Chapter 2 - Ryuji Sakamoto - The Chariot

Monday morning came far too quick for you when your alarm woke you up early in the morning to get ready for school. You got up and began your usual morning routine with a soft sigh on your lips. It felt similar to your usual routine, but somehow so very different at the same time…

"Hey, you awake?" Sojiro called up the steps, opting to call for you instead of coming up the steps as he had the day before. Really, it was a relief for you as you called back down to him.

"Yes, I'll be down in a moment…" You spoke as you finished getting ready and made your way down the steps.

"Oh, so you're actually going to school?" Sojiro asked with an almost surprised expression.

"Of course I am, don't you think my future is ruined enough as it is? You seriously expect me to make it anywhere in life without an education?" You commented with a frown.

"Well, you could always marry a successful man," he joked, to which you were obviously not amused. He cleared his throat at the sudden awkwardness of the situation now and cleared his throat. "Here, I'll feed you. Just make sure you finish it before the customers start coming in." The male sat a plate in front of you and you offered a raised eyebrow.

"Curry for breakfast?" You inquired with a tilt of your head.

"What's that reaction for? Just eat it." Sojiro told you with an impatient huff. You sighed, thinking you should perhaps just be grateful that you were offered food at all, since you've spent the last two days scraping by with what you could afford to eat. Maybe you should get a job…? Taking a bite from the plate, you let the bold spicy flavors dance on your tongue while they were paired with the bland flavor of the white rice and the bitter flavor of the coffee you were offered.

"This is delicious~!" You chimed with a small smile on your lips. Well, if Sojiro was anything, it was a good cook.

"Thanks. It's time for you to go. Hurry over to school. You'll end up late if you get lost on the way." Sojiro spoke passively. "Oh, flip the sign outside to OPEN for me."

Making your way out the door, you were sure to flip the sign, before making your way to the station. It was loud, but everyone seemed to be talking about the same thing: these strange events that had been taking place. The trains were delayed due to the accident, to which you found annoying, but otherwise, chose not to care much. Boarding the train was equally as annoying, since it was so cramped. It was a rarity to find an open seat, so you didn't even try to look for one. Once you arrived at the second station, you stepped out to discover the downpour that you certainly weren't expecting from the previously sunny sky. A sigh left your lips as you looked up at the rain, staying close to the station to shield yourself from the rain. You were still early, so you thought you'd try to wait until the rain lightened up a bit, before heading to the school building.

"Which way do I even go…?" You muttered to yourself softly, before a girl wearing a uniform similar to yours approaching the safety of your hiding spot as well.

"Damn rain…" She muttered softly with a heavy sigh. "I can't believe I forgot my umbrella…"

"I didn't even know it was supposed to rain today…" You stated with a soft sigh. Some first day you were having… Great first impression, showing up soaking wet, because you didn't bring an umbrella.

"Me either… I should really start watching the news or something. I mean, it was sunny just ten minutes ago!" She ranted. "Hey, have we met? I mean, you don't look familiar or anything. I-" the blonde woman spoke, before a car pulled up in front of the two of you.

"Need a ride?" The male asked as he rolled the window down to speak to the student alongside you. He seemed like an older man, but it was more than obvious that he wasn't her father with the way he was looking at her. Strange… was he a teacher? But why would a teacher offer a student a ride? The girl got into the passenger's seat, before the male looked back up to meet your gaze.

"Would you like a ride too?" He asked you with somewhat of an inviting smile as his eyes looked over you for a moment, before back up to meet your gaze. Something about his tone made you uncomfortable, so you shook your head.

"Oh, um, no thank you…" You stated passively and he simply shrugged, rolling his window up, before driving off with the other student. You sighed as you looked up at the rain. "Maybe I should've agreed? I don't even know where I'm going after all…" You commented with a sigh, before someone ran toward you spouting insults about someone. He almost ran right into you, but you managed to step out of the way beforehand.

"Hey! Watch it!" You called with a small frown on your lips. The male turned to face you and offered a frown.

"What do you want? You plannin' on rattin' me out to Kamoshida?" The male spat with a glare on his face.

"Kamoshida….? I don't even know who that is." You stated bluntly. "What would I even rat you out for? I was just telling you to watch where you're going. You almost ran right into me." You rolled your eyes, expecting the male to just storm off, so you looked at your phone to check the time once again. Your eyes fell onto the app from the night before that you'd deleted. It's some kinda navigation app, right? Maybe I can use it to get to school? Pressing the app, you waited for it to properly load, as the student from earlier seemed to get closer.

"Huh? In that car just now. It was Kamoshida" The male stated invading your personal space a bit. "He does whatever the hell he wants. Who does he think he is - the king of the castle? Don't you agree?" You instinctively stepped away from him, before offered a frown.

"King of the castle..? I don't know what you're talking about." You told him.

"Uh, it's just a sayin'..." The male stated, before it seemed to settle in his mind that you didn't know who he was talking about. "Wait, you don't know Kamoshida? Are you for real? You're from Shujin, right?"

"Wait, you go to Shujin too…?" You asked curiously. The other two you'd met definitely didn't act the way he did.

"What..? No other high school's got a uniform like this." The male commented with a roll of his eyes.

"Like I'd know that! I just moved here." You replied with a huff.

"Oh, you a transfer student? Then no wonder you don't know him."

"Yeah, I'm a second year…" You commented.

"A second-year, huh? We're the same grade then." The male spoke. He seemed much more calm now, which was somewhat of a relief.

"This rain ain't too bad. We better hurry up or we'll be late." The male stated and you nodded looking down at your navigation app. It seemed fully loaded and a map was present showing you the way to the school. You followed behind Ryuji as you held you bag over your head with one hand and followed the direction your phone lead you. The two of you come upon what you expected to be the school.

"Huh? What the hell?" The male beside you spoke.

"What…? But the app said this was the right way? Did I take a wrong turn or something…?" You spoke confused as you looked over it.

"Huh? N-No! This has to be it! I mean… it should be…" The male stated as he check his phone for any kind of service. "Out of service? Where'd we end up…? The sign was for the school, right?"

"Uh... Yeah…?" You commented.

"Right?! You saw it too!" He spoke.

"How the hell do you not know where you're going?! You've been attending this school since you were a first year, right?!"

"Hey, why're you yellin' at me?! This is the right way, I know it!" You sighed heavily at him as you rubbed your temples.

"Let's just go in and ask for directions…" You grumbled.

"We don't need to ask for directions. I know where we are!"

"Obviously not, since we're lost!"

"We're not lost!"

"Are we seriously doing this bit? Ugh, I'm going in, you can do whatever you want." You commented with a roll of your eyes as you walked into the school building.

"H-hey! Wait for me!"

The two of you stepped into the school building, your footsteps falling into sync together as you looked around.

"Wow… what is this place?" You whispered as you looked around.

"Hell if I know. This definitely ain't our school…" The male commented as the two of you looked around the strange castle. The sound of footsteps and armor pulled you both from your thoughts as you looked over to spot an armed guard approach you. He jumped at the sudden closeness of the guard, before you both looked up to meet its gaze.

"Geez, you freaked me out…" The male whined as he looked at the guard. "Who're you? You a student? Man your costume's impressive. Is that armor real?"

"Um… I don't think that's a student.." You commented. "Uh, sorry, we're lost. Could you tell us how to get to Shujin?" The guard didn't speak a word, causing you two to grow slightly uncomfortable.

"C'mon don't just stand there, say somethin'." The male beside you complained at the guards lack of response. After a moment, another joins it and they step closer to you. The two of you step back instinctively.

"H-hey, what's goin' on?" He spoke defensively as two more people approached to cage you in.

"T-This must be some kinda prank, right?" You spoke. "C'mon, this isn't funny!"

The student alongside you's voice is suddenly taken from him when he's taken down by one of the guards roughly hitting him in the back.

"H-Hey! Stop! What're you doing?!" You called as you rushed to his aid once he was knocked down. More guards came to aid the two and you were easily overpowered by guards as they carried the two of you off. Everything slowly went black as you lost consciousness.

"Hey… Hey wake up!"

The sound of someone's voice stirred you as you slowly came to. You wake up in what appeared to be a cell, the male from before was standing over you to check on your well being, though his eyes were wandering a little too much for your liking.

"Hey! Where are you looking?!" You huffed as you sat up immediately and fixed your slightly bunched up skirt.

"I-I wasn't lookin'! I mean, not like there or anythin'!" The male insisted, face red and expression sheepish at being caught. You simply huffed at him with a glare. "C'mon, cut me some slack!"

"Yeah, whatever," you commented with a grumpy expression.

"You alright?" The male asked you, trying to change the subject to ease the tension.

"Yeah, I'm okay… Are you? Where are we?" You mused as you looked around. There were two bed, a disgusting toilet and chains on the wall. It was quite intimidating… Just where the hell were you two?

"Yeah, more or less… I have no idea where we are, but it looks like this ain't no dream…" He spoke with a heavy sigh.

"You seriously still thought it was a dream?!" You spoke with a roll of your eyes.

"Ugh, what's going on?" The male complained as he banged on the cell bars to get the attention of anyone who might be outside.

"Hey, let us outta here! I know there's someone out there!" He called and you sighed.

"I really don't think that that is going to work…" You spoke up. Yes, because screaming 'let us out' has worked before when someone locks you away…

"Dammit, where are we?! Is this some kinda TV set?" He commented with a sigh.

"They sure went through a lot if that's the case…" You mused with a frown tugging at your lips. The two of you shared a glance as you tried to brainstorm what to do, before the sounds of screaming could be heard in the distance. It wasn't just screaming like perhaps another student had wandered in, no, these were deep agonizing screams. Fear settled in your chest as well as the male beside you.

"What the hell was that just now?!" He spoke, in somewhat of a panic.

"Is someone being tortured or something?! A-are they gonna do that to us?!" You spoke as you looked over to him with wide eyes.

"Whoa! Hey man, you gotta be shitting me!" The male spoke up as he paced back and forth. "This is real bad..! Isn't there some way outta here?! C'mon, we gotta do something!" The two of you couldn't do much, though, before you were tugged from your thoughts as the sound of footsteps approaching alerted you.

"Huh, you hear that?" The male alongside you spoke to which you only nodded. A few guards approached your cell as one banged on the bars just to intimidate you.

"Be glad that your punishment has been decided upon. Your charge is "unlawful entry", thus you will be sentenced to death." The guard stated and your eyes widened.

"Say what?!"

"What!? But it was an accident! Can't we at least explain ourselves!"

"No one's allowed to do as they please in my castle." A voice was heard as someone approached the cell and peered inside. He wore nothing but a pair of pink panties, that no man should ever wear and a king's cape.

"Huh? Wait… is that you, Kamoshida?!" The student beside you spoke up as you looked over at him, before back at the 'King of the castle'

"Wait… this is the teacher you were talking about?!" You whispered to the male beside you.

"I thought it was some petty thief, but to think it'd be you, Sakamoto… Are you trying to disobey me again? It looks like you haven't learned your lesson at all, huh?" Kamoshida questioned as he stared down the student. His eyes wandered to you and he let his eyes wander for a short moment. "And you brought a friend this time, because you can't do anything for yourself. So, who's this? Your girlfriend? Damn, Sakamoto, didn't know you had it in ya~. She's definitely way outta your league~."

"This ain't funny, you asshole!" Sakamoto spoke up with a glare.

"Is that how you speak to a king? It seems you don't understand the position you're in at all. Not only did you sneak into my castle, you committed the crime of insulting me - the king! The punishment for that, is death." Kamoshida spoke as he stared down Sakamoto until he turned his attention to you instead. "But looks, princess, I'll be generous to a pretty little thing like yourself. We could always work out… other means for your trespassing~."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" You spoke up with a pale expression. Ryuji stepped in front of you, as if blocking the male's view of you would somehow fix everything.

"This is bullshit! The hell do you think you're doin' you pervert!?" Ryuji spoke up with a glare. Kamoshida didn't seem amused by his tone as he looked to the guards rallied around him.

"It's time for an execution! Take him out!" Kamoshida spoke up. "Save her for later… I'm going to deal with her… myself."

"S-Stop it…!" Sakamoto spoke up, as if still clinging to the fact that perhaps this was all just a sick joke. The guards came into the room one by one. One grabs you by the arm with the other approached Sakamoto. "Goddammit…!" Sakamoto attacked the guard holding onto you and takes your hand attempting to flee from the cell. "I ain't down for this shit! C'mon, we're outta here!" He spoke up and you could agree with that statement, but you didn't get far before Kamoshida kicks him back into the cell. His grip on your hand released as he fell into the cell. He winced as he sat up slightly.

"Just go! Get outta here…! These guys are serious!" Sakamoto spoke up as he ignored your attempt to aid him.

"Aw, trying to protect your girlfriend. What a noble thing to do." Kamoshida spoke as he approached him. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of her~."

"She ain't my girlfriend. She's just some girl…" Sakamoto spoke up, before looking over at you. "C'mon! Hurry up and go!"

:Just some girl… Dammit why does everyone keep saying that!" You whispered to yourself with a frown tugging on your lips.

"Keep her over there. I want to focus on this one's execution for now." Kamoshida spoke up as you watched the guards hold Sakamoto back while Kamoshida took his anger out on the poor teenager's body. The punches were swift, definitely practiced and directed right at his stomach. "Hmph. Where'd you energy from earlier go? A peasant like you isn't worth beating. I'll have you killed right now."

"Have you lost your mind?! Stop it!" You called. "You can't just do this to someone! Who do you think you are?!"

"What…? Don't you dare tell me you don't know who I am." Kamoshida spoke as he grabbed you by the arm and tugged you toward him. "What? You think you can stop me? You're nothing but a little girl. Tch, you're not even worth toying with. Hold her there… After the peasant, it's her turn to die." Kamoshida spoke up as he threw you toward the guards as they held you against the wall, helpless as you watched him approach Sakamoto.

"Nothing, but a little girl…"

"What's the matter…? Are you simply going to watch? Are you forsaking him to save yourself? Death awaits him if you do nothing." A voice spoke in you head. "I thought you weren't 'just a little girl'?"

"I'm not!" You insisted. The guard gave you a strange look while one of the others held Sakamoto by the neck as a sword was pointed at his throat.

"Very well… I have heeded your resolve. Vow to me. I am thou, thou art I… Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice! Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself!"

You opened your eyes as you suddenly realized you wore a mask over your face and you attire had changed. Arsene's words whirled in your mind, guiding you and telling you what to do next. Following his every order, you rip the mask from your face, ignoring the pain that it brought with it. The burst of power released at the action knocked the guards off of their feet as they released Sakamoto and all attention was redirected at you.

"What the…?" Sakamoto spoke softly as he looked at you with wide eyes.

"Who the hell are you?! Guards! Start by killing that one!" Kamoshida spoke up, but Arsene quickly disposed of them in a whirl of demonic power. Your knees were shaky from the intense power having been released from within you, but you managed to stay on your feet as you looked up to Kamoshida who stood back with wide eyes. He tried not to seem intimidated, but he did.

"You little…!" Kamoshida spoke with a glare as he approached you. Sakamoto had managed to get back on his feet as he tackled Kamoshida to the ground as he was approaching you.

"Ha! You like that, you son of a bitch?!" Sakamoto spoke up with a grin on his face as the man fell to the ground, dropping the key to the cell on the floor.

"Hurry! Grab the key!" You called hurriedly. Sakamoto nodded as he grabbed the key and you locked Kamoshida inside.

"Okay, it's locked!" Sakamoto spoke up as he looked over you with wide eyes. "Hey..! What was that just now?! And… your clothes?" You looked down at your attire, only for it to disappear in a whirl of black smoke. "Whoa, it went back to normal..?!"

"You bastards!" Kamoshida's voice spoke to interrupt your thought process.

"God, this's effin' nuts! Anyways, let's scram!" Sakamoto spoke up and you nodded as he toss the keys aside and the two of you ran for it to find an exit. Kamoshida was screaming in the distance for his guards to come to his aid while you two ran around the castle trying to find your way out.

"Hey, we gotta hide!" Sakamoto spoke up as he tugged you hand and the two of you hid behind several boxes stacked side-by-side. "Over there… They're lookin' for us, right?" He questioned as he peered from behind the boxes to watch the guards curiously. "I ain't playin' along with this anymore! We gotta find a way outta this goddamn place!"

"Obviously, Sakamoto-kun! I mean, they tried to kill us." You whispered with a roll of your eyes. When the guards directed their attention elsewhere, you run up the steps with Sakamoto in tow.

"You think this is the way out?" He asked quietly as you kept moving.

"Since it's going up, probably not…" You confessed with a sigh. As you arrived, the area looked more like an underground trench than anything else.

"What the hell is this place?! All this water…" Sakamoto commented and you nodded.

"I know we went up… what the hell is this place?" You spoke. How could the wooden floors even support all the water? Someone's voice stirred the two of you as your looked toward a teenager locked in a cage. He was dangling helplessly over the water.

"We really did hear people screamin'... So we ain't the only ones who got captured!" Sakamoto spoke up.

"This is awful…" You spoke up softly.

"Is, uh… Is he okay?" Sakamoto spoke as you looked over at him with a deadpanned expression.

"Uh… he's in a cell… obviously not." You stated matter of factly. "Wait… is that… our school uniform?"

"You don't have the time to stand around. Leave them and keep moving." Arsene's voice spoke in your mind and you had no choice but to heed it as you guided Sakamoto further into the strange room ahead. You pause once you come upon several more cells and Sakamoto stops you to peer inside.

"Here too…? Is this dude okay? Wait… why's there a volleyball in this cell?" He spoke and you sighed.

"I don't know! C'mon, we have to keep moving!" You said, losing your patience with the curious blonde beside you.

"Dammit! How the hell're we supposed to get outta here?!" Sakamoto huffed as he walked beside you.

"Hey, you there! Blondie! Pretty Lady! Look over here!" A voice called and you looked into another cell to find something that appeared almost… cat like…?

"What is this thing?!" Sakamoto spoke up as he looked at it with wide eyes.

"You're not soldiers of this castle, right? Get me out of here! Look, the key's right there!" It spoke as you studied it silently.

"What? We're trying to get the hell out of here…! I mean, you obviously look like an enemy too!" Sakamoto spoke up. He did appear like one of the strange creatures you'd seen wandering around...

"I'm locked up here, so how can I be your enemy?! Help me out!" The cat called.

"This could be some kinda trap or somethin'!" Sakamoto spoke up.

"Shhh, Sakamoto-kun, if they hear us, they'll catch us…!" You spoke softly.

" I'm begging you; you have to help me!" The cat called with desperate eyes.

"They're catchin up already!" Sakamoto spoke as you heard footsteps coming up the steps. "How the hell do we get out?!

"You wanna know where the exit is? Let me out and I'll take you there!" The cat spoke. "You don't wanna get caught and executed, right?"

"Can you really help us? I mean, you're in a cage too, so obviously you got caught yourself…" You commented skeptically.

"She's got a point…" Sakamoto spoke.

"I never go back on my word!" The cat insisted and you sighed.

"This thing sounds like it's all talk…" Sakamoto spoke and you gave him a look that read 'you're on to talk', which only made the teen beside you huff in retaliation.

"If you guys think you can get out on your own, then be my guest." The cat spoke up as if he had the upperhand.

"The guards are coming closer!" You spoke as you heard the footsteps nearing the top of the winding stairs.

"If you don't hurry, they'll catch you." The cat challenged and you felt slight panic go through you.

"Just let him out! I can't reach the keys!" You spoke up to Sakamoto beside you.

"F-Fine…" The male said, giving in to your request.

" Ahhh… Freedom tastes so great." The cat spoke up as it wandered out of the cell and stretched.

"Now where's the exit, you monstercat?!"

"Don't call me a cat! I am Morgana!"

"Shuddup and hurry it up! You wanna be locked up again?!"

"Alright, sheesh! Follow me, and stay quiet!" Morgana spoke up as he lead you to a draw bridge.

"What're you doin'?" Sakamoto questioned as the two of you watched him closely.

"What's it look like I'm doing? I'm lowering the bridge." Morgana stated with a blank expression. "You, pretty lady. It seems like you pick up on things faster than Blondie over here. Try checking around the mouth of this stature, okay?"

"Hey! Why is she called Pretty Lady and I'm just Blondie?!" Sakamoto questioned. You inspected the mouth of the stature, before Arsene's voice urged you to pull it open to drop the bridge.

"How were we supposed to know to do that?!" Sakamoto spoke up.

"Hmph, amateur."

"I bet you just watched the other guards do it from your cell." You spoke skeptically.

"W-what?! T-that's…! I mean…! Come on, let's keep going!" Morgana spoke with a huff at being caught.

"Ha! You ain't got shit to say now, huh cat?" Sakamoto spoke up with smirk.

"I'm not a cat!" You keep running until you run into a few guards standing nearby. Morgana lead the the two of you to a proper hiding spot as you watched carefully from a distance. One of the guards seemed to have spot you, because he quickly kicked the barrels away that were handing your forms.

"Shit, it's them!" Sakamoto spoke up and Morgana rolled his eyes.

"Tch… You amateur! Stay still! Hey you, you can fight, right? Let's go!" The cat spoke up as he summoned his own strange being. "Come Zorro!" Killing the guards together was much easier than doing it on your own and you found yourself with a little more energy at the conclusion of battle.

"You got one of those things too?!" Sakamoto spoke up.

"Not bad. Your persona's pretty powerful." Morgana spoke. "But you're still an amatuer!"

"Persona…? Y'mean that thing that comes outta you guys all dramatic-like?"

"Yes. You saw how Pretty Lady here ripped off her mask when she summoned it, right? Well, everybody wears a mask deep within their heart. By removing that…" You suddenly turn back to normal and the conversation shifts.

"Huh…? She turned back to normal…"

"Hm, it looks like you don't have full control over your power yet. The transformation shouldn't normally dissolve like that. After all-"

"That's enough! This crap doesn't make any sense!"

"Can't you just sit still and listen for once, Blondie?!"

"Don't call me Blondie! My name's Ryuji…"

"Actually, there's no time for me to lecture you! You wanna escape this place in one piece, right? Let's go! It's not much farther to the exit." Morgana lead the way toward where you hoped would be the exit, until Ryuji notices a student inside of a cell.

"Hold on a sec! I feel like I've seen what this dude's wearin' before… Dammit! I'm too flustered! I can't remember a damn thing!" Sakamoto spoke up.

"Come on. Let's go!" Morgana spoke up.

"hold on, dammit!"

"Why? We need to go, fast!"

"But… who are these guys?"

"Do you really think you have time to worry about other people right now?!"

"We saved you!" You pointed out.

"T-true, but..!"

"We can't just leave these guys here!" Sakamoto insisted.

"You really don't get it, do you? There's no time to explain. Look, I'm going. If you don't want to follow, be my guest!" Morgana spoke up as he ran off.

"Dammit… fine, I'm coming!" Ryuji spoke as he quickly followed.

"But…!" You started, though the two had already begun to leave you, so you quickly followed behind.

"The entrance hall is right above here! The exit's close… keep it up!" Morgana stated and you sighed, a bit relieved that you were almost out. You make it to a dead end and you curiously look around.

"We're here!" Morgana spoke up.

"Finally! We're saved…!" Ryuji spoke up as he tried to pry the door open. "The door won't open! D'you trick us, you jerk?!"

"Don't just to conclusions! Over here!" Morgana stated as he opened a side door and charged inside.

"Where are we supposed to get out from here?! There aren't even any windows!"

" Ugh, amateur… This is the most basic of basics."

"Wait… I thought that hitting an enemy weakness was the most basic of basics…?" You questioned curiously.

"There can be more than one!" Morgana insisted.

"So… I guess we're going out a different way, then? Like the ventilation shaft?" You questioned as you looked around the room for any way out.

"That's right! As I thought, you're a natural at this. It leads all the way outside." Morgana said with a grin pulling at his features.

"I see… Then we just gotta get that metallic mesh off." Ryuji spoke as he jumped up to do just that. He was taller and physically stronger than the rest of you after all, so it seemed only natural for him to be the one to do it. In his rush to tug it off, though, he stumbles, falling to the ground as the mesh came off with a loud bang.

"Oww… Crap! The enemy didn't hear us did they?" Ryuji spoke as he rubbed his sore backside.

"Us? That was your fault!" You spoke with a huff.

"Whatever, we're finally getting outta here!"

"You should wait on celebrating until you actually get out… Now get going!" Morgana said as he ushered the two of you up to squeeze through the ventilation unit.

"But what about you?" Ryuji asked.

"You're not coming…?" You questioned curiously.

"There's something that I still have to do. We're going our separate ways." Morgana told you with a smile.

"Don't get caught again. No one will be here to save you." You advised

"Heh, you better be careful too. See ya." Morgana spoke as you offered a small smile, before Ryuji ushered you out, before following close behind.