As the light reached the end of the room, both stayed still in shock.  It was obvious that the place has been long deserted.  But they found something they least expected to see.  Not a treasure or a thing but a person.  Hands chained on the wall, same as the feet.  Saga couldn’t move an inch.  He felt cold run through his spine as his gaze locked on the person chained to the wall.  Nao suddenly felt his heart beating so fast.  He knew that it was dangerous to go near the person chained up for it may be a criminal that was locked up here as punishment.  But his insides kept on telling him to go nearer, his legs forced him to walk and his hand felt like it has its own life for it reached out to that person.

            “Nao.” Saga murmured really low

            Nao’s heartbeat continues to beat furiously.  Bullets of sweat formed on his forehead as his hand slowly reaches out the chained man.  The chained man doesn’t give any sign of life aside from the little movement from his chest.

            “Are you all right?” Nao managed to get out the words

            “Nao.” Saga called out really low

            Nao turned to see Saga’s face.  He was pale all over.  Fear could easily be noticed in his face.

            “Let’s go before someone finds us here.” Saga whispered

            “And abandon him here?” Nao asked in a normal tone

            “We don’t know him anyway, let’s go.” Saga whispered

            “We can’t just leave him here.  Let’s bring him to my place!” Nao said all brightened out

            Saga’s jaw dropped.  He thought that the reason for Nao’s expression for the whole time was because he was either scared or nervous.  Saga didn’t know that he’ll see Nao with a huge fascination in his eyes.  He didn’t liked what Nao wanted; Saga swallowed a lump on his throat as Nao took a step closer.

            “What if he is a murderer?” Saga asked making Nao stop taking another step

            “If he is a murderer then he should have been executed.  Let’s see how we could get him off the chains.” Nao took another step examining the old chains

            The chains looked really old; Nao deduced that someone must’ve pulled off a bad prank on the guy that happens to found this place and chained him up there.  Too much for a bad prank but Nao gave little attention to it and moved into thinking how to get the man out of the chains.

            “Hey, try pulling it off the wall, chain is old it might not be as durable as it looks anymore.” Nao ordered

            “Look who’s ordering me around like a boss.” Saga huffed

            Saga raised his sleeves and took the chain on the right side and pulled it with two hands.  The chains didn’t even give a sign of giving up.  Nao could see that Saga poured on a lot of effort into it so he doesn’t need to make Saga give it another try.  He wants to try his luck again so he pulled one chain with both hands using much force as he could use.  The chain wasn’t removed from the wall but there were two loud *clack sound echoed, after the two sounds the chained up guy fell to the ground.

            “It unlocked.” Nao said

            “Yeah it did.” Saga nodded

            “Come on; let’s start carrying him out of here.” Nao said taking the left arm of the unconscious man over his shoulders

            Saga was really against with what Nao wanted.  They know nothing of the man to begin with.  Ever since Saga laid his eyes on the chained man, he already felt an eerie feeling on him.  But after seeing how fascinated Nao had become, he couldn’t just say no to him.  They are best friends after all, Saga had thought.

            “Fine, you win.” Saga sighed and released a tiny smile making Nao all bright again

            Going out of the cave was hard.  Carrying, no dragging a man larger than him on his shoulder as well as holding a torch out to light their path was harder.  Thinking about it, it made him look at his companion who is not used to doing heavy physical work.  Saga peeked to his side to get a view of Nao.  To see him doing his best at something gave Saga some encouragement to do better.  He got even more encouraged when his eyes locked on a pin of light ahead of them.

            “Nao, we’re close!” Saga said cheerfully

            “Wah~!  At last, I thought we’re not moving ahead after all.” Nao said

            “Don’t be silly, you’ve been doing your best from the start right?  Besides, you’ve got me.” Saga said

            The afternoon sun was up.  It was so bright and warm, the autumn wind felt good against the skin.  Saga and Nao decided to take a break before going.

            “I think it’s impossible for us to carry him to my place.  He’s too big and heavy for us, plus the stares that the people will give.” Nao said

            “You should have thought about it earlier.” Saga sighed

            Nao released a big sigh.  Seeing Nao in low spirit was something hard for Saga to watch.  He couldn’t stand it.  His brain began to think of a way.

            “I have something at home we could use!  Stay here and warm yourself okay?  I’ll be back here as fast as I can.” Saga said getting up

            “Okay!” Nao smiled

            Saga ran as fast as he can back at his house.  Running his way there, he suddenly though of various things.  Why does he keep on doing things for Nao’s sake?  Just to keep his companion happy, he even helped him carry an unknown man even though it was against his will.

            “Nao is my best friend after all so it doesn’t matter.” Saga said

            Back at the entrance of the cave where Nao is sitting by the fire, the fire has gotten weak so Nao placed more wood.  Watching the fire made Nao feel the time ticking really slow.

            “Why is he taking so long?” Nao asked

            “Who are you?” a voice grunted

            Nao turned to the unconscious man’s direction.  He was surprised that he picked up a stick and took two steps away.

            “A-are you all right?” Nao asked poking the man with the stick

            “Stop poking me with that thing kid.” He answered

            “Hey, what’s your name?” Nao asked

            “Tora.” the man answered

            “Weird name.  Why are you locked up in this cave anyway?” Nao asked

            Nao waited for an answer, but then it seemed like he has gone back to sleep.  Nao poked him again with the stick but this time he was closer.  The stick failed his time, the man named Tora has really gone back to sleep.

            “I really can’t leave you without making sure you’re not doing weird things.  Why are you poking him with that?” Saga asked

            “Saga, he said his name was Tora.” Nao answered getting up

            “What a weird name.  Come on, let’s put him here already.” Saga said showing the hand drawn wagon

            “Where did you get this?” Nao asked in amazement

            “This is from my house, we use this to move stuff around.” Saga explained

            After they loaded Tora at the wagon and covered him with cloth, they made sure to put out the fire before going to avoid forest fire.  Both of them pulled the wagon and entered the city.

            “So where is your house?” Saga asked

            “You don’t have to come all the way to my place.  I can pull him myself, don’t worry I’ll return this to you tomorrow.” Nao let out a forced smile

            “What are you being o worried about?  You are my best friend; we’ve been through a lot already. We’ve known each other for who we really are and not for what family we came from.” Saga said

            “But what if they do something bad to you for hanging out with me?  My conscience will kill me if something happens to you.”Nao said in a worried tone

            “Don’t be a worry wart; it doesn’t suit you at all.  What happened to the bossy kid who only does things he wants to do?  I’ll be fine.  Whatever happens, we’ll be best friends.  So show me the way to your place with that bright smile of yours.” Saga said throwing a light punch on Nao’s arm

            “Thanks.” Nao smiled

            “So, which clan are we talking about?” Saga asked

            “Murai, the mansion that is just a few blocks from here.” Nao answered

            “Murai huh, let’s get going then!” Saga said

            The panicking guards are easily spotted outside the walls of the clan residence.  Saga and Nao were spotted by a guard the immediately called the other’s attention and came to them.

            “Naoyuki-sama, we are really grateful that you are all right.” A guard kneeled before them

            “I was guided back by him so I’m fine.  Oh, tell the servants to prepare a room for this guy.” Nao said

            “The kid who guided you back?” the guard asked

            “Nope, the guy in this wagon.” Nao pointed

            The guard was obviously shocked to see a man inside the wagon.  It was written on his face the doubt to follow his young master’s order to prepare a room for an unconscious man without having any details about him.  Even so he followed Nao’s order, the scene made Saga remind of himself earlier.  Before the two could walk ahead, an old woman came in front of them.

            “I see that you have made it home safely Naoyuki-sama, is it because of your companion?” the old woman asked

            “Yeah, he found me at the forest.” Nao said

            The old servant raised an eyebrow and studied Saga from head to toe.  It gave Saga the chills being stared by an old woman without having any hint of what is running into her mind.  Did she found out that Nao was lying?  Will they do something weird to Saga while he isn’t looking?

            “Boy, do you want to be the young master’s personal guard?” the old servant asked

            “Eh?!” Saga and Nao said in surprise