I do not own Senran Kagura or the Persona series. This story was done with permission and the blessings of UknownHero and JGResidentEvil.
Me: (Stares at a 40+ chapter, smiling) I got this. I've totally got this.
Waking up with a headache was something that Akira Kurusu was used to. Not to say that he always did, but it had happened enough that he was able to ignore it somewhat easily. Waking up on a cold floor was somewhat unusual, but he liked to think that he could sleep anywhere. So nothing really strange about that. Waking up in a strange room with two separate hallways, a large open kitchen, an enormous TV on one side of the room with massive couches in front of it was...admittedly different. Once again, however, he was able to accept it, since it was rather normal compared to some of the places he had seen in the Metaverse. Homey, even.
The dome glass ceiling that showed a large number of stars flowing by was a nice touch, he had to admit. He'd almost buy that he was in space again.
"Funny thing, considering what you've seen before, that this is what's considered almost normal in your eyes."
With a start, Akira jerked his head about the room searching for who spoke. It didn't take long, but it did cause him to pause for longer than he felt comfortable admitting. There was the speaker, a man in the kitchen. A man that most assuredly hadn't been there before. A man, clad in a black and emerald bartender uniform, was polishing glasses and setting them on the countertop. Raising what looked to be the last one to the light, the man gazed at it. The domino mask he wore fit like a second skin, down to the furrow of his brow. And then with a quick nod and hum of approval the glass joined its brothers on display. His task performed, the sharply-dressed man turned towards his guest while running a hand through his short hair.
"Though between you and me, I rather like what I was able to do with the place. Wish I was a bit more creative with things if I'm being honest. The whole 'space' thing is overdone, I'm aware, but I couldn't really find a theme that fully spoke to me. So tried-and-true it was. Also, side note, while mauve isn't a bad color per se it just didn't go well with the couches, and I like those couches. Not changing those for anything. Actually, thinking about it not sure mauve goes with anything when it comes to interior design."
"I...see..." Akira murmured unsurely. The stranger was already getting into his head, and didn't appear to mind him knowing it. He didn't like it, but the term "turnabout is fair play" rang bitter in his mind. Morgana would tease him to-
Frantically, he cast his gaze around the room, glancing frantically for the 'not-cat' that had become one of his closest friends, not seeing him anywhere. He knew that Morgana had been with him, complaining to him about how there wasn't enough room in his bag to really stretch his legs out. Now, however, he didn't even know where he was let alone his friend. Thinking on it, this person in front of him must have brought the two ex-thieves here, so it was possible that he may have done more as well. Seeing his panicked searching, the other man raised his hand and motioned for him to calm down.
"Hey hey, relax, buddy. If you're looking for Mona, he's down that hall." he motioned, pointing down the hallway behind Akira. "In fact I decided to be extra nice and bring your friends, who are also down there. They're just sleeping right now," he quickly explained at the incredulous look Akira gave him. "Had to do it like that. It's like being brought on a road trip but you're told 'there's going to be no stops for breaks'. Or maybe light-speed travel, like how they put the people to sleep before going on a trip literal lifetimes away, only through dimensions. It's a boring and maddening experience. And trust me, you do not want to know what interdimensional travel can do to the mind, especially when you're not expecting it. Also, inter-dimensional travel, do you want to deal with galactic knowledge being forced at once about the boundaries of space and time being shoved into your mind through your nose? I don't. And I'm pretty sure Ryuji's head would go 'pop'. Or anybody's."
"That...is not entirely inaccurate, I got to say."
"Right? Anyways, don't worry about them. Or about the others down that hall." the man said with a nod the remaining passage. "They're all going to wake up soon, and then you all can introduce yourselves, then I'll introduce who I am, and then I can get to explaining why you're all here. Savvy?"
"Um-"
"Very good!" the man declared with a firm clap. "In the meantime, drink? I can make most anything, and honestly, much as I like to I'm not really in a cooking mood right now."
Considering how lost and confused he was right now, a drink sounded really good to Akira. Maybe a few.
Just because she was trained to sleep everywhere did not mean that Asuka enjoyed doing so. Especially when she knew for a fact she had slept in her futon last night. In her room. Which this was not.
Where was she, anyways?
With a groan, the young shinobi sat up on the bed she'd been sleeping on, looking around her surroundings and trying to remember how she got here. Wherever "here" was. And in her uniform? Ooh, that wasn't good! She'd have wrinkles in it now and Ikaruga-chan would scold her! A sloppily-dressed shinobi, who'd ever heard of such a thing?!
...Wait, hadn't she been training with the girls before this? And everyone had been transformed as well. So why was she here in her uniform alone instead of with her friends? With a gasp, Asuka shot from the bed to the door, throwing it open and running-!
*Fwomf!*
...right into Katsu-nee's breasts, whose hand had been raised to open the door. If she didn't know any better, Asuka would have blamed her perverted Jii-chan for this. Eh, actually, she'd blame him anyways, it'd make her feel better at least. And now Katsu-nee was squeezing her head deeper into her boobs and shouting along the lines of "I knew you would change your mind!" or something like that, all the while Ikaruga-chan was scolding Katsu-nee with a blush on her face. Meanwhile, Hibari-chan was watching the interaction with curiosity from behind Yagyu-chan, who true to form watched it all impassively.
This was her team, the one Asuka led with pride and happiness.
No matter how much she got exasperated with Katsu-nee's constant "skinship bonding". Okay, getting harder to breathe now. Thankfully, Ikaruga-chan managed to convince Asuka's captor to let her hostage go. With a gasp, the young leader took a minute to compose herself.
"I'm glad to see you all! You have no idea how worried I was! So is everybody okay?" she asked, looking over each member of her team. Like her, they were all in their school uniforms instead of their shinobi outfits, like she had known they had all been wearing. Katsuragi nodded, a grin on her face.
"Yep yep! All present, accounted for, and looking just as perky as ever! Good to see you're okay Asuka, you and your beautiful rack!" A sigh rolled from Asuka and Ikaruga, though both had tired smiles on their faces. Frustrating as she could be at times, the blonde truly did care for her friends. Well, her friends and their bodies, but it was the thought that counted!
Yagyu nodded, her stoic countenance softening only a smidge as she looked over at Hibari. "Hibari-chan was worried for a bit about everybody, but after I made sure she was okay, I comforted her about you all as well." That...well, that was about what Asuka expected out of Yagyu, if she was being honest. While she wasn't nearly as cold as before and had begun warming up to her friends, Hibari still came first for the one-eyed white-haired shinobi. Not to say it was a bad thing, since all of the Hanzo girls were fond of Hibari- she was like a cute stuffed animal, or a mascot for the team- but Yagyu was always more dedicated to the pink-haired girl's health, both physical and mental.
Ikaruga shook her head, her black locks swinging slightly, before looking Asuka in the eyes. "Everybody is safe and healthy, myself included. No injuries were inflicted, and our belongings are secure as well." With a blink, Asuka instinctively checked for her shinobi scroll, feeling it on her person. She blushed lightly while mentally scolding herself for not taking her friend's word for it. Ikaruga giggled, covering her mouth slightly and causing Asuka's blush to darken a shade. "But I must confess, I am relieved to see that you are okay as well Asuka-san."
Asuka allowed herself a small giggle before refocusing on the situation at hand. "So, does anybody have any idea what happened? Did Kiriya-sensei put us here?" She paused for a second. "Wherever 'here' is." She sighed when a collection of shrugs was her answer. She figured that was the case, yeah, but she'd still had hope. After all, if he did put them here then it was probably a pop quiz or impromptu test, just minus the smokebombs and the sudden shouting.
...wait, was there a difference between a pop quiz and impromptu test? She thought there might be, but... Ooh, now that was going to bug her all day!
*Skrrzzt!*
The sudden sound of static caught their ears, drawing their attention to a speaker that was...about a foot or two above their heads, in plain sight next to the door. How did Asuka not notice that? Wait, how didn't ANY of them notice that? Maybe extra training was called for, she guessed.
"Yeah, hey, hi to the Hanzo Academy shinobi girls." A voice spoke from the speakers, immediately putting them all on guard. Their identities were not publicly known, only the code names they were given upon attending. So how could this mysterious-? "Right, sorry, let me get this out of the way. Um, you all kinda are already known to me, all of you, and while I'd like to give you more time to flail about and try and figure out your situation without any clues, the rest of us are kinda waiting for you in the main room. So, uh, if you kindly? You got questions, these guys have got questions, I've got answers that I may or may not give because do I need a reason at this time? Joking, joking. But yeah, we're all waiting. And sooner you get here, sooner we can get started and- Ryuji I swear if you touch that-!" *Skreeee!*
The silence that followed was a mixture of emotions for the girls. Shock, confusion, anxiety. But perhaps trepidation rose above them all. They had answers, yes, they supposed. From the way the speaker worded it, he either knew who or was the one who brought the shinobi to this place. There were others, but was polite enough to wait and explain it all to them at once. Or maybe it was more efficient? Perhaps both. But they also made it clear that he would be choosing which answers to give them, if any at all, and clearly believed that he fully had that right. Normally that'd fall in line with arrogance, and all of the Hanzo girls had overcome opponents who'd displayed such beliefs. But the way that the message was delivered, so flippantly, so casually?
This person wasn't bragging about their stance. They weren't showboating or threatening, it was a simple fact.
'And I suppose,' Asuka thought to herself, unknowingly mirroring the thoughts of her friends. 'That's what makes them really dangerous.'
"To be fair, Ryuji kind of deserved that." Yagyu heard a woman's voice say as they opened the door. "Mona, though, I don't get."
"Ryuji didn't listen, and Mona triggered me." A second voice, this one male, responded. Yagyu could almost picture the speaker's matter-of-fact expression on his face from the tone.
"What do you mean Mona-chan 'triggered you'?" a different woman questioned. This one sounded more refined, like Ikaruga-san
"Why, did you want to trigger me too? Suppose I could go for a triple if so, something tells me that I'll need the practice sometime in the future."
"That seems rather rude."
"Truth often is harsh, missy. You and everybody else here oughta know that, you lived it." the voice concluded firmly.
"To be certain," another male's voice piped up, smooth and polite. "He does indeed speak the truth, for each member of our team. Ignoring that they were of different magnitudes, of course."
Yagyu gave a blink, a bit of wariness entering her mind and causing her to tense her body for confrontation even as she continued to walk towards the source of the voices.
"Miyabi-chan! Yumi-chan!" Asuka exclaimed as she rushed up to the two older girls.
"You're here too?" Miyabi got out. "And who are all these people?"
"We're wondering that too." A dark-haired boy with glasse admitted.
Suddenly, several more girls charged into the room. However, they quickly noticed that they weren't wearing a uniform like Asuka's group.
"Holy sh-"
*Smack!*
And with that, Homura - leader of the Crimson Squad - punched Ryuji out before turning her attention to the other people in the room.
"ALRIGHT, WHO WANTS SOME!?" the wild girl screamed out, ready to fight…only to be met with scared and confused faces. "...Are we late for something?"
"Ah, I was about to make an announcement." The masked man got out. "Glad to see you're awake, Crimson Squad."
"H-Hey! How do you-"
"Homura-chan!" Asuka called out as she rushed up and hugged the girl. "Thank God you're here!"
"A-Ah! L-Let go of me!" Homura blushed as she didn't make much of an attempt to free herself from the hug.
"Urgh..." Meanwhile, Ryuji groaned in pain while Morgana and Akira rushed to make sure nothing was broken.
"Why is your guys' group here, but mine and Yumi's aren't?" Miyabi wondered out loud.
"I would feel better if my team was here too, honestly." Yumi admitted.
The man in the mask shrugged. "Well, look at how many people there are here already. Honestly, it was a lot of trouble even getting you twelve here on top of all of the other group. And you two are the more important of your groups, at least in this instance."
Akira would love to consider himself a gentleman, but his teenage hormones were doing their damn best to get him to just…appreciate the many girls in front of him, especially the two girls hugging - their, uh, assets rubbing against each other and-
"Our eyes are up here." The prim and proper ravenette spoke up, snapping the glasses-wearing boy out of his thoughts. And apparently a few of the others by the looks of it. Even Ann.
"They can keep looking." the busty blonde however stated, causing an even longer sigh to come out.
"Well, uh…I guess we should introduce ourselves." Asuka suggested.
The ex-leader nodded as he stepped forward. "Akira Kurusu."
"Name's Ryuji."
"I'm Ann."
"Yusuke Kitagawa."
"I am Makoto Niijima."
"Futaba Sakura. Remember it well, mwhehe…"
"Haru Okumura."
"Sojiro Sakura. I'm Futaba's father."
"Sae Niijima. Defense attorney."
"And I am Morgana." The cartoon cat concluded. "And before you - Hey, put me-!"
"Aw~! She's so cute!" Hibari said as she picked up and hugged the little kitty. "Don't worry, Hibari will take care of you~!"
"I-I am male! And I am - Ohohoho~ That's the spot…right there! Meow~!"
"His fur is so soft…" Asuka got out as she petted the cat as well.
"D-Don't hog him all to yourself." the grey-haired girl requested with a blush on her face. "I…I wish to pet him as well."
"Me too! Come on, you have to share!" Mirai said as the four began grooming the black cat.
The Thieves couldn't help but sweatdrop. Well, at the very least they weren't freaking out.
The masked man cleared his throat awkwardly. "As...well, entertaining as it is watching you strangle the poor guy, we're kind of here for introductions. Not 'the death of a mascot'." With a blush of embarrassment, the four let Morgana go before the brunette started things up.
"I'm Asuka. That's Katsu-nee, Ikaruga-chan, Hibari-chan and Yagyu-chan. We all go to Hanzō National." Asuka said as her friends waved at the others.
"Like…the warship?" Ryuji guessed.
"I think you're referring to the battleship Musashi." Ikagura corrected. "And no."
"Hrn…" Katsuragi hummed out as she studied the newcomers in front of them. "Are they worth it…? Ah, of course they are. Especially that foreign girl. She probably feels soft." She thought as a predatory look appeared on her face.
"The name's Homura." Homura spoke up before turning to her squad. "And these are my friends. Go ahead, guys."
"My name is Haruka." One of the bustier girls of Homura's team introduced herself. However, the Thieves couldn't help but shiver at the smirk she had on her face.
"I am Yomi. Pleasure to meet you all." the girl in the green tracksuit introduced herself, though her gaze seemed to be directed at Haru, which greatly confused the girl.
"Hikage." the green haired girl simply said.
"How can someone look so much like a snake…?" Akira couldn't help but think. But then again, Iwai reminded him of a gecko.
"And I'm Mirai." The small girl proudly concluded.
"Um...why is there a sassy young child with you?" Ryuji had to ask.
"Wha...I'm just as old as all of you!" Mirai called out, her visible eye twitching before letting out a huff.
"Well, it seems to be my turn." Yumi quickly got out. "I am Yumi. I am from Gessen."
"And I'm Miyabi. Hi." The white haired girl said.
While the introductions were rather friendly all things considered, they couldn't help but get the feeling that the other group was holding something back. Maybe it was paranoia or it was simply a knee-jerk reaction but something about this was-
"Well, as much as I loved to see the Phantom Thieves of Hearts and shinobi skirt around the fact that they are, in fact, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts and shinobi, I am a rather impatient individual and would love to – shall we say – get this show on the road."
"…Phantom Thieves?" Miyabi repeated with a raised eyebrow before her gaze drifted over to the other group.
"S-Shinobi…?" Futaba whispered out in confusion…and excitement?
"There's no point in such secrecy here, I assure you. Besides, considering what you're about to experience, there is little that you can hide." The mysterious man stated.
"Um…I have a question…" Homura began as she raised her hand. "…What the hell are the Phantom Thieves of Hearts and should we care?"
"Homura-chan, that's rude!" Asuka got out with a frown. "But…I want to know too…"
"Uh…we're just normal guys. At least nowadays…" Ryuji answered.
"And before?" Yumi urged as she narrowed her eyes.
The Thieves looked at their Leader before he let out a sigh. "…Rebels." He began. "People with the will and power to steal away the distorted desires of powerful, corrupt adults and make them confess to the crimes they had no intention of answering to. At least, we used to."
"Why?"
"Because the world doesn't need us any longer." Morgana answered. "We've done all we can, now it's up to the world to change."
"That, and the fact that we shot the problem in the face." Akira mentally added.
"Now it's your turn." Morgana got out as he crossed his arms. "Are you really ninjas?"
The girls looked at each other before deciding that there was no point. "Well...yes. We are." Yagyu answered with a nod.
"...Really?" Ryuji raised one eyebrow at them.
"Yes. Is it that hard to understand?" Hikage asked.
"Er...well...it's just…" Ryuji mumbled out. "Kinda...um…"
"There are quite a number of girls." Yusuke spoke up.
"Is that a problem?" Yomi questioned.
"No, just...abnormal to me."
"You know, you're all taking this better than I thought." Katsuragi admitted.
"Well, it certainly isn't the weirdest thing to happen to us…" Akira muttered out. "Actually, this entire situation kinda feels familiar…"
"Ah, yes. You don't remember the movie theatre, don't you?" the masked man remembered.
"You!" Homura called out as everyone went into defensive stances. "We want answers, dammit!"
"And I shall give you them."
"Why did you take us here? Who are you?" Sae questioned, glaring at the man.
"Well, I am a…well, you could call me a philosopher as you may understand." The mysterious man said. "I like to learn more about changes in history, where certain people meet in different times and places, make different choices."
"…Parallel universes." Makoto realised.
"Is that what you call them? Well, no matter. What I'm trying to say is that I am fascinated by how things can change. How the world reacts when one small thread is out of place…or if two people meet when they never met at all."
"So why are we here?" Haru asked with a frown.
"Put simply, I wish for several of these people to see themselves. To see from an outsider's perspective of the year the Phantom Thieves were active."
The Thieves' eyes widened as they looked at each other in surprise. Akira couldn't help but grimace a little as well.
It may have been the best year of his life but it wasn't all sunshine and thievery.
"You didn't answer who you are." Sae pointed out.
"Well, if you must refer to me by a name...Barkeep. That sounds appropriate, don't you think?" The mysterious man said as he straightened his clothes a little. "I shall provide you any drinks and food whenever requested throughout your viewing, though this is mainly in case you need something to do. Satisfying your hunger and thirst is more for your mind than your body."
"...I want the biggest bowl of pork ramen you have." Ryuji and Katsuragi instantly ordered. The mysterious man nodded and instantly brought out two bowls of hot, steaming ramen.
"Even in a situation like this, your mind is on food." Morgana sighed out as he shook his head.
"They seem made for each other." Haruka joked as the two blonds slurped up the ramen.
"So...are we all from different dimensions?" Futaba asked. "Different times? Different planets? And are we here physically, or did you transfer our minds here? Are you related to Lavenza?" She then frowned as her eyes widened. "Are you a god or something?"
"Those questions will be answered in due time." Barkeep replied. "But who I am is unimportant. To all of you, I am simply an observer and I shall leave it at that."
"I don't know why we're here though." Sojiro spoke up as he crossed arms. "Me and Sae weren't exactly involved until towards the end of the year."
"But you were integral parts of the story, and for that you are involved." The masked man stated. "And after all, it wouldn't hurt to have an adult's perspective of events now would it?"
Akira couldn't help but wonder why this man also didn't bring all his other friends. Kawakami, Iwai, Shinya, Yoshida… It suddenly hit him that he was sort of...excited to see what his other confidants would react to his time in Tokyo.
Probably mostly in horror, now that he thought about it.
"So I'm assuming that giant TV will show us this alternate dimension or whatever." Miyabi assumed.
"Well, it used to be some massive book, coming in about 1,000,000 plus words, however reading aloud would be bothersome so it has been turned into a movie."
"How long is it?" Akira asked.
"70 hours, bare minimum."
Instantly, the sounds of complaints resounded around the area.
"We're going to be here for three days!?" Mirai exclaimed.
"Oh right, forgot that that is a long time to you. You can take breaks and such if you wish and you will return back like nothing ever happened. I actually encourage taking breaks even. Use that time to get to know each other. There's only so much one story can tell."
While that did alleviate some stress, they were still here against their will. It actually annoyed Akira the most. To him this place was just a fancy, well-stocked prison cell with a god or whatever as their warden.
Gee, why did that sound so familiar?
"Ugh, I can't believe we've been dragged here to peer review a movie." Homura groaned out.
"That has us in it." Yagyu added. "We best get this over with, or we'll be stuck here longer than necessary."
"Well…things could be much worse." Haru spoke up. "We have food, drinks and all we have to do is just watch a 3-day movie and we can bond during our downtime."
"Yeah. At the very least we can take advantage of the food here." Ann added before licking her lips.
"You know it!" Ryuji called out as he got himself a second serving.
"Yes, it is imperative that you enjoy yourselves while you're here. It'll be over before you know it." Barkeep chimed in. "Now get yourselves ready."
"Alright, people! We're all set up? Got your drinks, comfortable, all that jazz? Yes? Alright, we're starting up!" Barkeep fired the words out, one after the other. "So, like I said earlier, this is how the story might have gone, had both sides interacted with each other. So if you ever have a question you want answered, go ahead and do so at that time and the movie'll pause until you wish it to resume. Which I really would have liked to have when I see a movie at home that I haven't before and nobody shuts the hells up."
Sojiro, looking rightfully confused, raised his hand. "Um, not to insult you or anything, but are you sure you're...altogether 'there'?" Barkeep clapped his hands, smiling happily at Sojiro.
"An excellent question! Now then!"
"Should we be concerned he didn't ans-?"
"STARTING!" Shouted the masked host, clapping his hands once more and causing the lights to dim. The monitor flashed on, displaying a title.
Senran Persona: Ninjas of Hearts
By UknownHero
Chapter 1: A Ninja's Mission
The Phantom Thieves blinked in surprise at the title. "Uh, wait a minute. 'A Ninja's Mission'? You mean it ain't starting with us?" Ryuji asked, confused. Akira merely narrowed his eyes, putting the pieces together in his mind.
"Duh, Ryuji! We already know how it started with us! Kinda makes sense that it wouldn't here. You know, ninjas and all." Futaba scolded.
Yumi nodded, though still wore a look of confusion. "Curious, though. The title implies that it is a singular shinobi starring here. Wouldn't the rest of us be aiding each other, as we have promised?"
Barkeep shrugged. "Not this time. The story starts shortly before you all's story actually 'began', I guess you can say. At this point, Asuka only has a basic friendship with everybody from her school, nothing really deep. Homura herself has at least gone on several missions and sees them as 'comrades' at this point, but not really 'friends'. Plot reasons, and all."
This is a work of fiction.
Homura snorted at that, a smirk on her face. "No shit? Here I was thinking it actually happened."
Similarities between characters or events to persons living or dead are purely coincidental.
Only those who have agreed to the above have the privilege of continuing.
I accept.
Everybody froze, not even blinking. While the words had appeared on the screen, the voice hadn't spoken them. Instead, Akira answered the tv with a casual ease. As had...
"Asuka-chan?" Hibari squeaked, staring at the girl in worry. She wasn't alone, as the rest of the squad gazed at their leader in worry, who herself covered her mouth while her eyes widened in shock. She hadn't even meant to speak, but still had.
Homura held her throat, a bewildered look in her eyes. She too had answered the same as Akira and Asuka, but didn't realize until after she'd spoken. Even Hikage was giving her a worried look.
"...The shit?"
Makoto nodded, looking worried. "What Ryuji said, vulgar as it was."
...The contract has been sealed.
The world is not as it should be. It's filled with distortion, and "ruin" can no longer be avoided.
Both of Sojiro and Sae's eyebrows shot up. "'Ruin'? Are they referring to...?"
"Gotta be." Sojiro nodded, his brow furrowing as his eyes narrowed. He cast a quick glance at Akira. "Christ, kid. And you had that dumped on your shoulders from the start?"
The young man shrugged, looking resigned. "Not that I was told as such. Let's just say that the guy in charge was an unhelpful jerk at the worst of times and as clear as a fortune cookie at others."
On the shinobi side of things, the girls were whispering frantically at the words on-screen. 'Ruin' made some sense to them, what with the Yoma and such. 'Distortion', on the other hand, made less so.
Those who oppose fate and desire change...from time to time, they were referred to as Tricksters.
The main characters in this story are Tricksters...so rise, young ones, rise against the abyss of distortion and show the world that darkness can brighten even the smallest of lights.
(4/8, Early Morning)
(?)
Within a darkened room, illuminated by a single flame, two people stared at each other in kneeling positions with serious expressions.
One of them was a short girl who had her dark brown hair tied in a ponytail with a white ribbon, wearing just a yellow shirt and a pair of short shorts.
Asuke gasped, staring at the screen. "Wait a second! That's me?!" She knew that Barkeep had told them they'd be seeing themselves, and she had thought it wouldn't phase her all that much. But still, seeing it happen right before her eyes was still shocking.
Ryuji whistled, impressed. "Man, gotta say. You somehow still look kinda cute even when you're being all serious and junk." Ann slapped the back of his head, drawing a yelp from the blond as the recipient of his comment blushed in embarrassment and Katsuragi laughed.
Miyabi frowned at the screen, taking in the whole thing. "Whatever's going on here," she grunted. "It's gotta be pretty damn important. Only time I ever saw that look on your face was when we got into really bad fights with yoma."
Morgana blinked, looking at the gold-eyed girl. "Wait, 'yoma'? What's a yoma?"
"Spoilers, kitty-cat." Barkeep cut in before Miyabi could answer. "It'll get explained later when it's more relevant." The cat didn't look too happy, but didn't raise an objection.
Her true name is not known, and those who do will die before they would even speak a syllable of it unless they were family, but to the public she was only known as Asuka with it being her new name.
"So wait," Sae spoke up. "The name you gave us isn't your real name. I suppose I can understand that. But is Asuka a name you chose, or was it given to you by somebody else? Is it not unlike a code name?"
"If I may, Nijima-san." Ikaruga spoke up. "To protect ourselves and our family in public, we're given new names so that we may interact with others. Very rarely do we take a name ourselves, as there is always the chance- however small it may be- that we create a name that's all too...er, I suppose 'childish' would be a good word."
"Says you! 'Boob Guardian' would have been an awesome name!" Katsuragi declared proudly. While the shinobi side simply sighed in exasperation and resignation, the PT reacted more with bewilderment, blushes, and in Yusuke's case little more than a raised eyebrow.
"Case in point." Yagyu murmured, raising a hand to her teammate.
In front of Asuka was a rather old man sporting a beard, wearing dark traditional garbs and his long silvery hair in a ponytail.
This man was only known as Hanzō, a legend amongst the modern day shinobi...and the grandfather of Asuka.
Akira looked up at that, looking interested. "Your grandfather is a legendary ninja, Asuka-san?"
The girl leaned back and groaned, covering her eyes with her hands even as a soft smile appeared on her face. "Yeah, he is. He's really strong and cool, and I'm really proud to have him as my Jii-chan."
"Even if he is a pervert." Homura growled.
Ikaruga nodded, her face in a full blush. "Yes, as much as I don't wish to speak ill of such a great man, his...tastes are somewhat of a negative."
"I, for one, can agree with him." Yusuke spoke up, nodding firmly. Upon seeing the looks everybody (save Katsuragi, who was throwing him a thumbs-up and a grin) was giving him, he slightly panicked. "I mean, of course, should he have their permission. Is it so wrong to wish to appreciate the beauty and grace of the female form? There is a reason so very few great arts portray a man at the forefront, after all."
"...you get a pass." Hikage muttered, narrowing her eyes at the artist. "A pass."
"Huh?! You're transferring me from Hanzō Academy?!" Asuka exclaimed in shock and confusion. She didn't expect such news when she was asked to come here today. "B-but why Jii-chan?!" She then asked in concern.
The elderly man sighed as he expected this reaction from his granddaughter. "I'm not sure if you have been keeping up with the news lately, but for over two years there have been a number of unusual incidents in Tokyo and it has the Council worried" He revealed. "Many cases within the city have been caused by some sort of psychotic breakdown or mental shutdown. Many have died as a result." He then stated.
"Wait, hold the hell up!" Homura shouted, standing up in shock. "That crap had been going on for two years?! Wha...what was going on with your cops, didn't they try to do anything?!"
Ryuji shrugged, looking only slightly uncomfortable. "I mean, only so much you can do when people's minds get broken or some shit. Most they can do is tell people to be careful and that they're working to try and find out why."
Haru frowned at that. "At the most, the only thing a lot of adults did was shift the blame around and ignore what happened. They only ever cared if the matter affected them directly, if at all."
Ann nodded, a fierce scowl on her face. "That's just the way a lot of adults were, and kinda still are. Considering the things that happened at our school and for how long, looking back I'm honestly kind of pissed at myself that I was one of the people who ignored a lot of things that I could have helped out with."
Haruka frowned at that. "So wait, a large number of people were having psychotic episodes or fits of mania, and you're telling us the general public...ignored it? Even when people died?" That rang all kinds of alarms for her as well as the other shinobi. Akira sighed, raising his hands in a 'what can you do' sort of way.
"I mean, unless you were an outlier or somebody who could spin it to profit from the attacks, it was just easier for people that way." he remarked bitterly. "They might be sad for a little while, but a lot of people would rather just go 'Oh that's a tragedy' or try to make an issue out of it for self-profit."
"Those people sound like real jerks." Mirai spat out darkly.
To hearing that, the girl's eyes widened as she remembered hearing about it. "Mental shutdowns...!?" Asuka gasped quietly. Do you know what's causing them?" She then asked.
Hanzō in response shook his head to that. "It's unclear, but clearly there is something in the city that could endanger more innocent lives and disrupt the peace if this continues." He replied in a serious tone. "Like all missions I have given you before, you should not treat this lightly. You will be attending Shujin Academy under the alias Asuka Shirokage, our original maiden name before your mother married your father, for one year to investigate this and if possible stop it." He then explained.
"'White' and 'shadow', hm?" Makoto murmured. "A little on the nose, but if it works it should be fine."
Asuka stared at the screen, confusion plain in her eyes. "...that was never mom's name. That's the name of our cat."
Shojiro snorted, smirking. "Guess it's kind of fitting then." he joked, drawing chuckles from everybody there to the brunette's embarrassment. Akira, after getting his amusement under control, caught onto another part.
"So you'll be attending Shujin for a year, same as I was." he pointed out. "Here's hoping that you don't go through what I did when I transferred in."
Yumi perked up at that. "You encountered some troubles at your school? Whatever for?"
Akira merely pointed at Barkeep. "When it's relevant. We'll get there, I'm sure." Yumi merely nodded in acceptance.
Asuka in turn nodded to that mission description before realizing something. "But...I don't have a place to stay there Jii-chan." She then reminded. "Is there a safe house I can use?" She soon asked in concern.
The legendary shinobi in turn stroked his beard to that. "You do not need to worry about that." Hanzō reassuringly replied. "I have found an apartment not too far from the Academy in Shibuya, though you do have to share with a roommate. I mustn't remind you to maintain your cover at all costs." He stated. "Do you understand?" He soon questioned.
"Yes, Jii-chan..." Asuka replied with a respected bow.
"Mission parameters accepted, mwee-hee-hee." Futaba cackled teasingly.
"Good." Hanzō responded with a nod. "Now, your strength is still raw. You must learn to channl that strength as sword and shield." He then advised.
"Sword and shield?" Asuka repeated, looking a little confused.
"So wait, what's this 'sword and shield' thing? Ryuji asked, looking lost.
Morgana narrowed his eyes in thought, before nodding to himself. "I see. 'Sword and shield'. He's probably talking about how she should fight for her friends, first and foremost. Is that right, Lady Asuka?"
"Mm-hm!" came the happy response. "Never myself, everybody before me."
Akira leaned back, looking troubled. "I won't say that's a bad thing to live for." he started, bringing attention to himself. "But I will say that that's a very unhealthy mindset to have."
Hibari perked up, looking confused and a bit sad. "But...but we're Good Shinobi. Isn't that what we're supposed to do?" Akira held up his hands to placate her, while subtly trying to calm Yagyu down behind her.
"You misunderstand." he stated. "That way of living is fine for a shinobi. But only a shinobi. You've got to be able to focus on yourself sometimes as well, and do what you feel is what's best for you. If you simply try to make sure everybody is happy at the expense of your own well-being, in the end you're no longer a person. You come off as more of a tool for others to use for their own gains. You've got to be able to stand up for yourself and make clear when something's happening that you don't like." He explained, before shrugging. "Then again, that's just my take on it. I don't know what it's like for you all, so maybe I'm just speaking on what I don't know."
"...nah, you've got the right of it." Miyabi spoke up to the surprise of the rest of the Good sect. "One thing I made sure of when I retook lead of the elites in Hebijo was that everybody made sure to speak up if I do or say something they don't agree with. I mean, we do it with each other, but yeah. Sure we end up arguing a bit more, but I think we also ended up trusting each other vastly more in exchange."
Yumi frowned, not denying the words but still feeling uncomfortable. Thinking back on her own team, she realized that they almost never spoke up against her choices, even if they were bad ones, instead focusing on the goal with laser focus. It had worked in the past, before they'd had their eyes freed from their blinders, and she always admitted her mistakes with grace and truth. But now she was curious as to how their missions would have gone if even one person had spoken up with some legitimate doubts.
"You must not flout your strength." Hanzō continued. "But do not think for a second that strength comes from the body only. A sharp mind and a strong soul will never fail you." He explained as his granddaughter nodded to that. "Now, you may go! And start packing, your train is leaving at 6 AM tomorrow!" He then declared.
"Hai!" Asuka happily responded as she stood up. "I promise I'll fulfill your expectations and become a first-rate ninja!" She excitedly declared.
(4/8, Early Morning)
(?)
"So same time, different place." Makoto deduced, holding on to the tip of her chin. "I suppose then, given the context, that this would be a shinobi from the other side of the war, so to speak. And given the clues we were given..."
"That'd mean this'd be Homura." Akira continued, his glasses glinting as he leaned forward, his arms on his legs. "Which also means that whatever Asuka-san's mission is, hers will be the opposite."
"Which clearly means that they're supposed to find out how the mental shutdowns happened so they can use them themselves." Futaba concluded, her own glasses glinting as she brought her feet up onto the couch to sit in her usual way. "If they could do that, it'd give them a huge leg-up on their competition on the other side, and with no fear of a counter-attack."
The shinobi all blinked at how quickly the Thieves had pieced all that together, despite how little info had been given up to this point. Ryuji caught their looks and smirked, jerking a thumb at the three. "Smartest bunch in all of Shujin, these guys." he chuckled. After a second, he frowned at them. "Glad we took care of all that shit eventually though. I'd hate to have to go after more people who wanted to use those things for their own effin' plans."
"'More'?" Yagyu questioned with narrow eyes. "Meaning that you encountered numerous people who had done so before?"
"Yup." Akira drawled.
"Oh yeah"
"Pain in my ass."
"An utterly despicable group, they were."
"Caused me a bunch of problems."
"Super-sized Zerg Rush of 'em!"
"I'm ashamed at them for not one person stepping up to stop it."
"So yeah," Morgana finished up. "We dealt with 'a large number', as you put it."
"...well, moving on then." Yumi finally managed.
In another room with poor lighting, were two women. Even if they were sitting down or relaxing, there was a dangerous aura around them that told anyone remotely in their vicinity that they were dangerous, trained in so many ways to kill and sabotage that just merely looking at them wrong was suicide.
The one kneeling down had tan skin, her dark brown hair tied in a long ponytail with a white ribbon with the ends of the ribbon standing straight up. She wore a black sailor fuku uniform with a red trim, the standard of her current school, wrist guards on her forearms with bandages underneat and white loose socks with brown dress shoes.
She had long abandoned her real name long ago. She hated it with a passion. Now, she was only known by her new permanent name: Homura, one of the best shinobi in the school-Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy.
"Well if that isn't a mouthful of a name." Morgana snarked. "Seriously, what school needs such an overly long name?"
Akira, Ryuji and Ann all turned to look at him. "The Phantom Thieves of Hearts." They retorted in deadpan.
"...Your honor, the council would like to have that inquiry struck from the record." The cat managed to get out sheepishly.
"Motion denied." Sae countered playfully.
Her master was in the shadows, but the tan skinned girl could clearly see what she was wearing and who she was. Long, purple hair tied up in a long ponytail and a black mask hiding the lower half of her face. Donning a tight sleeveless shirt that stops exposing her stomach that is connected to a piece that covers her nose and mouth. Around her neck is a red triangular shaped scarf with white triangle marks and white dots inside of the triangles. She also wore baggy red pants with knee-length black high-top sandals, with a gray cloth wrapped around her waist.
Another who had abandoned her name long ago, she was simply known as Suzune, a teacher of Hebijo Academy with mercy being no longer part of her vocabulary.
"I assume that such a thing is common for most shinobi of the 'Evil' inclination?" Yusuke asked of their fellow viewers. Miyabi in turn shrugged while Homura waved her hand in a 'so-so' gesture.
"Being honest, it's not so much 'no mercy' as 'don't hesitate or you could die.'" Miyabi explained.
"The distinction being that one is basically 'kill everybody because you can' and the other is 'it comes down to you or your enemy'. We're not totally 'evil' as we're made out to be, we just have less of a problem killing somebody who'd kill one of us."
"You know why you're here." Suzune began, her voice barely a whisper.
The boys sans Yusuke all blushed to varying degrees as the elder shinobi spoke, though Akira at least attempted to conceal his own. Ann had to slap Ryuji aside the head again while Futaba just pushed Morgana off the back of the couch. The glasses-wearing boy cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well she sounds...sensual. That's gotta be dangerous."
"If she's talking to you face to face, you're not going to be able to enjoy it for long." Hikage said dully.
"Of course." Homura replied. "...Who do I have to-" She started to ask however...
"This isn't a normal assignment." Suzune interrupted. "Your mission will take one year to complete." She then revealed.
"Same time limit." Makoto confirmed. "Though obvious considering what we were told earlier."
Ryuji groaned, getting looks from his fellow Thieves. "Man, I am so happy we didn't have to deal with ninjas and crap while we were taking down scumbag adults."
"Hear, hear." Came the resounding agreement. Homura, and to a more reluctant degree Asuka, agreed to that sentiment.
"Seriously, a battle fought on three fronts doesn't sound like any fun at all." Katsuragi declared seriously.
"A year?" Homura said, surprised. "What kind of mission is that?" She soon asked.
"One that could change the world." Suzune answered in a serious tone.
Homura held back a gasp before asking one more question. "When do I start?" She soon asked.
Akira raised his hand, an eyebrow cocked. "Uh, yes, actually, a sort of big question." He got out in a semi-serious tone. "If this is so important, why are you sending me alone? Why not send my squad with me to ensure the mission is a success?"
"Second question." Makoto spoke up, raising her hand. "Even if she's an elite, why send her on a mission that could 'change the world' instead of a shinobi with a wealth more experience? Actually, forget that. Why not lead the mission yourself and bring her and her squad as back-up?"
"Ah, another thought occurs to me." Haru spoke up, tilting her head to the side slightly. "If this is, in fact, a mission that is of such importance, wouldn't it make sense that either the Good Shinobi sect or even renegade factions would be seeking to obtain that power? Since those incidents had been going on for over two years wouldn't it make sense that a shinobi, regardless of their current allignment, hear about such a strange occurrence and seek to learn more about it?"
The shinobi across from them blinked in silence, the points being made causing them to evaluate what was brought up. The only ones who didn't were Haruka, Miyabi and Yagyu. For different reasons, they had realized those issues the moment the Homura onscreen finished talking.
"If I had to give a guess," Miyabi spoke up. "It's probably because Homura was the leader of the squad at that point, and she is being sent in for reconnaissance first. If it were a retrieval mission, then depending on the difficulty of the mission further planning would be carefully considered."
A bit away from her, Haruka nodded in agreement. "Despite how it looks, it's not entirely a bad idea. At this point, it looks like Suzune-sensei only has rumors. Substantial enough to look into, but not enough to fully commit. So send an agent in to acquire more information before deciding if further action should be taken."
Mirai, having listened to the words of her comrades, nodded with a contemplative look on her face. "Yeah, that makes sense." She admitted. "As much as I like computers, even I know that there's only so much you can learn about rumors from the net. If it were confirmed to be an actual thing or with substantial evidence, that'd be a different story maybe."
Across from them, Akira and Futaba nodded. "Okay, fair points." Akira admitted. "But I have a counter-argument as to why sending Homura is a bad idea. For Asuka-san as well, now that I think about it. Futaba, I assume you have the same?"
"Yupperoony!" Came the cheerful response from the young girl.
Yumi tilted her head. "Um, but how can that be? We're trained shinobi, infiltration is our bread and butter. So why would you say-?"
"Your breasts are all way too big. And you're being sent to a school full of horny civilian teenage boys." Futaba interrupted firmly, no smile on her face.
"..." Mirai turned and glared at the chests of each of the girls she was sitting with, all of whom (save Haruka, Hikage and Katsuragi) were blushing brightly. "Yeah, no, they've got you there."
(4/9, Early Morning)
(Train Station)
Today was the day.
It was quite the emotional good-bye to all her friends, but with a promise to visit them as soon as she could, Asuka Shirokage was ready for her mission.
"Bye Jii-chan!" Asuka called out, waving good-bye to her grandfather. She was currently in her Shujin uniform, which was given to her only hours ago.
"Aww!" Ann gushed, seeing Asuka in the uniform. "You look so cute in our uniform!"
Hibari nodded, smiling happily. "She really does! I wish our uniforms were as cute!"
"I don't." Yagyu deadpanned. "We're already getting assaulted by Katsuragi enough as is. We don't need her doing it even more."
The blonde simply nodded her head, unashamed. "They would be adorable and I don't hold myself back as we are. They are right to fear me."
"Good luck, Asuka." Hanzō replied as he patted her head, before handing her a box. "It's going to be a long journey, so I've made this for you." The girl didn't even have to look inside to see what her grandfather gave her; she just hugged him in response. "Now, your train is leaving. You better hurry." He soon advised.
"Hai!" Asuke replied with a nod before she dashed onto the train and gave him one last wave. "Bye! I won't let you down!" She then declared.
"You never will!" Hanzō called back as he waved his granddaughter good-bye as the train left the station.
"Such a lovely relationship." Yumi commented, a cheek in her hand as she cooed at the scene on the screen.
Sojiro nodded, wrapping his arm around Futaba, blushed but didn't pull away, instead leaning into his embrace. "Family is always important. And no matter how much the other knows, sometimes it's nice to be reminded with words as well as actions."
On the train, Asuka quickly took a seat and pulled out her phone. "An entire year..." She tried to squeal as quietly as possible. "Mission...START!" She then excitedly declared.
"OI! SHUT UP ALREADY!" Someone yelled in annoyance.
This in turn caused Asuka to jump and blush. "s-Sorry!" She soon apologized.
"Happy feeling gone." Akira and, surprisingly, Hikage said in unison. The others either were startled into chuckling that Hikage of all people cracked a joke, or at at the timing of alternate-Asuka's misfortune.
(4/9, Daytime)
(Train)
Today was the day.
A briefing at 4AM, leaving no earlier than 5AM, Homura Shinkukage had left Hebijo Academy to begin her mission.
Homura all but snarled at the name she saw on-screen. "Did I really take that fucking name?!" She demanded of Barkeep, startling even those from her own group. Barkeep nodded, looking solemn.
"I'll be fair here." He told her. "Your family didn't have much influence in Tokyo, so there was no connecting their name for anybody to do. Really crap thing for them to do, yeah, but I can at least understand the reason for having you do so."
Homura sat back with a huff, glaring at the screen which discouraged anybody from probing further.
Shinkukage, her former last name before she was exiled from her family, now being her name from this day forth until her mission was complete.
"Damn assholes..." Homura quietly sighed out. She was sitting in a crowded train, waiting for her stop. She discovered that the school she had transferred to had a really lax uniform policy when she read through the rules, but she decided to not stand out very much by being too revealing and wore her uniform to code, unlike that girl across from her. After all, dealing with people would only distract her from her mission.
"Bullshit!"
"Whoa, dude, Ryuji!"
"No, I'm ain't sorry!" Ryuji shot back, standing up and pointing at the screen while staring down the shinobi. "Y'all gonna tell me that you, freaking ninja, are going on a mission where you're gonna have to get info to find out about some kinda power that's causing people to get offed, and you're not going to talk to the people who're livin' this shit everyday for the past two years because it'd 'distract you'?!"
Morgana just stared dumbfounded at Ryuji, with the rest of the Thieves just as bewildered. "What the hell?! What's going on, how did this numbskull point out something like that?! Are we in a different reality or something?"
Barkeep gazed at the group for a bit before turning to the shinobi side. "Weird thing is, I think he's kinda got a point."
That mission?
She had one year, under the guise of a civilian student, to investigate the strange happenings and occurrences within Tokyo and acquire its power for Hebijo.
"Called it." Akira, Makoto and Futaba murmured. "Though we kind of have the advantage of seeing both side of things happen." Akira admitted.
She had nothing to worry about. Tokyo has a deeply ingrained corruption that the Evil Shinobi have been taking advantage of. Many politicians had used Hebijo's services in order to eliminate competition, kill key figures that would disrupt social order and made sure the big guys stayed on top. I mean, who would expect megacorporation Okumura Foods to use shinobi to make sure their secrets weren't exposed? Maybe she could use that as blackmail material to convince some people to spill the beans.
Homura stopped all movement, her squad and Miyabi turning to look at Haru, who for her part just continued to drink some coffee that barkeep had made for her. Feeling eyes upon her, she just smiled and raised her cup in their direction before taking another sip.
"...okay, I just want to start off by saying that, at the very least, Homura and I have never personally taken a mission to help Okumura foods in one way or another, to our knowledge." Miyabi started.
Haru just waved it off, the smile still on her face. "Oh don't worry. I can at least acknowledge that my company used to do many, shall we say, 'questionable things' to come ahead of the competition. After I took over, I've made sure that any and all of those practices were stopped immediately while any who tried to bring them back were dealt with."
"Ominous." Yagyu muttered.
"Oh there was no physical harm brought to them. But their standing in the company did significantly drop." Haru assured her.
Yomi frowned. "Another rich girl using her power to lord over those less fortunate than her, then? She accused.
"Not at all." Akira defended her. "She's made it quite clear that you have to earn your position in her company, so only those who know what they're doing in a certain section can lead in that section. Names and money don't mean anything to that, only the quality of their work."
"Not to mention she can be scary as eff." Ryuji piped up. Haru blushed in embarrassment, but to the shinobi's surprise didn't seem offended, only pleased. Makoto noticed and sighed.
"I have some violent tendencies myself, but we unanimously agreed that Haru is by and large the scariest of us when she, er...'let's loose.'"
"I make no apologies for finally being able to release some of the stress on my shoulders." Haru confirmed.
"I see," Yomi muttered. After a moment she bowed to Haru. "I apologize for my words. I've had some bad experiences with those more well-off than their peers who used their wealth for their own sake. I'm just starting to come to terms with accepting that not everybody rich is like that."
Haru again waved it off, her smile never leaving her face. "Please, think nothing of it. You're perfectly alright Yomi-chan."
This was only a mission for her. Even if she had to share an apartment with someone, they would not get in the way of Hebijo obtaining the power it needs to fight the Just.
"And now you just tempted fate." Mirai moaned, leaning back in her seat while covering her eyes. Homura's eye twitched as everybody laughed.
"Still...my old last name..." Homura muttered in slight depression with a sigh escaping her lips at remembering what happened that day before shaking it off.
Getting bored, however, she looked around the train to see if there was anyone that she should take note of. She did spot one or two people wearing the Shujin uniform. Actually, she recognized one of them since she was on the same station as her, who was currently playing with her phone. It was some girl around her age with her brown hair in a ponytail, wearing a ribbon similar to her own. She must've gotten the memo about Shujin's lax uniform policy as she wore a red scarf and her skirt was worn just a little higher to the point where she could even see her green and white panties...
And now that she noticed, her panties could clearly be seen by the other Shujin student on the train.
Makoto frowned at the image on-screen even as Asuka blushed at seeing herself flashing random strangers with no clue she was even doing so. "We do have a relaxed uniform policy, true. But one thing we've always remained on top of was skirt length. The school had a bad enough rep as it was, we didn't need exhibitionism added on top of it."
Katsuragi groaned disappointingly at that. "Aww, that sucks. A little cheesecake a day helps keep me energized!"
Ikaruga turned to reprimand the blonde while the other Hanzo girls and Yumi blushed, but were stopped by Barkeep speaking up. "Trust me, little lady. That shit right there? You're probably not going to be inclined towards that at all in a bit. The founding members of the Thieves know what I'm talking about."
Katsuragi was about to retort, but was brought to a halt when she caught sight of some of the Thieves. Ryuji had a vicious snarl on his face, Ann looked like she had eaten a rotten lemon, Morgana just looked sick while Akira looked to be trying to set the floor on fire with his gaze alone. So for once, the blonde decided to back down, though clearly curious about what had happened to get them to react like that.
"She's either incredibly innocent...or just doesn't realize." Homura thought to herself.
"Both." Ikaruga muttered out tiredly.
The teenage boy meanwhile had wavy black hair and dark gray eyes underneath round, black glasses and wearing the uniform to code...and completely killing it as well admittingly. He seemed to be staring into space, only snapping out of it when they hit a bump.
Akira's gaze met Homura's, who despite her best efforts was blushing slightly from her duplicate's thoughts. "M'lady." he greeted jokingly, tipping an imaginary hat. Homura's blush flared up at the action while everybody got a good laugh from that. She joined in after a moment, shaking her head good-naturedly and performing a rough sitting curtsy in return to another round of laughter.
Homura did also note that he was there in that seat before she got on, so she assumed he was from out of town. Plus the luggage he had only supported her theory.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for riding with us today." A woman's voice came from a speaker, snapping a lot of people out of their thoughts. "We will be arriving at Shibuya shortly. This is the last stop of this line. Please transfer here for all subway lines. The doors to your left will open." She then advised.
"Looks like I should be getting off soon..." Homura muttered to herself as she made sure all her bags were safe. As she did so, she overheard a few girls in different uniforms chatting and gossiping with each other.
"What are you for real? A mental shutdown?"
"It's the truth!"
"To a person thought? It's gotta be a joke! You really love all that occult stuff, don't you?"
Homura meanwhile narrowed her eyes to hearing that. "Mental shutdowns..." She muttered to herself before shaking her head.
Mental shutdowns caused by some supernatural element? What a joke.
A break was needed after that line appeared. The Thieves were unable to stop laughing after they heard it.
(4/9, Afternoon)
(Tokyo, Shibuya)
"Oh...where am I...?" Asuka groaned to herself. "This place is so much bigger than home..." She admitted as was currently; well, lost as she searched up directions on her new phone.
She had to be updated on today's technology or else people would get real suspicious of her very quickly. She swore if she could use her shinobi abilities, she could search for her apartment in no time flat, but there were too many people and not enough hiding spots to allow her to use them.
Ann winced at seeing that. "Ooh, yeah, I can see that being a major issue. It's like trying to learn how to swim in the ocean but there's a huge tsunami occurring: you're playing on hard mode then."
Somehow, she made her way to the Shibuya Scramble Crossing, one of the busiest places in all of Tokyo. It was a wonder how she hadn't bumped into anyone yet.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"Eh? Is someone calling?" Asuka muttered to herself in confusion as she closed the GPS app, only to spot something that wasn't there before on her Home screen. It was a red icon with an eye on it, a star replacing the pupil. "That wasn't there before..." She got out in confusion. "Moh, don't tell me I got a virus on this thing already!?" She exclaimed with a pale face.
Though, there was something in the back of her mind telling her it was safe. Suddenly, the icon expanded and took up the bottom half of the screen.
Akira winced at that. "Oh, that...that brings back memories." He groaned out. "Not all of them good. Still don't know what happened then for sure." Asuka looked at him, as pale as her on-screen counterpart.
"Wait, what's going on?! Am I going to be safe?! Attacked?! Abducted?!" She asked in a rapid fire panic.
With another groan, Akira focused back on the screen. "Honestly? Technically all three."
"Stupid piece of...Why now...?" The brunette then heard someone growl from her left over the noise of the crowd. Looks like she wasn't the only one having phone troubles.
Still, Asuka tried turning off her phone, but it didn't work. "How did this thing break already?" She soon wondered out loud before looking up...
Just in time to see time slow down to a halt.
Mirai's eye widened, scooting back into Haruka's side. "What...what the hell is going on?!" Homura stared gobsmacked at the screen as well, not even daring to breath. Asuka meanwhile could only stare in confusion and fear. The situation they were watching reminded her a bit of like a Shinobi Kekkai. But not a one she'd heard of stopped time at a standstill, let alone keep civilians inside of it upon its creation
Akira sighed, but looked determined despite knowing he himself wouldn't actually be taking part. "It begins..."
"W-what the..." Asuka got out in confusion before quickly realizing that she wasn't the only one as she saw a boy with pale skin and a girl with tan skin looking around frantically, all of them in the same uniform.
"What the hell..." The boy muttered, wondering what was causing this to happen.
However this was before all three saw something in front of them at the middle of the crossing.
"What?" The three soon thought in confused unison at the sight.
FWOOOOSH!
There were three colored flames. One in Crimson Red, one in Emerald Green, and the final one was in Sky Blue. All forming into...something.
All they could do was stare at the flames as it started to form into humanoid shapes before seeing menacing smiles appear on them...all focusing on those not frozen in time.
"Come on, move! Don't just stand there, move!" Miyabi shouted at the screen with Yumi looking worried at what was happening. The rest of the shinobi were just as concerned, worried for the three they were watching.
Suddenly, there was a flash of an image in Asuka's mind. One of her smiling wildly without a care in the world, her eyes going from brown to golden as bright green flames surrounded her, engulfing every inch of her body as her grin became wider and wider.
And strangely, enough, it felt good.
I am thou...Thou art-
Dead silence fell upon the room, not a single person speaking until...
"What the fuck?!"
"Asuka!" gasped Ikaruga, appalled at her teammate's exclamation. "Language!"
"Sorry, but I gotta agree with Asuka on this one." Miyabi spoke up, her eyes unbelieving. "She just saw time stop, three flames appear, and then gets shown some weird version of herself changing her and her only response at the time is 'it felt good"?"
"What in the world was that..."Yumi questioned, beyond lost as to what was happening.
"The start of the fall and rebirth of Tokyo, as it were." Barkeep answered from his spot. "Granted, it's going to go kicking and screaming, but it is going to go no matter what."
"But I can promise you that it wasn't harmful." Akira promised reassuringly.
And as quick as the image appeared, it disappeared. Looking around, Asuka gasped as she saw that time had resumed and everyone was going about their day like it was nothing. She tried to find where the boy and girl were, but they were lost in the crowd.
Why were they not frozen along with everyone else?
There was definitely something going on here.
Or maybe she was just really tired from the trip. So she just went into her settings, deleted the mysterious app without a second thought and continued on her way to her apartment. "Well, that was weird. Come on Asuka. Get yourself together." Asuka muttered to herself as she slapped her cheeks. "Gotta get to my apartment. Moh...I hope my roommate is nice..." She then mumbled to herself in concern as she reopened the GPS app and melted into the crowd as well.
Asuka sighed in relief. "Oh thank goodness! Hopefully I won't have to deal with that thing popping up anymore. It was creepy!" Looking up with a smile, she caught sight of Akira staring at her in what looked to be pity. "...R-right? It's gone?" Akira merely looked to the side, saying nothing while closing his eyes. "Moh~!" Asuka moaned in despair.
(Shibuya)
Asuka let out a sigh as she got to the top of the stairs. Why were city trains always so packed? "Let's see...it says to go here and then take a left..." Asuka whispered to herself as she looked around before going off in a direction, hoping that she was following the map right. She soon stopped as she noticed there was something interesting on a nearby TV playing in a store.
"A public transit bus was driven down an opposing lane with its customers still in it!" A male tabloid host exclaimed. "The citizens can't live in peace if this keeps up." He then declared.
"Something really is going on here..." Asuka muttered to herself in concern as she frowned, ignoring the whispers of worry around her. I need to find the source of this fast." She mentally told herself as she then continued walking, following the directions to the apartment.
Meanwhile, Homura felt like she was being followed. Ever since she left the train station, she had this feeling she wasn't alone on her way to her apartment.
"...anybody else see where this is going?" Morgana asked aloud. At seeing the face-palms, sighs from everybody and blushes from Asuka and Homura, he nodded. "Yeah. Me too..."
Was it an enemy?
Someone who was planning to steal the power that Hebijo Academy wanted?
Or did someone want to take advantage of her?
It didn't matter. All she wanted to know was if she needed to eliminate them before they got in her way.
Still, the tan skinned girl chose to ignore it for now. If she attacked first, someone was definitely going to notice and there was going to be too much trouble which would mean she would have to abandon the mission before it even truly began.
"I need to lose them." Homura hastily thought before speeding up her walking speed.
"Hey, looks like there's a shortcut through here!" Asuka exclaimed as she cut through the alleyway to get out of the crowd of people.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ryuji asked, dumbfounded by what they were seeing. "They've got to be joking, right?"
"No, Ryuji." Haruka responded, a weak smile on her face. "No they are not."
"I feel like there should be some kind of silly antics music playing while this is happening." Sae mused, Makoto nodding in agreement.
"Damn it, they're catching up to me." Homura meanwhile cursed before breaking out into a sprint.
Someone was definitely following her.
"I can see the apartment building!" Asuka happily got out as she started running. "I can't wait to meet my new roommate!" She got out before sweatdropping. "Hopefully she won't be like Katsu-nee with her liking to grope me..." She then mumbled out in embarrassment and a red face.
Dead silence. The nobody in the room said a word, while Asuka tried to curl into a ball and vanish from the sight of everybody in the room. It wasn't working, though it was a valiant effort. After some time, Akira cleared his throat, bringing his hands together as if he were praying.
"Okay, so." He started, before slowly chopping his hands down towards Asuka. "Two questions for you, if you don't mind."
An inhuman noise came from Asuka, making Ikaruga sigh before answering. "Yes, Akira-san? What are they?"
"First: 'What?' Second: The fuck?" Akira got out. "I was already wondering why Homura couldn't tell the direction that Asuka-san was coming from-"
"I'm still not that great at tracking. I can get a general direction and such, but that's about it." Homura clarified.
"Right, sure, that I can understand." Akira responded, nodding his head towards her. "But my big question now is this: We obviously found out that Katsuragi-san is a pervert-"
"You can drop the honorific, ya know!" Kasturagi laughed. "I'm not big on 'em. And I'm no pervert, I just like to fondle sexy girls. And boys, but mostly girls!"
"...Katsuragi-san is an unrepentant pervert who I honestly think I don't want to left alone in a room with, ever." Akira continued, ignoring Katsuragi's pouting of him keeping the honorific. "But the fact that she does this enough that it is one of the first things you hope for about your new roommate?"
"...we've all...been subject to her...antics." Yagyu got out with a blush. "Just about everybody here has."
Yusuke raised an eyebrow. "'Most of you'?" he questioned.
Mirai glared at nobody in particular as she answered. "Take a wild guess who was left out. Go on. I'll wait."
"Right, okay, that shit I understand, and it's shitty and all, but here's the thing that I'm lost about and I ain't tryin' to be a perv here." Ryuji spoke up. "How much does she do that?"
"...We've all gone up several cup sizes since meeting her." Asuka's muffled voice answered.
"...right, Akira? Later on, you're doing mine." Futaba declared. Shojiro sputtered and choked on air in shock while Akira just placed his face in his hand, shaking his head. On the shinobi side, they all just sighed deeply while Katsuragi laughed uproariously.
"We're not dating, Futaba." Akira groaned out, exasperated.
"'Yet', you mean."
"I can see the apartment..." Homura muttered to herself. I can fight them there, but I have to hurry." She mentally told herself.
(4/9, Evening)
It wasn't anything special, a boring four-story building in the middle of a quiet street. The only thing of note was the admittingly fancy (and probably super expensive) green colored neon sign.
Shin Megami Apartment Complex
True Goddess Housing since 1992
Morgana blinked at those words. "Is that a joke or reference? I feel like it's a joke or reference, does anybody else feel that way?
"And...I'm here." Asuka got out, staring down at her phone as she approached the front entrance of her new home for a year. "Let's see...it was Room 269...WAH!" She exclaimed as she bumped into someone, causing both of them to crash to the ground. "Owie..." She got out as she rubbed her butt from the pain.
"Ah! Watch where you..." Homura groaned as she held her head before she stood up. She looked to see who she crashed into, only to realize she recognized her. It was that girl from the train. "Hey, are you alright?" She soon asked in a kind tone as she offered a hand.
"I think I am..." Asuka replied as she grabbed the other girl's hand and got up with her help. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention..." she then apologized with a small bow.
The tan skinned girl however waved it off. "It's fine. I should've watched where I was going as well." Homura sheepishly replied before she rubbed the back of her neck. I was in a rush. Well, I am in a rush." She then revealed.
"Reminds you of how we actually first met, doesn't it Asuka-chan?" Homura quipped, a fond smile on her face.
"Mm-hm!"Asuka agreed, a smile on her face. "One of the happiest days of my life, Homura-chan!"
"Well, I hope I didn't make you late." Asuka responded as the other girl took out a piece of paper before looking at the door of the building.
"Actually, this is where I should be." Homura replied as she looked at the sign. "So garish..." She mentally remarked.
"Really?" Asuka questioned in surprise. "Because this is my destination as well. I'm actually moving in for the year to attend Shujin Academy." She then revealed to see how the girl was dressed. "Hey, are you attending Shujin as well?" She soon asked.
Homura in turn slightly narrowed her eyes at that as she looked at the strange, large breasted girl's uniform, especiallythe pin on the blazer's lapel. "Yeah...We're even in the same year." She muttered to the coincidence before turning to the entrance. "Well, let's not waste anymore time." She decided as the other girl nodded in agreement as the two girls entered the building. "Why don't you go ahead and get your room first? I'm willing to wait a bit." She soon offered.
"Sure, thank you." Asuka replied with a bow before heading up to the front counter and ringing the bell. "Hello?" She soon called out.
After a few seconds, a middle-aged woman came to the counter. "Hello, welcome to the Shin Megami Apartment Complex. How can I help you?" The middle-aged lady asked.
"Um, I'm moving in here." Asuka informed, "My grandfather rented an apartment for a year under the name Asuka Shirokage?" She revealed.
The middle-aged lady then looked through her book as she nodded to that. "Ah, yes!" The lady replied. "Room 269." She then revealed.
"That's my room." A familiar voice from behind the brunette revealed, who turned around and saw it was the tan skinned girl she crashed into. "I'm Homura Shinkukage. My guardian requested me to have a roommate." She then revealed.
"My Jii-chan also requested me to have one too." Asuka replied with a smile before gasping. "Wait, that means you're my roommate?!" She soon exclaimed her question in realization.
"...I'm...I'm actually confused here." Shojiro spoke up. "Did your guardians plan for this or something? Because I don't get how two shinobi from different sides, or whatever, would end up as roommates basically investigating the exact same thing?"
"Does not compute~!" Futaba groaned, rubbing her head with a grimace.
"I guess so..." Homura answered as the lady left to get their keys. "So I guess we should formally introduce ourselves. The name's Homura Shinkukage, it's a pleasure to meet you." She greeted as she held her hand out.
"Um, I'm Asuka Shirokage. I hope we get along." Asuka replied with a bright smile as they shook hands.
"Well, we are roommates for a year so we don't have a choice." Homura chuckled out that reminder. "But I hope we do too." She then added as she closely examined the girl. "Hm, she has a strong grip for someone so...weak-looking." She thought to herself.
"Moh, Homura-chan! That's so mean!" Asuka pouted.
"O-oi!" Homura got out, a blushing in embarrassment. "That's not really us, ya know?! So it doesn't count! Not at all!"
"Personally, I don't see anything too bad about not looking strong." Haru spoke up, a comforting smile on her face to Asuka. "It just means that you'll be underestimated. That can only be a good thing, right Asuka-chan?"
Asuka managed to pull a smile onto her face, nodding gratefully to Haru. "Thanks, Haru-chan! You're absolutely right!"
After the lady gave them their keys, they headed up the stairs to get to their apartment.
"Oh man..." Asuka yawned out as they walked. "I'm so tired from that trip. I just wanna sleep." She then added.
"It's only 6 PM though." Homura pointed out. "And it's a Sunday tomorrow so we should at least unpack everything we have then if you're that tired." She then suggested.
"But don't we have to report in to confirm our enrollment tomorrow?" Asuka asked before hearing her stomach growl. "Plus, I'm too hungry to go to sleep..." She moaned out before remembering her gift Jii-chan gave her before she left. She quickly took off her bag and reached into it to grab a box. "Here we go!" She said as she opened it up, revealing rather five long, thick and moist...rolls of sushi. She took one out and started eating. "Want one?" Asuka offered to her new roommate. "Jii-chan made these before I left, Homura-chan." She then revealed.
"...Ryuji, don't you say a damn word, or I will make you regret it I swear." Makoto got out, blushing while refusing to look at the screen. All of the Thieves were, even Haru who was covering her eyes but still peeking out between her fingers.
"The hell're you calling me out for?!" Ryuji exclaimed.
"Let's not judge him, Makoto." Akira spoke up. "The way she's eating those rolls are...interesting."
Asuka tilted her head along with all the other shinobi. "I don't get it. That's how I always eat them."
"We all do." Homura agreed, the rest nodding as well.
"And we all love you for your innocence." Makoto, Sae and Akira spoke at the same time.
Homura in turn nodded to that as she took the sushi roll. "Thanks." She replied before taking a bite, her eyes widening in amazement. "Wow, this is really good Asuka-san!" She soon complimented as she continued eating the roll.
Asuka in turn rubbed the back of her head to that. "Yeah well, Jii-chan used to run a sushi restaurant back where I live and he's super good at making thick and big futomaki rolls." She giggled out as she put away the sushi box for later. "He's retired now though and my parents have been taking care of it ever since." She then added.
It shows..." Homura muttered before sighing as quietly as possible. "Anyway, this should be it." She soon informed as they approached their new apartment. She pulled out her key and unlocked the door. They entered and saw what they would be living in for the next year.
The entire apartment was pretty large, but only having the bare essentials. A living room, a bathroom with a shower and tub that looked as though it could hold up to three people, a bedroom and a kitchen.
Asuka looked inside the bedroom and saw it was just two beds with their own bedside tables and a closet.
In the living room was an old CRT TV, a couch, an empty bookcase and a table. The kitchen was well equipped, even having pots and pans already in the cupboards. All they had to do was go shopping and they would be set for the week. Out the window, they could cearly see the city, which looked amazing at night with all the lights."
"Well, this isn't so bad..." Asuka muttered as she opened up her luggage. "And it's near the school, so we shouldn't be getting affected by all those transport incidents." She then admitted. "That I need to figure out soon." She mentally added.
"Well that's a lovely place." Haruka spoke up, seemingly pleased with her leader and her roommate's new dwelling. "Plenty of space, and a beautiful view of the city."
"Not bad." Hikage agreed, nodding.
"And so cheap and affordable!" Yomi cheered happily. "The most important part!"
"Yeah, it's causing so much trouble for people here..." Homura agreed with a nod. "And that's why Hebijo Academy needs it." She silently added.
"But most of all I can't let her know as I finish this mission." Both kunoichi thought as the brunette pulled out a few scrolls while the tan skinned girl pulled out a wooden katana before they quickly stuffed them back into their bags upon realizing they were unpacking the wrong ones. "Too close!" They then thought in relief.
"...not a word from a one of you." Homura growled at everybody, drawing forth chuckles.
"Well, we can always do the rest of it tomorrow." Asuka quickly declared as she pulled out her futon while gathering up her other bags. "I'm going to sleep early. Feel free to eat the rest. Night!" She quickly got out.
And with that, she slammed the door to the bedroom, threw her futon on the bed and threw herself face first into it.
The other girl meanwhile sighed as she looked back at her stuff. "So this will be my life for a year." Homura muttered to no one in particular before sighing and went to eat more of her roommate's sushi rolls. She wondered how life would be with her new roommate, if she would get in her way or somehow help her in her mission. She didn't seem too bad, maybe a little annoying like some of her friends back in Hebijo, but she could tolerate it. After eating the rest of her sushi roll, she decided to start unpacking after placing the leftovers in the fridge before going into the same bedroom to sleep in her own futon.
However under her covers, Asuka was already in her pajamas as she was searching up what was going on with Tokyo, hoping the internet would give her at least a starting off point of her investigation. But, all the information she found wasn't helpful in the slightest, all of it saying the cause of the mental shutdowns plaguing Tokyo couldn't be an hour or two, she gave up and exited to the Home Screen, reminding her of that eye app from before. It wasn't there anymore, but it was quite strange.
"Understatement of the freaking millennium!" Akira called to the screen, cupping his hands around his mouth to make it louder.
"What was that...from before..." Asuka mumbled to herself before placing her phone on her bedside table, shifting a little to get comfortable. "One year..." she muttered to herself before yawning. "I wonder what school will be like here..." she mumbled tiredly.
"I hope I can complete my mission." The two kunoichi then thought before they both drifted off to sleep.
"And that's the end of the first chapter, or segment, or whatever you want to call it." Barkeep informed, causing the lights to come back, everybody standing and stretching after sitting for such a long period of time. "So what'd you all think?"
"I think they're boned." Ryuji said simply, shrugging before yelping as Ann and Makoto smacked the back of his head. "Hey, remember what started this whole thing off?!"
Ann blinked before groaning in realization. "Oh man, you're right. Dammit, are we really going to have to see Shiho go through that again?"
"Sorry Ann." Barkeep told her, gently. "What happened was bad, and I know you don't want to hear it, but it is what kick-started a whole bunch of what came next."
"I know, I know!" Ann groaned, flopping back onto the couch. "Doesn't mean I gotta like it, though."
"None of us do, Ann." Akira assured her.
Across from them, the shinobi were confused. "Wait, so who's this 'Shiho' chick?" Homura questioned, utterly lost.
"Was she hurt badly?" Hibari whimpered, Yagyu giving her a comforting hug.
"Is she somebody I would enjoy groping?" Katsuragi teased. That didn't last long, as at least six people from the Thieves' side of the room glared at her darkly, with Ann being held back by Ryuji despite looking like he wanted to hit her himself. "What, what's wrong? I'm just asking 'is she gropable?"
"I know what you're asking, Ms. Katsuragi. Really, I do." Barkeep answered, a flat stare being aimed at her. "Suffice to say, for the time being you should probably refrain from those kinds of jokes. At least for a time, please."
"...what happened to her?" Mirai asked, her voice soft but level.
"Let's just...keep watching, shall we?" Sae stated, her voice heavy with emotion. "I'm pretty sure you'll find out soon anyways. Mr. Barkeep, if you please?"
"Will do, miss." Their host confirmed, snapping his fingers and causing the lights to dim once more.
Me: (A shaking, withered corpse at the end of this) ...A critical error has been committed.
So I'm back, trying to get back into the writing game after...cripes, years of being out of it. So I decided to ask the guy who's writing one of my favorite stories if I can do a reaction fic of said story, he says yes, and now I'm realizing just how big this beast is going to be. But that's fine, I'm totally okay with that. After all, I am a MASTER of overestimating myself! This is nothing new for me.
So one chapter down, quite a number left to go, and with each chapter getting longer.
...Pray for me.
