So the three of them went down and went to the provision shop downstairs. They grabbed some stuff and queued up at the cashier to pay. K' let out an inaudible chuckle when he spotted the rows and rows of gum on the counter shelves. It reminded him of a certain someone back at home.
The person in front of them seemed weird, but they didn't really think much of him since they were used to seeing weirdos. Then again, it was really cold, so it made sense why he was dressed like that.
He was tall and was wearing a very long black trench coat. It had a high neck, so high that it covered half of his face. There was even a hood attached to the trench coat, covering his face even more.
The three of them just shrugged it off and waited for their turn to pay. It was the weird guy's turn to pay and he started put his basket of stuff on the counter for the cashier to scan. The cashier was scanning the stuff and he just waited there, watching the price meter. He turned to trio's direction for a split second. They didn't really notice it, until the guy turned to look at them again in a shocked manner. They were rather weirded out by this since they didn't really do anything, but he seemed taken aback.
"What's up with him?" K' whispered. "He seems like a weirdo..."
"I have no idea," said Nameless. "Let's just pretend we didn't see anything."
Maxima had a hunch and scanned him. And behold! His blood group was AB negative! But his data also seemed familiar for some reason.
"Something tells me he's our guy," Maxima whispered to the rest. "Look at how suspicious he is. And also, his blood group is a match!"
"What do you mean by our guy?" K' whispered back, annoyed. "I don't remember having any dudes for ourselves..."
"Seriously, Aibou?" Maxima said, rolling his eyes. "He might be that Donovan fella!"
"Is that so," K' said thoughtfully. He went forward a little and tapped the strange guy's shoulder. "Hey buddy!"
The man jumped, collected his stuff, paid the cashier and ran out of the shop, without even collecting his change.
"Sir, your change!" The cashier called, holding up his change. "Sir? Oh well I guess he meant 'keep the change'."
"What's up with him?" Nameless asked, watching the man run out to the street while putting his basket of stuff on the counter to pay. "He's acting strange..."
"I bet he really is our guy," K' said. "Come on, let's try and follow him after we're done paying."
They quickly paid and ran out of the store too. They searched around, but didn't see him anywhere.
"Well he might have been a dum-dum that thought we looked intimidating or something," K' said with a shrug. "Especially you, Maxima. You're like the size of a bear, maybe bigger..."
"Not really," Maxima said with a smirk. "But I'm taller than pandas though. According to my research, pandas can only grow up to six feet. I'm six feet, nine inches tall."
"Whatever," K' said, slightly annoyed. "Let's just go back to our rooms..."
They went back to their rooms and realised that the others were looking around for them.
"Zhe!" Isolde said, hugging Nameless. "I was so worried! I thought NESTS had tracked you down and took you away from me!"
"Nah they won't," Nameless said, hugging her back. "NESTS has become smaller, and their operation has become less efficient these days. They won't find me!"
"Where did you guys go?" Whip asked. "We thought you guys decided to run off somewhere! You know that it's dangerous to go out here right, especially in the dark? You might get lost!"
"We just went to the provision shop downstairs," K' said, holding up a bag of beef jerky and soda. "We were running out of stuff."
They slept that night, with the thought of leaving Dublin for Longford the next morning.
The ninjas were about to fuel their plane up when Nameless and Isolde stopped them, grinning.
"No need for that," Nameless said. "We can use the spaceship! We can go there in no time!"
"What about the plane?" Hayate asked, motioning towards the airfield.
"You can pick it up later," said Isolde. "It's safe in the airport. Besides, this thing doesn't even need fuel! It takes something from the air and converts it to energy!"
So they all climbed into the spaceship and went to Longford instead.
"There are three people here who matches the description," said Maxima. "And two of them live nearby."
"Now that's a relief," said K'. "I'm feeling a little lazy today..."
"Well we still have to go," said Kasumi. "So where does he live?"
"Not far from here," said Maxima. "We can drive there."
"Is it okay if I come too?" Iori asked. "I feel kinda bored just sitting here in the hotel"
"Sure," said Hayate. "But there isn't any space in the car."
"It's okay I'll stay," said Sakura. "You can go, Iori."
"I'll stay too," said Daisy. "Who else wants to go?"
"I'll come," said K'. "I wanna look around this place too."
So that's what happened. They went together with the shinobi and Maxima. They spent the day finding those guys, but to no avail. It definitely wasn't them.
"Wonder if Rig has an old photo of Donovan," said Kasumi, taking her phone out to text him. "Wait I've sent the message but he hasn't seen it yet."
They went back to the hotel and rested a bit. On their way back, they decided to grab some lunch because they had been hunting around since that morning and the hotel was too far away to stop for the lunch that came with the trip.
"This seems like an okay place to eat," said Maxima, reading the reviews with his system. Prices are okay, food has good reviews."
"Alright then," said Hayate, pulling into the place's parking lot. "Wow they even have their own parking lot!"
They went in and sat at a table that was big enough for the seven of them. They ordered their stuff and K' and Iori ordered the same thing.
"Honestly, the two of you are so alike," said Maxima. "Are you sure you have Kyo's DNA and not Iori's DNA, Aibou?"
"Maxima..." said K', annoyed. "Just because we're a little alike, that doesn't mean we're clones! And also, I was never Kyo's clone. I had my own life before NESTS, okay?"
"Yeah I know," said Maxima. "Anyway I'm gonna have a slice of apple pie, a slice of key lime pie, some raspberry pudding, one large chocolate ice cream and a jumbo sized caramel latte."
"You're gonna pay for all of that, okay?" Ayane said. "We don't have enough money for that!"
"Of course I will," said Maxima. "I'll pay for everyone."
They happily cheered for Maxima. Their food arrived and they started eating. Suddenly Iori noticed something odd.
"Psst K'," Iori said, nudging K' with a smirk. "Look at that guy over there! He seems to be an over exaggerated version of you!"
"Huh?" K' said, confused. He looked to where Iori pointed. It was the same guy that they saw back in the provision shop in Dublin the day before! He was sitting at the far corner of the shop, evidently not noticing the redhead pointing at him.
"Oi Maxima!" K' whisper-shouted. "Isn't that the same creep that we saw in the shop yesterday? In Dublin?"
Maxima turned to the guy and scanned him. He nodded at K'.
"Yes it's definitely him," said Maxima. "It's the same guy, same clothes too."
"What is it?" Ryu asked. "Who's that guy?"
"We saw him in the provision shop back in Dublin yesterday," said K'. "He took one look at us and ran out of the store in top speed!"
"Well he seems like a strange dude," said Iori. "And suspicious too..."
"And what makes him even suspicious is he's blood group matches Donovan!" Maxima stated. "But why does he need to run away from us? We don't even know him!"
"Let's make sure if he really is Donovan," said Hayabusa. "Just see what I'll do. Kasumi, follow me."