Chiyo groaned slightly as she stirred into consciousness. Somehow, someone had broken into Yomi's apartment that previous night, so silently that none of her companions, who were fast asleep, had heard them. Not Tomo, not Kaorin, and certainly not Yomi, who was sleeping in an entirely different room. It was only Chiyo, who had not yet fallen asleep, who had heard the interloper; but unfortunately, there was not much she could've done about it. As Chiyo started to open her mouth to say something, the intruder pressed a bandanna to her mouth that was soaked in some kind of strong-smelling fluid, and before she knew it, she fell unconscious. She had no idea of what happened after that, until this very moment.
       She was laying against something hard, smooth, and cold—probably a metal surface of some kind, she deduced. Her body was also restrained; she could feel tight straps holding her down across her chest, upper thighs, knees, and ankles. Most of her hair also felt restrained, this time on both sides. It was as if her hair had been parted and pulled into two tight pigtails, leaving only a few small groups of short strands at the front, serving as her bangs.
       Though she was quite terrified about the circumstances she was currently under, Chiyo decided to open her eyes, albeit not without a tiny bit of hesitation.
       It took a little while for her to become accustomed to the dimness of the room she was in, but when she did, she found herself struck by the immensity of it. The room seemed to be completely round, and had a high ceiling which looked to be made of natural rock formations. Turning her head slightly, Chiyo saw that what little light that was in the room came from tall lamps, each one set equally apart from one another. Interspersed between the lamps were various large grey boxes of machinery, most of them looking like the old supercomputers like one would see in the movies, complete with large spools of brown tape attached to some of them, and various gauges and square colored buttons arranged on the surfaces of most of the others. Away from the walls, there were two more metal tables; however, these were empty, and with their straps hanging loose. Besides the lamps, tables, and the ancient computer equipment, the only other furnishings in the room, as far as Chiyo could see, were a handful of swivel chairs and a free-standing desk, the top of which was stacked with numerous thick books.
       From directly behind her, Chiyo heard the squeak of a door open, and caught a few rays of light reflecting on the uneven surface of the ceiling. Someone was coming into this room. Chiyo immediately shut her eyes and lay still.
       She heard the singular clop of a pair of leather shoes with hard soles, followed closely behind by another pair of feet which were moving slightly faster and squeaked with each step, a sound that was distinctive of the rubbery soles of sneakers. Both pairs of feet stopped when they came right near the table she was strapped to.
       "So, this is the legendary 'Chiyo' I've heard so much about," said a deep voice, obviously belonging to a man, coming from the direction where the hard-soled shoes had stopped. The other person must've answered his statement with a nod, or some other sort of non-verbal confirmation, because they made not so much as a sound before the man spoke again.
       "Her pigtails… they are of a peculiar shape, are they not? It is as you've implied… they are rather sleek." Chiyo felt a hand grab hold of one of her pigtails near the top, then slid down to the ends. "Round and thick at the connection point, but then tapering down to a nice, rounded end. Very nice, very aerodynamic."
       Aerodynamic?!
       The ring of a pager or a cell phone broke through the low hum of the room's air conditioning. In a moment, the man spoke again. "I must go. It seems the agents have need of me… I have some questions to ask of them anyway, as I don't think they were entirely telling the truth about last night's operation." The man started to leave, judging by the receding sounds of hard shoe soles against the floor; but then, the sounds paused. "Oh, you know what to do, right?"
       Another non-verbal communiqué must've passed between them, because once more, the man was the one who spoke again. "Very good. Commence with the next phase of the plan.
       The hard steps receded, and the squeak of the door was heard, followed immediately by a loud, echoing slam. The sneaker-clad feet made their way to the side of the table where the man had stood before, and stopped. A voice, soft and a little hoarse, called out the prisoner's name.
       "Chiyo-chan? Yo, are you awake?"
       Chiyo's eyes immediately snapped open once she heard the voice, and she turned her head toward the direction from which it had come. She was afraid that her ears had deceived her, but then, her eyes only confirmed what she had heard.
       Standing before the table she was strapped down upon was a woman who was a little shorter than average, with black hair that hung straight, only to curl inward at their very ends. Despite the soft lighting in the room, the reflections in her eyes conveyed a sense of prolonged innocence, or perhaps they were the mark of someone who was a touch mentally unhinged.
       "Ah, so you are awake!" she said. "Man, that's a relief!"
       "Osaka!" Chiyo exclaimed, straining against her bonds. "What on earth are you doing here?"
       Ayumu Kasuga smiled with delight. "You know, Chiyo-chan? No one's called me 'Osaka' in ages! I mean, I really hated that nickname at first, but I kinda grew fond of it—"
       "Never mind that! What is this place? Who was that guy who was just here? And what's your involvement in all of this?"
       "Hold on, Chiyo-chan, one at a time. But maybe I should get you offa this table first, okay?"
       Chiyo nodded emphatically. "Great idea!"
       "All right," Osaka replied. "Let me get these straps undone. Then I can show you to your room, and maybe we can order a little breakfast, too."
       "And can we talk over breakfast as well?"
       "Oh, absolutely! I'll tell you anything you wanna know, and I'm sure you wanna know a lot!"

*****

       Tomo paced around Yomi's apartment, not knowing quite what to do. Both Yomi and Kaorin left for their respective jobs a couple of hours ago, but not without first promising that they'd keep both their eyes and their ears out for Chiyo, or information about her whereabouts. Once they'd left, Tomo scoured Yomi's apartment, looking for something—anything—that would serve as a clue. Her search turned out to be fruitless, which led to her current round of pacing. At this moment, the only clue she had to go on was the name of a place—Osaka—and she wasn't sure that this would be enough to go on.
       She was about to give up, flop down on the couch, and turn on the PlayStation when Yomi came bursting into her own apartment wielding a microphone, with a cameraman and some sort of production assistant following close behind.
       "Oh, Tomo! So glad you're still here! You weren't on your way to go out somewhere, were you?"
       Having no idea of what was going on to begin with, Tomo slowly shook her head.
       "Great! Now get into some decent clothes," Yomi ordered, eyeing the t-shirt and sweatpants ensemble that Tomo was wearing. "We're going live in twenty minutes!"
       "Yipe! That short? And what for?"
       "Chiyo-chan's disappearance, what else?" Yomi replied as Tomo began sifting through her suitcase. "I happened to mention this little incident to the station director, and he's given me the go-ahead to do an exclusive report!"
       "Oh, is that all?" Tomo said, raising an eyebrow; Yomi almost never got excited about anything. She pulled out a short-sleeved button-down shirt and a pair of dark grey slacks. "Will these do?"
       "Fine, fine. And yeah, an exclusive! Can you believe it? I mean, I know I should've told him about what went on yesterday, but still, this is a great opportunity—"
       "I would suggest you don't shoot your exclusive here, then," Tomo smirked as she made her way to the bathroom to change. "There are people who might recognize this place."
       Tomo slammed the bathroom door shut, leaving a slightly trembling Yomi in her wake. Of course, Tomo was right about changing the location; perhaps Yomi wasn't thinking straight. She sighed and shook her head; she shouldn't have let all this excitement get to her. No, she was not an excitable person, and she had to keep telling herself that over and over, even as the implications of this live report—undoubtedly the turning point of her career—danced around in her head. Fame, fortune, and most of all, respect! Yomi cleared her throat and calmly waited for Tomo to emerge from the bathroom; from there, it would only be a few minutes' elevator ride down to the lobby, then a walk a couple of blocks from her building. Hopefully it would be far enough away to not create any sort of suspicion of her involvement in this whole mess.

       Fortunately, they managed to get there with only a minute to spare. As the cameraman checked his equipment and the PA pulled out the script Yomi was to read from, the young newscaster turned to her longtime friend Tomo and asked, "Does my hair look okay?"
       "Yeah, you look fine."
       "And my glasses aren't crooked?"
       "No, they aren't. I know you're worked up about this, and it's freaking me out!"
       "Sorry… this jacket doesn't make me look fat, does it?"
       Tomo rolled her eyes as the cameraman signaled to them, and the PA held up the script for Yomi to read from. "All right! We're going live in five… four…"
       Yomi immediately calmed down, snapping into a rigid, professional demeanor. Tomo noticed this out of the corner of her eye and although the change was abrupt, she was someone consoled by the sight of her friend being her typical, rigid self. Then, the cameraman gave the final signal, and the broadcast began.
       "We're here live today not far from the scene of an unbelievable crime!" Yomi stated, in a clear, businesslike tone. "Miss Chiyo Mihama, the youngest assistant to Japan's Ambassador to the United Nations, Hiroshi Tadakichi, was kidnapped from a friend's apartment in the middle of the night! At this moment, it is unknown if her kidnappers are from the same organization that conspired to kidnap her in New York, and on a Tokyo-bound flight from Los Angeles."
       Yomi turned slightly, and the camera focused on Tomo. "Here today with us is Tomo Takino, an old friend of Miss Mihama's who has connections to the ICPO, more commonly known as Interpol. She has accompanied Miss Mihama all the way from New York, in a two-woman mission to unravel the mystery of Miss Mihama's pursuers. So, Miss Takino—"
       Smirking, Tomo held up a hand and interrupted, "Please, call me Tomo."
       Tomo could've sworn that Yomi glared at her for a split second before snapping back into reporter-mode. "Very well, 'Tomo'. Do you suspect that whoever kidnapped Miss Mihama last night has some sort of ties to her previous pursuers?"
       "Without a doubt!" Tomo replied, her hands on hips and chin high in the air.
       "And what kind of evidence have you collected thus far to come to your conclusion?"
       "Umm." Tomo was stuck. She had none, really. The methods of these new kidnappers were entirely unlike the previous ones. Well aware of Yomi's insistent stare burning into her, practically demanding an answer, Tomo knew that she had to say something, and now. "Well, not much really!"
       Yomi's face flushed slightly, as she felt her exclusive slowly slipping away from her fingers. "I'm sorry Miss Taki—I mean, Tomo, but what exactly do you mean by 'not much'?"
       "It's nothing I can share with the audience at home. We at Interpol can't go around giving away our criminology secrets, after all!" Tomo said with a wink, "For starters, they would be far too complicated to explain. Anyway, what I've found in this situation have been clear patterns in each of the previous kidnapping attempts—besides the suits and sunglasses, of course. These trends which I have noticed are few and very subtle; that is all you need to know at this time."
       "Ahh," Yomi replied. She wasn't entirely sure whether or not Tomo answered the question, but she was going to let this one slide. Changing the topic slightly, she asked, " And what do you plan to do next?"
       "I have some idea of where Chi—err, Miss Mihama may be located," Tomo said, for once not fudging the truth. "Obviously, my next step will be to head there and interrogate those in the area about any strange goings-on."
       "That's certainly a relief to hear!" Yomi replied. "Now, I have one last question for our viewers."
       "Shoot."
       "Very well. How have your superiors at Interpol responded to your actions, which some might consider to be 'vigilante' in nature?"
       Tomo swallowed what little saliva was in her mouth, and cleared her throat; naturally, this was the toughest question of all. "They've commended me for my work in saving the airliner over Australia, but for some reason, they want me off the case…" Tomo trailed off as Yomi, the cameraman, and the production assistant all stared at her, a shred of sympathy on each one of their faces. With a sigh, Tomo stared straight into the camera and pleaded, "If there's anyone from Interpol watching this, I beg you to please keep me on the case! I thank you for going easy on me in Australia, and I promise I'll bring Ambassador Tadakichi's assistant back to New York safely! Please—"
       "I'm sorry, Tomo, but we're out of time! Thank you very much for this interview, and I wish you the best in your search for Chiyo Mihama! Back to you in the studio, Chihiro!"
       The cameraman stopped the camera, and the PA lowered the script and stretched his stiff arms. Yomi frowned at Tomo, her anger resonant on her face.
       "What the hell kind of answer was that? 'Please keep me on the case, Interpol!' I know you've had a little trouble with them lately as well, but couldn't you sound a little more confident than that?"
       "You remember that inspector that I told you about? The one who looks like Zenigata from Lupin III?"
       "Yeah, but you shouldn't get hung up over one guy! You've spoken to your superiors directly, haven't you?
       "Well no, not yet… but we'll talk about that later. It's because, right now," Tomo explained, "the inspector's standing directly behind your cameraman."
       "What?!"
       Yomi and her two-person camera crew whirled around to see a tall imposing man, with a few recent scars on his face, standing behind them. "Wha—what are you doing here?" Yomi exclaimed.
       "I'm here to do my job, of course," Inspector Peterson replied, in flawless Japanese. "I've been ordered to bring Ms. Takino here, along with Ms. Mihama, back to the United States. However, I couldn't help but overhear the last part of your report. Is it true that Ms. Mihama is now missing?"
       Tomo trembled under the weight of Peterson's stare. "Y—yes sir," she managed to wimper.
       "And you call yourself fit for this job?" Peterson growled. "Do you see now why we wanted to bring you back to New York? You should've left this job to us professionals!"
       A little bit shaken herself, especially at the pathetic sight of Tomo, Yomi stepped between them and addressed the inspector.
       "Hey! Can't you be at least a little bit forgiving? After all, Tomo is far more ahead with this case than you may realize!"
       "Oh, is that so?" Peterson replied, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "And how is she pulling ahead, eh?"
       "I know where the kidnappers are located," Tomo said with a small smile, grateful that Yomi barged in when she did, "and I'm going to head there and get to the bottom of this, no matter what you say!"
       Peterson started to grab her, but Tomo managed to dodge the attack, and immediately took off down the street. Peterson started after her, leaving Yomi and her crew stranded on the sidewalk. The production assistant turned to Yomi and asked, "Okay, so what do we do now? What's the plan?"
       With a calm smile, Yomi pulled out her cell phone and began scrolling through its directory. "We're going live again, that's what."

       Darting past various people, Tomo ran and ran, until she somehow found herself in the electronics shopping mecca of Shinjuku. She had to hop on the subway as soon as possible and go back to Yomi's place, pick up her stuff, get to a train station, book a ticket to Osaka, and high-tail it out of Tokyo. She stopped running and gripped her knees, panting heavily. Behind her, she could faintly hear the pounding footsteps of Inspector Peterson, which were steadily growing louder and louder. She was exhausted, but there was no way that she could be caught now. Standing up straight once more, she walked into the crowds in the vain hope that Peterson might lose sight of her. Unfortunately, the sound of his footsteps continued to draw near. Then, on one of the large Jumbotron screens that was attached to the side of one of the buildings, a breaking news report came on. Tomo looked up at the screen to see Yomi, holding her microphone and wearing a staid expression.
       "To loyal viewers of the Tokyo News Network, I have an important update on the Mihama/Takino story. Ms. Tomo Takino, whom I was interviewing less than half an hour ago, is currently being pursued by an American in a navy blue suit. We do not know at this time whether or not this American is involved with the previous attempted kidnappings of Chiyo Mihama, or the successful one. Stay tuned to this station for more details, as well as a fuller report later today."
       As she pried her eyes away from the screen, Tomo noticed dozens of people looking at her with curiosity. From somewhere behind her, Peterson could be heard exclaiming a string of swear words in English. Tomo, silently thanking Yomi for her thoughtfulness, took the initiative and pointed in Peterson's direction.
       "There he is! That's the man who's been trying to prevent me from finding my friend Chiyo-chan!"
       The dozens of people around her turned their heads in Peterson's direction. One of them, an imposing bodyguard-type in a black suit shouted, "Don't let him get away, men! Let's do it for Ms. Takino and Ms. Mihama!"
       A group of men rushed toward the flustered Peterson, enabling Tomo to continue her journey with little further incident. As she turned to leave, a thought struck her and she turned around and shouted a, "Thank you!" to her impromptu helpers, then briskly walked to the local subway station. As she rode the train en route back to Yomi's neck of the woods, she endured the stares of the other passengers and reveled in the fringe benefits of her new-found fame.

       When Tomo returned to Yomi's apartment building, she was startled to see Sakaki patiently waiting in the lobby. Upon seeing Tomo, Sakaki walked up to her. Almost bashfully, Sakaki said, "I, er… was a little worried about you all after you left, so I came back to Japan a day early. Kaorin told me that you and Chiyo were staying here, at Yomi's apartment."
       Tomo tried to smile, but couldn't. "Listen, I have a lot to tell you, but not right now. Yomi's at work, but she loaned me her spare key, so we'll be able to get inside her place and take a little break. I'll tell you everything that's been going on since we left Charleville."
       Sakaki nodded silently, then shifted her head slightly, looking around.
       "What is it?" Tomo asked.
       "Where's Chiyo? She's not with you?"
       "Ahh… no, she isn't. I'll explain that too, once we get inside Yomi's apartment."
       After Tomo signed Sakaki in, they rode the elevator up to the fourteenth floor, and soon entered Yomi's place. It being early afternoon, both of the young women were hungry; some searching the kitchen cabinets resulted in Tomo and Sakaki finding two unopened cups of instant ramen. Tomo set a kettle full of water on the stove and leaned against the counter as Sakaki took a seat in a folding chair, her gaze focused intently on Tomo. Scratching the back of her head—like she always did whenever she found herself at odds to explain something—mused, "Well, where should I begin?"
       Sakaki didn't answer, and Tomo took a deep breath, deciding that she might as well tell her story from when she, Chiyo, and Kaorin arrived at Nagisa International Airport.
       As Tomo told the story, Sakaki listened, her face turning white when the details of Chiyo's kidnapping were shared. Shortly after Tomo finished, the kettle whistled, and the two women took turns pouring the hot water into their instant ramen cups. As Sakaki stirred her noodles, she said, "So you're going to Osaka to rescue Chiyo?"
       "Of course!" Tomo replied. "I want to get to the bottom of this once and for all… the suspense is killing me!"
       "I see…"
       "Do you want to come along as well, or do you have to get back to work?"
       Sakaki nodded. "I have a few days off before I have to return to the zoo. I can come."
       "We can come with you as well, Tomo!"
       Both Tomo and Sakaki turned their heads to the front door, where Yomi and Kagura had just entered the apartment. Briefly, the new arrivals exchanged greetings with Sakaki, whom they were pleasantly surprised to see, then turned back to the matter at hand.
       "My boss liked what I did with my live news reports," Yomi explained, "so he's assigning me to you for at least the next three days, to provide updates on this story."
       Tomo nodded and turned to Kagura, who had a duffel bag slung across her shoulder. "And what about you? How'd you manage to get out of work to join us on our trip?"
       "I work in a high school," Kagura replied with a wink. "I don't have any classes tomorrow, and of course, there's no school on Sunday. So, I can come along with you guys for a couple of days."
       "Awesome!" Tomo replied, pumping her fist. Then, a frown formed on her face and she glared at Yomi and Kagura. "But wait—who says how long this is gonna take? For all we know, we could have Chiyo back in Tokyo safe and sound by tomorrow evening!"
       By way of response, Yomi and Kagura split doubtful glances between each other, Tomo, and Sakaki. Despite Tomo's bold declaration, the general consensus of the room was that since they were traveling to Osaka to face an unknown foe, rescuing Chiyo in a time span that was anything less than a weekend would rightly seem nigh impossible.

*****

       Chiyo heard a lot of unbelievable things that morning, when she shared a traditional Japanese breakfast with Osaka in a room with wall-to-wall tatami mats and shoji screens that were nearly as ubiquitous; in fact, there were many times when she nearly dropped her chopsticks out of sheer incredulity. Osaka, on the other hand, simply answered her questions and ate her breakfast like it was the most natural thing in the world, despite the obviousness—at least to Chiyo—of how unnatural all of this was.
       Thus, it was through Osaka that Chiyo learned that she had been whisked away in the night by one of the top thieves in the world, who had been paid very handsomely, and brought to the city of Osaka. More precisely, she was brought to a vast underground lair that lay beneath the city, a lair built and operated by a man that Osaka would only refer to as a "brilliant inventor". When Chiyo pressed Osaka for information about what this man was inventing, the older woman fell oddly silent, as though she was pondering whether or not to say anything at all.
       "It has something to do with me, though," Chiyo said matter-of-factly. "Doesn't it?"
       "Yeah, sorta," Osaka confessed, shifting her legs uncomfortably. "I don't wanna say too much about it. The inventor might get mad."
       "You know, if it was this important, the inventor could've just had you call me, instead of sending a bunch of kidnappers after me! Why didn't you try to stop him?"
       Osaka smiled and shook her head. "I thought you would've figured it out by now, but the suited guys were my idea."
       "What?!"
       "C'mon, wasn't being chased by kidnappers exciting? Of course, I had to make sure they weren't good enough to actually catch you, then the inventor got mad an'—"
       "What do you mean, not 'good enough'? This was all just a game to you?"
       "You didn't enjoy it? The thrill of the chase?"
       "Considering that I was the one being chased, no, I didn't."
       "Ahh, I didn't think you'd understand." Osaka pulled her knees up and started rocking back and forth while still sitting on a floor cushion. In the meantime, Chiyo finished her breakfast and set her chopsticks down.
       "Do you mind if I undo these pigtails? I don't know who set my hair in them, but they're a little too tight for my liking."
       "Huh?" Osaka asked; didn't Chiyo-chan always wear her pigtails? "Uhh, sure, I guess."
       Chiyo nodded once, then brought her hands up to the base of the pigtail on the right side of her head, where she seemed to be untying something. After a final tug, the small ribbon that held the pigtail in place was loosened, and half of Chiyo's hair came settling down.
       Osaka's eyes nearly popped out of her head as she witnessed this.
       Chiyo moved on to the other pigtail, unraveling it into ordinary, everyday hair in much the same manner as she had done with the first one. Across the table, Osaka's jaw had dropped, and it was quivering to boot.
       "Ha—ha—how did you do that?" Osaka asked. Now her entire body was trembling.
       Chiyo gave Osaka a very bewildered look. "What do you mean? Undoing the type of knots that were done in the ribbons?"
       "No… your pigtails. You sure you didn't detach them properly?"
       "Umm… detach?"
       Osaka stood up and walked around the table so she was right next to Chiyo; she then took a clump of the younger woman's hair in her right hand and formed it into an impromptu pigtail, which she then let go. Chiyo slowly turned her head to look at her old friend, her eyebrows askew. What she saw was an indescribably horrified expression on Osaka's face.
       "Wh—what's wrong?" asked Chiyo, her expression changed to one of concern, and her voice quavering slightly.
       "Ah… ahh… ahhh…" was all Osaka managed to get out, as she backed away from Chiyo, not knowing what to do, never mind what to say. Chiyo stood up and started walking toward Osaka.
       "Osaka! Please let me know what's wrong! You're starting to freak me out!"
       Unfortunately, Osaka wouldn't say a thing. She walked back further and further, until she was at the door. Then, in a couple of swift motions, she opened the door, backed out, and closed the door again. Chiyo rushed to the door, finding that it was now locked from the other side.
       "Osaka!!!"

*****

       Cautiously, Tomo and Yomi left the latter's apartment. Tomo was dressed in a brown wig with flaming red streaks, an old and slightly dirty baseball cap, baggy cargo pants, and an equally baggy t-shirt with emblazoned with a phrase in broken English: "Escape to the wild, live fashionably free". Tomo, as short as she was, looked ridiculous in this outfit, and both Tomo and Yomi knew it. However, they desperately needed a disguise for Tomo, and on such short notice, this was the best they could do. Yomi donned her own disguise of sorts; casual clothes, and contact lenses to replace her trademark glasses. On the way down to the lobby, Tomo joked about Yomi's low profile "disguise", calling her "Clark Kent in reverse". Despite her being only marginally familiar with the Superman character, Yomi got the reference, and promptly rolled her eyes in response. Finally, the elevator opened out into the lobby, and Yomi and Tomo promptly walked past the security desk to the automatic sliding doors that would take them outside.
       As Yomi and Tomo walked toward the nearest subway station, the former couldn't help but notice the large garbage bag that the latter was carrying. She already knew what was inside, since she had watched Tomo pack it herself; however, she couldn't help but think that they looked really out of place carrying this thing, even despite Tomo's disguise. Yomi wondered to herself why she hadn't offered Tomo a suitcase to stuff it into.
       At any rate, there was nothing they could do about it now; Tomo had shoved the stuffed cat that was set in place as Chiyo's replacement into a garbage bag, and that was that. Yomi just wondered what Kagura and Sakaki were going to say when they saw Tomo's crazy getup and large black plastic bag; maybe they'd have much the same reactions as her.
       Needless to say, Yomi wasn't the only one who found themselves staring at the bag; on board the subway, and then at the train station, Tomo seemed oblivious to the constant stares of passers-by. After getting their train tickets, the two disguised women soon found Kagura and Sakaki at the designated place, much to Yomi's relief. After saying "Hi," the very next thing that came out of Kagura's mouth was a sarcastic, "Nice outfit," followed closely behind by a sincere, "So, what's in the bag, Tomo?"
       "A clue," Tomo proudly declared, "left by the perpetrators of the crime we are about to unravel!"
       Yomi folded her arms across her chest, and explained matter-of-factly, "In other words, it's a stuffed toy that was placed under the sheets to make us believe that it was, in fact, Chiyo."
       "A stuffed toy?" Sakaki asked.
       "Yeah, do you wanna see?" Tomo replied.
       Sakaki nodded, and Tomo opened the bag for the former to peek into. Once Sakaki lay her eyes on the toy, she found herself struck by its familiar form. She backed away from the bag slightly, but enough so that her friends took notice.
       "Is there anything wrong, Sakaki?" Yomi asked.
       "There's something familiar about… that guy…"
       "That guy?" Kagura asked, stepping forward and grabbing the edge of the garbage bag. She peered down and saw the orange cat with its large eyes and enigmatic smile. "You mean this cat?"
       Sakaki nodded. "I know there's something about him… but I just can't place it. It's been a long time…"
       "Yeah, I think I know what you mean," Kagura said, lowering her head in concentration. "Say—Chiyo-chan had a lot of stuffed animals, right?"
       Yomi nodded. "Yeah. They were spread out all over her room."
       "I've only been to Chiyo's parents' house a few times," Kagura continued, "but I think Chiyo might've had a cat like that."
       Tomo looked into the bag herself. "Yeah, I think you may be right. Didn't one of us get her a stuffed cat for her birthday one year?"
       "I remember I got her a Necoconeco once…"
       Kagura laughed. "We made her a set one year! Didn't turn out too well, though."
       Sakaki nodded in acknowledgement, but the homemade Necoconeco that she had collaborated on with Kagura was not the one she was thinking of. There was one year, before Kagura was even in their class, that Sakaki had gotten Chiyo a real Necoconeco, one of the official kinds that you could buy in a store. Her name was… Mon-something? …Ahh yes, Monpuchi.
       And Osaka had gotten Chiyo a stuffed kitty as well…
       "Osaka!" Sakaki whispered under her breath. All of the others turned to look at her.
       "Did you say something, Sakaki?" Tomo asked, raising an eyebrow.
       "That orange cat… I think Osaka got Chiyo one just like it for her birthday…"
       Tomo, Yomi, and Kagura all looked at Sakaki, which caused her to feel a little bit under pressure. "Osaka did?"
       Sakaki nodded.
       "This is getting weird," Tomo said.
       "Like it wasn't already?" Yomi replied. "The possibility of Osaka being involved with this whole mess actually makes sense, if you think about it."
       Changing the topic, Kagura asked Yomi, "Say, when's your camera crew supposed to be getting here?"
       "They're taking the next train. It's probably better that way, anyway. We don't want to attract too much attention, after all."
       "Yeah, I hear ya. Anyway, it seems like our train is now in the station," Kagura said, pointing up at the arrivals and departures board.
       "Great!" Tomo said. "We all have our tickets, right? So let's go! Onward to our next adventure!"
       "Escape to the wild to live fashionably free!" Kagura said in English.
       "Oh, shut up!" Tomo snapped back.

       On that evening train ride from Tokyo to Osaka, the four friends didn't talk much; partially because they didn't want to be found out, but also because they were a bit nervous about what they would find at their destination city. As the train lumbered on, Sakaki soon fell asleep to the low, steady rhythm of the train's wheels clacking against the tracks. Soon, she began to dream.
       She was walking along a sunny sidewalk in suburban Tokyo, birds chirping gaily and not a cloud in the sky, when she passed a familiar looking alleyway. She was about to move on when she saw a grey cat, catching a bit of noontime sun atop a fence. Entranced by the cute, furry animal, Sakaki slowly walked toward it. The cat lifted its head and looked at Sakaki with large, glassy eyes. Ever so cautiously, Sakaki reached a hand out to the cat and was just about to pat its head when the cat lifted its head and clamped its teeth down on Sakaki's fingers. She winced at the pain, but did not move her hand away; whether it was because she wasn't able to, or that she didn't want to, she wasn't sure. Then, she heard a voice speak from behind her.
       "Oh! It's Sakaki, right? What are you doing hanging around an alley for?"
       Sakaki turned her head to see a large orange cat, just like the stuffed cat that Tomo had taken from Yomi's apartment. It stood about three to four feet tall and had a small resemblance to a certain former Prime Minister of Japan. The voice was familiar as well. Yes, there was no doubt about it; this newcomer onto the scene was Chiyo's dad.
       The biting cat, having caught sight of Chiyo's dad, let go of Sakaki's hand and took off down the alley. Sakaki took a small bottle of hand sanitizer, as well as some bandages, out of her purse as Chiyo's dad walked up to her.
       "How are you doing, Sakaki? I hear that you've seen my little Chiyo recently."
       Sakaki squeezed a drop of sanitizer into the palm of the hand that was bitten, then rubbed the solution in. "Well… yes… while I was on a trip in Australia."
       "Oh! That's wonderful! And have you been kind to her?"
       "As kind as I can be," Sakaki replied, now working on bandaging her fingers.
       "That's good to hear. So, can you ask her to come over? I haven't seen her in months, and I get so worried about her being on her own, even though she's fully grown now."
       Sakaki felt a bit nervous about this turn in the conversation. What should she tell Chiyo's dad? She was afraid that the truth would only upset him.
       "Is there something wrong?" he asked darkly.
       "N—no! I'll be sure to pass your message on to Chiyo-chan, next time I see her."
       "There is something wrong! You did something to her, didn't you?"
       "Of course not! Chiyo is… well, she's…"
       "Been KIDNAPPED! Is that it?"
       With this statement, Chiyo's dad grew to an enormous size and towered over Sakaki. Though his odd smile didn't waver, his face and chest were dark, but the edges of his body glowed, as if he was being lit from behind. Up above them, dark grey clouds blocked out the sun and blue sky, and the thunder of an approaching storm could be heard; all the birds that had been chirping before were now gone. With this new pressure towering over her, all Sakaki could manage was a nod.
       "YES! She's been kidnapped! But you WILL do something about it, won't you?"
       "I—I'm on the way to rescue her right now!"
       After hearing that, Chiyo's dad immediately popped back to his former size, the storm clouds disappeared, and the birds resumed their singing.
       "That's great news! I'm looking forward to your success!"
       "Uh… thanks…"
       Seemingly pleased with this, Chiyo's dad raised an arm and waved. "Well, I have to get going! Good luck!"
       "Thanks," Sakaki said again, returning the wave.
       Chiyo's dad lowered his arm and turned to leave. He must've thought of something at that moment, because then he stopped and turned back.
       "Wha—what is it?" Sakaki asked, almost dreading the answer.
       "When you bring Chiyo over, I'll tell you why cats hate you so much," said Chiyo's dad. He lowered his head and scratched his chin, then faced Sakaki again and added, "Well… most cats."
       "Uhh…"
       "Believe me, the answer won't be as bad as what you're thinking!"
       "Wake up!"

       Sakaki opened her eyes to find Tomo shaking her shoulder and shouting, "Wake up! Wake up!"
       "I'm awake…" Sakaki said groggily. "What's going on?"
       "We've arrived! We're in Osaka!"
       "Oh…"
       Sakaki leaned back into her seat and reoriented herself with reality, while Yomi, Tomo, and Kagura gathered their things. Finally, Sakaki stood up and pulled her own bag from the overhead luggage rack. Adjusting the strap across her shoulders, she saw Tomo pick up the large garbage bag that held the stuffed toy of Chiyo's dad.
       "Umm, may I carry that?" Sakaki asked.
       Tomo turned to face Sakaki. "What, you mean the evidence?"
       Sakaki nodded.
       "Sure. Less for me to carry. Just don't lose it, okay?" Tomo replied, tossing the bag to Sakaki. The latter caught it, peered inside to make sure Chiyo's dad was safe, then tied the open ends of the top of the bag into a loose knot.
       "All right!" Tomo said, addressing the group. "Does everyone have all the stuff they came with?"
       Yomi, Kagura, and Tomo all nodded.
       "Then let's go!"

---

Written November 2004 | Copyright 2004, Reeve.

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