Andromeda

The Inner Man – Episode 16 – Breadcrumbs

Chiko was not looking towards going to class today since he knew that with how yesterday went there was going to be problems. He was dreading the walk to school if Nobu showed up. That whole thing was completely screwed up and he did not handle it in the best way. Though it was thanks to Kohana's sudden actions that he had been saved from having to endure that in spite of her putting him in the situation to begin with. She still refused to apologize for doing it to him, saying that she did not do anything wrong that she had to apologize for. Chiko knew that he was not going to be able to win the fight with her over it and eventually dropped it, mostly, not really. How could he forgive her for it, the idiot for brains set him up on a date with an eight-year-old boy in his class? If that was not weird enough there was just something not right about it at that age. He could not really understand her logic or reasoning, but he was afraid that if he tried there would be far worse things that he would find.

Kohana was fortunately quiet this morning for him thanks to the medicine. He could still talk to her every so often; it seemed the easiest to hear her in the evening. Though as he found out from Mashiro, she did not sleep along with him. She took control of his body while he was sleeping which made him very mad when Mashiro woke him from atop the kitchen top in an awkward pose with the doctor clapping. It was enough to say that the doctor was not feeling so well after that moment and Kohana was not to be found.

He left for school not feeling so good about it; his stomach was already churning from the thoughts of what he would have to endure in class. The entire class had been following them yesterday having become aware somehow of what was going to happen. "Why is it I find them following Nobu and me so often?" It was not something that Chiko really understood. He figured that they had to have something better to do with their free time than watching an embarrassing scene with the two of them. Chiko sighed and continued to walk seeing Sakura approaching him.

She was as cheerful as ever; in a strange way he sort of missed seeing her the day that he was locked away. He had trouble actually standing what she did sometimes and usually she got in his way when he was trying to do something. However, there was something about her that seemed to make him feel better in spite of that. Chiko could not understand it since she reminded him of Kohana so much, both being complete airheads about any common sense. She did not make any sense, though the fact that there was someone in the real world that acted like Kohana made him realize how frightening of a possibility that the doctor's creation was not so far from the truth. That thought made him turn blue thinking about the possibilities.

Chiko immediately shook off the gloom around him and greeted Sakura. She approached him with her usual excitement that made Chiko sick to be alive. He never understood how she could be eternally energetic; it was as though she was draining it from everyone else around. However, Chiko was a little concerned that he did not see Nobu who usually met them shortly after Sakura did. He was usually so prompt about meeting them, even if he was on the receiving end of trouble at times. Sakura was walking on ahead of Chiko as he slowed down out of curiosity. If Chiko had not spoken up Sakura probably would have continued in her own world. "Sakura, wait a minute."

"Huh?" she said spinning around with those big eyes of hers even larger confused.

"Er…" Chiko tried to begin but was having a little trouble. 'Why am I thinking about Kohana when I see her.' The thought made him shudder a little, but he could not deny that it felt like he was looking at a mirror and seeing Kohana. "Uh, I don't see Nobu anywhere."

"Nobu? Huh…there was something I was supposed to remember. Oh! That's right! I saw Nobu a little earlier."

"You did?"

"Yeah, he said that he was going to go in early ahead of us, so we shouldn't wait for him."

"Hmm…did he say why he was going in early?"

"Huh…"

"Sorry, I asked." Chiko sweated in embarrassment as Sakura continued to try to remember it. She seemed set on trying to remember, though at this point it really did not matter since he would see Nobu shortly anyway. But even still, it was not as though it really mattered to him what he was doing.

Kohana suddenly awoke in his mind to his disgust producing an annoyingly cute image of herself in his mind to torment him. She poked him for a while trying to get his attention even though she already had it, since he could hardly ignore her within his mind. 'What?!' He yelled at her causing her to fall back.

'Did Big Brother Chiko wake up on the wrong side of the bed?'

'Big Brother? How could I possibly be your brother? I'm not even related to you, I can't be you're a computer intelligence.'

'Senpai?'

Chiko sighed out loud, 'I'll take brother if I have to choose.'

'Big Brother!' she exclaimed with glee, though Chiko could only try to shy away from her in whatever manner he could since she was stuck inside him. He hardly liked the idea, but he knew that the quickest way to keep her silent was just to simply agree with her and just deal with it. It was not the way he preferred to manage things, but he did not have much of a choice considering that there was no way to get away from her. If he continued to disagree and argue with her she would make his life so miserable that it would make all of his other misfortunes pale in comparison. Which was a thought that terrified him. 'Big Brother? Why you asking about Nobu? I thought you didn't like him. Oh…' she said grinning and giggling. Chiko was not likening where he saw this going, he eyes flatten out depressed for what was to come next. 'So you do like him! I knew it. You just can't admit it! Tee hee!'

'Grr…' Chiko said trying to restrain himself though not really doing a very good effort. It was a sensitive spot for him considering the close calls that he had had already with him. 'I don't like him! Just shut up!'

'He heh…denial just makes you guilty.'

'Why you…' Chiko knew that he could not do anything to her no matter how much he wanted to and she seemed to have already figured out how to push his buttons. He was dreading how long he was going to have to endure this torment from her. There was no way for him to fight back other than with words and that had gotten him nowhere already. It was also a fact he knew too well that she was stronger than he was mentally, he really did not want to get her angry that she would go and do something. 'I'm twenty years older than he is there are laws against that.'

'You aren't right now!'

'Some logic…' Chiko sighed knowing this was a futile battle he was fighting and just kept walking hoping that if he ignored her long enough she would stop singing "Big Brother likes Nobu!" He was just glad she was only in his head at this point; she would be far more embarrassing if she were real and next to him. That was a far scarier thought for him to consider.

The noise was still chattering in his head and his veins were beginning to show from his frustration. He tried to focus more on Sakura's voice that was talking about something that he really did not understand. Unfortunately, Chiko quickly realized that listening to Sakura was like listening to Kohana. So he was now hearing in stereo, which became even more annoying. He walked the rest of the way to school with a dark cloud following him around just feeling the depression he was going to be in the rest of the day. Knowing that he had to listen to the chirping of Kohana.

When he reached the classroom all of the children were gathered around at the back of the room talking to someone. Chiko did not know what had their interest and really did not care, but Sakura grabbed him by the hand and pulled him along passed his desk. He did not have a chance to release the chair he grabbed to sit in as she dragged him off.

In the back of the room surrounding someone's desk there was muffled talking from several of the students. Chiko could not hear it too well over Kohana and the distance he was with everyone between him. However, after managing to put together a thought without tripping over himself in his head, he realized that it was Nobu's desk that they were crowded around. He made the mistake of thinking his name out loud to Kohana, but it was actually enough to shut her up long enough that he could hear what was going on.

"So what happened?"

"Yeah, you got to tell us."

"You ran after her didn't you?"

"I know you did, I saw you. Please, say you did Nobu. I'm not lying."

Chiko turned away; they were hardly giving Nobu a chance to respond back to them. They were all vultures trying to get the gossip of what happened not realizing that he was standing next to them. 'He ran after me? Why?'

'Heh. Because has a crush on you!'

'Shut up, I don't need your advice!' Chiko was afraid though that might be the truth. It was something that he was dreading ever since that awkward time with the dog. All of the class seemed to be thinking the same thing as Kohana and Chiko could not stand it. It was not as though he could actually tell him the truth, not as though he would actually believe him or even understand it. But even besides that, he could not even risk it even if he could understand it. Chiko hated being in this position, if he found out that there was some truth it Kohana's words he was going to have to crush the boy's hopes some how.

"Hi Nobu!" Sakura said over everyone, which shattered the mob around Nobu. They all tried to casually find their way back to their desks. Chiko watched Hakuro walk back to her desk. It was a puzzling thing to Chiko that he did not understand. Hakuro had not even glared at him or her posse of girls. He had made the same comment yesterday, though he did not know what it was that happened to change them. Chiko doubted that it was going to last very long though, he knew that they despised him too much to let something petty come between their hate.

"Alright! Settle down everyone!" Mrs. Shimasuke said beginning class by calling out names. Chiko settled down in his seat trying to ignore Kohana as much as possible. It was not as though he had much to listen to from the teacher, but hr preferred that to Kohana at the moment.
'I thought the medicine was supposed to mute her…'

'I heard that.'

Chiko sighed beginning to draw on his paper hoping that it would distract him enough. He did his usual routine of looking at the teacher while she was talking and only listening to half of what she said. All the while he was drawing glancing down at it every so often to make sure he was still where he thought he was on the paper. After an hour Kohana seemed to calm down since he had remained silent. He figured she probably tired herself out with all the constant talking. The quiet was refreshing for him.

Mrs. Shimasuke came to mathematics and as usual ignored Chiko knowing that he knew all of the answers already. Though Kohana was rather surprised, since she was made privy to his thoughts that silently answered all of the questions before Mrs. Shimasuke called on someone. 'Wow, big brother, you're smart.'

'This is basic math; anyone my age could do these in their sleep. I'm not eight years old remember.'

'Can you teach me?'

'What?! Don't you understand it?'

'Nope.'

It did not make any sense to Chiko how a computer could not understand mathematics. He might not have understood everything about technology, but he knew that it was one of the things that they were most useful at doing. However, Chiko had to remember she was not the typical computer, since it was the doctor that engineered her he probably had his reasons. Even with reasons to create something close to that of the mentality of an eight year old seemed strange with all of the other increases in attributes. Chiko stopped trying to think about it knowing that he would only get frustrated trying to understand that man's logic.
'Can you teach me, big brother?'

Chiko sighed out loud, "Why me?" Suddenly a piece of chalk came spinning through the air at Chiko hitting him in the forehead. The piece of chalk hit the ground and rolled away almost afraid to stay around. Chiko's veins were popping as he shouted back to Mrs. Shimasuke. "What was that for?!"

"Hope we weren't boring you again, Kohana."

"You hit me in the head with chalk!"

"It'll be the eraser next time."

"What sort of teacher throws things at her students?!"

"What sort of student daydreams all the time?!"

"What sort of teacher gets pleasure out of proving she is better than her students?"

"What sort of student yells at their teacher?!"

"What sort of teacher yells back at their student?"

"Well, what sort of student doesn't wear a ribbon in her hair like everyone else?!"

The students began to talk between themselves as Mrs. Shimasuke slowly was losing it.

"What's that got to do with their argument?" a boy asked.

"She's lost it again…" another boy said.

"Yeah, Kohana really knows the buttons to push," a girl said.

"She is always so shy though," another girl said.

"It's not like her, though she does seem to have times when she gets angry," a girl said.

"Yeah, she's scary when she is angry," one of the boys said.

The two continued to fight for a while, most of the students entertained by the display. Others were just glad that the lesson was interrupted and they did not have to continue it. After an exhausting verbal debate along with some thrown school supplies from the teacher's desk things calmed down. Chiko had lost the argument having been chased down by the sharp end of a dozen freshly made pencils. He was against the wall sweating with relief that they all missed him narrowly. Even if they did miss him, he did have an outline of them around his body. It was that display of force that shut up everyone and scared them blue. Chiko eventually managed to pry himself from the wall to get back to his seat cautiously. 'Gah, she scary when she loses.'

'Heh heh.'

Chiko sighed and tried to focus on the lesson a little harder than before. He almost wished that Kohana could do this for him so that he could avoid the hassle, but he knew that could not happen. He could not afford to let her out in school again, she would go do something that he would hate no doubt. Chiko drudged on through the day glad to finally have finished and he could walk home.

Sakura walked home with him as usual. She was smiling and giggling about things that Chiko was nodding to and not really paying much attention too. There was something else on his mind; he had the strangest feeling as though something terrible was about to happen. He could not understand the feeling, but he could not shake it either. The feeling was unnerving, as it seemed to grow since he left the school. He did not like how it felt, there was something coming he could tell. Chiko had to get Sakura out of the area immediately before whatever it was came.

"Hey, Sakura isn't that your street up there?"

"Is it?" Sakura said rushing up ahead out of curiosity. Chiko felt it stronger than ever. He looked around the neighborhood to see if there was anything strange, but there was nothing that he could see. It did not make any sense to him, the feeling did not make any sense, but it was too real for him to ignore. He knew that it meant something; the butterflies in his stomach were getting worse. There was something following him, someone, but he could not see anyone. The entire street was empty except for Sakura and him.

Chiko turned back around to find Sakura and make sure that she was all right. He did not like this feeling; every muscle in his body was becoming tense with pressure. It seemed like the sky darkened around him as the feeling became tangible. There was a thick air around him making it difficult to breathe; this feeling was overwhelming all of his senses. He could not even hear Kohana anymore; she had been silent for a while, though he had not realized it until now. 'What is it…' It was at that moment Chiko began to turn around seeing a dark shadow cast over him. When he looked at it what it was his eyes widened in shock.

It was him, the man of nightmares. It was the one that could never be out ran and was wherever he turned, the scarred man. Chiko froze in terror unable to move simply staring at him with a face that was empty and cold without mercy. It was just as he remembered from that night. The blood was pouring out then, the women were dead. They were dead around him, on top of him preventing him from escaping. He could not move; there was blood all around him. It was red and dripping across his face, so deep a color that matched that man's eyes. Chiko was covered in blood as he lie there helpless to even save the lives of those women. Chiko passed out in the middle of street; Kohana could feel the emotions from Chiko overwhelming her that she could not take over control as everything shut down.

Shisa and Kitsune caught up to him staring at the girl that was passed out on the street. Shisa ran his hand through his hair frustrated. "I thought you weren't going to hurt her, boss. That she was just bait."

"The child has a weak constitution."

Shisa sighed and walked over to girl picking her up off the ground. He was not too fond of the idea of taking a child as their bait, but it was the most effective method of going about it. The kid was so young, still innocent and not needing to see the horrors that it was about too. Shisa looked back at Kitsune who was walking forward knowing what it was that he had to do now.

Kitsune pulled out his gun and aimed it at the other child that was walking back towards them to meet up her friend. The kid saw the weapon pointed at her and froze in terror at the sight. Kitsune did not hesitate in firing a single shot at her. The girl collapsed to the ground immediately not moving. He returned the gun to its holster looking away from the scene. It left a bitter taste in his mouth; he did not like this sort of work even if it was for a purpose. However, he had to follow orders. They had a mission to complete and if this all panned out like it might, the entire mission would be finished shortly. He had plenty of blood on his hands that one more was not that much of a problem for him.

The three walked away from the place that the girl lay on the ground towards the house that belong to the girl that Shisa was holding in his arms. There were many strange things happening lately, too many coincidences that seemed to be purposeful. This girl attended that school that they had visited several months ago. They were so close to the truth back then and did not even realize it. The records said that they had not been living in Osaka for long. While the records did not match up with the attack, facts were an easy thing to manipulate. The pieces were lined up.

They reached the house that they were said to be living in, though it look more like a trash dump right now. There were broken pieces of wood, plaster and furniture outside in a pile. He did not really know what was going on, maybe they were remodeling. It did not really matter to them what they were doing. Kitsune opened the door letting them into the house.

Kitsune had his gun in his hand looking around to see if there was someone waiting for them. The place was empty aside from noise coming from the right. It was no doubt where they were working from the appearance outside. The scarred man entered the house along with Shisa and walked towards the noise quietly. However, with all of the noise in the house if they were even making a slight amount of sound it would not have gone heard. Shisa and Kitsune did not know what they were to expect from whoever was in the room. They knew that the assassin was defeated by someone, if they were protecting the child then the one that beat the assassin could be here.

Kitsune was the point man since he was not carrying the child and approached the room first carefully. He looked into the room to see that there was only one man working in there cleaning up the room. There was still a lot of debris in the room. As he looked up to gauge what it was he could be fighting in he noticed the large hole in the ceiling that gave a view of the room above. While he was not sure of the reasons, he did understand what the mess was from now. Kitsune tensed his muscle ready to move having now measured the room.

"Going to stand there all day?" the man said his back still turned away from him.
'How could he know I was here?'

"Don't acted so surprised, emotions weaken your resolve."
'Why you, who are you?'

"Give her back to me if you value your life."
'But she is all the way back in the hallway. How did he know we had her? Who is this man?'

"You know talking to yourself is a bad habit to get into," the man said standing up from the corner that he had been in. He turned around to face Kitsune who was standing part way in the doorway now take off balance by the man's words. There was something about him that was so unsettling, the way he talked as though he knew everything about you without even having seen you. This man was far more deadly than his appearance led him to believe. Kitsune did not like this, he could not even have the first attack now, the man knew where he was and even more it seemed.

"You going to speak, or will I have to make you scream to hear the tone of your voice?"

Kitsune's eyes narrowed, the man was asking for it now. He wanted him to attack. It was not like Kitsune to be aggressive or leap into the battle without knowing that there was going to be a way out, but he needed to show this arrogant man who was better. Kitsune began to pull the trigger of his gun, but before he was able to fire there was a splitter of wood flying at him right into the barrel of the gun. The sudden assault made Kitsune step back, the wood was stuck in the barrel. He did not have time to pull it out, it would mean giving the man an advantage.

He did not have any choice in the matter and charged towards the man dropping the gun to the side. Kitsune raised his fist ready to bring it down across his face, but the man was already gone in a blink. He was behind him pulling him off the ground by the neck as the man's arms wrapped around him. The man lifted him off the ground and threw him to the floor behind him in one smooth, fluid motion. Kitsune coughed up blood as he impacted the floor and came to rest on it. There was something that was piercing him; it was something on the floor. It was stabbing him in the back bleeding into his lungs. He could not believe that he had been stopped in one move.

"W-who are you?" Kitsune asked.

"The guardian."

"Huh?"

Shisa did not know what was going on anymore and tossed the child to the scarred man who glared at him as he ran to the room. When he came into the room he found Kitsune lying on the floor, a small amount of blood dripping out from his back across the floor. He looked up to see a man standing over of him waiting for him to come. "What did you do to him?"

"I got impatience waiting for you. Seems you handed her to your boss then. I'm not interested in you now."

"How dare you!"

"Oh my, did I say something…" the man said before being cut off by Shisa's throw of a knife. The man caught it, which surprised Shisa since the distance was hardly even five feet. He could not believe that someone had reactions that fast. However, Shisa was not finished with his attack and recovered his composure with his gun pointed at the man.

The man did not give Shisa a chance to move though as he was charging at him with the knife in hand that he had caught. The man lunged at him with the knife making a swipe at him that missed. Shisa was taken off guard by the near miss stepping out of the way. The man continued passed him coming up behind him, but Shisa jumped out of the way before he could be caught in something. It was then in the air that Shisa took the opportunity to take a shot at the man. He pulled the trigger of the gun, but it did not fire. Shisa came to rest from his jump sliding a little across the dust filled room.

It did not make any sense to him what was happening with his gun. He fired again, but nothing happened as well. Shisa shook the gun trying to see what was wrong with it when he heard rattling as the gun slowly fell part. The pieces dropped on the floor, barrel, springs, casing, everything just slide off like it was not being held together. Shisa stared at the man who had a slight smirk on his face that faded away back into a flat expression.

"Funny how machinery just falls apart like that."

"Why you…" Shisa charged at him, but the man was already on the move before he had even gone two steps. In his hand now was a long piece of wood that he swung hard at Shisa. Shisa had his arms up to block the attack, but the wood broke into a dozen pieces as it smashed into his arm. The pieces flew up in a spray, but the man caught one of the larger pieces bringing in down on Shisa piercing his shoulder with the wood. It was then a moment later that he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. The knife that was in his other hand had just pierced through him. Shisa dropped to his knees with blood slowly dripping out of his mouth as he coughed it up. He fell back over top of Kitsune holding his stomach in shock as he was beaten.

"As you are already aware, your two men are beaten. Just you and me know. Leave the girl in the hall."

The scarred man's eyes narrowed, as he knew already. It was apparent that his man was stronger than he thought. His gut was telling him that this was the one that beat the assassin. There were few in the world that could beat such a skilled assassin and to beat his two men with ease, there were only so many coincidences that the world allowed for before it you knew that it was truth. This one could not be underestimated.

He walked into the room holding the girl with him still rather than listening to the man. There was no surprise on his face when he saw Shisa and Kitsune on the ground; he simply looked at them and then back at the man. He was the one; it was obvious now that he was the one that attacked the assassin. There was no need to confirm it for himself, he could tell just by looking at him. It was going to be a long fight with him and he had other objectives. He could not waste any time fighting him, but he needed information as well. He was going to have to change the plans.

He set the girl down next to the door and approached the man. First, he needed to test his abilities if he was going to fight him later on. This man was not relying on weapons to fight his battles, which meant that he was able to adapt to the environment and change his style of tactics in a moment. There was skill in that, though it did make him wonder if it meant that he did not have something that he was a master in. He narrowed his eyes and took the first strike with a heavy kick to the upper arm and shoulders.

The kick was blocked with considerable ease and was returned with a swing of the man's fist that he dodged backwards. He took another kick again to test him that was blocked. The scarred man immediately jumped up and over him as the kick was blocked using the force for a pivot. The force from the leg pushed against the man, but he merely stepped away spinning his leg around to kick him way he was going to land. But the scarred man was already expecting the attack and blocked it. He grabbed the man's leg to swing, but there was already the other leg coming using it as leverage to get the next attack at his head.

The scarred man slid down underneath releasing the leg down adding some downward force. It caused the man's attack to turn off course ruining the assault. He immediately kicked the man in his side as he was off balance sending him up into the air. The man flew up to the second floor where he turned around using the ceiling and walls as momentum downward. Though the scarred man was already on the move to attack him as he came down. However, the man was prepared as well throwing what looked to be a small box at him.

The box was caught in the scarred man's hand, but it was the split second that the man needed as he landed on the floor and continued his momentum through at an angle to send himself launching feet first at the mid section of the scarred man. All he could do was get his arms ready to block as the blow came in knocking him down. The scarred man was knocked to the floor, but he brought his arm down as he was sent to the floor to turn him around. He gave himself enough force to turn his body hard as he brought his leg around to kick him. The leg impacted into the side of the man sending against the wall.

The two dropped to the floor coming to rest. They stared at each other for a time waiting for the next move. The man moved his leg slightly as a little dust was kicked up. The scarred man jumped immediately seeing the motion as the man moved as well. The two met in the air exchanging several hard punches before coming down to the ground together. Once they hit the down both separated in a dash of a second. They climbed up the walls for more room to gather up speed jumping at the last moment before they lost the advantage they gained. The two scored deep kicks into each other that would have sent them fly apart if they had not grabbed one another. In the descent to the ground they continued to exchange punches with a free hand as they held each other in place. The ground came to meet them again as they separated to their corners sliding across the floor kicking up dust that clouded the view.

They stared each other down again breathing heavily. Each had bruises and scratches from the fight, though no blood had yet been spilled. The fight was about to resume when there was a sudden bright light from the doorway. They both looked to see the body of the girl glowing brightly and changing before their eyes. The scarred man did not know what was happening to the girl; he had never seen anything like this before. When the light finally faded away the girl was no longer in her school uniform, but in some other clothes.

The girl woke up slowly blinking carefully. She looked around the room and focused on the scarred man. He did not know what this meant, it could have been some secret of Section Three, but he could understand that look in her eye. The girl had the intention to attack him. He stood up looking down at her as she prepared herself. The girl made a metal rod appear and leapt up towards him. "You will not hurt my Mashiro!"

Mashiro sighed being embarrassed to see the doctor's work appear suddenly. He had only heard things about it from Chiko, but now he understood. The doctor did have a vivid imagination, but this was going to get her kill if she fought him. Mashiro jumped up to try to get to her before the scarred man did, but she was faster than he thought. She landed a blow on him with the rod to both of their surprise.

The scarred man stumbled backwards not sure how a girl could be this strong. He had underestimated the girl's strength, but he knew that she was not strong enough. The girl did not have the eyes to kill he could see that. He waited for her to charge at him again this time grabbed her by her hair and swinging her around into the wall using her speed against her. It was to his surprise though that when she went through the wall deeply she quickly stopped herself. She pulled herself out of the wall, her face white from the plaster. There was hardly a scratch on her as she ripped out of his grip lunging at him again. As surprised as he was by her recovery he was able to get out of her way and kicked her from behind as she passed by sending her speeding into the wall. The girl found herself hanging from the wall by her head, dangling.

It was finished, or so he thought as the sound of the wall crumbling could be heard. She fell to the ground landing on her feet. She turned to face him before swinging her rod at him as it changed into a whip that grew in length. He backed away grabbing the end of the whip and pulled on it. She was drawn in as he brought his fist to meet her face. The blow dropped her to the ground quickly not moving anymore, though his hand was sore, nearly broken by the impact. He suddenly saw the gleam of a blade from the light in the room around his neck, Shisa's knife.

Mashiro brought the knife against the skin, cutting through slightly letting the blood drip. "Time to talk."

"I've no time to waste talking to you."

"Considering your position, I'd be more forth coming."

"Hollow words."

"Not nearly as hollow as you might think. I have no interest in keeping you alive even for information. If you don't want to talk then I'll kill you immediately. I would rather be in the dark than risk an enemy being alive."

"Well said."

Mashiro's muscles tightened as he started to pull the knife deeper beginning to cut through his throat. However, there was suddenly an explosion of smoke everywhere. Mashiro could not see anything, but the smoke was affecting him making it difficult to breathe. He was losing control of his muscles; they felt as though they were going numb. He could not hold the knife any longer as it dropped from his hand. He heard a noise through the smoke as he collapsed to the ground unable to stand. Mashiro quickly fell unconscious not long after.

Mashiro slowly woke up on the couch looking around to see what was going on. The doctor pushed him back down. "What you doing, where is Chiko?"

"He's not here. When I found you there was no one else."

"What!? There should be two men on the floor."

"You were the only one."

Mashiro clinched his hand together they were gone. He knew that they were not completely fatal injuries if treated immediately. If they were gone that means there was another person that helped them. There was only three he remembered, how could he not have seen the fourth with them. It did not make any sense, where was the fourth hidden that he had not seen or heard him. The fourth one was the one with the smoke, the grenade that put him out.

However, something about the situation was not settling well with him. He could tell from the fight with that man that he was the one that fights last. If he had someone else with him, it would have meant that he would have gone next. None of it made sense, why was there a fourth, someone that was not with them. It was strange that there would be someone that else that would be here to help them. There were still unanswered questions and he did not have time for this. He had to find Chiko, Mashiro could not be certain if the man had figured out that it was Chiko in there, but he could not let him have the time with him to find out.

"I have to go now."

"But you're injured still. The nanomachines haven't finished healing you yet."

"I feel well enough, I did not break anything in the fight, so the rest can heal on the way." Mashiro walked up to his room or what was left of it. He managed to pull out his weapons setting them down on the kitchen table going through them. There was enough for him to choose from and he knew that if he was going to head into the enemy's hands that he was going to need to be prepared for a fight. He had the advantage this time, but there was no advantage for him now.

Mashiro examined his guns checking them out carefully to make sure they were in good condition. He checked his grenades placing them underneath his jacket. Mashiro was wearing black clothes, his old special forces uniform with all of the identifications removed. The clothes were thick material that protected him from general debris and a shallow bullet, but it was flexible enough that he would have full range of movement without being slowed down. Over top of the gear was a long jacket, a dark gray almost black color with many pockets. Inside were his knives, grenades and other weapons he could use.

The doctor walked into the kitchen with a serious look on his face. "What are you planning on doing?"

"That look doesn't suit you doc." Mashiro examined the last gun. He checked the clip and slammed it into place.

"You're going after him."

Mashiro pulled back the top of the gun setting it in place. "I'm the one that protects him."

"But these are skilled men, look at you."

The gun was slid into hiding underneath the jacket as Mashiro walked out of the kitchen. "Regardless, this is my job, no. This is what I must do." Mashiro left the company of the doctor and exited the house going to his car. However, there was something in the air that bothered him. He looked around trying to figure out what it was that was out place. 'Someone's near…' It was slight, but he knew that there was someone hidden, though by the judge of it they were not trying too hard. "Who's there? You seem to want to be found."

A darkened figured walked out of the shadows of the house, night had already fallen and the lights were low. The man walked around the car facing Mashiro. "It would appear that you have lost something dear to you."

"And what do you know of it?"

"I know where to find that which you have lost."

"I see, but I don't need help finding it."

"Is that so? Are you so sure your enemy is that dumb?"

"What do you want?"

"Simply to reunite you with what you lost."

Mashiro did not feel like he could trust him, but there was truth in what he said. The tracking device that he had on Chiko was not working. He was going to be blindly hunting for him in a huge city. There was no time to waste. Mashiro signaled him to get in the car; the rest would have to be handled along the way. "What is your name?"

"Don't I get to know your name first?"

"You already know my name."

"Clever, yes. Autumn, Mr. Autumn."

The scarred man was still feeling the effect the smoke, though most of it seemed to have been directed away from him. He had been able to get out of the room with the girl. However, there was another one with him now that had carried out Shisa and Kitsune. There was something about the man that he did not trust. He was going to be getting rid of him once they had reached their location.

Shisa and Kitsune were resting in the back with bandages over their wounds. The girl was sitting on the lap of the man that had come in and stopped their fight. "Who are you?"

"The name is Mr. Winter."

Preview for the next episode:

"I can't believe you let me get kidnapped! Again! How could you just let that happen to me?! You're suppose to protect me you jerk!"

"Hey, don't blame it on me. You're the one that got yourself kidnapped walking home."

"What?! I always walk home!"

"Exactly! Its like telling everyone come and get me I'm completely helpless."

"Why you! Get over here so I can beat you up!"

"But then who will save you?"

"I will!" Kohana says cheerfully.

"Er...isn't there something I should be doing?"

"You mean the preview?" Mashiro says.

"Right! Almost out of time too, the next episode of The Inner Man, Enemies! How many enemies do we have now?"

"I've lost track at this point."

"Hopefully I'll get to kick some people around for kidnapping me. I'll take down all of our enemies. You better not miss it! Tee hee!"

"You know I'll never get used to that coming out of your mouth."

"You're telling me."

"Hey! What about me?" Kohana says all alone now.