Fate Rewritten by Wordsworthy
Disclaimer: I obviously do not own The Shin Megami Tensei series since obviously Atlas does, along with all other references made over the course of the story. This is, after all, just a fanfiction written for the sole purpose of entertainment and no profit motive whatsoever. So please just enjoy the story and do not sue me for this. If you wish to know more about the series, please support the companies producing them directly and purchase their merchandise if you like.
Chapter 21: Heartfelt Requests
The sound of hurried heels echoed down the hallway in a way reminiscent of rapid gunshots before the large oak doors at the end was promptly shoved, or rather thrown open with much anxious aplomb. What laid beyond was a familiar room, mostly unchanged from how it had been for the past ten years; the white curtains flowing softly in the slight breeze, the quiet hum of the monitors and the lastly, the familiar shock of blue hair lying quietly on the bed with an unperturbed expression. Two figures dressed in white lab coats turned around at the sudden intrusion, one of which was a very familiar blonde as well.
"Yukari…"
"No… this wasn't supposed to happen again…" muttered the new entrant weakly as she slumped to her knees. "Not again…"
Calmer, duller steps sounded from the hallway before a silver-haired man came into view, a grey duffel bag slung over one of his shoulders while a rather effeminate pink one hung inappropriately on his arm. He took one look at the tearing girl and the occupant of the bed and roughly guessed the gist of what was happening.
"Déjà vu ka… bit off more than he could chew again no doubt. Aigis, tell us what's wrong with him before Yukari goes ballistic on us again."
"I do not go ballistic… I'm just expressive, that's all…" protested the brunette in between half-choked sobs.
The blonde android allowed herself the briefest of smiles before sighing in a manner that she could have picked up from only one person.
"He seemed to have been hurt really bad, but we can't really tell."
"Huh?" went Akihiko and Yukari at once, the weight of their confusion similar despite the contrasting way they uttered it, the former in his usual gruff manner while the latter's came out more like a faulty squeak.
"Do let me explain things, Aigis-san. I'll feel redundant here if I'm just lingering around." suggested a mild-mannered voice helpfully.
"Hai, sempai."
The two entrants looked quizzically at the other doctor in the room, finally noticing him. There was something vaguely familiar about the messy mop of hair and the oversized glasses on him.
"You're… Keisuke?" ventured Akihiko unsurely.
"Who?" asked Yukari softly.
"Haha, it seems like I still haven't got much of a presence, do I?" smiled the male doctor awkwardly. "Good to see that you're well too, Sanada-kun."
"Yukari, this is Hiraga Keisuke. He graduated from Gekkoukan along with me and Mitsuru. Last I heard, you were managing one of your family's hospitals down south. Why are you here?" explained the silver-haired boxer of the newly reacquainted acquaintance.
"Mostly because of him." was his frank answer as the doctor gestured back to the blue-haired man. "He made quite a flashy entrance into my A&E via a rather fancy helicopter. As if that wasn't enough, his condition was strange as well."
"What exactly is wrong with him, Hiraga-sempai?" asked Yukari earnestly.
"The question should be; what isn't wrong with him? The paramedics suspected massive blood loss and other grievous injuries from the state of the place they picked him up from, the stuff that would kill any lesser man but yet his vitals were strangely stable during the journey to the hospital. We couldn't find any injury on him either, both internal and external. The only problem was that he wouldn't wake up, hence I referred him to the best neurosurgeon I knew, Aigis-san." informed the lanky doctor of what he knew.
The brunette turned her attention to her blonde friend.
"Aigis?"
"There's nothing physically wrong with him, including his brain. If anything… his situation is more akin to… the way he was as compared to any new injury."
Yukari looked like she had the wind knocked out of her.
"Minato…"
A somewhat heavy bag suddenly landed on her head, eliciting a little cry from the startled brunette.
"Hai hai, don't get all overdramatic and lovelorn on me. It's probably hardly more than a scratch since he's tough, so just wait for him to finish his nap. In any case, how much longer do you expect me to carry your purse-bag for you?"
"Ow… I'm not lovelorn… I'm just… a concerned party, that's all…" muttered the girl as she turned a faint shade of pink, the futility of her dogged denial not lost on her as well.
"In any case, just sit tight. What are a few days, weeks or months between friends?"
"That's not very reassuring you know…"
More running steps could be heard leading up to the room before two more entrants emerged into view, their respective scarlet and pale green hair matted perspiration from their rush to get here.
"How's Minato?"
A rather pathetic-looking male appeared behind them with several large suitcases in tow, each tagged with labels depicting various European cities on them.
"How about 'poor Ryoji' for a change?"
On a tree just outside of a certain exclusive hospital ward, a dark-haired male dressed in a similarly dark uniform lazed stealthily on a particularly sturdy limb, peering into and observing the small commotion happening in the room with marked interest. Upon hearing the assessment done by the two doctors, he flicked open his cell phone and made a call to an associate who was in the know of the incident and had more details for him.
"What?" came the toasty greeting he had come to expect from the cell phone.
"I need details on the Yakushima incident."
"Get it yourself. You have spies everywhere no? I'm busy placating the kids over here about their teacher's supposed minor injury from the bear attack." continued the woman on the other end.
"You were there, so make yourself useful. I did get the ORACLE choppers and spinners over to clear up the mess at a moment's notice after all." prodded the man with a wry smile.
"Fine… You should be getting their field assessment soon I suppose, but I can confirm at least two or more combatants. But get this, they looked like Avatars. I almost had one of them, but he slipped away."
"Avatars? Anything like the D?" the new information was troubling to say the least.
"Probably not… that old man is probably in a class of his own. However, It looks like their abilities are quite varied while their A-forms are pretty messed up. Perhaps they're not naturals either. It would probably be a safe bet to use Arisato's abilities as a rough measure."
"Great… the D just upgraded Arisato ability level to a S plus a few days ago…" groaned the agent.
"Phew… Another continent breaker? The last one was already a doozy…" even as the woman whistled, the awe and apprehension in her voice from both revelations were still very apparent.
The man's keen eyesight honed in on the person on the bed before furrowing his brows a little.
"On another note, what the hell did you use on him? He's still not waking up."
The voice on the other hand rose to hushed scream of sorts.
"What are you implying here mister?! I used a bloody elixir on him okay? You should have some idea how difficult and expensive it is to make that in this day and age."
"Maybe you're just losing your touch." suggested the man matter-of-factly.
"And you're just sore old man Crowley gave me that A plus in Alchemy & Potions that pipped you for the top of the Academy. Not used to finishing second are you? Live with it."
"I still say that was a fluke…"
The very brief indignation in the man's tone died down as he observed the lonely bed being flanked by his worried friends.
"You know… you could have tagged along. You haven't seen them for a while too, no?"
A short silence ensued before a calmer voice spoke out from the cell phone.
"I should, but not right now. At least not until I feel my own tale finally moving forward from where it had been frozen all those years ago… Besides, as things are right now, this is their story, not mine."
"Hmmph… good luck on that then. Fare thee well Satou Shina, Heir to Taliesin and the Celtic Circle."
"Right back at you Kuzonoha Kei, Devil Summoner and Overall Heretic."
After the line was finally cut, both of them muttered to no one in particular the same words in uncanny unison before proceeding to do what they had to do.
"Teacher's Pet."
Meanwhile, in an unusually idyllic setting by a white beach, a small cube of sugar joined many others of its compatriots in the bottom of the teacup while a blue-haired man watched in good humour before finally commenting on it.
"Ever heard of diabetes?"
The short-haired woman looked up from her task and smiled brilliantly at him.
"Oh! It's alright. They're not real anyway."
Minato looked at the untainted innocence and wonder apparent within the woman with some amusement while she took a sip of her now insanely sweetened tea. As she let out a contented sigh, he briefly wondered how she survived with a sweet tooth like that in the real world before the conversation continued.
"Erm… well… now that we're settled down… I really don't know how to begin…"
"How about we start from where are we right now?" suggested Minato with a rather obvious question.
"Oh… erm… I'm not really sure either. I thought that it might have had something to do with me being psychic and all, but… you're psychic too right…? Or perhaps it's just some limbo between life and death?"
"Well, it should be the other, since I'm pretty sure I'm not psychic…" Minato trailed off when he realized he couldn't be sure about that either actually.
"Really? But you're so good at conjuring stuff… and your mind is so powerful… but if you say so…"
The blue-haired man sighed softly.
"That husband of yours hit pretty hard I suppose. Why are you here then?"
"It's like this… the last I remembered of the outside world, my body was undergoing accelerated aging due to due to some kind of information overload on top of … I think my kids had me placed in a EGG… a sort of anti-aging chamber that freezes me in suspended animation."
The blue-haired one seemed to have taken the new information in his stride.
"What kind of information overload could possibly influence your rate of aging?"
"The secrets of life. Raw, unadulterated and perfect knowledge of everything to do with the concept… I didn't think it would lead to this too… I shouldn't have asked for this power in the first place… there was a reason why humans weren't supposed to have this type of knowledge…"
Minato rubbed his chin thoughtfully while Sera wallowed a little in her angst and guilt over many different issues no doubt.
"How did you get this 'secrets of life'? Science couldn't have developed that much while I was away…"
"You're not going to believe me when I tell you this… I got it in a dream. From some strange old man with a long nose called Igor."
"Igor… now that's a name I haven't heard for a while. How is he involved in this?"
"I don't know… I was in a semi-conscious catatonic state after an accident killed my husband and our fellow researchers… then he came to me in a dream offering me anything I wished, so I asked to bring them back. When I woke up, I was suddenly psychic and knew things I shouldn't… it's unbelievable I know…"
"I believe you." stated the man in all confidence.
"Really? No one else believed that. They would rather consider me some kind of freak genius scientist than something like that." said Sera a little ruefully.
"People like to delude themselves and believe what is convenient, that's all there is to it. However, something doesn't sit right with me… there's nothing to link the information to what your husband and friends are doing. What are they doing anyway?"
"Well… it started after I brought them back… it's fascinating really… no one would have thought that all things are essentially made of components smaller than atoms and even electrons, something I called Data… essentially, I deciphered the exact Data of my deceased friends and family to recreate perfect replicas of their bodies and configured them into an amorphous combination of their DNA samples and… erm… my own eggs… and forced grown them to various stages of maturation… I mean age…"
A blue eyebrow was raised at that revelation, although he did not appear too nonplussed overall.
"So that's why you refer to them as your children…"
Sera shuffled uneasily in her chair, the audacity of her actions getting to her a little before she attempted a sad little smile.
"I'd never thought I would be a mother of seven at the ripe old age of twenty-nine too… or that I would be married to one of them…"
"Don't worry, I won't judge you. You had your reasons, and an extraordinary situation to boot."
After a brief nod of gratitude, the conversation continued.
"Things would have been fine if things were to end happily ever after from there, but somehow, someone found out and attacked us. The eight of us were abducted by some paramilitary group who call themselves the Karma Society. It was horrible… they interrogated and tortured us in order subjugate and to force me to surrender my knowledge but somehow, we held out. Then they changed tactics and subjected my kids to their own sick experiments. That's when I realized what they were trying to pull off?"
"Which was?"
"They had come up with some form of Demon Virus, a variant deprived artificially from natural strains of lycanthropy from what I could make out… however, instead of wolf DNA, they spliced and recombined the DNA of various things to create chimeraized versions of the virus. It enters the organism and alters its genetic code like a virus by corrupting the Data that makes them human. The problem was that none of their subjects survived the scrambler process that stabilised and destabilised their test subject's molecular structures intermittently until they learnt how to control the process, which was why they coveted my power of life. However, for better or for worse, they injected that virus into my children as an interim measure… I can't even begin to describe how I felt when they went crazy and changed into monsters…"
Monsters… thought Minato silently. Am I the same?
"As a last resort, I extended my psychic powers over my kids and protected their minds as best I could from their crazed instincts. I guarded their personalities and free will by keeping them dormant while they proceeded to download their super soldier type military programs into their bodies. However, the strain of keeping my shield around their minds was too much for my already degenerated body and their personalities awoke. Fortunately, Serph had always been an incredible learner and had already completed their entire retinue of programs. After he broke everyone out, there was no way our abductors could stand up to him and the others, especially when they're as upset as they were. And so… they killed everyone in the holding facility at the time and destroyed everything within a three mile radius just to cover our tracks completely."
"I see…"
"We spent the next few years in hiding researching ways to remedy our conditions, but even with the knowledge I had the progress was slow since we weren't dealing with life per se but the ability to reject alterations to them. The breakthrough came in another dream though, when Igor informed me of this entity called Shadows… it got us thinking in different directions and I was close to coming up with something I called Soma, a synthesized serum that could have stabilized and maintain our physical forms and cure both malaises… however, I collapsed before I could finish the last few stages of the process."
Igor… who or what are you really…whose side are you on…
"Couldn't they have finished the experiment themselves? They are scientists and researchers after all?" asked Minato quizzically.
"They can't. I was synthesizing the Shadows natural ability to heal and congeal on the molecular levels by using my psychic powers to manipulate Data by hand, erm… well not quite but you get the point. Even though Angel and Cielo have inherited parts of my powers, they aren't strong enough to finish the job. They must have been looking for live specimens to finish the process via an alternate process…"
"So there were Shadows in Yakushima…"
"Probably… what I'm worried about is that they contacted the Karma Society after I was collapsed since they had the EGG facilities and other relevant technologies on hand in their desperation to keep me alive. They're no doubt using my physical body as both hostage and collateral in their deal. This is why they have to be stopped!"
"Why is that? Shouldn't a cure for you and your family be good news?"
The dark-haired woman shook her head sadly.
"While the completion of Soma could cure us, that very cure could also doom the world. Within Soma lies a good part of my knowledge of life, and with it, the Karma society would be able to perfect their demon virus. Their demon virus has two primary drawbacks, the first being that no ordinary human could survive the lethal scrambler process while the second is that it has to be injected in controlled settings because the virus itself dies upon exposure to nitrogen. Soma would be able to correct both faults, potentially making their demon virus a global airborne pandemic and cause the world to spiral downwards into one Chaos and demons."
"They want to create Hell on Earth… just great… another group of idiots who wants to destroy the world…" sighed the man in disappointment.
"So please… stop my family from doing that which should not be done! They may have forsaken the world for my sake, but I don't want this! I don't want the world to suffer on my, our accounts… so please… I know it's a lot to ask…"
"Even if it means having to go against your very family?" asked Minato in all seriousness.
The question caught Sera cold as she went silent for a while, her breaths becoming noticeably more ragged.
"Yes… it was a mistake to mess with life the way I did after all… the dead should not linger among the living… please do what you can Mr Minato… my own death shall be my restitution to them when the time comes…"
The blue-haired man sighed before walking over to dab at the tears flowing from the eyes of the crying woman with a handkerchief that wasn't there before.
"I never could turn down a girl when she cries…"
"You mean…"
"I'm here to keep the world going, so it just happens to fall on my jurisdiction I suppose. Must be your lucky day." commented Minato coolly,
"Thank you! I'll try to send you back right now…"
"Ah, that won't be necessary. I know where's the door."
Quite literally, a door appeared into awareness a little distant off. It looked like just a normal panel of wood and doorframe, but nothing really was like what it seemed in this dreamscape.
"Ah… you really are good at this. Let me walk you to the door then. How did you know how things work here?"
"You just have to believe strongly enough that there's no difference between this place and the real world. I've spent ten years in a place similar to this after all."
"That's still easier said than done…"
The door opened and revealed a brilliant screen of white light.
"I'm just rather good at deluding myself as well. This is goodbye then."
"Goodbye, and thank you once again."
Bluish grey eyes opened and stared at an ornate wooden ceiling of a darkened room. He sighed softly before trying to sit up, tensing slightly in expectation of the pain from the wounds that he had taken. However, he didn't get too far along before he felt his hand being caught in the hold of something, or rather someone. Trailing his eyes along the length of his arm, he noticed that that someone turned out to be a sleeping brunette, her hair tickling his hand slightly as she moved it to get into a more comfortable position while hints of moisture can be felt in the cooled air. Minato looked at the sleeping girl for a moment before he lowered his head back on the pillow, wondering about things like how she could have slept on the chair like that, how long it would take for her to realise he's already up and why she had been crying… but most of all, why was he watching her in the way that he was watching her. He raised his free hand and brushed lightly at the hair shadowing her face before he noticed why he could still feel the moisture from her tears; she was still crying softly in her sleep. Well, she was, before she stirred from the odd sensation from the movement right in front of her face.
"Sorry, did I wake you?"
The brunette looked up sleepily before she straightened immediately, instinctively bring her hands away from the male's hand and rubbed the stubborn wetness lingering at her eyes before dabbing at the sides of her mouth just in case. Feeling the heat rising to her cheeks as she ran out of things to do, she turned her head away from the man to hide her face from his view.
"How long have you been up?"
Minato smiled gently at the stubborn girl. Strong-willed and cute in her own way, but hates it when you tell her that.
"And how long have you been crying?"
"What? I can't cry? I can cry if I want to." snapped the woman without looking back.
The man sighed gently before sitting up, letting out a soft groan as he did.
"What are you doing? You're supposed to stay on your bed." admonished the brunette harshly, this despite her quick turnaround and rush to get back to his side.
"I'm fine. I was expecting it to hurt like hell, but the lack of pain kind of made me startled instead."
"You…" went the girl before she tried to pull away, only to find a hand holding on to her hand still.
"Yukari… Did I make you cry a lot?"
The sudden contact left the girl at a loss for words amidst further blood flow upwards while she nodded dumbly at the silent confession.
"You know, I'm allowed to come back for a reason… there will be more situations where my life might be on the line again. You understand don't you? I might be around one day and gone the next." continued the Minato solemnly.
"Mou… don't say that…" tried Yukari weakly, her usual stubborn front suddenly melting away without notice.
"Tell you what… whenever I come back from something like this, you'll be the first person I'll look for. After all, in addition to your blurry-eyed drooling look, your look of relief and delight is just too cute to pass up as well."
"I'm not cute! And I don't drool! You're horrible…" retorted the girl softly but obstinately still.
Outside of the ward, a red-haired woman sat silently on some spare benches just outside of the door, sipping at the slightly cooled coffee within the paper cup in her hands while another cup lay beside her in an empty seat.
"So… this makes things much easier. He probably still hadn't realised it himself…"
While she had a slightly enigmatic smile on her face, the fact was that she felt quite the opposite really.
"I'll try Fuuka's way for just a little bit… I owe it to myself that much I think…" muttered the woman as she got up and made her way out, tossing her now empty absently into the litter bin along the way.
As the doors at the end of the hallway swung close of their own accord, the lonely cup of coffee that had been so carelessly forgotten sat quietly on the bench still. That is, until a black gloved hand picked it up. Soon after, it rejoined its partner blissfully in the litter bin while the hallway regained its emptiness, save for a few pieces of wayward leaves that might have came in from the large window that was left slightly ajar.
The next day, almost all the members of S.E.E.S. had gathered in the ward which they had in reality grown quite tired of seeing. However, what made the place much more bearable was that their friend wasn't just lying there this time but sitting up and talking to them instead.
"What's with Ken?" asked Minato amusedly, curious as to why the college student had fallen unto the couch not long after coming in and confirming the blue-haired man's general well being.
"Oh that… he stayed up several nights to can out three reports. He probably got his lifespan shortened by half." informed Akihiko helpfully.
"Looks like he needs the bed more than I do." commented the blue-haired one stoically, but still getting some laughs out from his gracious audience.
"Aw… I was going to say that!"
There was more laughter, this time at Ryoji's expense more than anything.
Mitsuru and Fuuka chose this time to come up alongside the bed before bowing with grave expressions, causing a little confusion among those present.
"We're sorry… this is all…"
A raised hand halted their overly sombre and formal attempt at apology.
"If you're going to say this is all your fault, please save it. I've had heard that line quite enough for a while."
"Huh? What's going on?" asked Junpei, as suitably confused as any other.
"But you got hurt because you got caught up in the attack on our research facility in Yakushima… besides, the research that was carried out there was on…" began Mitsuru before she got cut off again.
"I said enough!" the slightly harsher tone was not quite what they would have expected from the man, although for the two guilty-feeling parties, they felt that he was quite justified at being upset at them.
"Mitsuru had nothing to do with it." added Fuuka hurriedly. "The Eclipse Project was entirely my idea and I was in charge of things. We're just trying to harness the healing potential of S-…"
"Stop!" reiterated Minato more forcefully this time. At the slight grimace on the two women's face, he sighed deeply before continuing.
"Do you two really think I've become that much of an ogre? I already have a good idea on what's happening, probably more so than you do, so there's no need to explain things here, especially that S word… I know that your research will no doubt offer many people new medical options and help many people when it's completed, and that the decision was probably even more difficult one for you two, considering what we have been through. If anything, I'm more upset at the people who attacked the island and the people behind them."
"Will someone please explain what's happening? We're very lost here." complained Junpei while the others nodded in agreement.
"Well, we thought we knew what was happening, but now we're a little lost now too." said Fuuka hesitantly while she scratched her head in relief and confusion.
"How did you know all this?" asked Mitsuru curiously, herself feeling appreciative of the man's thoughtfulness but puzzled at how informed he was.
Minato looked out of the window nearby in time to see a dark-feathered sparrow hopping about merrily on the low ramparts of the small balcony.
"A little bird told me."
The members of S.E.E.S. finally left their friend in the room to rest up a little, having satisfied their urge to check up on his condition and the chance to get together again. While the friends dispersed by the front of the hospital and parted ways for their own respective workplaces and school, the blonde android held back the two business women for a brief moment aside.
"What is it Aigis? Is it something to do with Minato's condition?" asked Mitsuru in marked concern.
"No… well yes… but not exactly." Hummed and hawed the android in a manner that was comically mechanical but yet oh so human.
"Well, what is it then?" asked Fuuka in amusement.
"I have a request actually. Could you outfit me with a new Evoker?"
"What?!" went both women as the android winced slightly.
"Aigis, have you forgotten about the last time you used it? We almost lost you when your multiple persona ability shorted you out…" argued the green haired secretary with her rare good sense.
"I know… but I just have this feeling that Minato is going to go away soon, and I want to follow him this time. It may not be much, but I need more power just to keep up with him, let alone be able to protect him…"
"… I understand…"
"Mitsuru!" cried Fuuka, her good sense ringing alarm bells all the way to the fire station.
"Fuuka, it's much more painful to want to do something but can't… However Aigis, you have to promise me not to use it unless it is completely, absolutely and utterly necessary, okay?"
"Right."
The blue-haired man waited for a while after his friends had left before getting out of bed and stretching his limbs. Turning his attention to the window, he made his way there and opened it up, looking directly at the tree outside.
"If you want to find out something, you should just ask directly already."
The leaves on the tree rustled from the slight breeze before part of the seemingly empty space on the tree melted, revealing the agent in black on the branch. An illusion.
"Impressive. When did you notice?"
"Since last night."
"I'll cut to the chase then. What happened?"
"The enemy was strong. That's all there is to say about it."
"What do you need then?" asked the agent, getting straight to the point.
"I need information on a man called Serph Sheffield and an organisation called Karma Society."
The man on the tree gave him a questioning look.
"I take it that they're the ones responsible for the attack."
"You don't have to trouble yourselves with it. I'll handle things my way."
"If you say so. One less thing to bother with for us then."
Minato turned around to go back to his bed, but paused as though in an afterthought.
"One more thing."
"What is it?"
Returning his gaze to the agent, he spoke out with a tone of resignation and distaste.
"Help me contact your boss. I could do with some training."
"It's going to be Hell, and quite literally so." warned the agent with a reflexive grimace.
"Bring it on."
Author's notes:
Here's the exposition for the DDS arc, or at least part of it from Sera's POV. I've tried to blend in the elements from the series as best I could, so there you go. Finding time to write has become rather difficult now that I'm working, so do hang tight until the updates come along.
Having said that, it's a pretty direct chapter, so I won't elaborate much here. Do let me know if you have any comments or queries via the reviews. They do make writing chapters so much easier and fulfilling.
That's all for now.
Later.
Omake 18: Looking good
The brunette got off her bus with an unnecessary skip and a hop before she noticed the curious looks directed at her. Turning a faint shade of pink again, she lowered her head and shuffled on towards her work place, trying her best to avoid the knowing looks of the other pedestrians on the street. She sighed in relief as she soon reached the building that housed the Kyudo Association. She was about to enter before she caught herself.
"I'll never hear the end of it if…"
Taking out a compact from her purse, she checked her own appearance as a precaution and to her horror of horrors, she saw that her cheeks were getting redder the more she looked.
"I need to cool down…"
The brunette pushed through the glass doors and immediately made for the nearest ladies, taking great care not to appear too conspicuous. Once in the safety of the ladies, she turned on the tap and splashed the cool water on her burning cheeks. After a few rounds of that, she was finally satisfied with her healthy colour and reapplied a lighter cover of makeup, forgoing the blusher completely this time. Satisfied that she looked normal, she finally made her way out of the ladies.
"Oh no…"
"Yukari-san!" exclaimed the large group of ladies, from the varying departments and ages this time round.
"W-What are you girls doing out here?" asked the brunette tentatively as she tried to back her way back into the ladies, only to find herself already surrounded by various colleagues.
"Ara… we received messages from our helpful friends nearby and from the front desk about a particularly adorable Yukari-san skipping to work today, sneaking around, behaving furtively at the lobby and spending almost an hour in the ladies. You know, the classic symptoms of…"
"A maiden in love!" exclaimed the group in an embarrassing chorus, causing the blood to rise in the said maiden, incidentally making her look all the more radiant and stunning.
"Look, look!! She's turning red again!!"
"Uwa!! Yukari-san is so cute!! Kawaii!!"
"Could she be turning red because of pheromones?? Has Yukari-san finally become an adult??"
"Ne ne, tell us what happened!! Yukari-san!!"
"Yes yes!! Sordid details too please!!"
"This can't be happening!!" said the poor girl as she drowned in all the sisterly and motherly attention that she so desperately tried to avoid. In fact, she felt like some cornered small animal despite the stars and hearts in their eyes.
"Why me!!"