Another chapter... Uh, I guess I should say that if you ship Asahi/Nanashi that this fic won't be for you bc... I hate Asahi's crush on Nanashi and it Doesn't Exist in this fic.

Anyway, wanted to finish up the teams being split into 3 smaller teams chapters so. Here's Team Red. Enjoy!

Yumi wasn't sure how to feel about her group or the fact that they had the farthest to go. First two floors had been left to them, and, well… The reason for that kinda unsettled her. Demons, an angel, and a trained assassin… Not exactly the most trustworthy group, in her opinion.

But then again, only Asahi seemed totally put-off by the group. Hiroko and Jonathan at least seemed comfortable with Zelenin… Too bad for Yumi that only one person seemed to feel like she did at least knew the assassin. She was totally in the dark…

Well, she guessed she knew of Akira, but… Not really. She didn't know if everything she'd heard was real and even if it'd be the same from timeline to timeline, after all… And, of course, there was Reiko, but Reiko was so quiet… And she didn't know how she felt about that Isamu guy...

Maybe it'd be best for her to hang back a bit, see what everyone else did… If only for her own sake.

They'd been walking for a while when Yumi noticed something sorta odd. Reiko and Isamu were both hanging back like her, but… It was obviously not because of the group as a whole for them. How she could tell?

Reiko was obviously avoiding getting within a few feet of Akira and refused to even try and look up when she thought he was looking and Isamu was acting similarly with Naoki. Weird… She could guess the Reiko and Akira thing had something to do with Hazama, but… What was up with Isamu and Naoki, she wondered?

She was just about to attempt to ask him when Reiko spoke up. "Y-you know, it's probably not a good idea to stand in the back like this… You should catch up with the rest of the group."

"Huh?" Isamu looked at her with a frown. "I could say the same to you. You've been sticking at the back the entire time."

"Ah, that's because… Uh…" Reiko bit her lip. "Miyamoto-kun… He and Hazama… Um… Don't get along and Hazama is important to me, so… I guess I feel uncomfortable around him."

"That so…?" Isamu sighed. "Well I have my own reasons for not wanting to be closer to the group, either… I've realized I can't rely on Naoki or anyone else anymore. If I hang around him, I'm just gonna use him as a crutch."

"Is that so…?" Reiko looked at her feet. "I'm sorry for assuming anything and telling you that you should move closer, then."

"Whatever… Not like you knew." Isamu shrugged his shoulders. "Guess you have your reasons for not being closer too, huh?"

Reiko gave an awkward nod. "Yes."

Yumi frowned a bit. She hoped this wasn't gonna cause issues as things went on… That would be just about the worst thing that could happen right now.

Yumi had decided to move up a bit in the group, if only because she wanted to make sure there wasn't more issues going on. Because if there were she might be tempted to run for the exit and just wait at the store for everyone else to come back.

That's when she walked right next to Asahi and could feel the tension in the air. She and Toki really didn't seem to get along, huh? It was too bad they weren't trying to avoid each other, in that case…

"You and Master… You're close, aren't you?" Toki was the first to speak, looking directly at Isabeau as they walked along.

"Well, yeah! We're basically family, after all!" Asahi frowned at Toki. "What, do you have a problem with that?"

"Basically family…?" Toki's face twisted in confusion. "If you're basically family, why do you like him like that…?"

Asahi's face twisted in disgust. "What?! No…! You got it all wrong!"

"I do…?" Toki's confusion grew, as was apparent from her tone.

"You totally do! Nanashi is like a brother to me!" Asahi shook her head. "We've known each other for so long, it'd just be weird to feel any other way about him, you know?"

"I… See." Toki looked away, face going red in embarrassment. "I just assumed you…"

"Well, you were wrong!" Asahi shook her head. "I care about him, and that's why I was worried about how much you liked him. That's it!"

"...Sorry, then." Toki looked away, but Yumi could still feel her discomfort and embarrassment from here. "I shouldn't have assumed like that."

"Uh… I-It's okay…!" Asahi put a hand on her shoulder. "Let's just try and move on from here now that you know, okay? Uh…"

Yumi couldn't stand watching this anymore… Too much second hand embarrassment… She just hoped these girls would figure this out without too much trouble.

Yumi was almost shocked to see the helmet on Takeshi's head come off. Something about it had made him think that, well, that it was just fused to his head. She didn't see why that couldn't be the case, after all. Jimenez had a face that was basically permanently half a mask, she was pretty sure.

But there he was, taking it off with a sigh. "That was getting kinda warm! This place is pretty warm, isn't it?"

Jonathan was now staring at Takeshi, blinking at least five times by Yumi's count. "...Ah, yes."

Takeshi looked at Jonathan, tilting his head to the side. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just…" Jonathan thought for a moment. "How do I say this? I didn't expect you and Walter to look so similar."

"Huh, we look similar?" Takeshi scratched his cheek with his free hand. "I don't think I see it."

"Perhaps that's because you're not seeing yourself the same way in the mirror and everyone else would see you?" Jonathan offered. "...Then again, it could just be me who thinks that."

"Just you, huh? That seems pretty possible to me!" Takeshi gave a laugh. "Unless you want to see if anyone else agrees."

"Perhaps… But later." Jonathan shook his head. "For now we should focus on the matter at hand."

"Suit yourself!"

"So, I've heard you left your station without permission to find a boy…?" Zelenin looked at Hiroko with a grimace and Yumi was wishing she wasn't near them right now.

"I did… I felt it was important to find him." Hiroko nodded. "And in the end, it sort of got us one step closer to Aleph, so… I don't see an issue with what I did."

"Is that so? You had a job assigned to you in a kingdom dedicated to the lord… You abandoned that to hunt for a boy…" Zelenin sighed. "And you still believe yourself to be in the right, because you just so happened to stumble upon the messiah?"

"...Yeah, but I don't think the Center agrees…" Hiroko let out a sigh. "I'm in plenty of trouble with them, you know?"

"And?" Zelenin rose an eyebrow.

"And I don't need you scolding me for it too, Miss Angel. I believe my city can punish me enough for what I did, I'm sure." Hiroko gave a tense smile. "Feel free to think what you want of me quietly, but keep it to yourself."

"I see… If you're willing to accept punishment, despite your feelings on the matter… I suppose it won't do harm to let you believe what you wish." Zelenin closed her eyes. "My apologies, then."

"It's… Fine. I just think it might do some good to keep that holy judgement close to your chest while we're doing this. Some of us may not mind as much as others…" Hiroko rubbed the back of her neck. "But that also means there are some who might not react well at all, like…"

Hiroko gestured to the three demons with them and Zelenin made a noise of recognition. "I suppose upsetting them while we're stuck here would not be a good idea… Very well. Thank you, I will consider what you said to me, Hiroko."

"Not a problem."

Yumi kinda wished she hadn't walked into the room with Naoki and Akira when they got to the final door they needed to check… Everyone else had stalled behind, when she'd expected them to all come in, so… She was alone with two demons. Great.

"This chest better have what we need…" Naoki reached down, opening it. "Oh, wait, this is…!"

He pulled out a jacket, eyes wide. Akira furrowed his brow, glancing at Yumi in confusion. "Is that what we need."

Naoki shook his head. "No way. This is just the jacket I was wearing before everything started happening. I thought it was lost forever."

"I see, so you didn't decide to run around shirtless all the time." Akira let out a hum. "You're not as weird as I thought you were."

"Says the guy running around naked."

Akira grimaced, crossing his arms. "The uniform I was wearing was torn to shreds when this happened. Besides, it's not like I need any clothes."

"Good excuse." Naoki stood up, looking the jacket over again before holding it out to him. "Here, wear this. You won't have to walk around like that anymore."

"Are you seriously trying to mock me over my lack of clothes?" Akira narrowed his eyes.

"Hey…" Naoki shrugged. "You swung first."

Something akin to a growl escaped Akira's throat and Yumi had a feeling that wasn't going to mean anything good. "At least I'm consistent in what I wear or don't wear."

"So the necklace and watch make sense when there's nothing else?" Naoki rose an eyebrow.

"I…" Akira frowned. "They weren't destroyed, so I-"

"Alright, that's enough." Yumi stepped forward, right between them despite her better judgement. "If this continues I'm gonna feel like you two need to go through some team building exercises to make sure you don't try to kill each other later. Let's just go back and see what we should do next."

"Fine." Naoki shrugged and started for the door, turning back to look at Akira. "If you wanna try and talk shit about what I wear and don't wear later, go ahead. I'll be waiting."

"Miyamoto…"

"What?"

"Don't."

"...We'll see."

Yumi sighed. This really didn't seem good.