The early parts of the dungeon were pretty standard, and eerily quiet. They passed the check-in at the front entrance, and began to go down a bunch of corridors. Occasionally there would be hospital equipment and empty beds strewn across the sides, but otherwise it turned out to be a little labyrinth. After awhile the monotony ended, to some of the party's relief, the whole dark and restrained shades of blue and green and white like that of a hospital was beginning to become tiring, and the whole messed up look of everything was beginning to play on one's paranoia. They were now standing in an open clearing, there were chairs laid across the sides with small tables. This looked like some kind of waiting room.

At the end of this 'waiting room', there was a large elevator. It looked just like any other elevator, but run down and... Really big. There seemed to be nowhere else to go in order to advance, so they stepped into it after pressing the one and only button on it.

"Hmmm... I've played enough games to know what a big elevator means", he said to himself, and just on queue, shadows. Their first encounter in the whole dungeon. As the shadows manifested, the elevator began to lurch and then rocket itself at an incredible speed. Looks like these shadows were the key to moving on. They took the appearance to security guards, their faces wrapped in bandages, wielding a baton and a handgun, plus they looked like they could use their handcuffs too.

"Those shadows are... They're not letting the elevator stop. Defeat them and it should be okay", with that understood, Rui took a stance and announced to prepare for combat, though they didn't really need to be told.

He was counting five of them, and each one seemed to be a fair bit durable, meaning they won't go down to just a few hits. On the other hand, they seemed slow and easy to fight around... That was probably what the handcuffs were for. It was likely they had some kind of binding skill... Probably be careful for that.

Akane Hanazawa // Strawman Hospital
Sunday, May 31st, 2015

Throughout the most part, it was like any other hospital, aside from the fact it was accompanied by eery silence. While there was occasional equipment and empty beds as they continued walking, nothing out of the ordinary happened, no things that really suggested otherwise, well, aside from the fact that nothing has changed and nothing there. "This is seems like some half-assed set up from a b-rated horror film..." she joked, as she looked around as they continued walking.

Soon they found themselves into an open clearing with what appeared to be some sort of waiting room. And as if on cue to the script, a conveniently placed elevator, albeit a run down one....a large one to boot. "Looks like an invitation..." Another frequent Horror/Thriller movie cliche, the run away elevator. The people get in, something snaps and they fall to their doom. She was tempted to joke about that as well, but thought better of it.

Stepping into it, there was a single button. Invitation might not be far off, heh. "Well now..." she muttered as figures started to manifest and with their appearance, they elevator began to lurch and rocketed at an incredible speed. "So these are the so called 'Shadows', hmm?" They took the appearance of security guards, faces wrapped up with bandages and equipped with batons and handguns. "....and handcuffs? What use does a shadow have for them?" Given how wary Rui was of them, there was probably a reason for it.

Standing around certainly isn't going to get them anywhere. "Well, we won't know what they've got until we try something....Setanta!" crushing her card and summoned forth her persona. "If any of you can use magic, best use it now!" her thinking was that maybe it would put them on the defensive and/or prevent them from using any kind of trap. Unless...that in itself was a trap....oh well.

"Kill Rush!"

Sunday, 31^st - 2015

Warakuma Recreational Center

The sun shined and the wind blew gently and Gen had a smile on his face. Nothing could compare to spending a Sunday morning after midterms week outside the house. His mother had been pleased to hear that he had done tremendously well, or at least appeared pleased. Why would she not be pleased to hear that her son was only two points away from a perfect score? Oh yeah, that was how she put it: 'two points away'. But at least that was more than enough to keep her satisfied for a few weeks; hell, maybe even a few months.

Gen took his thoughts away from school for a moment to open the door of the Recreational Center. Due to the inexorable coming of summer, he was wearing a plain t-shirt that was blue at the collar and shoulders and faded to gray from mid-chest down. Besides that, a pair of jeans and his sole pair of casual sneakers. The only other footwear he had was the school's reglamentary shoes, and he had to leave those at the entrance before getting in. He remembered how he had outgrown two pairs in his second year of middle school, when he had quite a growing spur. The funny thing was that Gen's mother threatened him to make him go barefoot if he kept outgrowing shoes. Like, you can't stop growing when you're a teenager, Mom! Or so he would have liked to point to her.

As soon as he entered the lobby, Gen saw someone that caught his eye. Or rather, it was impossible that it did not catch his eye, for it was someone he knew and saw on a regular basis. However, the context was different, and she seemed so strange without her school uniform that Gen needed a moment to remember just who she was. But her name came to him; they were in the same class, after all. Gen walked up to Shizuka, waving at her. Even though they were not exactly quite acquainted to each other, ignoring her would have been plain rude, and being exaggeratedly friendly all of a sudden would have been awkward; but a few words with a school acquaintance had never heard anybody.

"Hello, Otonashi-san! Didn't expect to meet you here," Gen offered as a greeting, looking down at her from his standing position. "Good job on the midterms, by the way. How've you been?"

The enemies took hits easily, they didn't seem the dodging type. Leiko and Chiaki stood in the back throwing out a few spells to help with the offensive effort, but as soon as they did, some of the other shadows that weren't already under attack, fired their handguns at the party, halting the spell assault. Akane's Persona strode in, doing some serious damage to one, but the thing is, there were four others, and she felt a bit of pain as soon as the one beside the one she attacked struck her Persona, and then very quickly another followed up with the handcuffs, managing to bind Setanta.

Rui immediately went in with a Gale Slash, restricting all of their movements while doing damage just for that moment, giving Setanta some room so that the bind would wear off after a couple moments of struggling.

"They can fight in range or melee, and can bind a careless advance. We need to hit all of them at once. Akane, Chiaki, Leiko, focus on picking them off once I use Gale Slash again", he ordered.

He called upon Askr again, moving fast into the center of the shadows before disappearing into a hurricane of slashes for a single moment, causing each and every one of them to stagger. This was their chance.

Akane Hanazawa // Strawman Hospital
Sunday, May 31st, 2015

Setanta burst through and managed to deliver serious damage one of the shadows but the remaining ones managed to bring an end to their magical support. With the support having been halted, the shadows next to her target, struck her persona and causing Akane to feel the hit, making her stagger a bit. Not giving them much time to rest, the shadow followed up with the handcuffs and managed to bind Setanta. Well, at least we know for sure now...But damnit...

Soon after, Rui went in, with Askr, and managed to break the bind, freeing Setanta before giving out an order. "Got it," as she took a stance. Having all selected their targets of attack, they waited for Rui's next move. Once he summoned up Askr and hit all of them with a Gale slash, they made their move. Summoning Setanta again, they went in for a finishing Kill Rush.

"Things have gotten kinda crazy around here, haven't they?" A youthful, and spirited voice called out in the background, echoing subtly in the open air of the dojo who's only competition was the subtle grunts of Masahide as he swung his Shinai. It was that time of year when Masa's cousin -Yamato Saji- and his family paid a visit to the estate. Today marked the fourth year anniversary of Shinjiro Saji's passing, and without fail relatives would flock to the estate to pay their respects to the man and offer assistance to his widow and son. Always, Masa's mother turned down the offers, each with a polite bow and a friendly smile... But these were things that Masahide took no part in. His father had passed, and now he was responsible for the well-being and reputation of his family in Warakuma, customs and sympathy be damned.

Still... The boy would be lying if he said it didn't effect him somewhat, possibly the cause of his growing frustration as he attempted to perfect his strikes, though seeming to be of no avail. With one final downward strike, Masa paused, "I haven't noticed."

"Right. You haven't noticed several of your classmates disappearing and suddenly winding up in the hospital? Not even the one out of your class?" Yamato spoke, his tone clearly agitated though with a bit of jest.

"You're well informed." Masa replied, lifting his arm to wipe the accumulating sweat from his brow. He hadn't kept track of how long he'd been practicing, though from the mounting fatigue and soreness of his already worn muscles, he could fathom a guess... Then again, time seemed to drag on while Yamato was on a tangent.

"You know me, always up with the times. Plus, the updates on the news help... You sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine. I go to school, I work, I come home. Not much time to get kidnapped."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say mister perfect," Yamato waved his hand dismissively with a sigh as he stood from his seated position, brushing off his jacket before looking back to his cousin, "So, Auntie wants me to take you around town. Anything in particularly interesting around here? This place isn't like Okinawa, and I haven't really spent much time outside of the estate."

"Not interested, thanks." Masa said flatly, reversing his grip on his weapon before making his way over to place it in the empty spot on the rack alongside the few others that sat perfectly aligned.

"Not like you have much of a choice. You really want your mother to yell at both of us? Nothing against your mother... But she can get scary when you piss her off."

At this, Masa couldn't help but chuckle. It had been a long time since he'd seen his mother truly angry, most of the time she was casting her usual smile as she tended to her business around the town and home. For what all she's suffered and been through, you'd never meet another with a more cheery disposition... Yet the memory of Yamato being scolded for knocking a set of dishes off the counter was always a rather amusing image. Her eyes narrowed in anger, her voice booming and echoing within the dinning area while Yamato stood there dumb-founded with a broom and dustpan. A priceless image.

"Uh huh. That's what I thought. Come on, let's go," Yamato remarked, having spotted the subtle smile that had grown across Masa's lips. In annoyance, the raven haired boy sighed, wiping his brow once more with his arm before following after his cousin.

"Let me hit the bath first, I'll meet you in town."



"So, what's the plan?" Yamato remark, lifting his arms up and behind his head before crossing them, seeming overly relaxed and at ease in contrast to Masa's rigid demeanor, his hands stuffed into his pockets with his gaze locked forward.

"This was your idea, idiot," Masa replied curtly, his agitation worn like a badge upon his button up shirt.

"Moody much? Still, it's good to get your ghostly self out into the sun every once in awhile," Yamato seemed pleased with his own retort as his gaze faced forward once more, wearing a triumphant smile as they continued to walk down the sidewalk, "Oh, by the way, don't dare check your phone. Any talk about going to your 'jobs' and I'll smash it on the pavement."

"I'll be sure to return the favor to your teeth if that happens." Yamato let out a audible laugh at Masa's threat, seeming to not be intimidated in the slightest. Onward they ventured, the contrasting duo roaming the city out of boredom.

The combined efforts managed to kill off most of the Shadows, with two remaining, but compared to five being able to cover for each other's attacks, two was nothing. The party unceremoniously killed the final two, and sure enough the elevator stopped moving, and the doors slid open with a bell similar to that of an elevator reaching its destination.

The new area before them was... A hospital ward, at the very end of the long hallway filled with the creepy quiet fluttering of hospital ward curtains and bloodstains across both the floor and the curtains themselves, was another door at the end, obscured in the dark, only a glowing sight saying "Emergency Room" at the end.

Nervously the party navigated this hallway, but like before... No shadows... Was this dungeon more tame...? Or less tame? It was strange, eerie. They could hear voices on this floor, occasionally the voices sounded familiar...

"Sato...?", he muttered... Was Sato the one they were rescuing here? Or was it just one of the voices? In any case, soon they reached the ER.

"I sense something strong beyond that door... Be careful", they guessed as much, it was a pretty projected miniboss fight, but based on what Megumi said, this wasn't the final floor. When they were ready they swung the doors wide open and walked inside.

There was an operating table, and an unusual amount of blood and gore all around it. Rui wasn't an expert surgeon or anywhere near that, but he was positive this operation was a complete failure. Would not trust that shade standing by the table ever. As he thought this it reared it's head, causing the party to respond by going into stance.

It was creepy, it's face was elongated, enough to not look human, while still looking human enough. It's eyes were blank black abysses, and in its hand was a scalpel. It didn't look like much of a threat... Since it was just a scalpel, but then it dropped that and picked up the gigantic bonesaw... Though that turned out to be a distracted. It shuffled through what looked to be a drawer, and picked up a heart, but it was discoloured in blue, and sure enough it hurled it at the party and on contact like a grenade, turned into a pillar of ice as the party jumped out of the way. As soon as the party did that though, it swung the bonesaw at Rui, who just barely managed to block with Askr. After repelling it, it assumed the same stance again, ruffling through the drawers, and sure enough was another heart, this time yellow.

"Looks like its vulnerable when it tries to get another heart... Be careful not to get caught until it goes for another heart", he said. It looked like this one was simple... But costly. If they messed up, the gigantic power of just one of those heart grenades could wipe them out.

"Yeah...Another one just got nabbed!"
"Really? I thought I heard somewhere that it was two this time!

Ayano looked at the thread as it filled with a new response every time she refreshed...This entire kidnapping thing has gotten out of hand, it was unsettling before, but now they're picking up two? Who knows how long it'll be before they move on to three? Four? Hell, why stop there? They might as well kidnap an entire section! Lots of users were even sharing their own little thoughts and theories about who the mastermind was, but the lack of evidence, concrete or otherwise made it all pointless.

She gave a sigh, standing up from her chair and looked out the window, letting her mind wander for awhile. The girl didn't want to admit it, but she was scared...How long until she ends up in the same situation as them? Will anyone even risk their lives to save her? Barring her family of course...And even then, will she make it out alive? Ayano shook her head and began to scratch her head, this negative thinking wasn't probably the best idea to do.

The brunette looked outside once more, trying to look on a more positive side this time...So far, everyone that's been kidnapped has ended up safe and sound in the arms of the hospital, so that's one good thing, right? And, they do get better eventually, returning to normalcy after a few days. So maybe it's not all bad? She shrugged, was it bad she was tempting fate? Probably so.

Getting back to her surfing, she returned to her laptop, hoping to get her mind off of things.

Akane Hanazawa // Strawman Hospital
Sunday, May 31st, 2015

Finishing off the remaining two shadows, the elevator stopped and the doors slid open, having made it to the next area. They found themselves in a hospital ward, filled with the creepy fluttering of curtains with bloodstains covering them and the floors. Despite the erry sounds and scenery, there wasn't another shadow to be scene. At the end of the hallway was a glowing sign that announced the Emergency Room. "What a fitting room for a boss monster, eh?"

As they walked closer to the door, they began hearing voices, to assure themselves that they weren't exactly crazy, a few of them thought they recognized the voice, though unfamiliar to Akane. Though Megumi confirmed what lies next is strong, it wasn't the final floor. Akane thought it was a shame, it was a great set up. Taking a few moments to ready themselves, they entered the room. Looking inside, she cringed at the levels of blood and gore. The sight made the Yakuza look like a bunch of girl scouts.

It seems like they didn't need to wait long before their host showed itself. To fit the scene before them, it was an equally creepy monster, definitely on a whole other level compared to the other shadows. Waiting in awkward silence as they watched the shadow picking up different weapons before going through a drawer, picking up a heart and tossing it at them. Taken by surprise of the action, they snapped out of it and managed to get out of the way, avoiding becoming a pillar of ice. The shadow didn't wait for them to catch their breathes as it went after Rui with the Bonesaw, of whom barely managed to block it's attack.

After it was repelled it picked out another colored heart. Heeding Rui's advice, Akane summoned Setanta to fortify it's defense with 'Rakukaja' as they cautiously wait for their moment to strike.

The Surgeon Shadow in its impatience threw the heart at the party. The heart made contact with the floor as the party dispersed away from it, letting it explode in lightning strikes, quickly spreading and dealing minor damage, even though everyone managed to steer clear of it. The shock was enough to keep most of the party from counter-attacking quickly, but Akane had barely taken damage in this instance, due to the Rakukaja she cast earlier. With this, she had a chance to counter-attack, and did so, striking the shadow before it could fully raise the bonesaw. She wailed on it before stepping back as it attempted to force her to back away with a push of its free hand. As soon as it did, it just stuffed its hand back into the drawer, no longer rustling it, and picked up a green heart...

"So the colour represents the elements almost exactly... Okay", spotting this, he immediately struck the shadow's arm with a Garu, causing it to drop the heart, making it explode in its face. It was largely undeterred though... So it was incredibly resilient to magic.

"Rush it with physical skills now, while it still needs to grab another heart!", he ordered, summoning Askr, with his blade ready, he charged. This should be the definitive strike.

As Shizuka was wrapped up in her fondful memories, a familiar voice spoke to her which brought her back to her senses with the raising of her head towards the male who waved at her. To return the friendly gesture, the fellow classmate flashed a gentle smile as she bowed her head in a polite manner. "A pleasant morning to you, Itoshi-san. Quite unexpected, indeed, but I do come here occasionally to utilize the tennis and pool facilities. If I may ask, what brings you here?" She herself hadn't expected to find Gen here, mostly because of her perception of him as the studious type. Not like she was stereotyping him as the typical smart, bespectacled student.

While this might be one of the first times she spoke to Gen outside class activities, she wasn't as uncomfortable in speaking to him compared to a total stranger. One could tell from her volume of voice being a little louder and less stuttering.

At having midterms mentioned, the dark haired girl waved her hand in a negative gesture and quickly responded, "T-Thank you but you've done a lot better than I did, Itoshi-san. Congratulations for placing top 1 amongst our year level!" With her smile still present upon her lips, she slightly tilted her head to the side. "I'm doing alright, in fact, I feel refreshed from the swim just earlier. How about you?"

Akane Hanazawa // Strawman Hospital // Emergency Room
Sunday, May 31st, 2015

As the battle continued, the shadow, growing impatient, threw it's new heart at them. The heart made contact with the floor just as everyone managed to get away. However, instead of a pillar of ice, lightning strikes came out and, despite getting away, managed to damge the party, albeit minor, except for Akane, who was barely taken any damage thanks to her earlier spell. "First Ice and now lightning, huh?" she muttered as dug out another heart, this time green.

As Rui hit the shadow's arm with a Garu, causing the heart to explode in it's face, they found out another thing, it was highly resistant to magic. Good thing she doesn't know any magic, whew!

"My specialty!" said in reply to Rui's order as she summoned Setanta once more and charged in with a 'Kill Rush'

The physical rush worked, the shadow toppled over onto its own operating table. It attempted to swing the bonesaw, but Rui was already on it, striking the shadow's arm, clashing with the handle of the bonesaw, sending it flying high into the air, before it came back down, executing the bloodied surgeon shadow and impaling it into the operating table. After it yelled in agony, it began to dissolve like all other shadows, and soon it was gone, leaving only the bonesaw.

"Good work! The shadow's been defeated. Not much longer until you reach the end, I can see it", Rui gave an affirmative before leading the party onwards.

The door into the next area had a "Staff Members Only" sign on them, but they ignored that and continued. The hallway beyond those doors were... Dark, only dim, flickering lights could light their way, it became frustrating to see onwards, but the party kept moving. The destination was quite clear though, an office door at the very end. The walk through the hallway seemed to take forever, but soon they finally reached the door.

"That's definitely the final area for this dungeon... Prepare yourselves", after a moment of making sure they were ready, they pushed open the door.

As expected, they were looking at a doctor's office... But everything was tall, unnecessarily tall. A desk towered over Rui quite easily, and within this room was Sato, and what appeared to be his shadow standing atop a desk, wearing a doctor's garb and holding a clip board.

"He just left when he got bored, didn't he?"

Sato awoke to the sound of a very familiar voice. He tried to push himself off the cold ground, but the world was spinning and his head was buzzing. Part of him wanted to stay there, stagnant and unchanging. Nothing bad would happen if he just never woke up.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm just a conduit to her, a window to a life she wanted to live..."

That was his voice. But he hadn't said it, nor thought it. Curiosity the only force pumping blood through his body, Sato rose from the tiled flooring, shakily supporting himself on his knees with both hands on the ground.

"The lesson here, I guess, is that people are tools to your own end."

That was definitely himself saying those words, except Sato had never said or even thought them. Was he hallucinating...? The room kept spinning, the walls blending into the floor and the furniture skewing in a surreal fashion in all sorts of directions. As Sato's brain started to straighten itself out, his vision finally returning to normal, the room didn't do either. The furniture remained stretched and oblong, lights pale and flickering and sparking, atmosphere suffocating.

"Oh. You're awake, excellent! Sorry if my talking woke you up, I was practicing my monologue for drama! Y'know, that club you never go to but makes you look cultured so you signed up?"

"What...?" Sato could hardly register anything that was happening. The teen pushed himself onto his feet once he stopped shaking. Standing on top of the desk before him, was... him? A figure clad in a doctor's attire stood on top of giant office decor, throwing a clipboard with papers on them to the ground. The most confusing part of this all was that this person had the same face and same body as him. The figure jumped down from atop the desk and made his way over to Sato, who took reflexive steps back as the being circled him.

"Have a good nappy-poo, me? Let's say you did; great! So our first patient for the day is... Rokurou Ishihara! That sounds like a bucket of fun, doesn't it? I was thinking we get him thinking we're his friend, but then we make those other losers think the same! Y'know, pretend we're on both sides, right? Sucks to be them because in reality, it's none of those things!"

"That's not true! Rokurou and I have been friends ever since I joined the archery club!" Without thinking, Sato blurted out a response to the words spoken to him. The other Sato brushed past the real Sato. The air around the doppleganger felt stale and sickening, the short distance between the two making the glowing yellow eyes of the clone all the more visible.

It rolled its eyes. "Yeah, that's exactly what everyone else thinks too. It kinda pisses me off. But we know that we just want what they have to offer. Not that you can blame us, since being club president is a pretty good ego binge. That feeling of superiority is just sooo my drug. Having an excuse not to go home is pretty good too I guess. It's just so pathetic there, not a suitable place for someone of our level of intellect and skill. It kinda has this air of 'I'm a loser who did nothing with my life and my husband left me because I'm ugly', y'know?"

"T-that's not... How did you..."

"How did I what? Know exactly what you were thinking? Well, that's because I am you. And we're all that matters, right? We're the MVP, the hero, the protagonist, and everyone else is a sidekick waiting to serve their use to us. They can go die after for all I care."

Sato was speechless, responseless. Everything that was just said, he couldn't deny never having thought. None of these were foreign ideas. Before the doppelganger could open its mouth again, the sound of doors opening and footsteps approaching broke the deafening buzzing ringing through the room. Sato stumbled around to see who was coming in. To his shock, a party lead by that Rui Shinichi kid had barged in. Hamada, Chiaki, and some other girl he couldn't quite recognized composed the rest of the group. Behind him, the other Sato cooed with what was probably delight.

"Front-row seat spectators, I see. All the better if everything can hear why I'm the greatest there is."

"G-guys, this isn't--" Sato stammered out, but the fake interrupted him, suddenly a lot more angry.

"This isn't what?! Don't kid yourself, this is what we've both been thinking for a long time. It's not my fault they couldn't handle a taste of the real world. I'm one of the best archers in kyuudo, and I would've gotten highest in my year if it wasn't for that Ayano fucker. She can go eat a dick for all I care, probably cheated anyway. I'm on a solid path straight to becoming a doctor, and you all are just stepping stones on my path to greatness! If anyone even calls me the 'f' word, it takes every fiber in my being to not tell them how wrong they are. I've yet to meet anyone that I would even consider to be my equal, or even close to me. They think they deserve everyone playing nice with them, when all they do is sit on their asses and spread their mediocrity around. What this world needs is people like me, hard-working and talented. People like me are the priority. I'm all that matters! Me, ME, ME!"

"No, shut up!" Sato shouted, face contorted into a grimace. "Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up! YOU'RE NOT ME!"

At those words, the other Sato's anger faded away into some kind of sick enjoyment. Instead of continuing on with its temper tantrum, it merely started cackling as it began to buckle over onto the ground. A shroud of shadows consumed its figure. For one brief second, it felt as if all the air in the room had been sucked away, before the dark mass exploded with a wave of force that blew Sato back. A grotesque being filled the room, puppets from its fingers. Sato was incapacitated at the feet of the rescue party, the shadow swaying in anticipation.

"Take a cue, you maggots! Get out of my way or I'll make sure you never get in it again! I'm not above throwing insects like you under a bus-- literally! Kgyahahaha!" It cackled again in a way that shook its whole lanky body, rattling the puppets' joints together. A battle was about to begin.

As the shadow rose from its position, the party took a stance as they ran in front of Sato. The shadow continued to rise... And rise... And... It was a lot taller than any of the other shadows, that was for sure. The puppets it controlled were about the same size of a human being, and the large, lanky figure of the shadow itself was intimidating. They had to turn their heads pretty high up to see its face.

"Sato get back, it's dangerous", he warned. As he said this, a puppet flew right over at him, but he easily countered it with a parry. As he looked back to the shadow again... It was controlling more than just two puppets. More and more began to fill the battlefield, the various things that appeared to be rubbish in the room began to come together and become puppets, in fact the puppet he took down just now began to reform...

"This looks like a whole lot of trouble", on the other hand... The main shadow itself seemed to not do more than control the puppets...

"Megumi, scan the shadow for anything unexpected, everyone else, clear a path to strike the shadow down through these puppets", he ordered.

"R-right!", with that agreed, the party advanced.

"Not bad. What's to do around here?" Yamato quized his cousin- who at this point had did his best to all but ignore his rather bothersome cousin. With a heavy sigh, Masa crossed the threshold, offering his cousin a subtle nod of his head in appreciation while Yamato held the door open for him. As they stepped inside, Masahide paused to look about the area.

"I don't know. I don't normally come here," Masa replied, continuing to scan the interior of the building. In truth, he was attempting to find a place where he could slip away and lose his cousins notice... But a short defeated sigh quickly followed the thought as Yamato made his way to Masa's side and draped an arm over his shoulder. True to form, Yamato clung to Masahide every chance he could- possibly due to the massive time between visits, but Yamato would claim it's to keep Masa out of trouble.

"You are a true homebody, aren't you? When was the last time you went out just to do something fun?" Yamato quizzed.

"A Persona Tourney, a while ago." Masa replied, lifting a hand to remove his cousins arm before straightening the hardly noticeable wrinkles in his attire, "Besides, I don't really have time to kill. Many places in this town wouldn't survive if I wasn't running around saving them."

"Have I ever told you how much I admire your modesty?" With that, Masa couldn't help but chuckle, a subtle smile forming upon his lips as his hands returned to his pockets. In truth, Masahide didn't hate his cousin... Far from it, but you'll never get him to admit it openly. Yamato was the only person he had come to know that truly just wanted to see Masa happy. Part of it could've been due to Masa's father treating Yamato as more of a son than his brother did, but it wasn't Masahide's place to ask or investigate. Still, it was a refreshing reunion- despite his cousins agitating disposition.

"Yeah? Well if it's true, it's true. Now, why did you drag me out here?" Masahide asked. At this, Yamato froze. His smile slowly fading to a thoughtful gaze. A few moments later, it was followed by a shrug of the boy's shoulders, "So, you drug me out of the house, walked all the way here, and have nothing in mind? You're pathetic."

"Hey! You're the thinker here! You figure it out." Yamato stated, slightly defensive as a subtle blush arose on his face. It's obvious that his impulsive nature had gotten the better of him, and left him without a clear plan to entertain his cousin. With a shake of his head and a slight sigh, Masa returned to scanning about the center.

Sunday, May 31^st - 2015

Warakuma Recreation Center

Well, it was not that Gen did not take pride in his academic achievement, but more like he did not want to look like a show-off. He scratched the back of his head, letting out a short, slightly embarrassed giggle before answering, "Thank you, Otonashi-san, I really didn't think that would happen." Even though he had done nothing but study the week before the midterms. Gen brought his glasses back to the top of his nose bridge by pushing one of the hinges with his ring finger, and as he did a quick white light seemed to flash out of the lenses, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come.

The moment Shizuka brought up the topic of Gen being there, the bespectacled teen seemed smaller and even a bit ashamed to fess up."Oh, I... Well, I wanted to go out and try something new... I haven't played sports or swim since forever, and now I have time to spare, so... Yeah, I'm here for that," Gen had been quick in replacing the original 'get out' with 'go out'. He stifled a relieved sigh and looked around and... again, saw someone he knew. It was someone from school, yet not a classmate. He wondered if Shizuka knew him. Probably from seeing him in the hallway.

"Um, Otonashi-san," Gen nodded his head towards Masahide in an attempt to be inconspicuous in case it was not him, but not entirely succeeding, "sorry to bother but, isn't that Saji-senpai from school?"

Shizuka caught herself staring at Gen and his megane fanservice as he adjusted his glasses. _{Another person to add to her list of people she wants to help start cosplaying.} Before she was to be noticed by the other student, she shook her head slightly to bring her attention back to the bespectacled male. Chuckling slightly at the hesitant answer he gave, Shizuka replied, "I see. Well, I can assure you that they have one of the best facilities here in Warakuma. Very well maintained and easily accessible as well." While she spoke, she had thought of suggesting to let her accompany Gen to show him the facilities but then again, the raven haired female wasn't sure if he would appreciate it coming from a person he barely knew.

Not long after the end of her statement, Gen nodded towards a direction and mentioned a name she was familiar with. Thanks to her long bangs covering her eyes, other people could not see her gaze as easily, while it also caused her somewhat blindness or bad sight, she turned her eyes to see Masahide after a moment of staring through her bangs. Since Shizuka had seen him a couple of times in the past, she could recognize him much easier than previously but who was that person beside him....? Anywho, she slightly whispered back her reply to the classmate, "Oh! It seems so, but I'm not familiar with the accompanying person... I suppose at least offering a greeting would be polite. Let us approach them, Itoshi-san."

The upperclassman might have been busy with his plans with whoever the acquaintance was but Shizuka also wished to congratulate him for the midterms exam from the previous week. 'We'll try not to interrupt them for too long', she thought to herself as Masahide and the acquaintance were before her. "Good morning, Saji-senpai and to your acquaintance as well. This might be late but I've seen your name on the top students list on the midterms results last week so I just wanted to offer you a congratulations for your excellent score." As Shizuka said this, her tone of voice made it clear that she was genuine in her compliment, with a soft upward curve upon her lips.

Elena Dragunov | May 31st Sun | Warakuma Recreational Center

It was a good day to spend relaxing after toiling so hard the whole month leading up to midterms. She as usual, had finished at top of her year and had learned from Inoue that her brother hadn't done too shabby either despite spending so little time revising and going over material over the summer.

She began paddling in the pool as she thought about her brother, her thoughts always seemed to tense her up whenever her brother was involved. It was more than awe, almost idolatry. In her mind's eye Alexei was this infallible, uncompromising badass that could move mountains to make his family happy. While he fussed over giving her the best he could so she could have a 'balanced' growth, she wondered how brilliant he'd be given a chance to truly shine.

She pushed out the thoughts and concentrated on completing a few lengths, she was a natural fish. Sleek and speedy in the water, her school had propositioned for her to join the swimming team but she had declined. Her schedule didn't allow it and she'd avoid any trouble she can put on her elder brother.

As she came out of the pool drying her hair she caught a familiar sight. Waving in enthusiasm and neglecting that the party was already engaged in conversation with someone she shouted "Otonashiii-saaan!!", waving along furiously to catch the attention of the older girl. She wrapped the towel around her waist and redoubled her efforts with another call.

Meanwhile, the phone buzzed in her bag. It was a ping from Alexei, directing her to head to the hospital.

Akane Hanazawa // Strawman Hospital // ER > Head Doctor's Office
Sunday, May 31st, 2015

It was an amusing end to say the least. After a successful rush, Rui managed to hit the shadow's arm which in turn caused the saw to fly high into the air before coming down and impaled him, leaving it bloodied as it dissolved like the others. Talk about Anti-Climactic... With their opponent now, they moved forward. They soon came upon a door with a sign that read 'Staff Members Only', ignoring it they continued on. As if continuing the cheap horror movie act, the hallway beyond the door was dark with only dim, flickering lights keeping it from being pitch-black. "They're laying it on quite thick, now aren't they?" she muttered to herself.

After walking for what seemed like forever, they finally came upon a door. With confirmation from Megumi, it seems like they were finally at the end. "So the final boss is beyond those doors, hmm?" About time. Taking a moment to prepare themselves for the final battle, they all nodded and pushed past the doors. Beyond the doors was a normal doctor's office ....or at least that would be what I'd like to say but... Everything was tall, outrageously tall. In the room was a boy, one she assumes is the one that they were here to say. And that one... At the end of her gaze was a tall shadow sitting ontop of the desk wearing doctor's garb and holding a clipboard. ...Must be his shadow.

Looking at the thing, it was without a doubt one of the creepiest things she has seen and as it rose from the desk, it kept getting taller and taller and taller. Just to glance at its face caused strain on their necks from how high they had to look up. If that wasn't enough, the bastard also seemed to be in control of a few puppets the size of a human being. Just as they ran to the boy and took a stance, a puppet flew right over Rui but he managed to stop it. Though, after he did so did they take note as more 'puppets' began appearing and what could be seen as trash started coming together as puppets.

"Seriously?" she stared on in disbelief. Even the one Rui defeated started reforming. "Don't tell me that they won't be defeated until the big guy falls..." With a sigh, she gave an affirmative as she summoned Setanta. "Let's go make that path." With that, she charged in with yet another Killrush.