"Man, those girls talked my ears off," began Kurz. "'There's a really weird transfer student in our class, right Kana? Isn't he weird, Kana? Tell him about the new kid, Kana.' I can't believe they didn't want to talk about important things… like
Suddenly, Sousuke perked up. "What did they say about me?"
"I see. So, you want to know, do you?" Kurz gloated.
"Not really, no. But it's part of the mission, so I should hear it."
"Not buying it. First, say, 'Please, sir, tell me some more.'"
Sousuke was not amused.
"Okay, fine. You don't have to be such a baby about—" spotting Something suspicious, Kurz suddenly became very sober.
He moved closer to the surveillance screen.
"Twenty-one hundred twenty-one: suspicious individual on the balcony side. Commencing investigation," reported Sousuke.
The monitor showed Kaname's apartment's balcony, courtesy of a hidden camera on the roof of an adjacent building. On the left side of the image, a man clad in black and a knitted mask scaled the building's drainpipe.
"Is he stupid enough to go alone?" remarked Sousuke while screwing a silencer onto a nine-millimeter handgun.
"Dunno. There still could be others nearby. I'll check cars in the area," said Kurz, grabbing a nearby sniper rifle with a night vision scope.
"This is Urzu Two," said Mao, through the wireless. "Let's subdue the perp. Urzu Six, take that rifle to the roof where the camera is."
"Urzu Six, roger."
"Urzu Seven, subdue him directly. I'll be in the parking lot, keeping watch."
"Got it. Give me two minutes."
Slinging rappelling gear over his shoulder, Sousuke rushed out the door.
One-hundred twenty seconds later, he was on the roof of Kaname Chidori's apartment building. He clipped the rope to the railing and nimbly wound it around his waist. Kurz's voice came through his earpiece.
"This is Urzu Six. I'm in position by the camera. There's no sign of accomplices. He actually might be flying solo."
"Don't let down your guard, especially at your six."
"Who do you think you're talking to, bonehead?"
Mao interrupted their banter. "Perfect timing, Urzu Seven: Kaname's in the shower. Let's try to take care of this before she comes out."
"Urzu Seven, roger."
"Don't kill him."
"I know."
And just like that, Sousuke threw himself off the roof. Aside from the slight whisper of the rope sliding through his hands, he was silent. After bounding down the wall a couple of times, he was directly over the prowler's head.
The intruder was so focused on climbing over the railing onto the balcony that he didn't even notice Sousuke.
Taking one last leap off the wall, Sousuke skillfully twisted in midair and crashed down on the back of the man on the balcony.
"Don't move." Sousuke pressed his silenced gun against the back of the intruder's head. "You lose. Don't make a sound." Shaking violently, the man nodded.
"Good, you value your life."
Keeping the man pinned to the ground, Sousuke conducted a brief body search. The pat down turned up no weapons, only a wallet. Sousuke took a look at it.
Inside, there was a student ID.
This boy was in Sousuke's class.
"Urzu Six to Urzu Seven."
"What?"
"Sousuke, look at what he's holding."
Sousuke saw what appeared to be several small pieces of cloth.
"Panties," smirked Kurz. "White as fallen snow. End transmission."
Sousuke looked over to see Kurz laughing and packing up his gear. "For crying out loud," grumbled Mao as she retreated in the camouflaged M9.
"What are you doing, anyway?" demanded a confused Sousuke. He pulled off the prowler's mask.
The boy underneath—thin, childlike, and pale—trembled with fear.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'll never do it again!"
"Shh!" hissed Sousuke, pressing the gun tighter against the boy.
Much quieter, the boy said, "Sorry. Please don't arrest me."
"I'm not the police," clarified Sousuke. "I just want you to explain yourself."
"You won't arrest me?"
"Relax." Sousuke pulled the boy to his feet.
"Thanks. Hey, you're from my class. Sagara, right?"
"You must be mistaken."
"No way! You're—"
Sousuke cocked his gun. "I said, 'you must be mistaken.'"
Nodding feverishly, the boy apologized.
"Now, Kazama, right? What are you doing here?"
Holding out the underwear, Shinji Kazama said, "As you can see, I'm on a panty raid—looks like we had the same idea."
"No, I was just in the neighborhood," fibbed Sousuke.
"Oh. Right." Though confused, Shinji didn't try to argue.
"Why on Earth are you trying to steal Miss Chidori's undergarments?"
"They're not for me," whispered Shinji. "Murano and the others—"
"Murano?" inquired Sousuke.
Shinji Kazama revealed the situation.
Every school has its share of delinquents, and Murano was Jindai High School's chief hooligan. He and his goons knew that Shinji was in the photography club, and they pushed him around and stole some of his negatives. They would give them back only in exchange for Kaname's underpants.
"So, you're being blackmailed?" iterated Sousuke.
