Brothers (Part 2)

Chapter 17 - Split the Group

Liang peeked out the door to see the small army had gone.

Liang: "If we plan to keep moving, we better head out now."

Honey: "Nanba had better give us time with the masseuse after this."

Trois: "I concur."

Uno: "Sorry man, but we couldn't find anything. Can you hold out a little longer?"

Nico stood up and gave him a reassuring smile.

Nico: "I'm okay. I got a little rest, so I should be good to go. Thank you. You too, Jyugo!"

Jyugo: "Uh, yeah..."

Uno: "Let's roll everybody."

I turned to see Trois looking in a draw so I tugged on his sleeve.

Jinx: "What are you looking for?"

He took something from it and smiled.

Trois: "Oh, it's nothing important. Let's go."

We followed everyone else. After walking a little while I noticed Jyugo start to lag behind, his eyes glued to the floor. He'd been acting a little off since we left the archive room. I went back to him and took his hand.

Jinx: "What's the matter, Jyugo?"

Jyugo: "Huh? Wh- why do you ask?"

Jinx: "You're doing that thing where you just silently, absentmindedly follow us."

Jyugo: "Uh, its nothing... nothing at all."

Jinx: "Yeah, that trick doesn't work on me. You've been really quiet since we left the archive room. Did you... find something?"

Jyugo: "I... I don't know..."

Jinx: "*sigh* It's alright if you don't want to talk about it. But I'm here if you do."

He gave me a little smile.

Jyugo: "Thanks, Jinx."

Liang: "Bet these stairs lead to the second underground level."

In front of us was a barred door with stairs going down on the other side.

Uno: "Lady Luck is always on my side, guys! Guess their security budget's running kinda low."

Liang: "Don't let your guard down. None of us know what lies ahead. Stay alert—"

We flinched as Liang got shot by some kind of beam, pushing him into the wall.

Honey: "What the hell just happened?"

We looked to see where the beam came from. A guard walked out carrying two strange looking hooked blades. He had a talisman over his face like Upa's, but his was different.

Liang: "It's Rokuriki..."

Upa: "That talisman he's wearing has the attack charm."

Uno: "Huh, bet that's a bad thing."

Jinx: "Are you alright, Liang?"

He stood up.

Liang: "I'm fine. Stay with your brothers, Jinx."

Jyugo securely tightened his hold on my hand.