Wednesday, April 8th

Gekkoukan High

Kaz headed to his classroom rather quickly, honestly just wanting to get the day over with. It's not that yesterday put him in a bad mood, but he could swear that there was more people looking at him today than before. He just wanted to keep a low-profile for now. Stick to the shadows until he could be overlooked then come out on his own so he could forge his own identity without other people's opinions.

By the time he found his seat, he overheard some chatter from fellow classmates. It didn't seem interesting at first, but it eventually found itself on a topic that he couldn't ignore. One that sounded familiar.

"Hey, remember Tsubaki-chan?" one female student asked the other.

The other female nodded. "Yeah. I haven't seen her around lately."

"Well, there's a rumor going around that something happened to her."

"Something happened? What's that?"

"Like, she doesn't really respond to anything and just constantly stares at the walls. Whenever her mom tries to talk to her, she just goes 'It's coming... It's coming...'"

"Really? That just sounds like some sort of ghost story."

But to Kaz, it rang some bells. Granted, he didn't hear anything about what's 'coming', but the constant staring? Mitsuru told him about that. Only it wasn't something that could be taken care of directly.

Iwatodai Dorm

The first year headed straight back after school, ready to go up to his room and take care of his work. However, he noticed a somewhat familiar face... although he has only seen this man once before. Back when he was first being recruited for SEES. Plus it was nice to see another person wearing glasses.

"Oh, Kazuo!" He seemed pleasantly surprised, making the attention of the girl sitting across from him focus on the boy that entered.

"Kaz-kun! How are you?" Yukari asked with a slight smile on her face.

Kaz let his bag fall to his hand as she strolled over to take a seat on the empty couch. "Not too bad, though I keep getting this feeling that people are staring at me."

"Oh?" the man's interest seemed piqued. "What makes you think that?"

Yukari, however, sighed as she subtly shook her head. "Those rumors probably. Really, I never took you as someone to be so cautious about that stuff, Kaz."

"I have my reasons." Kaz leaned forward in his seat, directing his attention to the man adjacent from him. Now, time for him to voice his interest. "So, Mr. Chairman, what brings you here?"

"Does one need a reason?" Though it was a good comeback, Kaz wasn't going to let up so easy. "Actually, I came here to introduce myself to your new dorm-mate. Also, there's one other matter that needs to be addressed."

"Other matter?"

"Yes. It is actually regarding the person in question, Ms. Arisato herself."

"Minako? What about her?"

A small smile crossed the chairman's features. "I believe you already know, given the time of which you first seen her."

"The time I..." Kaz took a moment to think about it, but it finally hit him regarding what the chairman meant. "Oh! Right. It didn't really hit me till just now. But, uh... How do you suggest going about it?"

"That's the... Well, the part I'm not sure about," Yukari spoke up, which caught Kaz's attention. "We're supposed to... surveillance her during the Dark Hour."

"Surveillance? You mean like-"

"I know what you're thinking," the chairman cut Kaz off. "It's the best possible way to ensure she has the potential without alerting her to the situation prematurely. As Yukari has told me, Minako seems to still be unaware of what exactly happened that night."

Kaz glanced over at Yukari, the second year firmly nodding to him. "Right..." He sighed, taking off his glasses before he started rubbing his eyes. 'Now I see why Yukari doesn't like this. We're practically spying on her.'

"But speaking of which, have you by chance seen Ms. Arisato on your way here, Kazuo?"

"No, I didn't." The first year put this glasses back on. "I was getting everything together so I could get here as fast as possible, so I may have left before her."

It was in that moment, that the door opened, all eyes adverting toward the incoming presence. However, it was as if everything was perfectly orchestrated as a Gekkoukan student with auburn hair made her entrance. Seriously, that girl had near-perfect timing.

"Oh, she's back," Yukari announced and got an inquisitive look from Minako.

"So, this is our new guest..."

As the chairman pushed up his glasses, Minako's look only deepened. Kaz could imagine the questions going through her mind at the moment, so he motioned her to walk over and sit down, which she did.

"Good evening," the man said, keeping his voice as cheerful as ever. "My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board for you school."

"Ikutse- No. Ikutki..." Minako tried to repeat the name, though after her first couple of fumbles, that smile she normally has turned into a sheepish one.

"'Ikutsuki'," he repeated. "Hard to say, isn't it?"

"Yes... Sorry, about that."

"No, it's perfectly fine. It's why I don't like introducing myself. Even I get tongue-tied sometimes." Kaz could testify to that. His first meeting with Ikutsuki had the man trip over his own name once. "But I apologize about the confusion regarding your accommodations."

'Oh, right.' The first year almost forgot about her being transferred to another dorm. But... it wasn't really relief he felt...

"Is there anything you would like to ask?"

Minako looked down for a moment, as if thinking things over, but then the first question came. "If I may ask, why did you come here?"

"To welcome you, of course." Typical Ikutsuki. "Speaking of which... Where's Mitsuru, Yukari?"

"She's upstairs," she answered, rather quickly in fact.

"As diligent as always. Although, it doesn't hurt to come down and say hello..."

"She probably doesn't know you're here yet," Kaz stated as he looked toward the stairs. "I could go get her."

"No, that's fine. But thank you for the offer, Kazuo." However, that bit of conversation dropped quickly. "Do you have another question, Miss Arisato?"

She nodded. "Who else lives here?"

"There are only five students in this dorm: You, Yukari and Kazuo here, Mitsuru, and a senior named Akihiko Sanada." He then flashed a smile. "I hope you all get along."

As if it was contagious, Minako smiled herself. "So do I."

"Well, is there anything else?"

She took a moment, her eyes trailing to the clock. "There was this one thing that..."

Then her eyes went to Kaz, holding a look that told him she was recalling a memory, likely about him. Given how she was going about that statement, Kazuo could guess exactly what she had in mind, which made him glance to Yukari. The girl in pink noticed this and then glanced at Minako with what seemed to be her own message. As the triangle effect hit Minako, she got the message and eventually shook her head.

"No, never mind. No more questions."

Ikutsuki hummed in thought, but let it go after a second. "Then, I hope you have a successful school year. Now, if you'll excuse me." He got out of his seat, seemingly starting to head upstairs. Although, he had one more thing to say. "You must be tired from all the excitement. You should go to bed early." But then came that smirk, informing Kaz and Yukari of what was coming next. "As they say, 'The early bird catches the bookworm'!"

"Oh, God..." The first year buried his face in his hand while Yukari just put her head down.

"Please, forgive the bad pun."

Even his own chuckle didn't make it funny, but Kaz noticed out of the corner of his eye that Minako was smiling at Ikutsuki, though he could have sworn he saw a sweat drop falling down the side of her face. Okay, so she didn't really find it funny either. She was just trying to be polite. The last thing Kaz needed was someone in the dorm that actually liked the Chairman's horrid sense of humor.

"You'll get used to his lame jokes..." Yukari stated to Minako.

Kaz, however, was rubbing his eyes. "Though... it may take a while..."

Command Room

The night passed and Minako decided to take Ikutsuki's advice and head to bed somewhat early. Part of Kaz wanted to do the same thing, but he promised he would be in the Command room before the time came. Everyone else went ahead of him, and Kaz was sure the Chairman just went through the door by the time the first year was nearly at the top of the staircase. He knew what they were going to do tonight... and it honestly didn't sit right with him. The boy just hoped there would be some logical explanation for all this.

"She went to bed a little while ago." Kaz heard Mitsuru say from beyond the door. He didn't hear much else as he opened the door... save for one trailing question. "Mr. Chairman, do you think she's...?"

"Well, let's wait and see for now." Kaz made his way behind the patient man, watching the screen that shown Minako sound asleep in her room. "... The Dark Hour is approaching."

The seconds ticked by. There was one thing that Kaz listened closely to as times like these came about, and that was the ticking of a clock. Even tonight, he brought his analog watch so he could simply listen to it as the time boiled down to the last moment. Then it was so close. The boy closed his eyes, his ears focused on his watch until, eventually, he couldn't hear it any more. Once his eyes opened, the scenery was different. Darker. Just like all those other nights.

"Hmm... She's still sleeping." Ikutsuki's words made Kaz look up at the screen again, finding it to be just as he described. "The Dark Hour occurs every day at twelve midnight; you could say it's the 'hidden' hour. During this time, an ordinary person transmogrifies into a coffin, and is oblivious to all that occurs."

Kaz's eyes focused more on Minako during the man's lecture. "Any ordinary person..." he repeated with a softer voice than usual.

Yukari glanced away from Ikutsuki and fixed her eyes on Minako as well. "Then she must be..."

"As you can see," the Chairman continued, "she's retained her human form. She's asleep, but she's definitely experiencing the Dark Hour. The only question that remains is whether or not she has the potential."

"But she has to, right?" Kaz came in, stepping closer to everyone. "I mean, if she didn't then wouldn't the Shadows... You know..." The boy made a gesture with his hand like it was wanting to claw at his head to get to his brain.

Ikutsuki nodded, Yukari shivering slightly soon after. "Scary..."

"In any case, we should continue to monitor her for a few more days." The Chairman seemed so calm despite the reference Kaz just made.

"Yes, Sir." Mitsuru as well.

"I feel kinda bad, though, spying on her like this..." Yukari openly admitted. Kazuo had to agree, though he didn't outright say it. Hopefully he could find a way out of this... At least to where it wasn't an every night thing.

Thursday, April 9th

Gekkoukan High

Kaz got out of that room first that night, so he got his fair share of sleep... or at least he thought so. He had to agree with Yukari on this matter about Minako, and that left his mind racing even while he lied in bed. It just felt wrong to him. Sure, he understood to an extent exactly what they were doing, but morally it just wasn't in him to continue doing it. Sitting in his chair in class, the boy was thinking of some way to get out of it. Surely there was some excuse he could come up with. But... would he even need an excuse? Couldn't he just ask to stay out of this one?

"Mr. Kujikawa!" Kazuo snapped out of his thoughts, the teacher looking him dead in the eye. "Since you seem to be in deep thought about this subject, please repeat which battle Minamoto no Yoshinaka made his final stand."

Oh crud, he wasn't even paying attention to that part! "Uh... Kurikara?"

"No, I talked about that earlier. It was the Battle of Awazu. If you have time to think, Kazuo, you have time to listen. Now, onto his passing and the story of one of his servants..."

Okay, now he just looked dumb.

After school was like a breath of fresh air. Once again, he was put on the spot. Why did people keep doing that to him? Honestly, he was still having other students giving questioning glances in his direction, like they were trying to figure him out, and it bothered the first year to no end. If he was going to find some people outside of the ones at the dorm to hang out with, it wasn't going to be anytime soon. He knew that much.

"Hey, Kaz." Speaking of which, the first two people he sees at the shoe lockers were Yukari and Minako, both of which seemed to be about ready to head out.

The boy waved at them, a small smile on his face. "Hi, girls. How are you?"

"Good," Minako answered as cheerfully as ever. "What about you?"

"Eh, not so much. Got lost in thought during class and missed some info. The teacher's eyes are like a hawk." How exactly the teacher caught him like that was still a mystery, to be honest.

"Ouch. Sorry to hear that." Yukari's words were sincere, but didn't sound all that surprised. Maybe she knew the situation from personal experience? "We were going to head out to the mall and show Minako around some. You interested?"

It was tempting, to be honest. However, he had already went there and gotten a decent feel of the place. Plus, he had other plans. "Thanks, but I was actually going to go to the dorms and hit the books. After that question, it made me want to make sure I stay ahead a bit."

Kaz would have sworn there was a slight look of disappointment in the girls' eyes, despite the lack of tone change in the brunette's next words. "Alright. We'll see you later then."

"Of course." Nodding, Kaz saw them off before getting everything ready to head back. He needed to do something until the Dark Hour rolled around, but he thought it was best to focus on education for the time being.

Iwatodai Dorm

Studying... was boring. No other way to describe it. But he kept at it for a good while until it got dark, the full moon glowing through his window. Looking at the clock, it seemed to be roughly a quarter after nine. A good time to stop and take it easy for the rest of the night until it was time to get into other business. Speaking of which, a quick drink wouldn't hurt.

Kaz headed out of his room and made his was to the vending machines at the end of the hall. Between the selection, he noticed his personal favorite Cielo Mist was among them, depositing the Yen and grabbing it the moment it came down. Nothing like a good soda to put you in a good mood.

"Hi, Kaz." Minako's voice made the boy stop taking a drink midway. He just got a small drop of it in his mouth. Talk about a tease.

"Oh, hey, Minako. What's up?"

"Just heading up to my room, but then I saw you."

"Saw me? Well, I can't say I'm the best looking guy in the world, but..." Kaz instinctively pushed up his glasses. He meant that as a joke, but the way he took it actually embarrassed himself to an extent. However, he was able to keep the blush suppressed.

It did get a small laugh out of the red-eyed girl, though. "No, just felt like chatting."

"Oh. I could take a stab at that." Question is, what sort of topic? At the very least, he could try talking about his personal experience. "Do you think it's common to be put on the spot in class?"

"Sure."

"You do?" That quick answer sort of took Kaz aback. "So... Maybe I'm just getting edgy for no reason..."

Though that open thought got the auburn hair girl a little curious. "Edgy?"

"Yeah... You remember when we came back the other day and I was in a bad mood from the rumors?" She nodded. "I just don't like being in the spotlight. I'm more of a backstage kind of guy."

"So you don't like being that social?"

"No, not quite like that. I'm willing to talk, but I just want to keep a low profile. Not really the kind of guy who wants to make a name for himself. Just want to be normal."

"I see... I think I get where you're coming from."

She thinks? Well, the reasoning behind his desires wasn't exactly something he openly brought up anyway. So it was hard to find ways around it. Minako wasn't pressing the matter, though, which he was thankful for.

"All right. I'm gonna go ahead and get some sleep. Night, Kaz." With that, she made her way to her room, leaving Kaz alone with his soda. But as he looked in the can, he couldn't stop thinking about what was going to happen tonight.

Dark Hour

The command room was just as silent as ever, the only noise being from the machinery and Kaz's phone as he opened and closed it frequently. Yes, he knew it was off, but the constant flipping gave him some form of entertainment to keep his mind from completely settling on the idea that they were spying on a girl while she was sleeping. Actually... thinking of it like that only made it sound wrong in more ways than one.

The door opened, Ikutsuki entering in the room with his eyes immediately heading for the monitor. "How is she?"

"The same as last night," Mitsuru responded. The way her voice sounded, she didn't seem to be entirely thrilled about doing this.

"Hm... Very interesting." The man walked up to everyone, his eyes glued to the image on the screen. "Even those who have the potential tend to be unstable at first... Memory loss... disorientation..." The boy couldn't help but think back to when he first experienced it. Disoriented was definitely a word to describe it. "But, this subject is rather unique. She hasn't exhibited any of the common symptoms."

"But..." Yukari gained the attention now, "we're treating her like a guinea pig."

"I understand your concern, but it's imperative that we recruit new members."

'Imperative... But the methods are questionable,' The first year thought.

"I heard she's in your class," Ikutsuki continued. "Wouldn't you be more comfortable working with someone from the same grade? A female classmate, at that."

"Yeah, I guess." She seemed somewhat convinced, though she looked troubled still and even further voiced her opinion. "But, still..."

Kaz could have chimed in, but he didn't for two reasons. One, he understood both sides of the situation, but because of that, his own conflict with it kept him from saying anything at all. The other reason, though, came from signal that someone was using the comms system.

"Command Room." Mitsuru answered it as professionally as ever. "... Is that you, Akihiko?"

"You're not gonna believe this...!" That voice was definitely from the third year Kaz had met before. "This thing is huge! Unfortunately I don't have time to talk... It's chasing me..."

"Chasing?" Kaz stood up from his seat, getting a little nervous.

"I wanted to let you guys know. I'm almost there." There? Wait, he was-

"Does that mean... he's bringing that thing here!?" Yukari's surprised observation just spiked Kaz's nervousness. That thing... he had to have meant a Shadow. A huge one.

"Mr. Chairman! Let's suspend our observation for now. We'll prepare for battle!" The red-head third year was on top of things, wasting no time in getting out of her seat and jogging to the door.

"... R-right! Be careful!" With Ikutsuki's words ringing out, Yukari and Kaz followed Mitsuru close behind.

Once the three got to the lounge, the sight of a silver haired student slumping on the floor didn't make any of them feel any better. "Akihiko!" Mitsuru voiced her concern as they ran over. The older boy was clutching his side, but no darkened redness on his sweater vest only told them that she wasn't bleeding. He must have taken a hit that broke a rib or two.

"I'm alright," he said with a breathy voice. However, that smirk of his shown itself as he looked at all of them. "Get ready to be surprised... It'll be here any second." The words of an injured man speaking like it was some sort of sport.

"This is no time to joke around!" The female third year's words echoed Kaz's own thoughts.

"It's one of them, Akihiko?" Ikutsuki surprised the first year. He didn't even know the chairman followed them all down there.

"Yes," he answered, "but not an ordinary one-"

Akihiko was cut short as something hit the building, shaking the place. The suddenness of it made Kaz and Yukari yell from the shock. No, the Shadows Kaz remembered would not be big enough to shake the building like that. But now the thought of exactly how big it was scared the boy.

"What the?! … You've gotta be kidding me!" Again, now Yukari's words just echoed Kaz's thoughts.

"Mr. Chairman, please head for the command room!" Mitsuru ordered. "Takeba, Kujikawa, go upstairs and wake Arisato up! Then, escape out the back."

Kaz had no complaints with that. "R-roger that!"

Yukari, however, had one question. "But, what about you two?"

"We'll stop it here," Mitsuru responded, but then glanced hard at Akihiko. "You led it to us, Akihiko, so I'm afraid you'll have to fight."

"Like I had a choice!" He almost sounded offended, though that irritation was then directed at the younger students. "What are you two waiting for? Go!"

"W-we're going!" Yukari glanced over at Kaz real quick before the two dashed off, heading up the stairs. This was going to be hard to explain to Minako after it was all over. Kazuo was sure of it. He only hoped that she wasn't the stubborn type who demanded answers before moving one inch.

Kaz reached the door first, banging on it a few times. There was no need for manners in a time like this. "Wake up!"

"W-what? What's gong on?" He could hear her confused voice behind the door, but Yukari did want to answer questions.

"Sorry, we're coming in!" The brunette took hold of the knob and opened the door, swiftly making her way into Minako's room as Kaz stood guard out front. "We don't have time to explain. We have to get out of here, now!"

"What? But-"

"Hurry! Downstairs! We'll leave through the back door!"

Yukari grabbed Minako's arm, pulling her out of the room. On her way out, Minako glanced at Kaz, finding the same amount of urgency in his eyes as there was in Yukari in the moment. To the first year, she seemed to understand soon after as she made sure to keep up the pace while the three made their way back down and to the rear entrance. She no doubt had tons of questions all of a sudden, but at least she wasn't like what Kaz expected.

Once the three made it to the rear entrance, Yukari stopped and listened. The quietness they found seemingly reassuring. It made the second year and first year calm down a tad, though Minako seemed to stay on alert. It only made sense, since she had no idea what was going on.

"Alright, we should be safe now-" Before she could address it any further, the comm Yukari had rung out, catching all of their attention.

"Takeba, do you read me!?" It was Mitsuru, the urgency from her voice not only still there, but increased.

"Y-Yes! I hear you!" She almost fumbled the device trying to grab it.

"Be careful! There's more than one enemy!"

"More!?" Kaz didn't like the sound of that one bit.

"The one we're fighting isn't the one Akihiko saw!"

"What!?" The two were almost in total sync with their outburst. Though not even a second later there was a loud thud on the rear door, like whatever was outside was trying to bust its way in.

"Oh, crap!" If Minako didn't understand the gravity of the situation before, she had a better hold of it now. But after one glance between Yukari and Kaz, the two looked to the newer girl before the boy stated the previous silent agreement. "We need to pull back!"

The only other thing the two could think of now was up, so they started going up the stairs. The building was sturdy, so Kaz didn't think there was too much danger so long as they stayed inside. However, they all stopped the moment the sound of broken glass emitted from below.

"Did you hear that?" The first year asked, not even bothering to look at the girls.

He was more worried about what may come after that sound... and he was right to be. There was sudden stomping, enough to get the floor beneath them to tremor. It was like there was a giant right below them, and it was getting closer.

"K-Keep moving!" Yukari ordered. "Hurry!"

The three dashed their way up the stairs, Kaz nearly tripping once, but caught his balance and didn't lose much ground between him and the girls. Once at the top, the brunette opened a door to the roof and ushered both Minako and Kazuo to head out, which neither of them hesitated, and then locked the door behind them.

Yukari sighed, her shoulders dropping a little. "The door's locked. I think we're safe for now..."

"We better be," Kaz stated as he bent down, hands on his knees. "I can't keep running like this..."

"Um..." The two looked to Minako, the confused and somewhat frightened look on her face making the boy feel like a bad guy.

"Oh, right..." Yukari looked apologetic, and she was about ready to say something else to help either explain or put Minako to ease.

However, it was interrupted as a deep roar came from just over the ledge. The three gasped, Kaz's blood running cold as he feared the worst. But just then a giant black hand reached up and grabbed the edge, another one following as a mask was held up, looking around until it finally settled on them. But what came next was the really freaky part. Suddenly five other hands came up and grabbed the edge, with even more appearing from behind each holding large knives that shimmered in the green moonlight. Kaz knew what it was, and his face was slowly turning white as it climbed over and started heading for them.

Yukari started shaking her head in disbelief, though her eyes were totally fixated on the creature. "You gotta be kidding me! It climbed up the wall!?"

"I-I thought it was s-still inside!?" Kaz said, his voice trembling. He still wasn't used to seeing these things, and this one was gigantic.

Yukari, however, stole a glance at Minako, who was staring wide-eyed at the thing before all of them. This wasn't the way any of them wanted the auburn haired girl to find all this out. "That's the thing that attacked this place," Yukari said as calm as possible. "We call them Shadows!"

Kaz was trying to get his nerves together. This wasn't the way a SEES member should be acting, especially when there was someone completely unable to fight nearby. They had to protect her... "Yukari."

Kaz's voice reached the brunette, helping her realize what he was thinking. "O-oh yeah... We have to fight..." They both reached for their evokers. "I-I can summon mine... No problem..."

She was trying to convince herself, Kaz knew, but as he himself gripped the gun-shaped tool and pulled it out, his mind was sending up so many flags. He knew what he had to do... but it's just how it was done... Seriously, how could he do that? How could their senpai do it? But still... there was no other way here, and he couldn't fight without it.

Looking over the Yukari, she just then put the gun to her head, prompting Kaz to put his under his jaw. He was asked before it he were to ever shoot himself, where would he place the gun, and this was his answer. But this time... it was just a matter of pulling the trigger. He was told time and again that it wouldn't kill him, but it felt so real. So much so that he hesitated to the point of his muscles turning to stone.

But as he glanced to Yukari one more time, he just then noticed the explosion going off in front of her, blowing her back. "Yukari!" Kaz called out to her, but as he looked at the Shadow, it was now focused on him. It tried to slice him, though Kaz was able to just miss it by lunging back. However, it followed up with another arm and grabbed the boy before flinging him back against a wall, knocking the wind out of him. He went in a daze for a moment, unable to process anything until he shook his head and looked up to see Minako. Holding an evoker up to her head.

He wanted to say something, but the red-eyed girl seemed entirely focused. Then he heard something she whispered. "Per... so... na..."

Then she did it. She pulled the trigger. Kaz could only sit and watch as a figured formed above her. Her inner-power. Her potential. "Her Persona..." He just whispered it through his breath, surprised that someone was able to just pick up the tool and use it on their first try.

But something happened. Minako suddenly gripped her head as she first groaned, then started screaming. Her persona started to jerk, then the head literally popped off as a hand reached out from inside it, ripping her persona apart as a new figure took it's place. Dark, menacing, and surrounded by coffins. It was like... death incarnate.

As if Kaz's initial idea wasn't enough, the strange persona suddenly lunged at the massive Shadow, ripping it apart, cutting it up, and bashing it to death. It didn't relent at all, making what was once believed as a fearsome enemy nothing more than a distant memory. It was... amazing. Were he not in pain in that moment, he would have ran over to Minako like a fanboy with how she handled that. Actually... Looking back at Minako again, she was still holding her head as if in pain. During that display of raw power, Kaz almost forgot that what she initially summoned was torn apart by this beast... Though once he looked back over to it, the persona he saw her summon first was floating there. It was bizarre, to say the least.

The first year pushed himself up, using the wall as support, and kept his eyes on Minako for the moment. It was really hard to process all that just happened, but what the first year knew for sure was that this girl just saved him and Yukari. On that thought, Kaz glanced over to see the brunette getting up on her own, her eyes betraying her shock and awe. She obviously must have saw what all happened to. Though by the time to two of them was able to stand, their savior dropped the evoker she was hold and fell to the ground.

"Minako!" The two of them hurried, Yukari faster than Kaz in that moment, and knelt down next to the collapsed girl.

"Are you okay!?" Yukari shook Minako lightly, trying to get some sort of response.

"Hey, come on!" Kaz lightly smacked the girl on the cheek, hoping that was get something. "Stay with us!"

"Can you hear me!? Please... Answer me!"