The island had taken their breath away. Tropical trees, white beaches, they had never seen anywhere so… Idyllic. Sure, Inaba had its charms, but this was pretty much anyone's idea of a resort heaven. Previously, they thought of upper-class excess in terms of Yosuke, someone who bought something new every week and lived in the wealthier side of town. How wrong they were.

Kanji, still staring at the sparkling water, was practically shoved off the small ferry by Chie. "C'mon, dude," she nagged, straining to push the heavy youth onto the jetty, "we've got an appointment to keep!"

Hoisting his bag over his shoulder, and grumbling some complaints for good measure, he joined his friend striding down the wooden planks, still transfixed by the clear water underneath their feet. "So this is what a decent beach looks like, yeah?"

"I guess," Chie shrugged, who was more worried about whatever trial lay ahead of them, "I've only travelled as much as you have, you know." For the thousandth time, she pulled the printed email out of her pocket, and once again confirmed that the applicants were supposed to meet at the bar on the beachfront. Grabbing the arm of a trailing Kanji, who was scouring the sea for every little detail so thoroughly it looked like he was about to fall in, she directed them to the small shack, taking a seat in one of the deckchairs set outside. Leaning back, she rested her hands on the back of her head and basked in the late morning sunshine. "I could get used to this," she murmured, eyelids already drooping.

"It ain't bad," he friend agreed, relenting to the heat and taking off his jacket. Still feeling warm, he looked to the bar to find something to drink, and was discouraged to find the choices were either alcoholic, or just the worst flavours of Dr. Salt. He looked around, and it finally clicked that this place wasn't empty, and that everybody else would be after the same job opening. There were all sorts- he even saw some foreigners in the mix- but him and Chie were by far the youngest. He began to feel incredibly out of his depth. "Shit, have you seen everyone else 'round here?" His friend opened an eye slowly, slightly annoyed to have her doze cut short before it had even begun. "Jesus they're all huge and- Holy fuck!" His voice dropped to a whisper. "That guy has a fuckin' Yakuza tat I swear." He threw his friend a desperate expression. "We're out of our league here man."

Chie waved off his concerns with an erratic hand motion. "You think too much. I thought I brought along Kanji Tatsumi," she said his name with power, "you know, the guy that took on a whole biker gang and won?"

"Well yeah, but no, wait… That ain't the point, dammit!" He slammed a palm down onto the table between them and pointed at the competition dotted around. "Those guys were low-life punks. These are professionals. Like, real fuckin' professionals. We ain't got a chance."

Chie looked at him as if he was insane, which considering how much sense he was making, made him wonder if she was the crazy one. "So? We will be once we get this job?"

Kanji tilted his head in disbelief. "But that's it, we ain't getting' this job are we?"

"Kanji," Chie sighed, with her eyes almost bored, "Answer me this. Have any of these bozo's gone inside a TV?"

It was a sort of left field question. "Well no, but-"

The martial artist rolled her eyes. "Have any of these guys kicked a shadow's butt?"

"No, but ya see-"

She settled back into the reclined seat as she gave her killer blow. "Have any of these guys saved the world?"

Kanji was dumbfounded. "Well 'course not, but-"

"Saved the world." She closed her eyelids with a smug expression.

"But they have-"

"Saved the world."

"Chie, you know that-"

"Saved the wooooooorld." She shook her head, crunched herself forward and laid a firm hand on her friend's shoulder. "Just quit your worrying dude, we got this!" She thumped her chest, mirroring Kanji's own gesture of confidence. "I promise."

He knew her words were complete bullshit in more than a few ways, but he couldn't help but smile. It died however, cut off by the arrival of a suit with a clipboard, who going between the various teams gathered by the beach. The pair eyed him as he made his way through the pack, confirming details and making sure their paperwork was in order. A rather unassuming figure, he wore a pair of glasses, and seemed perennially impatient, as if things just weren't moving along efficiently enough. He stopped just short of the two of them, however, looking between his notes and themselves, face growing ever so slightly incredulous. With a mostly inaudible sigh, he made his step forward. "You must be Satonaka-san and Tatsumi-san, correct?"

"Damn straight." Kanji nodded, earning a cuff round the ear from Chie. "Hey!" He yelped, snapping his head to her, "What was that for?"

"We're in the process now," she hissed, "We gotta be serious." Her features morphed into a wide smile, turning attention right back to the man standing over them. "Yeah, that's us, hi!"

He smirked, which they weren't sure was a good sign, but it was overlooked as they underwent the tedious process of confirming their identities. "Yes, that about covers it…" he droned, ticking some boxes with his Kirijo-emblazoned pen. "Cars will be arriving shortly. Please take your seats promptly, and you will be brought to the assessment."

As he stepped to walk away, Chie held out her hand. "Wait!" He stopped, and turned his head back. "Do you have any advice? On the interview I mean."

The man smiled. All the other applicants hadn't bothered to ask such a question, those in private security usually having a well-developed sense of their own confidence. He wasn't sure if they were up to much, but they were young. He might as well give them hope. "The Kirijo group is a… Different company to most. Different to ourselves, in fact, if you only delve through even our most recent history." He directed a piercing glance between the two of them. "We value spirit as much as anything else. If you can show you have that, then I'm sure you will perform adequately." He smiled, turning on his heels. "Good luck."

They watched as he walked away, Chie nodding in approval. "That guy was nice…" She scratched her chin. "Spirit huh? What should we do…"

"Kick ass." Kanji said immediately. "S'what we do." Holding up a palm, she slapped an emphatic high-five, and they stood up, ready to face whatever challenge would be placed in front of them.

The car ride wasn't pleasant, the pair having to squeeze between a woman with legs the size of tree trunks, and a man with biceps the size of bowling balls. Chie figured they must make a pretty good team. The professionals kept glancing curiously at the young guns between them, and made no effort to hide the smirk they shared afterwards. Kanji just clenched his fist, trying to ignore their goading, difficult to do when he had a sneaking suspicion they were right to mock.

The tinted windows of the vehicle didn't do the mansion any favours. It was only when they got out of the car, gulping in blissful lungfuls of clean air, that they were really impressed. Its walls were white, and completely spotless, the red roofing tiles gleaming, and perfectly symmetrical. As they followed the other applicants, while they couldn't see it due to the dense vegetation of the tropical island, they could just feel how close they were to the ocean. "This must have cost a bomb…" Kanji whispered. "How big are this company again?"

"That's…" Chie started, raising a finger and cringing slightly, "Something I should have checked."

The group, twenty or so strong by Chie's quick headcount, had gathered by a luxurious fountain at front of the estate. Leaning on its marble ledge, the martial artist tried to work out what their next move should be. The man with the clipboard appeared again, and cleared his throat. "Greetings, applicants. There will be a variety of tests and assessments throughout today, and a combination of the results of those, along with our CEO's personal preference, will decide."

This sparked an excited muttering in the crowd.

"Mitsuru Kirijo, here?" A voice breathed.

"I hear she's only 23, and running the entire group herself!" Another whispered in awe.

A romantic voice cut through the crowd. "I've heard her beauty has sparked over a dozen takeovers..."

Once again, Chie cursed herself for her lack of research, and felt invariably out of her depth. Kanji noticed her downtrodden posture, and clicked his fingers right in front of her eyes. His hand morphed into a thumbs up as she looked to him, dazed. "Be confident, alright? In it to win it, yeah?"

Brow furrowing, she nodded, with real determination as the chatter died down, and the suit resumed his speech. "Our first test is a simple combat exercise. I will call two names, and they will spar for two minutes." A few whoops were raised by the crowd, along with the smacking of fists into palms. "However, if any of you feel that the use of underhanded tactics will ensure victory, I would like to remind you that the Kirijo group is a very honourable organisation, an part of our culture we take very seriously." He looked down to his sheet. "Now, Miki Nazahura and Kanji Tatsumi, please step forwards."

Kanji and Chie looked at each other, not expecting to begin so quickly. The boy remained rooted on the spot, forcing Chie to literally shove him out of the crowd, with no time for any words of encouragement. Stumbling over to the suit, he sized up his opponent, standing ready on the dusty floor. He was relieved to find he still had a height advantage, but not nearly as much as he was used to, and the guy didn't have a ton of muscle; he had a real chance. His main worry was the his stance; wide and with a low centre of balance, he had obviously had training, whereas Kanji himself hadn't been in a street fight for years, and his supernatural adventures hadn't ever developed his skills in bareknuckle boxing.

"Two minutes." The suit stated, signalling the end of Kanji's contemplative preparation. "Begin."

The crowd began to cheer, jeer, and unsettle from the moment they were off, the shorter man wasting no time in closing the distance and throwing a quick jab at the tailor's solar plexus. Doubling over in pain, he didn't even have time to cry out before a vicious kick sent him to the floor. Vision blurry, and a dribble of red pooling out into the gravel in front of him, Kanji could only think to himself 'I'm done'. And then he heard a menacing scream from the crowd, crying "Get the hell back up Moronji!"

He'd always hated that name.

Getting some purchase with his palms, he got to his knees, seeing his opponent had taken to riling up their audience, figuring the fight was won, pointing and laughing at the boy on the ground. Angry now, seeing a shade of red that he hadn't for a long time, he exploded out of his crouch, charging to the asshole and grabbing his waist, before lifting up his whole body and slamming him straight onto the ground.

A silence meant everyone heard the bone crunching impact clearly, which was subsequently rewarded with approving claps and cheers. Kanji took a couple steps back, and snarled at his writhing opponent, daring him to get up. He took the challenge, finding his feet, and looking a lot less composed than before, his previous battle-stance forgotten. The two men strode towards each other, raising their fists, and immediately started exchanging blows in the centre. Kanji worked entirely on instinct, dodging some punches, and deflecting others, but mostly just absorbing the quicker strikes of his adversary, all the while knocking him back with his slower, harder hitting ones. The man was being worn down, and tried a sweep kick, which Kanji roughly batted away with his foot. Seeing his opportunity, he bent down and grabbed the man's thighs, straining his legs until he was standing straight, grunting from the pain the guy was showering all over his back. In a quick movement, he threw his cargo over his back, not even looking as he crashed to the ground, leaving a streaky red track where he had scraped through the landing.

"Time." The suit announced, looking at his watch. "Our next opponents are…"

Not at all appreciating the fact he had pretty much won, Kanji stumbled back to the fountain, being clapped on the back by his fellow applicants, with a few 'holy shits' and a 'how old even are you?' thrown in for good measure. Finding Chie, he shot her a dopey smile before dunking his head into the cool water of the fountain. Staying for a while in refreshing liquid, he let himself sink to the floor, back the marble and looking up at Chie. "How'd I do?"

His friend ummm'd and ahhh'd playfully. "Not your best, very scruffy, in fact I'd say- Ah who am I kidding," she exclaimed, grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet, "you threw that guy like, ten feet, it was awesome!" They both were grinning wildly, a moment perhaps ruined by the cheering of the bloodthirsty crowd, the second bout already underway. While Chie would have loved to watch, she noticed the cut on his temple was still slowly oozing blood. "C'mon, we need to get you patched up."

He shook his head, looking over to the new fight excitedly. "Nah, don't worry about it, I feel fine! Let's just watch these guys go at it."

Chie grabbed his wrist firmly. "It's a head injury dude, we have to check you aren't concussed or something."

Kanji still wasn't convinced. "The other guy isn't getting' a doctor. What if it's part of the test, y'know, like, bearing through it?"

"Kanji, there's being macho, and there's being dumb. Don't be dumb." He relinquished control to her, where she dragged the pair of them too the suit to ask for a first aid kit.

"Hmm," he pondered, passively watching the kickboxing match between the current two contenders, "The maids are all versed in emergency aid, find one of them inside." She nodded, but before they could leave, he looked down to his notes. "I'll have to put you in last Miss Satonaka; don't be late."

Nodding, the pair of them strode towards the huge doors of the mansion, the sounds of the brawl fading with each passing step.

AN- Three chapter dump time! So keep on reading, suspense be damned! - WN