"Hmm..." Thomas said, as if considering the boy's request.
In reality, however, he was surveying the room as distractions appeared one after another. The first distraction was a somewhat famous figure in the school community. Erika Mitsuki, and the story surrounding her miraculous awakening was one ripe for writing about, but he hadn't yet found the time for investigating it. He'd only briefly mentioned her awakening in the corpse collector issue, the one the club had published just the day before. He wanted to look into the incident in depth as he was sure that there would be something worth writing about, but he didn't have the time to do it now. So Thomas shrugged and uttered a vague word of acceptance at the girl's request. He didn't exactly have any business with the red king anyway.

The second distraction was quiet and unobtrusive, but Thomas noticed it nonetheless. A girl who made as if to leave but didn't. Perhaps she was curious about what was happening in the club room? Next, another girl, though not as anonymous as the first. A presence he would explore soon, but later.

A third distraction occurred abruptly, Maribel cut into the boy - Kosuke as Maribel had inadvertently informed Thomas - and Thomas's conversation. Thomas looked at Maribel at the corner of his eye as she went on to exhibit some fairly strange behaviour. As he watched, Erika took Maribel by the arm and hurried out of the room.
"Suspicious." Thomas thought.
He was quite sure that the blue king was different, somehow, though he couldn't even begin to imagine why she was different, or what exactly happened to cause Maribel's shift in behaviour. It bothered him a lot but he couldn't exactly get the answers he wanted without invading her privacy, and he wasn't entirely sure he could justify an action on the flimsy basis of 'she's acting sort of weird and it might just be me'. So he'd let it go for now. He couldn't act with just his gut, but there were plenty of things he could act on right now.
"Sorry, Kisuke was it? Give me a second." Thomas told his conversation partner.

Thomas picked up one of Emma's mints and flicked it up to his mouth before biting down on it and chewing down, releasing a burst of fresh mint. He walked up to the door and opened it before suddenly sticking his head out of the doorway to find the new visitor.
"Excuse me," He said, calling out to her. "But do you have business here? You're welcome to come in if you do."

@RoflsMazoy@ColouredCyan@KoL@TheWindel and also maybe @Ryonara maybe cause you're in the room

~Chiyo Kuroke~

“Ahahah, oh wow, aren’t you just the smartest,” Dana said, voice dripping with sarcasm. If it wasn’t obvious, she really, really didn’t want to be doing this right now. But here she was, dealing with something she really didn’t want to do. As usual. Though Eris might take some comfort in seeing that she wasn’t the only one the other students avoided.

Quite a few cast weary and annoyed glances at Dana; in response, she just gave them a wink before they turned the other way. Turning back to Eris, she said, “Oh ho, see? We’re both super, duper pieces of trash! That means, we totes have to stick together yo. Cause when trash builds up, everyone has to smell us, ahahah!”

Her rambling aside, she gave Eris a vicious little grin that showed off her shark teeth to the question. Now, now, wasn’t that getting a little personal? She knew getting on Eris’ mom’s bad side was not something she wanted but crossing the mother of Yoshino and Chiyo? That was a red alarm and not information she was going to part with so easily.

“Oh ho, no can do yo. We may be Trash Sisters but the difference between us is that I have a job. Gotta keep some lips sealed you know? It’s not like I’m a spoiled brat who has to rely on her mom’s influence to get what she wants, right, right, right?” she said, now leaning closer to Eris’ face in a blatant violation of personal space. Not that Dana cared.

“Buuuuuut, if you really wanna know about Emo Edge Face and Bitch Mouth, maybe you should ask one of them yourself,” she offered, manic eyes flitting to the side. Maybe it wasn’t the person Eris wanted to see, but there she was in the flesh of it all. Student President Yoshino Tsugumi, walking towards the school. The moment her gaze snapped onto Dana and Eris, her features darkened a little. It didn’t help that Eris’ message system was being spammed by Chiyo, demanding what was taking her so long.

"Hello Eris Reinhardt," Yoshino said plainly with an even face and a neutral voice. Dana was too busy gasping and bouncing in place, hoping the two would get into a super spicy catfight.

---

---

"If you're trying to get a scoop on Green Guild tactics, stick it where it fits and out of my face pal,"
"Media isn't my thing so I'll see you around Red King. And trust me, you'll come around and see it my way,"
"Oh, and your glasses bimbo is here. Guess she's not dead after all. If you guys really want a news story, maybe focus on the girl who got popular in a week."

Well that was a bit rude, Caitlyn thought to herself, I wasn't aware I was dead or a "bimbo", and since when was I particularly popular? Caitlyn was about to wipe that smug look off his face when she spotted another girl in the corridor. She calmed down a little, and the nod of aknowledgement of her present was nice, reassured her that the mean things he'd said definitely weren't directed at her, even if they were the sort of insults she'd used to wind herself up. On the plus side he wasn't having secret meetings with the Red and Blue Kings. Crisis averted. Without Nagato there there was nothing really noteworthy going on, just Neutrals and "Enemies" chatting. Still information that would be useful to the green guild, but wasn't likely they'd divulge anything particularly important with her present. She could just head back to her room begin grinding to level 4.

"Oh, and come on down Caitlyn cause I know you're there too,"

Was she just hearing things or did the Blue King just call her Caitlyn? Caitlyn was aware she was there by the sheer quantity of noise Maribel had been making but she herself had been pretty damn quiet in the corridor, did she see her as passed the door? She wasn't exactly a stealthy build, it was possible. But first name basis with a rival King? Maybe she had become more popular this week. She didn't honestly know how to react, trying to find out what was going on in there really felt like a trap.

"Excuse me, but do you have business here? You're welcome to come in if you do."

Caitlyn stopped and turned, it would be impolite to try to have the conversation with the nice gentleman while running away. Do the right thing and accept the Blue King's call and the News Clubs invitation or leave for safety? Nagato would know. Caitlyn swivelled to check for her leader but he had already disappeared. She didn't actually have any business, she should simply say no thank you and continue but...

That nod.

It wasn't acknowledgement, it was a signal! The Green King would seem evasive if he didn't answer questions he definitely should have the answer to, but a subordinate could feign ignorance or simply refuse to answer such that the leader's authority wasn't undermined. Even if she didn't gain information from the visit, by her mere presence, she might prevent secure communication between the Red King, the Blue King and the newspaper. It was certainly above her station to act as the Green Guild's representative, but it could take a while before another member could show. She'd have to do it. Now to formulate an excuse. Caitlyn spoke boldly, however she could never fully mask the gentle tones in her voice.

"Actually I do, come to think of it, I did have a few questions concerning the festival from myself and the Gardening Club."

Caitlyn placed her bag under a table near the back of the room and joined the rough circle of people that had formed, attempting to not be too close or too far from the Kings. Caitlyn pulled up a chair and sat down; knees together, hands in lap. She was glad for the number of neutrals present, there would bystanders, reporters even, should anything kick off. Before she start getting her questions answered though she'd have to see what the Blue King wanted from her.

"Is there anything I can help you with at all, Miss Harper?" Caitlyn asked courteously.

Continuation from last post

She was, in a word, terrifying. It was to envision the girl with a notebook in her hand instead of a magic staff, both of which she actively used as melee weapons as illustrated by her proceeding to bring down the parcel upon Ken's head with divine justice. "So, what were you two morons drolling on about?" She queried crisply through Ken's, having already braced herself for the imminent loss of brain cells. "Actually, hold it, I don't want to know." The redhead curtly saved her piece of mind with a hand shoved towards the two, one crumpled in tears and the other still petrified by her sudden appearance. "How'd these two even get through junior high?" She mulled over the prospect in search of some clarity. Unfortunately the only thing she found was Shiro's blindingly idiotic grin and Ken's inability to formulate a full sentence without stuttering. A sigh of surrender left the girl as she rested her sullen face in her palm. "Anyways, as much as I would like to discuss a club trip to the beach, I have some more important matters on my mind. Shiro," The girl began while she shifted her gaze over to the one-eyed student, her stern countenance slackening into a sardonic smirk, "Heard you've been having troubles with paparazzi."

It was true. On the day following the events within the Black City, students from various classes and years bombarded the kid for a confirmation on his IG handle. After all, his and Paper Moon's body structure were completely identical, but the two counterparts were not directly connected in the database. Thus he's been plagued with offering up explanations supporting that they are entirely separate from one another. ”You know me, I just help people out with farming disollutions. How could somebody as nondescrept as that suddenly wind up on the front page like that, especially if they've already been attending the academy for three years." Funny thing is, there's not a single shred of falsehood in that statement. Up until nearly a week ago, Shiro, or rather Paper Moon had been doing just that. Assisting lower level players in farming and grinding missions. It was only the culmination of happenstances that led him to his current state of affairs. Even though he was still running off of an abundant supply of energy thanks to smoothies, he has been quite drained by the barrages of inquiries and interrogations. Hell, one kid even said "Spill the beans, man!" Who says that anymore? Rather than regarding Akane's jab with the complaints currently bundled inside of him, which was exactly what she wanted, he instead managed a shrug and a curt ”I've been getting through it. On the bright side, I've been able to practice my smile." Expecting Akane to be agitated by how Shiro diverted the direction of the conversation, it was to his surprise to find her responding with an emulated gesture. A slight, subtle disregarding shrug.

"Well that's good to hear, I guess. I was beginning to think that running from the press would detract from your playing time in DGO. It's been a living hell organizing squads. I swear, some people are so incoherent it almost makes you want to shove them into a blen-"

A-Akane-chan?" The voice was frail, yet it bore enough strength to cut Akane's diatribe short. The source was a female student who embodied the definition of a generic Japanese teen, except for the slightly above average height. Seamlessly the air that swirled around the redhead changed as the crimson twintails swung around with the girl's whole body and glomped onto the newcomer. "Yayoi-chan~!!!" It transpired without transition, as if it was an act as simple as switching masks. Not even a moment prior was muttering obscenities with a death stare, now she was happily rubbing the side of her face into Yayoi's chest like an innocent kitten. The change in temperament had occurred so quickly that the two boys almost didn't notice it. "What's up, Yayoi-chan~?" She asked expectantly with an adorable smile stretched wide, "U-um, you weren't at the designated meetup place for our group study. I drew the short straw and was sent to find you..." The girl trailed off, her senses overrided with flush due to the redhead's embrace. "Hm..." Akane pressed a finger to her chin as she conjured up her form of a response, "Well, how about this? We can crash in my friend's clubroom, I'm sure he wouldn't mind the extra company since the club agenda isn't too packed today, riiiiiiiiight?"
TRANSLATION: "Better let us use your clubroom otherwise I will name my foot Magellan and explore your unknown regions~."

Ken did not decline the request, if it could even be called that.

But the two males were perturbed even though they didn't show it. They were already aware of Akane's adeptness at switching personalities like music numbers in a jukebox, sans the monetary fee. They just hadn't explicitly approached the subject, but have been making subtle actions to etch away at the mentality. Progress was being made, but only at a snail's pace. It was now that Shiro finally piped up to work his way into the girls' moment, ”Welp, I'mma gonna take my leave for now. Gonna pay a wounded soldier a visit. Message me if you need oh so canny insight." The student waved at his three classmates and spun on the fulcrum of his heel to take his leave.

Meanwhile the remaining three proceeded to the clubroom, Akane and Yayoi in the midst of a deep conversation while being led on by Ken who was a few feet ahead, a safe distance.

Eris listened in silence to all that Dana had to say, she didn't felt like snapping back, or feeding the blonde's snarky behavior even more. In fact, some of it was even truth to a certain extent, Eris had no reason to reply to anything. Anyway, while she waited, Eris was being bombarded with Chiyo's demands, though she could do nothing about them right now, Eris had given up on using the bus quite a lot of time ago and called her chauffer, he should be around here at any moment but, while she waited, Eris just replied to Chiyo. "I'll be there as fast as possible. There were delaying circumstances, please forgive me."

Turning her attention back to what was happening around her, Eris decided to finally address Dana, "I'm sorry about having asked it, then. By the way, your teeth are very sharp, aren't they? Did you ever cut your own tongue while rapid firing words like this?" Just as Eris's driver was making the turn of the nearest corner on her Rolls Royce Phantom, none other than Yoshino Tsugumi approached Eris and Dana. After being greeted in a formal way by the usually apathetic Student President Eris got a bit surprised however, she didn't let any of it show as she replied, "Good morning, Miss Yoshino Tsugumi. It has been a few days since I last met you, is everything alright with you and your client?"

Right as Eris said that, her chauffer parked beside then and stepped out to open the door for Eris. "Good morning, Miss Reinhardt. Are those your friends?" The old man said with a grave voice, characteristic of one who lived a whole life in service of others. In fact, Eris, just like her sister, insisted on having a human hand behind the wheel of any non-public vehicle she rode, after an incident two years ago that was caused by a failed AI of their autonomous car.

Either way, Eris nodded to her driver. She had a faint yet elegant but, uncharacteristic (for those who don't know Eris), smile on her face as she replied, "The same to you, Murakami. I think you can consider then as such. At least, I prefer to think so." Having said that, Eris turned back to Yoshino and Dana. "Either way, Miss Yoshino Tsugumi, I beg your pardon but I must leave to meet with Cassandra as well as my new Master. I take it that my escort is going to accompany me as well. However, I would dislike that such a rare meeting ended so prematurely. If there is anywhere you want to go, I can have Murakami drive us there, before going to the Mall." Eris stared around aimlessly, trying to avoid crossing Yoshino's gaze, as she waited for the Student President's reply.


"So, erm, I see..." Emma didn't knew well how to reply to Maribel's weird behavior, thankfully the Blue King left, taking part of the crowd in the club room with her, wich saved Emma of even more awkward replies. However, as Kosuke mentioned a rather embarrassing topic, Emma saw he opportunity to jump in the talk again with a joke. "Oh? Prepare your anus? If you are serious about that, I can recommend you a good lube brand... not that I know anything about this, of course... hehehe." Emma popped one of her mints on her mouth, while scratching the back of her head as she hoped that her joke had made the mood on the club room more relaxed.

"Anyway, Kousuke, right? If you wanna know, the maid café of the White Guild is not only a fetish stuff as you may think. It's hard to debunk them because they have class, read: money to throw around. It seems this year they are gonna have uniforms designed by the Fashion Club and all. If the Strikers wanna top that they've gotta work. Either way, it's not important when the Harleys are gonna be the ones to win the cup, after all, we have Big Boss and Nixon on our side, there's no way we can lose to anyone, hehe." After replying, Emma looked to Thomas and then to her watch and then to Thomas again, while pointing to the wall clock. "Hey, Prez, I guess we should get going, the school will be closed soon. We can continue the work later. We can meet at the Public Library tomorrow around noon, if you wanna, but I need to meet Nixon this afternoon." After saying so, Emma fell silent, keeping her gaze on Hibiki as she wondered if the other girl was feeling alright now.


Yuuno waited for a long time until Asahi finally called for her, though his voice was rasp and morose. Yuuno swallowed hard before before turning the knob and getting into the room, "N-no, I won't let these second thoughts beat me again. I won't let-" Yuuno's thoughts were abruptly interrupted as she set her eyes over Asahi. His state was worse than she could have imagined.

Taking another step forward, Yuuno sat in a chair beside Asahi's bed after setting the flowers at the nearest pot. "Are you better, Goroshi-kun? Can you recognize me?" Yuuno smiled shyly, after tentatively reaching forth but deciding to rest her hands over her lap, fearing that she could unintentionally hurt Asahi, or cause him to react in a bad way, if he really didn't remembered her.


Itsuko was walking back from the food court, drinking a melon smoothie, after eating a jumbo sized hotdog (even the vendor was dumbfounded to see how a girl like Itsuko can eat so much without any seeming problems), while reading a manga she had just purchased. She was distracted to the point that she didn't even noticed what was going on in front of her and ended bumping against someone, who would turn to be none but Chiyo Kuroke, the White King, one of those who antagonized Itsuko the other day.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I-I didn't wanted to..." Itsuko said, immediately going on a defensive argument, after she noticed that her smoothie had fell over Chiyo's shoes. She glanced around nervously, as if looking for something, or someone to help, but no one who know who Chiyo is had the guts to go against her (the company of Chiyo's bodyguard was a great deterrent to heroism as well), only a fool would defy the daughter of the woman who practically owned the city. "I can, hmm... pay for it, if you want, just... don't do anything." Itsuko said, practically mewling as she kept on fidgeting around. It would be a good time for someone to come to her rescue, but what to do when probably even the adults here could do nothing, since most of them worked for Chiyo's mom?

---

@Caits, @RoflsMazoy, @Lord of Evil, @Ryonara, @ColouredCyan, @TheWindel.

For the last two days, Jiro had been doing two things; cleaning up the Black City, and searching for a new job. For the most part, the in-game location had cleaned itself and purged the bodies, so there hadn't been much of a mess to begin with, though there was a few derelict tanks that needed removal. Beyond that, he had been sifting through the classified section of the school newspaper for what time he had, and he had found something quite hilarious. The White Guild was starting up a maid-themed cafe, and he had considered dropping in an application for a long while, almost as a joke. He hadn't actually done it, but since literally two people knew who he was in-game, there wouldn't really be a reason to reject the resume. The blue-haired boy laughed to himself a little as he stepped out of the local hospital's elevator, taking in his surroundings for a moment before heading down the hall to Asahi's room.

As he arrived, Jiro heard the larger fellow enter a coughing fit and saw a girl disappear into his room. He decided to be a good Samaritan for the moment and grabbed a plastic cup from a nearby water cooler, then filled it with some chilled water. With the small container filled, he entered the room and shot his superior a smirk. "Asahi Goroshi," He paused for a moment and examined the boy, making note of the heavy bandaging around his torso. "You've seen better days, huh?" He set the cup on the table beside his bed and took a step back, leaning on the wall before he started talking. "The whole school was talking about you for a day, Shiro and I have a pretty good idea of what happened. But aside from that, the annual festival's starting up, and we need a little direction for what to do. White Guild's going ham on it, they've got a maid cafe in the works. I have no idea what the other guilds are up to, but I heard the Harleys have something big lined up." With his status update given, the native gave the only girl in the room a nod of acknowledgement and crossed his arms.

@Lucius Cypher@KoL

---

Aaron Fletcher wandered the halls of Purple Crown Academy, looking for someway to kill time for a little bit. He had a nice date with Emma planned for later and not much else to do at the moment, at least until he bumped into the Red King himself for a moment. He shot him a quick smile before he made an attempt at a conversation, starting off on a slightly awkward note. "Hey, Mike, I've been meaning to ask. What've you got planned for the festival this year? I know we have pretty much the smallest percentage of the school, but we've still gotta go big for this." He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly and let out a nervous chuckle, looking up at the older boy. From what he could remember, the Red Guild was either the largest or smallest guild in Deep Ground, and right now, it was leaning towards the small side. The Strykers accepting new members had certainly put a dent in their forces in a swift fashion.

@TheWindel

Embarrassed, Hibiki got onto her feet and watched the others. She wanted to say something back at Michael, but soon the Newspaper Club exploded in activity. Hibiki just kinda of fell off to the side and listened to everyone, getting rather overwhelmed by it all. Not that it was a bad thing; it was lively. It looked fun. Everyone was just chatting with each other and having a good time. Hibiki just wished she wasn't so shy and could have joined in. But everyone here seemed so much more... Mature. So sure of themselves, so much bigger. It made Hibiki rather nervous.

Eventually Hibiki found a chance to speak when Emma mentioned it was almost time for the school to close up. Emma actually looked at Hibiki, which made her jump and stammer a responds. "A-a-ah yes! I was just thinking about that, um... If there's nothing else you need from me, would it be okay if I leave a bit early? I need to meet up with a friend, but if you need my help I can stick around a bit longer." Hibiki didn't want to come off as a slacker, but she really wanted to just go find Itsuko. She was kinda intimidated by all the important people here doing important things. Gulping her fear, Hibiki tried to be more assertive.

"But I can only help with one thing. I can't miss my meeting with her, it's very important."

@KoL

As everyone headed back inside and the interlopers left, Thomas surveyed the hall from both ends looking for someone, but they were nowhere to be seen. He sighed softly before closing the door and turning back to the relatively busy room. Emma helpfully explained the situation to one of their guests and Thomas followed up on her explanation.
"That's pretty much what we know so far." Thomas said. "I really don't know why you're asking us when you could probably just ask them directly."

Thomas turned his attention to the printer and began unboxing it to set it up when Emma and Hibiki informed him of their earlier arrangements and Thomas weighed up the time taken to set it up and the time he'd need to explain it and decided that he should probably just tell them what he wanted to tell them in the first place.
"Well, even though all of us aren't here," Thomas began, turning to address his club. "At least we-"

"Hey guys, I'm here!" A voice rang out.

The door to the club room was blasted aside as a blonde haired figure emerged from the hallway, smiling like an idiot, carrying a bottle of green liquid and a carton of chocolate milk. Thomas facepalmed as the boy made his entrance.
"Sorry about the printer, Hibiki, must've been heavy, huh?" The boy said to the small girl. "I got pulled in by the agriculture research society. Wanted some help the heavy stuff, so here."
Finn put the carton of milk on the table in front of Hibiki.
"Take this as my apology. Should you help grow a little bit, right?" He teased.
He then put down the bottle of green liquid on the main table, besides all the snacks.
"And I got this for my troubles." Finn informed them. "The agriculture club were experimenting with different fruit juices for the festival. Anyone game to try some? Maybe this new girl?"

Suddenly, he noticed Thomas standing by the new printer, and immediately took interest in the new addition.
"Ooh, Thomas, whatcha got here?" He said, coming over to check it out. "A new printer?"

"Finn." Thomas said.
The blond haired boy turned to Thomas with a comeback that died on his lips as he saw Thomas's expression.
"Go set it up." Thomas told him.
"...Alright, Tommy!" Finn said after a pause.
"I'm working, call me president." Thomas added.
"Aye aye, captain!"

Thomas took his hand from his face and brought up his interface. With Finn setting up the printer, he was free to explain the situation to the rest of the club members. Thomas walked over to the table and picked up another mint, crushing it between his teeth like the last.
"Kosuke, if you've already gotten what you needed, you should probably go. And... Caitlyn, was it?" Thomas said, addressing his guests. "If you really want to find out whatever it was, you can stick around but I'll be talking to my subordinates for a minute or two. You can wait or leave, your choice."
Thomas then turned towards Hibiki.
"I need to tell you about our plans for the festival, then we can end it there and you can just go." He said to her. "But you might want to sit down, it'll be a bit long."

Thomas absentmindedly scrolled through his interface before he spoke, though he already knew what he needed to say.
"Finn, I can't say I approve of sidetracking, but your timing is good enough for me to ignore it. For now." Thomas said.
The blond boy shivered over by the printer before continuing his work.
"Now, let's talk about the game plan." Thomas said.



@KoL@RoflsMazoy(borrowing your camera man)@Ryonara@ColouredCyan that's it right

Cassie looked up at the sound of a somewhat familiar voice, frowning slighttly as she saw Itsuko, once more it seemed at the mercy of Chiyo. Without a thought, Cassie went over to Itsuko's defense again, expecting trouble, but at this point she didn't really care. "Hey! I wanted to catch up with you again! Jeez, you're having the worst luck, aren't you?" She said, approaching Itsuko, and for now seeming to ignore Chiyo. She wanted to pull Chiyo's eyes from Itsuko first.

Cassie wasn't particularly worried about what could happen to her-it wasn't like she herself had any standing, nor had anything valuable. She wasn't even particularly skilled in Deep ground. Cassie just knew she couldn't stand about and let someone feel terrorised. She didn't give a damn about anyone's standing. People had a right to be treated like they were human.

Besides, she was tired of being scared.

"Accidents happen, right?" She kept her voice calm, and unafraid. A mistake, perhaps, yet she managed to sound even marginally respectful.
@KoL

If there was a word to describe Alex at the moment, it was tired. He came to lying in a bed that he didn’t immediately recognise. Rolling out of bed, Alex was still in uniform and swore that he was aching more than a rough sleep would cause. Going to the bathroom, Alex removed his shirt and saw some dark bruise marks.

What happened? This… is this Bel’s room? Why…? holding his head, Alex thought back. Donny had just said bye, and he found the sticky note, he left to go meet Bel and then… waking up in bed covered in bruises. The shape of his bruises were odd, as if he were pressed against instead of hit or bumped. Was he mugged? No, he still had his stuff…

I have to find Bel… she’ll be able to tell me what the hell happened trying to find some aspirin or something, Alex groaned as he stretched and put his clothes back on before heading to the exit, finding a sticky note on it. Apparently they were Bel’s favourite method of communication.

“You had a fever and I nursed you back to health. You better come find me and pay me back somehow Jukey~ :3”

Nursed me back to health? I’m covered in bruises Bel… shaking his head Alex took the note and stumbled his way into the hall. Blinking hard at the lights, Alex tried to wrack his brains for where to find Bel and the only places he actually met up with her were the auditorium, the arcade and the student council offices. Deciding that since Bel was a council member she’d end up there at some point, Alex made his way over there wondering how on earth Bel would want him to ‘make it up to her’

@TheWindel

~Erika and Michael~

Erika stayed for a moment outside the newspaper club room. Then, an idea clicked into her head. She glanced into the newspaper room for a moment, smirking, then turned her head to go to the gym. Once there, she fished a small safe that she kept in her locker for the sake of some items she'd prefer others not know she had in her possession when she was changing and dumped the contents out. Inside, a credit card that was only supposed to be use for emergencies, her medicine from the hospital she'd gotten from the hospital after her coma, and a second pair of glasses fell out. Pocketing the credit card, Erika then turned her attention to other things within the locker and rushed over to the locker room mirror with them. Unzipping the small bag she had with her, she pulled out a few makeup items. Nothing really too complex, just a bit of concealer, lipstick, blush, eyeliner and mascara. The basics.

Erika pulled off her school sweater, leaving just her white shirt button down shirt beneath as she leaned forward, rouging her cheeks with a little of the pink blush, bolding her eyes with the eye liner, flaring her lashes with the mascara and finally choosing a bright red color for her lips. She leaned back, smiling at herself for a moment and blushing at her small accomplishment as she slid the makeup back into its bag. It was a small change but... somehow, it made her feel more confident. Before the coma, she'd been too scared to put this stuff on and go out in public. Now, as she slid her glasses back onto her face and tilted her head down to shake her curls out, giving them a more voluminous feel, she contemplated her metamorphosis. Had she really been so scared before? Why? Or rather... why was it her inhibitions were suddenly so turned on their head? Even as she asked herself this... she knew the answer.

...

She closed her eyes tightly, then looked back at herself in the mirror. Staring back at her wasn't an introverted mouse that hid in the corners, but something more of a woman coming into her own. As she looked at the crimson color of her lips; a bold red she'd chosen for the sake of the Red King's guild, she understood that she couldn't think about how it is she got to be so free spirited.Rather, it was her free spirit she had to give up. And it was worth it, wasn't it? Wasn't it?

Erika scowled, then undid the top two buttons of her white blouse. She hurried to her locker, shoving her school shirt inside along with the make up bag. A small spray of perfume--"Jester's Kiss"--and she was rushing to the outside of the school. As she ran down the halls, she turned a few heads. Now that people knew her name--knew her they would no doubt be surprised by the change in appearance. She made her way outside the front of the school and took a relaxed stance against the brick wall, waiting.

As it turned out, she wouldn't have to wait very long. Though the Red King still had matters to attend to, mostly that of answering Aaron who had bumped into him. He glanced at the other boy before saying, "Not sure yet. But the other Guild members are thinking about a more American sport. Maybe something like a basketball tournament. Something agressive since we're supposed to be the "agressive" Guild and all that." Well, they might as well play up to the crowd's hype as they were a warrior Guild. That said and done, he swiftly exited out of the newspaper club room since, after all, he wasn't a member and had no business there. Maribel winked at him but he shrugged it off, walking out into the hallways and wondering why everyone was staring in one direction. Walking outside the school, he could see the reason why. Was that Erika?

The moment Michael was out of the school, Erika sprang into action. She jumped over the railing of the stairs, her skirts flaring, and came up to him, her eyes wide behind her glasses.

"Give me your phone!" She said this, holding out her hand her heart pounding. There was no way this would work. She blushed beneath her lightly rouged cheeks, looking up at him expectantly.

"Why?" That was Micheal's simple but justified answer. Some students turned around to wonder what the commotion was. Was this a love confession going on? Some kind of spout between lovers? It was a good thing they weren't paying too much attention to care about the Red King's love life; otherwise they would have seen his cheeks slowly turn the same shade as his hair. "And why should I give my phone to you?" At this, Erika took in a deep breath, looking into his eyes as she gently covered the receiving end of her own phone with her hand tightly and spoke in a hushed tone to him.

"I want to spend time with you. Just you... and me... " She glanced at her own phone in her hand, slightly nervous for multiple reasons, then back at him. "And nobody else." She reached out her hand further, this time with much less force, her eyes gentle. "Do you trust me?"

So this was a manner of trust then? Micheal had to admit, not many had up and confront him like this. He was a bit surprised and even a little unsure of what to do in this scenario. The girl had been trying to talk to him for so long and now she was as confident as anyone else, no, greater. But as she held her phone out, he had a semblance of what was going on. Somewhat. With a small sigh, he nodded, indicating that yes, he did trust her. Reaching into his pocket, he fished out his phone and handed it to her. Erika's face broke into a relaxed smile as she took his phone from him, noticeably covering his receiver end as well.

"I'll put this somewhere safe... don't move!" With that, she dashed, sprinting faster than she had before in her life as adrenaline surged through her body at how ecstatic she felt. She couldn't keep the grin off her face as she nearly slid onto her butt by skidding to a stop in the girl's gym locker room. Her fingers trembled as she locked up the phones in her inner locker safe, then slammed it shut. She took a moment, an ominous feeling in her gut as she stared at the slammed locker and came to terms with what she was doing. With a nervous exhale, she ran out of the locker room. It wasn't long before she came flying out of the building, stopping to put her hands on her knees and catch her breath beside michael. She looked up at him, smiling, her red lipstick brilliant in the golden hour as the sun was beginning to set, her blue eyes shimmering with excitement and triumph behind her slightly foggy spectacles. "C...phew... come... on... " She paused, swallowing her spit. "To the station!" And with that, she was off again, taking off running towards the subway, laughing as her ebony lockes bounced in the air behind her.

"Um...are you ok?" he asked, wondering where she went and how fast she had gone to have built up such a sweat. But seeing as she was clearly excited, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of adrenaline as well. He hadn't really tried his hand at the whole dating thing and so wondered what would be in store today. Wait, was this an actual date? Erika had made no such mention...but she did just steal his phone and was wearing make-up. This was a date...right? Before he could ask she was already bolting towards the subway station without a second thought. He would only get his answer if he pursued so pursued he did.

---

The ride to the cafe in the mid-city area had been quiet, though they had sat together the whole time. Erika practically beaming in her seat as she sat beside Micheal and stole glances over at him. As soon as the subway doors had opened though, she had continued her high speed chase--this time albeit a bit slower--until she had come into this cafe. Her favorite one in the city, she recalled coming here late at night with Yuuki whenever she'd needed to run away from the hecticness at home for a while. So now she sat, across from the Red King, the collar of her shirt now half upturned from the adrenaline fueled high she'd been riding. She looked at him across the table, her glasses half slid down.

"I'm... sure you're confused," She admitted, her hands on the table. "The truth is... I was sick of never getting the chance to talk to you, you know? I mean... truly talk to you. Something has always gotten in the way and... " Erika paused, looking at him, then out the window with a smile. She was about to say something she couldn't take back and needed a moment to build up the courage.

Likewise, he was also slightly out of breath from all the running around they had down. But sitting down at the cafe was already doing wonders for his tired legs, though his eyes tried to avoid the collar of Erika's shirt. He didn't need any more rumors spreading about the two of them...speaking of which, he raised an eye as Erika brought to the table what had been on her mind. That was it? And here he thought there was going to be some big bomb dropped on him. Which, given the surroundings, it probably was. "Really? You didn't seem like you were all that interested the last couple of days," he said, just a hint of something else in his voice. "But I'm sure going from unknown to popular in a few days tends to make you forget about perspectives."

". . . I didn't forget about you." She looked at him, her eyes meeting his as she took a deep breath, finally ready to say it. "I mean... how could I? Michael... Michael, I... think about you alot." Her hands were trembling, and she clasped them together to keep her resolve. She'd already come this far. No turning back now. She lifted her head to look at him straight on. "You already know, probably. There were so many rumors flying around, how could you have not? I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you..." Her eyes averted, then went back to him slowly with a dark blush prominent on her cheeks. "It's true... I ... really like you!"

'Yes. I knew that already," Michael said, leaning just a bit closer in his chairs. "But not really because of the rumors or anything like that. It's not even because you were obvious about the whole thing. I know you like me...because I suppose...I like you too." He tried to keep his expression even but had a feeling Erika was about to explode. Probably a good idea to lean back in his chair and scoot out just a little lest the girl hurt herself and him. Maybe. Only time would tell.

Erika's mouth parted and she stilled, her hands clenched into fists on on the table as she stared at him, her cheeks bright red... Without knowing it, she held her breath as her eyes met Michael's through her lenses, which were very slowly falling down her nose. Her vision went blurry as the glasses slide so low that her eyes became exposed. Without the protective glass, she could feel tears in her eyes. Not enough to spill, but just enough to make her blue eyes shimmer in the ambient cafe lighting. Then, she took a shuddering inhale, all at once looking down and pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, her hand shaking. "You're teasing me, aren't you?"

"I think I would have gotten my phone back if I was teasing you," Michael said. "But if you don't believe me, I suppose I'll just have to make you believe me. I know I didn't ask this earlier so I'm saying it now so you can hear. As of right now, this is a date." He could practically feel Erika's heart exploding. "And that means we're dating." More explosions. "Right now." Yet more rumbles in the chest. "Meaning we're a thing now." He could see the stars oozing out of her eyes. "Officially." And there it was. The grand finale. "So yeah."

For a moment, it was silence, Erika holding her hands over her chest, her crimson lips that she had done up so specifically in his color shimmered as her lips trembled.

"F....fuh..."

Her hands trembled harder and she bit down on her lip. She tried to think back. Michael liked her too? Had she missed the signs? At what point did he actually... start to care about her? She had so many questions. They swirled around in her mind like a cyclone. Her grip on her chest tightened. She stammered a few more times. "F...Fi..." At that moment, color exploded before her eyes as she stood up, her hands slamming down against the table, her actions feeling foreign and sudden to her. The words that leapt out of her mouth unexplainable to her own logical reasoning.

"Fight me, Red King!"

Her face was bright pink, her words exclaimed so loudly that other customers turned their heads to see what the commotion was. She gasped a few times, then pointed at him, her blue eyes wide.

"That festival, they're fighting for your alliance right?! Well, fight me! If I win... You have to swear your alliance to me!"

What was she saying?! He already admitted to liking her. Still, some part of her needed this triumph. Erika trembled, swallowing as she looked at him, restating her exclamation.

"Right now, I want to officially date you..." She clenched her fists, bringing it closer to her body. "So when I kick your ass, you have to call me your official... girlfriend... got it?!"

"Um, what?" Michael asked, more stunned by the words coming out of her mouth than the actual outburst. "And...you couldn't have made this simpler by just saying yes? Well no matter," he said, recovering from his surprise and giving Erika a look with clear fire in his eyes. Such was the gaze of Crimson Streak, Red King of the Scarlet Harleys. "I accept your challenge."

Erika's stance relaxed after a smirk at Michael. Her heart skipped a beat at his confident gaze. In the heat of the moment, she dove forward over the table... grabbing Michael by the front of his shirt and kissing him deeply then and there. Her glasses bounced off of her nose and turned diagonal on her face as she held them both there for a few seconds that felt like a small eternity, her blush glowing on her face as she felt his soft lips against hers. And to Michael's chagrin, he was definitely not expecting this outcome...but then again, Erika had literally rushed them to this. All that running...but she would find her kiss returned, Michael not really caring if they were being so flippant in public. They stayed like that together... until the well placed sound of a throat clearing caused them to pause, mid-kiss, and look over.

A barista stood there, arms folded, tapping her foot. At that moment, Erika realized they hadn't ordered anything. She pulled back, adjusting her glasses and chuckled at Michael with a blush.

"I'll... get us some... mochas?" She scratched her cheek and giggled before getting off the table and jogging over to the counter to place their orders.

---

"Yeah, alright I guess..." Kosuke said dejectedly. "I'll be leaving then."

A bunch of the information he'd gotten just now, he hadn't known about but it wasn't really what he wanted. Granted, there was a low chance the Newspaper Club would've known about it in the first place, but there weren't many other places he could really go to. There were very few people in Purple Crown who gathered information. There was the Newspaper Club who had a very open policy with it, and there were the Erasers who were kinda illegal and who didn't take random requests either, so there wasn't much choice in Purple Crown.

There were sometimes people like Todo Machidai who was sort of an individual kind of broker, but Kosuke only really wanted to associate with him when he was Candid Eye. Kosuke didn't have much of a reputation in Purple Crown, but both he and Todo understood that if he stuck around him for too long what little there was would turn sour. Todo probably didn't know anyway.

"Crap... the hell do I do now?" He said.

Shiro navigated the illuminated hallways in an unstealthily stealthy manner, which essentially entailed leaping over railings, summersaulting across corners, and a myriad of other things that were blatantly obvious and drew more attention than was intended to be avoided. All the while jamming out to the tune he seldom indulged in, courtesy of the little chip in his noggin. Perhaps the spy movie he had watched last night with a certain someone was to blame, which he had somehow managed to find time for between school work and DGO. Speaking of which, the student received a messages concerning the latter just as he flipped into an empty corridor.

To: Paper Moon

From: White Noise

Subject: Re:Re: Progress

Listed teams have been organized and are currently on standby. Just about done with with preparations for the expedition vehicles. Will we need any armored support for this outing?

The message was succinct and lacked any voice or liveliness the writer actually bore. Shiro’s eyes lingered on the brief series of sentences before he composed a response.

To: White Noise

From: Paper Moon

Subject: Re:Re:Re: Progress

We want to keep a low profile, but outfit one of the tanks just in case. Thanks for holding down the fort.

He replied with a similar dull tone.

White Noise was an old friend of Shiro, or rather, Paper Moon. On paper she too was unaffiliated with any cabal, but unlike the Assassin, was not involved with the Sweepers in the slightest. Or at least that had been the case up until now. The boy had cashed in a favor, so to speak. They crossed paths in the midst of a boss raid which they both signed up to carry, and did just that, just as a coherent unit rather than two heads of separate parties. But this was back when they were first years. Fast forward, and the two have met up a fair amount of times. In DGO that is. That’s not to say they haven’t ran into each other IRL, but they have been scrupulous to keep interactions of the sort to a bare minimum. She was a true drifter up until a couple days ago when Moon practically got on his knees and dogeza’d the hell outta a sidewalk.

It was thanks to White Noise that Shiro had the leisure to treat himself to an exiguous break from DGO and swing by the hospital. But proper etiquette dictated that visitors were required to bring gifts for the incapacitated. And even if there weren’t any unspoken rules set in society's stone, the boy’s moral compass would steer him towards a present regardless. Now to what gift it would lead him to was the real question. Shiro mulled over what screamed “Asahi” and would brighten that broski’s day up real good. Since he was hospitalized, he didn’t want to take any risks by crashing in with a parfait or something that wouldn’t fit the setting. Oh, what about a-

It was only now did Shiro realize that his presence wasn’t the only thing that filled what he thought was a vacant hallway. His absent-minded stroll had led him astray from the school’s exit and right into the sights of a lingering student. But this was no stranger, well, actually, he was. A complete stranger. Somebody he’s never met face to face. But something felt familiar about the boy all of whose facial features were doused in cerulean dye. Shiro’s gut wasn’t referring to the guy’s looks, that whole facet was completely foreign to him. It was the air around him. It brimmed with potential, explosive energy. It could almost be likened to… rocket fuel? Nah, that couldn’t be right.

”Suhh dude!” Shiro energetically took a mallet to the now acutely shattered ice and greeted the student with a congenial wave. Hopefully this person wouldn’t go bonkers and bombard him with questions about Paper Moon. "How goes it on scholarly forefront?"

@RoflsMazoy

---

Meanwhile within the room in which DGO Commons, the club which embodied R&R, a place for students to unravel and just chillax and escape the pressing atmosphere of basically molding their futures... well, not a whole lot was going on. Akane and three of her classmates sat around a secluded table far off from the lesser minds that were Ken and a handful of Strykers who agreed to sacrifice a portion of their priceless time. Ken's eyes danced across the whiteboard to the symphony of ballpoint pens scrawling deep ravines into loose leaf paper and subsequently filling them with ink at a rate that could triumph light. He felt his own confidence wane in the presence of the chronic power plant, the members of which only communicated with each other every so often for external opinion. "...Are they even human?" Ken found himself muttering in a voice deprived of breath, blinded by zenith of rigor. To save himself what remained of his own faith in himself, the student turned to face the board that led to nowhere finite.

On it were words encased in bubbles sporadically deposited in hasty handwriting that bore no relation to organization whatsoever. A few were headed with locations rich in mobs to farm and their respective loot drops, haphazardly not organized by rate. Some consisted of potential ideas for the faction as a whole to put on for the upcoming festival. Assorted ideas such "Concert?" or "Shiro as a maid > Ivory Masks' maids? and even "Let's just give people free shit" all floated aimlessly within the sea of dissociation. Needless to say, they had not made any concrete progress.

Akane noticed the wall the think-tank had run into and decided to capitalize on the hiccup. Under the guise of friendly conversation to slip in a moment of respite from their studies, the redhead poked at her classmates, "Hey, hey, what are your classes doing for the festival~?" She asked in a sweet tune that shaved ten years off of Ken's life.

"Yakitori stand." Yayoi almost instantly chimed in as she graced her pen a brief rest and leaned back, daring the chair's legs to give out.

"A couple students from my class are pretty gifted writers, so they're excising certain parts from Kenji Miyazawa's Night On The Galactic Railroad and reformatting them into a play! Though there aren't that many roles, so most of the class is working on scenery." Another girl gave a vibrant rundown on her class' unique idea.

"Horror room." The last one curtly stated before she delved into her work yet again.

Akane rubbed her chin for a few moments and gave her thoughts adequate time to coalesce into a breakthrough idea, denoted by the snap of her fingers, "How about we have Shiro in a maid outfit, starring in a concert to anime numbers?" Although the three girls were oblivious to it, Ken was well aware that his higher-up was being completely sarcastic

"Sure, I'll run the idea by him right away!" He replied ecstatically as he proceeded to x out the aforementioned bubbles, except for the one with Shiro in a maid get up. It was then that a rather inconsiderately strong knock struck the door a series of three times. "Come in." Ken said in a despondent tone, unable to gather enough energy to yell at the guest for the door's sake.

@Kimiyosis

"Ahahah, yeah, something like that. I usually sink my teeth in people who don't know when to shut up or kids who really, really annoy me," Dana said with mirth, giving Eris an innocent grin. Then when Yoshino got closer to the two of them, Dana gasped in mock fear and gripped Eris' arm tightly. She hid behind the platinum-haired girl and pretended to cower in sheer fright. "Wah, wah, protect me Eris, protect me from the Edge Face's horrible, horrible face! Oh ho, shield me from her edginess!"

"It's nice to see you too Dana," Yoshino said with a roll of her eyes, adjusting her glasses back into place before looking at Eris. "I'm heading to the hospital now to visit a contact of my client. As for her, she's doing well though she's not sure how to feel about your defection to my sister's Guild." She had to keep from glaring as Eris outright called Chiyo her "master". Sickening, but no less amusing for the shark-toothed blonde watching and waiting for the two Edgelords to cut each other's throats already. "In any case, I don't suppose you would provide a ride to the hospital now would you?"

"I see. You can tell her that I did what I did because of personal reasons, that is, if she ever asks you about that. I cannot stand to have to hang around her Sweeper allies, not after they threatened Cassandra like that. I'm certain that she cannot understand my reasons, but I have experience with the Sweepers." Eris said as she beckoned Yoshino to the car. "I already offered to take you whenever you asked, I will not take my words back. As for you," Eris talked to Dana, now. "I thought you were here to protect me, but if you want a reversal of roles, I can comply, as long as you offer a suitable compensation, that is."

"Pfft, nah, I'm totes here to just keep you company yo. And your mom's not bad too, so I'm doing that hot bod a favor, oh ho!" Dana said with more snickers. She didn't hesitate to scoot her way inside the limo, bouncing in place and overtly excited to be moving on the road. Yoshino's reply was only a nod as she too took the offer and sat beside Eris. Well then, so this was happening.

"My mom? You cannot mean- no, I think it's better if you do not tell me. Just imagining what you implied is bad enough." Eris said, with a flushed face as Dana mentioned Hildr. Could it really be that Eris' mother was...? No, Eris preferred to not think of that, it was better this way.

Turning her attention back to something less embarrassing, after clearing her throat with a cough, Eris said to her guests. "You can have a drink if you want as well, the fridge is right beside your seat, Miss Yoshino Tsugumi." The platinum haired girl, extended her hand and picked a can of iced coffee from the mini fridge that came as one of the car's optional features, inside of it there was a sparse selection of non alcoholic beverages as well as a few snacks (mostly chocolate candies) that Eris kept for the few times when she felt like actually using her car in the past. These days however, Murakami had seem an increase on his workload that was very well received by the old man, since he kind of got worried whenever Eris arrived back home without calling him first. Call that a grandfather's instinct, if you will, sine the old driver really worried about his employer as if she was his granddaughter.

Yoshino shook her head, declining the offer for a drink or snack. Dana on the other hand snickered aloud yet again before reaching to take a few chocolates and a drink or two. Greedy little trash can. In any case, she paid attention to what was being said. After all, knowing more about the brat she was supposed to babysit was always a good thing to work up on. Even if they were a brat to begin with.

"Anyway, is there anything you would like to talk about, Miss Yoshino Tsugumi? It is so rare of you to ever approach someone else, much less a student with a bad reputation such as I." Eris took a sip of her drink, after inquiring Yoshino, out of curiosity. Certainly, there should be something they could talk about, right, after all the trip to the hospital would take around an hour.

"Hmm? Let's see," Yoshino muttered, thinking back on something Eris had mentioned. Maybe this was a chance to learn more about Eclipse Princess and why she had betrayed the Strykers. "You mentioned prior experience with the Sweepers. Tell me more about that, if I may ask. You seemed to hate them from the beginning, despite the reforms Moon Rider put in place in Deep Ground. There's obviously something more personal that you've keep to yourself."

"I thought that you would ask something like that. It may be a personal matter, but it is not like it is a secret as well, so I can tell you." Eris took another gulp of her drink, looking at Yoshino's eyes as she continued to say, "Back home, I used to play as an Outlaw. DGO is a fighting game, after all. What is the problem of wanting to just fight for the sake of it? But, I think that no matter where, the Sweepers will always hate people like I. Simply put, one day, one of their hackers damaged the AI of a car where I should be, but it turned out that my twin sister was there as well." Eris' voice took a noticeable shift to a bitterness and she clutched the can with both hands with so much force that it bent a little, as she continued saying. "Eins, almost died because of them, because of a game. That is when I decided that, even if I can't do anything about Deep Ground, at least I can use my time on it to make the Sweepers experience the pain and fear they put other people through. That is why I cannot ignore the threats to Cassandra's life."

Eris took one last gulp of coffee, before asking, "I hope you do not think that I want your, or Moon Rider's pity, Miss Yoshino Tsugumi. That is my main reason for leaving, though. I am not betraying Moon Rider, but as long as she chooses to side with murderers, I cannot stay by her side. My new master, however allowed me a chance for revenge. Do not get me wrong. I know that Chiyo Kuroke is rotten nevertheless, I have no choice but to follow her." Surprisingly, Eris had a soft smile on her face, now as if the new few words to leave her mouth where something that she longed to say for some time. "Furthermore, no one is totally bad. Even her. As a matter of fact, I'm greatly enjoying to work on the Ivory Masks' project for the festival. I even asked Cassandra to teach me a few things, like how to prepare crepes. Though, I only want to learn the basics and improve on my own. After achieving my current level on Deep Ground and hardly having a defeat on my history, I can afford to not be online so much. Perhaps, we can say that I already won the race?"

"You know you don't have to follow my sister. Saying you don't have a choice is hardly an excuse," Yoshino pointed out. Yet she refrained from saying anything more on that subject because honestly, she was tired arguing with this girl. She hadn't come here to argue. "If you're happy, that's fine. Just know that by aligning yourself with the Ivory Masks, you're now an enemy to my client's Guild and, by extension, me I suppose," she finished, catching the air of disappointment from Dana who had really wanted to see them kill each other. "But yes...I can see why you would hate the Sweepers as much as you do..."

"Either way, Miss Yoshino Tsugumi." Eris said, coming back to the talk with Yoshino, after her small digression. "If you have anyone that is significant to you, come visit La Soleil during the festival. I cannot guarantee that my culinary skills will be like those of a legitimate French patissier by then, but here on Japan it is a tradition to eat crepes while on a date, right? Even if not, I may still want your opinion." Eris then addressed Dana. "Of course I do not think I even need to invite you, do I?"

"Hmm? Perhaps I'll visit then and take you up on that offer. Much like I'm doing now," Yoshino said, seeing Dana grin with a wide smirk as Eris addressed her. Truth be told, Yoshino's cheeks were just a tinge red from her last major encounter with Retsu and she coughed into her fist to dispel such thoughts. "And what about you? Aren't you still dating Cassandra O'Shera?"

Eris coughed at the mention of Cassandra and her dating. Obviously they tried it at some point, but could never reach the point of intimacy where they could consider to say that they were on a real relationship, mostly due to Eris, or so she thought. "Hmm... I find it very... curious to have this kind of conversation with you, Miss Yoshino Tsugumi. Even though you say we are enemies, we are talking like pretty normal school girls, are we not? No wonder why Murakami thinks we are friends." Eris paused for a moment, smiling, though she tried to conceal it from Yoshino by taking another gulp of her drink. She continued her sentence before Yoshino could reply, though. "Either way, I hold no delusions in regards to Cassandra, not anymore. I may like her but I know that I am unsuited for that kind of relationship, forcing it upon us is not right. Hmm... I guess that I was confused before, but thanks to Cassandra and mom's support, I took a step forward. Something like this, I say. If it turns out that Cassandra and I become lovers well, that would be good beyond what I can describe with words nevertheless, I am very satisfied with my life as it is right now."

"It even got me to talk to someone like you openly for the first time, there is really nothing to complain about it." Eris sighed, putting the now empty can aside and resting her hands over her lap. "I think I should apologize for the trouble I cause, as well. I am terrible at dealing with people. Thereby, please, forgive me for the trouble I caused, Miss Yoshino Tsugumi." Eris bowed lightly, causing some of her hair to fall over her face, which she promptly set back in place after she got back to a straight position.

"Make no mistake. I'm only doing this cause I didn't want to cause any more trouble than needed to. We're still enemies," Yoshino said gruffly, not going to admit that Eris was...actually being pleasant for once. She would also not reveal that none other than her mother had requested she tried to get along with the other girl. Dana knew though and that was why she was trying to keep herself from laughing, slamming a hand over her mouth with shark teeth still visible. "Though I accept your apology since...I guess I was hard on you as well. I suppose this just another way for us to get to know each other better," she said at last, not even realizing they were pulling up into the hospital. Seems Eris would be late to the Mall for a while.

~Chiyo Kuroke~

Ironically enough, the Mall would already be busy with activity and Eris hadn't even arrived yet. Chiyo Kuroke, the one that nobody wanted to mess with...had been messed with. She blinked, once, twice as the cold, sticky substance that was Itsuko's smoothie poured down her shoes. A dead silence would greet Itsuko's blubbering attempts to negotiate before she was gripped by the collar of her shirt by an enraged Chiyo, a testament to her status as the White King. Her guard, known only to people now as "Kamen-San" watched in more silence as he saw Chiyo near strangle Itsuko.

"You can say it was an accident, but the fact remains little tiger that it happened," she hissed with fury, very tempted to slam the into a table. "You know, I think you should make it up to me before I turn this into something uglier than it needs to be, yeah? Maybe you should get on your knees and lick the rest of your smoothie off my shoes. Clean it like the clumsy bitch you are," she said coldly, ignoring everyone else and focusing on making Itsuko feel like trash.

"I-I'm sorry, just let me... go, please?" Itsuko whimpered as Chiyo shook her around. "Li-lick it? No, I can't do that, just let me go, I already said I can pay for it." Itsuko tried to force Chiyo. For someone so small and doll-like, the tiger really had a good grip, since Chiyo's wrists would begin to get a bit red, where Itsuko grabbed her in return.

"Oh you're trying to fight back? That's cute," Chiyo said, right before slamming a fist into Itsuko's gut and twisting her knuckles harshly. Before Cassandra or anyone else could do anything, "Kamen-San" stepped up and placed himself between the two girls and the onlookers. He especially gave a piercing stare at Cassandra; if she wanted to do something about it, she would have to go through him first and foremost. "Come on little tiger, start mewling for me before I make it hurt so much you'll be crying an ocean in front of everyone here," Chiyo said viciously.

"Gahh! Why did... ahh!" Itsuko gritted her teeth to not cry of pain as the punch made her sore rib sting her. "I-I won't give up to someone like you... Huntress and Hibiki wouldn't, so I can't as well... argh." Itsuko tried to put a brave face, even as her wounds forced a few tears out of her eyes. Itsuko wouldn't give up to a bully like Chiyo, if she did, all her talk about becoming a hero would be for naught.


"Sure, Prez, I got all bases covered. Hibiki and I will be the Newspaper Club power duo." Emma said as she circled around the table and grabbed Hibiki in a hug, knocking shoulders with her. "Either way, Prez, Hibiki and everyone else, I gotta go now. I have to meet Nixon on Deep Ground. We Harleys have been a little behind the competition, but we're gonna show everyone why we are Deep Ground's PVP guild. Big Boss' gonna bust everyone's brain on this festival." Emma's fiery redhead was all psyched up as she waited for Thomas to officially dismiss them.

---

@Caits, @RoflsMazoy, @Lord of Evil, @Ryonara, @ColouredCyan, @TheWindel.

”OI! KNOCK IT OFF!” A boy with scraggly red hair emerged from the crowd making a beeline to the fight taking place. He was briefly stopped by the scary looking “Kamen-San” who was most likely Chiyo’s bodyguard, but he matched the man’s stare showing no real fear. ”Really? Think I’d throw a punch at that lass while she’s got you around? Please, I’m just making sure she doesn’t do something stupid in front of this lot.” The young Scot said as he stepped passed the guard and inserted himself between Chiyo and Itsuko.

”Alright, the girls learned her lesson and you got to give a good wallup, happy?” He asked golden eyes locked with Chiyo’s fierce blue. ”Well you better be, because from where I’m standing, this girls not looking to fight which means there isn’t going to be one! Sure she messed up your shoes but it was an accident. An awfully dumb one, but an accident none the less. Now she’s admitted fault and offered to right any damages to ya, so you can either accept her apology and take her up on her offer or walk away right now. Either way you’re not gonna lay another hand on her.”

Angus turned his gaze from Chiyo looking at the crowd struck in awe about what was happening, but also the personal guard that might have taken his words as a threat. Angus wasn’t afraid of getting his ass kicked, but he wasn’t a fan of the idea of being silently killed in a back alley later. Returning to the cold stare of Chiyo he took a deep breath and finished his piece, ”If you're still looking to hit something, then here,” Angus held out his arms leaving himself completely exposed, ”I’m all yours. Won’t even fight back. Just be aware that most likely someone in this crowds got a camera out. Hate to imagine what people’ll think after footage of you wailing on me and this poor lass gets out. Can’t say it would do well for your image, especially now when you’re trying to recruit for that war you just started?”

@KoL@TheWindel@Caits

The body guard didn't really scare Cassandra-She stared right on back at him, then gave a bored sigh. She shook her head, wondering if perhaps it might be a good idea to invest in some self defense lessons. She gave a small smile and said "Well, if you wanted to dance, all you had to do was ask, but I'm terribly clumsy and my knee might just slip...into a delicate area" Where was this boldness coming from, this bawrdy sentance? It wasn't merely anger at the situation, at once more perceived power and station being more important then being nice. It wasn't just that not even a month ago, she wouldn't have even been an ant on someone like Chiyo's radar. Or maybe it was.

She let her smile grow, and said "Did Chiyo hire you after the other day? Well, it wouldn't be the way I'd go to deter people thinking I was weak, but then what do I know? I don't need a body guard" Glancing about at the punch, Cassandra curled her hands into fists. How could people just stand there, and watch someone be abused, be attacked like that, for a simple accident? But someone did. The boy stepped in, and Cassandra watched as he moved past the bodyguard, and stood up for Itsuko.

"Not to mention the security cameras...won't the offical's just like the good show you've given them, I can practically see the headlines now, "Chiyo resorts to violence like a no good hoodlem over a spilt drink!" or maybe "Chiyo cares more about clothes then the citizens of this city". Wouldn't that reflect nicely on Mommy? You know, if you've done damage to her, the medical staff will want to know how...and I'll tell them, if she doesn't" Cassandra didn't care that she was threatening Chiyo. Things would change, if people just let them happen. Darting around the body guard, Cassandra quickly grabbed Itsuko, carefully.

And it seemed like it was only the boy who was stepping in. Had people become so accostumed to this sort of thing, to the lessons Deep ground taught them, that they just didn't care about each other anymore? Was life all about success now? Had it always been this way? Maybe that was what made Cassandra go to Itsuko's rescue to begin with.

"Are you okay?" She asked Itsuko, concerned.

A mallet would do next to nothing to the glacier Kosuke usually was in front of a stranger. As a solid social brick, he was proud of his resilience in the face of frontal assault, but there was something familiar about this guy which he couldn't place a finger on.

"Wait a minute!" Kosuke shouted.

His hands shot out and rapidly patted Shiro all over. The gleam in his eyes and the speed of his arms were like a 6 armed deva. The patting was mainly focused on the sides of Shiro's body, but they were so soft Shiro would've hardly felt it. After a few seconds, Kosuke stopped abruptly. The only evidence of the intense pattting session were Shiro's ruffled clothes.

"You're Paper Moon!" He said, his voice dropping to a hiss.

He could recognize him because just four days ago, during the Civil War, he'd done the exact same thing. He'd been hovering a little to compensate for his real life height at the time, so it was the same feeling as when he'd done it just now.

"You're not supposed to know me. What are you doing?" He said in a dangerous tone. "Depending on your answer I may have to erase you..."

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@Jedly

"Alright." Thomas sighed.
All the seriousness seemed to drain from him as he rolled the white board back into place. They should've understood enough, there wasn't that much to get.
"Just remember, don't neglect your own plans for the day." Thomas said. "I won't need you for that long, I just need you to see it at least once. So we can have something to write about."

Thomas took a cloth and began wiping the whiteboard clean.
"Everyone is dismissed. But Emma, you better clean up your snacks before you go." Thomas said as he worked. "You brought it in, you take care of it."
"Wait, give me some of those." Finn said, spurred into sudden action by the declaration.
He grabbed a handful of sweets and stuffed a few cookies in his mouth.
"Oh man, that's the stuff." He said happily. "Thanks, Em."
"Don't speak with your mouth full." Thomas said.
Finn ignored him and began walking to the door, picking up his bottle of juice.
"Welp, see you tomorrow, Thomas." Finn said, waving back. "And have fun with your dates, ladies!"
With that, Finn disappeared out of the room. Thomas sighed in equal parts relief and expaseration and finished wiping the board clean, before turning to take care of the his matter of the day as the president of the newspaper club.

"Sorry about the wait, Caitlyn." Thomas said, turning to their guest. "What was it you wanted to know?"
@KoL@Ryonara@ColouredCyan

At long last, Eris arrived at the Purple Crown Mall, to say the truth she was feeling kind of very well, so the delay wasn't a bother at all to her. Maybe the fact that Dana decided to chew the sleeve of Eris' uniform for some odd reason that the German girl couldn't hope to fathom was annoying but, after these past few days Eris had learned to deal with Dana as well. Actually, she even enjoyed the constant company, a bit... maybe not the drool, but Dana wasn't that bad to have around as well.

Nevertheless, Eris would be reminded that life kind of loves to kick her, as soon as she noticed the commotion regarding Chiyo and some other Purple Crown students, among them Cassandra. "Just a moment. Why, why is it so hard let me have just a moment of happiness? Did I committed so great a sin that my atonement will never end?" Eris bit her lips with a bitter frown noticeable on her face, before taking a deep breath and calming herself. "When you are dealing with a person like Chiyo, there's really only one thing that will cause her to forget her current target. Giving her another one. I guess I'mm to blame for this as well, thereby there's only one thing I can do." Eris knew very well the implications of her choice, but she was determined to do it. If nothing else, the fact that Cassandra seemed to not get a single clue as to their current status in relation to Chiyo and, frankly speaking, Eris would get punished anyway, taking the blame from others who didn't knew how someone like Chiyo could, in a curt way of speaking, screw them, was the best thing Eris could do.

"Apologies for the delay, Master. A commotion seem to have happened because I did not arrived as soon as you requested." Eris bowed before Chiyo, letting long strands of her platinum colored hair obscure her face that was nothing but a visage of contempt, not for Chiyo but, Eris herself, who couldn't help but be this pathetic. Yet, this was the right thing to do. Bitter, but right. Furthermore, Eris had a sure way of aggravating Chiyo, thus her humiliation wouldn't be in vain, as well. "If I knew that inviting Yoshino Tsugumi to accompany me would cause such a distress to you, I would never have done so. I beg your pardon, Master, these people were involved because I failed to fulfill your commands. I will take whatever punishment you deem suitable, just let them go, please." After finishing what she had to say, Eris kept her head low, not daring to look at Chiyo's face, as she waited for the White King's reply.

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@Caits, @TheWindel, @Awesomoman64.

Maribel and Chiyo

“Nah, I just like to mess with you kid. Nothing too personal or anything like that,” Maribel answered eagerly to Caitlyn’s question. “Keep doing you girl! Oh by the way, loving the whole concealing act thing. Maybe you should go ask old Kenji about a date sometime. I know I did!”

Barring Maribel’s strange behavior, she gave a thumbs up to each of the other news club members before hastily beating a retreat just as Erika dragged Michael away. She left the news club to do their thing with a sharp little grin on her features and her hands behind her back lazily. Today was definitely a good day, more so because a certain green oaf was supposed to show up right about…

“There you are Jukey! I’ve been dying to see you again!” Maribel said with a wave as she saw the boy stumble about as if in a drunken stupor. He wasn’t too far from the student council office, just a few feet away from it actually. But that wouldn’t prepare him for the glomp Bel would force upon him, blinking both eyes seductively.

“Play me a song Jukey >:3 Oh, and speaking of which, I gotta make sure a certain canary plays the right tune,” she said, half to Alex and half to herself, reaching behind the boy’s back. She moved her arm to poke at her discolored eye, or rather the eyelid. The purpose for this? Hell if anyone knew.

Such a display of affection was actual nearby a certain and dejected Kosuke Kimura along with some other students. Bel acknowledged by saying aloud, “Like what you see Ko. Su. Ke~? Shi. Ro~? Other people I don’t know~?”

Back at the Mall, Chiyo ignored pretty much everyone but Itsuko. “Kamen-San” on the other hand gave both Angus and Cassandra silent stares, though it was mostly focused on Cassandra. After all, she was working with the White Guild now so such a display against the White King could be taken in the wrong light. Nevertheless, neither of Angus’ or Cassandra’s words would make a difference; perhaps an inexperienced guard would have lashed out in anger, but “Kamen-San” merely continued to stare, eyes boring into the two upstart students. It didn’t help that he couldn’t speak at all due to his throat injury, hence the mask in the first place.

“I’d expect such stupid talk from you little brat,” Chiyo hissed, glaring at Angus before looking at his partner in arms. “But you Cassandra? You should know better than to threaten someone like me. You think I care about my image? If I cared about what others thought, then I wouldn’t be out here fulfilling my ambitions. Unlike rats like you who follow blindly because you need to.”

At once Chiyo reacted to Cassandra by slapping her hand away from Itsuko and giving her a deathly glare. With her free arm she shoved the blonde girl away, this time manifesting all of her hate towards Cassandra. Seeing that look in her eye, “Kamen-San” moved to remove Cassandra forcibly if need be. Because regardless if she was aware of it or not, Cassandra had triggered the White King.

“Don’t talk like you know anything about my mother. As if she’d be concerned with trash like the media or the public. Using her against me will only result in more pain little girl,” Chiyo snarled, rearing her hand back and slapping Cassandra across the face. The sound of flesh meeting her palm gave her great satisfaction…for a few moments.

“Grrnnn!” said Chiyo, suddenly backing away and clenching the side of her head, as if experiencing some internal pain. “Kamen-San” was at her side at once but she motioned for him to back away. Her head felt like it was on fire and her vision was turning red all over…she just needed to calm down and things would be alright again. So she breathed evenly, huffing out pants; by the time the pain slowly ebbed away, Eris was here and bowing to her for forgiveness.

“If you’re truly sorry, then keep your bitch on a leash,” Chiyo said with venom, though the rage in her voice was gone thanks to the painful headaches plaguing her. “But at least you’ve proven more competent than this idiot right here-wait, Yoshino? Don’t you dare mention that name to me again!” Chiyo said, rage building anew. And once again it was off-put by the searing sensation of burning in her head, Chiyo trembling more visibly now until she was forced to calm down.

“Pick a table so we can talk. I dragged you both out here for a reason,” the White King muttered, ignoring Itsuko for now. “Kamen-San” looked down at the blonde tiger to give her a nod, a sign for her to leave while she could, before looking at Eris and Cassandra. They were expected to do as Chiyo said or there would be consequences. Meanwhile, Dana had tripped while carrying some drinks, making the floor more of a mess, and earning the ire and annoyance of the mall staff.

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