Andromeda

The Inner Man – Episode 19 – Empty

"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 might have of returning to his life was gone. It was all gone in an instant. There was nothing more for him.

Chiko did not know how to react to what he heard everything was gone now. He had nothing to look forward to and nothing to hope for. The opportunity to return to a life that he knew was gone, there was no more future. This time was all that he had and there was nothing else. It did not seem real to him as though it was a dream he could wake up from and find himself back in his apartment. This would just simply be over when he opened his eyes and he would be back in his old life. "Dream…yeah it's just a dream…a nightmare…"

He backed away from the doctor trying to get him out of his sight. It all began here for him and now it was completing the cycle. Chiko turned away going to the other side of the room almost staggering to the wall. He collapsed at the wall not wanting this to be the end. This had to be a lie. He could not accept it. "…nightmare…" Chiko eyes glazed over trying to remember what his life had been like before. He could barely remember his apartment anymore.

Chiko walked through the opening that was left from when they entered. He did not even know what he was doing anymore other than simply moving his feet one in front of another. There was no point in moving forward for him if there was nothing at the end waiting for him. The light was gone replaced by only a black void that continued endlessly. He could not leave the tunnel anymore forced to remain lost and disconnected forever. This body he was stuck in was permanent.

The void of the passage came to an end dumping Chiko back out where he began in the back alley of somewhere in Akhabara. Chiko kept walking hardly even realizing that he had left the lab. He strolled through the alleyways with his mind somewhere else. There was nothing that Kohana was able to do to take over control in the state that he was in. He was creating too much emotional energy for her to take any sort of control to aid the body. Chiko had stopped caring about anything hoping that he could just wake up.

- - - - -

Mashiro had been focusing on trying to get the doctor moving again that he did not even realize that Chiko had disappeared. The doctor was being slow to encourage up off the floor as he was still in shock about what happened. Mashiro did not understand everything that was happening, but he knew that this was all the doctor's work as well as his hobby. However, disturbing it might have been, it was what was important to the man and it was gone. He could not understand the pain the Doctor was in, but he had an idea of how he must be feeling. "Chiko! Give me a hand with him."

Mashiro looked around the computer room with confusion. That confusion changed into worry and shock as his eyes became small. He had forgotten in the moment that this affected Chiko as well. If the bodies were destroyed that meant that he did not have his to return to once this was all over. Mashiro said some curses to himself under his breathe as he realized how blind he had been. "I don't have time for you anymore doc, time to go!"

The doctor was still unresponsive as Mashiro rattled his body to get him moving. Mashiro stopped caring about anything at that moment and punched the Doctor as hard as he could knocking him across the floor. The Doctor's mouth was red and bleeding as he looked up at Mashiro in a state of disbelief. "Now listen to me and listen well. There is more than just you to think about. You aren't the only one suffering right now. So stop being selfish and get your butt off that floor before I carry your carcass back myself!"

He then started walking over to the Doctor forcing him to make a decision of walking on his own or with help. The yelling had helped to bring the Doctor around to his senses enough that Mashiro could get him moving. The man was still being difficult to get moving, but he was standing now. Mashiro was getting tried of the effort though and simply picked up the Doctor and put him over his shoulder. The man was heavy and Mashiro could not do this for very long, but it was enough to get him out of the lab, the source of a lot of memories.

Mashiro walked through the void assuming that Chiko took this exit as well. He unfortunately did not know how he was going to approach finding Chiko if he was planning on getting lost or hidden from Mashiro at this time. Mashiro was worried what could happen, but he was actually mad and angry with him as well. He did not know why he was feeling so angry at the moment. Chiko was always running off and disappearing making more trouble for him and making him into the center of the universe. He believed that there was no one else in the world that had it as miserable as he did. It would not be so bad if Chiko was actually a child and then this would be normal. 'What else…'

- - - - -

Chiko continued to walk passing through an intersection with cars stopping or swerving out of the way to avoid hitting him. There was little that he was actually aware of at that point as he was lost in his thoughts. A word would escape his lips every so often that were merely a mumble rather than something intelligible to someone. He almost seemed like a machine walking without a purpose or direction, as he would almost run into something.

People stared at him as he passed by them uncertain what was wrong with him. They would see the little girl walking and smile until she approached closer to them. Their expressions would change to concern or confusion as there was only a vacant look on her face. It did not even seem as though there was life in her eyes, completely soulless. She could not acknowledge them or even try to go around them, but simply move in a line. They had to go around her turning their heads back at her until they were far enough away that they stopped caring.

Kohana was still fighting with the numbing affect that Chiko had over everything making it difficult for her to even think straight. She was trying to gain control over their body so that he would stop wandering aimlessly through the city. She was confused and lost at what else she should be doing. There was always a clear direction for her to take or something that she needed to do. She knew what she needed to do, but she could not do it. Yet as she thought further on, she did not know what she was suppose to do with Chiko. The only thing she could think of was to take her back to Mashiro, but with what she was feeling from Chiko it was the last place he wanted to be at the moment. She was being overwhelmed by emotions that she could not completely comprehend or know how to react to.

They continued to walk down the sidewalk coming near to a corner when Kohana saw the rest of the class across the street. She hoped that they would be enough to hold Chiko in place that she could take control. If she could have control of the body then she could keep Chiko around them until he returned to his senses. She did not know what else to do. The emotions she was feeling from Chiko was making her feel strangely in a way that she did not understand. She wanted to try to smile or laugh, but she just simply could not manage to not even one that seemed fake. Kohana had always felt so cheerful; she had felt parts of Chiko's emotions, but nothing to this degree. She felt as though he was blending into her mind.

She continued to watch their classmates as they were walking down the street not noticing Chiko or herself on the opposite side. Kohana wanted to run to them, but Chiko was insisting on moving slowly still. They stepped out into the street without regard for the oncoming traffic that was signaled to go. They were in the last lane before reaching the other side when a sports car came barreling down the street with reckless abandon for the surround. The car did not stop for Chiko who was still in its path as it hit him in the side sending him into the air. The car did not even stop as Chiko's body slowly came to land on the sidewalk.

Everyone around the incident stood in shock to what just happened as Chiko's body lay unmoving on the ground. Mashiro's eyes were small in surprise, as he had witnessed what happened and started running through traffic. He was dodging the vehicles as he ran through the street to the other side where Chiko was lying. He did not know how badly that would have hurt him, but either way he had to get to him immediately.

The back of the class had become entranced by the scene until realizing that it was Chiko that was involved. They called Mrs. Shimasuke in the front to get her to stop. Everyone was surprised and in disbelief at the words that he had just been hit by a car. They rushed to the scene that was quickly developing out of control. Mrs. Shimasuke pushed through everyone trying to get to her student as Mashiro was fighting through as well.

"I don't have time for this, out of my way!" Mashiro said pushing people out of his way not caring what was happening to them. He was having trouble still carrying the doctor around with him through the bodies that he had to fight. There was a moment when he almost dropped the Doctor, but managed to get him back up on his shoulder. He could see Chiko now with the crowd thinning out at the center. Mashiro lifting the Doctor up and used him to clear a path for him by throwing him on to the last two people.

Mashiro picked up Chiko's body to look at him as Mrs. Shimasuke arrived through the students. They looked at each other with worry across their face. Mashiro tried to examine Chiko's body the best he could at a glance to see if there was any sign of blood or broken bones. There was nothing that he could see, just the uniform a little dirty. He was not sure if that was a good sign or not. Mashiro knew that the body that Chiko had was strong and resilient, the fight with the scarred man was proof of that. But a speeding car was another story completely.

"Is Kohana alright? Is she breathing?" Mrs. Shimasuke said with panic spread through her voice. She was barely able to get the words out before she was choking on them in worry.

"I think so…I can't tell." Mashiro looked around for the doctor in the crowd. He found the end of his Hawaiian shirt collar and dragged him into the center. The Doctor still looked a little dazed, but Mashiro did not have time for him to be out of it. He slapped the Doctor's face a couple times to get him alert. "You need to look at her," Mashiro said talking softly to him so that no one heard him. "You're the only one that is possibly qualified."

The Doctor looked up blinking at the sight of Kohana in Mashiro's arms unconscious. It was enough to bring him to his senses that he did not waste anymore time. He was up in an instant examining her body. The Doctor ran his hands over her arms and legs to check for anything broken. He continued examining her for a while until Mrs. Shimasuke could not stand the silence anymore.

"Who you are? What are you doing? What are you doing here?"

"I'm a doctor! I need more room and somewhere a little less crowded."

"The tour bus is nearby waiting for us."

"That will work. Lead the way."

Mrs. Shimasuke shouted for all her lungs were worth, which instantly cleared a path. Mashiro looked a little embarrassed by the frightful act, but he could not remain frozen long. He took the opening in the crowd and rushed through carrying Chiko's body with him. The Doctor was following up closely behind him along with the mob of students. Everyone else in the crowd was left a little confused and uncertain, but eventually managed to find their way back to their normal lives.

Mashiro followed quickly behind Mrs. Shimasuke who was clearing a path through the streets at a frightening pace. He figured that Chiko was not going to die from something like this, the Doctor would have been far more concerned if that was case. There were other problems that Chiko had at the moment on top of this. He had to try to work with what he could until Chiko was awake again.

Once they arrived at the bus, Mashiro carried Chiko to the back where he could set him across the length of the seats. All of the rest of the students piled in around looking from their seats the best they could. The Doctor was still looking over Chiko's body as Mrs. Shimasuke was holding on to Mashiro for comfort. The entire bus was quiet waiting to hear what the Doctor would say and hoping that Chiko would be fine. The minutes passed by silently with tension mounting. Mashiro was having mixed feelings at the moment feeling that he wanted to comfort Mrs. Shimasuke or get away from her feeling him up.

The Doctor turned around wiping his glasses with a cloth from his pocket. He put them back on as the light bounced off the glass. "She will be alright. She has a nasty bruise, but there is nothing broken. It just seems to have knocked her out." The entire class let out a sigh, a few releasing a cheer to try to break the tension. Mrs. Shimasuke went to calm down the students letting Mashiro free to speak to the Doctor.

Mashiro walked next to the Doctor to let them speak quietly between each other. "There is nothing wrong then?"

"No, it'll take more than that to kill him. Though he will have a bad headache when he wakes up."

"Can't you wake him?"

"I've already tried. There is something deeper that I can't figure out. He does not want to wake up right now."

"And Kohana? Shouldn't she be awake then?"

"I don't understand it, she seems unresponsive as well."

"Keep an eye on them, I don't like this." Mashiro walked back to Mrs. Shimasuke who had managed to get the students calmed down and in their seats. This was going to make the rest of the trip a little difficult, but it might be easier this way.

"I'm thinking about calling the rest of the day off," Mrs. Shimasuke said.

"No, it might not be easy, but they should have their day. If nothing else, it might allow them to forget for a moment."

"I don't know…"

Mashiro placed his hand on her shoulder to reassure. He smiled at her hoping to remove the worry from her face. "Kohana will be alright." She looked back at him and Mashiro knew that he regretted that moment. He instantly pulled back his hand stepping away from her. Mashiro circled around her as she was staring him down with watery eyes. He walked backwards down the aisle until he was forcefully stopped by the front of the bus. Mashiro looked over at the driver panicked, "Hey, umm…we can go now. Head to the next stop. Quickly."

"But I…"

Mashiro placed his hand firmly on the man's shoulder. "Quickly!" The man still did not budge the bus. Mashiro dug his fingers into the man's shoulders to emphasis his point making the man almost fall over as he slammed the accelerator of the bus. The sudden speed made the bus jump into action and caused Mrs. Shimasuke to fall over rolling backwards to the end of bus coming to a painful stop at the seats. Mrs. Shimasuke was left daze and swirling as Mashiro carried her to her seat.

He walked back to the rear of the bus to sit near to Chiko and wait till he finally woke up. This was different from the last time; at least Kohana had been around then. But now neither one of them was present. He did not know what this meant, but he knew that Chiko had to be going through a serious dilemma at the moment. The man had his last thread of hope ripped out of his hand and left him with nothing. Mashiro did not know if Chiko would even want to come back knowing that was what he had to face.

- - - - -

Kohana did not know what was happening to her anymore. The last thing that she remembered was seeing a car coming at them and everything went blank. She had been trying to wake herself up or gain control of Chiko, but there was nothing. It was as though she was alone in a void without any connections to anything. She could not even sense their body to attempt to take control. Kohana had never felt like this before.

When she was sealed away, she did not know exactly what was happening other than seeing memories and images. She did not really even have a sense of herself in that state, but more just a part of Chiko's mind. It was not until Chiko retreated into their mind that she knew who she actually was. Then everything came back to her as though it had all been restrained or locked away until that point. In an instant she knew that she was back, but somewhere else than the lab.

It almost felt like she was back there at the beginning again and just a part of Chiko. She needed to find him if possible within this void. "Chiko!" she called out to him. There was no response; it was hard to tell if her voice or thoughts were getting beyond whatever she was stuck in. She tried again without any more success then before. "Chiko! Where are you?" Kohana continued to try to break through the void, but she did not even know what was happening to her.

She kept trying to reach him not certain what she was doing anymore in her attempts. "What is going on? Chiko answer me!" There was suddenly a flash a light that ripped away the void and blinded Kohana. When it faded away, she found herself in a room now rather than the blackness. She did not recognize the room; it was not the house that they lived in. The entire place was messy with things in disarray as though someone just left things wherever they fell off. Most of it was clothes lying off the back of furniture, some of it even seemed to be women's clothes.

Kohana was confused and started to walk around the room. It was a small space with the kitchen next to what seemed to be the living room. The only area that seemed to be in order was the place by the window where there was a canvas, a painting resting on an easel. The entire area around it was orderly with paints and brushes laying about at one side and paper and tray nearby as well. It was the only place that seemed cleaned. The painting was however unfinished.

Kohana approached the painting to look at it; curious to know why it was in such a room. It almost seemed out of place the way everything else was in the room. She stared at it for a while, but it was not complete. There seemed to be a woman that was not completed in part of the scene along with part of the landscaping. She wondered why it was not finished and whom it was that was painting it. Kohana knew that Chiko could draw and wondered if it was something from his memories.

There was suddenly a noise from the hallway that made Kohana look away. She did not know what it was, but she was curious enough to follow the sound to find out what it was. There was another sound she heard, similar to the last as though there was someone in pain. She walked cautiously to the hallway continuing to hear more sounds becoming louder. Kohana was confused by the noise, it was clear that it was a woman's voice, but she did not know what was wrong with her. The sounds were strange that she heard like moans.

Kohana was almost to the door when suddenly she saw herself in front of her. Though when she looked at the person closer they seemed a little different, like it was Chiko and not her. She tried to go around the child to reach the door, but they stood in her way.

"You do not want to see," they said.

"But what is going on in there?"

"It is not for your eyes."

"Huh? Where is Chiko? What is going on? I need to find him?"

"I am Chiko."

"But…" Kohana tried to go around them, but they stood in her way still. There was no way for her to get around. "Tell me what is going on? I need to find Chiko!" Suddenly the noise stopped and the room felt different to her. She did not understand it, but there was something telling her that it was changed now. Kohana had the urge to return to the main room as the child calling herself Chiko followed.

When Kohana reached the room she found someone at the painting working on it. They were facing away from her so she could not see who it was immediately. She walked around the person to see that it was a man, from what she knew of Chiko's memories it was him when he was in his old body. Kohana went to touch him to get his attention, but the other Chiko stepped in front of him.

"Don't, he is busy. He needs to be alone."

"What? But he needs to wake up."

"You can't."

- - - - -

The bus came to a stop at a park; it was not the next place that they were going to visit. However, the other parents were becoming a little concerned. Mrs. Shimasuke had decided that it was a good enough place to talk things over before continuing. All of the students were off the bus walking around the park; they seemed a little down by the events. Though it was clear that they were resilient to be able to keep going in spite of the situation.

Mashiro gathered with the few other parents that had traveled with the class to decide on what was going to happen. He really wanted the day to end and was against his own decision, but this was not just about him. As much as he wanted to argue for them to leave and use it as a good excuse, there was more for them to think about than his own problems. This was the kid's trip, they had waited a while to see the city and for many of them they might not see the city again for many years. They should be able to enjoy the time without having to worry about Chiko; he was going to be fine.

"We need to decide if the trip should be cancel so that we can get Kohana proper medical attention," Mrs. Shimasuke said.

"I agree that we should, it might be hard on the kids, but she needs someone to look at her and time to rest," a mother said.

"We have a doctor, he said she is going to be alright," Mashiro said.

"You're being ill-responsible as a parent," another mother said.

"I'm just thinking about the children as well. If I believed there was serious danger to Kohana, I would be the first one demanding to go back. I don't want to ruin this for the rest of them."

"Maybe so, but still. We don't even know who the man is."

"Yes, how can we be sure he is telling the truth?"

"Well I…"

Around the corner by the trees was the bus driver sitting down for a cigarette. He took off his hat and pulled out the pack from his hat. The man rubbed his thinning hair before pulling out a cigarette to smoke. He fumbled around trying to find his lighter when someone approached him with a light. The driver looked up to see the man getting blurred out by the sun. "Thank you."

The driver drew in a breath and exhaled a heavy cloud of smoke with a sigh. The man that had gave him a light looked over at the students running about through the park.

"Long day?"

"Yeah, only going to get longer." The man suddenly stepped closer to him casting a heavy shadow over him. There was a dark look in his eyes as he approached him. "Hey, what are yo-" The driver was cut off as he went silent.

The parents had come to a decision finally with something that Mashiro could agree on. They were going to head to the Tokyo Tower and then return home to Osaka. This way the best part of the trip would still be salvaged, but they would get home sooner so that Chiko would be able to rest. They gathered all of the students back together and got them on the bus. Mashiro walked onto the bus as the driver nodded to him looking different, but familiar to him. He shrugged it off and walked to the back of the bus to see how Chiko was doing. There was still no change in his condition unfortunately. It worried him how long Chiko would be unconscious and what he was fighting inside his mind.

- - - - -

Kohana had watched numerous scenes in Chiko apartment unfold with confusion. She did not know what was happening or the reason that she was seeing these things. The child version of Chiko was constantly getting in her way from approaching the adult Chiko that she was watching. She was forced to merely watch as he went about his normal daily life in the apartment.

She would watch him paint for a while then he would go to sleep. There would be other times that he would have women in his room and he would be making them laugh. She even saw Chiko sitting out in porch of his apartment just staring out and doing nothing. None of it was making any sense to her; she did not understand why he was simply doing the same things over and over again. All he was doing was living his life in his mind as he used to be before he was put in the body that he had now. It was as though he was stuck in a loop that was never going to end.

He was painting again and the child Chiko was holding her back. She wanted some answers to what was going on. Kohana grabbed the child and pulled him away from the other one and walked him over to the couch. "Am I in his mind? I don't understand all of this, but I'm right aren't I?"

"Why are you here?"

"You didn't answer the question. I'm asking the questions."

"Why do you want to disturb him?"

"Stop it. He is just doing the same things over again."

"What is wrong with that if he is content?"

"But he is not happy or sad. His expression never changes. I see it always being flat. He needs to laugh and cry."

"But then you only become hurt again."

"But there is happiness as well."

"There is not enough to fill that void. He is content, do not disturb him."

"There is more out there than his apartment, he watches it from that window."

"He does not need to see it. He does not want to see it. He has his painting, that is enough to keep him content."

"How can he be content locked in this room?" Kohana stood up and marched over to Chiko that was sitting painting. She had enough of this. She knew that he might be depressed a lot and angry, but she had seen him smile too. Kohana knew there was more behind him than just all the blanket sorrow that he tried to show off all of the time. She was going to show it to him if it meant that she had to drag him by the neck everywhere.

Kohana pushed the child aside tired of being polite with him. The child pulled at her clothes trying to get her to stay away, but only slid along the floor as Kohana pushed on. She reached the adult Chiko and grabbed him by the shoulder to try to turn him. He refused to turn and Kohana stepped in his way to try to block him from painting so that he would look up at her. He continued to paint around her ignoring her completely.

She was tired of being ignored and kicked the painting over causing it spread paint across the floor. The adult Chiko rushed over to the painting trying to clean it up to continue working on it. Kohana marched over to him and stepped on the painting to get his attention. "Stop with the painting, there is more than just painting!"

The child Chiko ran up in front of Kohana blocking the two of them again. "He needs to paint. He's an artist, that is what he does."

"Not anymore, this is not your life anymore," Kohana said tried to get around the child to the adult.

"No…he can't…"

Kohana was frustrated, but she did not know what else she could do. She was stuck in this room unable to leave. The only thing that she could do was try to reason with him and get through to Chiko to hopefully end this cycle. She hoped that she could do it, because she was completely confused by everything that she was seeing. There was probably a meaning to it all, but that it was eluding her. She could only do what she could at the moment and hope that it was enough to get through to him.

- - - - -

Mashiro was staring out the window watching the city pass by. He kept watching Chiko to see when he would wake hoping that it would the moment he looked. However, there was something that was eating at him. He was not sure what it was, but something was not right on the bus. There was the sense that something was wrong, but he could not place the feeling at the moment. He kept looking out the window listening to the students as they talked about the Tokyo Tower.

Mashiro could see it in the distance as they were going further away from it. He looked back at Chiko for a moment to check for his peace of mind. Mashiro then continued to look out the window, as the Tokyo Tower grew smaller in the horizon on the highway. He spent a few more minutes staring until he came to the realization that they were going in the wrong direction. 'This is not right…where is the driver taking us?'

Mashiro looked over at the driver at the front to try to see if he could see what was happening. He wondered if the man was just lost or something. However, there was a certainty on the man's face he could see from this distance. There was something else as well; it was not the same driver that had been with them. The man was wearing the same clothes, but it clearly not the same driver. Mashiro grew concerned that it was a plot by The Awaking Dragons to make a move against him.

They might have learned where they were and who Chiko really was. This was their territory and they could do anything that they wanted in here without much trouble. Even a bus full of school children could be written off with the correct spin in the eyes of the media. They controlled so much in the city that he did not know if there was safe place out of their reach. If it was true that it was someone from the syndicate, then he had to do something quickly. Unfortunately on a moving vehicle there was little he could do that would not alert everyone else. Mashiro sat unable to make a move and trying to look inconspicuous. 'There is something familiar about him…I've seen him somewhere before…'

Mashiro had to wait until he had a better opportunity to make a move. He did not want to endanger the children if things got messy. If they were here for Chiko he did not know what they would try, but he knew that they would do anything. What had him more worried at the moment was where he was driving the bus to if it was not the Tokyo Tower. Mashiro wanted to avoid having the children caught up in this if possible. They did not need to go through another traumatic episode; most of them had managed to get over the hostage situation months back. This would only open those old wounds and affect them even more. Mashiro felt cornered unable to do something without exposing himself or endangering everyone.

The bus continued on its path as the parents became a little more concerned at the direction they were taking. Mrs. Shimasuke was trying to calm them down while Mashiro sat in the back with sweat slowly dripping down his face. There was not a word from the driver or even a move to show if he cared that the passengers were becoming restless.

The open city on the highway gave way to the high-rise skyscrapers of Shinjuku. At that point it became even more apparent to everyone that they were not going to the right place. The students were becoming more vocal about their restlessness as well as complaining. Mashiro watched them closely to see if the driver was going to make a move, but he just remained unfazed by the scene. Mrs. Shimasuke was having trouble keeping the parents calm as she was becoming worried herself. Mashiro did not know how much longer this could keep going.

Mrs. Shimasuke had had enough of it no longer being able to take the complaining from the parents and started to walk down the aisle towards the driver. Mashiro's muscles tightened, as he feared what might happen next. The bus suddenly made a wide turn into a building's underground parking garage. Mashiro caught the name of the building before it was gone; this was the Section Three main office branch. It did not make any sense to him at all why someone from The Awaking Dragons would be taking them here. None of this was making any sense now.

Mrs. Shimasuke had fallen over in the bus and was trying to make her way to the front of the bus. The bus came to a quick stop causing her to stumble forward into the arms of the driver. The driver was standing up from his seat looking down towards the back of the bus with a gun pointed directly at Mashiro. Mashiro's eyes narrowed as the move was made, all he could do now was react. However, the man had a hostage at the moment and there was little he could do since he did not have anything on him. The detectors on the train would not have let anything on through.

The sudden actions by the driver had everyone screaming and shouting for help. The driver fired a shot at Mashiro purposely missing, but it got his attention as well as the entire bus of passengers. "Quiet down. Now everyone get back into their seats, I don't think you want to see the insides of this woman's head," he said pointing the gun directly at Mrs. Shimasuke's head. Everyone grudgingly and fearfully obeyed. The children were all crying in their seats, some remembering the incident at the school. Mashiro was clinching his fists together wishing that he had been able to do something sooner while knowing that it was impossible.

"Now then, if you three in the back would come forward," he said aiming his gun directly at Mashiro and then the Doctor. "Don't look so innocent there. The child as well." The man waved him forward with his arm that was holding the gun.

Mashiro did not have much of a choice with Mrs. Shimasuke as a hostage. He picked up Chiko and the Doctor followed behind him as they walked through the aisle. Mashiro glared at the man, his face still familiar to him but partially blocked behind Mrs. Shimasuke that he could not recognize who it was. He was certain that it was someone he knew. The man took Mrs. Shimasuke off the bus waiting for Mashiro to exit. Mashiro wondered when Chiko was going to wake up it was becoming dire now. 'Chiko…'

- - - - -

Kohana was doing her best to find images and memories from Chiko's time that would help her get through to him. She had not been around him for a long time or understood everything that was happening. All she knew at the moment was that Chiko needed to see the parts of his life that were happy. There was more to his life she knew in the short time she had been that he enjoyed. She hoped that it was reaching him.

"Chiko, I don't understand all of this very well and I know you don't like me very much, but there is more to life than just sadness. I don't know much about this world and I have only begun to experience it, but I do know that and believe it. I know I have seen you smile and laugh."

The child Chiko appeared beside Kohana while the adult Chiko was looking away at the images surrounding them. "There is no future," the child said.

"You have a future. Stop living in the past."

"That is where he was the happiest."

"You need to move forward. Nothing will end here and nothing will begin. It is a cycle."

"There is nothing ahead."

"There is. You have a new life, a new chance at living. It is a different future."

"No!" the child screamed shattering the images and everything around them leaving only an empty void. "There is nothing. It has all been taken away."

"You need to remember those times. Remember when you smiled. And take…"

"Stop!"

"…one…step at a time…" the adult Chiko said with a rasp voice turning around.

- - - - -

Mashiro had given up Chiko to the man in exchange for Mrs. Shimasuke. He was clearly interested in Chiko this time and not himself. This man must have known the truth; it was no longer a secret. He sent Mrs. Shimasuke back to the bus to make sure the children were doing fine. They walked out of the parking garage leaving everyone behind. Mashiro and the Doctor were in front with the man holding his gun on them while he carried Chiko in his arms.

They reached the surface again out in front of the Section Three building. The street was unusually quiet for the time of day. It was almost as though the city was dead. Mashiro stopped and turned to look at the man who had taken Chiko. They stared at each other for a moment as the Doctor looked from the sidelines.

"You've been away for so long Mashiro. It was never suppose to have come to this. Chiko Toyozama was meant to die the day you meet him. Actually he was supposed to die before you meet him."

"You mean the snipers? They knew he was being transported and when! But how…"

"You haven't figured it out yet? And the good doctor has been with you for so long."

"What?! Wait…I remember now. It's you…the director's aide, Iwao Katsura. What are you doing here?"

"Ah so slow still huh? Even the Doctor figured it out quickly enough."

"What are you talking about?"

"Guess you really are all muscle and no brain. But you have your uses. Thanks to you many of those that Section Three was sheltering were able to find their end. You've done us a great service."

"You don't mean…" Mashiro eyes widened in realization. "You knew, for how long?" he said accusing the doctor.

"Congratulations, seems you finally have figured it out. And now that you have had your epiphany I shall terminate your service with Section Three. Thank you for a job well done." Iwao began to squeeze the trigger as Mashiro watched him carefully to make his move. The distance was close; he was not going to have much time to react. He did not know if he would be able to avoid a fatal wound at this range.

"I don't think so!" Chiko said suddenly to everyone surprise waking up in the arms of Iwao and ramming his fist into the man's face immediately. Iwao lost his hold on Chiko as well as the gun. Chiko dropped to the ground not wasting in time in launching his leg at him with a powerful kick that knocked him off the ground. Iwao did not have time to fall to the ground when Chiko finished him off with another kick to the stomach that sent him flying across the courtyard. His body smashed against the wall of the building and dropped him to the ground with blood dripping out of his mouth and around his forehead.

Chiko came to rest with his arms on his hips rather pleased with himself. Mashiro was still is shock his mouth agape in amazement as was the Doctor. They blinked once slowly managing to recover themselves and rushed over to Chiko. "Good to have you back," Mashiro said.

"Yeah, thank Kohana," he mumbled.

"Huh?"

Iwao began to move slowly trying to lift himself off of the ground. "Da…you…" Mashiro ran at him to finish him off, but Iwao pulled out a device from his pocket. Iwao gave a weak smirk and laughed shallowly as he pushed a button on the device. Mashiro did not know what he did, but he kicked Iwao in the face out of the away as he dropped the device. Unfortunately it was already done; there was a sudden loud explosion that rocked the ground alerting the three of them.

Several more explosions continued through the Section Three building until the entire building was completely in flames with chunks of cement and metal falling down around them. The entire building was going to collapse in a seconds and they had nowhere to run. Mashiro ran over to Chiko picking him as the Doctor began sprinting away. The three ran as far as they could to reach the opposite street as the entire building quickly came crumbling down in a fury of smoke and debris.

Mashiro remembered that the children and everyone else was still in the parking garage. They would all be killed in an instant. "The kids!" Mashiro shouted as he tried to run back into the torrent of debris making it impossible for him to see or get near. He shouted futility for them knowing that it was not going to make a difference. There was too much in the way that he could not even see through all of the dust to reach them.

Suddenly he heard a strange noise from the collapsing building that sounded familiar. The noise grew louder gaining the attention of all three of them as they watched the smoke filled ruins of the building to see what was going to happen next. Then from the right side of the building came the tour bus leaping out of the parking garage with a trail of smoke behind it. The speed that it broke through sent the rubble around flying through the air hitting the nearby buildings. It left all three of them in shock and sweating the moment later seeing a wild Mrs. Shimasuke at the driver seat as the bus came to a rough stop. The bus slid across the street coming to rest against the pillars of the building as debris continued to pelt the area.

"Gah, she is scary!" Chiko said starting to laugh. Mashiro looked at him a little confused, but could not help smiling.

- - - - -

The entire school had made it back to the train station after visiting the Tokyo Tower. Since Chiko had woken up, he managed to convince them that he was feeling well enough to travel. Most of the students were still shaken up by everything, but the view from the tower helped to ease their minds. They were resilient in spite of everything.

Mashiro sat with Chiko separate from the rest of the class on the train so that he could talk with him. There were still a lot of things that were unsettled and even more troubling news. They had a new enemy now, Section Three. It left Mashiro uneasy by that revelation and thinking how deep this truly went.

"You going to be alright, Chiko?" Mashiro asked.

"As painful as it is to admit, Kohana was right. I'll have to find my own future and stop looking at the past. I have to find something else to hope for. Just one step at a time."

Preview for the next episode:

"Back from Tokyo finally, that was a long trip for only being one day. Can't believe that I'm actually glad to be back from the city. So what is on the agenda for today then, Mashiro?"

"Hmm let’s see, blood thirsty hit men, car chase, shootouts, and modern Japanese language."

"Check, check, check, hey wait, one of those doesn't add up."

"Oh blood thirsty hitmen, sorry about that three things just didn't seem right."

"That's better. Homework is so boring, at least you got things to keep yourself entertained!"

"Entertained, right...I'll keep that in mind the next time I'm rescuing you."

"That's your fault I'm getting kidnapped left and right!"

"What would you do without me, get kidnapped even more?"

"Hey, you making me forget about the preview. On the next episode of The Inner Man, Secrets. We have learned so much and yet there are still things that we don't know or understand."

"Making my head spin thinking about it."

"Because you’ve got muscle for brains."

"Why you..."

"Better not miss it. I wonder who is doing the kicking these days? Tee hee!"