Evening...

Somehow, Yoro found out about Takahiro's plan to take Ranko to Escapade to watch his show. Once he found this out, he pulled everyone else along by force to the club to support him after he came back from dinner. Takahiro didn't like this, and nearly cancelled the show, but at the urging of his band, he went along with the show anyway. Unfortunately, Takahiro's protesting caused the show to run late...

Midnight...
Right in the middle of the climax of the final song of the show, the lights went off and the equipment failed. Takahiro almost didn't know what was going on, but he turned to his band mates and saw four coffins where they should have been. The show ran later than he thought. It was the Dark Hour now. Yoromatsu looked especially uneasy. "Tak. Remember when I asked you to scan the area? Please do so now." Takahiro looked confused.

"But I don't have my--" Yoro tossed Takahiro his Evoker. Takahiro barely managed to catch it. "Why did you... never mind." He put it to his head and pulled the trigger, a bald man with an incredibly long, flowing beard and white robes appeared behind him. He wore a long, white robe that wrapped around Takahiro's body, completely hiding him. The whole group could hear Takahiro's voice in their heads. He was communicating with them telepathically.

"I don't sense any... wait." There was a long pause. "I sense a Shadow outside of Tartarus. And it's a big one."

"Where is it?" Yoromatsu asked, slipping on his "SEES" armband and strapping his Evoker to his chest.

"The monorail. You'll have to walk on the tracks, I think it's inside of one of the trains."

"Got it. Let's move out, everyone." He then realized that he had some new people there who probably had no clue what the hell was going on. He turned to the group, directly addressing the new guys. "I don't have time to explain, but all of you new transfers stay here. We'll be back soon." Takahiro dismissed his Persona and walked along with Yoro.

The day had a few ups and downs for Youhei, with the influx of new blood in the dorm and his lingering self-doubt, but all of that was blown away when Kirijo took them out to Escapade. The Japanese as a whole didn't know the true way to have a metalfest, so he took the time to educate the locals in the ways of nausea-inducing headbanging, brutal moshing and triple traffic lighting. The lack of alcoholic drinks on sale made that last bit a tad redundant, but Youhei went with it anyway. He was genuinely impressed with Takahiro's music too; from his experience of the lad, Youhei would have expected some weak emo or artistic crap, but the band put on a pretty heavy show. He was in the centre of the dance floor, just about to flying nut one of the few locals he had converted when the the atmosphere took a sudden and drastic change.

Youhei stumbled mid-lunge and bounced clean off the local-turned-coffin in front of him. As he recovered he took a good look about, confirming that it was indeed the Dark Hour. 'Well,' he grumbled under his breath. 'Best timing ever...' He watched as Takahiro summoned his Persona and told the group of the threat. Typical that it would be tonight, when the entire population of the dorm was outside, including the clueless new people... Youhei gave a nod in reply to Kirijo's call, jogging over to him. 'Minor point mate, but we can't very well fight with a single Evoker between six. We'll need to head back anyway; might as well drop them off.'

When Leo came down for dinner that night, Yoro pulled him aside, and told him that everyone in the dorm was going to a club to support his friend. Even though wasn't much into heavy metal, the boy happily obliged, thinking this was a good opportunity to meet people. He didn't understand why they were going out this late when there was school the next day, but he didn't think too much of it. Figuring it must have been another Japanese thing.

---

After spending a few hours at that club, Leo didn't have as much fun as he thought he would. The music was alright, even if he didn't understand the lyrics... but usually these kinds of things were fun when you had friends you could talk to and have fun with. Few people here spoke English. so trying to have a conversation with anyone was impossible. Nevertheless he made the best of the situation. He mostly spent the night playing with his yo-yo, making a fool of himself on the dance floor, had some snacks from the vending machine, and played games on his cell phone when he started to get tired.

Once it became midnight, things started to get weird. The lights went out, and the music stopped. The band members, and a few people in the crowd turned into... coffins? Which caused Leo to raise an eyebrow. That's something you don't see everyday. There was Japanese chatter amongst the crowd, then Taka pointed a gun to his temple, fired it, and suddenly a bald man with an incredibly long, flowing beard and wearing a long white robe magically appeared behind him. "Cool!" The boy exclaimed. Was this part of the show? If it was, then they must have a huge budget to get these special effects together. Then he heard more Japanese words... in his head... Wait? What? Things were getting weirder by the second.

Taka then told him, and some of the others something in Japanese before taking off with Yoro. It was becoming more and more obvious that this wasn't part of the show, and something real was happening here. He probably told them to wait there until whatever was going on had passed, based on tone voice, body language, and gestures. Whatever it was that was happening, Leo wanted in on it. He had watched enough cartoons to know when the opportunity for adventure was staring him right in the face. That was something you never passed up.

This was the only time not understanding Japanese well worked to his benefit. If Taka had in fact told them to wait there, he had an excuse for not listening. This looked too awesome to miss out on it. "Well, I dunno about the rest of ya, but I'm going after them. Something really cool is happening right now, and I don't wanna sit here and be left out!" With that, he ran off in the direction Taka and Yoro went.

Hitomi wasn't sure what in the devil had come over her for her to accept an invitation to a concert - and a metal one, to boot. It wasn't that she had anything against the music genre or those enjoying it, heck, it was quite the contrary; in the confines of her room when nobody could see or hear, she often found herself enjoying similar music. It was empowering to listen to, and even if only for a while, it gave her courage. Of course, all that was thrown out the window the second she had to step out of her room anyway, but still. Those few moments of feeling some level of self-worth were, well, worth it. But going to a metal concert was a different matter altogether. She wasn't sure if she could ever hope to feel comfortable around the kind of crowd that was sure to gather at the scene, and feared she would look horribly out of place. As such, a small part of her actually encouraged her to wear her favorite black dress to at least blend in color-wise, but of course her nerves would never allow that.

So there she stood now, hiding behind a vending machine and every now and again daring a peek at the actual band. Their music was pretty good, and most of the people there didn't look as scary or dark as she had feared, so blending in wasn't that big of an issue in the end. Heck, even the colorful foreign boy was there. She wondered if he could truly enjoy his time, when he didn't understand the language being sung and spoken everywhere around him, but he didn't look sad at the very least. How did he manage that?

Hitomi sighed softly to herself, glancing at the clock on the wall. It was already midnight.

And no sooner had she finished that thought, when the lights went out and the music stopped abruptly. The girl jumped against the machine she was hiding behind, rushing to turn around and glance at the stage to see what had happened - only for her eyes to widen in shock and a scream to escape her throat before she could help herself at the sight; where the band had been playing just minutes prior now stood a handful of coffins, silent, eerie. And a quick look around told her that it wasn't just the band being turned, either. No, she was surrounded by the same kind of coffins on all sides. She felt dizzy. What was going on?! If it had just been the band transforming, she could have believed it was just part of the show, but when the crowd was affected by it as well - was, was it a curse? Was she dreaming? Maybe she never left her room, and would soon roll off her bed, sweating and trembling. She truly hoped that.

The sound of a gunshot shook her from her thoughts and sent her stumbling back and on her behind on the floor. Her eyes darted at the source of the voice, and she had to pull a hand over her mouth not to scream again. There was a strange creature wrapping itself around one of the students, and the boy had a gun and nobody but her seemed to be panicking about any of it. T-then, was it part of the show after all? Was she just being stupidly cowardly? She swallowed, holding back tears and pushed herself back to stand on trembling legs. If that was the case, she wouldn't show her fear either. She didn't want to be the nuisance that ruined the show.

But then he was told to stay behind along with the other transfer students, when people started to leave. Leo, despite being told to wait, was about to follow. Hitomi shrunk against the machine again. Was everyone else just... going to go and leave her there? Should she go as well, then? No, no, she was told to stay, so she would. She didn't want to be trouble.

B-but... d-damn it, you better not abandon me here!

Yoromatsu nodded to Youhei. "Yes, you're right. We'll have to head back to the dorm." He turned to the group. "Change of plans. Come with us." Yoromatsu continued walking. They left the club. "We'll have to go the long way. We don't want to run into that Shadow when i'm the only one that's armed. So let's pick up the pace." Yoromatsu started to jog, then the jog turned into a run. They ran full speed for a good long while until they were finally at the dorm. Yoromatsu entered the dorm and turned to the rest of the group. "SEES operatives, arm yourselves. As for the rest of you..." He grimaced. He had a non-Japanese speaker in the group. He certainly couldn't speak two languages at once. He sighed. He would have to repeat what he was about to say. He looked at Leo and spoke in English. "I'm going to explain something to the others, then i'll come back and explain it to you." He cleared his throat and switched to Japanese. "I know you're all confused. Maybe even a little scared. That's completely normal. What you're experiencing right now is called The Dark Hour. It occurs every night at midnight. It's... I guess you could say... "hidden" between one day and the next. You... may have noticed that everyone save for us have turned into coffins. The reason why you all have not is because you have what we call... the potential. I... don't think I should explain anymore. Not yet, anyway. Now... it's getting late. Head up to your rooms and go to bed." He paused. "Don't follow us. Please. This is no game." He repeated everything he just said in English so Leo could understand. "Now, if you'll excuse me." He walked up to his room and grabbed his epee off the wall. He took a few test swings. "Hm..." His technique was sloppy. His time being injured really took a toll on his skill.

Maaka watched Yoromatsu explain the situation before leaving them with a epee in his hands... so this Dark Hour... and that Evoker.... well this was turning to a interesting night out. Already dressed to move about freely Maaka surveyed the situation before running to her new room leaving the now entitled other "newbies" before return to them with two well sized, curved, and obviously sharp daggers tied to her sides. She looked to see if any of the people who new the full situate were still here... unfortunately she wasn't fully sure who was new, and who wasn't.

"I don't know about the rest of you but sleeping this off... doesn't sound like something I want to do... so anyone want to come with me, or do you want to pretend you didn't see any of this tonight," Asaga asked before turning to Leo and asking the sam question in English.... apparently she knew English, well she would have said something originally, but she decided to let her guide handle her own situations at that time.

"Better yet does anyone know where we can grab one of those guns?"

Needless to say, since he loathes loud noises, Shirogane was having a terrible time at the club, but kept it hidden well. Rather than go out dressed in his dorm-attire, the usual sloppy laze-about clothes he normally wore while staying in all day, he actually made the effort to dress up and his charm as a model certainly showed. His hair was straight and not at all the mess it was earlier; several rings adorned his right hand but none on his left; he wore a dark high-collared (and high price-tag) designer sweater with leather stitched over the back of the shoulders and on top to give it an edgy look; he even had a bit of balm smeared on his lips and face to give his skin a bit more luster. In fact, he probably took more time get to ready before leaving than some of the girls. After several hours of looking great and feeling miserable while standing awkwardly in the middle of a crowd of people he didn't know, although Youhei's thick-headedness gave him some relief, he was back at the dorm with the rest of the SEES group. Somehow he couldn't help feel a little concerned for the new members of the group ever since Takahiro confirmed the enemy's presence outside of Tartarus but unsure of how to help he couldn't think of any way to reassure them. For now they would just have to shut up and listen to Yoro just as he was. Having Nekomata at his side again would certainly make him feel better, and maybe the fledglings of their group could also summon their personas. Having their evokers at least wouldn't make them totally helpless.

One did not expect someone dressed up as femininely as Nami to fall asleep during a metal concert. Though Nagi had definitely the idea to get the hell out of the dormitories and 'dress properly', Yoro's insistence that she go along, and his refusal to accept any excuse, was her cause for presence here.

It helped that the twins were used to the buzz of a concert. A little bit too much.

And when Nagi woke up during the Dark Hour, it was Nami that took hold of the body. It was the gunshot that jolted her up. Her head was still in quite the daze, and she followed about the rest of the group in a trance-like manner.

"Wait..." she mumbled, her eyes finally clearing up from the glazed-over look she had. The walls were green. And bleeding. She screamed, her hands latching onto the first thing she could grab. In this case, it was Youhei's shoulders.

Her eyes darted around. Whatever conversations they had moments eluded her, and all she saw were things to be frightened of.

Nodding curtly, Youhei turned from Kirijo as the other student took off with Takahiro, to double check that everyone understood; he was especially concerned for Leo and his non-Japanese speaking ways... Fortunately everyone seemed to have gotten the message anyway, minus the quiet girl. He was about to head over and drag her out when someone grabbed him from behind. A glance over one shoulder revealed it to be Nami, much to Youhei's confusion. She hadn't seemed the type to get scared earlier on. Then again, the walls back at the dorm hadn't been bleeding... 'You ok? Alright, that was a dumb question. Don't worry, you're safe with us. Did you get what Kirijo said? Back to the dorm, then bed. As for the details...' He scratched his hair uncertainly. 'Well, I'm sure he'll deal with that eventually.' As carefully and respectfully as he could (partly because he was a bit awkward around the girl), Youhei disentangled himself from Nami and checked her over to ensure she hadn't had a panic attack or something. When he was confident that she could move, he jogged over to where the quiet girl had hidden; he still didn't know her name but this was hardly the best time for an ersatz introduction. 'Come with us lass. It'll be safe back home, trust me.' As he herded the two frightened girls toward the entrance, he took one last glance around, confirming that everyone else had left ahead of them and then led the way back to the Iwatodai dorm. On the way he wondered why no-one else had helped the quiet girl, but she did seem to lack a sense of presence...

Once everyone was back at the dorm and accounted for, Youhei bounded up to his room as Kirijo briefed the rest. It didn't take him long to change, switching to a pair of tough cargo trousers and a leather jacket. SEES hadn't done much exploring since their first foray into Tartarus, but he had taken the time to assemble some appropriate kit to fight in regardless. Steel toecap boots, fingerless leather gloves and of course his trusty warhammer. He paused after fitting his Evoker's holster, his eyes flitting between the SEES and Strega versions. They were functionally identical, so did it really matter which one he used..? Youhei shrugged, in the end holstering his looted black Strega Evoker and leaving his issued one on the desk. After double checking everything, he jogged back down and outside, a cigar hanging from his mouth in a half-joking fashion. Unbeknownst to Youhei, the door bounced behind him, slowly creaking open again.

Suddenly, Yoro came back and brought everyone back to the dorm. For some reason, they were all running, but Leo didn't see anyone chasing them. This really was a big deal. Once they were back at the door, Leo stopped to catch his breath while Yoro explained to everyone else what was happening in Japanese, before explaining to him in English. He mentioned something called the dark Hour, but didn't go into much detail what that was. He frowned when the words stay here left his mouth, then he left with a weapon in hands. Leo raised an eyebrow. Did this guy not watch cartoons? When something like this happens and you tell people to stay here, of course they're not gonna stay.

"Are you kidding me?! You can't expect me to not want to do something after hearing that!" Leo exclaimed after Yoro already left. He was especially curious when he mentioned having the "potential." Potential to do what? Yoro didn't say, which just piqued his curiosity more. He wasn't entirely sure what he was going to next, but one thing was for sure, he definitely wasn't going to go back to his dorm and pretend this never happened. No way! Besides, how was he supposed to get any sleep when the walls were bleeding, and the world had become sickly green. That's just creepy...

Then the silver haired girl came back with a pair of knives... Why she had those on her Leo did not know. Was it common for Japanese people to have weapons on them all the time? Anyway, she pretty much said exactly what Leo was thinking. Best of all, she said it in English too. Yay! "Of course I'm coming! I'm not the kind of guy who can to sit around twiddling my thumbs when cool stuff is happening!" Leo replied. He then pulled out his yoyo from his pocket, and swung it around. "Although, if we need weapons, this is probably the best one I have... Heh." She then asked where she could get one of those guns Taka had used earlier, that the others seemed to have. "Beats me." Leo said with a shrug.

Her attempt to speak to her friend Akira was short lived as she heard Yoro's voice from downstairs, followed by Takahiro's rough one growling out a string of profanities and dismissal. Apparently Takahiro's band was going to play in the local club inside of the mall tonight, and Yoro had taken it upon himself to invite everyone. The red-haired girl took a look back at Shirogane's door and sighed before making her way back to her own room to change into something a bit more comfortable for a loud, blaring event.

She decided to dress dark, sticking with a simple black tank-top and dark denim jeans with a simple pair of sneakers. She wore her favorite hoodie, which had the logo of a popular anime in the area on the back, to keep herself warm, and after she made her way towards Akira she couldn't help but feel under dressed. Hell, he looked amazing, but he seemed like he was nervous so she decided to stick close to her newest friend. 'I guess...I just feel safe around him.' she mused before remembering their battle within Tartarus. He seemed so intent on protecting her--ah well, she might be romanticizing it a bit, but the thought warmed her nonetheless. She gave him a small smile before awkwardly shuffling beside him, hoping that she could at least hide from Yoro's gaze and possible concern. The ache from before threatened to smother out the warmth she was feeling before, but once again she stifled it and focused on the band in front of her play.

Just as she started to get used to the music, everything abruptly stopped and the room took on an eerie green hue. The walls seemed to ooze some sort of liquid, and the sea of bodies she and Akira stood in was comparable to an unearthed graveyard. It was hard for her not to freak out, and after Yoro ordered for Takahiro to scan the area she couldn't understand why Yoro would want them to venture out without their Evokers. Youhei voiced exactly what she was thinking, and after that they were all headed back to the dorm. The bespectacled girl dashed to her room before grabbing her bow and arrows, SEES band and holster, but she couldn't find her Evoker! "Fuck, where did I put that thing?!" she groaned with an exasperated look. She looked under her bed, in her dresser, even inside of her closet. "Of all times to lose this freaking thing! Aarruugh!" she growled as she tore through her room, and after fifteen minutes of looking, she found her Evoker tucked between her boxspring and her mattress and tucked it into her holster.

She returned to the lobby to find her companions gone, and she let out a desperate groan. Of course she'd show up late to the party and get left behind, and with nothing left to do she looked over to the new group and saw them chatting among each other. She raised an eyebrow at Maaka's daggers, and gave an even weirder look as she saw Leo toying with his Yo-yo. Did they really think that they were going out after her group? Well...none of them had awakened to their Personas, if they even had them. If anything she could try to protect them, but the thought of leaving the main group without a healer made her stomach twist. Akira could do nothing more but rub her forehead, hoping to ward off the oncoming headache from all of the stress and the ambiance of the Dark Hour.

After a quick run into the dorm, Shirogane re-emerged with his evoker strapped into his holster on his thigh. Oddly enough, the newbies were pretty much raring to go despite having been ordered to stay behind. Akira remembered himself being more fearful of that first night, although that overwhelming fearfulness manifested in a strangely empowering anxiety. Guess they have a strong will to live...or maybe they're just stupid. He thought, observing the back and forth between a silver-haired girl with deathly sharp knives and a brony swinging a toy around as if it were a lethal weapon. While he could clearly see the newest members of SEES weren't about to go along with being put to bed, at the same time he had a nagging sense that something was missing. He hadn't noticed that Ikeda had been keeping close proximity to him up till this point in the night, but now that she was gone that feeling he couldn't identify replaced his obliviousness. Before too long he noticed she was missing and felt his heart skip a beat. When the hell had she disappeared and why didn't he notice sooner? "Sorry, I'm going back!" He announced to the team, before dashing back to the dorm hoping to find Ikeda. While sprinting back the sheer volume of thoughts going through his head was actively trying to destroy him again. There was the matter of the new members staying behind and whether they would actually do that or not, and if they did stay behind would someone have to stand watch with them just in case? If so he hoped he could be the one to remain behind since last time he wasn't much help and considering how horribly that could have turned out--he didn't want to remember The Other or worse that giant metal angel and the cultists--he definitely did not want to go through that again, although he'd feel better about it if everyone was going all together. However, he had to find Ikeda first. They were certainly doomed without her healing, but more importantly than that...he had made a promise to her. That thought came through stronger than any others and kept his feet pounding pavement until he burst through the door to the dorm lobby, practically wheezing as he scanned the room with wild eyes. He took a deep, well-deserved breath to regain his composure as he spied Ikeda among the newbies "What a relief..."

The group had just arrived at the monorail. Takahiro stayed behind. "Where is it?" Yoromatsu asked through his communicator.

"Just ahead." Takahiro replied.

"Come on." Yoro creeped forward, epee in hand. They came upon a train stopped in the middle of the tracks. The doors were wide open.

"That's it. It's in there."

"Got it." Yoro climbed up on a ladder and entered the train. Once everyone entered, Yoromatsu came to a sudden realization. "Wait a second..." He turned to the others. "We're in the middle of the tracks, so why are the doors--" Suddenly, all of the doors shut. "Grrrr..." Yoromatsu looked around. His grip on his weapon tightening.

"Behind you!" Takahiro's voice rang through the communicators just as Yoromatsu heard a thud behind him. There they were; Shadows. Six of them to be exact. He turned around to face them. "Keep calm. These are just some small ones." In one fluid movement, Yoromatsu drew his Evoker and put it to his head. "Ares, go!" He pulled the trigger. Ares materialized behind him and charged at the Shadow.

---

Back at the dorm, as everyone was getting ready to go, there was a knock on the door.

It worried Youhei that he was starting to get used to the Dark Hour. It shouldn't be possible to become accustomed to seeing blood oozing out of masonry or the moon being almost close enough to touch and yet he found himself blithely accepting it, just another messed up aspect of his strange life on Tatsumi Port Island. He shook his head to clear it as the group jogged toward the monorail access, resolving to just go with it. As they finally slowed, Youhei took a good look at who was present and to his shock found that half of SEES was missing; the Akiras were nowhere to be seen and he couldn't find Maede. Now that he could take stock of the situation, he realised that it was only himself and Kirijo here, Takahiro having fallen back to provide support. He turned to the only other member present, treating him to a raised eyebrow. 'Uh... we may be a bit understrength here Kirijo.'. But Kirijo continued forward, unfazed; clearly he was used to fighting alone and that gave Youhei some sense of reassurance at least. 'Oi, radar. Where is everyone?', he called into his communicator, before dumping his cigar and loosening his weapon; if it was just going to be the pair of them, then Youhei would need to pull his weight.

They climbed into the indicated rail car, trying to be both stealthy and vigilant; not an easy feat when your nerves started getting to you. To Youhei's suspicious surprise, the car was clear; if this was where the Shadow had holed up then it was being very sneaky-beaky about it. And then with perfect timing, Kirijo said something that set it all off. As the doors slid shut around them, a number of indistinct shapes began to appear through the walls; Shadows. Smaller than the ones Youhei had seen so far and presumably weaker. He glanced at Kirijo and saw the quiet confidence there. Well, he thought. If our illustrious leader gives no shits, then neither do I. So Youhei joined in with Ares' attack, charging forward with his hammer; once again he disregarded using his Persona. While Inugami had proven to be a valuable ally in Tartarus, he wasn't confident of his ability to control both it and his own body at the same time. Youhei's thoughts switched back to the present as he charged and he singled out a floating Shadow as his target; the creature hissed as he closed, throwing up a sheet of flame to block his path. Unfortunately for both of them, his momentum left Youhei with no choice but to charge straight through it and he swung his hammer down hard on the Shadow's crowned head. He could feel the magic burning away at him, but not as badly as he had expected; if he had the time to think about it, he might have remembered the many other times he was gotten injured recently. Every time he had found the pain and injury to be less than expected; just another hidden bonus of being a Persona user.

Shirogane burst into the room, eyes wild as he surveyed the group and Akira could feel his eyes on her. The relief in her own shimmered brightly, and she walked up to greet him. "I'm sorry I took so long...I misplaced something important, but thank you for coming back for me. You're a good friend, Shirogane." Akira said in a hushed tone, her eyes flickering between his winded features and the ground beneath her feet. Her inner thoughts were interrupted as Youhei's static-filled voice chimed in through the bluetooth earpiece on her left ear, and she quickly brought her hand up to press the button to reply. "We're on our way..." she could hear her own garbled reply echo back to her, and she tsk'd in annoyance.

"It...seems that we will have to bring them, Shiro. They seem to be armed enough, and I don't think you and I are enough force to escort ourselves to the train--" A knock on the door interrupted her, and with a raised eyebrow she stared at it over Akira's shoulder. 'Who the hell could that be? This is the Dark Hour, how--oh, another one. That's right, we can move during the dark hour.' she murmured inwardly. With a small grimace, Akira walked over and slowly opened the door, hoping to act as a very minor barrier between the newcomers and whoever this stranger could be. Fighting shadows was one thing, and she knew very well that fighting other people was something else entirely. For all she knew this person could be another one of those strange men who attacked them at the school...

In a nearly breathless voice Shirogane answered "Well, no worries...heroes are always late." Then he instinctively put his hand up to his ear when he saw Ikeda touch her own. His earpiece was missing, but there was no time for that now. Whether they should stay or if they'd be able to handle themselves if they came or if he'd be able to protect them or even protect Ikeda and himself at all; all of his worrisome thoughts resurfaced as Ikeda began planning out how to move the newbies to the train and--Wait, Shiro? Is that a nickname? Shirogane's mile-a-minute train of thought came to an immediate halt and he went flush. He would have agreed with anything she said in that moment despite his conflicted feelings over their current situation.

Momentarily distracted he didn't move in time to stop her from opening the door, but he snapped out of it just in time to push her out of the way--standing in her place, eyes shut tight and braced for whatever could be waiting on the other side of the door.

Kashiwara Yuuhei drove his foot down on the shadow. Feeling a satisfying squish, he rolled from the force of the kick and performed a roundhouse kick to the being 'face'. Quite boring if he ask him. Normally when he comes down here to kill time, there is a shadow that keeps his attention, but that can't be helped as he can't beg for every Shadow to be upper tier. The previous Shadow was trying to escape through the door without attracting Yuuhei's attention. He cocked his head over to the left where the shadow was moving. "Quite intelligent aren't you, not that that will save you or anything." In a sudden burst of speed, Yuuhei leaped into the air, still low to the ground and covering a lot of distance, he spun once again, driving his heel into the monsters back. The force propelled them both through the door that was already slowly opening.

Kashiwara Yuuhei landed perfectly and noticed there were several eyes on him. "Someone else to play with?" He eyed those around him. He walked over to the shadow and began poking him with a random stick he seemed to have been holding for a while.

The shadow Yuuhei sent flying through the half-open door smacked Shirogane right in his expensive face, and the idol went down hard. At least his heroic action had been somewhat justified, but hardly since he still hadn't recovered even while the stranger began poking the shadow that was still on top of him. Fortunately, the amorphous blob-like body of the shadow was rather squishy. That was little solace, however, seeing as how Shirogane wasn't looking forward to ever having the unpleasant experience of coming very close to making out with a shadow. Despite his unfortunate predicament, rather perhaps because of their close encounter, Shirogane felt a little sympathetic towards this particular shadow...and little but resent for the stranger. At least Ikeda wasn't hit...

"Could you get off me...?" He groaned from underneath the shadow. If it had been Ikeda in his place, even without willing it so, she'd be channeling moe, but he was less cute about asking.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Who would be visiting at this hour? Leo thought as two people rushed to answer. First the girl who helped him find a room earlier, then she was pushed out of the way by the other guy that lived on his floor. Right at that moment, the door opened, and a guy in a ponytail came bursting in chasing some kind of black amorphous blob. The blob hit the dark haired guy in the face, and knocked him down. Then the new guy proceeded to poke the blob with a stick.

Leo couldn't help giggling at the comical scene that had just unfolded. He walked up to the group, "Hehe, that was random!" The boy looked at the strange creature with an inquisitive face. Sentinent blobs of shadow definitely wasn't something you saw everyday. Then again, this whole situation wasn't something you saw everyday. "What is that? And why was it chasing you?"

Another Shadow exploded into black mist and Youhei staggered back to lean against the car wall. He and Kirijo had been fighting constantly for what felt like hours but the tide of Shadows showed no sign of slowing. As he took a moment to catch his breath, Youhei directed Inugami to snap up another black mass about to back stab Kirijo and wondered how long they could hold out. The doors were locked, so they couldn't escape; he could only hope that either the Dark Hour would end soon or the others would come to back them up. He tried the comms again, battling with a sense of futility. 'Takahiro answer me, you little fuck! Where the hell is everyone!? Can any SEES member hear me? Anyone?' His breather was cut short however, as another wave of indistinct shapes emerged from the far wall. Youhei took a deep breath, blocking out the pain of multiple cuts, bruises and broken ribs and charged once more into the fray.