“Backup team??”, Daiki exclaimed suddenly angry on hearing the words, “So these are the guys who made us wait a whole fucking day to rescue Takashi!?”

Then he glanced at Bavaka. Even when she was crouching besides them, she still looked beautiful, tall, and majestic. She widened her eyes at Daiki and pouted, making her lips look even more luscious than usual. 

“Aww I know.. We were sooo late. We’re sooo soo sorry everyone.. It’s totally our fault.. You guys probably had to wait here so nervously wondering whether or not you’ll get caught.. I’m sorryyyy”, she crooned in a sexy voice, batting her eyelashes. Nolowi frowned.

“Oh uhh ahem..”, Daiki cleared his throat and began scratching his head. His face turned red, “I-it’s no big deal. J-just try to be early next time.. I guess.. Ahem”

“Y-yeah, miss Bavaka”, Zakuvo joined in, “N-no problem, it’s totally understandable”

Nolowi nudged him hard, then turned to Bavaka, “Hey stop that!”

“Hm? Stop what?”, she pouted and batted her eyelashes at Nolowi.

“T-that..”, realizing that Bavaka was doing the same thing with her, she shook her head fast, “Stop that! Stop using your seductive powers on us!”

Bavaka giggled, “Alright alright, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Nolowi, we got held up with another urgent matter.”

“What was it?”, Nolowi asked.

“Ah, they’ve lost contact with one of Mugulo’s spies. We had to go and check up on him.”

“Oh..”, Nolowi lowered her eyes, thoughtfully, “So what was up with him?”

Bavaka thought before answering, “He’d gotten himself beaten up by a couple of Earthlings”

“What?? One of Mugulo’s spies got beaten up by Earthlings??”, then she turned to Daiki, “No offense, Daiki”

“Yes but..”, Bavaka said impatiently, “Not just any Earthlings.”

“Then?”

She leaned in and said in a low voice, “They were nua-trained Earthlings” 

Nolowi’s eyes sparkled. Daiki glanced at her as she stared at Bavaka with awe. 

“Nua-trained..? There are nua-trained beings on Earth??”, she asked with excitement.

Bavaka nodded, “Of course! A long time ago we’d shared nua with Earth as well”

To Daiki, this conversation was somewhat strange. He had just learned the word “nua”. It was what these alien beings used to call their super powers. And he knew that they used to spread and share their powers with many other worlds. So it was understandable if there were people with nua powers here on Earth. But now he had a fresh question. Who were these people?? Were they from Haguko? How come he’d never seen anyone like this in his entire life, then? 

Then suddenly he thought of Takashi’s aunt, Himari Ito. She was the only person that Daiki knew who was famous for a supernatural power. Mind reading. 

Are they talking about her?? Did they meet her?? Did she beat up an alien from the evil side?? Cool! 

But wait. 

This doesn’t make sense. 

Why is Bavaka talking as if she works for the evil side? Is she a spy or something?? Like a hot girl James Bond or something??

Bro..

Cool!!!

Daiki smiled to himself, thinking about these things. 

“Uhh you okay?”, Bavaka asked him. Nolowi glanced at him and frowned. Then she nudged him. 

Daiki jerked back to reality, “ahem I was just uhh thinking about.. Uhh”

“What were you thinking about?”, Nolowi asked.

“Oh! Uhh about these nua-trained..Earthlings..”

Bavaka narrowed her eyes, “Why? Do you know them?”

“Well..”, Daiki scratched his head. Should he trust this “backup team”? Should he tell them? What if they’re not talking about Takashi’s aunt? Would he be betraying her? Normally he wouldn’t think twice when talking to someone. But this wasn’t just anyone. And he’d been through enough already. He’d put others in danger enough too. 

“No just.. I was curious. I mean, humans with superpowers? That’s pretty wild”, he said and laughed nervously.

“So what happened?”, Nolowi turned back to Bavaka and asked eagerly.

“We watched them from afar. The Earthlings were taking him somewhere”, Zyc answered, “We figured that they wanted to interrogate him”

“Interrogate him??”

“Yeah or eat him”

“What??”, Nolowi and Daiki said in unison.

Zyc materialized; a scrawny-looking, humanoid chameleon wearing something that resembled a black ninja outfit. His skin was a bright green and blue. But unlike Earth chameleons, Zyc had giant ears. He shrugged before continuing, “I don’t know, I mean there are so many cultures that just eat their opponents after defeating them”

“No.. humans don’t do that..”, Daiki looked at him with a half-surprised, half-disgusted expression.

“Hm.. then I’m pretty sure that they wanted to interrogate him”, Zyc agreed thoughtfully. He stroked his chin while speaking as if he was channeling his wisdom. 

“So what did you guys do?? Did you get him back?? Was there a fight?? What were their nua??”, Nolowi demanded. Her eyes glistened. Something told Daiki that she deeply enjoyed stories of nua-trained species outside Mirz. 

Bavaka smirked, “No. We left him as he was. We’ll collect him later. After we’re done here. Even if they move, it’s not a big deal locating him.”

“What about Mugulo?? What did you report back to him??”

“That we’re still looking for him. It’s okay, we've got some time.”

“Ohh okay”, Nolowi said looking a bit disappointed, “When you’re going to get him back. Can I come with you??”

Bavaka gave her a stern look, “No. I’ve told you I won’t take you on any missions, Nolowi.”

Nolowi submitted with a defeated expression on her face, “Then.. can you at least ask them about their nua??”

Bavaka smiled and patted Nolowi’s head, “Fine. I’ll do that.”

“B-Bavaka-san, Zyc-san..”, Daiki said hesitantly, “Uhh.. I need to ask you guys something”

“Go on, Daiki”, Bavaka said kindly. Daiki swallowed. If not for her gentle ways Bavaka would have looked terribly intimidating with her large frame and muscular build. 

“Are you guys like.. spies or something? Do you work for this.. Mugulo guy?”

“Oh”, Bavaka said cheerily, “close, actually, we’re assassins. But Zyc and I also do spy missions for Mugulo.”

“They’re pretty famous over on Mirz, Daiki-san”, Zakuvo joined in, “They belong to a legendary organization of spies and assassins.”

“Ohh”, Daiki replied.

“Alright that’s enough”, Bavaka said urgently, “Let’s focus on the task at hand: rescuing Takashi and getting the information we need.”

“Information??”, Daiki looked around confused.

“Yes. We promised to bust him out in exchange for information”

He realized something just then. When they had at first revealed to him about Takashi being held in a prison and their plan to rescue him, he’d been way too petrified to ask much else. Nolowi and Zakuvo too hadn’t been entirely keen on revealing any details to him about anything that was going on. So he didn’t really know why they wanted to rescue him in the first place. He didn’t know how they’d managed to find him, how they’d communicated with him, or why he had asked them to bring Daiki to him. He didn’t know anything. He looked at these strange alien creatures sitting or crouching around him, discussing a top-secret mission. It was like a movie to him. 

How did it all get so strange so fast?? One minute I was looking for Takashi in the mountains. How am I suddenly here with all these aliens?? 

“Alright, guys let’s go over the plan one more time and Daiki, listen closely, since you haven’t heard this before”, Nolowi advised.

Daiki saw how her eyes had changed. Then he looked again at everyone else. Theirs were different too. They were more focused now. More serious.

Right. This is one of those moments. Life and death moments. This is not a dream or a movie. I’m really going into this alien prison to get Takashi back. I’m getting Takashi back. I’m gonna do something crazy – probably the craziest thing I’ve ever done and will ever do in my life. And I’ve always loved doing crazy stuff. 

So then..

Then..

Unconsciously, Daiki gripped the hem of his t-shirt and clenched his jaw. A cold sweat was creeping up on him. 

Then why do I wish I was home right now???

“Nolowi”, Bavaka called cautiously, “Not here. Let’s go back into the tunnel. It’s too dangerous to remain out here for a long time.”

Zyc nodded slowly while inspecting the surroundings, “Yeah we gotta get outta here for now”

He turned back invisible and Bavaka curled back up into a ball and exited the way they came. Nolowi glared in their direction with her mouth open as if to say you kept us here for a whole day! Then she shook her head and followed discreetly. Zakuvo and Daiki joined her.

Climbing down the same tunnel they’d come from, Daiki noticed a short, stubby figure, sitting near the entrance while hugging its knees. His heart skipped a beat as the way that the figure was bent over his knees in the dark looked creepy. Then it turned its head slowly, alarmed by the noise of them coming down. 

“Oh.. y-you guys are back..”, it spoke in a low feeble voice. 

“Hi Jupong!”, Nolowi greeted and waved eagerly.

Jupong, the third member of the backup team, smiled weakly and slowly waved back. A distant light that was faintly bleeding into the tunnel through air holes, lit up his face that was drenched in sweat. He had a large, round head, big eyes, big teeth, and wore strange attire. His dark hair was rather messy and there were large bags underneath his eyes. Daiki could see a mild tremble all over his body. This surprised and confused him. Jupong looked as though he was being held hostage or something. As if he was terrified and didn’t join the mission on his own volition. 

“Daiki, meet Jupong. This is the other member of our team. He’s also an assassin like Zyc and myself. Although he never joins us on spy missions.”, Bavaka said matter-of-factly. 

Daiki smiled as politely as he could and watched the timid-looking man. By Earth’s standards he seemed to be in his late 20s. However his height looked similar to that of an average 10 year old. 

“Is he okay?”, Daiki whispered to Nolowi out of concern for the tiny man. 

“Yeah. He’s fine. He’s just scared all the time.”, she answered reassuringly. 

Daiki raised his eyebrows, “Oh..? What is he scared of?”

“Something or the other”, Nolowi replied and called out to Jupong who was still trembling in the corner, “Jupong! Are you okay over there? You seem..on edge”

Jupong gripped his clothes tight with his hands and muttered, “Th-there was a squeaker”

“A squeaker??”

“Y-yeah.. It was running around everywhere. S-squeaking really loud. I g-got scared”

Nolowi, not able to fully comprehend what he was talking about, turned to Daiki and shrugged. 

“It’s okay, Jupong. We’re here now”, Bavaka said, sitting down next to him and motioning the others to follow, “Let’s go over the plan”

“Th-that’s probably a good idea..”, Jupong muttered, “If I forget the details, I-I’ll be n-nervous when the time comes. And when I’m nervous I forget e-everything..”

Everyone sat down in a circle. A cold but oddly calming beam of light, resembling moonlight, lit up the dark tunnel. They sat in a corner. Seconds ago, they’d been out there in enemy territory but in the tunnel they were safe. For now. 

Bavaka fished out a compact circular object from an invisible pocket on her outfit and began typing on it. To Daiki it looked like a mobile phone. Then she pressed a button at the bottom of the device to reveal a rectangular strip made of the same material as the “mobile phone”. This strip protruded from the top of the device and then unfolded into something like a screen. 

Cool, Daiki thought. The screen lit up and they all scurried over to see it. Bavaka opened up something that looked like a map. 

“Here it is. The Roggenkoh prison’s floor plan. I got this from someone within our organization who’d been there recently.”, Bavaka announced.

“Whoa”, Daiki and Nolowi whispered. Their eyes lit up as the two looked fascinatingly at the sketch.

Bavaka smiled and continued, “This is level one. We have to enter through here. This is where the entrance is”, she explained while pointing at different spots on the screen. 

“Where is Takashi held?”

“On level two”, Zyc answered. He reached out to the screen and pulled up the floor plan for the second level, “On the far end of the opposite side of the..reacher?”

“Reacher??”, Daiki asked, “What is that??”

Zyc shrugged, “Reacher. You know. The thing you use to reach the next level.”

Daiki squinted in confusion. Zyc had explained the meaning of the term with a totally nonchalant expression as if it was supposed to make perfect sense. 

“I don’t think that’s the word they use, Zyc. I think it's ‘elevator’”, Bavaka corrected him. 

“Oh?”, Zyc said, mildly surprised, “my bad”

“Ohhh elevator!”, Daiki exclaimed and examined the floor plan on the screen, “So this is where the elevator is..? So Takashi is..”, he drew his finger across the screen over to the opposite end, “..around here”

“That is correct”, Bavaka agreed. 

“Alright I’ve got a question”, Daiki said quizzically, “How are we going to get into this building??”

There was a short pause where everyone was silent. They glanced briefly at each other. But there was something odd in their expressions. While Nolowi and Zakuvo looked absolutely guilty and hesitant, Zyc, Bavaka, and Jupong looked confused. 

“What??”, Daiki asked.

Jupong spoke up from his corner, looking at Nolowi and Zakuvo, “Y-you guys didn’t tell him??”

“Tell me what??”, Daiki demanded.

Nolowi and Zakuvo sighed and glanced at each other. Then Zakuvo answered, “Well.. Daiki-san, we didn’t kidnap you entirely because Takashi-san wanted us to.”

Daiki’s heart skipped a beat. What is it?? What are they planning??

“We had a different plan involving you. Well we’re still on that plan..”

For a moment, Bavaka’s eyes grew wide as if she was taken aback by this exchange. Then Zyc interrupted with a strange sharp noise aimed at Nolowi and Zakuvo. They paused, looking guilty. Although to Daiki, this sounded like a weird noise, in reality he was cursing in their language. 

“You guys are unbelievable” he reproached, going back to almost perfect Japanese, “You tried to recruit him without even telling him anything?? Nolowi, I hope I don’t have to remind you how dangerous it can be for him. It is, even for you. We asked you to brief Daiki on his role for the mission. Are you kidding me, right now??”

“W-why, what’s wrong?”, Daiki stammered nervously.

“But we didn’t want him to back down after we've revealed everything!”, Nolowi argued with Zyc. 

Zyc scoffed, “So what? You just lied to him, instead?”

“Well, it’s not entirely a lie that Takashi-san wanted to see Daiki-san”, Zakuvo explained, desperate to dissipate the tension. 

“Yes! Yes, he told me that he misses his friends and that he wants to see them soon.”, Nolowi joined in.

Zyc rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, “Come on..”

“T-that’s not an e-excuse, N-Nolowi and Zakuvo”, Jupong said, “Y-you should have a-at least t-told him w-what he has to do. W-what if he a-also has a c-case of nerves l-like me..?”

“Yeah so at this point you’ve practically just coerced him into this mission.”, Zyc concluded. 

Nolowi’s face reddened and puffed up. She looked as if she was about to burst, “You don’t understand..!”

“Oh I think I understand enough”

“We did our best to recruit Daiki-san for the mission”

“No, you didn’t!”

“Y-you guys l-lied to him”

“It wasn’t a lie!!”

“Nolowi, maybe you shouldn’t scream..”

“No you might as well scream and reveal our location to all our enemies”

“Enemies won’t hear us, this tunnel is soundproof!”

“G-guys l-let’s get on with the p-plan now”

The incessant noise of arguing grew louder and louder until Bavaka, who stood silently, couldn’t take it any longer.

“ALRIGHT, ENOUGH!”, she said firmly and sternly that everyone immediately stopped yelling and glanced at her. She looked mildly furious but did a great job of drowning the emotion out with a determined expression. 

“What’s done is done. There’s no time to waste here”, she looked sharply at her comrades, “Keep your pointless arguments for later. Like Jupong said, let’s just get on with the plan.”

She glanced at the screen of her mobile device and breathed deeply for a few seconds. With each breath she appeared to grow calmer until finally she was able to speak normally. She glanced at Daiki. 

“I know that you’re scared”, she said gently but firmly.

Daiki swallowed. His heart was racing. Scared?? Scared doesn’t even begin to describe it. I don’t even know what I’m feeling anymore. 

“I know that you’re extremely confused and terribly disoriented from all of this.”, Bavaka continued calmly, “I completely understand. Our plan will put you in a dangerous position. You will be in enemy territory.” 

Bavaka then explained to Daiki what he’d have to do. What they’d planned for him. Daiki listened, his eyes wide in fear and anxiety at first which slowly transcended into other emotions.

“We went into the Roggenkoh prison occasionally back when we used to bring in prisoners”, Zyc added, “But we haven’t been there recently. So although we have a tight plan, anything can go wrong. No matter how good your plan is, at the end of the day, all missions like this are gambles.”

They kept their voices steady and clear as they explained. Daiki’s eyes moved around as he tried to understand the magnitude of what he was about to be a part of. His role in all this, as he’d now found out, was critical. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t comprehend the situation quite properly. 

Everyone else maintained their silence.

Bavaka continued, “Basically what I’m trying to tell you is this: If you don’t want to be a part of this mission, you can still back out. We’d totally understand. I’ve already come up with an alternative and we can go through with that if you don’t want to join us”

Daiki tried to think. Every thought was loud and endless as if a tap had been opened inside his head and he had no way of collecting the water or turning off the faucet. Bavaka’s and Zyc’s words echoed strong.

“Will put you in a dangerous position.”

“You will be in enemy territory”

I see..

“If you don’t want to be a part of this mission, you can still back out.”

Should I? 

“You’re extremely confused and terribly disoriented from all of this.”

I am. I really am. I wanna go home. But..

“I completely understand.”

“We’d totally understand”

“..already come up with an alternative and we can go through with that if you don’t want to join”

I don’t want to. Really. 

“No matter how good your plan is, at the end of the day, missions like this are gambles.”

“Anything can go wrong.”

Daiki’s world spun as he tried to focus on how he was feeling and what he should do. 

I miss home. I miss mom and dad. Asa and Botan. Kaito and the twins. 

I wanna go home to them. 

He remembered the ignorant comfort of his bed, the warmth of Kaede’s ramen dishes, the coolness of melon soda as it hit his throat on summer afternoons. He thought about the night that he’d suggested exploring the mountains to Botan. And the day after when they’d all gone through the plan. He remembered going to Takashi’s house. Knocking on their door and talking to his old friend in his room. 

And then.. he remembered Takashi’s words.

“Everytime you dragged me along for one of your pranks or games, I was the one who ended up in trouble.”

Takashi.. I have to help him. He was kidnapped because of me. Because he decided to help me. Why else would they kidnap him? They probably found him because of his drone. Maybe they have it with them too. 

Daiki scratched his head absently.

If Nolowi and Zakuvo were lying to me earlier. Then.. Takashi might not know that I’m coming at all. I guess.. It would be.. fun to surprise him. Like old times.

His heart beat loudly, to the point that all other noises were muffled. 

I wanna see mom and dad.

I wanna see my siblings.

I wanna hug Asa and Botan.

I wanna go home.

I wanna go home with Takashi. 

“Bavaka-san”, Daiki said. He lifted his face up to meet hers. His eyes were focused. Determined. Nolowi noticed. She glanced at Zakuvo, feeling a pang of guilt and regret. 

“Can you promise me that you won’t hide anything again? Like you said earlier, this is all very strange to me. And it’s a lot to take in”, Daiki continued, his gaze steady, “You guys should be glad that I’m trusting you at all. So don’t hide anything from me or lie to me again. If you do..”, he paused to find the right words. Then he spoke again with revived determination, “If you do then Takashi and I will side with the enemy! Yeah.”

Bavaka smiled ever so faintly and gave a firm nod. She’d found Daiki’s odd determination amusing and refreshing at the same time. 

Daiki then lowered his face and spoke more seriously, “Y-you don’t have to worry about me backing out. I’m in. I can’t back out now. After I’ve come this far. I’ve gotta do this and take Takashi back home”

Bavaka looked at him. Her eyes gleamed and reflected the determination in Daiki’s eyes. She gave him a wilful nod, concealing a smile that was full of hope. Then she looked at everyone else and said, “Let’s go over the plan, one last time. After that, we break this kid outta Roggenkoh.”

---

While Daiki and his new alien comrades discussed the plan, sealed away from the outside world, something lurked above them. A tall dark humanoid figure walked vigilantly, in search of potential intruders and threats. He had an air of paranoia about him. Investigating the surroundings, thoroughly and diligently. As if he’d seen or felt a suspicious presence behind the large barrels bordering the prison premises. 

His giant, long arms swung by his sides heavily. His footfall was unmistakable. The massive, grotesque feet crushed little twigs and leaves on the ground. He breathed with a low growl and then suddenly and faintly, a ticking sound arose from somewhere in his chest. He backed off. The sound, if it grew loud, could alert any enemies nearby. He wanted to sneak up on them. So he decided to back off for now. A frustrated groan escaped his throat as he walked away. Like a wild animal. 

He’d been in Haguko. Twice. The first time, he’d watched someone through their bedroom window. The ticking noise had given him away then and she’d seen him and screamed for the whole town to hear. The second time, it was someone else. A boy. The ticking noise had come up then too but he’d managed to subside it. And that time he’d succeed in his mission to capture his subject – Takashi.

---

“Can you see them?”

Back in Haguko, deep in the mountains, two robe-clad teenagers walked uphill. One was a girl with pale skin, heavy-framed glasses, and two messy hair braids. The other was a boy with a long face. His hair was straight, neatly-cut, and slightly spiky. While the girl looked around, searching for something or someone, the boy looked straight ahead. They both displayed minimal emotion with serious looks on their faces. 

“No, Kazuyuki-san, they’re not nearby. Perhaps we should give them a phone call?”

“Perhaps not. I don’t think that old hag carries her phone with her”, she said, completely emotionless and cold. 

The boy tilted his head in confusion, “Which old hag, Kazuyuki-san?”

“Hm”, the girl paused to give it some thought, “On second thoughts, Riku, I don’t think any of them carry their phones with them”

“I see”, the boy said, seriously, “In that case, I suggest we keep climbing until we meet them”

The girl sighed with a poker face, “You’re right. There’s no other way. Let’s keep walking. They might be in need of help but I don’t think that they’re completely useless so as to be desperate for it.”

“I agree”, The boy said firmly. 

Then they continued walking uphill. 

These two mysterious visitors were none other than Kazuyuki and Riku from Himari’s friend circle. Asa and Botan met them before on their first meeting at Himari’s house. But the next day they were absent from the emergency meeting due to personal commitments. After Mizoroge-sensei lost contact with Himari’s group earlier that day, she’d managed to contact the two and send them to the mountains to help. 

Little did they know that Himari’s group had split up and while Akiko and Murasaki had taken down the threat, Himari, Asa, and Botan had run into a new one in the form of a giant ball of energy at Kojima Pass.