Ryan walked through the hallways quietly, preparing to go home and rest up after the stress that was the tests. He noticed that there was a massive crowd around the test scores and shrugged. He probably got a B or something, it didn't matter too much for him. There was also a commotion going on with what appeared to be Kotori and the guy they rescued from the mirror world, Katsuro. He had originally panicked and tried to heal him after seeing all the burns, assuming they were from some Shadow. After the first few Diaramas he stopped amd figured out they were prior injuries. He was waving around some money, which was probably not a good idea unless he wanted to get kidnapped again.

He decided to approach them so he could prevent escalation, although now that he thought about it he probably couldn't do much. Jesus, what could he do to defuse the situation? Why was he still walking towards them? Too late to back out now, he was right in front of them. "H-hello Kotori-Senpai. How are you doing today?" Ryan nervously glanced over at Katsuro, not sure how to make him stop bugging Kotori without coming off as a bully.

Then Rui showed up and Ryan started to relax a bit. He defused the situation with humour and Ryan laughed in spite of his nervousness. "Rui-Senpai is right, grades aren't everything ya know." Why did he just say that? Grades are SUPER important in Japan, now everyone is gonna think he's an idiot.

Katsuro whirled around at the voice to see Rui, the fellow from the hospital who had helped him get out of that...er...place. Whatever it was. He couldnt remember if he knew Rui very well, so he had no idea what to say. The crowd around them had thinned, although he couldnt tell if that was because of his cold look or simply because they wanted to go home. Katsuro couldnt tell what he would have preferred. There were still quite a lot of people still crowding around the board.

He was about to open his mouth to mutter something at Rui, only for another figure to walk towards them. He couldn't remember who this was, although the name Ryan popped to mind. Good. Now he could talk to them without looking a fool, as long as he remembered their names.

Then again...he looked at the three, realizing what he had gotten himself into. How did he end up like this? All he wanted was to ask the girl something, but now he was surrounded by people about to talk to him? And why did the girl look so...uncomfortable? Was it something he did? Was it his...markings?

"Um..." He opened his mouth, letting the sound out but quickly realizing he had nothing to follow it with. What on earth had just happened? Why were all these people here?

"I-i mean..." he stuttered. He had managed to be cheerful while talking to Kotomi, all he needed to do was think about what a good job he could do with her help, but now, she wasn't going to help him. And these other people were here. Still. What did they want?!?

"I-i mean, i suppose this one exam might not be important..." he stuttered again, saying any rubbish in his head to put this new person at ease. "I-i'm sorry if...i just wondered...why did you get so high and..." he let it trail off, scratching the side of his face as he often did when he didn't know what to do, only to regret it when a shot of pain ran over his face from the sensitive skin.

He needed to think of something fast. He had been standing there saying random crap for about thirty seconds. What the hell could satisfy them?
"I'm sorry K...Kotomi, i didn't mean to make you n-nervous. So...um...are you all friends? Can i join you? What do you all do?"

He paused for a moment, realizing he had said the first thing to come to mind again.
"Oh shit."

"I-i mean, unless i'm making you all nervous too! Plus, i dont know where to go...i-in the event your answer is yes..." He trailed off again.

Ryan joining the conversation was unexpected considering how equally timid to Kotori he was, and to his surprise Katsuro went the same route. It was a strange watching three people essentially stutter as he was the only one cleanly delivering his words, if this was any kind of acting routine, it'd be an utter failure. That aside,

"We have the whole day to ourselves, and it's the beginning of summer break. We can do whatever we want today", he reminded them. In this event though, these three were probably too quiet currently to speak up about going anywhere, he was going to go to the arcade like usual,

"But... ", there was the cosplay cafe as well, and the book cafe... Considering Shizuka would be out today and not working, it wouldn't be a very interesting trip.

"I guess we'll just go to Yoshida, the book cafe, if you want somewhere to go. They have a pretty good selection I hear", as far as being far out in the suburbs is at least. Plus it was in the shopping mall, so going to get lunch and coming back would be pretty easy and thus convenient. If everyone was agreed they can head off now.

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma High School | After School

Just as Kotori began hoping that perhaps Katsuro might take her up on the idea that Rui would know better how to teach him how to learn, yet another familiar voice spoke up, calling her by name. "Eh?" was Kotori's immediate response, and not for the first time today. Having been rather more focused on the school floor - which, she incidentally discovered, actually had a regularly repeating, if subtle, pattern to it - Kotori hadn't noticed Ryan approaching and was somewhat taken aback at both his unexpected appearance and question; mostly missing the slight uncertainty in his voice due to her own. "Huh? M-me? Ah, uhm... I-I'm fine, A-Alon-san..." she quietly said in response to Ryan's questions - even if neither her awkward tone of voice didn't exactly lend that statement very much credence.

Still, she was quite thankful for the fact that with more people around, there'd be focus on her - however, this seemed to have quite the opposite effect on Katsuro whose confidence from just a few moments ago vanished into nothingness as he stumbled over his words. He seemed rather distracted as he half-heartedly agreed with Ryan - only to apologise for his previous curiosity. "Ah, n-no, no, it's not, uhm, a bother... Kotori quickly said, shaking her head for emphasis - and feeling her guilty conscience creep back up for having seemingly caused his now apparent discomfort by denying his request so harshly. Concern coloured her features when he momentarily winced as he absent-mindedly drew his fingers over the side of his face covered by his hair - but even as he recovered immediately, Kotori did feel a measure of sympathy for the scarred boy who didn't have the luxury of being able to easily hide his scars.

"Eh?" Another apology caught Kotori by surprise - enough to not even notice Katsuro getting her name not quite right - though she quickly recovered and shook her head. "Ah, no, i-it's fine," she said, even if one would have to be both blind and deaf to not notice that that statement was a bit of a stretch. As he then proceeded to ask some questions - such as where they, if they were friends, happened to go after school. Kotori, however, was rather more busy staring at the ground, a red tinge undeniable on her face - though it was embarrassing to admit, even to herself in her own thoughts, being thought of as friends did have a nice kind of sound to it for the rather hesitant girl.

Luckily though, her embarrassment passed quickly enough for no one to notice, she hoped, before Rui took to answering Katsuro's questions - and in turn reminding her that, besides coming to school to check her results, she did not have any plans yet. When Rui then mentioned the Yoshida book café, Kotori's curiosity was quickly piqued - she'd walked past it a several times already, but never actually gone inside; never quite feeling comfortable with going there alone - after all, a café sounded like a rather trendy place which she had no illusions of being a word anyone would use to describe her. She still remembered her last visit to one when Leiko had practically dragged her to the her friend, Saya's, family business and how she'd felt a little out of place.

Still, the fact that Yoshida's was also a library of sorts did have a certain undeniable appeal to the bookish Kotori. "Ah, I heard that too," she quickly agreed when Rui mentioned their selection of books - only to fumble over her words when she realised that she might have interjected someone else. "Uhm, th-that sounds n-nice. I-I mean... i-if a-anyone else wants to... uhm..." her voice grew quieter before finally trailing off while her hands were once more preoccupied with her skirt - though Rui had put it forth as a suggestion, it might sound a little presumptuous of her to think that anyone else might be interested in going; leaving Kotori to hope that she didn't step on anyone's toes - and to adjust her glasses that were starting to slip downwards from how much she was averting her eyes throughout the whole conversation in her embarrassment..

It didn't look like anyone had any objections, so with that decided they went off on their way, with Rui leading on, and awkward silence pervading them. The shopping mall wasn't a long walk from the school, so it was little surprise that the mall was teeming with students enjoying their first day of summer break, doing whatever they will. They were of course still in uniform like they were, since they only had to show up to school today for results. After a brief walk through the mall they finally arrived at the book cafe. Predictably it had mostly students as it's patrons today, some chatting, others reading, others reading while enjoying something from the cafe. It was a nice, cozy little place with basically a small library at the back of the store, with the cafe at the storefront. What does stand out most is how new this place looks in comparison to other stores outside the mall, it really drove home that Warakuma was starting to become a much more populated place, the booming industry in the area was greatly affecting the town. What kind of effects though were not Rui's current concern,

"So what do you guys usually read?", he asked as he stepped in. He knew what Ryan reads, he is also a member of the Manga club after all, but the other two... Well as he was asking this he was just grabbing any manga, just a volume or two of something he hasn't read yet.

Samuru Amakusa

There was a young man in the cafe, somewhat older than Rui, who was busy reading a book on the Heian period, a cup before him steaming silently on a table. His black hair was clean and glossy, and he barely noticed the the door opening, letting in the group of students. His black eyes kept focusing on the book he held, trying to sit straight, trying to look at ease, trying to appear...normal.

Because, despite his average intelligence, Samuru Amakusa was anything but.

A 'Krhistian', one named after the infamous rebel who had opposed the Tokugawa Shogunate. A bisexual, one who was attracted to both men and women, something looked down upon in Japan not just because of Western Influence, but also because it broke conformity, the conformity that Japanese society depended on. But he would hold his head up high, hide his sexuality except to those he can trust.

If those people even existed.

Samuru would wait, and watch, and hope that even in the gilded cage that is Japan, there would be an opportunity, an opportunity to be himself. A smile on his face.

Maybe that day would come soon.

@Sho Minazuki@Takaru@Floodtalon@Vulkan

Kotori Shirohane - Ferrero Mall: Yoshida Book Café | After School

With everyone in agreement, the small group's destination was decided - and Kotori couldn't help but feel a little excited at the prospect of visiting the book café without having to show up alone and undoubtedly draw some curious attention. Furthermore, the larger the group, the more likely it was that the others would focus on each other - in fact, given that she wasn't exactly the best candidate for holding a conversation more than a few words in length, she remained quiet for most of the way to the mall; only really answering if anyone directed a question at her but otherwise listening to whatever the others might be saying. Given that most everyone had come to school to see the results as soon as they were posted and thus were now free to do what they willed on their first day of summer break, there was quite a large number of other students out and about - often in groups as well, heading to wherever had caught their fancy.

Arriving at the mall, it was quite clear that they weren't the only students here too - most everywhere Kotori looked, she could see at least one or two fellow uniform-clad people. As she looked about, she noticed that there was an undeniable aggregation of high schoolers - mostly from Warakuma High School, though she did spot a few Shoujin Private High uniform here and there - in and around the clothing shops of which there were quite a few in the mall; likely looking for some more summery clothes now that they'd be getting enough opportunities to wear them. Seeing that, Kotori made a mental note for herself - whilst she wasn't in dire need of anything in particular, the summer season starting in full most likely meant that anything that hadn't sold well in spring would likely be on sale and a decent bargain.

As the small group arrived at Yoshida's, Kotori could that it too was popular among her peers - but the sight of the full shelves toward the back of the café did bring a small smile to her face for a brief while. Stepping over the threshold and entering the establishment proper, she gave a small bow in greeting toward the staff at the counter before glancing about the patrons already present. Most of them were sat at the tables and engrossed in the book of their choice, though some had come in pairs or more and were chatting with one another - though it was an unusual mix of atmospheres between a quiet library or bookstore and a lively café, it wasn't an unpleasant one, Kotori thought.

She was abruptly brought out of her reverie when Rui spoke up, addressing none of the three present in particular as he asked them their book preferences. "Huh? Oh, mystery a-ah, uhm, m-mostly..." Kotori said, with what almost might have passed for enthusiasm if it weren't for the usual quietness of her voice - at least until she seemed to stumble over her own words and trailed off. Whilst it was true that she did enjoy the excitement that mystery novels promised, she was also quiet partial to romance novels - but after a quick glance about, she realised that that probably wasn't going to be very interesting for the three boys and thus made her best attempt at not bringing it up even though she'd almost let it slip; silently congratulating herself on her quick thinking at avoiding any embarassment or awkwardness.

Though she did glance between the others, a slight curiosity as to their tastes in books not completely deniable, Kotori's gaze was almost inexorably drawn to the book shelves; her bespectacled eyes passing over the helpful signs that signified which genre any given section corresponded to. As it turned out, she was in luck when she found both sections she was looking for - but though her curiosity as to the selection of mystery novels was most definitely piqued, she hesitated to head over immediately for want of rudely dismissing the others' answers as to their taste in books.

Ryan slowly started to relax as they walked to the Cafe, Rui talking mostly and Ryan intersecting every now and then with minor stuttering. He was definitely getting more comfortable as time went by, when they got to the Cafe he was only stuttering once every few sentences.

"I read Manga, but I also read some sci-fi novels." Ryan frequented the Book Cafe often and it showed as he immediately went to the Manga section to pick out some new copies of One Piece he hadn't read. He was still in the Thriller Bark arc and he really needed to catch up. After grabbing those he swiftly returned to the rest of the group in time for Kotori's answer. "Really? I like mystery novels too!" Ryan exclaimed in a rare burst of enthusiasm, which quickly faded as he blushed and looked at the ground. "I m-mean, they're cool too. I guess. He looked over at Katsuro desperately hoping he could alleviate the awkwardness

Katsuro kept his mouth tightly shut as the small group walked to the cafe, ignoring what the others were saying in order to remember exactly where this place was, so he could go there another time when he wasnt in such an awkward position. He still regretted suggesting this damn trip in the first place.

Once they got in though, that awkwardness was replaced by something else. He wasnt an avid reader, not reading a great deal of fiction at least, but he did want to try. It seemed like the kind of thing that people did.

"Im just going to..." he gestured in a random direction saying Science fiction. "...go over here..." He told the others without looking at them.

He then walked quickly over to the science fiction section, ignoring the person already there.

"Hmmm? Is that so", Rui was looking at the two who answered inquisitively. Kotori struck him as preferring mostly romance, but mystery was not wholly unexpected. Ryan's preference to sci fi felt suitable, though he also seems to like mystery.

"I guess while we're on mystery I'll go with this then", he commented, as he pulled a manga from the shelf in front of him. 'Detective Conan'. It was a long-running classic, fortunately they had a few of the early volumes here, but most of the ones on the shelf were much more recent. Also as expected of a small library all the way out a little beyond the suburbs. As he was picking that out, Katsuro said he was going to go find a spot, in a rather timid fashion of course, he seemed to be heading for the sci fi section.

"I see, we'll meet up over at that table", he said, motioning over to one of the empty tables, which he went to place his books, others would follow suit.

"You guys want anything to drink? I'm gonna head over to the bar", he asked.

Kotori Shirohane - Ferrero Mall: Yoshida Book Café | After School

Glancing between the others, Ryan was the first to speak up in answering Rui's question; declaring his tastes in books to lie in science fiction and manga before heading off to just those sections. Katsuro, meanwhile, seemed a little more embarrassed as he pointed over toward a similar set of book shelves as Ryan and then walking over. Rui, on the other hand, sounded curious about their respective choices, though evidently not enough to delve for further details. Kotori was quick to avoid his eyes when he looked between those that had answered him - only to almost jump when Ryan suddenly spoke up about enjoying a good mystery novel as well; though evidently not quite enough to not correct his initial enthused exclamation to a slightly more impartial one.

Rui, seemingly intrigued by all this mystery talk, seemed to decide that that was going to be his choice today as he picked up a manga before gesturing towards one of the empty tables and designating it as a meet-up place once everyone had made their choices in turn. Kotori gave a quick nod in agreement as everyone had split up already in search of an interesting book or already heading over to get started on one. Thus left to her devices, she turned her bespectacled gaze to the book shelves before her - the mystery section thankfully being quite close, even if the romance novels received a brief look - and looked over the various titles on display. She made a quick mental list as she went over them, ticking off one after another for a multitude of reasons - she'd already read that one, didn't like the sound of that title or had found that author's writing style not to her particular liking - as she unconsciously brought a finger to her lips, gently tapping against them in thought.

After selecting a few titles for a closer inspection and finally settling on one which she recognised neither title nor author of but which promised to be intriguing if a quick inspection was anything to go by. Before heading back to the table, Kotori quickly checked her phone - both to ensure that it was muted so as to not disturb anyone in the admittedly rather unlikely event of anyone trying to contact her and to see that her mother had replied with a simple OK to her previous message about being home a little later that she'd sent on the way to the café. With all pending matters thusly settled, she glanced about the café to see where the others were - and noticing that there were several other students from Warakuma High School about, though none of whom she recognised for more than their uniform.

Still, there was a small trace of a smile on Kotori's face as she looked down at the book in her hands - the prospect of a good story usually had that effect. Taking a seat at the table where Rui had already found himself a space, Kotori wasted no time and quickly turned the first few pages to get to the beginning of the story. She only noticed the others presences in passing if and when they took a seat as well - or spoke up, as she only realised after a few belated seconds. "Huh?" she went when she realised that Rui had asked a question and having to take a moment to piece together she words she'd heard back into a full sentence in her mind.

"Oh, I-" Kotori started - but then remembered that the last time someone had asked her a similar question, they'd gone ahead and gotten something for her despite her protests and subsequent guilty conscience. As such, she was wary of abusing any such kindness or inconveniencing someone else and thus gave a quick shake of her head mid-sentence: "Ah, I-I mean, I'm fine for the moment. I'll... uhm, get something later." Even though Kotori's tone wasn't exactly the most convincing, she nonetheless felt a small yet still inordinate sense of pride at having managed to avoid any awkwardness so successfully for the second time today - though it didn't last very long before her mind's focus was entirely engrossed in the book before her.

Katsuro went off to the sci-fi section and Ryan turned towards Rui with a nervous look on his face. "He's the one we rescued right? Does he already know about the whole... mirror thing?" They walked over to an empty table and Ryan set down his copies of One Piece. Rui asked if they wanted anything and Ryan pulled out his waller plus enough money for a soft drink.

"Could you get me a root beer? If they don't have any then some water." Ryan handed Rui the money, he wasn't going to make someone else pay for his drink when he could pay for himself. He noted that Rui had grabbed a copy of Detective Conan while Kotori grabbed a mystery novel. Ryan sat down and put his manga down in front of him.

Samuru Amakusa

Samuru let himself be ignored; he knew who the person coming towards him was, and the young man wanted to deal with the conflicting emotions that the presence of a richer kid, with much higher grades than he had scored, had sparked.

Envy is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, you know, a stray thought that brought guilt, especially as Samuru glanced at Katsuro Takuma's face, a face recognizable from that televised trial a few years ago. A soft exhalation, as the young man tried to calm himself. It was unfair to feel resentment at how the other boy was better than him; fate had more than balanced out the scales. So, the young man would shift an inch or so away, before turning towards the slightly younger student, saying:

"Katsuro Takuma, I presume? Happy to meet you even if you're not him, then. I never knew you liked Science Fiction." Samuru would remember that he had brought a book that was not part of that genre, all because this spot was closer to one of the windows. Takuma would see that Samuru was wearing the school uniform of Warakuma High, which fit him well. Looking out the aforementioned window, the young man would continue:

"I know who you are, and what happened, but I don't pity you; you don't want that. But," he continued, "I want to know something."

"How do you deal with pain and fear so early in life? How could you testify so clearly and cogently, against your abusive parents, and overcome the hold their authority has over you?" Authority. That is why I am so afraid of punishment from God. No matter what academic arguments I can make, no matter how much I can argue that Love is and should stay the core of Faith, the fact remains, Authority says I am a living sin, and Authority must be obeyed.

"Can happiness, or at least peace, be bought only by burning bridges and casting aside one's links to others? If so, what's left?"

@Sho Minazuki@Takaru@Floodtalon@Vulkan

Katsuro moved to the science fiction section, desperately trying not to be noticed, with his hands in his pockets and his face pointing to the floor. He sat down, pulling a random book from nearby and beginning to read it, not even bothering to check the title to see what it was.

Something about space. That seemed easy enough to grasp. He didnt read enough books after all, what kind of space would it b...

Someone spoke to him. Katsuro looked, looking at some random person talking to him. He was a little surprised to hear that the person knew about his...accident. Then again, it was a fairly sensational trial. And peace, bridges? What the hell was he going on about? Why should he make peace with that bitch? Was that what he was suggesting?


"...i see." Katsuro said at last.
"Ill have to think about that. Now, if you will excuse me, i need to talk to someone else."

With that, he got up, the book still in his hand, only about 20 seconds after he had sat down in the first place. He proceeded to walk up to Rui and Ryan.


"...so..." He said to them, not bothering to think of something to follow the "...so..." with.

As Rui was about to leave the table to go grab drinks, Katsuro had come back with what he wished to read. He looked not only timid, but uncomfortable now, did something happen while he was just around the corner in one of the book aisles? He seemed to be unable to form any words properly, so Rui simply asked,

"You need a drink? I'm heading to the bar to get something", he stated simply. As soon as he made his answer, Rui headed off to grab everyone their drinks. This being a family-friendly establishment did not have root beer, but they did have ginger ale, which was basically the same thing, he got water for Kotori anyways which was free, and got himself some lemonade, and then whatever Katsuro had chosen if he did.

He returned and placed everyone's drinks at the table before sitting down himself.

"So I've been thinking... We should have a meeting place for everyone. The abandoned warehouse is not the most homey place", he mentioned, after some awkward silence.

Kotori Shirohane - Ferrero Mall: Yoshida Book Café | After School

Sat at the table and her eyes firmly focused on the book in her hands, Kotori only noticed in passing that Ryan addressed Rui in a hushed tone or that, moments later, Katsuro returned with a book of his own. Had she looked up, she might have noticed that Ryan was glancing in the other boy's direction as he posed his question or that Katsuro wore a slightly confused expression on his face after being spoken to by another fellow student - but such details were lost on her; her attention entirely given to reading - to the point of not even noticing that her own face betrayed her thoughts occasionally as she did so, giving rise to brief bouts of worry or wonder as her eyes darted over the pages. Judging by the rapidity of the changes in expression, it looked like she'd just gotten to a point where the story was getting particularly interesting.

Katsuro's trailing voice found little heed when he didn't follow it up with anything else in particular, leaving the table in silence - at least until Rui returned with drinks for everyone. "Ah, thank you," Kotori said absent-mindedly, almost mumbling the words when the fact that she hadn't actually asked for anything escaped her mind - at least until, a few seconds after the fact, the movement of her eyes stopped mid-sentence for a brief moment. She blinked in brief confusion before glancing up at the glass before her: "Eh?" she went, needing a moment to realise that despite having thought she'd managed to avoid bothering him with an order, Rui had still gotten her a glass as well. Immediately, her guilty conscience resurfaced - and stronger than before, considering that she'd previously thought she'd successfully gotten around being a bother.

Rather than make things more embarrassing than they already were, Kotori quickly held up the book in her hands; partly covering her face as she did and trying to find where she'd just left off a moment ago. However, just as she was about to continue reading, Rui spoke up once more. Kotori's eyes glanced up from the pages and at the boy as he mentioned the meeting place - and that the warehouse they were using until now wasn't exactly the most inviting choice in locations. It was hard to refute that - though in Kotori's mind, she first thought he meant another place to both store both the collection of armaments and the large mirror that served as their entrance to the mirror realm. As such, she had a hard time coming up with a place that would be be more convenient - though after a few moments of imagining a dozen students excusing themselves to the restrooms of a restaurant to slip into the mirrors there, she realised that Rui probably meant something more along the lines of a meeting place to discuss their findings.

Luckily though, she'd managed to avoid embarrassing herself with such misconceptions by simply staying silent as she thought on it, unconsciously adjusting her glasses that had begun to slip while she'd been looking down at her book. She waited for a few moments to see if anyone else broke the silence following Rui's question before she spoke up. "Uhm... a ca-café? Of sorts...? Or..." Kotori's voice trailed off as she glanced between the others; hoping that they might have a more concrete or suitable location in mind.

Katsuro returned to the table with a strange look on his face, perhaps he couldn't find the book he wanted? Rui left to go grab some drinks, returning with everyone's drinks quickly. Ryan sipped his root beer and noticed it tasted kinda weird. He finished it quickly to be polite and pushed the glass away from him.

"So I've been thinking... We should have a meeting place for everyone. The abandoned warehouse is not the most homey place"

Ryan thought about it for a moment and frowned. "I suppose we could just... move some furniture into the warehouse? Make it look a little nicer?" He said with a bit of hesitation. "Although if that isn't an option we could go use a cafe..." He trailed off at the end as he didn't know which one they would use.

Move furniture into the warehouse... Well all it had in it really was a couch and a few tables and chairs. Maybe if they added a bit more, plus who even owns that property? He may have to ask Kami to look into it. Maybe they can officially acquire the property, or get permission to use it. As it is it looks like all Kazuki had done was claim it. In a small town like this just beginning to develop, the abandoned warehouse being used by some gang (themselves specifically) was not abnormal.

"I guess I could ask Kami to look into it... It might be ideal, considering how many of us there is, there's plenty of space there. Plus it's summer break, we'll have plenty of time to make it our own", he responded.

"For now a cafe might not be bad... I wonder if we can use the cosplay cafe...", he wandered.

Kotori Shirohane - Ferrero Mall: Yoshida Book Café | After School

Following Kotori's suggestion, Ryan was quick to answer Rui's question. Rather than find a new place, he seemed to think it easier to instead simply make the warehouse a little less uninviting - a suggestion which, given its state, wasn't exactly an unappealing one. On the other hand, Kotori wondered just how one might get the furniture into the warehouse without attracting any undue attention - but before she got to that, Ryan added that a café might instead serve as a meeting point just as well; leaving the warehouse to simply serve as their staging grounds.

Whilst Katsuro remained silent on the matter - unsurprising, given that he had likely yet to see said warehouse in the first place - Rui seemed to think the matter over before speaking up; mentioning that he could let Kaminari, who probably would know more on any legalities and the like, check the matter. As he reminded them that they had both ample space and the time to use it, Kotori briefly thought on what they might do to make the place a little friendlier - perhaps a touch of green might be nice, but given that they weren't exactly visiting the warehouse too often she was apprehensive to suggest that she bring some flowers to liven the place up if she couldn't also make sure that they'd be treated right.

Either way though, Rui went on to mull over the interim solution of relocation their meetings to a café initially - but though she quite liked the atmosphere, seeing as it reminded her of a library, she couldn't help but feel that that very quality would disqualify it as a suitable location. Given that they'd likely be wanting to discuss matters regarding the mirror realm, they'd undoubtedly be disturbing the other guests - and there was also the matter that they might not want to be overheard discussing abandoned buildings, kidnappings and strange other worlds.

But before Kotori could start thinking of another place, Rui already mentioned the cosplay café. "Eh? Star Drop Café?" Kotori remembered visiting the place, found not far outside the mall, about two weeks ago - though at the time, she hadn't paid much heed to it as she'd been far more preoccupied with seeking advice from Rui on what to do to somehow help with the yet-unresolved rift between Matthew and Shizuka, her two fellow Agriculture Members. Surprise made way for a more sombre expression over Kotori's face at that thought - even as she tried to put it aside for the moment, seeing as there was still the matter at hand.

As she thought about it, it did seem like a suitable choice - given the at times a little odd choices in cosplays that the café hosted, or so they might appear to someone who only caught glances thereof in passing, the investigation team's choice of topics would perhaps not seem too far out of place. Furthermore, she couldn't deny the convenience for herself, seeing as it lay both on her way home from school and wasn't too far from either - and reaching the warehouse from there would only take a few minutes as well.

All told, it seemed like a solid chocie - as long as she told herself to ignore the fact that she'd undoubtedly feel embarrassed at entering the café again. Preferring quieter places, she wasn't exactly the prime clientele thereof - but between knowing that she'd not have visit alone and that only the staff was doing the cosplaying, she resolved to bear with it. "Uhm... that, ah, might work...?" she said, quickly glancing between the others at the table even as her voice trailed off towards the end.

"I guess I'll ask Shizuka next time I see her", he decided. The rest of this little meeting resulted in them simply reading their books. As expected all three once they were started on reading were quite focused. All conversations appeared to end there, but it was a comfortable atmosphere as soon as everyone settled into it, minding their own business in the presence of friends. That was a strange way to put it, but that was very much what it was. As soon as it was time they needed to go, either the store was closing or they had other duties to attend, they eventually separated for the day.

---

Two days into summer break and Rui was mostly spending his days playing games or looking into new activities, turns out Warakuma was good for hiking and fishing, so maybe do that at some point. There weren't many 'famous' sites like when he was in the city, like various districts or locations, so the idea of having to find nice places yourself was while tiring, was a bit of an adventure.

Still, today he and everyone else was called to the abandoned warehouse. It seemed urgent according to the text from Kazuki and Megumi. It was strange seeing everyone not in uniforms, for some reason they wore their school uniforms even when they went into the dungeons on Sunday.

>Unlocked Summer Casual Costume

Regardless, everyone was here, including Zeke, and Megumi was going to be explaining why they were here today.

"So... Yesterday I sensed a new area, I don't know where it is, but I thought I should let everyone know... Today hopefully we can try and find it. I'm not sure what's waiting there, but according to Kami's investigation, he says it's likely where the cult leader is, if not, beyond this area", she stated.

"I came around quickly yesterday too to check, but I'm having the same problem. It's like there's some kind of barrier around the place", Ayano as the other navigator having the same problem meant this was not an issue with their Personas.

"So then what will we be doing today...? Do we have a plan to find it?",

"At present we do not, which is why everyone is gathered here today to gain information", Kazuki chimed in. As soon as that was said, Zeke squawked, getting everyone's attention before flying into the mirror. It was the first time they'd seen the bird enter the mirror, so it was a strange experience, but it seems Zeke wanted them to follow it.

"The damn bird seems to have an idea...", Riku rarely talked and just usually snarled in the side behind Kazuki, but he seemed interested in the bird.

"I... Can see that. Well let's not wait any longer", with that decided they followed the bird into the mirror world.

---

Upon arriving into the Mirror World, the grotesque familiarity of a world that seemed slightly shattered and mirroring itself over and over, lined with familiar buildings just ever so slightly out of place, they saw Zeke, perched up ahead. As soon as everyone had stepped through, Zeke made a shrill cry before flying on ahead.

Following the bird for awhile they eventually turned the corner... A beach? An eerie green beach with gray ashen sand, but what stood out most was the giant torii, and the rippling vertical surface in front of them. It looked like a portal of sorts. As they arrived, Zeke was perched atop the arch.

"This reading is... This is the place...", was all Megumi could say. The view from here was quite breathtaking. What was this place...?

"Seto...", Kazuki was standing by the Torii, in kanji, inscribed at the top, 瀬戸.

"Seto... Like Setouchi, the inland sea?", Kazuki didn't respond. There was an uneasy silence until Megumi suddenly spoke.

"Huh?!... I'm... I'm sensing someone down there. But how?",

"We'll worry about 'how' later... We should prepare a team to get down there immediately", Kami had a point. Now was the time to prepare. Before they knew it, a day off was a day in the mirror world.