Francis takes a look around the area. He finds him and Hanamura in a wide space enshrouded in fog, with plenty of contraptions around that resemble what he thinks is a studio.
"What is this, kuma?"
Francis takes his guard upon hearing a mysterious voice. A round figure appears within the fog and makes it way closer to Francis.
"What are you?" Francis shouts tensely.
Despite the fog, Francis actually sees the figure ball up.
"What…" While holding the club in front of him with both hands, Francis slowly makes his way closer to the figure.
"A mascot?" Francis thinks to himself as he sees a brightly colored mascot balled up in fear.
"Please don't hurt Kuma! I am just a harmless bear, kuma!" Now that mascot mentions it, it does resemble a bear, albeit just slightly.
"We don't have time for that!" Hanamura shouts panickedly, prompting "Kuma" to run behind Francis.
"You! Have you seen a girl around the area?" Hanamura keeps on shouting.
Francis sees "Kuma" trembling in fear.
"Hanamura, let me try." Hanamura nods his head as he stands at the side.
Francis gets on one knee and tries to comfort Kuma.
"Kuma?" Francis calls out.
"Yes, kuma?"
Upon getting a reaction, Francis keeps going. "Listen, we are looking for a girl who might be stuck in here. This is an urgent matter and the girl might be in danger. Can you help us?" Francis asks politely.
"Since you asked... " Kuma says sheepishly. "There have been some people in the area, kuma. Kuma believes one of them has been trapped in an area not far from here, kuma."
Francis thinks through Kuma's words for a bit. He then looks to Hanamura, who simply shrugs his shoulders.
"Please take us, Kuma. And sorry for shouting just now." Francis says kindly while on one knee.
"Okay…" Before he turns around, Kuma reaches for what seems to be a pocket and brings out two pair of glasses. "You might want this..."
As he stands up, Francis sees that one pair of glasses has a funny aesthetic, with a weird shaped fake nose in front of it and just as weird fake moustache below the nose. Francis hands the normal one to Hanamura and keeps the funny one for himself.
Upon putting it on, the fog around the area seems to have disappeared.
"Let's go." Hanamura says impatiently. Kuma leads them to where he mentioned and Francis and Hanamura follow.
On the way, Kuma gives a brief introduction of what they are seeing.
"Kuma has been here my whole life, and Kuma has no idea what this is, kuma. Kuma does know there are things here called Shadows, and they can be dangerous, kuma."
Francis thinks about what Kuma told him. As he thinks, he finds himself looking at a carbon copy of the Central Shopping District.
"What is this?" Francis asks.
"Kuma doesn't know. Things have been weird around here, kuma." Kuma explains.
"Is Senpai here?" Hanamura asks.
"Kuma doesn't know who this Senpai is." Kuma replies weakly.
"If this is the shipping district,, Konishi liquors shouldn't be too far away from here…" Hanamura explains. He and Francis nod their heads and start making their way down the street.
"Thanks, Kuma-san!" Francis says as he runs.
While they are running, Francis sees a couple of black puddles on the floor.
"What is that?" Francis thinks to himself.
"Watch out!" Kuma shouts out from behind as the two puddles seem to rise up and form something.
"What the…" Francis says to himself in English as two orb-like creatures with big mouths appear out of the black puddles.
Both Francis and Hanamura take their stance and get ready to face the Shadow.
"Yamada…. This is bad…" Hearing Hanamura seemingly breaking apart, Franics sees no choice but to fight alone.
The orbs spit out some form of liquid. As the liquids fly towards Francis, he feels an unknown energy course through him. He is somehow able to easily avoid the liquids and close his distance.
As is reacting to Francis' movements, the two orbs seem to shout in anger. As they do, Francis is able to move himself to a good position, preventing himself from getting surrounded. With an opening, he starts pummeling on one of the orbs.
As one orb falls to the ground, he notices the other flying towards Hanamura, who simply holds his batons forward.
Francis quickly looks for a way to reach him. As he runs, he is confronted with the reality that he will not make it in time. As he looks at the orb winding up for a spit, a familiar energy fills him.
I am Thou, and Thou art I. Summon the power within thyself.
"Izanagi."
As Francis mutters those words, he crushes the card that surfaces in front of him with his free hand. As he does, he feels a familiar power come from within him. A tall well-built man armed with a sword, wearing what seems to be a black trenchcoat, and a helmet with two horns manifests.
The man calls forth a bolt of lightning, which drops upon and vaporizes the liquid the orb shot at Hanamura.
The two orbs now turn to face Francis, with Izanagi standing behind him. As they stare him down, they start roaring like a wild beast.
"Who do you think you are?" Francis hears a voice call out in Japanese.
"Why are you working in Junes? Is it not enough they brought the whole district to its knees?" Many more voices appear, with their weight bearing down on Francis.
"So this is what you have been feeling, huh, Konishi?" Francis says in English. He collects himself and stands against the two orbs.
"Zio!" By Francis' command, Izanagi summons a bolt of lightning. It drops down on one of the orbs, bringing it to the floor. As the other orb spits out liquid, Izanagi blocks it with his blade.
"Would be nice to have a katana now." Francis says humorously.
As if sensing his will, Izanagi rushes forward and slices apart one of the orbs. As the other one tries to get up, Izanagi rushes at it. Seeing it about to spit out more liquid, Francis commands Izanagi to release another bolt of lightning.
As it connects, Francis feels himself getting tired.
"This is bad." Francis says to himself.
"Izanagi, finish it!" Francis promptly shouts, to which Izanagi responds by stabbing the other orb with its blade.
As Izanagi takes his blade out, Francis sits down on his back.
"That…" As Francis speaks, Hanamura and Kuma look at him with worried eyes.
"Was awesome!"
"Did you see that? I was like 'byun' and all like 'bang', and then it was like 'zappp' and I was like 'kaching'!"
Seeing Kuma and Hanamura stare at him dumbfoundedly, Francis tones himself down.
"Right, let's go save Konishi." He says awkwardly.
Hanamura simply walks past Francis. "I didn't understand anything besides Senpai."
Kuma walks up to Francis, "That was impressive, Sensei, I never seen anyone handle Shadows with such grace!"
"Thank you." Francis says politely.
"Nothing you say makes sense, however…" What Kuma said makes Francis realize he's been going on in English.
"Thank you. Let's save Konishi." Francis says with composure before running after Hanamura.
"That's nice, huh?" Hanamura says gravely to Francis as they run.
"Sorry, bad habit." Francis apologizes after hearing Hanamura's tone.
"No, it's fine… I couldn't do anything." Hanamura falls down on his knees as he says that.
"Hanamura!" As Francis gets on one knee to check on Hanamura, chatter starts appearing around them.
"That Konishi girl, how dare she side with Junes after what they did to this area."
"You think it was for the money? Really, it's always like that with girls that age."
"I heard she bagged a boy! The manager's son, no less!"
"I heard he's younger than her by a whole year!"
"A money grabber and a pedophile? Disgusting!"
Francis stares at Hanamura, uncertain what to say. He can tell the latter is being broken up from his expression, be it by the words or by something else.
"You love her, don't you?" As Fracnis speaks, Hanamura looks at him with a sad face. "Then go save her! I will help you!"
"Easy for you to say!" Hanamura shouts back to Francis angrily. "You got your fancy Iza-whatever! What do I have? I am a burden, to you, to Senpai!"
Hanamura bangs his fist on the floor, his voice breaking up as he does.
As Francis remains lost for words, he hears a girl cry out.
"Yo…"
Upon hearing the voice, Hanamura gets up and starts running. Francis swiftly follows behind him.
"Yosuke…" The voice becomes clearer as the duo enters Konishi liquors. The store is a relatively small space, with multiple freezers containing beers lying around, much like a normal beer store. There are also many other things lying around, which Francis thinks resembles alcohol bottles.
"Senpai! Where are you?" Hanamura calls out desperately.
"I always wanted to tell Yosuke…" A voice speaks, which Francis assumes is Konishi's based on Hanamura's sad smile.
"I am here, Senpai…" Hanamura continues to cry out desperately, with hints of kindness and warmth in his voice.
"How much I hated him."
Francis looks to Hanamura with worry.
"I was only being nice because he was the manager's son, and he gets all 'Senpai! Senpai!' like he's a big deal! I know what you see me as, you pervert, nothing but a good looking face! Deep down, you hate me, don't you, like everybody does!"
"I…" Hanamura sounds like he's breaking up.
"What a noisy woman…"
Francis hears a familiar voice. As he turns over to the source, he finds another Hanamura standing there with a wide grin.