Just as the hand he had previously hit was blown away, the remainder of them retreated, back towards the well. Turning to follow them, he saw that Mira had fortunately survived the onslaught of elemental attacks, and was now standing, calling out to the others. Genki watched as the hands seemed to coagulate into some sort of pillar, only to fall away, revealing some sort of big theater-esque mask, which was apparently its weak point. Good. Now he could hurt it. And boy did that idea sound good.
Hoshino was the first to strike, jumping up to strike out and stabbing said mask. He then turned to the rest of the party, commanding them to "Stab it". Well that was certainly something that Genki could do. Tightening the grip on his axe, he rushed towards the mask. "Coming right up!" As he approached, he called out to Xing Tian, who still stood behind him. "Xing Tian, let's go!" Genki lifted his axe and swung it towards the mask from a short distance away. Xing Tian did the same, sinking his massive axe into the enemy. The crunch from the impact, the knockback from the attack, God did it feel cathartic. He could feel his rage begin to focus, not as a wild, mindless rage, but as a source of strength he could draw upon.
Genki felt a more tired after that, almost as if he had swung Xing Tian's axe, and not his own. He shoved his shield in front of him as his persona disappeared, taking a defensive stance, now that he was here, he could act as a distraction, allowing the others gain a chance to strike, it was the least he could do, being so slow to awaken. "Come on you ugly son of a bitch! Come and get me! I dare you!" Hopefully this thing understood what he was saying, and if not, hopefully the loud noise from him yelling would be enough to get the thing's attention.
This plan was a disaster. While Daigo had meant to be a shield for the less-equipped students in their party, they were too scattered and panicked to actually follow through on that. There were a million things to do and three people to protect and Hoshino wasn't even helping and he couldn't be everywhere at once and it was frustrating! Worse, his decision on who to save first was probably the worst possible one; he didn't owe Mira anything and most of this was at least indirectly her fault anyway. And speaking of faults, two people who had been dragged into the mirror because of him were about to get hurt or even killed over his blunder.
"H-hang on! I'll... uh..." Daigo swivelled his head in a panic, his hasty assessment of the situation offering little to the frantic planning in his head. Khepri wouldn't get to Sasaki in time. Maybe if it grabbed her, he'd have a chance to free her before she was yanked into the well. But then his persona wouldn't be around to protect Genki, and the hands didn't seem to have forgotten him either. He could ask Hoshino for help, but his aggression could've been the only thing holding the monster back for all Daigo knew.
The redhead practically leaped in fright as a fiery explosion sounded from a direction other than Hoshino's angel thing. Thankfully, the shadow hadn't figured out elemental attacks quite yet, and instead he was greeted with Sasaki safely... riding a dragon? Daigo's shaky grip on his spear tightened at that, his resolve bolstered by the assurance that he hadn't made a fatal mistake. At least until she blasted Mira in an even riskier way than he had. Was he really the only one that didn't outright want the feline girl dead?
While the teen had seemingly regained his composure, his momentary confidence was shattered when another explosion sounded behind him, coupled with some kind of gibberish shouting that he'd imagine some kind of orc would do right before it mauled someone. Thankfully, it conveniently masked the unflattering scream Daigo made at being surprised for the second time in too short a period. Daigo winced as he turned back, half-expecting some new shadow to have manifested that was preparing to pounce on him. It took him a second to register that the smaller figure who snarled in some unfamiliar tongue was an Awakened Genki. It was a burden off his back to know that he wouldn't have to try and fail at playing protector again, but it did raise the question of just who the hell he'd been dragged into this place with.
The authoritative shouts from nearby the shadow's main body drew the boy's attention back to the moment. Orders. He could follow orders. No guilt if things went wrong. He ran forward after the first flurry of attacks from the others, spear in hand and no idea what to do with it. Once in range, Daigo seemed to shift the weapon into a variety of different grips and stances as if to test optimal stabbing ability. When an umbral hand swiped at him, he yelped and raised the weapon overhead to thrust it downward into the mask repeatedly. Hoshino did say 'stab it', but he really didn't feel like he was doing much.
Hopefully everyone's own adrenaline rush would blind them to him looking like a fucking moron.
With her concentration firmly placed upon the source of the group's troubles, it wasn't until a powerful flash of blue light caused her eyes to momentarily shut that Yori looked in her fellow classmate's direction, the final student 'awakening' as words in a different language spilled from his lips. From her position, being capable of seeing every entity in the room as her persona galloped through the air toward her classmates' direction, she couldn't help but think how surreal the situation was.
Four, five if you count the cat-woman Mira, teenagers summoning massive creatures to fight a shadow monster from hell. Something you'd only see in fiction, yet it played out right before her very eyes. Hell, she was one of them, and she even somehow called lightning down from somewhere to smite the shadow thing. If only her siblings could see this.
A small smile rose to her lips at the thought, the levity keeping her sense of disbelief from taking over and keeping her from moving. Her attention shot up again when Mira's loud yell reached her ears, and as the various members of the group wielded their weapons to strike at the shadow, Yori looked down at her hands. Where was hers? Remembering how Noriaki had summoned his, she held out her hand with an open palm and called aloud, "Sword!"
Silence greeted her, the sound of air rushing past as Raijuu carried her behind the other 'awakened' the only answer to her plea. Hopefully unseen, her cheeks tinted pink from her failure. Looking toward Daigo and Genki, who had a spear and ax respectively, she looked at her hands again as she realized that everyone seemed to have their own weapon. Could it be? With a bit of trepidation, she held out both hands instead as she whispered, "...Bow?"
The azure blaze that materialized the weapon in her hands was sudden even if it was expected, the weight in her hands everything she dreamed of and more as she rose it to the ready. Though she wanted to take a moment to admire the great bow there were more pressing matters, and from the quiver that appeared on her back in a similar manner as her bow, she pulled an arrowhead and nocked it on the bowstring.
"Heavy," she muttered under her breath, the draw weightier than even the heaviest bow in the archery club. Yet, it was that same weight that assured her that her arrow would pierce her target. Pulling the arrow to a full draw, her arms minutely shook under the pressure of both the bow and the situation as Daigo stabbed at the shadow multiple times with his spear. She waited until she got a clear shot before releasing, the tension in her body disappearing along with the arrow as it flew through the air toward the middle of the mask.
Yori released a sigh, a whisper on her lips. "Please hit."
Sakuya had absolutely no idea where the sudden questioning came from, but she found herself caring less and less. She understood them, truly she did, but going out of their way to question someone wasn't going to lead them anywhere. No, questioning Yamamoto was probably going to make things worse, and she wasn't about to have anyone jump to conclusions or cause trouble.
"I will handle it, then," She stated sharply. "None of you are to approach him until I give the go-ahead. For now, go home."
She glanced at her watch, letting out a sigh. "I have to inform the teachers about something regarding Ito, that will be taken care of tomorrow," She stated. "We'll talk more about this tomorrow."
The Shadow's mask cracked under the pressure of the attacks, limbs flailing madly as it was attacked over and over. Eventually, its limbs stop moving altogether, the only sounding being heard was the crumbling on its mask. Slowly, its limbs retreated into itself and retreated into the well. Mira forced herself to stand, hurrying to the well, though when she reached it, the surface was perhaps a few inches from the top. Touching it, the surface was as hard as stone, its presence gone.
"Nicely done!" She congratulated the four. "I don't think it'll be coming back anytime soon. For now, we should probably head back. The adrenaline's pumping, but I'm sure once you really stop you'll notice how tired you are."
Once she finished speaking, there was the sound of a very faint, distant voice. After a few seconds, it became clear that it was a melody being sung far away. It was familiar to the four there, something they had heard in their dreams, but once it was clear what was being heard, Mira's face paled considerably.
"She's coming," The words seemed to have gotten trapped in her throat, but she forced them out nonetheless as she backed away from the well, her hands searching her pockets. Bringing out what looked like a small, shiny crystal, she put herself close enough to everyone. "We're leaving right now." She informed them, raising her hand above her head and throwing the crystal onto the ground as hard as she could.
The crystal shattered, though instead of breaking into pieces, a bright light sparked out and thin lines formed a square around them. Once it was completed, the floor underneath them flashed, and the five of them fell through. The sensations and movement were very much the same as when they entered, though this time the four students were tossed carelessly back into the gym. The mirror shined brightly, a light popping out and shrinking down as it formed the same cat that had been with them. She let out a meow of disapproval, looking back as the mirror returned to normal.
The room you awaken in is draped in a swathe of deep blue. It appears to be a luxurious train cart, a variety of cushioned seats on either side. You swear you can hear what sounds like music coming from all around you, though there are no speakers that you can see. The train feels like it is moving, though several curtains block the outside view. Any attempt at removing them is blocked, and a single wooden door decorated in an odd insignia appearing to be a mask. Without realizing it, however, your hand is reaching out towards the handle. However, your hand only stops because you realize that there is no longer a way to open it. There was no doorknob, not even a hole to show it once existed.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room."
The voice is decidedly male and coming from behind you; standing next to a small, wooden desk with a quill and paper on it is William, and as he straightens, his smile is much warmer than before.
"Your Awakening has done much to suppress the corruption. You're doing wonderful so far," He congratulates you politely with a subtle relief in his eyes. "Your power burns magnificently, as the Arcana given to you is now yours to command. However, caution is wisest going forward: not everything in our possession remains as such. Should you stray, I fear that same conviction may just swallow you whole as well. So long as you don't lose your way, your Persona will continue to help you on your journey."
William taps the paper on the desk. "This is the first time so many contracts have been handed out at once, yet I am confident that this was the right decision," He states. "Tomorrow, I suggest that you rest. If you find yourself restless, however, I would suggest finding my door in your world. It will not open until every Awakening has occurred, but you may find something useful until that moment happens. It is located in a place consumed by flames that should be no more."
He bows his head once more. "We will meet again. Until then, take care of yourself."
The room you awaken in is draped in a swathe of deep blue. It appears to be a luxurious train cart, a variety of cushioned seats on either side. You swear you can hear what sounds like music coming from all around you, though there are no speakers that you can see. The train feels like it is moving, though several curtains block the outside view. Any attempt at removing them is blocked, and a single wooden door decorated in an odd insignia appearing to be a mask. Without realizing it, however, your hand is reaching out towards the handle. However, your hand only stops because you realize that there is no longer a way to open it. There was no doorknob, not even a hole to show it once existed.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room."
The voice is decidedly male and coming from behind you; standing next to a small, wooden desk with a quill and paper on it is William, and as he straightens, his smile is much warmer than before.
"The time has nearly come for your power to come forth. Will it lead you down the path of justice or destruction? One may never know," He says omniously. "I have every hope that it will not be so, but despite the Awakened's efforts, the corruption remains. It will likely find a new host before the day is done. While they rest, I suggest you find it before it is too late."
William taps the paper on the desk. "That said, time is on your side. You will have until the day after next," He assures you. "If you find yourself with no clues, I suggest you try finding my door in your world. It will not open until every Awakening has occurred, but you may find something useful until that moment happens. It is located in a place consumed by flames that should be no more."
He bows his head once more. "We will meet again, I am sure. Until then, take care of yourself."
Hinotori High School Kyoto Prefecture APRIL 11TH, 2018 CLOUDY DAY
The bell signaling the end of class sounded so far away that it wasn't until the students started shuffling that Sakuya realized they were done. She stared down at her empty notebook, holding back a sigh; what started as a headache ignored quickly developed into a throbbing migraine. It had been some time since she had one, but she supposed she was a little more stressed than she would like to admit. She would have liked nothing more than to go straight home and sleep the rest of the evening in hopes of making it go away.
Of course, she was going to do the complete opposite.
She put her notebook away in her bag, making a mental note to ask someone what they spoke about, and she left the classroom without a word. She was the one that invited Ito to the council room, but she wished she hadn't. Just thinking about interacting with anyone felt like a massive headache--well, her head was killing her already, actually, so she should have compared it to something else.
Taking in a deep breath, she decided she would go down to the vending machines before anything. An iced coffee would probably help things, and she could deal with the crash once she got home. As she walked down the stairs, she noticed a few girls whispering to each other. Right, the rumor that Yamamoto was bothering an underclassman spread like fire, almost everyone was talking about it. He was probably in the library sulking somewhere. Good, so long as it meant he wasn't bothering her or anyone else, he could sulk for the rest of the year.
Speaking of underclassmen, she supposed she could poke her head into Hoshino's classroom. Even if he ignored her, she could perform her due diligence just so no one could say she didn't. Ignoring the dread in her chest, she took a quick look inside just to confirm he was still there, though she did a double-take as she swore she saw a cat outside the window. Instead of going in, however, this time she decided to wait outside the classroom, lightly massaging her temples until she would see him walk out. Alright, this time, she would be a good senior. She could be nice. It wasn't that hard.
"Hoshino," She called out to him. "Do you have a minute?"
Another unproductive day was drawn to a close by the bell, the chiming bringing a welcome respite from the toils of academia. Not that Noriaki had managed to get all that much work done. The youth had spent most of the afternoon zoning out and ruminating on the events of the day prior. He couldn't exactly pretend Sunday's events were just a 'stress-induced nightmare' when several of his classmates had also been roped whatever bullshit was going down. He would have to broach the topic with them eventually, seeing as though he couldn't even escape the folks lurking behind it all even outside of his waking hours. The teen closed up his notebooks and swept the contents of his desktop into his bag with all the haphazard care he could must. With a brief scan of the room, he checked for any fellows who hadn't bum-rushed the door the second Momoji-sensei had dismissed them.
Hinari, Sasaki and Mori seemed present enough. He only had the contact information of the ginger among them, and frankly, Daigo was the only one among their number he especially wanted to talk to, foul as his mood was. Asakura too, but he had mercifully been spared the fate he and the others had, and he didn't want to let that little white devil get her paws on someone else—he had caught sight of a fluffy tail in his peripherals more than once during the day, so she was assuredly lurking around, waiting for him to be indisposed. He would have to take some evasive maneuvers once he was on the first floor to ensure that wouldn't happen.
"Busy today. Can't stick around." With a parting few words to Kazuyoshi, he slung his bag over his shoulder and made his way out into the hallway.
A poor choice, he soon realized, as it appeared he had multiple she-devils waiting for the opportunity to catch him alone. He quirked a brow, tilting his head over his shoulder at the student council president that had gone to such lengths to grab his attention. He had half a mind to ignore her, his tolerance for stand-offs being what it was, but he was sure she would just continue to pester him if he did that. She seemed the persistent type. So, instead, he stepped off to the side, allowing the foot traffic out of class to flow unimpeded.
"Not really," He answered, "But something tells me you don't really care about my schedule. What do you want?"
Genki felt unusually alert as the bell rang, as he and the other students poured into the hallways, the events of yesterday still not quite settling within him. And not to mention last night's dream. This "William" seemed to know more about this whole awakening and Persona thing. But he'd have to find him first. Apparently his "Door" would be in a place that's been burned to the ground, but not until everyone had Awakened. Who was "everyone", though? There were the four that were there yesterday, five, counting Mira. And he also mentioned something about Arcana. Was there a person for every Arcana? Were there another dozen random people who needed awakenings? This whole thing hurt his head. Perhaps if he ignored it for a while he'd be able to think more clearly.
For now though, there was still daylight left. He should probably go see Rin and possibly Kaito, if he was there. He felt like he was in the Mirror World for a while, but according to his phone and the wall clocks, he was only gone a few minutes. He was tired as hell upon returning, but he knew if he didn't put those posters up, he'd have some explaining to do, and he doubted that Rin would believe he and his classmates went to a mirror world where he was able to summon an ancient nigh-immortal Chinese mythological warrior to beat up a giant shadow demon. Fortunately there were some prime spots he somehow managed to find, and made it out in no time.
He was still a little sore from yesterday, but he'd rather climb a couple flights of stairs than fight for his life against more shadows, though there was a sinking feeling he had that that wasn't going to be the last time he'd have to go there, especially with William's words echoing in his mind. Maybe if he wasn't needed at the Cooking Club he'd check out the place "consumed by flames", which, if he had to guess, was likely one of the several burned down houses. But he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. For now, though, it was Cooking Club time.
He pulled out his phone, sending a text to his grandparents saying he'd be attending Cooking Club and would probably be home a little late. His grandmother responded in seconds, but it'd probably be a number of minutes before his grandfather responded.
Now for the stairs. Certainly a bit of cardio, but he was almost starting to get used to the trek. His eyes scanned the rooms, falling on the familiar open door with the Cooking equipment in the background. A few quick strides later, and Genki found himself in the doorway of the Cooking Club, his head of brown shaggy hair poking in. "Heya! You guys still hanging in there?" Need any help?
God, why did everything with this guy feel like pulling teeth? Sakuya supposed she could give him the bare amount of credit for not just walking away or ignoring her, but if he wasn't interested in talking, then why did he bother replying? No, why was she bothering when she expected exactly this?
Letting out a sigh, Sakuya rubbed her temple. No, she was much too stubborn to just walk away. She could do this. Establishing a kohai-senpai relationship wasn't that hard. She just needed to be friendly and upbeat, just like Natsuhime-san was. Although she had no idea how the girl had the energy to be so positive every single moment of every single day. Still, it wouldn't kill Sakuya to be a little friendly.
With that in mind, Sakuya dropped her hand, frowning at Noriaki. "I apologize for the inconvenience. I felt that we started off on the wrong foot yesterday, and hoped to rectify it," She humbled herself first and foremost, wanting to show her sincerity. "If you don't have the time, that's fine. I can always try again tomorrow."
The amount of tension in the Cooking Club was suffocating the second Genki crossed the border into the room. While there were only Kaito and Linda inside, it was obvious that the source of said tension was the oven in front of them. Neither one acknowledged Genki's words, instead, their entire focus was on Kaito. With trembling hands, he cautiously lifted up a tray of what looked like tiny cups, placing them down gingerly onto the nearby table. He quickly removed his gloves and tossed them over his shoulder, kneeling down to inspect them.
Linda opened her mouth, though Kaito raised his hand. Whipping out a fork, he nervously poked the pastry. Time seemed to stop for just a moment, though he let out a small sigh of relief. However, said relief was premature, as the pastry deflated and collapsed into itself. The two were completely silent, the fork falling from Kaito's hand and onto the floor.
Kaito fell to his knees, both hands gripping his head. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" He screeched dramatically.
"Well, that's unfortunate," Linda giggled, and the tension in the room evaporated. She looked back at Genki, flashing a smile. "We've seen better days."
"I did everything to perfection," Kaito muttered, ratting his hair. "It was those egg whites, wasn't it...?!"
Linda patted his head sympathetically. "Determination tempers the sword of your character, my student," She told him cheerfully as he broke into tears. "And hey, soufflé is hard to make! This was a good first try!"
It took a great deal of willpower on Noriaki's part not to scowl. She had sought him out after yesterday, when she decided to all but threaten him and his chance at a new start, and she had the nerve to sigh at him? She had nobody to blame for this situation but her own ego. He didn't doubt that her appearance now was just an excuse to start things all over again, seeing as though he had rebuffed her little power move and gotten the last word in the day prior. It would almost be respectable, if she didn't try disguising her intentions in that honor student act.
The previous urge to blow her off and go about his day almost won out when she opened her mouth again and started speaking in the faux apologies. But she pointed out something he already knew—if he didn't humor her, she would just keep showing up again and again, so it was best to suffer through her presence now for peace later.
"You already went through the trouble of coming all this way and delaying me," he pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning up against the wall, "So say what you need to say. If you make a habit of coming to my classroom every day, people will start talking."
Daigo spent most of his day in a daze, slumped over his desk with his head barely propped up enough to see the board. The only indication he was even awake was the anxious rhythm his foot ceaselessly tapped into the floor, and even that might not've convinced a skeptic he wasn't simply a very fidgety sleeper. It wasn't too unreasonable to pretend the day prior had simply been a bad dream; he'd passed out the moment he got home and woke up around four AM with only a hazy recollection of giant beetles and William giving him more cryptic instructions- but that was fine because it was all a giant delusion and William and Mira didn't exist.
Just to be on the safe side, he wasn't keen on talking to anyone that could challenge these conclusions. Hoshino, thankfully, made a beeline for the door as soon as they were dismissed and he didn't see where Mori had gone off to, but that still left Sasaki - wait, he didn't know that short girl's name, she told it to him in a dream. The redhead decided he couldn't stay here regardless. Or walk home. He could run into one of them on the way; he was pretty sure Hoshino lived near him based on their expedition on the first day. He needed an alibi, or a reason to walk in the complete opposite direction of his house. Wait, what if Sa- mystery girl or Mori lived that way?
Cooking Club sounded safe. He swore he heard the council was considering disbanding the club for lack of members anyway; Daigo would certainly get some peace and quiet there. He lifted his head for a furtive look around the room for any approaching heads of green hair, then rushed out the door with panicked haste. The sight of Hoshino lingering just outside the doorway was enough to make him almost trip, but he bolted off before anyone had a chance to comment on it. Especially Hoshino, he could easily use poking fun at the nerd almost falling as an excuse to duck the president - jeez, was she going to come by every day?
Didn't matter. No time to think right now. Just Cooking Club. No thoughts, head empty.
At least until he got upstairs and heard the award-winning scream from inside the room he'd intended to enter. Hopefully no one dropped a knife on their foot or something. No, that sounded more like the anguished cry of a man that had dropped his ice cream cone. He hesitated before his approach, though the lack of panicked noises from inside the room at least reassured him he wouldn't walk in on some gruesome injury.
"Is this the Cooking Club or the Drama Club?" Daigo deadpanned as he shuffled into the room, only to jump in surprise and whack his side into the doorframe when he noticed the other student in the doorway was one of the only three people on the entire campus he needed to avoid right now. Whatever prey animal instinct had screamed at him to run was drowned out by the new throbbing in his arm, and the orange-haired teen settled for wincing in place as he accepted his fate. "Ow." No, it'd be fine; the persona thing was all a dream anyway. The real Genki definitely didn't get sucked into a mirror with him yesterday. Nope.
Huh, that was a new experience. Usually he didn't prefer the real version of a boy to the one in his dreams.
Genki watched as the pair had their eyes fixated on some sort of oven baked food, Kaito's face contorted in pure concentration. If you just paid attention to his face, you'd think the guy was performing brain surgery. Pulling out a fork, Kaito poked said pastry, and after the briefest of seconds, watched the whole thing deflate like a balloon. Genki half expected a comical fart sound effect to come out, but alas, it was not the case.
After a few consoling words towards Kaito, Rin, er -- Linda turned her attention to Genki, as if to acknowledge his presence before turning back to Kaito. "Soufflé huh? That's French, right?" He said, shifting his weight from one side or the other. "Speaking of which, are we going to be learning food from all over the world, like French, Italian, or Indian? Or is this a mostly Japanese course and we can just make whatever for fun?" He probably would've offered help at this point, but a familiar voice spoke out from behind him asking if this was the Cooking Club or the Drama Club, likely a result of Kaito's moan of anguish.
Genki let out a single "Heh," as a thump followed by a yelp of pain. He turned to see the face of Daigo, holding his arm. "What, hit your funny bone, Daigo?" A brilliant idea popped into Genki's brain, the kind that would make a 50 watt light bulb appear over a character's head in one of those old cartoons. He turned towards Linda and then back to Daigo. "Hey! Why don't you join the Cooking Club? We only need one more person to get funding." He gestured to the inside of the room.
| April 11th, 2018 | Hintori Highschool - Archery Club |@Hero|
A silent sigh of relief exited Yori's lips as the bell rang, her notebook closed audibly as she put herself together before heading out, not sticking around long enough for any of her fellow classmates to stop her as she made a beeline for the third floor. With long steps, she attempted to make her way to the Archery Club as quickly as she could, her mind abuzz with things far removed from the lesson she had only listened to enough to jot down the few important details.
Despite her best efforts, she couldn't keep her mind off of the strange happenings of the day before. Places within mirrors, the shadows that haunt them, and the Persona who can fight them. Though she had gone to bed that night hoping to brush it all off as a dream, she remembered it all vividly the next morning, nearly burning breakfast while she attempted to make sense of it all, no longer hampered by adrenaline and harrowing circumstances to just roll with it and hope for the best. The memories kept her distracted, the fantastical moments unbelievable yet undoubtedly real, terrifying in retrospect yet exhilarating for the same reason.
When she was unable to rationalize what had occurred on the 'Other Side' with her own thoughts alone, Yori had hoped that a bit of her usual destressing hobby would sort her out. There had been a moment of thought to reconvene with the other 'Awakened' and see how they were dealing with it, but she didn't know them well enough to just call them out of the blue.
Yet, despite her wish to immediately get right into the action and start shooting at targets, Yori approached the new captain of the club as she entered the club room. It was impolite to start something if there was something else planned in advance, especially when there were still new members that needed to be sorted out and taught. "Kogoro-senpai. Good afternoon."
Of course, Sakuya couldn't really say that without fear of getting laughed at. At the very least, he was catching onto her persistence. While this was definitely more trouble than it was worth, she'd be damned if she didn't give it a genuine effort before deciding it wasn't worth it. Even if her head was killing her, if she could accomplish this one task and sleep guilt-free. But how was she going to get him to agree when he was always so...hostile?
Sakuya let out a small sigh, placing her hand on her hip as she gave him a weary look. As she opened her mouth, however, she became aware of the staring. Well, he did mention that people would start talking if she came back, and she had made a show yesterday, so she was sure people were curious. The best thing to do was to move the conversation elsewhere, but she didn't really want to show up to the council room with him.
Dropping her hand, Sakuya looked towards the end of the hallway. "You have somewhere to be. So we can walk and talk," She said.
Once Hoshino walked with her, the two passed by a semi-interesting scene; Yamamoto was speaking with the Vice Principal, the former with his head bowed. He looked apologetic, though Sakuya thought he was just sucking up again. Maybe the rumors had finally gotten to the faculty.
"I wonder if he's apologizing for harassing that second year," She mused out loud, though she didn't linger.
Sakuya waited until they were on the first floor to speak again. "I was told to keep an eye on you. Most transfer students tend to lose their way easily, and with the rise in delinquency, I guess the Vice Principal wanted to make sure you didn't end up like Ito Maki," She shook her head. "I heard she was a talented artist, but now she's more into graffiti and spreading malicious rumors."
Once the pair reached the shoe lockers, they would split temporarily. Sakuya didn't take too long putting on her shoes, only pausing once her phone beeped. Taking a peek at the message, she rolled her eyes and stuffed her phone back into her pocket. She joined Hoshino once again, shrugging.
"So...that is that," She finished lamely, unsure of what to say. "If you have a genuine issue with it, I'd rather you just tell me now. I can't guarantee I'll leave you alone completely, but at the very least I can make myself sparse."
"Kaito-kun would do so well in Drama, I told him this!" Linda agreed completely with Daigo's words, meeting him and Genki at the entrance of the classroom. Kaito did throw a glare at her back, though he put himself to work by disposing of the ruined pastry. Her face lit up at Genki's words, though if one looked closely, there was something resembling a glimmer of mischief in her eyes.
"We actually are in need of just one more," She confirmed Genki's words, deciding to both answer him and sway the newbie. "As you can see, we don't just deal with Japanese cuisine, we like to get adventurous and try things from all over the world! So long as we have a recipe and the right ingredients, it's always good to at least give it a go, right?"
She nodded at her own words, placing a hand on her chest. "I'm Mizuame Rin, but you can call me Linda! That's Maeda Kaito, my faithful pupil, and this is Mori Genki--though you two seem to already know each other."
Anzu gave Yori a small smile, returning her greeting with a wave. "Good afternoon, Sasaki," She was still in her uniform and she stood next to a desk with a small stack of papers on it. Taking them in hand, she made sure she was steady before addressing her.
"Practice is still happening, but before I instruct anyone, I need to drop these off at the Student Council room," She explained, determined. "I revisited our budgets. If they went with some alternatives that are good but cheaper, then we won't have to cut people." She seemed proud of herself.
Oh god, they all wanted him to join. Daigo hovered in the doorway, wide-eyed and fidgety at the two practically guilting him into joining. It wouldn't have been so bad if not for the fact that Genki of all people was the one that had invited him. He could just say he was curious but wasn't interested and they'd probably leave him alone. Unless this 'Linda' girl knew who he was and was vehement in her attempts to scout him for her club. Still, that'd give him a bit of time to distance himself from the crazy drea- oh, what was the point? The illusion was already shattered. Genki was apparently on the first name basis with him now; no explanation for that other than they almost died together the day before.
"Y-yeah, he's in my class. I'm Hinari Daigo. I was just... err... curious. About the club," He stammered. There was no escape from his torment; he could either suffer in a club with a constant reminder of that awful mirror world, follow his new friend around who was also a reminder of the mirror world, or go home and get yelled at. Hell was full and all the devils were here- no-no-no, bad analogy, that just made him think of Hoshino, stop it!
The ginger shook his head and forced a smile. Whatever, Genki hadn't actually brought anything up, so maybe he was just as eager to ignore the previous day's events as Daigo was. If he hovered close to the others, Genki probably wouldn't mention it anyway.
"Sorry. Nice to meet you, Maeda-kun, Mizuame-senpai," Daigo lilted as he made his way inside. He threw a quick glance at the remains of the French cake thing that Kaito had scraped into the trash. He definitely wasn't a pastry chef and quite frankly had no desire to try his hand at baking, but the mention of foreign cuisine was enticing enough. The redhead was perfectly content practicing the motions of Japanese cooking for hours like he would've done at home, but it never hurt to learn something new. At least until his dad called him a traitor that wanted to turn his restaurant into a westernized pizzeria or something. "That sounds cool. I'm really not all that knowledgable about foreign food beyond, y'know, eating it."
The class president seemed surprisingly emotive, all sighs and exasperated gestures. It didn't seem to match up with the calm, composed ice queen that rumor would have one think of her. Not that the rumors had done much to impact his own opinion. She was a thorough pain in his ass, regardless of what the idle gossip had declared. As she seemed to work through exactly what she had to say to him, he caught sight of a familiar shock of red in his peripheral vision. One which made a hasty getaway before he could do much to follow after it. As he watched Hinari disappear into the crowds of students, he scowled just a tad more noticeably—it seemed as though his plans had taken care of themselves. Not that it mattered especially much; he could always pester him on LINE later, and if that failed, well, they did share a classroom.
With that matter settled in his mind he had little reason to argue when the president decided they would settle their business while walking together. "Lead the way."
Their journey to the stairs saw them passing by a scene at least one of the duo found interesting, though Noriaki couldn't bring himself to care much for it. Apparently the one being scolded by the Vice Principal had a reputation for harassment, dweeby looking shit that he was. As they wandered down the stairs, he idly wondered whether or not he felt a sense of kinship with the unnamed second year. He was quickly becoming familiar with an upperclassman's overly pushy conduct himself, after all.
He was not given the mercy of lingering on that thought for long. Once his escort had reached the first floor, she turned to him and began that awful habit she had. The one where her lips moved and words that pissed him off came out. To her credit, her brief explanation had managed to deflect the lion's share of his ire away from herself. As she made a retreat to the lockers, he ruminated on the knowledge recently provided. His initial indignation towards her wasn't necessarily misplaced, just misdirected. The Vice Principal had put her up to her thinly veiled threat. Tightly wound as he was, he almost skipped over a vital point—that she looked to be playing innocent with him, as if he himself wasn't a 'delinquent' yet, like the Ito she seemed so displeased with.
By the time he had hastily thrown on his sneakers, the source of his vexation returned to his side with an idle shrug. What she said following that didn't matter much to him. What did matter was finally getting a question of his own out. Noriaki leaned down, moving just a little closer than was considered comfortable so he could lock eyes with his Senpai.
"Just to get this straight; the Vice Principle told you to watch me because I'm new here. That's it. No other reasons why. That's all he told you?"
| April 11th, 2018 | Hintori Highschool - Archery Club |@Hero|
"Sounds like needless trouble," Yori spoke frankly, her gaze drifting from the pile of papers in the captain's hands to the newbies loitering about and entering the clubroom. The nerves that had seemed to unwind when she entered the room slowly bunched back together with a frown across her features, her dismissal construed toward the work needed to circumvent the budget cuts as easily as it could toward the need to cater to the new club members. "So that 'Nakano-san' isn't letting up?"
Were the renovations truly so damning this year, or was the new student council president to blame? There weren't any monetary issues with the Archery Club last year to her knowledge, though it's possible that the previous captain just kept it all under wraps. It seemed a few more newbies than usual stuck around as well, but then again it was still only the first week.
They'll all probably flake anyway, so why was the former vice-captain working so hard?
A minute shake of her head threw off the thoughts swirling within it, her frown alleviating for a moment as she turned her attention back to Anzu. "Mind if I come along? I could help talk some sense into your 'Tyrant' if she continues to give you a hard time."
It took a concerted effort on Emi’s part not to bury her face in her hands at Naomi’s response. What did she just say?! She suggested that they avoid going all vigilante and cooperate with the administration to speak to offending students and find the source of their unrest—and somehow all Naomi got from that was for them to go ahead and revert to the plan the rest of them had just went to great lengths to oppose. Emi couldn’t help but feel like the administration was going to be disappointed in what little help the Student Council could offer if this was how they coordinated their plans.
Whatever; at least Naomi revealed some useful information with her weird proposal. It was further confirmation that Yamamoto’s behaviour was decidedly out of the ordinary—and further evidence for her own suspicion that Shadow activity might be the culprit. It was still too early to make conclusions, she reminded herself, but the pieces were there; that counted for something.
Nakano stepped in with some authority, to Emi’s relief. Hopefully Naomi would listen; if she was right, and Shadow activity was behind this unrest, Naomi overturning the wrong stone in her aggressive push for answers could end in disaster—disaster Emi wasn’t sure she could deal with on her own. But she tried to take a page from Kudan-kun’s book and cross that bridge when she came to it: mulling over that disheartening prospect would do her no good until she was forced to face it head on.
At Nakano’s dismissal, Emi said her goodbyes and started making her way out of the school, her pace slow as she thought over their conversation. However, all of a sudden, something in the air profoundly shifted, and she stopped in her tracks right there on the stairs. It was as if a weight had been lif— no, that wasn’t quite right. It felt as if a tangible tension had been suddenly released, like a quick breeze of fresh air had dispelled a bit of the dark cloud hanging over the school. It was a strikingly familiar feeling, one that formed a painful lump in Emi’s throat even as she breathed what she realized was her first easy breath of the day; this was what it felt like after a hard-fought battle was won, when she and her friends stood panting and exhausted over a newly-closed gate, and the Shadows were beaten back for one more day.
But could it possibly be? That would mean that she was right and wrong all at once: that there was Shadow activity riling up the school, but that she wouldn’t be facing it alone. Had her friends found their way back? Could it really be? No, surely what little bit of Euryphaessa’s power she had in the real world would have sensed that—but there was no other way! Emi caught herself on the railing as her knees threatened to buckle beneath her, but nonetheless, a surge of hope energized her more than ever. She must have been right! Her friends were trapped in the Reflected World, just like William hinted at—and they must have finally made some progress!
She let out a giddy laugh right there in the stairway, the hopeful sound bouncing endlessly off the concrete walls. Trapped in the mirror wasn’t ideal, but progress was! And being alive definitely was! Oh, how she wanted to sprint through the school and search for them right then. But if they were still trapped on the other side, it was pointless; still, she could at last rest easy in the knowledge that her friends must be alive somewhere, and fighting back at last.
Ha, if she could even rest at all!
"Welcome to the Velvet Room."
Once more, Emi’s heart swelled with hope as William stood in front of her in a dream. Despite his polite greeting, however, Emi could feel his mood was more dour than before. "Despite the Awakened's efforts, the corruption remains. It will likely find a new host before the day is done. While they rest, I suggest you find it before it is too late."
He tapped some paper on a table. "That said, time is on your side. You will have until the day after next," He assured her. "If you find yourself with no clues, I suggest you try finding my door in your world. It will not open until every Awakening has occurred, but you may find something useful until that moment happens. It is located in a place consumed by flames that should be no more."
"We will meet again, I am sure. Until then, take care of yourself."
April 11th—Afternoon
Emi was abuzz from the very second she woke up, and hadn’t calmed down yet. She completely skipped class, her attendance record far from her mind; instead, she spent her day prowling around the school picking up the latest gossip. Of course, it was all about Yamamoto and nothing else apparently seemed to be new, but she chose to take that as encouragement: everyone thought he was acting weird. She was extremely tempted to test that theory for herself, but even if she did want to completely disobey her own advice from yesterday and confront the boy, she couldn’t find the bastard to do it.
Even so, that didn’t put a damper on her mood; if he was causing so much trouble, she was confident she’d find her way to him one way or another. Instead, once she realized gossip hunting wouldn’t teach her anything new, Emi took some time in the resource room with the braille typewriter, making a list of everything she knew so far. Ito’s message on the board, Yamamoto’s incident, the accident in the gym, of course every word William said, and the release of tension yesterday—it was all listed out, along with any and every other minute detail that might have even slightly coincided with anything suspicious. She had quite a few pages when she was done, and by the time she pulled it all out of the typewriter, the end-of-day bell was clanging in her ears. Wow, time flew faster than she thought.
After collecting all of her notes into a folder, she flicked out her cane and made her way out of the resource room, contemplating her next steps. William’s words still echoed in her mind: The corruption remains. Time is on your side. Try finding my door in your world. Ah, just thinking about it was enough to distract her with glee—there was no way the “Awakened” he was talking about weren’t her friends, fighting valiantly in the Reflected World to banish even more Shadows—but she had to focus. But what to do first? She wanted nothing more than to leap into the mirror and use Euryphaessa’s full strength to track her friends down, but another attempt this morning showed her she was still trapped on this side for the time being. Look for William’s door, then? He said it wouldn’t be revealed until every Awakening had occurred, but that condition was already satisfied, wasn’t it? She and her friends had all awakened their personae over the summer or before; but William’s messages definitely updated with time, so why would he say something that was out of date?
Unless… there were more Persona users?
Emi frowned at the concept, deep in thought. She supposed there was nothing she knew that eliminated the possibility of more Persona users, but the very concept sounded so bizarre and unlikely it beggared belief. How could another Persona user be present, and she and her friends not know about it? Emi assumed Euryphaessa’s power would pick up on that in a second, but was that a fact, or did she just assume that because she could pinpoint her friends so easily? Well, William did say that whoever it was had yet to Awaken—maybe that’s why she didn’t sense them. Or maybe she was totally off-base with all of it, who knew? This was normally the time she’d bounce those ideas off her friends, weigh Mineri and Hanami’s outlandish proposals with Reiji and Makoto’s more measured suggestions, but unfortunately for now, she’d have to figure things out on her own.
Who knew all those kid’s shows about the power of friendship had a point?
Her mind was running circles around the issue when a weird tension tugged at her third sense, asserting its presence strongly enough to interrupt her thoughts. Pausing for a moment, Emi turned a few times, trying to determine the direction it was coming from before taking off down a hallway toward the source. It seemed she was right, and the feeling got stronger and stronger until the tight thread of tension snapped, and a scream echoed down the hall.
Startled, Emi rushed toward the noise, her cane tapping a feverish rhythm until she found the source of the noise, coming to a sudden halt in an unfamiliar doorway. “What ha—ah!”
She interrupted herself with a sharp gasp, her breath catching in her throat as a new feeling altogether barged its way to the forefront of her senses. There were four people in the room in front of her, but two stood out starkly from the rest; she couldn’t quite describe it, but it was like their presences screamed to make themselves known to her, and something inside her rose its voice to meet them. What shocked her most, though, was that the feeling was frighteningly familiar—that was what it felt like when her friends were around.
“I—s—sorry,” Emi stammered after a long moment of silence, suddenly remembering there were actual people around. Her mind was on fire, racing to explain what she felt—that had to be the feeling of Persona users, right? Dammit, she couldn’t know for sure, but part of her was certain! But what was she supposed to do now? Start rambling about mirrors and Shadows and oh by the way, had any of them seen five other Persona users stuck on the other side?!
“Sorry,” she repeated, trying to recover even as her heartbeat in her ears threatened to deafen her. She cleared her throat, standing upright at last from where she’d caught herself on the door frame, cane in hand. “I, uh... I heard a scream. Is everything okay?”
The kid was being really weird. Was helping others such a foreign thing? Was she just that bad at this?! Her thoughts were cut off as he suddenly leaned down. She wasn't exactly short by any means, but it was only just now that she realized just how tall he was. She didn't have to usually crane her neck like this--no, she was stepping back because he was suddenly invading her space. When she did, however, he seemed determined to close the space. It was unsettling at best, and problematic at worst. For one, any wandering eyes could get the wrong idea. For another, she wasn't doing too well standing her ground for some reason.
Still, Sakuya stared at Noriaki for a moment, slowly blinking as she tried to calm down--why did she need to calm down?!--and rationalize the situation. Did he not hear what she had just told him? 'That's it'? The reputation of the school was at stake! Then again, she supposed she really only cared because of her position, but she naively assumed having some school pride was more common among her peers. Was that really too optimistic? It was. And she definitely felt silly for thinking otherwise. She supposed his lack of a reaction about Ito Maki meant that he either had no opinion or just didn't care, either.
Taking another step back, Sakuya decided to oblige with his request. "That's all I was told. He said--he said that you might need help adjusting to the new area," She asked, quickly clearing her throat as her voice wavered unexpectedly. "I don't know what sort of school you were in before, but it's common here for the upperclassmen to look after everyone. Natsuhime-san always said it was our way of paying back our senpais before us, so it's not that weird."
Despite her initial thought, however, something did come to mind. Against her better judgment, she asked, "What else could he have said?"
Linda was more than pleased that Daigo seemed genuinely interested, happily following him. While she kept her distance, it was obvious that she was enthusiastic about his arrival. Kaito was mostly indifferent if only because he was lamenting his dish, though, at the mention of foreign food, he did perk up some.
"I personally like to challenge myself by learning foreign food," He ended up explaining. "Seeing what other countries do and comparing and contrasting it to our own is fun. We usually just pick something to try and see what we can do. Linda-senpai has an amazing palette, so she's also been teaching me on how to refine mine."
The senpai in question was practically gushing with quiet pride, pleased with her pupil. At the arrival of a fifth person, she had that same gleam in her eyes. Once she spun around and saw who it was, however, the girl froze in place, her expression more nervous than anything.
"Oh, Ueno-san...uh, Kaito-kun was just expressing his disappointment...his dish came out poorly," She explained hesitantly. "Are you here for the club's forms? Because I was hoping I could hand it in by the end of the week since...we're still trying to recruit people..."
Anzu looked like she was going to initially agree, but she hesitated. She tried not to frown too much, but she figured she should be as direct as possible. Placing down the stack of papers, she crossed her arms as she turned to Yori. "I think a united front would present a stronger case, so it's a good idea," She started off positively at first, at the very least to try not to discourage her entirely. "However, we have to be careful about how we approach things. For whatever reason, the council has more influence than it really should have. Therefore, when we go, we should make sure to reason with them."
Actually, this was probably a good lesson for the girl. Uncrossing her arms, Anzu patted the stack. "We have to keep an open mind."
If he received nothing else from this rendezvous, Noriaki at least learned that the president was not entirely imperturbable. He idly wondered whether or not Nakano was used to people challenging her like this, given her reputation. Of course, not many people could remain unflinching when someone got up in their face like that—which was the entire point of the exercise. She would be less likely to lie if she was too concerned with his proximity to come up with a convincing cover.
His eyes searched her face once she had given him her motives, as if to seek out traces of the deception he had already deemed her guilty of. With a sigh, he pulled back, returning to his full height and turning to retrieve his bag from where it hung on his locker door.
"Don't worry about it."
It was a rather dismissive thing to say, considering his own actions only moments prior, but if he was to take her word for it, then she had no knowledge of his circumstances. There was no point in drudging up history he had gone to great lengths to bury, and besides, he had plenty to deal with as it was. Not least of which was Nakano's insistence on being a "good senpai". Even if he buried the hatchet with her over the misunderstanding on the first day, he was unlikely to shed himself of her if she was half as persistent as most overachievers. Still, he could at least try to dissuade her.
Given how a little breach of comfort had managed to crack her cool, collected facade, he had just the idea of how.
"I'm going now, so unless you intend to treat me to that lunch you owe, I think this is where we part."
Well this was certainly a turn of events. The Cooking Club might just get it's fourth member after all. Daigo seemed at least somewhat interested in the food class. And Linda seemed more than just a little excited at the prospect of finally getting another member. There was also the confirmation of the class making all sorts of foods from all over the world. Neapolatin Pizza, Apple Pie, Jerk Chicken, the possibilities were endless, and likely delicious.
A strange sense of déjà vu overcame Genki as another surprised yelp hit his ears. He looked over to see another light haired student had approached, wielding a cane. And there's really only one person he was aware of that had a cane like that: Student Council member Ueno Emiha. According to her she was attracted to the sound of Kaito's soufflé scream. "Heh, must've been louder than he thought..." Genki muttered under his breath.
Kaito spoke up about the foreign food, saying how he liked to challenge himself with it, and how he liked to compare and contrast said food with food from Japan. Then, Linda spoke up shortly after, though this time she was much more apprehensive, presumably because she was talking to a student council member, and chances were, Ueno-san here wasn't here to join. Genki could only imagine the pressure.
Genki decided that for now it would be best to say silent in this situation. After all, he wouldn't want to ruin his chances of joining the club. That, and Linda knew more about running a club and its requirements than he did. Hopefully Ueno-san here was just here about Kaito's cry of anguish and not anything too serious.
| April 11th, 2018 | Hintori Highschool - Archery Club |@Hero|
While there were different ways to interpret Anzu’s caution, Yori seemed to take it cynically, her posture mirroring the captain’s as her own arms interlocked in front of her chest. “So, what, are we just going to walk away with our tails between our legs if they say no?”
Every fiber of her being disliked that notion entirely. If there was a clear problem that needed fixing, and the ones in charge did nothing to counteract it, then what was the point of placing them in positions of power? Issues were meant to be solved, not kicked under a rug for others to clean up in their place.
Her brows knitted at the thought. “Couldn’t we jump up the chain and speak to a teacher? If this problem’s a school-wide thing, then this should be big enough that they’d step in, right?”
