Finally...Hotel Enro (con'd from Twas a Time to Eat)

"DAMNIT!" Bartimaeus's fist left a small crater in the concrete wall. After all this searching... the artifact was gone. He hadn't a clue who might have taken it, just the smell of rust and a dark bloodstain where it supposedly used to lay. He could ask for help... but he knew those four didn't trust him in the least. Perhaps if he leveled with them for once. He snorted. Lycanthropes are not necessarily welcome in any social circle. Once they found out... "What have I got to lose? Nothing more, that's for certain." He raised his nose into the air and sniffed lightly. He could still smell Sara from a few miles away, but the scent was diminishing. He cursed; she was probably washing. He needed to get there fast so he didn't lose them completely. Had someone been watching him, they would have been surprised. It would have seemed as if he vanished into thin air- this was only partially correct. Instead, he became the air. He wafted himself toward the scent which was diminishing by the second. He eventually found himself outside of a hotel and slipped through the vent from which the aroma was wafting. He decided to give Sara her privacy, considering she didn't exactly like him to begin with, and continued to drift into the main section of their room, out of the bathroom. He drifted above the heads of the others, nigh unnoticeable.

Kagemaru's search had brought him to the Hotel where he hoped to find those that once were called allies. Atop one of the many large buildings in Nyukyoto, Kagemaru could spot a beastlike person sniffing around. What was he looking for? Kagemaru wasn't quite sure himself. He trailed the person...or thing, until he could spot the female ninja from the allied team through an open window. From what he could see, no one else was around. She was all alone. That wasn't really a good thing but it would make it easier to talk. He looked back over to see where the other being had gone. He vanished. An illusion? Some type of weird mirage? Perhaps an apparition or specter of some sort? Was it just the wind playing tricks on Kagemaru's mind. He had no clue, but he knew that now wasn't the time to sit around idly and wait. Using his great speed, he because much less than a blur, a mere gust of wind himself, as he dashed down the vertical walls of the building and up the walls of the hotel. He jumped into the open window of the ninja's room and closed it behind him. Before saying anything, Kagemaru looked around. As he suspected, no one else was around. Water. He heard water. Correction. Someone else was around and they were in the bathroom. Based on the sounds, Kagemaru came to the conclusion that the person in the bathroom was taking a shower. "So, female ninja. We meet again. I have a request for you. It's from Zero...the man that hired you before to kidnap that student from Sentou Gakuin. Are your allies nearby?" Kagemaru had the feeling that something or someone was nearby but he couldn't let it bother him now. He wanted to get this message out, but he realized that it would be best to say it while everyone was there instead of say it to one person and have them pass the message off, likely messing it up from person to person. Kagemaru turned and glanced around, not moving his head but just moving his eyes. you could never be too safe can you?

"Yeah, no problem." Akira had just responded to Sara who had jumped in the shower. She was amazed herself at the room and how beautiful it was. As usual, she acted in a hyper manner and examined the room by pressing every button in eyesight and using every object. She was almost like a little kid getting a new toy. They just had to try it out completely. She then hopped on the bed and fluffed the pillows. In her mind, she had already called the bed was laying on and decided that it would be her bed that night. Honestly, Akira wasn't really tired but that might have just been because she was so enthusiastic about the day. She wondered if she should take a shower after Sara or in the morning until a familiar face hopped through the window, closing it generously behind him. Before she could say anything Kagemaru had cut Akira off, asking about her allies. "Hi there Mr. Dark and Evil-looking-guy. Sara's in the shower. I'm here...." Akira had to think for a moment about her other teammates. "...Rals and Shang are somewhere. I think they were following us but they probably got lost somewhere." Akira smiled and rubbed her hair. "I have an idea! How 'bout you stay and wait for them. They'll probably find their way and be here in a moment of so. Take a seat! There's sooooooooo many cool things in here and this room is soooooooooooo big!" Akira jumped on the bed, falling on her back. She loved the huge bed. It was comfortable.

Bartimaeus absorbed this knowledge as he floated by, invisible and intangible. Kidnapped a student...? If he had a voice, he would have growled. So that's what they are hiding... He decided to stay to complete more recon to better understand the situation. But he would have to get physical if they did not give him a damn good reason for doing what they did. He didn't think any of them had the capacity for evil; especially not Akira. She was much to innocent and carefree to really be suspect for such a crime. He let out a mental sigh. What had he gotten himself into?

The front door creaked open as the knob of the door turned slowly. Rals stepped in with sweat dripping slightly from his face. While chasing Sara and Akira he was engulfed in the large crowds and actually got lost. It took some quick running around, but he eventually found the hotel. Luckily, the hotel was big enough to see from a distance. He panted for a moment, exhausted from doing a long sprint around the city and navigating through the tons of people. He walked into the room, shocked just a little by the ally from the day before with the black hair.

"I remember you. You helped us on that mission didn't you? I assume that you have something to tell us. I can't say for sure that Shang will find us tonight. I think he got lost at some point. I wouldn't wait for him."

Rals made his way to a nearby couch and stretched out. He then began to nap on the couch although he hadn't yet reached a complete sleep.

"Hmm? I hear water running. Sounds like a shower. I'm guessing that Sara's in the shower huh? That's unfortunate. If I wasn't so tired I would join her. But...I'm so tired and it would be a pain to get up from this...soft...soft...comfortable..."

Rals immediately fell asleep before even finishing his sentence. Though he wasn't smiling, he was still peacefully resting. His stomach moved just slightly but his ears continued to twitch. Even though he appeared to be in a deep sleep, Rals was still alert and aware of everything going on around him. He couldn't see anything, but he could still hear everything better than a human could.

Beside him on the bed was his quiver and his bow. Rals was waiting for something. His ears were twitching more than average when he was sleeping. He could hear something that caused him to focus on it. He was waiting for Sara. Even though Rals was more tired than usual, he still wanted to see Sara come out of the shower. Rals was lazy but he was still a guy. Not a human guy but still a guy. Who wouldn't want to see a very well-endowed girl step out of a shower. No teenage male could ever resist that. There was something else though. Rals could hear one more thing. It was faint. He didn't worry about it too much because it sounded like wind.

Sara stepped out of the shower. Part of the reason for taking the shower was to be alone and have her thoughts all to herself but that was impossible when you worked in a group. Two females and two guys. On the bright side, life was never dull. She stepped out not because she thought she was clean enough, but because the voices outside the bathroom were now becoming far too distracting. Even from in the bathroom she could tell that they had a visitor. She dried herself off, taking her time before walking out with the others. She found a towel, compliments of Hotel Enro, and wrapped it around her body. The towel was awful. It was obvious that the towel was made more for drying than for wrapping around one's body. The towel didn't quite fit well over Sara's body. That didn't matter too much though. She looked down at the pile of clothes placed somewhat messily on the ground. She went to pick up her clothes and then...crap....The thought passed by her mind. She didn't have any spare clothes. None whatsoever. Each of them had been ruined by the previous battles that the group had gone through. That wasn't good. She thought about her situation and her options. She could just walk out with the towel on and search for clothes. She realized that Akira probably had some extra clothes. The two of them didn't quite have the same body type though and Akira's average clothes always seemed to fit perfectly. That wouldn't work too well for Sara. She then figured she could get Rals to buy some. She knew that he was lazy though and that he would probably ignore her by just sleeping. Hmm. I guess I could always seduce him. I have a feeling that Rals has a thing for me. It shouldn't be too hard to get him to do something for me. He is a guy afterall. Sara didn't wish to go down that route. Instead, she would see if she could borrow clothes from Akira. Maybe she had something bigger than normal that would fit.

With a tight towel wrapped around her body, Sara unlocked the bathroom door and stepped out. Surprised, she saw the man from recently that helped them with the mission against the team from Sentou Gakuin. What he's doing here? Does he have another mission for us from the Suzaku guy? Giving a fake smile, Sara waved at the man with the black and red hair. She continued smiling until she was beside Akira. She whispered in her ear. "Hey Akira, do you have any extra...large, clothes for me to wear. I don't have anymore good clothes to wear and unless you have something, I'll be walking around in this towel all night long...or possibly nude. I don't really want that to happen, not with Rals here and all." Sara smiled at Akira, hoping that she actually had something there for her to wear.

OOC: I'm in a typing mood today

Akira noticed Sara walk out of the shower with just a towel. She laughed a little to herself. She turned to Rals to see his reaction but he appeared to still be sleeping. It would be a funny story if he were to miss Sara with no clothes on. Akira looked at her with curiosity as she approached her. She asked her for spare clothes and the moment she completed her sentence, Akira laughed hysterically out loud. "Really? You want some of my clothes? I don't think your big boobs will fit in any of my clothes. Sorry." Akira laughed loudly, not really considering the loudness of her laughter. She looked at a bag in the room. "Then again, I think I might actually have a shirt in a bag. Its not the biggest shirt ever, but its fairly long and should cover up pretty much everything." Akira pointed to a bag. Her face was still smiling from her recent laughter. She tried her hardest to hold in her laughter. "Oh by the way, Mr. Dark and Evil-looking guy right there wanted to tell us something."

Shang was walking along the street when he caught the scent of his teammates. 'On second thought, I think I'll go talk with my teammates. Sara was acting weird', he thought to himself. He walked into the hotel and went into his teammates' room. He heard snippets of conversation while entering and heard something about kidnapping. 'WTF? My teammates were kidnapping someone? Who? Why didn't I hear about this?', he thought to himself. Then again, he had been gone for a long time. He entered the room and said, "What's up guys. What's the occasion? And is this another one of your strange new friends?" The last question was about this weird looking man that was talking with his team. While all this was happening, he got this weird feeling in his gut, as if he was being watched. He tensed up, his gut was telling him that this was dangerous. Something was wrong, but he did not know what.

Bartimaeus kept his senses on all of the people within the room, but refrained from focusing on Sara. That would be rather rude of him. Instead, he turned his attention to the mysterious and rather evil looking man who had entered the room. Who was this man, that he could and would kidnap a student from Sentou Gakuin? Who was the student that he had taken? And why in the world would this group require such a deed to be carried out? None of this made sense to him. So, he hugged the ceiling and continued to do his reconnaissance work...

Rals opened one eye as he heard the shower stop. Unknown to everyone else, Rals was peeking at Sara as she stepped out of the bedroom. He tried not to stare too much. He couldn't help himself though. He already had a slight love interest for Sara but she didn't seem to notice. He waited until he heard her whispering to Akira.

I guess Sara still doesn't realize that I can hear better than a human.

Both of his eyes shot open as he heard her say to Akira 'I'll be walking around in this towel all night...or nude'. He lifted his body so that he was sitting instead of resting. He tried to stare at her face but his urge to look down increased. He managed to control himself for long enough though. Suddenly, Akira started laughing loudly which hurt Rals ears a little. She was laughing about Sara wanting to borrow some of her clothes.

"Y'know Sara, walking around nude isn't such a bad option. Personally, I think it would be more comfortable for you, don't ya think. I mean, it would be such a pain to wear clothes all of the time. Its okay. Don't wear anything. No one's watching". Rals mumbled to himself, "...except probably every guy here."

He then noticed that Shang walked in and his attention shifted directly to him.

"So I guess he found his way after all. I'm actually somewhat surprised. Well, I guess that means that we're all here."

Rals turned back over to where Akira and Sara were. He gave a lazy smile.

"But seriously Sara. I can join you if you'd like. Have no fears."

Sara looked down with a slight sense of disappointment in herself. She was upset because Rals had either heard what she said or figured it out by Akira's laughing. She realized that he probably just heard her whisper. She had actually forgotten that Rals could hear well even when he was sleeping. That big elf. She walked towards the bag that Akira had pointed out to her but she took a slight detour to stand in front of Rals. At first, she just looked at him. Then, she smiled. Afterwards, she walked to the bag. Yes. I found it. Sara easily found the big shirt in the pile of clothes that Akira had in the bag. She walked back towards the bathroom and noticed that Shang walked in. Rals had made a comment on him arriving. He was right. The entire group had finally shown up. She gave a slight wave to Shang as he walked in but quickly stopped herself in the middle of the wave, assuming that he didn't see her. She held the towel on the side with her right hand while she held the large shirt with her left hand. I wonder why Akira would even have a shirt this big? Luckily she does though. I was worried that I wouldn't have any clothes to wear tonight. Before going into the bathroom, Sara looked at Rals and whispered. Knowing that his hearing was somewhere around as good as hers, she knew that only he would hear her unless someone else secretly had special powers or a trait that would allow them to hear better. She didn't really care if anyone overheard or if anyone could read her lips. "Rals. Maybe if you would just ask me out on a date instead of trying to be so indirect and nonchalant I would go with you. That could possibly lead to you seeing me naked." She started to walk into the bathroom. When only her head could be seen by anyone, she removed her towel and looked at Rals. She shot him a smile. This wasn't an ordinary smile though. This was a rather seductive smile, especially for a 16 year old like herself. "Perhaps that date could lead to you and me being naked together. Maybe we could do some kind of...activity together." She winked at him and closed the door behind her, leaving the towel outside the bathroom on the floor. Sara wasn't really flirtatious with everyone. At least, she wasn't flirtatious with the intention of actually being with the person. She was a monk after all. She was taught the ways of modesty, generosity, and honesty. From being on the surface with other people she learned the art of seduction. Against men, this technique was one of the most powerful ever. As Sara tossed on the huge shirt, she wondered about the possibility of her and Rals. Perhaps at some point in the future there might be some hope for the two of them. Maybe. She stepped out with the shirt on, now completely covered up. She sat on Akira's bed with her hands on her lap. She seemed happy and ready for what the man had to say. "Well now that all of the distractions are through with, how about you tell us why you came. And don't worry about Shang. He's one of us." For whatever reason, Sara seemed to be taking a leadership role now. She was eager to hear about what the man had to say about Suzaku. She figured that the man from Suzaku wanted to hire them again. Sara was looking forward to doing a good mission again. She just realized that she had no money.

Kagemaru hesitated. He didn't really know how to react with the situation. He ignored everything that had just happened to him and began to explain his reasons for being there. His main objective at this point was to just deliver some news to old allies of Suzaku. "Now that you all seem to be paying attention, I'll begin. I came here in order to deliver a message from the leader of Suzaku. He has requested that you join Suzaku again for multiple missions involving the capture of powerful beasts. Of course, you will be compensated. Due to circumstances of time, I need an answer immediately." Kagemaru waited for a reply.

Shang watched as Sara was talking to Rals. He read her lips and realized that she was talking about doing "things" with him. He laughed to himself and wondered, 'Did those two have a relationship that I didn't know about?'. It was a bit amusing to see this but more important matters were at hand. He still couldn't get this weird feeling out of his head, the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. He had no clue what this meant but something was wrong. When the weird looking man started speaking, Shang turned his attention to him. The man was talking about a mission from this organization named Suzaku and how they were to catch beasts or so it seemed. He knew his team wasn't exactly the cleanest around but he was wondering whether they were biting off a little more than they could chew. After all, they were dealing with Suzaku.

Suddenly, Bartimaeus rematerialized in the middle of the room with a thunderous growl. He stood hunched over, his long hair covering his face, every muscle in his body tensing. Everyone who was in the room could hear his heart beating clearly... which is odd, as it never did before in their presence. He spoke, trying to keep the bestial rage from his voice. "Suzaku. And the Eterna Beasts..." His orange eye glowed as he looked at the man from Suzaku. His right hand twitched in a sudden spasm of restrained violence. He then drew himself to his full height, this time looking at the four others, but never keeping Kagemaru from his line of vision. "The kidnap of the Sentou Gakuin student is a..." He grimaced. "Forgivable offense. But allying yourselves with Suzaku is a dangerous wager. Your services would be much more valuable to Sentou Gakuin. Our leader is an amazing man. Any of us would die for him." He growled at Kagemaru. "You're either with us or with them. And I don't think you want to have to find out which of us would be worse to have as enemies on the battlefield..."

Akira looked at the two men. The growling man Bartimaeus that they had just met seemed really intimidating. The other man that worked with Suzaku also seemed to be intimidating. This would make the decision much harder. Akira was still smiling but her smile wasn't a hyper smile. Instead, her smile was on her face due to interest of the situation. As the leader she realized that she had to make a decision. Knowing that the group had already done something wrong against the school, she knew that simply joining their side wouldn't be easy. For once, Akira put her mind to work. She raised her hand high into the air. "As leader of Neo Force, I say that we should work with Suzaku if everyone agrees. I don't think that the school will just forgive us if we say sorry. Afterall, we did almost kill one of their students and then kidnap him. We even handed him over to Suzaku." Akira looked at Bartimaeus in the eyes. "Sorry, Barty but that's my look on things. This is a group though, so I'll leave it up to a vote from the rest of you to decide."

Rals yawned a little. He was annoyed that now he had to choose between Suzaku and the school that they were just against. He considered all of the possibilities that came to mind. He didn't really care too much. He began to close his eyes as though he was falling asleep again. He was pretending to fall asleep but he was still tired. It was late at night and he had to be bothered by the pressures of making tough decisions. Rals figured that at least he could share some insight with the rest of the group.

"Ugh. Honestly, its a huge pain in the ass to make decisions this late at night. I'm so tired. Y'know, there is the possibility that the group sides with neither of you and we just go our own way. We could probably even find someone else that would pay us more. I could care less who we work with. There's plenty of benefits to either side. Working with Suzaku would probably guarantee some money in it. It'd probably be more exciting too. Plus, if that school is going to be against us then we can probably see some more fights in the future, which is perfect for me. The school on the other hand would probably provide us with more protection if we wanna be on the safe side. I think that we'd still be in some danger though. No matter how kind-hearted anyone is, people don't really forget about an attempted and successful kidnapping and battle that nearly killed a few people."

Rals stretched a bit on the couch he was laying on. He folded his legs and placed his hands behind his head to get really comfortable.

"I'm much to lazy to make decisions like these so I won't. I'll just leave my vote up to majority which means that for now, I'm with Sara and Akira on allying ourselves with Suzaku. Now, if you don't mind, I won't like to get some rest. Looks like its all up to you Shang. Make a good decision Shang."

Shang turned to each of his team members and then turned to the 2 strangers that were members of Suzaku and Sentou Gakuin respectively. He didn't think he'd enjoy working with either of them particularly but doing so was what his job was all about. He contemplated on what would be less dangerous but Akira had made a good point, there was no way Sentou Gakuin would welcome them with open arms after what happened and they were already working with Suzaku anyway. Not to mention the votes of his teammates, they were all for working with Suzaku. The choice was already made for him, he would stand by his team...as he always did. They needed to stick together to survive and that was the truth. He finally cleared his throat and spoke, "The choice has already been made for me. I will stand by my team. We will be working with Suzaku." As he was saying this, he relaxed his muscles and just cleared his mind of any doubt. Bartimaeus, the Sentou Gakuin operative, seemed to be the type to attack first and to attack to kill. He needed to be ready and he knew that he always yielded better results when in a fight when he was less tense. He started tapping his foot lightly on the floor, he was starting his rhythm, he was ready...now to see what Bartimaeus would do.

Akira looked at Bartimaeus now that everyone had made their decisions about what to do. She wasn't quite sure what would happen next but she knew that there were endless possibilities. She couldn't determine if Bartimaeus would leave quietly or try to force Neo Force to join Sentou Gakuin. "Well, Barty, we've all made our decisions. It seems like the group has chosen to stick around with Suzaku for the moment. Sorry. Perhaps we will meet again when it comes time to fight for these Beasts you are both talking about." Akira still wore her usual smile. She wasn't worried as much as she was cautious but somehow she felt that Bartimaeus would take a little lost gracefully and try to win later on.

OOC: I guess now we wait for Hei

OOC: Hey Hei, where did you go?

OOC: Sorry guys I was on a retreat without a phone or internet... Idk how I survived.

IC:

Bartimaeus' frown grew as each person in the team gave him their answer. He let loose a deep and throaty growl. "Hmph. Very well. While I have... enjoyed your company, let us hope for your sake that none of you meet me on the battlefield. From this moment forward, we are enemies. Good bye." The air around him crackled with energy and everyone in the room could feel their hair stand on end as electricity flowed through them. Bartimaeus closed his eyes and his long hair began to lazily float upwards, but then it seemed as if a gust of air was blasting his hair strait up. He opened his eyes, which were suddenly a glaring and disconcerting silver. With an ear-splitting crack, a bolt of lightning struck through the room and hit Bartimaeus and, once the dust had settled, the only evidence that he was there was a series of holes through the rooms above a scorch mark where he was standing. He had gone on a mission of his own, to prepare for the battle ahead.

Kagemaru gave a grunt of impatience. He didn't wish to make the mission longer than it needed to be, but a slight detour arrived when it came to an unexpected visitor. "Now that we have that settled and out of the way, I would like to ask that you stay ready in case we need you. In about a week we will begin hunting for the beasts. It would be best if you met up with the Suzaku leader at some point before the end of the week." Kagemaru looked at everyone and then began to walk to the window. He pulled it open and a large gust of wind flew into the room from the outside. "Until we meet again." Kagemaru gave his final words and then jumped out of the window. He ran down the side of the hotel and into the streets where he swerved and maneuvered around the people, causing his own wind to follow behind him. No one knew exactly who it was. He slowed down when he saw his motorcycle nearby. He looked up to the dark sky. Mission complete...for now. He then hopped on his motorcycle and drove off towards the Suzaku Fortress with news to share.