The 'Stranger', a title he would claim to be rather fond, detected that there may have been a miscommunication here but didn't appear deterred in the least. Dana's response was abnormal by any stretch of the imagination, and that was refreshing in a place as mundane as this, Chiyo's conspiracy not-withstanding.

"I'd be delighted to have you escort me. I've figured my way around here for the most part, but there hasn't been the time to find the best can to eat from." He offered her his arm as though they'd walk off on their dumpster diving expedition arm-in-arm. "By the way, you can call me Rufus. Don't suppose I could have a name to address you by as well, or perhaps for that stony man over yonder watching us?"

With his free hand Rufus a hiked a thumb back over his shoulder to point at the ever attentive Kamen-san before splaying his finger's open in a curt wave. The Stranger had this nagging feeling of being watched and he was having difficulty pinning it down until he witnessed Dana's mishap, finding there to be only one besides himself who could continue to observe the toothy blonde laugh at herself. It takes a certain kind of person to see everything around them and not avert their gaze an inch.

Normally Rufus would avoid those types like the plague, but he had nothing better to do outside this and it wasn't like he'd stolen anything except an unattended drink. That's recycling, not theft.

@TheWindel

"So, that's what you wanted to talk about, huh, Master?" Eris replied to Chiyo while holding a cup of iced tea that she had ordered as soon as they chose a table. "I'll accept your offer, of course. Not only will it have me in a better position to fight my foes, but also help the Ivory Masks achieve dominance over all of Deep Ground. However, I can only comply with it while I have nothing to deal with out of the game, though this is a rare occurrence in and of itself."

"Unless you have anything else you would like to tell us about, Master, I'll retire for the day. I'll be online as soon as I finish setting a few things up with Cassandra. For the time being, I ask that you pardon us for our, Master." Eris said before getting up from her seat, ushering Cassandra to do the same. She preferred not to address Cassandra's complaints, knowing all too well that they would only set off Chiyo even more. They needed to talk about this issue, but the middle of the Mall was no place to do so.

"I am sorry, Cassandra, I did not talk to you that much on these last few days. At least not about things that matter, about us and Chiyo." Were the first words that Eris said after Cassandra and she were at enough distance from Chiyo. "We need to do that, but first let us go back home, I would like to take a bath and eat lunch before that." That was when Eris noticed something wrong and looked behind her, "Hmm... I seem to be missing someone, but where could have Dana wandered off to?" Well, a moment of privacy with Cassandra was much appreciated on Eris' part, so she was good with it for the time being. Dana would just coming bouncing and grinning when she thought it was good, sometimes Eris even thought the shark-toothed blonde could teleport around. "What am I thinking? This is the real world, there's no way something like this can happen, right?"


At the Newspaper Club, Emma had just finished throwing all the trash away, when she noticed Aaron standing by the door and quite immediately pounced him, taking his left arm for her own, before turning to Thomas and whoever else lagged behind as well, saying "I guess this is my cue to leave, Prez. If you need, you know how to contact me. Anyway, see ya!"

Following that Emma quite literally buried Aaron's arm between her breasts, looking up mischievously. "You seem to be cold, Nixxon. I've heard that the best way to warm someone else, is by sharing body heat. Do you wanna test that, hmm?" She pulled Aaron down, while tiptoeing in away that seemed quite girly even for someone such as Emma, "Well, shall we go grind a bit, now?" Emma had a mischievous grin on her face as she waited for Aaron's reply.


"Hmm, Goroshi-kun, I'm sorry if I came in a bad hour. You seem to have your friends to care about so, if you'd like, I can be back later." Yuuno said just after the blue haired boy which she didn't knew about left Asahi's room.

While she waited for a reply, wondering what Asahi would say, Yuuno fidgeted nervously, wiping out some condensation that had formed on her glasses' lens as soon as she entered the colder ambient of the hospital. Obviously, the need to keep the spread of diseases to a minimum required the environment to be as cold and dry as possible, but Yuuno just wondered if someone had set the AC to a couple degrees lower than it should be?

That was when she noticed the blanket which laid on Asahi's bed. "Hmm... that's a nice blanket, it looks like it feels very warm, erm..." Yuuno cleared her throat loudly, feeling that her voice had just become a bit rasp, while she was desperately trying to find a thread to grasp to.


"Heh, thank you guys! I'm right now, I think... ouch!" Itsuko said with a half-hearted smile to the people that had helped her escape Chiyo's grasp. "I'm sorry for bothering you, really. Anyway, what's up with that girl? Did she not had her daily calcium or something like this?" Itsuko joked even though her ribs were burning and very much likely the bruise she had earlier was a lot worse now.

Anyway, before Itsuko could even get a good feel of her surroundings, she tumbled to the floor again, this time a little more gently then before, when Hibiki barrelled into her, asking if Itsuko was well and what had happened. "Hi-Hibiki!" Itsuko groaned, happily, but painfully as she patted Hibiki's back. "I-I'm ok, I just tripped 'cause I didn't looked where I was goin'." A little white lie to not have Hibiki more worried than she need to, but it was nothing to serious. Itsuko didn't wanted her friends getting in trouble because of her, after all.

"Wanna go up and play something? I don't know if Huntress will come today, so we could go play DGO if you want." Itsuko asked as she finally got back to her feet.

Helping Itsuko away from the scene, the two bumped into someone who appeared to be Itsuko’s friend as she called her by name. Speaking of, Angus now knew the name of the girl he was helping. Before he could even mention the fight, Itsuko perked up and tried to act like everything was fine despite the fact she would have fallen to the floor again had Angus not been there to keep her up.

Hearing her excuse about tripping, Angus looked at her and raised an eyebrow clearly not approving of her decision to lie. But he wasn’t going to out her on it, after all he was just some random bystander. ”Yeah. Twas a nasty spill she took back there.” He affirmed the fib before letting go of Itsuko as she was able to stand on her own now.

Seeing as he was no longer needed he waited for the two to finished discussing their plans before officially excusing himself. ”Well, seems you’re standing fine and you got someone to help you just in case. I guess I’ll be taking me leave then. See ya around, Itsuko. Try not to ‘trip’ anymore.” Turning on his heel Angus gave a two fingered salute before walking back to the food court.

@KoL@Ryonara

~The Colored Kings~

To: Caitlyn Dunnst
Subject: Re: News Club Update

Yo,

Yeah, just work with the Masks for now until I can think of something else to do at the Festival. Some of the others suggested a food-eating contest with hot dogs or something. I shot the idiots down, so for now we’re flying without a destination. Oh, and if you see Alex, punch him in the face for me. He deserves it. Trust me.

Your King,
Kenji

The Green King sent that message as soon as he had received it. Quite frankly, he hadn’t really planned for a big event for the Festival since Chiyo was calling all the shots around here. And seeing as she was a control freak as much as she was a drama queen, he had decided to not step on her toes lest he get a bigger bitching than even he could pull off.

Speaking of Chiyo, the White King herself felt another migraine coming on as Cassandra openly questioned her. She would have growled and perhaps even slapped the girl yet again, but the growing pain in her head kept her docile for now. She massaged her temples before giving the girl an even look.

“And who said I wasn’t using Eris to her full potential? Maybe you should leave the strategizing to the King and do your job as the healer,” Chiyo hissed before giving Eris a look. “In any case, you’re both considered my top assets to this war, along with the other two. If you have no further questions, you can leave me alone until further notice."

Truly the world was starting to turn if she could tolerate Eris more so than Cassandra. Or maybe Eris’ unpleasant personality had been passed to her friend? Chiyo didn’t know and she certainly didn’t care either. As those two departed, Kamen-san was by her side in an instant, wondering if he should buy Chiyo some medicine for her headaches or something.

He did not lose track of the blonde girl from before, having been joined by what looked like two friends now; he made a note to buy her a get-well card. Nor did he forget Eris’ supposed bodyguard and the probably root to Chiyo’s migraines, Dana. Said girl was actively not doing her job, abandoning Eris to go joy-ride with some stranger or something.

“Oh ho, Rufus? That’s a totes weird name because you look more like a roof to me,” Dana commented with a snicker. “Oh, don’t mind that guy. I just call him Stone Face or something else that’s insulting and rude. Though nothing beats Super Trash!”

At once Dana straightened her back and took a salute to Rufus, as if pride resonated in the self-given title. “Oh ho, and why should I go have fun with a stranger? Mom always said never to listen to strangers…oh wait…”

Back in the hospital, Yoshino had to keep a smirk of amusement hidden with her hand as Jiro explained himself. She waved off his concerns before saying, “Yes, it’s fine Jiro. I’ll gladly take this to him since it’s the least I can do. It seems he’s been ever popular lately and it’s good to see he’s caught the attention of a good crowd. Both you and my cousin.”

With those passing words, she gave the boy a nod before taking the tea and heading up to Asahi’s room. When she did reach the place, she waited at the doorway before peeping her head inside. She waited for Yuuno to finish her conversation before stepping into the room, saying, “Hello Yuuno, Asahi.”

---

Hibiki bit her lip. She could tell Itsuko was lying, but she didn't know why. Maybe Itsuko was just trying not to look as hurt? But who hurt her? Hibiki didn't think that Itsuko could be so clumsy that she could hurt herself this badly... Though then again, Hibiki didn't know Itsuko that well. But no sense in fretting about it now. Hibiki helped Itsuko to her feet and held her hand gently. "Sure, that sounds fine to me." At the same time, the stranger who was helping Itsuko bid himself farewell. She hasn't seen him before, but she figured he must go to Purple Crown as well. She was certain that they would meet again. "Thank you very much!" Waving goodbye to him Hibiki looked to Itsuko. "Are you really okay? Did someone hurt you?"

If there was one thing Hibiki hated, it was bullies. Her entire vendetta against the Ebony Strykers stemmed from it, as well as vengeance. Itsuko would be right to make sure Hibiki didn't know who hurt her; while she wasn't a fighter in real life, Hibiki wouldn't let anyone hurt her friends. She'd find a way to protect them and make sure their bullies never bother them again. Usually this just involved giving them a stern talking to, since Hibiki believed simply standing up against someone was enough to get them to back down. It worked before. "We don't have to talk about it here. C'mon, let's go to your place."

@KoL

Asahi smiled as yuuno tried to hold up a conversation. This awkwardness about her was cute. He wished he could just… Bask in it. However, he knew they both didn’t really have a lot of time together. As much as Asahi wanted to stand up and take Yuuno out places, he could feel himself getting sleepy again. The medicine was starting to kick in, so he guessed that in about ten to thirty minutes he was going to be asleep. He had to get some things off his chest.

”First... I thought you forgot about me… Ever since that incident at the pizza place. I understand, now. I’m sure you already heard how Arms Slave threaten someone, and how… That made a big mess… Heh.”

Asahi started laughing at himself now. It seemed so… Surreal. He couldn’t help but be both thankful, and hateful towards Eris. For causing him so much trouble. For showing him what’s wrong with him. For betraying the Ebony Strykers. For making him realize things need to change.

”Don’t go. Heh… This blanket, it’s kinda small. Doesn’t keep me very warm. It's so cold...”

In reflection, Asahi wondered why he never realized it himself. All the fighting, killing, cruelty he did, how did he manage to do so much and never once think that he was doing wrong? Perhaps because those who were right were the ones who were alive. No one has ever stood up to Asahi or lived to fight against him like Eris did. Was she too strong for him? Perhaps. But that didn’t mean her message was lost on him. He only wished he could have handled it better.

”I don’t blame you. I’m a bad guy. Thought about changing. For the better. For… Y-”

Just as he was about to finish a cheesy line, Yoshino arrived to his room. This was a very unexpected surprise. What could she possibly be here for? Perhaps it was Yuuno? No, if she wanted to do that, Yoshino could have simply texted her. No, Yoshino was here for Asahi, he knew it. But why? How? Asahi didn’t exactly know Yoshino. And last he remembered, he never told Yoshino that he was Arms Slave… Though perhaps Yuuno did. He did give Yuuno his information, and she could have passed it along to Yoshino. That and Yoshino was deep in cahoots with the Sweepers, who surely did have files on him. Gulping, Asahi hoped that Yoshino wasn’t here for Sweeper business. If yesterday was any indication, the Sweepers had some problems to deal with. Asahi hoped he wasn’t one of those problems.

”Y-Yoshino, I mean, Tsugumi-san. I didn’t know you’d be here. Are… Are you here for Yuuno?”

@TheWindel@KoL

---

Nodding her head, Retsu took Kanbaru’s words as further proof. While it was fairly obvious, and indeed Retsu more or less got her confirmation from Yoshino herself yesterday, Retsu still had her doubts. But perhaps it was in a more existential sense. All this time Retsu has been looking up to Moon Rider so much that there was still doubts that the Black King and Yoshino were two different people. If anyone knew how Retsu was normally like, they could easily assuming that she and Dark Wraith were one and the same. But somehow, Yoshino and Moon Rider still felt so… Different.

Not that this was a bad thing. Two sides of the same coin perhaps, but it was the coin that Retsu wanted.

Eventually Kanbaru and Retsu arrived to Chiyo’s home. It was fitting for someone of her standings: way too big to be economically practical, and essentially flaunting Chiyo’s wealth and lizzie lafair attitude towards the more working-class. As such, much of the home needed some cleaning and maintenance. The grass was starting to grow in unsightly patches, bushes needed to be trimmed, and many of the windows needed to be washed. Getting their equipment Retsu and Kanbaru were rushed towards the front door, where the head maid began doling out orders. Retsu and Kanbaru were to clean the the bedrooms, doing the sheets, blankets, pillows, and any laundry left behind. They were given permission to use the washing machine, however they could only use their own detergent.

With their job as well as their cover given to them Retsu took Kanbaru to the side. ”Let’s not waste time. We have to find Chiyo’s room first, and then we’ll move onto the other rooms.” Carrying a large empty basket and a bag of detergent, Retsu went to go find Chiyo’s room.

@Lonewolf685

Cassandra gave a soft sigh, rising and following Eris, but she looked back at Chiyo, keeping her expression neutral. one day, I'll get Eris out from under her thumb. She doesn't need to submit to someone like Chiyo for me She thought to herself, looking back to Eris. Maybe though she could make things easier for Eris, and pretend to submit to Chiyo's control. Giving a soft sigh, she glanced away. "I'm aware you've been busy, and I don't mind that. I'm just worried about you, Eris" She said, "Okay" She said, following along side Eris.

She glanced about them, weary. I won't apologise to Chiyo for my behaviour. I'll do many things for Eris, but I won't grovel like that to a bully. BUt I can apologise to Eris. I didn't mean to make things difficult, I just... She sighed again, to herself, glancing to Eris once more. She didn't like disappointing her, and that's what she felt like she hadd done. Yet she couldn't help herself, she didn't like bullies, and thats what Chiyo was.

although what was that, that...headache? she thought, frowning slightly. She slid her hands into her pockets, wanting to speak, but not doing so.

Kanbaru found that there conversation was remarkably short lived, as the Yakuza completely withdrew into her own thoughts after the bluenette offered her two cents. It had to be something of a shock for Retsu to find her beliefs confirmed, assuming she really was uncertain to begin with. Yoshino was to Retsu what Kanbaru held the Yakuza as, and having been in a similar boat she could understand that lifting the veil of mystery tended to create more drama then the pursuit of the truth did.

Otherwise she wouldn't be engaged in espionage among the physical world without a meaty stack of non-sequential bills in her drop box, but such are the things one dose for their friends.

They arrived in silence at their objective, a monument to Chiyo's believed superiority over the rest of the world. Lucky for them this meant it was far too much space for any one person and required a large group of non-descript maids to clean for her. No one would ever notice if two were new or never seen again, as that was common enough practice in this line of work. Kanbaru nodded in understanding to Retsu's instruction but paused to offer her own.

"We are doing the laundry, not scrubbing the floors with toothbrushes. A house like this takes three to four hours, easy, and the laundry will take up a large span of time. I'll take the laundry down to the basement and get some 'work' done there before returning to you in the master bedroom." Kanbaru offered evenly. "Judging by the owner's personality, I can't imagine she gets any use out of guest rooms. With any luck she converted them into an office or gym we could also clean for her."

Carrying her own supplies, Kanbaru took to the stairs and entered the door which she figured to be the Master Bedroom, stepping into a room of pure white accentuated by a vaulted ceiling of sheer angles. Every fixture of the room was either made of bleached ivory or polished silver, and the only blemish upon this dazzling display of decadence were the sheets thrown onto the floor without a care for the maids who would have to clean it. "I've seen empty dorm rooms with more life then this. There's not even a dart board with Yoshino's face on it to tell us who Chiyo is, except that she's from a LOT of money."

@Lucius Cypher

---

"Super Trash you say? That's an interesting title to carry, though it does have a nice ring to it. Super Trash, faster then a speeding garbage truck and stronger then the fiercest trash compactor!" He raised his offered arm into a stiff salute, going so far as to click his heels together to make it seem more official then two weirdoes saluting in the middle of a mall.

He took note there was some hesitation in her as her speech trailed off, as thought struck with a contradictory revelation. Rufus thought it apt not to bring up what could be a sensitive topic in their first encounter and tried to move forward. "But I'm not a stranger. I'm Rufus, and you're the Super Trash, so we are already well acquainted. Nothing to stop us from having any fun while the serious people do their unfun stuff. I've noticed the mall doesn't lock the door to the roof and it's got a nice view to enjoy while you eat."

A cursory search found Chiyo's hamper stuffed into the corner of her equally grandiose but far more colorful closet, whereupon Kanbaru stuffed the sheets in with the rest of the clothes and made to check the other rooms. "Good luck, senorita."
@TheWindel

Casually strolling back to his table Angus couldn’t help but feel a bit prideful over his actions. Sure he stood up to harassment all the time in DGO but this was real life! There could have been a real threat present but he stood up anyway. And true the resolution came more from a migraine than his intervention, but he was there to help and in the end that’s what mattered right? In his book it was a job well...”Alright, who took me drink?” He muttered to himself as he arrived at his table only to find his soda missing.

Two possibilities came to mind. One: someone saw an unoccupied drink and decided “free game”, or two: the custodians came by and mistook it for trash someone had left behind and promptly disposed of it. Either way, there was a very good chance he wasn’t getting it back. Still, a quick glance around wouldn’t hurt.

As luck would have it there was still a janitor in sight. A strange janitor saluting some random girl as if they were both military, but a janitor nonetheless. It was a long shot, but perhaps he threw away Angus’ drink? At least then he would know the ill gotten fate of his soft drink.

Approaching the saluting weirdos Angus tapped the boy’s shoulder. ”Excuse me, sir, but did you by chance-” He was cut off by the sight of a soda cup in the hands of the girl. Of course there were dozens of other soda cups out there, but this one had all the tabs popped and a smudge on the company logo almost identical to how Angus’ looked. He looked up from the cup to the girl’s eyes and asked, ”That, uh, wouldn’t happen to be an orange soda would it?”

@Lonewolf685@TheWindel

Aaron saw the initial adjustment of Emma's stance when she caught sight of him, and readied him for the impact of an Irish girl with a sweet tooth. Simply put, he squared his left arm towards her and braced for the oncoming collision. When she made contact and essentially stole his arm, he went with the blow and caught the girl, stopping her in her tracks. "Glad to see you too, Emma." He gave her a pat on the head with a smirk and started to walk with her, slightly enjoying the feeling of her breasts around his arm. Not that there were too many nerves to acknowledge the feeling.

When she started talking about sharing body heat, the blood rushed to his face. "I mean, I'm always co-" He was cut off as he was pulled to eye level with the shorter girl, his stutter coming back momentarily to betray him, as always. She brought up the plan for Deep Ground they had formed earlier, with emphasis on the word 'grind.' His face was almost completely red now as the pair left the building. "Well, which kind?" With that recovery made, the color somewhat faded from his face as an amount of confidence came back to him. "But yeah, let's kick the weekend off the right way here!" The American called out with a little too much enthusiasm, wanting to finally get his next ability within the game.

@KoL

---

The Welsh girl smiled brightly when Masae said she'd check out that new shop with her. She was honestly expecting some form of rejection, but no, her friend had gone for it! This was a far cry from her home, all right. "I'm sure they have tea, or vending machines with soda. One of the two, at least!" She strolled along with her companion, milling over the past day. Things had been pretty tame, all things considered. The clubs had met as normal, the school day was just as boring as the last, but on the bright side, her legs didn't hurt as bad as they usually did. That had to be worth something. She dived into her thoughts as they walked, pushing open the entrance as Masae spoke again. "Pretty good, actually. I mean, I'm going to feed my addiction with a great friend, so..." She shrugged a bit and laughed, fully acknowledging that she had something of a problem with coffee. While it wasn't life-threatening, she enjoyed it more often than most did. "...You think they have pumpkin spice in yet?" One could swear that she was at least a fourth American just by that phrase.

@Flamelord

”I’d be glad to give your cerulean highness my body and soul for our righteous endeavor!” Anything to continue the facilitation of mutual trade between the two factions. In the midst of wars, parties with aligning ideologies rub each other’s backs, just something that’s done out of common sense. Shiro tried his best to sound especially zealous with his words, much like a Crusader about to curbstomp some Muslims. Except given age of the Ebony Strykers, they could barely level with such a force. ”Well, surprising as it may be, this authentic tint of orange isn’t a result from squashing tangerines. Actually, I-” And just like that, the world suddenly turned on an angle. An abrupt one. Almost ninety degrees, give or take a few due to the inherent resistance with Shiro’s knees. But still, his perspective had been jerked back on a dime. It was at that very moment that a notification encompassed his vision, almost as if he was gazing into the blinding light of the great beyond.

---

INSIDE SHIRO’S BRAIN - JOINT CONTROL SECTION(TENTATIVE NAME)

”WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON? GET ME IN TOUCH WITH THE MAIN HUB”

Within this specific, enclosed section of Shiro’s vacuous noggin, hell had broken completely loose. Within the room boxed off by pink walls was a number of miniature Shiro’s who donned jumpsuits, save for the one individual fastened upon a central chair currently barking a barrage of orders out to his subordinates. This dashing lad of a higher echelon sported a military officer’s uniform embroidered with a myriad of commendations. He had obviously spent a fair amount of time within the Shiro Antibody Airforce and had earned the metal sitting with pride on his chest.

”ANYTHING?” He barked out again. A lone bead of sweat slid down his face, its trail’s presence amplified by the room’s vibrant lighting and array of monitors encompassing the walls.



The commanding Shiro shifted his furrowed brows from the generic worker to the room’s primary monitor. It displayed the current angle of Shiro’s knees and the rate at which they were bending. To say the least, he wasn’t doing a good job at hiding his angst.



”Yes?!”



”SPIT IT OUT DAMN IT!”



And just like that, discord broke loose. The commander fell back into his seat, his face ashen. ”Mother of god…”

---

To: Jiro Katsurou
From: Shiro Kawabata
Subject: Re: Quick Meeting
Drat, you beat me there D: Well n’ways, was planning to. Ran into a compadre of ours so I’m gonna have him tag along. Gonna swing by the mall to grab a little present for him, but shhh, don’t tell him. Even though he’s probably already anticipating it o(*>ω<*)o. It’s a fifth arm XD!

But in all seriousness we’ll be there soon. Hold down the fort for now, comrade. ‘Til then! ˭̡̞(◞⁎˃ᆺ˂)◞*✰

Shiro’s gaze leveled out after being held up by his collar. His legs and arms were still strewn limply across the floor. He was too busy shipping the cyan hound and her taciturn subordinate to take note of Kosuke’s quick, but calculated movements. A reaction time that complemented spur of the moment adjustments to rocket trajectories well. Yet another kid, much like himself, who found his virtual life bleeding into his reality. DGO had its elusive and unpredictable ways of doing so, for better or for worse. ”I read you loud and clear, Ghost Rider! Just making some casual chit-chat. Actually finally figured out what I’m gonna buy our wounded soldier.” Shiro picked himself off of the tiled flooring of the academy hallway and quickly patted himself down. ”Hey, don’t let our memes be dreams!” The boy responded to the king’s shrill cry with, to which he quickly waved off his own comment, ”I kid, I kid. But just as Kosuke said, we gotta bounce. Got bills to pay, mouths to feed, a miniature metropolis to lead. Y’know, the usual. But yeah, if you ever want to regard your omnipotent presence with a lowly individual such as myself, feel free to hit me up! Anyways, catcha later King of Merchants and Tankus! Let's try to steer this scene clear from bellum omnium contra omnes, aight?”

With a conscious wave the student spun around on his heel and paced his way in the direction of the gate, with Kosuke in tow. ”Let’s grab what we’ve gotta grab and then beeline it to the hospital.” The bunny on Shiro’s eye patch appeared a bit more energetic than usual.
@TheWindel@Mega Birb@RoflsMazoy

---

(Will add other dank char part shortly)

Masae Kanegawa

The prospect of tea or something else to drink was something that Masae could look forward to, meaning that she didn't have to worry about potentially being left alone and bored when one didn't consider the conversations between various people. Not that she had a problem with simply sitting around and being able to talk with her friend, but there was nothing wrong with having a drink as well, especially after the work that she had just finished.

She stepped through the entrance of the school with a grateful nod before slowing down a bit to make sure that Aderyn was able to accompany her without issue. She couldn't help but chuckle, a hand rising to cover her mouth sat the same time as her fiend admitted her coffee addiction before asking about the availability of pumpkin spice. She was used to it by this point, but it hadn't stopped being funny.

"They might," she replied with a shrug, not actually sure whether they would. But if this shop was good enough they might have a greater chance of availability than they wold otherwise. Together the two of them headed for the coffee shop, anticipating growing in the meanwhile. "It definitely seems like things have been interesting these past couple days," she mused aloud. Just with all the events around the school and in DGO, and while they might not be her problem right now, it was still something to talk about.

"Why do we not forget this and go do something more enjoyable, Cassandra? It has been quite some time since we had this liberty." Eris took a quick glance over her shoulder, with a reassuring smile on her face as she talked to Cassandra, on the way to her apartment.

Once they reached it, Eris left Cassandra to her own devices for a few minutes while she went to bathe. To say the truth, Eris thought about inviting Cassandra to as well —hers was quite a spacious bathroom after all— but declined the idea for the time being. "It's better to not do actions that can be misinterpreted." Eris slapped her suddenly heated cheeks, wondering if she was doing some sort of weird face.


When she came back, Eris had changed into another of her school uniforms, just in case they were to go outside for any kind of reason. After coming to terms with most of her life recently, it looked like Eris had adapted to some of the local customs, like pretty much wearing her uniform 24/7, or to not wear shoes inside of her apartment. Nevertheless, she never bothered Cassandra to do the same, if the redhead didn't wanted to.

"What to do now?" Eris wondered aloud as she sat by the table. Eris had just asked Cassandra if she wanted to wash refresh herself as well and, while Cassandra decided if she would do it or not, Eris considered their options while looking over her apartment. It was a simple, albeit luxurious place, designed for a single person or at the most a young couple, such as most others on this complex, it was designed with Purple Crown students in mind.

The kitchenette where Eris was, was separated from the living by a counter, being well stocked since Eris had prepared beforehand, for whatever they might need for cooking. The living room had pretty much being converted into an atelier and was full of Eris' works of fashion, in various stages of development, while her bedroom and the bathroom were pretty normal, for someone of Eris' standards, that is.

The main difference from the last time Cassandra came to visit Eris would be that Eris changed all of her grooming products for a new brand with a sweet kiwifruit scent and that Eris' bedroom had been redecorated into something considerably more girly —favoring soft purple colors and antique style furniture— than her previous spartan dwellings that barely had a bad and a bookshelf for the whole room.

Finally, there was the balcony —that could be accessed either from the living or the bedroom— with a single glass topped garden table, four chairs and a few plants, including a couple of mini palm trees and a few flowers, most of them being orchids. Indeed, Eris' apartment had turned from something barely habitable to something one could call home, a great, great improvement.


Eris was snapped out of her revelry by the the sound of her own fingers tapping against the table, which was actually the same counter that separated the kitchen from the living room, noticing that she had been lost in idle thinking for quite some time. "Did I?" Eris thought out loud, as she wondered if she had dozed off without even noticing. All the work she had been doing these days was good, that Eris couldn't deny, but it was taking its toll on her. Sleeping without noticing when she had time to, was not uncommon at all for Eris these days.

Nevertheless, Eris' self-consciousness just snapped back when she remembered about Cassandra. Looking aside with embarrassment evident in her features, as Eris wiped away a small strand of drool with the nearest napkin she could find, while wondering if Cassandra had noticed her sleeping or not?

"God, why don't you kill me of embarrassment, already?" Eris thought, unable to bear such a disgraceful thought.


"Let's get this show on the road, then!" A certain blazing haired mage yelled from over the derelict remnants of what was a convenience store back in the real world. Burning Blossom, Emma's Deep Ground alter ego, didn't even need to look at the notification ping on her HUD to notice that her Level 2 ability -Pyromania- was about to be fully charged, the mere sight of her hair being literally turned into a fiery mane was visual warning enough for her as well as anyone else that one of Blossom's next spells would be a blast.

After going back home with Aaron, Emma made quick work of her promise to go on a Deep Ground date with him, going to scout the Faded City's outskirts in search of prey and being lucky enough to ran into a group of five LVL 06 Dissolutions after a few minutes of walking around aimlessly. "A pack of Cyber Dragoons? Let's turn'em into molten scrap, Nixon!" Was all that Blossom said before cast the first stone, or Fireballs, in this case. The twin spells hit the packed group of Dissonances, knocking about half of their hit points off at once and immediately pulling all the aggro to Blossom, making it easier for Nix to maneuver to a backstabbing position, if he wanted to.

While the Cyber Dragoons -which were flightless, despite having wings, since they were too heavy- charged, consuming their actions for the turn to close 3/4 of the distance that Blossom's Fireball's could hit them, she used her second move to cast a pair of Lightning Bolts at one of them, knocking the remainder of its hit points off. The mechanical menace exploded in a rain of polyhedral multicolored EXP crystals. "One down, four to go!" Blossom yelled with a manic grin slapped on her face, despite the fact that she would be screwed if Nix didn't felled at least one of them and drew some aggro to himself before the brutish mobs reached Blossom.


Yuuno remained silent, letting Asahi speak his mind for a few minutes. Sincerely, Yuuno didn't knew what to say, or how to say it, thus the time seemed to drag between them, until she was finally able to come up with a "I see..."

When Yuuno was about to say something regarding the school festival and how the Bruisers and Strykers —and, by logic, the two of them— were going to be working together to try to defeat the Masks and Rangers while the Harleys were caught in the cross fire, trying to save their neutrality, Yoshino, of all persons came in through the door, greeting them with her usual formality. "Ah! Y-Yoshinon!? What are you doing over here?" Yuuno asked, bolting straight up from surprise.

"It must be something related to Rider-sama and the Strykers, right? I think I should give you sometime, then. I really should take this chance and go to the toilet, perhaps?" Yuuno said as she tried to slip out of the tense atmosphere of Asahi's room and buy some time to think about how to take this issue again.


Itsuko laughed a terse laugh as she noticed that Hibiki hadn't bought her, admittedly, flimsy excuse, but saying not to either confirm or deny her friend's doubts. "Yeah, let's go. I think we can play when we are at home." Was all that Itsuko said as she and Hibiki went on their way.

"Sure. Thank you again." Itsuko said to Angus as he left them. She made a point of remembering to properly thank the ones that helped her earlier, whenever she gets the chance to, as well, but now her attention had been given to Hibiki.


"So, what are we gonna do?" Itsuko asked as she found a place to sit, after they had reached her apartment. Almost immediately the grin she had been sporting for sometime turned into a wry smile as Itsuko said, with her face turned to the window, gazing at the horizon far beyond the expansive cityscape in front of them. "Y'know, Hibiki. I'm sorry for keeping on causing trouble to everyone. I'm only talking to myself here, you don't need to reply if you don't want to, right? Itsuko said; she knew that she wasn't a good liar at all, obviously Hibiki would find it out soon enough, so the best Itsuko could do if she wanted to be call herself a friend of Hibiki was to open up a bit.

"There was a time when said that I wanted to be a hero when I grew up. Then, someone said 'Who knows? If you train hard enough and never give up, it may happen one day.' Ever since that day, I trained and trained, harder and harder until I couldn't even count how many bones I broke or how many bruises I got. Yet, how can I be a hero if I can't even protect myself and keep causing trouble for everyone?"

"Hehe, that's kinda funny, right?" Itsuko's laugh came out more as a bitter chuckle as she continued to gaze at the distance, silently.

---

@Awesomoman64, @TheWindel, @Ryonara, @Lucius Cypher, @Caits, @Mega Birb.

~Yoshino Tsugumi~

“You’re going nowhere Yuuno,” said the School President; Yoshino grabbed her cousin by the back of her shirt and stayed rooted in place. Yuuno could try to twist and turn all she wanted, but she wouldn’t be escaping the other girl’s grip. “Besides, I would think you’d introduce me to your boyfriend first before leaving him behind so readily,” she said flatly.

For a few moments, Yoshino took the time to scan the room as well as the two occupants who had obviously been chatting it up before her arrival. By their mumbled words and jumpy sentences, they were probably getting into some deep relationship stuff. Well, well, that only piqued her curiosity all the more.

“I’m here to personally thank you for your efforts in Deep Ground Online, Asahi Goroshi. Specifically your work as Arm Slave during the Fake Moon Rider incident,” Yoshino began, adjusting her glasses with the hand not leashing Yuuno. “Don’t act so surprised now; you didn’t make it exactly difficult to guess you and Arms Slave were one and the same. Though I suppose you already have a reward in the form of my young cousin here.”

She felt that Asashi would be a valuable asset in the Festival coming up in just a few days. Given his popularity among some of the students as well as a bolstering influence in the Sweepers, he would be the perfect poster boy. So maybe…stick him in a maid dress? No doubt Yuuno would find that image very appealing.

Back at the mall, Dana was grinning like an idiot and copied Rufus’ action right back at him. Some of the drink that she was carrying sloshed off to the side and onto the floor, spilling a good amount of the orange liquid contained within it. A shame too, because some Irish-sounding dude had walked up to the pair inquiring about a lost drink.

Dana paused, eyes looking down to the spilled orange soda on the floor. Then her eyes went up to meet Angus and a slow grin formed on her face. The boy would be able to see the shark teeth gleaming in the girl’s jaws as she said, “Nope. That’s not orange soda on the floor and there’s no orange soda in this cup. This is green soda.” After that, she took a direct sip of the cup for good measure. “Yep. Definitely green soda.”

---

"Yeah... What he said." Kosuke said.

He wanted to get away from the Blue King as fast as possible so he was going with minimum pleasantries. Paper Moon had said something about buying something, right? So that meant there was only one place to go.

"The mall, huh?" Kosuke muttered.

He wasn't sure how he personally felt about the mall. He was more of a 'warm spot in the sunshine' kind of guy on account of having poor blood circulation, he didn't go to the mall too often. There was a grocery store outside somewhere which was all he'd ever needed. He was, in a word, kind of a boring guy. Past petty revenge plots and rocketing around in Deep Ground he didn't do awfully much.

That's not to say he'd never been in a mall before. His sister had taken him a few times when he was younger, and Purple Crown's mall was just the same as those ones had been. Big, bright, and loud. Since it was the weekend, and the festival was just around the corner, there was a large amount of students either milling around or rushing around the mall. It was kind of making his head spin...

"So... what the hell are we buying?" He said to Shiro. "I was just going to grab flowers and some strawberry milk."

---

@Jedly

Hibiki followed her friend home without incident. It still unnerved her to see so many guns in one place. These weren't just security guards, but soldiers. It made Hibiki wonder what sort of people lived here that they would need such heavy protection. But once they got into the elevator and into Itsuko's apartment Hibiki's worries went away. This place was still as messy as it was before and before she knew it, Hibiki was starting to pick up the various books and trash around the room and trying to clean up. When Itsuko asked Hibiki what she wanted to do she nearly jumped. "Oh! Right! I figured we could play Deep Ground for a little bit. I'm at the Black City right now and I could use some help getting out. I kinda... Used an Outlaw Declaration. And I'm not really on good terms with Moon Rider." Hibiki knew that since she was level 2 she wouldn't suffer the usual effects of dying as an outlaw, but that didn't mean she wanted to give those Sweeper scumbags the pleasure of getting EXP out of her.

As Hibiki tossed away some trash and put Itsuko's book back onto their shelf, her friend started talking about being a hero. Itsuko has been training for a long time, which would explain all her injuries, but it seemed like even with training she couldn't protect herself, let alone others. But hearing Itsuko say that made Hibiki's back grow hot with anger. "Being a hero isn't about winning, and... It's not always about protecting others." Hibiki took a moment to think about her grudge against the Ebony Strykers and the Sweepers. Hibiki couldn't say she was protecting anyone from them, and if she actually fought them Hibiki would probably die. A lot. But that's not why she was going to keep trying.

"There are all kinds of powerful bad guys in the world. Heroes are the ones who oppose them, even if they are alone and weaker. Sometimes... Sometimes it's better not to have to protect people and just keep attacking." Hibiki stopped talking after saying that. She didn't want to say it outloud, but she felt that if she had to protect people then she wouldn't be able to destroy her enemies. If the Ebony Strykers or Sweepers knew about the people Hibiki were close too, she knew they would try to hurt them. That's why Hibiki had to be cunning and at times, devious. It did make her wonder if that made her like the Ebony Strykers in the first place, since their underhanded and backstabbing tendencies were exactly why she was fighting them.

"If the heroes run and hide, who will stay and fight? Heroes are the ones who have to stand up to stronger people and make them stop. No matter what. If you only try to fight when they're weaker, or when you gather more people who are weaker than you, you'll just end up crying when someone stronger shows up." Hibiki looked at Itusko with an embarrassed smile. It looked awkward after her serious speech. "S-sorry! I didn't mean to seem serious. I mean, I guess... I want to be a hero too. But... Being a hero, it's not really something you need to train for. It's hard to explain... I guess if you're a hero, what you can do will be more than enough. So if you try and train, and what you train for isn't working, that doesn't mean you can't be a hero. Um..." Another awkward chuckle and Hibiki just sat down. She really wasn't sure where she was going with this. She didn't want Itusko to seem sad, but at the same time Hibiki didn't want to say white lies to make her feel better.

"I guess you got into a fight today, didn't you? That's why you were hurt in the food court. I don't know why you fought, and I hope you weren't trying to pick on someone else. But if they were picking on you or someone else, as long as you stood up to them you're a hero. Even if people call you weak or stupid, you did something most people are too scared to do. And being able to do that is what makes you a hero."

@KoL

Cassandra merely nodded, and matched her pace to Eris's, falling silent as she did so. She really didn't
ant to make things hard for Eris. She wanted to make them easier. She didn't want to be the reason why Eris was subjecting herself to someone like Chiyo. Sighing to herself as she stood in Eris's apartment while Eris bathed, Cassandra looked about, studying the fashion designs Eris was so clearly working on. There were many things that seemed different lately, and Cassandra began to fear that that Eris would lose interest in her, despite everything.

She bowed her head, the changes in the apartment making her feel a little awkward. While she liked the fact that Eris seemed to be more comfortable then she had been even a week ago, it made her worry. She felt like she herself hadn't changed at all, and she worried that she would be left behind, without Eris meaning to do so.

She rubbed an arm nervously, worriedly as she glanced around the rest of the apartment that she could see. She sighed softly, happy for Eris, but sad for her. Outside of Eris, outside of the game, Cassandra had seemed to lose focus of what she wanted. Now she wasn't sure anymore what that was. She had moved into a dorm room, wanting to find some freedom, wanting to find herself...and it seemed she had lost herself.

She swallowed, and tried to compose herself as Eris came out, turning around to give her a smile. She accepted Eris's offer to freshen up. She took a few moments, using the time to both freshen up and to compose herself, hoping that Eris hadn't seen her little inner crisis. She came out after a few moments, and just stood there for a moment, watching Eris, who seemed to be lost in thought, or perhaps dozing slightly.

She couldn't help but smile. As Eris seemed to snap out of it, Cassandra stepped into the room, hoping that Eris hadn't caught her staring. "So, you said something about Crepes?"

Alex felt his head spinning. Bel was being a bit less playful and a lot more mischievous than he recalled. Kind of like as if she had lost her balance. The smirk was really quite something too, kinda stretching her mouth in an unnerving way that he couldn’t place... as if it didn’t properly fit her face quite right. Plus a smirk? Maybe if it was coy or teasing, this one seemed more... well, he’d only known her for a little while, it felt like forever, but it was probably barely a proper week. The squeeze was a bit tight though, forcing the breath from his lungs. Rolling over, Alex tried to steady himself before finding his feet once more. His newfound balance was short lived as a screech sent Alex back to his knees.

“Bel, why the... the symphony? You're a bit off key there. Wait, jealous? Does wanting me to be jealous of them a good thing? Or did I do something wrong?” letting himself fall back to the ground Alex relaxed a bit before trying to get back up looking around at the… kinda crowd.

“So why on earth do you need my, theirs or anyone’s help? You’re a guild master. A ruler in DGO, a King in fact. Kings have subjects and surely you must have a legion, a literal legion, of players of the highest degree of level and skill. The one skill I have is that I can drive amazingly and am very good a dropping things on people’s heads. Also a very loud soundtrack seems to be just the opposite to what a secret mission needs… and I’m still a Fanged Ranger unless a lot more than the date has changed.” Unsure if he should give Bel a hand, as Bel seemed to be enjoying herself down there. Still, he should probably be a gentleman and help her up. Offering the hand Alex reached down and clenched his teeth in an effort to stop the spinning and keep his aim true.

@TheWindel

"Whoa. That's... Unexpected." Yuuno and Yoshino visiting him on the same day? He must be close to death. Yet somehow, seeing Yoshino arrive and compliment him for his actions as Arms Slave gave the big boy a renewed sense of vigor. He wasn't surprised that she knew who he was; she was the student president after all. She probably knows who everyone is in Deep GRound. While he was certainly glad that Yuuno arrived, when she showed up Asahi was uncertain what to do with himself. He still had some doubts, and in fact told Yuuno his desires to change mostly to remind himself he needed to change. But hearing that his actions, however misguided, were recognized... Well, that just reminded Asahi that he still had work to do.

Of course this talk about being Yuuno's boyfriend also made Asahi sit up. "Wait what? I mean..." Asahi's face grew quite hot and red. How strange for him, who was always willing to flirt with girls well beyond his league, to be embarrassed at the thought that Yuuno was his girlfriend. Not that he didn't want Yuuno, but right now he didn't quite feel ready to be accepted. But from Yoshino's words, she seemed to actually approve of Asahi and Yuuno's relationship. Assuming they develop one anyways. "I... Well... I certainly wouldn't mind... Yuuno?" Asahi looked to the other girl for some guidance. Perhaps trying to figure out her feelings about this.

Asahi chose to quickly change the subject. "Ehem... I heard there's some sort of competition happening at school. Ivory Mask are going to do a maid cafe. I had an idea for what the Strykers and Bruisers could do. I'll just need to get my boys together, and maybe some girls too. You and Yuuno would be very helpful, I think." Asahi smiled as the ideas began to fill his mind. Yes, he had an idea. There might not be much time for it, but Asahi knew just what they could do. The Ebony Strykers didn't have the traditional aspect like the Ivory Masks did, but they didn't need to appeal to tradition. They could do new things, exciting things. And what fun Asahi had in store.

"With your permission, of course."

@TheWindel@KoL

---

Retsu considered Kanbaru’s suggestion. On one hand as maids this maid the most sense, splitting up to handle different rooms. However for their true mission, splitting up met that if either one of them gets compromised, it’ll be hard for the other to know. Even if they use their chips to e-mail each other, they wouldn’t be able to watch each other's backs. That being said maintaining their ruse was more important that covering any mistakes. ”Alright, I’ll see you later then.”

Once the two girls split, Retsu went about dusting the various paintings and vases scattered about the houses, realigning them and scrubbing out any unsightly stains in them. Like a real maid. Though when she found a choice location, Retsu would also plant a buttons. It was subtle; a simple voice recording that looked like a button from a shirt. With a proximity activator it would only start recording when someone was near. It had about 200 hours worth of battery life, so assuming that this random part of the hall wasn’t Chiyo’s favorite hang out, it should have plenty of life. Retsu scattered these buttons at choice locations, either in plants or simply out of sight. She never put more than one within the same hall, and made doubly sure to space them randomly so that if they are found, they could simply be dismissed as loose buttons.

Next was trickier; cameras. Like the buttons Retsu had nearly microscopic cameras that were proximity activated, however they required very specific placement. Not to mention that while Retsu would certainly plant them in various rooms, they would amount to nothing if Retsu couldn’t find where Chiyo does her dirty business. This place was way to pristine to not have some sort of torture chamber. Retsu wished he had a map of this place; not only was it so huge that Retsu was actually worried she might get lost, but if she knew the construction of the mansion then she could try and guess where Chiyo’s hidden room might be. Alas, Retsu was going to have to make due in other ways.

Soon the cameras and buttons were strategically placed around the mansion. Occasionally one of the maids would walk by and sweep up a button, but that was fine. She didn’t expect all of them to stay, and the important ones weren’t going to be easily found anyways. However Retsu only had eyes and ears on the general vicinity; now it was time to start bugging private rooms. Fortunately Retsu’s cover for being in these rooms arrived in the form of actual covers. She needed to replace the bedsheets and pillowcases in each room, taking the old ones away for washing. With any luck Retsu would find Chiyo’s room and get at least one implant in there.

It was foolish of Cassandra to think that Eris wouldn't notice the obvious turmoil that she was going through. Hadn't they at one point been so close as to even kiss? Eris refused to believe that either of them would do such a thing if there wasn't at least a sliver of intimacy between them even if, because of all that happened from there onward, it it had gone... somewhere.

Eris still felt something for the redhead, even though the word 'love', might be a bit too loaded to used on this case. That was what Eris wanted to no, what she needed to find out. Even then Eris was so content with her current life that she felt that risking one single change could make it all crumble again. The mere thought of eliciting change, of trying to fight for the world she believed in was a distant memory for her, a mark that Eris had changed not the world, but how she saw it.

Perhaps, that was all she needed from the beginning? Who knows? At least Eris would like to believe so.


When Cassandra came back and asked about the crepes, Eris smiled her truest smile. "So, you have not forgot? Yes, I did asked you to teach me how to do them. If you could help me with other things as well, like tea and coffee, I would be delighted. Maybe other desserts as well?" Eris enthusiasm was rather uncharacteristic, especially for such menial tasks, but she had her reasons, and now was as much a good time to tell Cassandra about the as any other. At the very least Cassandra should understand her, Eris thought, unconsciously reaching forth and clasping the redhead's hands between her own.

"I-I am sorry for how things turned out, Cassandra. I didn't wanted to keep secrets from you but, at least on this case, I thought that I could make a difference on my own." Eris caught her blushing and gave a step away from Cassandra, she probably wasn't even making sense right now, was she? "I am not making so much sense right now, am I? Let me explain it to you the best way I can, then." Eris paused for a moment as if catching her breath, or trying to organize her thoughts, before she continued. "I want to help Chiyo Kuroke. Not because I am intimidate, or forced to do anything, please, don't think that she's blackmailing me using you as leverage. I want to help her out of my own will and the reason is... you, Cassandra."

At this point, Eris was feeling like all the blood in her body suddenly decided to gather up in her face. She turned her back to Cassandra, while gathering the utensils and ingredients the could need for cooking and placing them over the counter right beside a book of French recipes. "The truth is that, ever since we met her for the first time, I felt something... familiar on Chiyo Kuroke. However, it wasn't until the School Festival came around that I noticed what it was. The two of us, Chiyo Kuroke and I, we are far too alike each other. Given the chance, I would be the one bullying and threatening others just as she. But there's a difference between us two that avoided such a fate befalling upon me. That difference was you, Cassandra, you helped me when I needed it the most, I know that our relationship might not go the way we... I wanted it to, but even then, if it wasn't for you I really don't know where and how I would be right now."

"Chiyo has no one like this. She may have Stark with her all day long, but he seems to be blind to what she does, or perhaps, he just doesn't know how to stop her. Either way, I want to, at least once, help someone instead of being helped. That is why I'm giving my best for the Ivory Masks on the upcoming Festival. We may not win, but I found out that the road can be as enjoyable as the destination sometimes." Eris didn't even knew what she was talking about anymore. Once she began to speak it was like her heart was pouring out of her mouth and she couldn't really stop, even her usually controlled speech had turned into a more natural discourse, the kinda a girl of her age would actually say. Eventually she got a hold of herself again and turned to face Cassandra once more. Eris' hands were clasped to control her fidgeting fingers as she turned to Cassandra with her final question. "I'll understand if you don't want to help me. However, out of everyone else, I thought that you, would understand my wish better. So, what do you say, Cassie?"

After saying all that she had longed so much to say, perhaps even more than that, Eris fell silent, waiting for Cassandra's reply. The only thing that she could hope for is that a sincere reply would easy the burden Cassandra seemed to be bearing.


"Wha-!? I-I wasn't going anywhere, Yoshinon~" Yuuno complained as she swung her arms, in a vain struggle against Yoshino's vice-like grip. When did Yoshino got so much wrist strength?

However, Yuuno's struggles would come to a sudden halt as Yoshino o so bluntly decided to name Asahi and her as a couple. Did the shipping season arrived already and no one told it to Yuuno? Well, there was nothing to do but try to dismiss the misinformation, or rather gossip, that Yoshino seemed to believe in. "That's not what you th-" Even then, Asahi was faster and his actions put Yuuno in a very tight spot. "Does my opinion mean anything at all?" She ashed herself, even thought the answer was quite clear.

"We?" Yuuno replied dumbfounded to Asahi's request. At this time she had already gave up on fighting fate, or perhaps admitted that she indeed could come to see Asahi in a different light, but that was left to the side of her mind as he mentioned a plan to win the Festival, despite the Ivory Masks obvious advantage. "What kind of idea do you have, Goroshi-kun? I heard that the Masks are even getting hand tailored clothes this year, you really think we can beat something like that with just a week?" Yuuno asked, back to being her typical defeatist self.


Itsuko turned away from the blood colored scenery of the city being as it was being slowly bathed by the light of the sunset and back to Hibiki. Instead of teary eyes, as one would expect, her face had a hint of a smile. It wasn't like she was trying to hide her feelings or stuff like that but rather that Itsuko was genuinely amused with Hibiki's unexpected reply. "You know what, Hibiki, you're even wrong. Who needs to care for the opinions of others when being a hero is about not giving up? As long as you've got resolve you can do whatever you want, right?" Itsuko's smile slowly turned into a challenging grin "I never thought that anyone other than Huntress would get it as well. You are really the best, Hibiki."

"Anyway, you were saying that you need help to get out of the Black City in one piece, huh? I can try to help ya, but I don't know if we can make. Just tell me a good place to meet with you in the in game and I'll be there as fast as I can." Itsuko waited for Hibiki's reply before doing anything else, though she snapped back for a moment, punching one of her hands as if getting fired up. "Knowing your avatar's name would help as well, I kinda think. Mine is the Rampaging Tiger, you'll see, it's the coolest one ever. Though, yours must be cool as well, right, Hibiki? We can even form a party and go hunt those bad guys you mentioned if you want to, they must have done something really bad to have you after'em so they deserve a fistful of justice, right?" Itsuko said excited before falling silent, as she waited for Hibiki's reply. Even then, her grin was all up and shining again, maybe she just needed someone of her age to play with, just like Huntress said?

---

@TheWindel, @Ryonara, @Lucius Cypher, @Caits.