Chapter 30
Of Kings and Pawns
Mirror Dimension; Niflheim, Floor 30
"AAAAAAAUUUGHH!", Yoichi yelled as the shadow mass started to cover him.
His face was then covered as the second layer began to become applied. Johei readied his chains to shatter until Mikan stopped him.
"What are you doing?!", he asked.
"We need to stop the transformation!"
Mikan shook her head.
"It's too late right now! You could risk hurting him!"
Johei grit his teeth and readied his spear. Now, Yoichi and his reflection made a large portion of shadow slime. It grew taller until it attempted to form a humanoid figure.
"Finally! My long awaited strength! I'll use this power to the fullest! And I won't let you get in my way!"
Kazuhiko changed his Persona to Boreas and broke his chains.
"Bufula!", he yelled as the North wind cast a freezing wind in Yoichi's direction.
Suddenly, the wind was stopped by a giant ebony piece; Johei looked shocked.
"What the hell? Is that a rook?!"
Kazuhiko squinted and looked at the castle-like object. At the top, there were two fingers holding it in place. As the smoke cleared, the fingers connected to a hand which eventually led to a body. A dark violet crown was shown at the top of a rotting head. The head was sewn to the neck where the body seemed to be made of synthetic fibers. The body was clothed in a robe made of multiple cloths stitched together to make a violent nightmarish shred of clothing. At the bottom of the robe, to bare feet were seen. Yoichi turned to pick up another piece.
"Command, Pawn!"
Suddenly, a pawn piece was sent straight towards the group. Kazuhiko ran to the side yelling, "Everyone, get clear from each other!"
The piece landed on the spot that they all had been previously standing on. Johei broke his chains and summoned Loki.
"Garula!"
Loki cast a powerful whirlwind towards Yoichi, but it was quickly intercepted by the Rook.
"I won't let you get close to me that easily!", he said as he cast his hand towards another piece.
A knight piece launched itself into the air and landed on the ground with such force that it created a shock-wave that sent everybody off their feet.
"Agh!"
Iselin was sent flying into the wall and fell down in a heap.
"Iselin!", Daichi yelled.
Iselin quickly got back up to her feet and broke her chains.
"I'm fine! Just keep going!"
She cast a Media for the entire team before running back into battle. Yoichi sent a Bishop in Johei's direction in which Kazuhiko shouted to him.
"Johei! Look out!"
Johei turned, saw the giant piece headed towards him, and ran.
"Crap! This thing won't get off me!", Johei yelled as he ran back to the door.
*SLAM*
"Oof!"
Johei somehow slammed into nothing and crumpled onto the floor.
"What?… what the hell?"
He pounded his hand onto the invisible wall and frowned.
"Damnit, why now?!"
"Uh, Johei? Why is the ground checkered black and white?", Loki asked.
Johei looked at the ground and noticed the large squares that were on the ground.
"Are we on… a chessboard?"
"Command Bishop!"
*WHAM*
The bishop landed right next to Johei and stopped as he quickly scampered away.
"Um, does anybody know how to play chess?", Johei asked as he cast a Garula at the bishop.
Iselin blocked an oncoming attack by Yoichi and replied.
"We're going to have to play our way through this?! Crap, I'm doomed."
"Hamaon!", Yoichi boomed as he brought his Queen forth.
The queen piece charged a light-like energy towards the top of it's crown and cast it towards Kazuhiko.
"A-alright! Change!", he said.
His chains changed into a different design as a new Persona blocked the attack.
"Hmph, I don't even know why you keep me around anymore except for taking a beating", Daedalus said.
Kazuhiko sighed.
"Well, because you have Light Resist. I just need to get you more experience so you can learn new moves."
"Incoming!"
Kazuhiko dodge rolled to the side to avoid a Rook that was aimed at him.
"Pawn 4, Swift Slash!"
Kazuhiko looked to his side and barely succeeded in blocking the pawn's sword stroke.
"Ugh!"
"Kaz!"
Kazuhiko flew back several feet and landed on the ground. He picked himself back up again and leaned on his sword.
"I'm fine; Just keep focusing on the pieces!"
At that moment, the bishop shifted it's position to face Johei, who looked worn out.
"Dammit, Kaz, I don't think I can go on any longer!"
"Move onto the white space!"
Johei looked confused when Mikan yelled at him.
"…What?"
"Just do it!", she yelled back.
The bishop was on the move towards him at top speed. Not seeing any other choice, Johei jumped ont the white space and closed his eyes.
*clomp*
"Holy crap, I'm gonna die, aren't I?"
*clomp*
"Please, not yet. I have so many things to do, things I want to see!"
*clomp*
"Guys, I want you to know… that I always had a fetish for maids! Please, on my funeral, I want all the girls to attend in maid costumes!"
"WHAT?!", Mikan yelled.
Johei opened his eyes and looked at Mikan.
"So you were the one that kept putting maid costumes in my backpack last year?!"
"Wait, that's brilliant!", Kazuhiko said.
Mikan was going to aim an arrow at him until Kazuhiko waved his hands.
"Wait! I mean the orders you gave to Johei!"
Johei then noticed all the movement around him. The bishop was circling around him in a diagonal direction; Always landing on black spaces but not being able to touch the white ones.
"Holy shit… you're right!"
He started to celebrate.
"Yeah! I'm still alive!… Wait, did I just say all that aloud?"
Then, another bishop came into view; One that was on a white space. It launched itself into the air and was about to descend onto Johei until…
*THOCK*
An arrow hit it on the side and it went a few spaces too far. Johei turned to Mikan with a grateful look until he met her icy gaze.
"I swear, I will kill you after this…", She said menacingly.
"*gulp*"
Iselin broke her chains and cast a quick Agi before running to the rest of the group.
"I believe we have a plan now?", she asked as she brandished her knife.
Kazuhiko nodded.
"Yeah. Just don't blame me if any of you get hurt; This is a game of sacrifices, after all."
Johei started to laugh nervously as he heard Kazuhiko say that.
"Ha ha ha, you're kidding right?"
"Maybe…"
Johei shivered at the thought and chugged down a MadBull. Everyone formed a tight circle and faced the pieces in front of them. The rook positioned itself for attack until…
"Alright! Scatter!"
Iselin and Daichi moved into the direction of the white square bishop side by side. Yoichi shook his head as he held out his arm.
"You guys are absolute idiots. Command Bishop!"
The bishop sprang into the air and was about to squash onto Daichi.
"Now, go to the black squares!", Kazuhiko quickly yelled.
Daichi and Iselin quickly dodged and broke their chains.
"Twin Assault!"
"Swift Strike!"
They unleashed their attacks onto the bishop causing it to splinter into pieces. Yoichi cursed and sent two more pieces in their direction.
"Command Rook and Knight!"
Mikan stepped in and broke her chains.
"Bufula!"
The ice attack froze the knight in place as the rook moved towards Johei.
"Come and get me, ass-wipe!", Johei said as he beckoned towards the Rook.
The rook, although it lacked a face, looked agitated and slid towards Johei at top speed. Johei smiled and simply stepped onto the square that was diagonally in front of him to the right. The rook stopped quickly and attempted to make another move until Kazuhiko broke his chains.
"My move! Sonic Punch!"
Tyr appeared and gave the Rook a solid right thrust which smacked it into the Knight, breaking both of the pieces. Their shards soon melted into nothing as the team regrouped in front of Yoichi and his remaining pieces.
"Just a couple pawns left; they should be easy", Iselin said.
"But that Queen's gonna be a problem", Daichi jumped in.
"Not only does she have a wide range of movement, but she's also the main spell-caster."
Kazuhiko narrowed his eyes.
"Yoichi himself has yet to do anything…"
The large crowned shadow seemed to be daunting, yet it hadn't made a single step in any direction.
"What's he hiding?"
Yoichi quickly shuddered and cast his arms out.
"C-command! Queen troop with me! All pawns move out! Get to the end!"
Kazuhiko broke his chains to defend against the oncoming pawns.
"Don't let a single one pass! He's trying to bring back his old troops!"
Mikan quickly cast a Mabufu to stop the pawns, but they were suddenly buffed by the queen.
"Masukukaja!", Yoichi said as the pawns suddenly dodged the freezing ice blast.
Kazuhiko cursed and switched his Persona to Masamune.
"Giant Slice!"
"Right away, Kazuhiko-dono", Masamune said as he drew his blade.
A good deal of the pawns were destroyed except for three of them that had turned into two Rooks and a Bishop.
"Crap! Incoming!", Johei said as he readied his spear for defense.
The rooks positioned themselves a far distance away, but they were just on the rows next to the group.
"… What the hell?", Daichi thought.
Kazuhiko looked at the Bishop which had also started to move and positioned itself on the square diagonally next to them.
"Wait a second…"
He turned to look at the queen which was already on the move.
"Shit!"
He dodge-rolled out of the way before he was caught inside.
"Guys, don't move, you're in a trap!"
"Huh?"
Johei attempted to step to another square until he realized that he would get hit.
"Dammit! We can't go anywhere!", Iselin said in frustration.
"It seems that you four are in checkmate", Yoichi said triumphantly as he nodded towards the queen.
The queen charged a Mazio attack and unleashed on Iselin, Mikan, Johei, and Daichi.
"AAAAAAAUUUUUUUGHHHHH!"
"GUYS!"
Johei shook his head.
"Don't worry about us! You said there would be some sacrifice!"
Daichi nodded as he withstood the attack.
"Go! Don't waste your chance!"
Kazuhiko hesitated for a moment until Iselin shouted to him.
"Come on! You're the leader for a reason! You had to make hard decisions!"
Mikan made eye contact with him.
"We came here to rescue Yoichi! Coming back was our second priority; leave us if it means you can save him!"
Tears started to come down Kazuhiko's face as he turned towards Yoichi.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
He let his sword scratch the floor as he ran towards the behemoth shadow.
"Come on! I've already got the power I need! I can wipe you out in an instant all by myself!", Yoichi said as he readied his towering sword.
"You're wrong!", Kazuhiko said.
He leaped into the air and swung his sword down vertically. Yoichi attempted to block the stroke, but his sword jerked back.
"W-what?!"
Yoichi stepped back one square and prepared to block again. Kazuhiko easily batted his sword away, much to Yoichi's even greater shock.
"What the hell?! What did you do to me?!"
Kazuhiko smiled and stood at his spot.
"You're the King", he simply said.
Yoichi looked confused then advanced with his large sword. Kazuhiko held up his sword to block with one hand and smiled.
"Although the King is the most important piece, he is also the weakest and can't do anything by himself."
Yoichi continued to strike with his sword, but his attacks kept getting deflected by Kazuhiko. Kazuhiko turned back to his friends who were still trapped, but held their own.
"This also means", he continued.
"That if I defeat you…"
He deflected the attack once more before running towards Yoichi.
"Then we win!"
He leaped into the air and unleashed a series of slashes at the chinks in his armor. Back and forth his sword sang, cutting through the shadow's flesh and rendering it's armor to pieces. At last, the chestplate fell off and Kazuhiko plunged his arm into the dark matter. He felt around for a hand or arm and pulled Yoichi out. Immediately, the other pieces crumbled into ash as Yoichi emerged, and the rest of the team was free to go.
"Yeah! Way to go, Kaz!", Johei said as he ran over to his friend.
Kazuhiko smiled and sheathed his sword. Then, he turned to Yoichi who was weeping on his knees.
"All that power… and I couldn't even defeat you?… *sniff*"
The rest of the team lined up in front of him and let him cry for some moments.
"I'll… I'll never be able… to protect anyone… I won't be able to become strong anymore!"
He looked up at Kazuhiko and focused his anger on him.
"Why are you doing this?! I just want to be strong! Is it a crime to pursue my wishes?!"
"But Yoichi, you're already strong", Mikan said.
"I already told you that before, remember?"
Yoichi shook his head.
"You don't understand… My mother worked for a man called Issai. One night, he cam to… my house… he wanted to know… where my mother was…"
"And you told him that he had no right to do anything to her, didn't you?", Johei asked.
Yoichi nodded.
"Yes. He got angry and took advantage of my weakness to beat me up. My mom came into the middle of it… and she saw me suffering…"
Yoichi paused to wipe his eyes and calm his breathing.
"She said that she would do anything as long as he stopped hurting me… and it was all my fault… because I wasn't strong enough…"
Yoichi started to cry again and pound the ground with his fists.
"This was my only chance to become strong! And now, my mother's going to have to be his bitch now that I can't do anything to defend myself!"
Johei was about to step forward to help Yoichi, but Mikan stopped him and shook her head.
"Please… I'm just dead weight now… If I can't be strong, then I deserve to die… just leave me here… those things will finish me off."
Mikan, enraged, stepped forward and slapped Yoichi.
"OW! What was that for?!", Yoichi asked.
"For being an idiot!", she yelled back at him.
"If you're saying that if somebody is born weak and they deserve to die, you're an absolute idiot!"
Mikan started crying and fell to her knees in front of Yoichi. She slapped him again, but this time, there wasn't any force behind it. She continued to do this until her hand fell.
"I was weak before… someone else died for me so I could become stronger… Your mother did that so you could have more time to become stronger, so are you just going to throw away her sacrifice and spit in her face by dying?!"
Yoichi looked at the ground with guilt and didn't answer. Mikan prepared to slap him again, but Kazuhiko stopped her hand.
"Senpai, that's enough."
He helped Mikan back to her feet and knelt in front of Yoichi.
"Now, I know that I'm an underclassmen, but there's still a lot you need to learn."
He turned to the shards of the chess pieces that remained.
"See those chess pieces? That was your main line of attack in our last battle. You lacked the power to fight, but they lacked the power of strategy. With you commanding them, you were a nearly unstoppable force. You complimented each other. That's what true strength is."
Yoichi looked up at Kazuhiko's face.
"True strength isn't about being able to overcome your weaknesses, but it's about helping others with their's. And when it comes to that, you are the strongest out of us all."
Yoichi pondered over Kazuhiko's words and smiled.
"Man… I can't believe I was so blind… Sorry Echihiro-chan, you were right; I am a pretty big idiot."
He chuckled to himself and attempted to stand up.
"I'm sorry I put all of you through this. Please, you don't have to accept this, but thank you for saving me."
Everyone watched as Yoichi attempted to bow and stumbled on his feet. Kazuhiko quickly caught him and let him rest on his shoulder.
"Thanks. I really owe you guys."
"Well then, now that he's ready, let's get onto the main event!", a voice suddenly said behind them.
Kazuhiko turned around just in time to dodge a poisma attack. Mijuku started to chuckle as he swung his Kusari-gamas in circles.
"Alright then, no holding back!"
He swung his arm forward, making the hand scythe swing in an arc towards Kazuhiko and Yoichi.
*CLANG*
Johei blocked the attack at the last second with his spear and glared at Mijuku.
"What the hell, man? We just got him and now you want to fight us?"
Mijuku snapped his finger and summoned a large Persona.
"Stagnant Air"
His Persona ripped out of the ground and slammed it's large palms on the tiles. It's body was adorned with gems and jewels, while it's head was a two piece mask that was black. It's face portion and jaw part were sewn together by thread, but allowed it to open it's mouth and breath a heavy gas on them all.
"Agh! *cough* *cough*"
Johei was the first in line to face the gas and started to cough violently.
"Johei!", Kazuhiko called.
Johei shook his head.
"No! Don't touch it! *cough* *cough*"
Kazuhiko and the rest moved back until the gas dissipated. Then, they came to rejoin Johei.
"What was that?", Iselin asked.
"I don't know… I just feel pretty weak…", Johei said as he leaned on his spear.
"…what?… what the hell is this…?", Yoichi said to himself.
Kazuhiko turned to Yoichi and raised his eyebrow.
"What's wrong?"
Yoichi shook his head.
"Sorry, it's nothing."
Kazuhiko moved to the wall and let Yoichi down.
"Sorry, but I'm going to have to leave you here until we finish him off."
Yoichi looked saddened, but nodded as Kazuhiko went to rejoin the rest of the group. He pulled out his sword and let it hiss from being drawn out of the sheath.
"Let's get this over with."
He lunged towards Mijuku and executed a downward slice, but Mijuku quickly drew back his scythes to block the attack. Johei followed up by running to their side and attempting to skewer Mijuku before he dodged out of the way. An arrow just missed his head as he got back to his feet and he twisted his chain to stop an oncoming thrust from Iselin's knife. The chains wrapped around her forearm as he pulled on them to stop her from advancing. The result was a slight cracking sound and Iselin yelping in pain.
"AGH! Son of a Bitch!"
Daichi yelled as he advanced with his rapier, stabbing at Mijuku to drive him back. As soon he maintained a good enough distance…
"Mudo!"
"Hama!"
The crows flapped their wings and sent a wave of light and dark energy towards Mijuku.
"I'm not gonna stand around and wait for you to attack!", Mijuku said as he dodged the waves and broke his chains.
"Utgard-Loki! Vile Assault!"
His Persona popped out of the ground and unleashed a flurry of punches on Hugin and Munin. The crow brothers hit the wall and fell to the floor, breathing heavily.
"I… believe… a respite… is in order", Hugin said as he tried to catch his breath.
"Quite right… Give us a moment…", Munin said.
Daichi cursed to himself.
"Guys, I'm not gonna be able to fight for a little while. Any bright ideas, Kaz?"
Kazuhiko barely managed to block a Scythe attack with his blade, but felt it cut a deep wound in his arm.
"He's too unpredictable! I can't make a plan right now!"
Mijuku chuckled to himself.
"Too unpredictable? Well then, how about we up the stakes?"
He pulled on his chains and summoned his Persona.
"Sukukaja!"
Mijuku smiled and soon, he was nowhere to be seen. Only his Persona was left. Suddenly, Johei cried out in pain.
"Hagh!"
He knelt down and held his arm. Blood was pouring from the cut and he turned around to try and see where the attack came from.
"Over here!"
Iselin quickly ducked and felt his scythe cut a half inch of her hair.
"Asshole's way too fast! We can't catch him now!", Iselin said as she brandished her knife.
Kazuhiko focused his eyes on a spot until he saw a faint movement.
"There!"
He swung his sword and felt a quick connection before getting smacked on the side of the face.
"You sly mother-fucker! This was my only cloak! Now I'm royally pissed off!", Mijuku said as he returned to his Persona.
He broke his chains Utgard-Loki began to charge a massive amount of energy.
"Wipe 'em off the face of the planet!", he said as he pointed towards Kazuhiko's group.
"Kazuhiko!", Yoichi yelled.
Kazuhiko turned around and looked at Yoichi, who attempted to stand up.
"What the hell are you doing?! Run!", he said to the upperclassman.
Yoichi shook his head.
"Just attack that orb head-on!"
Johei ran to Kazuhiko's side and held up his spear for defense.
"Are you crazy?! The only thing we can do right now is pray we don't get killed!"
Kazuhiko looked into Yoichi's eyes and spoke.
"Look, the mission was to save you; Coming back ourselves was a different matter."
"Just trust me!"
Yoichi tightened his hands into fists and looked right back at Kazuhiko. Mikan stood by his side and nodded.
"We don't have anything to lose, so what's the worst that could happen?", she asked with a smile.
Kazuhiko hesitated, then sighed and formed the chains.
"Alright guys, here's what we're gonna do: Attack that large amount of energy in the mole's hands. Use your Personas so you don't get hurt. Zionga!
"We're really doing this, huh? Ah, why the hell not?", Iselin said as she broke her chains.
"Agilao!", Hildr said as she cast a blast of fire.Johei broke his chains and cast a Garula towards the massing ball of energy. Mikan sent a freezing wind in the direction o Utgard-Loki and turned to Yoichi.
"I hope you have something planned."
Yoichi smiled.
"Don't worry, everything's going as planned."
The attacks all merged together and was absorbed by the Persona. Johei started to panic.
"Uh, was that supposed to happen? I think we just signed our death contracts!"
Mijuku laughed as he saw the effect.
"What was that; a last resort attack?! Pathetic!"
Yoichi shook his head.
"Don't worry! It's fine! He won't be able to stabilize that much power."
"Huh?"
Mijuku turned back to Utgard-Loki with a worried look at him.
"Uh, Utgard? You… you can handle that… right?"
His Persona didn't answer as it struggled under the weight of the massive force.
"I… can't control it! It's gonna blow!"
Mijuku brought his arms up just in time to cover his eyes from a blinding flash that was followed by a ground-breaking explosion. When he brought down his arms, his Persona lay on the ground, weakened and incapacitated. He turned to the SPT with a firestorm in his eyes.
"You… YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!"
He broke his chains and made his Persona muster up a Sukunda before disappearing.
"Everyone, backs in a circle!", Kazuhiko said.
"No, keep your formation!", Yoichi said.
Kazuhiko looked at Yoichi questionably, but dropped it.
"So, what's your plan?"
Yoichi looked around and pointed at a black square.
"Echihiro-chan, freeze that square!"
Mikan nodded as she summoned Skadi.
"Bufu!"
In a split second, Mijuku appeared on the square with his foot caught in the ice.
"Dammit!"
"Hugin! Munin!", Daichi said as he pulled his chains apart.
"Hamaon!"
"Mudoon!"
Mijuku cursed and pulled on his leg with immense force until…
*SNAP*
"AGH!"
He was able to dodge the attack at the last second, but he ended up dislocating hes foot from his ankle. Mijuku held onto his foot with agony as he tried to relocate it.
"Now Kazuhiko!"
Mijuku turned around and saw Kazuhiko's chains dissipate with Tyr forming; already drawing his sword.
"Cross Slash!"
Tyr, faster than the eye could process, dealt two slashes with his sword and sheathed it. At first, nothing happened, until…
*SHINK*
*SHING*
*THUMP*
Mijuku, too exhausted to cry in agony, fell to the floor on his knees.
"Haghh… gugh… you… bastards… *cough* *cough*"
He started to cough up blood and hold his abdomen. The team walked up to Mijuku and stared down at him. Kazuhiko drew his sword and pointed it at his face.
"Who are you, Mijuku? Why are you doing all of this?"
Mijuku smiled underneath his hood.
"I'm never gonna tell you that."
Kazuhiko frowned, but kept at it.
"Then tell me why you attacked us; That's the least you could do."
Mijuku chuckled.
"Well, that can be answered."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. Kazuhiko hesitantly took out and looked at it.
"What is this?"
"Open it yourself. As for me, I've still got one last trick up my sleeve."
He brought his fingers to his lips and whistled. Immediately, shadow matter sprouted from the ground, grabbing onto his body and sucking him down. He screamed in pain as the shadows started to eat away at his body until his voice gave out and he was reduced into nothing.
"… shit… he just done himself in…", Johei said, trying to recover from shock.
"It's nothing that shouldn't have been expected. Damn Shiroe probably told all his subordinates to do that if they were to be defeated", Daichi said as he formed a fist.
"Another reason why he has to die…"
Kazuhiko stuffed the envelope into his pocket and turned to everyone.
"Well, I have to say we fulfilled our mission. Let's get back before we run into any more enemies."
(Evening)
Yoichi's House
Yoichi stood in front of the microwave, waiting for the timer to go off. The rest of the team said that they would talk to him once he got enough rest, and he should focus on getting better.
"Don't worry, we'll tell the school that we found in an alley at the mall all beat up; Shouldn't be too different from the actual story", Kazuhiko had told him.
Yoichi looked down at his hands. They still trembled, but not as much as they did before. He still felt the adrenaline of the battle in the Mirror Dimension, both of them. He balled his hand into a fist as he remembered what he did to them.
"Damn, why the hell did I do that?"
He hit the table beside him and felt a sharp sense of pain shot through his nerves. He brought his hand back up and rubbed it, but he seemed to recover quickly from it. The microwave started to beep, but he ignored it. He continued to sit at the table, deep in thought.
"I should really help them out for what they did for me… no, I'd end up being a burden."
He looked down at his hands and traced his finger on the old scars where the scalpels had cut through. But then, he felt angry at himself.
"I can't let that be an excuse; I'd just be an ungrateful bastard."
He slammed his fist on the table again, but this time, there wasn't any pain. He looked shocked, but smiled.
"Yeah, that's where my strength lies in: Supporting others. And that's just what I'll do!"
"Hm, a very interesting device. Oh, but it makes such an irritating sound!"
Yoichi looked up at the figure next to him and nodded.
"Sorry, I was just thinking to myself for a moment. Here I-"
Yoichi just opened the microwave door when he realized what he just saw.
"Oh, do be careful! It looks like the mug is quite scorching!"
Aaaaaaand we are back! Hey everyone, glad to finally be able to post again! First things first, we have a new fan! LingTrees! Everybody give them a warm welcome! Next, Yoichi's interview will take a little while; Not the next chapter because he's still recovering, so I'll give you guys some time to churn up some questions. Anyways, it looks like the guys roster is set and we'll only have new female characters from here on out. If you guys are leaving a review, tell me the top three social links that you want to see progress because the next chapter's gonna be all social links and no story so we can let Yoichi have some time to rest. In the meantime, See ya!
Body-Swap World: Mikan
Mikan held her head in her hands, panicking.
"Ohmygodwhatishappeningtomewhyamiinjoheisbodywhatthehellisthiswhyistheresomuchpornunderhisfuton?"
"Mikan! Pull yourself together!", Skadi said as she tried to hold Mikan's shoulders.
Her hands only succeeded in phasing through due to Mikan's panicking. Eventually, Mikan stopped her rambling and took a deep breath.
"Is this a dream, though? Yes it has to be a dream! I'll just pinch myself and wake up."
Mikan pinched her arm until she couldn't handle the pain anymore.
"Okay, this is real. I'll admit that."
"Finally. Now, we just need to meet up with everyone else to find out what's going on. Since you're in Johei's body, I guess he might be in yours."
Mikan raised an eyebrow.
"Wait, he could be in mine?"
Mikan quickly got dressed and headed for the door.
"Wait! Mikan! Where are you going?"
"To school! That pervert's gonna be up to something with my body if I don't catch him!"
Meanwhile…
"Man, why am I so tired just from walking to school? Do boobs really weigh that much?", Johei said to himself.
Back at Johei's house.
"Agh! Just the thought of it infuriates me!"
Skadi held up her hands.
"Okay, calm down! We're not in a hurry! If anything, the other's will meet him and find out what's going on before he does anything!"
"Wait, if you're in Loki's body, does that mean that Loki is inside yours?"
"…"
Kyuto High; Front Gates
"So, everyone has this problem except for Kaz?", Johei asked.
Everyone nodded, except for Kazuhiko who scratched the back of his head.
"I don't know what's going on, but let's find out what it is after school. Just try to act casual."
"Johei!"
"Wait, did anyone hear that?", Johei asked.
"Loki!"
"Say, I'm picking up something too…", Loki said.
"Hai-YAH!"
"Sonic PUNCH!"
Kazuhiko watched as Mikan and Skadi (in Johei's and Loki's body) punch/kick Johei and Loki (in Mikan and Skadi's body) into the school hallway. He sighed and rubbed his temples.
"This is gonna be a long day…"
