Andromeda

The Inner Man – Episode 18 – Tokyo

Chiko stood at the train station along with the rest of his class. He was looking his usual depressed self since he had gotten dragged into something that he did not want to do. This was far too reckless for him to be going back there, even if they did not know what he looked like. There were so many things that could happen in Tokyo that they could not plan for. Chiko did not know what Mashiro was thinking forcing him to go back to Tokyo.

It was not as though he did not want to go back, it had been a while since he had seen Tokyo. The way he left the city it made him feel like that was the last time he would see the city again. But here he was now, returning back to the city that he had been born in and spent all of his life. However, he was going back different than he left it. Even though he had left in this body, it still did not feel like he left as 'Kohana', but as Chiko still. He was returning to the city now as 'Kohana' though a child who had secrets in the city, ones that did not need to be discovered.

Chiko looked through the crowd of students that he was in to see the annoying sight of Mashiro and the Doctor in the back. The Doctor had Mashiro in one arm waving to Chiko. Both Chiko and Mashiro's expressions were similar. The only one that seemed to be enjoying the moment was the Doctor. The Doctor hardly seemed dressed for the trip in his Hawaiian shirt and khaki pants. It made Chiko ill to look at him any longer knowing what they did to him to get him on this train.

He thought back to that terrible day, it made him angry thinking about it.

"No! I told you yesterday that I am not going."

"We've been over this already, you are going on that field trip. There is nothing more to discuss," Mashiro said.

"Right!" the doctor said.

"You stay out of this," Chiko yelled. "You can't make me go! There is nothing that you can do to me that will make me go."

"You're going and that is the end of it."

"No, never!"

"Stop acting like a child!"

"No! Hey, I'm not a child!"

The two shoved their faces together pushing each other back. They rolled around on the floor for a bit grabbing at whatever happened to be close enough. Mashiro made the mistake of grabbing the wrong spot, which triggered Kohana's awakening.

"Don't touch me you pervert!" Kohana said screaming before she kicked Mashiro in the face across the room.

Mashiro not realizing whom it was through his anger and yelled back at him. "What you getting upset over, you're eight years old. You haven't even started to develop them yet!"

Chiko had regained control from Kohana and leapt for Mashiro again. "You can't make me!" He stopped in mid swing as Mashiro held out his hand as though he was giving up. Chiko stopped letting himself back to the floor to see what he was going to do.

"I can and I'll tell you why you are going to Tokyo," Mashiro said to him smirking in a manner that Chiko did not like. He knew that something awful was going to becoming next. It was that look on his face alone that made him want to punch him again.

"And why is that?"

"Because if you don't go to Tokyo then I will tell the doctor to stop giving you your suppressants."

"You wouldn't you know what would happen if you did that!"

"I know exactly what would happen," Mashiro said grinning.

"Do you want Kohana all over you?"

"The better question to ask is do you want Kohana getting yourself that close to me?"

"Grr…you would do that to me too. That stupid smirk on your face. I won't forget this!"

"Good girl," Mashiro said patting Chiko on the head. "That's my little princess."

Chiko could strangle Mashiro for doing that to him. He used Kohana against him. If she did not exist, he would not be in this situation right now. If it were not for her being around he would not have to be embarrassed like this. Chiko unfortunately knew that he could not dwell on that matter (too much). He would have to kill Mashiro later on, after everything was over and he could not hold her over him.

The train had finally arrived at the train station and everyone was getting their things together. There were a lot of other people getting on the train with business in Tokyo or somewhere else along the stop. The class was traveling light though and early in the morning to get the most out of the trip. They only had the day there in Tokyo to explore and see the sights. The high-speed train would get them to Tokyo in less than an hour thankfully, not wasting most of their day like other methods might. The train would take them directly into the Tokyo Station; from there they would get around seeing the sights. Chiko had learned that none of the students had been out of Osaka, which surprised him. Though he had to figure that they were all still very young, which made it not that unusual.

On the trip many of the parents were traveling along with their children. It was how Mashiro managed to follow along with Chiko without seeming a little strange. He played the over protective parent pretty well, though Mrs. Shimasuke was not arguing in the slightest. She was in fact trying to get him to sit next to her on the train ride. Mashiro was doing his best to get out of her grasp from what Chiko could see.

Chiko came up from behind Mashiro smirking to himself as he casually, but forcefully, pushed Mashiro aside into Mrs. Shimasuke's lap. He passed by Mashiro giggling as Mashiro glared at him.

"Oh Mashiro, you don't know how long I've waited."

"I…uh…HELP…"

Chiko took his seat next to Nobu and Sakura, who had grabbed his arm and dropped him in-between the two of them. He was feeling a little uncomfortable sitting this close to Nobu, especially after everything that had happened recently. It only made matters worse for him when he saw that the class that was nearby was staring at him to see what would happen. Some of them even had the guts to look over the back of their seats at them. Chiko felt like he could melt away into a puddle from all the stares that were making him red.

"You feeling alright, Kohana?" Sakura asked. "Your face is all red."

"Heh heh, its nothing. Just a little warm," Chiko said sighing. He looked down at the floor praying for this day to be over soon. The train had not left yet and he was already wanted off. This was not making him feel good about the future he was going to have to endure. He was going to be stuck with them for the entire day, even longer than normal. Chiko did not know how long he could stand this, having to be this close to all of these kids. His only consolation at the moment was that he could hear the faint screams of Mashiro behind him.

It was not long before the train left the station quickly speeding up to its normal traveling velocity. The landscape passed by them almost too quickly to view, though Sakura made a futile attempt at it anyway. She was lying on Chiko's lap afterwards with dizzy eyes and mumbling something that he could not understand. Chiko sweated in embarrassment from the sight and weakly laughed to himself trying to ignore the scene that Sakura created.

Chiko looked out the window into the distance, where it was safer to view, and watched the land pass by. The view he had left him with mostly the sea in the distance with some of the land between them. It was not much of a view, but it was still something to look at that helped him to ignore the antics that were going on inside the train. The children were fortunately easily distracted by other things and stopped staring at something that was not going to happen, much to their disappointment.

- - - - -

The room was dark, as he preferred it. In the other room were the other two, Kitsune and Shisa, recovering from their injuries that were sustained from the recent fighting. Both of them had barely survived the fall with the condition that they were in. He had then been forced to treat them without the proper medical supplies. They had been in and out of consciousness most of the time with the nanomachines healing most of their internal wounds. He did not like being forced to wait on striking back, but the man had already out smarted him. It was time to be patient and wait until the moment was right for him to strike if this was going to end successfully.

The scarred man's thoughts were interrupted by one of his men waking up. He walked over into the other room to see if he was ready to move around. They were both lying on beds, bandages covering much of their chest and arms from all of the cuts. It was Shisa that had wakened first, generally stubborn to begin with and not one to wait around. This was not much of a surprise to him.

"Hey…b-boss…" Shisa said opening his eyes and trying to lift himself up from the bed. He fell back down quickly feeling the pain through is body as well as the stiffness of the muscles. "What…h-happened to us? Felt like a house fell on me…"

"The target destroyed the building to make his escape. You fell roughly ten meters."

"How is Kitsune?"

"The same."

"And the target, did something…happen to you?"

"The target escaped. They are currently heading to Tokyo."

"Tokyo!" Shisa said sitting up quickly again only to fall back down in pain. "What are they doing in Tokyo?

"It is his daughter's class field trip it would seem."

"You aren't following them?"

"I have no intention on returning to Tokyo. They will be back. I will finish matters then."

"And the organization? The Superiors, do they know that the target is going to Tokyo?"

"No."

"But boss…"

"Get some rest. You're no good to me like that." The scarred man walked out of the room and back into the dark room. He approached the window staring out of it at the city. 'He is mine. No one will come between me and my prey.'

- - - - -

Chiko looked around the train watching the children playing with each other. The doctor had scared a couple of them and gotten slapped by their parents. Those moments were enjoyable for Chiko, but he hoped that the doctor's creepiness was hopefully becoming apparent to himself. It was pretty obvious that the doctor did not really get out that often. Chiko was tempted to put him in his seat so that he would quit making a fool of himself, but he did not want to be seen associating with him. Besides, it was entertaining for him to watch the doctor getting beat up by two angry mothers.

The train ride was almost finished and Sakura had recovered herself a third time from making the mistake of staring out of the window every time. It was embarrassing for Chiko to watch Sakura doing her normal thing talking and then suddenly be distracted by something outside. Then she would then stare too long and become dizzy again. She ended up on Nobu one time, which made him jump up to the ceiling almost. Chiko was unable to leave his seat for the entire ride because of Sakura. It was not as though he did not have much to do anyway.

When the train arrived in Tokyo it slowed down to a more manageable speed as it came into the station. This allowed the passengers to look out the window and enjoy the view of the city. Chiko had seen the view before, but he still looked out to see. It had been a while since he had seen the skyscrapers and bustling streets of Tokyo. It was a sight that he had longed missed, though it was no longer the city that he knew. There was a dark side to it that he knew about now that made everything drag down. The sun was shining, but it still seemed as though the entire city was covered in clouds.

He stepped off of the train watching the doctor already in the distance looking through some of the periodicals. Chiko could hear some strange noise from behind him that seemed to be calling out for him. Though by the sound if it, it seemed more like a ghost howling in the wind almost like it had lost its spirit and there was nothing left of it being only a rasp echo. The sound sent chills down Chiko's body as he looked around him to see where it was coming from.

Chiko learned what the noise was; it was Mashiro having spent the entire time with Mrs. Shimasuke on the train. The sight was frightening, though it did make Chiko laugh. He got what was coming to him for blackmailing him into the field trip with Kohana. Chiko's only disappointment was that they had to behave themselves mostly being in public view. He would have enjoyed it more knowing that Mashiro was locked in a room with her alone for the hour ride. 'Heh heh. Oh what she could have done to him.'

'What you talking about, Big Brother?'

'Gah! How long you been listening?'

'Tee hee! The whole time. What you talking about, Big Brother?'

'You wouldn't understand. I'll tell you when you're older.'

'Meanie.' Kohana suddenly took control of his body. Chiko was unable to do anything about it other than be frustrated that she so easily took control from him. She grabbed Nobu's hand making him look back at Chiko in surprise. "Let's walk together!"

"Uh…okay…" Nobu said confused.

'Grr…why you.'

'Tee hee! Have fun!'

'Get back here right now!' Chiko was returned control of his body immediately having to deal with the awkward situation that she put him in now. 'I knew this was going to be a bad day.'

Chiko did not have anything he could do that would get him out this at the moment. It would seem strange right now; he did not know what he should do. How could he explain his split personalities in a way that did not make seem like he had two people in control? He really wanted to strangle Kohana for doing this to him. He was going to have to get through it for a while to find the right time that he could take his hand back. Chiko just hoped that it would not attract the undue attention of the other students; it was the last thing that he needed right now.

The entire class walked out of the train station managing to stay together in the crowds. There were the inner city trains going around dropping off people constantly keeping the station filled. It was hard enough to get through at times that pushing through was the only method. Chiko had hoped to use that opportunity to get free from Nobu, but he lost control of his arm. He knew immediately that it was Kohana's doing cutting off his control in his arm. It was an underhanded trick; Chiko could not believe that she would be so cruel as to torment him like this. 'Just because I wouldn't explain it. This is stupid and childish!'

Everyone found themselves outside trying not to get pulled along with the mass of people. Mrs. Shimasuke was shouting out to make sure that all of the students had made it. When she was satisfied that everyone was with her, everyone stepped onto the large tour bus that was going to take them to their first stop. Chiko had not really paid much attention to their plans, as he was not intending to go originally. He knew that they were going to the Tokyo Tower at some point and the Shinjuku district, as well as some other places that he could not remember too well. He probably had seen them all before so it would not be much of a surprise where they went.

Their first stop was some crowded marketplace where most of the streets were blocked off during the day so that people could walk around everywhere without troubles. Chiko found the place interesting, but he had seen them before already. There were a lot of food vendors around and parks nearby for them to enjoy the scenery. Chiko sat in the park with a few of the other students enjoying the breeze. He really did not feel like being in the crowd, plus Nobu was there.

Chiko had finally gotten free of Nobu when they were on the bus and had been keeping his distance from him for a while. Though the Doctor and Mashiro were close by as he expected. The Doctor was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, which meant that he was standing out like a sore thumb. He was standing at the edge of the vendors staring directly at Chiko eating. It was making Chiko a little uncomfortable knowing that the Doctor was there.

He got up to walked around to try to get the staring out of his mind. The uneasiness was making it difficult for him to walk straight as he bumped into someone suddenly. He fell down to the ground in surprise looking up to see that it was a woman in her late fifties smiling down at him. Chiko knew she looked familiar to him; it was then that it hit him who it was. Chiko's eyes widened in shock as he crawled back a step not certain what he should do.

"Kohana!" Mashiro shouted trying to locate Chiko.

Chiko looked back in the direction of the voice unable to move.

"Oh my, you aren't hurt are you dear?"

Chiko did not know what to say, he needed to say something. There was so many things that he wanted to say, but there was nothing that was coming to him.

"There you are, Kohana. You ran off and I couldn't find you. Oh, excuse me Ma'am. I hope she did not upset you."

"Oh no, don't worry about it. I wasn't looking where I was going and we bumped into each other."

"Now Kohana, apologize to her."

Chiko looked up at the two of them, he could not form any words in his mouth to say anything. He got up and ran behind Mashiro trying to get out of sight of the woman.

"Oh my."

"What has gotten into you? You'll have to excuse her," Mashiro said looking embarrassed. He rubbed his hand through his hair a little confused. "She is not usually this shy."

"Its alright. They can be a handful at that age. My son would draw all over the walls. I would be chasing him down with a towel barely managing to keep up." The woman laughed as she was remembering times long past. Though she seemed to get sad a moment later that left Mashiro confused. "I'm sorry. You'll have to forgive me."

Chiko could hear the woman crying softly as he looked around from Mashiro. He wanted to say something to her, but he did not know what he could at this point. There was nothing he could do that would make her feel any better right now. He could not stand it; he did not want to see her anymore. Chiko ran away from Mashiro in the opposite direction out of the park.

Mashiro was left a little uncertain what to do about the woman, but he knew that he had to chase down Chiko before he got too far. There was no telling what could happen if it was known that they were in Tokyo by the syndicate or anyone that was looking for them. "Please, excuse me."

"Oh yes. I'm sorry."

Mashiro ran off in the direction where he could see Chiko quickly disappearing around the corner of some bushes. The Doctor was quickly following up behind Mashiro uncertain about what was happening. They chased Chiko down until they cornered him at the edge of a line of bushes. He was huddled up with his arms wrapped around his legs shaking not saying a word. Mashiro was confused what had Chiko so upset, he had not seen him react like that towards anyone. The only thing he could think of was that he knew the woman some how when he was in his other life in Tokyo.

Mashiro bent down to the ground to look at Chiko directly. Chiko was unfortunately not looking at him, but held his head down against his knees. He needed to know what Chiko was thinking so that he could help him. "What's wrong?" There was no reply or response from him that he could see. "Hey, come on. You can tell me what's wrong," Mashiro said trying in a more cheerful voice. It did not help either though as Chiko was still unresponsive to him.

He placed his hand on Chiko's shoulder hoping to get a reaction. Chiko jumped being broken from his concentration. This was what Mashiro was hoping for; he just hoped that Chiko would be open to telling him what it was. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Chiko looked up at Mashiro. He did not know what to say to him. He had wanted to say something to her, anything that could make her feel better. Yet he knew that he could not with things as they were. It would be too difficult to explain everything and even if he did it would only put her in danger for knowing the truth. Chiko could not do that to her even if it would make her feel better.

There was no way of getting out of it now though with Mashiro. Chiko hesitated further trying to figure out what to say, though it was pretty simple. He just did not want to say it out loud. "She's…she's…"

"She's what?"

"She's my mother…"

"I see…what?! Your mother?"

"Yes…she thinks I'm dead."

"I'm sorry…" Mashiro felt like he should say something more to Chiko, but he knew that this had to be hard on him. It was probably not easy for him to see her and in the state that he was in. She was so close to him and he knew the truth, but had to act completely different. This explained a lot of the reasons for his actions, which were completely uncharacteristic of Chiko. Though hiding in a corner was not exactly like Chiko either, but it was understandable.

"Well you can't stay here forever, I'm afraid to say. Mrs. Shimasuke is probably worried about you."

"On the contrary I think she would be more worried about you Mashiro from what I saw on the train," the doctor said grinning to himself.

"Shut up! No one asked you." Mashiro put out a hand for Chiko to grab uncertain as to whether he would actually take the offer or not. Chiko reached out his hand with uncertainty, Mashiro was left wondering if he was going to get it slapped away or punched. But Chiko did neither and grabbed his hand as Mashiro pulled him up. He could see tears trailing away in the breeze.

"Mashiro! Kohana!" Mrs. Shimasuke shouted from a distance. Mashiro jumped in fear as he heard her voice and leapt into Chiko's arms. Chiko promptly dropped him and kicked him in the shins. Then while Mashiro was bouncing on one foot he punched him in the stomach sending towards Mrs. Shimasuke. At that point, she grabbed Mashiro up out of the bushes and dragged him off satisfied with what she found. Chiko sighed out loud beginning to walk back to the rest of the class.

"Try and not be too obvious doc, okay?"

"Huh?"

"Nevermind…" Chiko marched off quickly having Sakura find him and Nobu being dragged along with a couple other students. The tour bus was leaving soon and that dragged everyone back through the marketplace. They found themselves back outside in the city streets where the bus was waiting for them. Chiko saw Mashiro being dragged up the bus to his delight. Though Chiko quickly found himself being dragged up the bus by Sakura. He was not looking forward to where they were going next, not that he knew where it was.

The bus drove along until it came to its next stop, Akhabara. It seemed like a strange choice for a school trip, but it was pretty popular and it would have the kids interested. Chiko did not have anything against visiting the place, though he did not really know what they were going to be doing. He walked off the bus following along with the rest of the class. Mrs. Shimasuke was dragging Mashiro along with her in front of the class ignoring the strange looks that she was getting from both the class and their parents. It was enough for Chiko to know that he was suffering as well.

After a while of wandering around and looking at the various places in the area the Doctor became excited for some reason. Well, more to the point, he became more excited than he already had been about something. Chiko did not know what it was but he found himself being dragged down by the Doctor away from everyone else. Mashiro got out of Mrs. Shimasuke's arms long enough to chase after them with a reasonable excuse.

The Doctor stopped in the alleyway of two buildings with Mashiro catching up to them. Chiko was confused as to what had come over the Doctor to bring him to some backwards part of the city that had seen better days. The Doctor was acting as strange as could be normal for him excited about something. Mashiro had finally caught up to them and looked at the Doctor strangely before starting to drag Chiko back to the class.

"Wait! Its nearby!" the doctor said leaving the two puzzled looking at each other.

"You know what he is talking about it?"

"No idea," Mashiro said.

"Over here," the Doctor called to them.

Chiko shrugged to Mashiro as he did as well and went closer. He was uncertain whether he was going to regret following the Doctor or not into some unknown abyss. The Doctor suddenly opened a door out of a wall that did not have a door a moment ago. It made the two of them step backwards uncertain about what the Doctor had in store for them this time. Neither of them liked the idea of going along with what the Doctor did and the Doctor disappeared into the black void

"You first," Chiko said.

"I couldn't. You first."

"No, no no. I insist."

"I don't mind. You can go before me."

The two continued like that for a minute until the doctor's head popped out of the blackness where the door was. "What are you two doing?" He then dragged the both of them by their shirts and pulled them into the black abyss. Chiko did not know if he was spinning out of control or just uneasy in the emptiness. There was almost nothing around him, but he could clearly see Mashiro and the Doctor without any trouble at all. It did not make any sense if there was no light.

The Doctor was sitting down tilted over with nothing supporting him while Mashiro and Chiko stood up. They looked around the void trying to figure out where they were, but there was nothing that gave a perception of volume. However, suddenly there were lights dashing by them at incredible speeds making Chiko feel sick. The Doctor was slowly falling back into what looked like the source of the lights. He reached for the Doctor who did not seem to notice or care that he was going to be lost to the lights.

There was then a sudden burst of light that blinded them. When Chiko opened his eyes he found himself in the Doctor's lab. It was the place that all of this had begun and he had been placed into the body of a girl. He did not understand why the Doctor brought him here to his lab or even how they got here. The only thing that did make sense was why the Doctor had been so happy, he was returning to his lab.

"Why did you bring us here?" Chiko said.

"More importantly though, how did we get here?" Mashiro said, "This is halfway across the city!"

"My question first!"

"Shut up! You don't have to first all the time."

The Doctor grinned with stars all around him running around his room full of computers. He was rubbing all of the knobs and panels in a frightening manner that made Chiko question the man's sanity. Though he realized that he was already insane. Chiko and Mashiro just stared at the man in disbelief and frustration for being ignored by him. It was not until the Doctor had made a complete circle around the room that he ran face first into them. He backed off from them adjusting his glasses as though he was preparing to speak to them.

"How did we get here, doc?"

"That is easy, through the same device that is in your mirror at home."

"What?! How is that possible?"

"Just because it stores matter, does not mean that it cannot transport matter as well. I just altered the flow so that instead of directing it to the main storage space it goes to another opening. It is my way of getting new computer supplies really easily. Saves on fares too."

Chiko pushed Mashiro out of the way to be seen. "Now, why did you bring us here?"

"Oh, I missed my home so much I just wanted to see it."

"You've hardly been gone a week. You can't tell me that is the reason why you dragged us all the way here?"

"That and I wanted to get some more dresses for you to wear. I had so many prepared for the next that I-" The Doctor was unable to finish his sentence as Chiko sent him flying across the room.

Chiko's veins in his forehead were popping out again as Mashiro was holding him back from completely beating him to a pulp. "I should have known that your airhead brain of yours would do something like that. Get a life! I'm not your doll to dress up for the thousandth time!"

The Doctor slowly got himself up coughing. He was then distracted by something on a computer screen that made him get up quickly. The Doctor's hands were furiously traveling over the panel making the computer beep repeatedly. Neither of them knew what was going on, but they slowly walked over to see what it was. The Doctor did not stop looking at the computer terminal his expression was serious. Chiko did not like it when the Doctor was serious. It usually meant that he was planning something or that something bad was about to happen.

Chiko looked up to Mashiro hoping that he could see better what was happening. All Chiko could see was the edge of the ledge for the computer, he was too short to actually see what the Doctor was doing. Unfortunately, Mashiro seemed to be about as clueless as Chiko was in what was actually happening. Though it was clear to the both of them that something bad was happening from the way the Doctor looked. It seemed as though he was trying to stop something from happening, though that was only Chiko guessing.

"What is it doc?" Mashiro said.

The Doctor did not respond or acknowledge Mashiro though as he continued to work over the computer panel. The fact that he was refusing to respond made Chiko worry. There was something happening that had the Doctor preoccupied with that computer. He tugged on the Doctor's shirt to try to get his attention, though that did not help either. Chiko did not know what he should do; he needed to know what was happening.

The Doctor suddenly stopped working on the computer letting his arm fall to his side. It seemed like he was defeated the way he was reacting. Though they still did not know what had happened. "What happened, doc?" The Doctor walked away from the computer and collapsed in the corner. He was simply staring off at the ceiling or something that was not in the room. There was no sign that he even heard them or acknowledged that they were still in the room.

Mashiro walked over to the Doctor to try to find out what happened. Chiko followed up behind him as well. He stared at the Doctor who was staring back at him, though more like he was looking through Chiko than at him. It was clear that something bad happened and the Doctor had given up.

"What happened?" Chiko shouted. He was tempted to kick the man, though he sort of felt bad for him the state he was in. Chiko walked closer to the Doctor hoping that he could break the man's empty void expression. "What is going on? Speak!" Unfortunately, nothing seemed to be getting through to the man. Chiko began poking and prodding the Doctor even though Mashiro tried to stop him. But that was not even working.

'All else fails…' Chiko pulled back his leg winding up for a kick to end all kicks. He could feel his muscles tightening up and protesting as he brought all of his fury into his foot. Chiko was savoring the moment before impact, though it was went a little unsatisfying since the Doctor was not reacting to the impending assault. However, as Chiko released his foot, Mashiro realized what Chiko was doing and knocked him over on his side. The result made Chiko ram his leg into the computer painfully making him scream out loud on the floor. Chiko rolled around on the floor ignored as Mashiro worked on the Doctor.

Mashiro slapped the Doctor to wake him up. After a little more coaxing the Doctor was back in the land of the living with Mashiro hounding him for answers to his questions. "What happened, doc?"

"Mashiro…it's terrible. I can't believe that this happened. Who would do such a thing?"

"Doctor make some sense, I don't know what you are talking about."

"The facility, someone came in here and ruined my work!"

"What do you mean ruined your work?"

"Its all gone."

"This is like pulling teeth," Mashiro said under his breath. "Stop beating around the bush and just tell me!"

"The bodies, it's the bodies. They are all gone. There was nothing I could d-do. T-they're destroyed."

"Bodies? You don't mean."

Chiko suddenly pulled himself out of his pain and pushed himself into the Doctor's face. "What do you mean the bodies are gone, destroyed? Which bodies?"

"All of them. There is nothing left. They wiped all of storage banks and started the disposal process. All of the bodies were destroyed. The ones for all of the people that were waiting and all of the bodies that I made. They are all gone!"

"You can't be serious. You're lying!" Chiko's said as his pupils became small in shock. He was holding the doctor by his shirt, but there was no strength in his arms anymore. He could not believe it, there had to be something wrong, it was a mistake. It just had to be a mistake.

"Chiko, stop."

"No, this is another one of your jokes. Right!? It's a joke. You're lying. Tell me you're lying! Tell me-" Chiko said as he collapsed on the floor. All of his future hopes, any hope that he have of returning to his life was gone. It was all gone in an instant. There was nothing more for him.

- - - - -

Shinzaburo's aid walked into the office of Shinzaburo in the Section Three building of Shinjuku. Shinzaburo was looking out the window's of his office as his aid approached him. The view of the city was beautiful to watch. The glass was filled with the buildings towering around it. It was still early in the day, but there was good news for Shinzaburo that would make the view of the city even better.

"It has been done. We were able to break the code and find what we needed."

"Good, and the facility?"

"I handled it."

"Excellent, the pieces are being cleaned up as we speak."

"Further good news, the tracking device has reactivated for Mashiro Takama."

"Is that so? He has returned to Tokyo then. Against orders."

"Yes."

"All the better. Where is he now?"

"He was last seen in Akhabara District. There is currently something jamming the transmission."

"No matter. Continue to monitor him. We can move sooner than expected." The aid walked back out of the office. Shinzaburo admired the view with a small grin on his face. The view had become more enjoyable and all of the pieces were falling into place now for him. It was just a matter of time before everything would be ready.

Preview for the next episode:

"That is not a way to open a preview, Chiko," Mashiro said.

"You know you are not being very helpful here, talking to myself is not as fun as it looks," Mashiro said sighing to himself. "Well then I guess I am alone. Since Chiko is out of commission, again, I will be doing the preview. Somehow."

"Can I help?" Kohana says cheerfully.

"Ugh...I don't know."

"I'll help too," Sakura says.

"What am I doing here?" Nobu says.

"Get your butt back here Kitayama, we have a score to settle!" Hakuro said. "You are ruining the school field trip with your sour mood!"

"What are all you doing here? This is too many!"

"Mashirooo!" Mrs. Shimasuke calls out.

"Eeek! Think I hear my car engine rattling!"

"Aw, where did he go?"

"Kitayama!"

"Huh, what is going on?" Nobu says confused.

"No need to fear, The Doctor is here!"

"How boring," Hakuro says.

"What?!"

"Where did daddy go?"

The doctor starts to cry, "But what about me..."

"Huh, what's this paper," Nobu says, "On the next episode of The Inner Man, Empty. What will Chiko do now with no future? I don't understand. Huh, another paper...better...not miss it...who knows where...the kicks will land? This is confusing. More...tee...hee?"

"Kitayama!"