The communicators were in the pipes? The skirting board? Did they employ mice as carrier pigeons? The mute probably didn't trust the telephone system. They'd never be able to get their secret agents inside a place so reliant on sound. Was that why Fuyuki has slumped over next to the doors? Or was all that deaf conspiracy bullscheiße Mariko's fantasy and the boy had just lost consciousness again? Probably the latter. Mariko could never stop a runaway train of thought, but she knew why a train of thought didn't [i]really[/i] have wheels and tracks. Was Fuyuki just slumped against the wall because he'd lost a coin? Was he bowing? Why was he still here after Mariko had gone to her room and back? Had he collapsed again? Was she, Mariko, in any position to help? She'd slapped him,wouldn't it come across as hypocritical? Was he on the floor because she slapped him? Mariko was tall, yes, and with long arms comes long muscles, but that much? 

Mariko stepped down the stairs, shoes making soft clicks against the floor, and bent close to the boy. "Eto... " She began. "Are you okay. Fuyuki-san...?"