gun was pointed at him. It was clear that he understood that he was dead either way. Answering the man's questions would mean that he was only a few minutes behind his partner. He remained in that resolve not to respond to the questions as they stared off with each other. The silence hung in the air as cars drove by about their business.

"My patience wears thin." The scarred man fired his gun shooting Snow's kneecap and then the other knee. Snow collapsed to the ground bleeding and panting through the mask. The blank mask stared up at the scarred man still defiant even in the pain. "I only need your mouth to speak." He fired several more shots into Snow, his joint in his hips, the shoulder and elbow. Even if Snow had the strength, he would not be able to move from the ground now.

Snow was breathing heavy now, almost screaming in pain from everywhere that he hurt. He was at the mercy of the scarred man who knew no mercy. It was a question of going further in pain to die with his secrets or die sooner and be gone from the pain. Snow did not know how much more pain he could endure and he knew this was the least creative that one could be at torture. If the man wanted, he could keep doing things to him to only further the pain that he was going to feel. The bullets in him were almost a kindness to what he could be receiving from him.

The scarred man put away his gun and pulled out a knife that he had on him. He bent down and dug the knife into the man's thigh. Snow jerked around trying to get through the pain only to have to scream to feel any sort of release. The knife was pulled through the thigh scrapping painfully against the bone as it went down the thigh. Blood quickly was pouring out of the leg into the grass. Snow was quickly reaching the limit of pain he could handle.

As the knife cut off a finger from Snow's right hand he could not take it any longer. "W-we were sent…to keep an eye on you."

"Who sent you?"

"The assassin…your bosses hired."

"Where is she?"

"Ah…at the…" Snow passed out from the pain.

The scarred man put the knife away and pulled the gun out shooting him in the head. He walked over to his two men kicking them awake. "Time to go." In his hands he was holding one of the masks from the men with a bullet hole in it. Kitsune and Shisa followed behind him slowly trying to recover from the fight.

The car drove away from the scene that was filled with blood. The scarred man stared at the mask finding it familiar to him. He tossed it to the seat next to him as he is leaned back in the car. There was not much gained from that lengthy fight, but it did connect them to the female assassin. The mask connected to her as well; if he could trace the mask then he would be one step closer.

Mashiro released a heavy sigh having finally got Kohana to bed. It was rough dealing with an overly excitable child who did not have any concept of its own strength. Chiko had always made a point to remind him of his strength, but at least knew some amount of restraint when it came to using it. Kohana however did not understand that she was as strong as he was if not possibly stronger. That along with her eagerness to be close to him left him with enough bruises and sores to use up all of the Band-Aids he had in the house. He looked like a mummy almost, the hospital wrapping dangled around his head loosely accenting his exasperation with his situation.

He hardly knew what he was going to do anymore with her. It was night right now, but it was only a few hours till morning and he still did not have any rest. He had wanted a drink, though after everything he went through with Kohana that was the last thing on his mind. The more pressing matter was that Chiko was gone and there was someone or something in his place. Mashiro did not understand it, but he knew that there was clearly something wrong and he needed to find the answers to this puzzle.

The only problem was that he did not have a place to look for those answers. He could only try to guess from what he knew about the body. Unfortunately, he knew nothing about the body anymore than Chiko did, probably even less. The only one that knew the body was that crazy doctor. The thought made Mashiro cringe when he realized what he was going to have to do.

The last thing he wanted to do was go to the doctor for help. He knew that Chiko would not want the help either, but the doctor was the only one that did know the body. The thought of the doctor in the house and going crazy over his little girl was enough to make Mashiro turn blue. However, he did not have much of a choice in the matter. Crazy or not, the doctor made the body and would be the only one that could even begin to try to answer the question to what happened Chiko.

Mashiro was reluctant to call the doctor at night and decided to go to sleep for a couple hours. Unfortunately, Mashiro was rudely awakened by a bouncing Kohana two hours later. He opened his eyes to find himself being launched several inches off the mattress by Kohana's jumping. She was excited by the morning that she had to come into his room to wake him up. She insisted on getting in the bed next to him to warm up.

She lightly touched him in the leg as she rolled over near him making him jump out of reflex. He was afraid that Chiko was going to kick him again. However, Kohana simply put her arms over him to get close to him. It felt strange for Mashiro to have her this close to him always being at arms length. Even though he felt like he was protector and guardian, he felt more like a housekeeper than an actual parent until now. He knew that Chiko did not need a parent; he was old enough that he was not a child in spite of how he acted at times. But it was comforting and refreshing to actually be able to just have her next to him looking innocence needing him.

'Betrayed us for those like you. Betrayed us for a simple life, an easy life. But he can never have such things; there is too much blood on his hands to ever find that life. He can taste the blood even now. He is a weapon and can't forget what he is even with all of the pretty children and nice houses,' Rachel said in his mind, her voice coming back to him suddenly with Kohana next to him. It made him snap out the fantasy that she was putting him. The reality was that Rachel was right on some level; he did not deserve this life even if he wanted it and might be able to have it. He wanted to know the happiness of having a daughter and watch her grow up, but this was fake.

Mashiro got up out of bed, Kohana dragging along with him. His face was narrow with the thoughts that were heavy on his mind. That was until Kohana yanked him to the bed again. "Gah! Daddy, doesn't bend that way. Kohana! Ah…Kohana! Help!" Mashiro tried to pull out of her grasp feebly. Her hold around him was tight enough to break his back. He could have sworn that he felt something snap as he collapsed on the bed. "H-how…how about I make you breakfast, Kohana."

"Okay!" she said bouncing around on the bed finally having released him in the middle of one of her bounces. Mashiro was nearly broken in pieces across the bed from Kohana excitement. He wondered if he would make it through the morning alive.

"Go take your shower and I'll have your breakfast ready."

"You're not going to come into the bath with me, daddy?"

"Well, I-I…err…I already had a bath."

"Oh…okay!" Kohana bounce off the bed and ran through the hall to her room grabbing clothes. Mashiro sighed crawling slowly off the bed trying to recover himself. He was upside down melting across the floor when he saw what he thought was a bare butt running through the hallway. He blinked once confused, but whatever he had seen was already gone if he had even seen something at all.

Mashiro was quickly rushing around the kitchen trying to get breakfast ready. He was used to having plenty of time to prepare everything and go at a leisurely pace through the process. But as he was working he realized that it was not Chiko that would be going to school. That thought made him stop and wonder if he should even let her go to school. She had never been to school before whoever this was that was moving around. He could not even be certain if she knew who Chiko was and if so the importance of keeping that a secret. It might not be a good for her to leave the house until this was resolved.

He then got a shout from Kohana needing help. She probably needed help down the stairs. Kohana seemed even more deathly afraid of them than Chiko was for some reason. Mashiro would never understand that strange phobia that they shared. When Mashiro arrived at the stairs and looked up he fell over in shock and embarrassment. Kohana did not have any clothes on and was standing at the top of the stairs crying. He did not know if the stairs or something else.

Mashiro pulled himself up off the floor and closed his eyes looking around the corner blind. "What's wrong, Kohana?"

"I…I…I c-can't remember how to put my uniform on."

'Probably cause you never have…oh wait…means I have to help.' Mashiro sighed and started walking up the stairs blind. He missed a lot of the steps slipping and nearly falling back down them, he was so nervous. It was not like he had not seen her naked before, but it still felt weird to him. 'I like her better when it was Chiko.'

Mashiro managed to make it to the top of the stairs where Kohana was pouring out a river of tears from her paradox of knowing about clothing but not knowing how to put them on. Her mind set was too young to be able to understand it let own grasp the concept that her mind was giving her. He spent the next several minutes help her with the clothes while trying not to look. It was easy once he had got her underwear on her, he did not have to blind himself.

He finally had finished with her and while getting punched, kicked and generally thrown around the upstairs and stairs themselves he got her down stairs. Mashiro lay on the floor with Kohana adorably sitting on top of him smiling at the foot of the stairs. 'I'm calling the doctor first thing after breakfast. I won't live past the day like this.'

Once Kohana finished breakfast she was eager to go to school and Mashiro knew that he was not going to be able to stop her. He barely survived carrying her down the stairs, holding her back anymore would leave permanent damage to his body. Which simply put, he was too afraid of her to say no to her, she seemed even stronger than Chiko was. Mashiro did not understand it, but he thought that Chiko was scary when he got mad. Kohana was scary in just about every way; it did not matter if she was happy, sad, angry or scared. She was dangerous anyway you took her and it was directed on him without mercy. Mashiro was a little afraid how she would do with the students at school.

Now that Kohana was gone, Mashiro went to his room opening the storage in his dresser. He had to get in contact with the doctor, but as privately as he possibly could. Section Three had him under the strictest of orders to not break communication silence, however this dilemma was important enough that he had to risk it. He was fortunate that he could get in contact with the doctor through indirect means. Mashiro pulled out a device from the back wall of the storage. Several lights were blinking and cycling through, Mashiro pushed a button and then waited.

After a couple minutes of waiting and straightening up the room the device he was carrying around with him made a sound. He looked at it and took it over to the storage where he pulled it into a cable. The cable disappeared into the depths of the storage empty void, but immediately a holographic monitor screen popped up in front of him. On the screen was the doctor, whose back was turned doing something out of sight.

"Doctor…" Mashiro said.

The doctor did not respond to him, though he was speaking. "There you are…almost…just about there."

"Doctor…" Mashiro said raising his voice, but still being ignored.

"Aw, now you do look adorable don't you. Yes, yes."

"Doctor!"

"You make daddy proud-"

"Shut up, DOCTOR!"

"Oh dear! That you Mashiro?" The doctor frantically whipped around having a large doll in his hands. However, upon realizing that he was still holding it he quickly put it behind him on the computer console panel. Which was just high enough for the head of the doll to peep over the doctor's head and stare unnervingly at Mashiro. "You caught me at a busy moment. I got bored waiting on you to respond."

"Bored! It was thirty seconds!"

"Was it? Oh my, thought it was longer than that. Where does the time go?"

"Enough about the time! Doctor, I called you for a reason."

"Oh. Oh, yes, yes you did. You really shouldn't have unless it was an emergency. You know the procedure."

"Shut up, don't quote me procedure. I know procedure. I have a bigger problem than that."

"What?"

"Its Chiko's body or Chiko. I don't know. There is something unexplainably wrong with him."

"What is it?"

"There is another personality present. A completely different person and it is in complete control of the body, Chiko's presence or whatever is gone."

"What? How did this happen?"

"Well…"

Kohana bounced along the street with the idea of knowing where the school was without really understanding or acknowledging the fact that she knew where it was. She just knew where it was and took herself there. As usual, Sakura came up to her along the path to school.

"Good morning, Kohana!"

"Oh?" Kohana said turning around curious to see who it was that was speaking to her. Her eyes lit up sparkling seeing Sakura, though she was not completely sure who it was she had an immediate reaction. After a second the thought process finally caught up as the gears finally turned in the hollow head. "Hey, Sakura! Sakura! Sakura!"

"Kohana!"

Kohana looked at Sakura as she approached with her mind finally speeding up in processes when it came to a sudden smashing halt at her declaration. "She is so cute!" When Sakura finally was near, Kohana bounded to her hugging her tightly. Sakura in turned hugged her, both of them now with the same sparkling eyes.

While they were hugging Nobu appeared further down the street a little puzzled by what was going on at the top of the street. He approached the two rubbing his head with his a hand a little embarrassed not certain what say. However, to his misfortune Kohana's starry eyes shattered when she saw him. She then threw Sakura to the way side and picked up her starry eyes again when she looked at Nobu. "He is so cute too!" Upon that, there was a shadow over Nobu's head as he found Kohana leaping towards him to hug him.

Nobu in fear or just stupefied collapsed on the ground just in time that it cause Kohana to pass over top of him and slide across the ground coming to a stop. Kohana unfazed by it got up and leapt at him again, this time catching him and hugged him tightly rubbing her face against his almost like a pet. Nobu was so confused and choked for air that he was dizzy with everything swirling around him.

Suddenly there was the ring that broke Kohana's concentration that came from down the street. She looked blankly at Nobu and then around. "What is that?"

"The school bell, we're going to be late!" Nobu said panicked, but unable to move.

That instant Sakura's head popped up through the bushes that she was thrown into. "The bell?"

"Oh no! I don't want to be late on my first day," Kohana said. Sakura jumped out of the bush grabbing on to Kohana's hand as she reached it out before speeding off through the street. Nobu was dragged along like a doll behind them as Kohana and Sakura gleefully, though hurriedly ran through the street to school.

"I see," the doctor said. "A lot has happened."

"Do you know what has happened to Chiko?"

"Maybe. I'll be over there immediately."

"Okay, I'll expect you this evening then." The screen went blank after that, Mashiro realizing that the doctor must have cut communication. Mashiro packed away the device and closed the storage unit. He started to walk out of his room when he felt something strange in the air. It did not make a lot of sense to him, but it felt as though the pressure was increasing in the air. Suddenly his ears popped as his head began to feel a little light.

There was then a sudden burst from the middle of his room that he could not explain that knocked him backwards against the wall. He painfully tried to keep his eyes opened looking towards the spot that he thought it was coming from. A few seconds later there was a poof of smoke that filled a column on his bed. Mashiro stared confused by the smoke, it then burst outwards filling the entire room quickly. The smoke quickly disappeared revealing the doctor standing on his bed.

"D-d-doctor?"

"Ah, it worked! Hey, Mashiro! How you doing? What you think of my newest invention?"

"What just happened?"

"I transported myself, though it is commonly called teleporting in the manga."

"Huh?!"

"So what you think? Too much smoke maybe? How about something simpler." Suddenly the doctor disappeared again and then reappeared on his body fading into the space on his bed. "How was that? Still no? Maybe something flashy."

"Flashy?" Mashiro said in disbelief. 'Like all that smoke wasn't flashy enough.'

The doctor disappeared yet again, this time reappearing with a lot of flashing lights that nearly gave Mashiro a seizure. But the doctor looked at Mashiro seeing that he was not impressed and tried again. This time it had halo of light around the column of space that the doctor was appearing with a very science fiction look. "That more fitting?"

"Enough already!" Mashiro said growing to a large figure that towered over the doctor casting a heavy, deathly shadow over him.

The doctor coughed slightly and then smiled, "I still got more!"

Mashiro eyes narrowed looking venomously at the doctor with the presence of a demon almost. "Get serious for once, would you!" Mashiro panted heavily, recovering his normal stature at the edge of the bed. He looked up at the doctor that was still standing confidently on his bed hardly affected by him. 'As bad as Kohana.'

"Young people these days…"

"Enough already, you said you might know what's wrong with Chiko. What is it?"

The doctor sat down on the bed crossing his legs looking very serious. He placed his hand to his chin rubbing it thoughtfully. He closed his eyes nodding his head to himself, presumably thinking in the empty space where there must be a brain. "Yes, if it is what I think, we must hurry. Chiko doesn't have very long before his personality and memories are lost forever!"

Preview for the next episode:

"Hello, again! I'm back in place of Chiko! I'm so happy that I'm getting more screen time! I was so sad that I did not get to see daddy as much as Chiko did. But now I get him all to myself! I'm so happy now!"

"My precious girl!" the doctor says. "Daddy's here!"

"Hello, who are you?"

"Wha--!" There is crying in the background.

"What's wrong, mister?"

"Mister...waah."

"Hey, mister! Owie. Sorry, mister, but I'm forgetting the preview."

"Mister..."

"The next episode of The Inner Man, Pretend! I got a whole episode, yay! Don't missed it or you might want to watch out for falling bears! Tee hee!"

"Mister..."