As the invigorating light of Unicorn's magic flowed through him, Youhei watched in wonder as his flesh knitted itself back together and the pain faded. Not for the first time did he thank providence for Ikeda's as yet unique healing abilities. Watching how much it took out of the girl was an eye opener though, as Youhei himself hadn't had much experience with using his Persona for casting magic. By the time he and Yoromatsu were back in good shape, Ikeda seemed as ready to drop as they had just been. We really need another healer, he mused, wondering if he could acquire other Personae, as Yoromatsu had. But that was a thought for another day and there were more pressing matters to attend to. Shirogane's explanation was flavourful, but ultimately revealed little in the way of information. 'If the kid's been taken, shouldn't we report it or look for him or... something?' It would probably be pointless, he realised. The whole affair had happened during the Dark Hour, so it clearly wasn't something the police could handle. If it was Strega who had him... Suddenly his stomach knotted up and Youhei flinched as he remembered what had happened in Tartarus, what he had done... A sickly fear invaded him as he put two and two together. 'W...what if those cultists want revenge for what I... f-for what happened the other week..?' He must have been whispering without realising, because Yoromatsu continued without batting an eyelid and Youhei thanked him for that. Pointless speculation or emotion wouldn't solve the problem and they would need to stay focused if there was any hope of finding Takahiro ali... soon. Nevertheless, he couldn't stop a pervading sense of guilt and some of it surely showed in his manner as they trudged off back to the dorm.

_____________________

Youhei had skipped his afternoon lessons, instead heading home early to spend some time in quiet reflection. He had long since claimed the roof as his own special place, somewhere that no-one ever bothered him, where he could simply sit and think in silence. A small mound of smoked cigarettes had accumulated next to him as he wracked his mind for clues about the kidnapping. They hadn't seen anyone suspicious nor found anything relevant at the scene, which could have meant any number of things... Did Takahiro go someplace else before he was taken, or was the culprit simply that good at covering their tracks? And why bother giving a message if they didn't ask for a ransom? The more he thought about it, the more likely his initial theory seemed... and the worse he felt. SEES had lost a lot of people since he joined, but they had all just transferred away or decided not to get involved; the idea of a member dying in the line of duty... terrified him. During battle it never really occurred to Youhei that his opponents were aiming to kill and the miraculous power of healing magic had all but eliminated his fear of injury. But Shadows fought you head on, they didn't kidnap people... which meant that a human was responsible. And that scared the living shit out of him.

By the time his phone went off, summoning him to the meeting room after school, Youhei had mostly come to terms with the guilt. He could only do what he could do and that was play his part in the rescue of his teammate. He was still scared shitless, but at least he could function now. With a deft flick of the wrist, Youhei sent his last half-smoked fag end soaring over the railings and headed inside to where the others would soon assemble. Since he had come home early, Youhei was apparently the first there and leaned up against the wall, his hands in his pockets. He would wait for the others before heading in.

Shiro nodded wordlessly in response to Yoro's instruction. Wow...I thought he and Tak were friends. He wasn't second-guessing Yoro at all. In fact, Akira wanted to selfishly return home, pass out, and take relief in the fact he had made it back safe and sound. Still it was surprising to hear Yoro dismiss the situation so easily. Then he noticed an angry aura behind him and a slight hiss. Nekomata was perturbed she wasn't needed. There was a feeling like something else was bothering her too. You didn't like my act? Well, something to get used to...just go back, already. Sorry to bother you. She disappeared, but not without an angry flick of her tail. His comrades--Youhei's rambling especially--had not gone unnoticed this whole time, but his personal feelings kept his mouth shut. Having to and wanting to agree with Yoromatsu's decision were two entirely different things. Shiro wanted to, and that was better kept to himself since it was obvious Youhei was more aligned with the 'have to' side of things. He could guess how Ikeda felt, and definitely did not want to show her his ugly feelings. Before they left, he stuck out his hand to help her up, uttering "I hope I don't have to carry you..." which came out in his own voice, free of the smugness of his stage identity and complete with the sidelong glance of a tsundere, before he apologetically stammered "uh, because I'm beat too...I mean...there was...I was in a bad spot for a while back there..." He then quickly added "I don't want to talk about it. I just want to go back. I'm done with everything for tonight."

---

Shiro had elected to take the day off from school, instead sleeping in and then distracting himself with an MMO while trying to not let his conscience get the better of him. It was shitty enough he hadn't been around when Yoro and Youhei needed help on the train. They were supposed to be a team, and what if the both of them had died? He didn't want that kind of responsibility. Adding to that Takahiro was currently MIA, kidnapped and being held hostage, which could also be attributed to SEES lack of unity as a team and once again linked back to Shiro's own fault. He wasn't blaming himself, but he wasn't far off from it either. He sighed in frustration as he took his hands away from the keyboard for the umpteenth time and removed his headphones rather abruptly. [i]Maybe it would have been better to go to school...[i] He thought as he rubbed his brow then pressed his fingers against his eyes as if trying to ease a migraine, before throwing his headphones against the keyboard. "Damn, I suck at this game...heh." He crawled back into bed after that, but not long after he'd closed his eyes he got Yoro's text message. "Mmurrrgghhnnrrurururnn..." He groaned and rolled over instead, letting his phone fall from his hand on to the floor.

Yoro sat at his desk, half-listening to the lecture. He was wracking his brain trying to think of where the enemy could have possibly taken Takahiro. "Use your head... keep your eyes open..." Yoro mumbled. The sentence appeared inconsequential, but it sounded like the potential kidnapper was drawing attention to it. Perhaps Takahiro was being hidden somewhere obvious? Somewhere they could easily find him if they kept their eyes open...

His train of thought was interrupted by the bell. School was over. Now, he had another headache to deal with; the punishment of the other SEES members.

---

Yoro sat in his chair on the fourth floor's command room. The SEES members began to trickle in. Eventually, they were all there; all of them except Shirogane. Yoro let out a deep sigh. He was clearly irritated. Before the Chairwoman could point out he was absent, Yoro said "I'll deal with him later." With that, he looked up and addressed the group. "I would first like to express my extreme disappointment. Fukugawa and I were depending on all of you and you let us down. Luckily, we were able to beat the Shadow on our own, but it could have very easily gone the other way. We're supposed to be a team. It takes a team to accomplish our ultimate goal." He paused for a moment. "Now, on to the matter of your punishment." he looked down at a notepad he had in his lap. "First, you may all be aware that summer vacation is coming up next month. Well, you'll be spending most of it in summer school and doing community service. But for a more immediate punishment..." He looked at the notepad again. "Aki. You will be helping me with SEES logistics." He flipped through the notepad. "Silverstone." He said in English. "You will be handling all the shopping and cleaning for the dorm." He flipped through the notepad again. "Ranko. You will be going to the local senior center and spending time with one of their residents." He flipped through the notebook. "All the others have left, it seems. It's just as well." Yoro flipped to another section. "Now, Takahiro's rescue. I have been thinking about where he could possibly have been taken. I've been thinking about it a lot. I believe Takahiro may be somewhere inside of Tartarus. Thoughts?"

---

The monorail screeched to a halt. Directions to your dorm room in hand, you walk off an onto the platform. "Nettu, Chiaki correct?" Chiaki would meet a man in a suit at the station. His voice was very cold and matter of fact. Once she confirmed her identity, the man would nod, motioning to a limousine down the steps and parked on the street. "Kirijo asked me to pick you up and make sure you made it to the dorm alright. If you'll follow me..." He turned and walked down the steps, opening the door at the back of the limo. Once she got inside, the man would shut the door and get into the driver's seat. They drove about fifteen minutes until they stopped at a multifloor building in the middle of Iwatodai. The man from the station opened the passenger door and led Chiaki up to the door. He opened it. "Mr. Kirijo is in a meeting at the moment. I'll see if I can get him down." The man took out a black flip phone and dialed a number, putting it to his ear. "Mr. Kirijo. Yes, she's here. I'm sorry to bother you, sir. Thank you." He hung up. Wait inside. He'll be down in a moment."

---

In the middle of the meeting, Yoromatsu's phone rang. "Not now..." He answered. "Yes?" He paused. "Is it her?" Another pause. "I'm in a meeting at the moment, but i'll come down." He hung up. "Excuse me. I have a new recruit to deal with." He stood up and walked out of the command room.

---

Chiaki would have been waiting in the lounge for less than a minute when a dark haired boy came down the stairs. He bowed respectfully. "Good afternoon. I am Kirijo Yoromatsu. I am one of the students who live in this dorm."

The train ride. It was lovely. Aside from the massive two bags she had to carry around and the fans that would notice her, it was fairly casual. Chiaki would look out to scenery thinking about what new life was awaiting her.
"Perhaps.... Nobody will get hurt anymore..."

---

Chiaki watched as the older boy came down to greet her, he had lovely manners, as he bowed before introducing himself. Chiaki was a bit starry eyed as she was very pleased with the looks of the boy she'd just met, very much so.
"Greetings Mr Kirijo, my name is Nettu, Chiaki. Perhaps you've heard of me? I've done a lot of fashion shoots and advertisements, I'd consider myself famous, but not as much your family, everybody knows them ahaha.. haha..."
Sadly, Chiakis' attempt at breaking the ice seemed to have failed. Completely ignoring the failure she walked over to her bags containing clothes, makeup and personal belongings. "Where shall I put these then?" Before Yoro could answer she butted in again.
"Oh! I also must thank you so much for coming to greet me whilst in a meeting! Just tell me where to place my belongings and you can fill me in on the other details later"
Smiling sweetly, she waited for a reply.

It was about the time Kirijo got the call that Shirogane stirred in his room. He wasn't sleeping--merely pretending to be dead. It helped his subconscious in a way. He had heard something like a car pulling up outside. When he went to go check out of his window, he noticed a G-LOL getting out of a limousine?! Surprise factor aside, she reeked of the business and that sent shivers down his spine. How many gothic lolita idols were out there nowadays? How many did he know? How many knew him, but he was unaware of?? The risk of being revealed had never been so high, but he had been a nervous wreck since he arrived here and honestly being found out was one of his smaller worries. Maybe she's still hanging on to her eighth-grader's syndrome? That reassurance didn't help much seeing as how he was doing the same.
Leaving the window he went for the door, slowly opening it a little to peek through as was his habit, and through the small opening he spotted Yoromatsu going down stairs!! Swiftly and silently he shut the door. That was the last person he wanted to see. [i]Arranging a pick-up and even going so far as to greet the new recruit at the door, huh? If only we had all gotten the VIP treatment....[i] For once, his vile thoughts didn't do anything to alleviate his negative feelings. Instead his guilty conscious asked of him what difference would it have made if they had been greeted when they first arrived or treated to a limousine ride? Would it have helped Yoro and Youhei with their battle alone on the train? Would it have saved Takahiro from being kidnapped? Still gripping the door by the handle, he pushed it open and shuffled his feet outside making a beeline for the fourth floor command room.

Such manners... It was a refreshing change, though the comment about his family's fame seemed to strike a nerve. Yoro normally would have dodged conversation with a new recruit, but she managed to impress him enough to make him want to throw her a bone. "You can put your bags in your room. If you will follow me." He took her bags with a very polite "allow me" and began to walk up the stairs. Assuming Chiaki was following him, he would begin to converse with her. "I have heard of you by the way. Seen a few of your glamor shots. Would you be offended if I said you looked far more beautiful in person?" He would abruptly cut off their conversation once they reached the third floor. "This is the third floor. You will be staying here with the other females. Second floor is for males. Of course, it goes without saying that venturing further than the stairs on the second floor is strictly forbidden. The fourth floor is off-limits as well. Pick a room that isn't already taken and I will come down to check on you as soon as my meeting is over. Until then..." He took his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. "Hello."

He sighed. "Hello, dear." He paused for a moment. "I need you to do me a favor. I have a young woman here in the dorm. I need you to help her move in." The person on the other line was yelling until Yoro cut them off. "It's not hard. Just make sure she's alright." A pause. "What? No. Why would I do that? Why would I..." He glanced at Chiaki, then paused. "Yes. I understand. How about dinner?" He nodded. "Yes. At that place you like. Pick you up at eight." He sighed, irritated. "Love you." He hung up. "I have a friend coming by to help you unpack." He put his phone back in his pocket. "Now, if you'll excuse me..." He went up the stairs to the fourth floor, heading back into the command room. He sat back down. "Anyway... back on subject. My theory is that Takahiro is being held somewhere inside Tartarus. Our kidnapper is obviously active during the Dark Hour. Tartarus would be a perfect spot to store a kidnapping victim."

=======

Yoro's Phone Conversation

"Hello."
"Is that any way to greet your fiance?" That familiar, deceptively sweet voice made Yoro cringe.
"Hello, dear."
"That's better. Now, why did you call? It's so unlike you to talk to your fiance unless you must." The venomous edge to her voice made Yoro feel like he was five years old. But he refused to let Kimiko know that she could get to him. He went right to business.
"I need you to do me a favor. I have a young woman here in the dorm. I need you to help her move in."
"What the hell? Do you think I don't have anything better to do? Why call me? Why don't you get one of your Aides to help her? I told you that I don't do manual labor!" Yoro cringed at getting yelled at. Again.
"It's not hard. Just make sure she's alright." This set Kimiko off.
"Oh, I see. So she's your whore. What? Am I not good enough for you? Tell me, are you fucking her yet?"
"What? No. Why would I do that? Why would I--"
"That's good. Because if you make me mad, i'll tell daddy... and he might just withdraw his support. And his money. You wouldn't want that to happen, would you?" Yoro didn't respond. He refused to play this game. "I'll help your whore, but I expect something in return. Do you understand?" Yoro finally responded.
"Yes. I understand. How about dinner?"
"At that one place?"
"Yes. At that place you like. Pick you up at eight." Yoro knew how to pacify his bride; with money.
"Oh, I love you baby!" No response. "Yoro..." Kimiko said in an irritated tone. Yoro sighed.
"Love you." He hung up.

---

Half an hour later, a gorgeous young woman would meet Chiaki in her room. She had light brown hair that framed a soft, feminine face. Her eyes were a piercing emerald green. She wore a neat black top and a skirt. She had very expensive-looking jewelery on her fingers, wrists, and neck. She would give her a forced bow, casting an icy glare at her. "My name is Maki Kimiko. I am Yoro-kun's fiance."

Yoromatsu was being of great service to Chiaki. Escorting her to her room, whilst also making conversation with her. At first she believed he wasn't one that liked to talk, but she was thankfully wrong. Carrying her bags to her room, the beauty products she had rattled a little in her bag. Yoromatsu made a comment about about her appearance saying she was beautiful, more so than in her photos. This caused her to blush and whisper "you're too kind..." although he didn't hear or see her.
Yoromatsu quickly had a small arguement with somebody over the phone, she made out some disgruntled tones and the word Fiancé. "He's already engaged!? He's so mature..." Chiaki quickly locled those thoughts into the back of her mind. Yoromatsu claimed it was just a friend, and that they would be arriving to help her unpack.

---

Chiaki had chosen the door closest to the stairs on the left side of the corridor. She shuffled into the room with her bags. "Well I best start abit now, perhaps with the furniture!"
Chiaki pulled out several violet sateen sheets with which she quickly used to swap the bright plane white bed sheets. After finishing her bed she promptly moved onto filling the room with her pesessions, such as plushies, posters of pop-bands a callander and her male up box which she placed on her vanity. The process took roughly half an hour. As she placed a jar of wrapped sweets on a shelf a womem wearong expensive jewlery and grumpy attitude entered.

---

"Maki... Kimiko.... Y-you're Yoro-
Yes! I am Yoro-kuns Fiancé, don't make me repeat myself! Teh, middle class people are so dimwitted..."
"Excuse me?" Replied Chiaki with a smile, she tried to do the intimidating happy look.
"Uuuh, anyway, Yoro-kun said I have to help you move in, or something like that..." Maki made glances at Chiakis almost completed room.
"(What a freak) So like, you're goth?"
Chiaki, placed a family photo on a shelf behind some books. "Incorrect, I am a model, but my fashion choice is lolita of any variety"
"A MODEL!" Maki raised her voice, she began to increase in rage, her teeth grinding.
"Its only natural though- Chiaki would begin an attempt of flattery.

"(Whats this bitch on about?) Huh?! Just wait till I see that Yoro!

"Its only natural somebody like Yoromatsu would choose to ... Love... A women as beautiful as yourself..."

A smirk grew on Maki's face, she began to ramble on about how her lifestyle is so amazing, especially compared to a model, such as Chiaki. All the while Chiaki unpacked her bags, with a bit of help from Kimko-san, Chiaki nodded, silently agreeing with what ever flew out of that womens mouth.
Shortly, Chiaki finished, along with Maki's talking.
"Thankyou for your help, Mrs Kimiko. Also I'm quite jealous of your design, but if you'll excuse me, I think I'll have abit of me time, thankyou again though!"

Kimiko rolled her eyes at Chiaki's stuttering. But she secretly enjoyed it. Her casually throwing out that she was Yoromatsu's fiance was meant to throw her supposed love rival off guard. "Yes, he's my fiance. We're sooooo in love! Look at my engagement ring!" She showed off the ring on her finger. There was a large, crystal clear diamond flanked on either side by two blood red rubies. "So, like, i'm supposed to help you move." She groaned. "Let's get this over with." Kimiko joined in the unpacking. With her help, Chiaki was finished in no time. Kimiko eyed Chiaki throughout the entire unpacking process. Once they finished, Kimiko figured that she would take her love rival to dinner... to kind of scout her out and see if Yoro would actually go after someone like... her... "So, I know this restaurant. It's super nice, Yoro-kun takes me there all the time. My treat. Come on, I won't take no for an answer!" Chiaki found herself literally dragged to the monorail and once they reached their destination, into the restaurant. It seemed to be a classic upscale restaurant in a fancy part of town. Among all the suits and dresses, Chiaki looked very out of place in her current garb; something Kimiko reveled in. The man at the door was originally not going to let them in since they didn't have a reservation, but all it took was for her to mention she was Yoromatsu's fiance and they got a table immediately.

Akira didn't want to show up to the meeting, and after a night of restless sleep she couldn't hide how exhausted she felt. The whole night she'd felt guilt for how she'd abandoned her friends in the train, and even though her and Shiro were friends now (well, she regarded them as close friends, even though he was sorta bi-polar) it didn't help the fact that she still felt anxious around Yoromatsu. Maybe she'd try to sort things out with him after the meeting? It wasn't going to be easy to do given her skittish nature, but she valued Yoro's company more than he could ever realize.

The meeting went well for the most part, though she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Logistics?" she merely asked, not exactly sure how that'd be punishment, but she wasn't going to whine about it. It wasn't like she had anywhere to go during the summer anyways. She'd noticed that Shirogane hadn't shown up yet, and knowing him he'd still be sleeping in his room. 'What a lazy guy...' she thought absentmindedly with a small smile, and her hazel eyes caught sight of Yoro excusing himself. Shirogane shuffled in as he was absent, and she could hear something going on downstairs, and the voices of...women? 'Odd.' Yoromatsu returned, looking strained and she couldn't help but feel worried. What was going on to have him so stressed? She wanted to reach out to him, to try and re-establish that she was there and that she was his friend but she couldn't bring herself to do something so forward.

What happened to the attitude and courage she wielded the night before? It's presence was failing her when she felt she needed it most, and almost numbly she listened along to what Yoromatsu had to say about Takahiro. "I believe you are correct, Yoro. Not many people can be active during the dark hour, so what better place to keep him than Tartarus? The police can't touch it along with whomever else might be looking for him, besides us, and his kidnapper seemed very adamant about getting us riled up. It would be wise if we prepared to explore the higher floors of the castle......or maybe, that strange man in the room can help us?" She was thinking out loud at this point, her hand curled in front of her mouth as she chewed at her lip. Her own awkwardness at even speaking to Yoro was beginning to show, so instead she chose to look fold her hands back in her lap and stare absentmindedly at the floor.

As the members of SEES turned up one by one, Youhei gave them each an encouraging smile; whatever Yoromatsu had in store for them wouldn't be pretty. Of course SEES have once again waned in strength, roughly down to the same core members that had been here since the beginning; despite his conspicuous absence, Shirogane counted in that measure. Perhaps the Kirijo Group did something with those who left, ensuring their... silence. Scary thought, but then again knowing Yoromatsu, it probably wasn't anything to worry about. The meeting got on easy enough, with four out of the five members present and presided over by the Chairwoman herself no less; it had been a while since she turned up and Youhei found that he still couldn't quite look her in the eye... The punishments meted out to the others were quite lenient, he thought; community service had never really seemed like punishment anyway. The only exception was poor Yankee Doodle having to do the shopping on his lonesome... perhaps it would be worth giving Leo those Japanese lessons sooner rather than later.

Just as Yoromatsu was starting on the real meat of the meeting, he received a call, excusing himself from the room to apparently meet this new recruit. '... Based on prior statistics and an unhealthy dose of pessimism, I give this supposed recruit... three days before they quit?' He cast a lopsided grin around, trying desperately to avoid the issue that had them all so grave. God only knew how Maede was taking this and Youhei couldn't summon the courage to look her in the eye either. Shirogane's stealthy entrance didn't do much to lighten the mood and the scraps of conversation coming from the stairwell only served to highlight the heavy silence. Luckily Yoromatsu returned fairly soon, sparking the conversation off properly this time. As he and Ikeda talked, Youhei leaned forward on steepled fingers, wondering how the group had changed so much and yet so little. Over the last few days he had witnessed or been told about extremes of personality in Ikeda and Shirogane that no-one could have predicted and poor Maede seemed to have shut down with Takahiro's kidnapping. The situation had taken its toll on all of them, bar perhaps the blissfully ignorant Silverstone. Even Youhei himself was feeling some wear and tear, finding it harder and harder to keep smiling as things got progressively worse around them. Not for the first time did he find himself missing a certain ex-SEES member and the relaxing ease of teasing her... But moping simply would not do.

Youhei forced himself to sit up straight, focusing his attention on the task at hand; if he had time for regret, then he would use that time to contribute instead. 'I vote for continued exploration of Tartarus. Whomsoever took Takahiro is, as you say, most likely connected to the Shadows; as far as we know, they come primarily from Tartarus and are difficult to track elsewhere. Therefore the only logical course of action is to go on the offensive and search for any clues within the Dark Hour school grounds.' Now that gave him a thought... 'Hang about... What happens to those on school grounds when Tartarus appears? Could he be being kept on campus?'

She had only just finished packing and already she was being invi-taken to a restuarant. Chiaki was really flatter, but instead tried her hardest to deny the offer. To no avail.
"Nono! Please, I couldn't!" Maki shook her head. She was not taking no for an answer. After all, this was her chance to get some dirt on Chiaki.
"Come on! I insist!" Maki grabbed Chiaki by the lace on her arm and dragged her down the stairs and out of the door.

---

The duo were waiting our the front of 'Shangra-la' restaurant. Chiaki had heard rumors of this place. Its mainly for the rich and famous, its in a shopping plaza west of the Iwatodai Station.
They were waiting out the front for a few minutes as the crowd died down as many had been refused entrance.
"For the last time! No reservation! No Entry!" These words came from the mouth of a burly security guard.
"No you don't understand! I'm-" Maki quickly glanced at Chiaki.
"I'm THE FIANCE to Yoromatsu Kirijo! See?" She showed him a picture of herself hugging Kirijo-san, he looked annoyed.
Chiaki saw the photo. "Poor Kirijo-san...". The next thing she knew, the two were being escorted inside.

---

The restaurant was a pretty stunning building. Chandeliers, Signed photos and Bills of previous famous diners. People were staring at Chiaki, she could feel their eyes digging into her back.
"Uh, I'm not sure I belong in such a place Kimiko-san. People are.. staring at me..."
Maki laughed. "Ahahah! Darling don't worry about it! Im'm sure they're just in awe over how you look! I mean you could stop traffic in that outfit!"
It was an obvious insult, but she didn't mind, Chiaki just nodded happily.
"Aha..ha.. Well, thanks alot for inviting me here Kimiko-san!"
Maki smiled. "Think nothing of it! Now please! Tell me ALL about yourself! I'm dying to know the story of such a "Famous" idol!"

Chiaki couldn't refuse, especially after Maki had taken her to such a glorious restaurant. The two ordered a meal and began to converse.

"Well you see, I'm actually part Italian, that stems from my mothers side. I was born in the Togichi Prefecture. I got in a heated debate with my parents, I won't go into any details but I've been living with my Grandmother, until... Until she passed..."
Maki tried to empathize with Chiaki. "Oh you poor thing. (Heh, she ran away from home! Interesting... What else can I get out from her...)"
Chiaki noted that the waiter had come back with their food. "I suppose we should eat before we talk anymore. Once again, thankyou for the invitation"
Kimiko shrugged. "No problem, we'll be putting it on Yoro-Kuns' tab! Ahaha"
Chiaki was shocked. "Oh, does he normally treat you with expensive gifts?'
"All the time! Yoro-kun doesn't look like it, but he's loaded! Same with me! We're both swimming in the money haha!"
"Oh...".
Maki saw the spirit in Chiak die a little. Her plan was working. If she couldn't stop Yoromatsu from falling in love with Chiaki, she could atleast crush whatever chance Chiaki thought she had with him.

Shirogane crept in furtively, without a word, as he found his place--a comfortably lonely spot in the corner where he could see but not be seen and keep his back against the wall. He could have been happy to see the chairwoman, under normal circumstances, however her presence only made the meeting harder to sit through due to the heavy burden of his shame. He would seek her forgiveness after he had made amends, although he was not sure why her forgiveness was so important to him. There was some relief being here in this depressing atmosphere, knowing that, whether they were judging him or not, his peers were at least sharing the same sense of responsibility. Still, the way Yoro handled everything so matter-of-fact--Shiro was still troubled by their leader's response to the news of his friend's kidnapping--that frightened him. His punishment could be to be whipped within an inch of his life and Shirogane was certain Yoromatsu could handle it as just another point on the agenda. Furthermore, Youhei's comment struck a chord, How much of that unhealthy pessimism is on account of myself? Besides Ikeda, I was the one leading our recruits...and I... How much of the situation were the others aware of? Ikeda and pony-boy (Akira honestly couldn't remember his name--if he had ever learned it to begin with--and the boy's real name was at risk of being replaced with Rainbow Dash at this point) had witnessed his collapse, but what about Youhei and Yoro? And whatever happened to that wild man? Did I temporarily go insane and just imagine him? What part of my psyche did that crawl out of...? Wasn't I protecting Ikeda at the time? Stellar performance right there... His mental breakdown had come almost immediately after that and trying to remember anymore very really made his head physically hurt. Wow, a repressed memory that I'm aware of. That can't be good. In the middle of their talk, Shirogane found himself somewhat amused by his own psychosis. It was a so-depressing-it-hurts kind of dark humor, but still amusing nonetheless. He was too aware of his place in things to make the mistake of laughing out loud at a time like this, however. Mentally shaking himself, he tried to focus on their discussion. Youhei's got a good point... Of course, Shirogane was smart enough that the first time he saw that Tartarus replaced the school building during the Dark Hour he wondered what happened to it the rest of the time. Same coin, two different sides. Why was he not surprised it took Youhei this long to figure it out? He bit his lip. There was that damned smugness even at a time like this. Maybe he deserved that whipping, or at least a punch in the face.

"So nice of you to join us, Shirogane." Yoro said as the late SEES member entered the room. That was all he had to say about that. As soon as Shirogane took his seat, he responded to Youhei. "To be completely honest, we know very little about Tartarus." He scratched his head. "We don't know exactly what happens to things left inside of Tartarus. But..." He looked around at the other members. "We can find out." He stood up. "I know what we're going to do. We'll perform an experiment." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen. "Our first experiment will be to leave this pen in Tartarus's lobby. Then I will return early in the morning to retrieve it. Even if the experiment doesn't tell us exactly what we need to know, the information we obtain from this experiment will be very valuable." He sat back down. "Okay. I think we all have a lot to think about. We'll meet downstairs at 11:30. From now on, during the evening we should all travel together. At least until we deal with this kidnapper. Dismissed. Except for you, Akira. And you too, Shirogane." He gestured to them both.

Yoro's plan seemed simple enough, though she bashfully admitted to herself that it took her longer than she'd liked for her to catch on. Akira couldn't help but wonder what condition the pen would be in, and if it wasn't in decent form upon discovery there was no telling how Takahiro would've faired upon the school's nightly change. A shudder ran down Akira's spine as she grimaced at the resulting thought, but her thoughts were broken as everyone was ordered to travel together and dismissed until 11:30 that night.

Wait, everyone but Shiro and herself was dismissed. Great. She sullenly took her seat once more, still choosing to distract herself with her hands. It was crazy how she was managing her mood swings, fairing from bossy and commanding in the face of danger before resuming back to her quietly uncomfortable self. It was as if she didn't know what to make of herself, but then again, being around Shiro and seeing him fall apart in front of her had somehow pushed her to the far end of her own self. To be honest, it exhausted her, and she wanted nothing more to curl up with her banana wine that Youhei had purchased her to numb her mind a bit. All of this thinking was beginning to burn her out.

Fate was once again unkind in her eyes, and she took a moment to raise her eyes to briefly meet Yoro's before settling on Shiro's face, curious to see her friend's reaction. Maybe he'd be partial to skipping out on setting the pen and spending the evening with herself? She didn't want to be at the dorm building alone...and after all, Yoro did say to stick together. Well, maybe there'd be time after setting up Yoro's experiment to indulge herself.

Oh, right, Yoro. He was in front of her. What was she supposed to say? An awkward "What do you need?" slipped past her lips rather bluntly, and she flushed at her tone. "I..I mean, how may I help, Yoro-kun?" She quickly added, hopeful that this would sweep away her first attempt at communicating with him. Akira couldn't help but hate how weird she was feeling, and she couldn't help but blame it on Shiro being present. But then again, why would Shiro being around make her feel weird? 'I can't do this right now. Just focus, I can deal with all this petty confusion later.' Akira chided towards herself, hoping she looked somewhat collected to her peers in front of her.

Since he was already on edge, Shirogane confused who Yoromatsu was addressing by first name. Seeing as how he was already in trouble being addressed with such familiarity didn't make sense, which put him off-guard for whatever came next. He didn't even have time to think about Yoro's proposed experiment with how badly his anxiety had taken over. As everyone else filed out, he snapped to attention and came forward, standing in line with where Ikeda was sitting so Yoro could better address the both of them. Then she went and surprised him again with her thugdere personality rearing its head at the wrong time, making him go wide-eyed at her flippancy. Whew, you dodged the bullet there, but just barely... Despite the little misstep, or maybe that was a part of it too, she seemed like she couldn't handle the situation either. Regarding her as someone like himself--reserved in a way--he didn't see how he could possibly use her as a foil except to pretend that Yoro was speaking directly to her instead of the both of them, or he would attempt such delusion except the glaringly obvious fact he was in deeper shit than Ikeda kept him from being as far removed from the reality of the situation as he would like to be. As he stood rigid, barely containing an expression that would show how badly he wanted to run away he couldn't help wondering Is this the part where I'm supposed to prostrate myself in apology...?

While Yoromatsu's plan was sound and Youhei was confident that nothing could go wrong, he still felt a little put off by the bluntness of the dismissal. Not only was he the only SEES member without a specific job to do, he had also been expelled from the control room like so much waste matter. Maede and Silverstone both vanished off, presumably to their rooms or, Youhei thought a tad enviously, their tasks, leaving him to stew in his own juices with naught to do but... have a smoke. Which he did, if only to pass the time.

An hour later and he had decked out his little spot on the roof with a chair and little table stolen from the common room. There was nothing much for him to do inside and the layout of Tatsumi Port Island was as mysterious as that of Tartarus; going out was not an option. Instead he put his feet up on the railings, with a cigar in one hand and a bottle of scotch in the other, and whiled the time away in a kind of dull, drunken boredom. He doubted that anyone would come up and dob him in to Yoromatsu; no-one ever seemed to use the roof bar Youhei, although Takahiro had occasionally... It was worrying that he found himself thinking of the little shyte in the past tense, as if he was already... He left that thought unfinished, drowning a renewed sense of apprehension and loss in a fiery mouthful of whiskey.

Yoro looked at the two of them for awhile. "Shirogane. Your punishment. I had something a little more mild in mind, but since you showed up late, you're volunteering to help our foreign friend with the grocery shopping and the cooking. Dismissed." After Shirogane left, he would turn to Akira. "Alright, um.... now, we need to start planning our rescue attempt. We need to begin the experiment tonight, but tomorrow morning, I need you to meet me on this floor." Yoro nodded. "Okay. I don't know about you, but i'm kind of hungry. So... um... bye." Yoro backed up and headed out the door, making his way to his bedroom.

-11:30pm-
As everyone got downstairs to the lounge, they would see that Yoro was there waiting for them. "Okay, we don't have a whole lot of time. Let's go."

-The Dark Hour-
When the team got to Tartarus's lobby, Yoro took the same pen from earlier out of his pocket and placed it on the floor right next to the stairs. "Now, we wait." He turned to everyone. "While we're here, we should look into doing some reconnaissance. I think we should try to search the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth floors. I fear to go any farther than that without support...."

The rest of the day had gone slowly for Youhei and his whiskey. By the time Yoromatsu called SEES together and dragged them to Tartarus, he was halfway though his second bottle... To say that Youhei was a bit tipsy would be a serious understatement and yet he managed to hold himself together well enough for it not to be immediately obvious. His plan was simple; go along with whatever Yoromatsu said until the group was allowed to disperse, then stagger into town and spend the rest of the night finishing his reserves in a park somewhere. Sadly, fate had a different idea in mind... Youhei's face fell as Yoromatsu outlined his plan to explore a whole five levels of Tartarus, undoubtedly fighting whatever Shadows they found inside... In his current state of inebriation, the best he could do was vomit on them. Nevertheless he remained silent, putting all his effort in at least looking sober and ready for action.

((Fukugawa Youhei - Level UP
Gained Persona: Take-Minakata (Skills: Zio, Mazio, Tarunda)
Inugami learned: Poisma, Poison Boost

Kirijo Yoromatsu - Level UP
Gained Persona: Power (Skills: Hama, Mahama, Magaru)
Ares Learned: Counter, Rebellion))

June 8, 2009; The Dark Hour

The sickly green moon was high in the sky, basking everything around in a green glow. Only one thing was on your mind; save Takahiro. Currently active SEES members were cut down to just Yoro and Youhei. This didn't help ease Yoro's worries. Him and Youhei were capable, that much wasn't being questioned. But they were about to go on a rescue mission by themselves without any support. If Takahiro's life wasn't on the line, Yoro would never go on a mission like this. It began at around eleven o'clock. Over the past month, Yoro worked to gather clues, finding out that Takahiro likely entered Tartarus through the gymnasium. They decided to enter the same way. At midnight, Yoro and Youhei blacked out, awakening some time later in an unknown area. They were separated from one another.

---

Yoro opened his eyes slowly, getting up and looking around. "Damn... separated... this can't be good..." He drew his epee. Without Takahiro there to support them, Yoro didn't know whether or not there were any Shadows in the immediate area. He figured it was best to play it safe. Yoro and Youhei would hear a familiar voice in their heads.

"Guys...? Is that you...? I-I need some help..." The voice was clearly Takahiro's, but it sounded incredibly weary and scared. Any further attempts to contact Takahiro would be unsuccessful.