Hmmm

Alex and Jason had arrived in Tokyo. After a quick stop to their apartment, grabbing some cash and other stuff, they made their way to Chiba.

They arrived at the building from where it all started. The building hasn't been used since then and barely got repaired.

Alex looked at Jason and nodded. Jason understood what Alex meant and nodded back. They both suddenly ran to the right side of the building disappearing from sight.

But disappearing from whose sight? After they ran, a person casually walked beside the building glancing here and there. He wore a red cap that tilted forward. Making his head match the position, the upper half of his face was hidden.

He saw a narrow alley on the right. Carefully seeing if any trace of his targets remained. He took a step in. Wondering where they vanished, he got the answer when something hefty fell on him.

Not knowing what was happening, he felt something firmly grabbing his arms and legs. His face was pushed down, he couldn't move. A loud voice demanded.

'Tell us who you are?'

'I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please don't kill me.'

Alex and Jason didn't expect that reply. They had been sensing that someone was following them ever since they stopped at their apartments. Imagining the follower to be someone from Jira or WS, they couldn't afford to take this lightly.

Apprehending their pursuer. Alex took off his cap to get a good look. To their surprise, it was Hikaru whose face resembled a child.

'Hikaru? What are you doing here?'

Alex got off him. Hikaru managed to get up, still a little wary of his surroundings.

'I could ask you the same thing. Why are you two here?'

Why was Hikaru following them? Jason couldn't figure it out. The memory change was successful. He should have no memory connected to Jira or any incident concerned with it.

'We were just...researching.'

Alex said the first words that came to his mind.

'Don't play dumb. I know you are up to something bad.'

The two were shocked. Could Hikaru have possibly figured it out himself? Does he really know what they were doing?

'And what are we doing?'

Alex asked to confirm it. Hikaru gave a wry smile. A smile that said he knew exactly what was going on.

'You two are exploring spooky places.'

Nope! Hikaru was still an idiotic genius.

'I suppose I should tell you how I reached this conclusion.'

Hikaru started his grand explanation.

'The first suspicion began when Jason didn't come to university for a week.'

Jason shifted his eyes to Alex.

--What are we going to do with him?

'Then when I saw you two running outside in the night.'

--Do you have the syringe?

Alex asked, lifting his chin.

--Unfortunately, no.

Jason slightly shook his head.

'Then you two disappeared for some days.'

Alex pointed to the building with his eyes.

--In the worst-case scenario, we can take him with us. We can always erase his memory using EMM.

Jason nodded.

--Agreed.

'And that's how I know what you two are doing.'

'Exactly. You're right, I'm amazed you figured it out.'

'Hmph. Well, it wasn't that hard for me.'

Hikaru acted all high and mighty. He quickly fell into a false sense of achievement.

'We heard some rumors about this building and we are curious. Do you wish to join us?'

Jason placed the offer. He hoped that Hikaru would decline. It was Hikaru's first time actually talking to Jason and somewhat felt a sense of security.

'Yes. Thank you.'

Hikaru bowed his head. Hikaru has been trying to become a new man for Asuna. *Yeah, I haven't forgotten about her either.* Becoming braver was one of his objectives. He thought if Alex and Jason are around, it will be fine.

The three of them entered the buildings' basement together. Alex and Jason were worried about what they would do if Jira showed up. Sure, they can remove the memory of the event, but only if he lives.

They carefully looked to see any more signs of danger. The basement was covered with debris. The explosion had left its mark on the basement, rubble and concrete were everywhere. The basement was dark, not a lot of light reached in.

'Hikaru, stay close to us. We don't want you getting separated.'

'Okay.'

Even though there wasn't anything frightening about the basement, Hikaru's stomach was already churning. Jason and Alex were looking around to find something useful.

'Isn't it getting darker?'

Hikaru took out this phone to light up the area. They were only there for 10 minutes. The sky was clear, so nothing could have been blocking out the sun. The only other possible explanation was; something was blocking the light inside the basement.

Alex was afraid of this. He heard footsteps and snatched Hikaru's phone, quickly turning off the light.

'Alex, wh-'

He covered Hikaru's mouth and whispered

'Quiet.'

Hikaru couldn't understand this. He saw Jason taking out a gun and handing it to Alex.

'Wha-'

Alex forcefully and dragged him behind a pillar. Hikaru was scarred. He heard footsteps coming towards them.

--What's happening? Are the guards of this place coming? Is this a private building?

Those were the only thoughts that came to him.

He peeked from the corner and saw about 10 men. The strange thing about them that they didn't resemble your ordinary guards. They carried assault rifles and wore masks.

Hikaru wanted to go home. This was turning out to be scarier than he could handle. The men started scanning the area with flashlights.

'Alex, we should apologize.'

He said with the lowest voice he could. He thought this was just some kind of mistake.

'They aren't so kind as to forgive us.'

Alex told him.

'Hide there.'

Ales pointed to a small hole made by the debris. Hikaru's thin body managed to fit through. Alex and Jason skillfully avoided the lights. The men had spread out evenly around the basement.

'Haven't you found them yet?'

The man who searched and guarded the entrance yelled.

'Not yet, boss.'

A few of them replied.

'Hurry up and make sure not a single one is left alive.'

Hikaru felt something moving around his neck. He silently placed his hand and picked up something. He brought it up close so he could see and in his hand was a big spider.

'aa-'

'What was that?'

'It came from around there.'

Hikaru had covered his mouth with both hands, but he couldn't suppress his voice entirely and let out a squeal. One of the men went there to investigate. He was carefully checking and kept getting closer to Hikaru.

He came so close that Hikaru had to stop his breathing. The distance between them was of no more than 2 inches of the concrete. Alex and Jason were on their toes.

They were still strategizing how to take down all the people, but if Hikaru gets found. They would have no choice other than to just rush in there.

'Well?'

The boss asked.

'It might be a rat.'

The man replied back.

'Is that so? Everyone, let's go back.'

He ordered. The men gathered at the entrance and started heading back, climbing the staircase. Alex was relieved that nothing happened, but suddenly something was tossed. It landed exactly where Hikaru was. Alex saw that it was a grenade.

--Shit.

He ran at full speed and kicked it away at last second before it exploded.

'There he is.'

'Open fire!'