---

“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!”

Then she vanished. So many unanswered questions... Caitlyn could wrap her head around her being a wind up merchant, it wasn't exactly how she imagined Miss Harper to act in real life, but it wasn't exactly an extrordinary way for someone her age and stature to act. However what Caitlyn couldn't fathom was what she meant by everything else Maribel said. Caitlyn wasn't aware she was doing anything in particular, least of all concealing secret, shameful, lusty feelings for Nagato, that would be plain wrong, especially given her was her leader; it was unethical, it was nepotism! She just couldn't. Unless she meant concealing her real intentions for accepting her invitation? But she couldn't have known, her cover was good and there weren't even any Kings here anymore. Was she presenting weirdly? Keep doing you, because you're pushing the mold and its strange but I'm nice enough to crush yourself esteem by embarassing you infront of others, but still want you to know I'm mocking you? Is that what she meant? She was dressed fine. Plus that thumbs up, she wasn't being mean at all, just... strange.

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

There was no reason to be hear anymore, no secret talks between Kings, they'd just all turned up here by happenstance due to their relationships with others. She had half a mind to simply excuse herself and apologise for wasting his time, but that would be behaving as bizarrely as Miss Harper was. Thomas had been a hospitable host, and certainly deserved a little more that a quick goodbye, there were a few things that she could ask about that wouldn't make this trip a complete waste of time though.

"Ah, Thomas was it?" Caitlyn started, "I was wondering whether you knew which theme had been choosen for this years festival? I know that this is a big scoop and if it gets out it could hurt the paper, but the Gardening Club has been working really hard this year to get the school grounds ready and..."

Caitlyn realised this was becoming a bigger request than she intended when she started, she needed to stop waffling and get to the point.

"If I knew what the result was I could put in the order for the theme plants with my own money. They'd take a good while to turn up, definitely after the weekly paper came out, so the story wouldn't break early and we could have the school look perfect for the festival." There was no way of knowing how that would go down, Caitlyn regretted bring this up first. It was a big ask. It made bringing up the second question a little awkward, maybe it could wait until they approached the Gardening Club about it. Caitlyn couldn't help but look a sheepish, now she'd realised, and had about exhausted her capacity for being social in real life.

---

@RoflsMazoy@Lord of Evil@KoL@TheWindel@Ryonara

Listening to Cassandra lay into Chiyo, Angus cracked a sly smile. While he was completely ready to stand alone against this self righteous bitch, it was a still a relief to know he wasn’t alone in defending the poor Itsuko. Every word Cassandra spoke reaffirmed Angus’s point in greater detail. When she finished and went to help Itsuko, Angus gave her a soft nod to say thanks. But now it was Chiyo turn to fire back, and she was fuming.

To Angus’s surprise, he was practically brushed aside. Sure she called him a “little brat” but that was mild compared to what he’d been called in the past, and he really expected more from someone like her. Unfortunately, she did have more, much more, but she chose to direct all of it at Cassandra. She made it clear she didn’t give a single shit about her image and berated Cassandra for even thinking it, followed by threatening her for bringing up Chiyo’s mother.

The final move to make sure her point was made was slapping Cassandra across the face. In that moment Angus nearly snapped. He stepped forward and got right up in Chiyo’s face ready to let her have it. ”How dare you you cold hearted cu-” Angus stopped mid curse not for fear of what repercussions would come for finishing that sentence, but because as he yelled Chiyo backed up grabbing the side of her head. It almost looked like she was in physical pain.

Angus quickly moved away not wanting anyone to think he had anything to do with Chiyo’s current head pain. About the same time a girl with platinum hair came up and took full responsibility for what had happened. At first it seemed Chiyo was still looking to fight as she started screaming about the mention of Yoshin; but the pain seemed to force her to finally stand down. The situation was finally over.

Chiyou ordered the Eris and Cassandra to follow her while her bodyguard nodded to Itsuko telling her to go. Angus gave one last glare at Chiyo before turning his attention to Itsuko still in pain from the punch, ”Here, let me help you.” Angus put his arm around the girl and held both her shoulders helping her keep balance as she walked. Before they started walking though, Angus looked over his shoulder at Cassandra, ”You don’t have to listen to her you know?”

@KoL@TheWindel@Caits

Shiro’s reaction time was honed to quite the aptitude. It had to be, such a characteristic was vital to a Rogue, and especially an Assassin, the generally dubbed glass-iest of the three archetypes. His mind had already processed the origins of Kosuke’s hands and their respective vectors, so rather than acting in defense of the blatant encroachment of his body and simultaneous burst of his personal bubble, the orange haired student decided to lease adequate time for the scene to pan out.

The guy was fast. His management over his speed was second to none, as expected of a person who’s versed in making instantaneous alterations to his rocket’s trajectory. After the silent interrogation session came to an end Shiro gave his uniform a firm tug to remedy any creases. ”Jokes on you, evil-doer!” The boy suddenly set the air ablaze with a jutted finger, ”I have already prepared in advance for pickpocketing creetons such as yourself! I keep my wallet in my rear-pants pocket, where surely nobody would ever dare to explore!” With his lone finger now wagging high up along with his chin, Shiro stuck a pompous stance, exuding self-confidence and idiocracy simultaneously. He was obviously joking, but felt the need to throw out some verbal bait to redirect the attention of anybody nearby who may have picked up on Kosuke’s hushed words.

”Well, it was just a hunch emnine. I didn’t even indirectly refer to your handle. Hell, I don’t even know your name yet. But let’s save introductions for later,” Shiro subtly leaned over towards his comrade’s shoulder, a hand cuffed over his mouth, ”Okay, Ocketray Ancerlay?” He topped off his show of prowess in pig latin with a blaringly obvious wink.

It was then that an all too familiar chirp drowned the air in its electricity. No. Oh, no, no, no. All those hours he spent managing trade transactions and acquisitions of funds. The student angstily tingled with PTSD as the head honcho of the merchant guild strolled over in a body of biological flesh instead of a composition of one’s and zero’s. Lassoed under her arm was a victim. And he had the nagging sensation that the perp was in their presence. ”I’ve read enough manga to know what happened here…” He thought in contained alarm and offered a silent prayer and his condolences to the brunet, presumably her personal punching bag when a venture doesn’t turn out to be as lucrative as projected. Though as Maribel herself had alluded to and where Kosuke’s vision was probably locked on at the moment, it may not be the worst position out there. Speaking of the latter, his threat had dwindled tirely in face of the cerulean maelstrom.

Naturally, Shiro wouldn’t falter in slipping in his own version of humor. ”HEY! KOSUKE IS AN INDEPENDENT MAN WHO DON’T NEED NO WOHMANE!” The student retorted with a deriding “hmph” as he swung his leg around Kosuke’s, leaned on his shoulder whilst paying head to the cyanic locks, and snapped in a Z formation with his free hand. As a mostly playful mind who could respect the jesting, Maribel had hopefully deduced at this point this to be a greeting of sorts. ”Anyways,” The boy continued while releasing the fellow Sweeper from what was probably one of the most horrifying moments in his time on this planet. ”Been having a fine day, your Cerulean Highness?” He asked affably complemented by a genial bow. For a moment his eyes fell upon Alex to transmit a message, ”Now tell me, where did the mean lady touch you?”

For being in the presence of a king, individuals who soared echelons far beyond the term omnipotent, Shiro was surprisingly relaxed. After all, the leader has been vicariously receiving fragments of his personality through her peons, she should already have a grasp on the person behind Paper Moon. The times without Leviathan by his side were rocky to say the least, but they managed to compile organized accounts concerning resources. In other words, the highly trained and versified Cobalt and Ebony merchants had to watch as Paper Moon cowered in a corner fruitlessly.

”And your friend?” He queried, his eyes still locked on the girl, ”Now the real question is, whose hair is a richer tint of cyan? Yours or Kosuke’s?” Just like that, the random passerby hastily vacated the hallway. With his posture relaxed as usual, the boy let the question linger up in the air, unsure of how long it would be before they could grab a gift for Asahi.

@TheWindel@McFazzer@RoflsMazoy

"I'm not sure why everyone seems to think that the newspaper club has all the answers." Thomas said, "Though, as a matter of fact, we do happen to know what the theme is this year. I think it was... hold on a second."
Thomas rummaged through a nearby pile of papers before taking a small slip out of the stack.
"Ah, here we are." Thomas said, apparently satisfied. "It wasn't exactly a secret so maybe you just missed it or something, but..."
Thomas stretched his arm out and offered the slip to Caitlyn.
"Alice in wonderland." Thomas said. "Does that answer your question?"

@ColouredCyan

Cheek stinging, Cassandra nevertheless stood straight, and proud. when will people get it? Status means nothing to me. Being powerful in the game doesn't mean you are actually powerful in real life. And if you have to work so hard to get people to fear you, then you aren't really that scary. she thought to herself, frowning as Eris essentially pleaded with Chiyo. there isn't anything that Chiyo can do to me. I have no status, and not even days ago, she wouldn't even have known who I am. No one did. It was only Eris. Eris had seen her. Cassandra didn't know truly what she had done to gain Eris's attention, her devotion to Cassie. Chiyo's only playing card against me is Eris. And Eris only put herself in Chiyo's hands for me. I don't deserve her, in anyway. Why does she rever me so? and was that why they hadn't progressed any further in their relationship? Were they doomed to stay in friends status, because Eris thought of her so highly?

It was better then nothing. At least Eris saw her. She turned her attention back to the situation. Chiyo appeared in pain. Cassandra couldn't say she was sympathetic to the others plight. a weakness, if I ever care to exploit it not that Cassandra ever would, but she might be pushed in that direction of ever she needed to, for Eris.

Chiyo's hate was nothing knew to Cassandra. Sometimes back home, she thought she had seen such in her siblings gazes, her parents. Sometimes it felt like she was just another mouth to feed, to cloth, to send to school. So hate was nothing knew to Cassandra, and it didn't effect her. Eris begging on her behalf did. She gave a soft sigh, intending to talk with Eris about that later. For now, she'd be meek. She'd follow, like Chiyo thought she blindingly did.

She gave a small, almost sad smile to Argus, "the thing is, I do. If only for Eris. Doesn't mean I have to let the bitch have her way. Look after her, okay?" she said, giving a nod to Itsuko, "go somewhere Chiyo won't. I'm Cassandra O'shera. Cassandra is okay, so is Cassie. I better go before the big guy wants to dance" she followed Eris, wanting nothing more then to take her hand and pull her away from Chiyo, to take Eris away from someone that would use her. But she didn't. Instead she slipped her hands into her pockets, and followed silently.

Was the dorms always so far from the student council? Was he even going the right way? Was he out of shape? Coughing as he stopped in the middle of the path, Alex leaned back taking a deep breath before having the wind knocked out of him again as Bel glomped him… well he thought it was Bel, Alex felt too tired to check properly, just guessing he was right. Besides, who the hell else would actually glomp him? No one but Bel really knew who he was.

“B-Bel? How are you? I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages. What’s been happening?” coughing Alex hugged Bel back, smiling. The fact that someone seemed to miss him made his heart flutter. A first for everything he supposed. His own legs seemed to give way, Alex’s smile quickly panicking as he held on to Bel for dear life, hitting the grass and thankfully not cracking his head open. He didn’t think he could handle another round of injuries, the impact pulling a groan from his aching body.

“Sorry, Bel. Don’t think I’ll be singing too soon~” trying to add a bit of levity to his voice, he soon received a message from a nearby student ”Now tell me, where did the mean lady touch you?” making him do a double take before responding ”Hurt me? Mean? Bel’s probably the only one in the school that knows I exist. Or at least cares. I can’t recall a lot recently, but besides aches and pains from too much sleeping and a weird unexplained bruising, I can’t tell what you mean?” the word hurt did spring a thought to his mind though.

“Bel? I didn’t hurt you right?” patting Bel’s back, his hands moved up and down to make sure he hadn’t damaged her in any way, occasionally drifting rather close to her waist. Working hard to not let himself drift too close, not always succeeding. Not knowing if he wanted to succeed. Alex was honestly more confused than he ever had been before.

“Who’re your friends, Bel? I-I won’t say new, since I don’t know how long you’ve known them… how long have you known them? How are you? Wait… I already asked that… no I asked what’s been happening… so umm… how are you?” his face was red, as he almost squirmed under her.

@TheWindel @Jedly

Asahi was honestly surprised to see Yuuno. He had been thinking about her ever since they went out for pizza, and yet here she was, in the flesh, and Asahi didn't know what to say. What could he really say? That's he's a changed man now? That he'll stop being a thug? He wanted too, he really did... But if this situation was any indication, it wasn't going to be that easy to get away from his past. As much as he doesn't want to admit it, fighting is his life. In DGO or in the real world. And even if he wanted to get away from it, he can't deny that he needs it. He's made too many enemies, and now that he knows the Sweepers are fighting against each other, he was going to find more trouble in his future. Everyone was. Part of him wished Yuuno didn't arrive. He didn't want her to see him like this, in this pethatic, defenseless state. This wasn't the look of a changed man. This was a boy who realized just how big the world was, and how little it cared for him.

Fortunately something did come to break the silence in the form of Jiro, otherwise known as Phantom Regality. Gave Asahi a cup of water, which he drank immediately. "Thank you." He started talking about the school festival and that the White Guild was going to do a maid cafe. Immediately Asahi's thought went dark; he had plans to attack them, to sabotage their operations and even use Eris's own private military company against her. Despite being bed ridden and knocked out, Asahi already knew she defected to the Ivory Masks. Part of him hated her for that, but another understood why. It wasn't as if the Ebony Strykers tried very hard to gain her favor, and his actions did little to help. But she was still a traitor and no better than Asahi. If anything, what she did was worse. At least Asahi was loyal, whereas Eris left just because she disagreed with her allies and her violent means to change them didn't work. Sufficient to say, he had conflicting feelings that fed his dark desire to see her destroyed, and everything she loved in ruins.

But glancing at Yuuno, Asahi knew that it was these sort of thoughts that were only going to bring ruin and peril. It was bitter to say the least; Asahi was never one to back down from a fight, especially not against a hated enemy, but there were better ways to challenge her then what he was thinking. He was suppose to be better than he was before, morally. Letting out a soft sigh Asahi looked at Jiro. "Maid cafe huh? I remember That... Kinda a White Guild Staple. Never y hung out at festivals though. We, we have to do something, eh?" Asahi tried to think of what they could do. Though he's trying to make better friends, he still had his old posse and their coordinated dance routine. If he can, he could try and gather his people together for a show of some sort. But he wasn't in any state to so much as walk, let alone dance. And the festival was going to happen soon too... Well, it was an idea at least.

All this thinking was making Asahi tired, which really made him feel pathetic. Laughing it off, Asahi turned towards Jiro. His breath was heavy, and it seemed like simply talking was a tiresome thing to do. Mostly due to the medicine in his system making sure he doesn't do anything strenuous to hurt himself. "I have an idea. Can't really talk right now... Find Shiro and bring him here, okay? We could talk together. Bring friends." Glancing at Yuuno, Asahi gulped. He didn't want to send her away, but he was kinda nervous. What could he talk to her about? Asahi still didn't know, so he tried to distract himself. "Ah... Jiro, I think there's a vending machine down at the waiting room. Could you get me the lemon sweet tea? I'll pay you back." Asahi gave Jiro a silent look. That stare that meant more than the words did. A voiceless message that hopefully Jiro's shonen empathy could understand, unless his head was as dense as a protagonist's. Asahi hoped not.

"Give me and this girl some privacy would ya?"

@Mega Birb@KoL

---

Looking over to her partner in crime, Retsu had to admit, Kanbaru pulled off the look well. Retsu could conceivably pass off as a hispanic girl from a distance, but Retsu was paranoid when this stranger walked up to her all casually and started talking to her. "Si señorita. Vamos ala a Chiyo casa. Todos te esperando." Retsu held out her bag, also containing cleaning tools. But also hidden in some of the cleaning fluid and soaps were the spying equipment Retsu intended to use. She led the maid to a white van, which would take them to a large home where other foreign house cleaners were at. There Retsu and Kanbaru would meet up with others actual maids that Chiyo had hired to clean her home, including the contact that Retsu had that would "cover" her and Kanbaru, claiming them to be her nieces visiting and hoping to get admittance into Purple Crown one day. For now however, they needed to earn their keep.

As the two rode to the house, Retsu chatted a little with Kanbaru. "So I have to ask, Otoko-san, are you as curious about Moon Rider as I am? As resourceful as we both are, we still haven't truly found out her real identity..." Of course all evidence pointed towards Yoshino. They have since day one. But Retsu needed validation. She wanted to know if the girl she fell for is the same one who leads the Ebony Strykers. It was nagging her ever since she confessed her feelings, and Retsu had been trying to come to terms with them. Reason out why she felt like this, justify it. That night Retsu wasn't sure what to tell Yoshino when she admitted her true feelings, and even now she didn't. And Retsu didn't like not knowing. So Retsu felt if she could at least think that Yoshino and Moon Rider were indeed the same person, maybe that would help her sort her feelings out. Or something.

@Lonewolf685

Crap... Need to escape... Kosuke thought.

The Blue King would be too much for him right now, he needed to escape and fast. He couldn't leave while his party was still engaged, however. Looks like he'd have to disengage him by force.

"We've got to go." He said, placing a hand on Shiro's shoulder.

He darted behind Shiro and shout out his knees, hitting Shiro behind his knees. They both fell backwards, Shiro on top of Kosuke (+1 Fujoshi counter). Kosuke dragged himself out from under Shiro while muttering under his breath and grabbed Shiro's collar.

"Let's go visit the boss." He said.

---

@Jedly@TheWindel@McFazzer

Aaron nodded in response to Mike and watched him go before continuing to his destination; the all-important Newspaper Club meeting room. He never really saw a need for the club, news traveled very quickly by word of mouth around the campus, and while it may be changed from person to person, it was largely accurate. The digital articles did sometimes help to clear up confusion, though this was few and far between in his experience. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his uniform as he approached the room, wishing he was allowed to wear both his peacoat and scarf inside the main building. The only school in the world that had figured out how to regulate temperature through the whole building had denied him his only way into the world of fashion. Ironic, in a way. He leaned on the door frame of the Newspaper Club's room as he arrived and scanned it for Emma, then shot her a smile as he found her. He also waved to the charismatic Thomas, feeling like he owed the club's president at least that.

@TheWindel@KoL@Lord of Evil

---

Jiro listened to what Asahi had to say, nodding as he spoke. His requests were simple enough, grab him a lemon sweet tea and find Shiro, although he could feel some kind of underlying favor was being asked of him. If he had to guess, the larger boy wanted some alone time with the girl that was present in the room. It was fair enough, he supposed. "Alright, you want the tea before or after I find Shiro?" He chuckled slightly and made for the door, waving goodbye to the pair as he disappeared beyond the threshold. "Oh, and don't worry about paying me back!" He got into the nearby waiting elevator and pressed the button that would take him to the lobby, then opened up his phone, beginning to type a message to his orange-haired counterpart with a blur of his thumbs.

To: Shiro Kawabata
From: Jiro Katsurou
Subject: Quick Meeting
Hey, when you get a chance, drop by the hospital Asahi's in. We need to plan for the festival, and he wants to talk to us both.

The doors slid open as the text was sent, and the blue-haired youth stepped out. He pulled out his wallet and rifled through for a few appropriate bills while he approached the vending machine by the waiting area. In a moment he yanked the bill out and fed it into machine, watching while the bottle of chilled, lemon-flavored sweet tea began to slowly slide forwards... and stop on the edge of the track, the plastic cap smacking the glass and holding the container in place. "...It's the middle of the 21st century, every single human has a neural interface that grows with us, hunger is almost eradicated, we make regular trips to the goddamn moon... and this shit still happens." He sighed audibly, shaking the machine to dislodge the drink for his friend and earning an irritated stare from the nearest secretary. "That's how I'll become rich, I'll invent a vending machine that doesn't pull this crap." He took the drink out of the tray and stuffed it into his coat pocket, taking a seat in the waiting area and screwing around on his phone while he waited for Shiro to make an appearance.

@Lucius Cypher@Jedly

Kanbaru understand they had gone through a lot of preparation for this infiltration of theirs, but even she couldn't predict that Retsu went so far as to involve an entire home of foreign house keepers. She had to wonder if Retsu employed their services frequently enough to justify this operation, but that was best left for later consideration, or none at all. The scarlet haired girl's Yakuza's connection were almost certain in Kanbaru's mind, that photo showcasing Retsu's ink standing out as the latest tidbit to corroborate certain rumors floating around.

They'd have gone the entire trip in silence had Retsu not asked a question which confused her partner in crime. "Wait. Are you saying you don't know Moon Rider's identity?" Kanbaru asked, giving Retsu a queer look before softening to something more apologetic. "Sorry, I assumed that you would have been the one to know that, given your own avatar's closeness to the King."

"Truth be told, I have my own hunch but there isn't any concrete proof that couldn't be waved off as coincidence. Do you remember the night at the club? Well I may not have seen you, but I had a talk with President Yoshino and she said she came with you." Her gaze sharpened as her visage turned cross. "When you left to help spearhead the efforts to quell the Black City, you left Yoshino in the lurch, big time. She was in a real bad place when I had to fend off that pervert and bring her to my room. Yoshino was...pained you left, and downright sick with grief when she learned what was going on in DGO. What makes me think that she may be the Black King, and I know this is flimsy, is that Moon Rider logged onto DGO within a minute of Yoshino leaving my room in a hurry. This wouldn't amount to much, but then I learned you're Dark Wraith and you hooked up with a pissed as all hell Moon Rider to win the day. Seemed like a fated pair coming back together to me."

---

The mall played host to all sorts of people going about their daily lives or trying to ruin others. They relaxed, conspired, arbitrated, dined, and devolved into mindless mobs with startling ease in this one structure, and that was just in the last few minutes. Truly, it was a place of infinite wonder in the modern era, a physical representation of what DGO hoped to mimic among it's simulations.

None of this really mattered to the boy with the janitor's cart.

Pushing it forward by the handle of the mop, he rolled through the food court till he was beside a curious blonde with shark teeth and a school uniform that certainly wasn't Purple Crown's. Along the way his hand glided out, casually lifting a drink left thanks in no small part to the show Chiyo had been putting on with the youngsters. "Excuse me. Accept this as a small repayment for the damages caused by these unmarked wet floors. If only a sign had been left out you wouldn't be able to sue the negligent mall employees for potential damages."

Rufus, who was in no way employed as a janitor at the mall, then gave Dana the purloined soft drink while he retroactively made the floor a wet nightmare to walk through and propped up a handy sign for future pedestrians. No one made any move to stop him, just like no one stopped him from taking the cart. It was all a matter of carrying himself like he belonged. Most people could unconsciously tell one someone didn't belong, there mannerisms sending up red flags before they even opened their mouth.

Dana wasn't so much a flag as she was the fireworks of Tanabata going off indoors, while Rufus may as well have been invisible next to her, Chiyo, and Eris. He'd been eating someone's cheeseburger right out of their hands when he decided, on a whim, to make his approach to the people who tended to leave a mark. Besides, they were all White Masks at this point, so nothing wrong with mingling.

"So, you wanna do something while the King starts taking off heads, or are we sitting in to make color commentary and throw fries at people?"

~Yoshino, Maribel, and Chiyo~

“That’s quite the ambition to have Jiro Katsurou,” came the neutral voice of Yoshino Tsugumi. The Student President had been walking through the hospital when she noticed the other student buying something at the nearby vending machine. Her intention was to find Asahi’s room so thankfully she had spotted a Stryker who might have the directions.

“Hello there Jiro,” she said more formally with a nod while adjusting her glasses. “Are you visiting Asahi as well? His performance in Deep Ground the last few days have been exceptional to the Black Guild so my employer and I thought it would be best to thank him in person. It’s to my understanding that my cousin is already speaking to him at this moment, right?”

Back at Purple Crown, the smirk on Bel’s face seem to grow even wider. It was to the point where one wondered how her face had not been broken yet but then again, one shouldn’t question these things too heavily. Still, that was reflected in her actions as she squeezed Alex tighter in her grip before letting go, as if shoving him away.

“Ah, you’re so cute Jukey! I’ve been great! Better than great! Threatened the popular girl, read a few people’s minds, tried to make you jealous just now, the works, the works,” she babbled, once again winking at the dormant Shiro and Kosuke.

“Obviously my hair’s the best kind of blue, ahaha, am I right? I only use the spider blood to get it to that nice shade of cyan. Did you know spiders have the best blue blood? I should stuff some in your bed so you know how it works Jukey,” she said to Alex before grinning at Shiro and Kosuke. “Say, how about you three lovely boys help me out in Deep Ground sometime. We’re all on the same side here, right, right? I’ve got some secret mission to carry off with-OR YOU CAN JUST GO AND DO YOUR YAOI MOMENT I GUESS,” she suddenly screeched, as if triggered by Kosuke’s attempt to leave the conversation.

“Ahaha, made you jump, didn’t I?”

At the mall, Chiyo was waiting with annoyance at a nearby table for Eris and Cassandra to join her. She was giving death glares at Cassandra especially, narrowing her eyes as the girl was speaking to Angus as if they were collaborating against her. Such paranoia was only fueled by the fact that Eris was just standing there like a stupid puppy in the road.

Thankfully they got the memo, pulling up a seat in front of her even as “Kamen-San” stood beside the White King. Chiyo huffed before saying, “Alright look, let’s get to the point here. You know already I’ve declared war on pretty much every other idiot out there. Frankly, I think it would be best to compile a group of my best pawns as the main strike force of sorts and I was considering you two for two of those positions. However, your behavior today has left me with some doubts in joining my Four Horsemen,” Chiyo said with a smirk and a glare all at once.

While Chiyo waited for their responses, “Kamen-San” was perhaps the only person in the entire mall to notice Dana’s plight. The shark-toothed girl was laughing it up, knowing it was better to just accept the humiliation and laugh at one’s self as opposed to doing anything against that. So only she and “Kamen-San” saw the stranger nonchalantly hand her a drink for her troubles.

“Er, huh?” Dana asked, tilting her head in confusion. “Oh, I think the trash can is that way. But I can take it there if you want,” she said, actually believing Rufus had mistaken her for a trash can, hence giving her the drink. “Oh ho, I can show you all the best trash cans in the mall if you want!”

---

~Erika and Michael~

Erika sped up the stairs of the subway, alone, emerging with her grin illuminated by the crescent moon above. Her curls bounced around her and her glasses glimmered in the moonlight, her face aglow with a profound blush only young love could grant. She began her run up the hill, her mind still back inside the cafe as her breath came out in small, panting breaths, her heart beating loudly but steadily in her chest.


With the mochas on the table giving off steam the smelled delectably of coffee, chocolate, and for Erika, a mountain of whipped cream and cinnamon, the two had sat in silence with only the sound of a gentle piano to accompany their quiet. Her declaration of war and subsequent kiss had left Erika shaky, but also relieved in a way that she couldn't describe since she'd first started at Purple Crown Academy. After a few more moments in what Erika thought to be comfortable silence, her hands clasped around the mug in a way that her fingers intertwined, relishing the warmth, she looked at him through the somber but autumnal lighting of the coffee house.

"Be honest," She began, looking into her mug more than at the red king. "What were your thoughts when you first met me a few weeks ago? You remember," She paused, her eyes raising up to meet his. "That day I was late for class."

"I was annoyed you were late. That's all at first," said the Red King rather bluntly. He was still trying to manage the whole relationship thing going on between them but didn't pay it too much mind or to the people who might see them together; better they learn now then later after all. "Then you started talking back to me and I thought you had an attitude. Which I found interesting," he continued. "You can imagine that it's not every day a Colored King gets talked to like a regular person." At this, Erika raised her eyebrows.

"Does that bother you?" Her tone genuinely surprised, she blinked a few times and adjusted her glasses. "You always seem so... cool, I suppose. Do you... not care for being a colored king, then?"

"There's a difference between being composed and not caring. So I suppose it has to do with what you said. Or something," said the Red King, expression neutral. "It's been a while since anyone else has led the Scarlet Harleys so maybe I've gotten desensitized from the prospect of ruling. I'm not sure myself whether I just ignore the mantle or if I just don't care for it all that much anymore." Erika looked him up and down as she listened to him, nodding.

"Do you ever regret becoming the red king, do you think?" As she asked this, she leaned back and took a sip of the mocha.

"I didn't have much choice in the manner. Not when the prior Red King personally entrusted me with their Guild," Micheal replied, hoping Erika didn't ask any further. Because now was not the time for recollections of the past and it wasn't like anyone cared for the history of the Scarlet Harleys anyway.

"Really?" Erika asked, her eyes wide as she sat up, perking at this new truth. Then she thought for a moment, and chuckled, her body relaxing again. "You really are cool. Heh..." Something ocurred to her at that moment, causing her brows to arch again, her smile turning a bit mischievous as the subject matter she wanted to question changed. "With how much this color is... obviously invested into your life, I'm going to guess your favorite color is..." One eye closed behind her glasses as she peered over at him. "Green?"

"Red isn't exactly a cool color but-" though at that point Micheal's voice trailed off into oblivion as he simply stared at Erika. Immediately thoughts of Kenji popped up and that wasn't very pleasant to mull over. "Er, I wouldn't...call it my favorite. But I have found myself dealing with the color for a while now. My favorite would probably be some kind of blue maybe. Or a shade of red that no one's discovered yet," he said. At this, Erika giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. She looked up at him, her eyes twinkling in mischief. For his part, Micheal didn't need to say anything; rather, his look of confusion said enough for him already. "What? Blue's a nice color."

At that moment, she had stopped to catch her breath on top of the hill that her home resided on and turned to face the moon, her arms down by her sides. Her grin became a closed mouth smile and she relaxed her shoulders.



A short while later, the mocha half way empty, Erika had come to rest her head on the mahogany table, her head resting in her half folded arms as a finger traced lazily over the top of her mug. Her voice had a bit of a dream like quality to it as she's come to be more comfortable around Michael.

"Michael... when we get out of here, out of Purple Crown... what do you think you're gonna do? I mean... as a career. What makes you so passionate?"

"That's...a very good question," he said, for once a tinge of doubt in his voice. "I haven't given it too much thought and Deep Ground determines your future anyway. There's really been no need for me or anyone else to think about things like that since the game decides everything. But still..." and then his voice trailed off once more.

"But still." She looked up at him, smiling a little. She sat up a little, resting her hand on her jaw as she looks outside at the quiet, quickly darkening dusk. "...I want... to own a bakery. And... maybe a flower shop. I don't know..." Erika looked back at her drink with a chuckle. "In any case, I guess I just want to do something that would make others happy. Knowing something like.... I baked a cake for a wedding or arranged flowers for someone's first date... thinking about that makes me smile." She looked back at him, her eyes nonchalant. "I guess I have some of my own figuring out to do."

"That's surprisingly simple for a complicated girl like you," he said with a small grin. "But I guess I'm too used to complications. My career would probably be something rife with it. As for making other people happy? I'm not too sure about that. After all, we're doing that already with playing Deep Ground. Keeping the World Government and the rest of your peers satisfied seems to outweigh one's own happiness in this world. Or something."

"Not them," She smiled back at him, then considered the thought. "Well... Actually, I wouldn't mind. Maybe because it doesn't bother me now. It's not as though others have considered my happiness before. I'd rather... " She paused, then looked at her mug. "I'd rather... be able to fight for my happiness... because I think in our world, it's something earned rather than something given." She looked back up at him, cocking her head to the side. "Hasn't it always been that way though... Red King?"

"Yes, I suppose so...you know you don't have to call me that anymore," he pointed out. "But history seems to indulge in happiness being fought over. Whether or not something different happens this time around remains to be seen. By anyone." Such was the case now and for the future to behold. But in this moment, perhaps happiness could very well be given.

Erika closed her eyes, resolving to be able to find her happiness which, at this moment, seemed to lie within the Red... Michael. Nodding to herself, recalling how they had left the cafe with the promise of another date, at another time, Erika sprinted to the front door of her home not a few houses down, her heart doing backflips in her chest.

---

"Ah, here we are." Thomas said, apparently satisfied. "It wasn't exactly a secret so maybe you just missed it or something, but..."
Thomas stretched his arm out and offered the slip to Caitlyn.
"Alice in wonderland." Thomas said. "Does that answer your question?"

Now this was an entirely different sort of embarassing, asking about stuff she should know. Now he probably thinks I'm thick, or dull. By the sounds of it, he didn't seem to think Caitlyn was trying to do anything but get information so maybe it was best he did think she was thick or dull for now. At least it turned out her questions wasn't putting Thomas out of his way as much as she thought she was, this made her feel a lot better. With nothing left to ask the News Club it was about time leave.

"Yes thats great thanks," Caitlyn replied with a smile,"and everyone seems to think you have all the answers because you do, very little goes on here you guys don't know about." Caitlyn stood up to grab her things, "I'm sure you have better things to deal with right now so I won't waste any more of your time on silly questions. Thanks again!"

She closed the door behind her and sighed, glad that was all over for now. Time to report back to Nagato-dono, I'm sure he'll be happy to hear nothing really went on. Did he need notifications about nothing going on though? Maybe she could segway it into something else.

To: Kenji Nagato
Subject:News Club Update

Dear Nagato-sama,
Just out of the News Club now. Micheal was dragged off by Erika before he could say anything really and Miss Harper was far more interested in just teasing everyone, so nothing to report. Oh, Miss Harper did say she's doing a play or comedy routine for the festival but from the short snippit I heard, I do hope they have a back up plan.[smiley_poop2.png]

Come to think of it, what are the Fanged Rangers doing for the festival? Should we (Cassandra and I) help out the Ivory Masks to secure a win for our alliance or do you already have something planned to win it for ourselves? The stakes are pretty high this year.

Sincerely yours,
Caitlyn

Done, Caitlyn could slink back to her room, grab something to eat and read through those patch notes she keeps meaning to catch up on.

With Thomas's permission, Hibiki would leave the Newspaper Club. She felt rather excited now actually; she thought that as one of the newbies, she'd get stuck with a boring job like handing out flyers or questionnaires. But not only does she get to interview the culture clubs, which Hibiki personally thought were always very interesting, but she was going to be part of the big event: White Vs Black. The Ivory Masks vs Ebony Strykers. Hibiki had a grudge against the Ebony Strykers, but there was a reason she never joined the Ivory Masks too. Mostly a gut feeling; something about them didn't feel right. But unlike the Ebony Strykers, Hibiki couldn't pinpoint what. Only that it was a strong enough feeling that she stayed away from them.

Hibiki made sure to put a reminder on her calendar to be ready for that day. She hoped to take Itsuko and they could play around the festival, but work did come first. But with any luck Hibiki can combine work and fun together. Speaking of Itsuko, Hibiki needed to figure out where she was. Last she remembered, Itsuko said they could hang out at her place. Looking at her last email, if Itsuko wasn't at home, she'd be at the food court. "She must mean the food court at the mall." Itsuko's apartment was located right on top of the mall after all. But now there was a different problem: how'll she'll get to the mall. It was quite a trek on foot. But Hibiki wasn't bothered at all! She'll just have to get going. After dropping off most of her nonessential school things, Hibiki went to find Train and headed towards the Mall.

It took her some time and there were a few close calls, but Hibiki made it! She arrived to the mall and headed straight to the good court to find Itsuko. She wasn't hard to find; she was the blond with all the bandages. "Itsuuuuko!" Hibiki ran towards her new friend happily, but as she got closer she noticed something was up. There was a stranger near Itsuko who seemed to be helping her, and Itusko seemed hurt. Hibiki didn't like seeing her friends hurt, even if someone like Itsuko was accident prone. "Itsuko? What happened?"

@KoL@Awesomoman64

Thomas watched people file out of the clubroom one after the other. As he watched them go by, he wondered what to do for the rest of the day. Since the school festival was right around the corner he hadn't gotten much homework, and what little he had he'd already completed. As he waited for Emma to emerge from the room, Thomas spotted Aaron Fletcher waving at him from their door. He gave a curt nod in response, even though he didn't know the boy that well.

Thomas supposed that he knew more about Aaron's Deep Ground identity than he did the man himself, mostly out of respect for privacy and partially because he didn't have any business with him. Indeed, Nyx was quite famous after everything that happened, what with the fan club and all, and through wild rumors and speculations Thomas had made his own theories, but he made no effort to confirm them.

Thinking of Deep Ground locked in what he wanted to do for the day. Thomas got up and retrieved his bag before fishing the keys to the clubroom out of his pocket.
"Hey Emma, I'm going out before you." He said. "Lock the clubroom for me, would you?"

He began walking out of the clubroom. As he approached Aaron sitting by the doorway he gave a few passing words.
"And what are you two going to do with each other today?" Thomas asked lightly. "Well, it's not really my business to know, is it? Good luck, I suppose."

With that he left the clubroom and started walking out of the school.

Chiyo seemed to think that deny them access to her "special group" was hurting them, when it fact it was harming her. Cassandra kept her face blank, wondering how Chiyo had even got this far in life, and in the game. Could she merely be a pawn, for someone else? she wondered, wanting to look at Eris, to try and figure out what she was thinking, but not wanting to appear weak. No doubt if I show any sign of weakness, Chiyo will use it. Chances are, she'll use anyone against me...including Eris. her hands curled, a sudden anger filling her.

She leaned forward, appearing thoughtful, knowing she was risking another slap, but honestly not caring about that. "So, let me get this straight. You'd rather not use Eris, to her full capacity, simply because you wish to show control? Seems a bad move for this war. But" She said, leaning back and giving a shrug, "What do I know? I'm just a healer, I keep people alive, and probably know nothing of battle techniques. So that could be the best move you do" She managed, although she didn't know how, to keep her voice puzzled, and then praising.

Perhaps Chiyo would be smart enough to read between the lines. Cassandra didn't really care. where is this recklessness coming from? she wondered, perplexed at it, but not entirely disappointed with it. Perhaps it was simply the way Chiyo treated Eris. Perhaps it was wanting to show Eris that she could look after herself, and that Eris didn't need to do this, to simply protect her.

Masae Kanegawa

Just another day at Purple Crown Academy, as anyone would tell you.

Okay, maybe that wasn't quite the truth. For one it was a Saturday, meaning that there was plenty of time to kick back, relax, and unwind after all the schoolwork and the stress of the previous week. That was something that Masae could appreciate, and she was already looking forward to it. Maybe a bit of strategy gaming? Or she could work on that book she'd been meaning to finish. Either way, there was plenty for her (and people like her) to do.

Oh, and there was the stuff that had happened in Deep Ground Online recently, practically dominating the rumor mill of the Academy, but she did her best to try and ignore it. that wasn't her life anymore, not after everything that had happened, so she did her best to pretend like it didn't exist. She found that it made things simpler for her.

At the moment though she was currently ensconced within the sound booth in the gymnasium, seated in front of the computer set up as the monitors glowed and caught against her glasses. Various screens scrolled, text flying past as she worked and let various clicks and beeps fill the room itself.

"Seriously, what happened here," she muttered to herself in disbelief. This system had gotten seriously messed up, with junk files, programming messing up the system and making it slow if not outright unusable. All she knew was that it was connected to someone commandeering the school speaker system to blare out their music some time ago, though she didn't know why they hadn't fixed it up until this point. Maybe they just hadn't seen the problem until now.

She got to work though, picking out affected areas and getting to work in tracking down the source of the areas. Quickly it became apparent that the problem wasn't just the initial error, but the fact that someone had messed up in trying to fix it which led to this jumbled calamity of errors. It was probably a teacher, and somehow she wasn't surprised. In her experience technology seemed to have an almost pathological hatred for those in the teaching profession, not working even when there was no legitimate reason for it to not function besides something ridiculously specific. Then again, most teachers only seemed to know the basics of how certain devices functioned, so perhaps it was to be expected. Even if she would admit that she might be a tad bit unfair to them given the situation.

Eventually she narrowed it down to a single spot and activated troubleshooting software, following along as she angled in on the solution. A few changes of settings, an altered command line or two, and just like that everything was back to normal. A more relieved sigh filled the air as she sat back, simply relaxing from the job well done as she enjoyed her success. A warm feeling suffused her, as she let herself stretch a bit.

But she couldn't be certain that she had actually succeeded yet, and straightening up once more she quickly scrolled through a list of options before activating the internal speakers of the booth to make sure that it was working. Activating it, she was soon greeted with the sound of music, cellos thrumming away in duet. She enjoyed it, yet cut the music after a few seconds and went on to put the computer into sleep mode. She had confirmed that it worked, so her job was done here.

Picking up her bag, she slipped her stuff into it and headed out, quickly making her way through the halls and towards the exit. She could report her success later if someone didn't discover it by then. Right now she wanted to enjoy the weekend that she had left, and that would not involve sticking around here. She'd swing by her apartment, maybe see if Aderyn was in right now, and then on to some place a bit more interesting. Easy.

Humming to herself, she set off with a determined drive. The day would not wait for her, and she would not keep it waiting.

Jiro felt a shiver run down his spine as someone addressed his idea by name. Was this someone that had seen him riding the tank into the Black City, here to avenge the cause the rogue faction had lost so many for? Someone with a vendetta, maybe? Images of his death ran through his mind, the red stain of an entry wound contrasting brilliantly with is hair, and his face destroyed by the exit. He braced and turned around, ready to meet hi-

"Oh! Sorry, President Tsugumi, I'm just a little jumpy is all." He remembered tradition and made a quick bow to around waist length, then stood back up as the girl spoke. From what he knew, there was an amount of conspiracy that surrounded the girl, secrets of a corrupted student council supposedly ran by her and bribed with cartons upon cartons of delicious, chocolate milk. He let the thoughts go as she finished, choosing to keep the ridiculous questions to himself for now. "Yeah, I just came down from his room. He's on the third floor, right by the elevator... and that was your cousin in there?" He shrugged and pulled the bottle of sweet tea out of his pocket, then held it out to Yoshino. "He sent me down to get him some tea, could you do me a favor and run it up to him, please? I've gotta wait for Shiro to show up." The native shook the plastic bottle slightly, the yellow cap seeming to beg for Yoshino to grab it and make the swift delivery, though there was little in it for her.

@TheWindel@Jedly

---

With the school day over and the weekend just over the horizon, Aderyn Finch was prepping herself for some heavy grinding within Deep Ground. With everything that had been flying around lately, namely the friendship between the Bruisers and Strykers becoming momentarily jeopardized because of an apparent dupe of the Black King, the entirety of the Internet had been engulfed in a firestorm. Not even a week later, they were patched up like nothing had happened at all. The Welsh girl shook her head as she landed at the bottom of a flight of stairs, it was all madness to her. It was starting to look like someone was being backstabbed every few seconds to her, and an in-game powerhouse like her was a prime target. She was barely anything to the infamous Eclipse Princess, but when she got up to that girl's level... well, it'd be quite the fight. She laughed to herself briefly, thinking of the destruction two dueling Berserkers would cause.

To her luck, though, she would be able to get a jump start on leveling this season, since the drama club wouldn't start meeting until late fall, the perfect time to get set up for a winter production. It was at this moment she spotted her roommate and now-best friend, Masae Kanegawa. She picked up her pace to the fastest her fragile legs would carry her; a moderately fast jog. "Masae! Masae, wait up!" When she caught up to the older girl, she was rifling through her messenger bag with haste, pulling out a flier for a new coffee shop just off campus. "This showed up in our mailbox this morning, I guess the post isn't dead after all. You wanna check it out in a little bit?" She handed the other girl the slip of wax paper and closed her bag, awaiting a response.

@Flamelord

---

Just as Erika had made it home, she bounded up to her room, her long black curls bouncing around her as she hummed to herself, fondly recalling her date with Michael. She smiled, feeling frankly very girlish and beautiful as she opened the door to her room, her glasses mildly foggy from her consistent blush. She closed the door, turning around with it to make sure it would lock for the night. Despite her humming and singing, she'd been sure to be quiet when coming in. Erika turned around, looking to undress and prepare for the night when the image of her brother, looming over her with his arms folded appeared before her.

"Where have you been?"

With a yelp, Erika leaped back, slamming her body inadvertently against the door, hitting her head. She groaned, holding the back of her head as she crouched down, scrunching up her face in the pain. Her brother sighed in annoyance as he crouched down with her.

"God, you're such a klutz," He grabbed her by her hands and gingerly helped her to the bed where she was sat down. He allowed her a moment of quiet to gather herself before she looked up at him.

"Why are you in here? Shouldn't you be off doing guild stuff or, whatever?" She frowned at him, annoyed in her own way. The scowl on Hitoru's face deepened.

"You dodge my calls all night, worrying me sick, then I learn you're on a date with the Red King?! And you challenged him?!" Erika was startled by this, realizing her phone was still in the lockers with Michaels at school. She'd have to remember to return it to him. Unsure how to apologize, she settled on a rebuttle.

"W-well, how do you know about that?" In response, Hitoru only pulled out his phone. On it, a video of her declaration of war and kiss played out. Erika was floored, only pressing her lips together in a firm line as she looked at him with a large blush on her face. "I know what you're going to say. . ."

"Do you, now?" Hitoru raised an eyebrow at his little sister.

"You're going to forbid me from seeing him or fighting him, right? You'll say something like, I always knew he was bad news, that getting involved with any colored king is a horrible idea and that you'll put me under surveillance or something or--umph!!" Erika was cut off by Hitoru putting his whole hand on her face.

"You talk, like, alot. Maybe you should talk less, I think." Hitoru looked at her with a smirk. In annoyance, Erika swatted his hand away and pursed her lips before folding her arms. Hitoru sat down on the bed beside her, looking for a moment a little unconfident. After a moment, he looked at her. "Not to be weird or whatever but I was really messed up when you were in your coma." Erika looked at him, surprised by the change in topic. "And... just now, when I couldn't get ahold of you, I was also... freaking out, I guess. Whatever, look, Eri," Hitoru pivoted to look at his sister, frowning as he removed his baseball hat, holding it in his hands. "Can you maybe not... disappear on me for a while?"

Erika was stunned by this monologue by her brother. After a minute of letting his words sink in, her shoulders fell a little. She had her reasons for ditching the phones but the look in her brother's eyes made it register for her just how much she'd scared him tonight. A pang of guilt made her realize her actions, and made tears well up in her eyes as she recognized her brother's pain during her time "a.f.k." Biting her lip, she nodded at Hitoru.

"I'm sorry, Hito." She leaned in and gave her brother a big hug, which he reciprocated fairly quickly. She could feel him relaxing in her arms and she gave a small smile.

"Just... just answer the phone next time, okay?"

"Okay." With that, they pulled out of the hug. "So... does this mean you're cool with the stuff with Michael?"

"Oh no, I still have tons to say about that." Erika only grimaced in response. "First of all, you DO know you're a witch doctor class right?" He looks at her incredulously, his eyebrows raised. Erika only blinked in response at first.

"Wait, so, you're cool with it?"

"Cool with it? I'm ecstatic for it." Hitoru grinned. "I mean, if you win, you would have beat a colored king as a healer class. If you lose, I get to laugh at you for the rest of your life."

"Oh. You're so supportive." Erika's voice dripped with sarcasm as she turned away from him. "Look, I meant what I said, I'm gonna figure something out."

"And I believe it," Hitoru admitted, his eyes narrowing. What he said next surprised Erika more than anything else had that night. "That's why we're going to go train your new glitch ability tonight in Deep Ground."

Masae Kanegawa

Wrapped up in her thoughts, Masae almost missed the sound of Aderyn calling out after her. Fortunately she caught on quick, slowing down to allow her roommate and friend to catch up to her so they could walk side by side. This was very convenient, wasn't it. Not that she was complaining by any stretch of the imagination.

"Oh, hello Aderyn," she said with a smile as she kept moving at her slower pace for the sake of her roommate. She knew about Aderyn's medical issues, but quite honestly the fact that you couldn't really see it made it easier to ignore. That didn't mean that she wouldn't be conscious of her issues and accommodating for that though. There was no reason to act like a jerk about it. "I didn't realize you were here."

It answered the question of whether she would find Aderyn back at their apartment, and she listened quietly as her companion produced a flier with an advertisement for a coffee shop on it. Taking the paper she looked it over, not outright objecting the option as she actually read the thing. Well, somebody certainly knew their way around a bit of graphic design.

At last she was satisfied and handed the paper back, flashing her companion a smile. "Well, I don't really drink coffee but I don't see why not," she agreed without hesitation. It wouldn't be much of a surprise as far as her drink preferences were concerned, but she was nonetheless willing to go. It would be a poor coffee shop if they didn't have stuff for people who might not be interested in having some coffee at the moment.

"How's your day been," she asked as they drew near the entrance to the school. They had the time to chat, after all.

@Mega Birb