[b]Kotori Shirohane - Crypt of Hopes and Dreams: Floor 1 | After School[/b]

Kotori glanced between the steam-spewing and her teammates; unsure of whether this was some form of attack, a cover or just a harmless venting of heat. She was, however, at least a little relieved to see that both Sato and Akane seemed to have recovered from the respective hits they'd taken; particularly after the former had been thrown to the ground by strike. The others, meanwhile, seemed similarly wary of the shadow after its initial attacks and sword barriers had prevented any real damage being done to it. Instead, they'd opted to go for a defensive approach as Akane used Setanta to summon a shield of her own. Taking inspiration, Sato then too used the same spell - but this time being cast upon the whole group, enveloping them all in a faintly glowing shells. Whilst they didn't feel impervious, it did seem like they'd take the worst of any attack and at least make strikes easier to take.

Meanwhile though, Ayano hadn't been idle either - instead, she'd been scanning the shadow and finally managed to get a read on it. Relaying anything she'd garnered to Rui, he was quick to order an attack - it seemed as though the steam really was due to it using up too much energy to shield itself, needing a brief pause to recharge. Looking between the others as they got ready to attack, Kotori couldn't see anyone in further need of healing; leaving her to instead face the large shadow. Taking a deep breath, she once again raised a hand with a low [color=green]"Kikuri-hime"[/color] - before clenching said hand as she called her first attack on the shadow: [color=green]"Zio."[/color] A bolt of lightning crashed into the creature; further adding to the damage it was taking from the others - but rather than get too hopeful, Kotori couldn't shake the worry that it wouldn't go down quite that easily; keeping her distance and trying to stay on the shadow's sides as Rui had ordered.