Astaire looked on with a taut brow in the direction of the janitor cleaning up the mess. The stage went from being the scarlet-stained scene of a brutal assault to sparkling clean in no time, as though nothing had happened at all. The men he'd knocked out had been carried away by medical staff, carting them off to who-knows-where. Staring out and replaying the event In his head, a deep and profound conflict stirred as he thought about his actions.

Fighting was his forte, as he saw it, though in truth it was more killing than fighting. There were no non-lethal approaches in Lordran, not even with those who still held their sanity. Make a wrong move once and they'd have it out for you forever. It was the sort of environment that had left Astaire with the tools and the methods to completely empty the entirety of Lordran, given the time. Not that it'd do him much good now, given that acting in his usual manner had gotten him into this mess.

He sighed to himself for what must've been the fifth time within minutes as he mulled over what to do in his head. Obviously he'd need to apologise for yelling at Rise first. That'd be fun. As for whether or not to apologise for bludgeoning the two men into respective pulps, he wasn't sure. What was the alternative, risk them getting away? Risk having one of them harm Rise?

As he had taken a tendency of doing, Astaire flipped open the Bottomless Box and began rummaging through it. If he couldn't stop himself fighting, he'd just have to stop himself from hurting people as badly as he did. Surely there had to be something in here which would help him save face while saving other people's faces.

Yet as he continued taking inventory, his hopes of finding a way around his violent habits dimmed every second. After all, if he'd punched someone to within an inch of their lives with naught but a pair of caesti, what would a Greathammer do to them? He tried not to think about it as he kept searching.

Finally, Astaire shut the box in frustration. He'd considered a few options, such as using wooden bolts with a crossbow instead of any metal variants, but he'd found that they were unreliable as ammunition. A whip might have been a good idea, had he not needed to use it on the move. Articulating it while standing still was fine, but if he had to chase someone down again, that was another story.

A few fleeting thoughts had crossed his mind, but he'd found reason to give up on each of them. For the first time in quite a while, Knight Astaire was woefully underprepared.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, his left brushing against the polaroids of him and Kanami. Lacking anything else to do, Astaire chose to flick through them, thinking partly of the men who were taking them, and the press in general. "Don't let them think you're my boyfriend." Had been Rise's first order upon seeing them, and it'd stuck in Astaire's head.

For another fifteen minutes, he sat on watch for any more photographers or people he had to not brutally disfigure. Thankfully, the only one to show up was someone he already knew not to hurt. "Oh, uh, hey- hello, Astaire-san." Inoue stammered, looking much more flustered than he'd done earlier. Whether it was due to his work, Astaire's work, or both was uncertain. "Good job, y'know, with that whole thing." He said, motioning to the stage with his head.

"I'm not sure "good" is the word I'd use." He replied with a sigh. "Do you think what I did was right, Mr. Inoue?"

Caught off by the question, Inoue leaned against the crate adjacent to Astaire's, taking out a small box with his lunch in it as he pondered how to reply. "Well, I wouldn't say that exactly. It's never right to hurt people, especially that badly." Off to a great start, evidently. "Not to mention the implications this could have might make things a little… difficult for someone. Might be me, might be someone else." He paused, taking a bite of sausage from his bento box. "I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"What else was I supposed to do? Let him run out on stage and harm Ms. Kujikawa?"

"You don't know he was going to do that though, right?"

Astaire's brow creased slightly as deja vu swept over him. "Better safe than sorry. I had to do something about their trespassing, if nothing else."

"Look." Inoue began, propping himself off the crate and pointing his chopsticks towards Astaire. "I'm not going to argue that apprehending them was the right thing to do. It's just the way you did it that most people would take issue with. You beat those guys senseless."

"Beating people senseless is about all I'm good at, I'm afraid." The knight said, examining the greathammer he'd retrieved from the box. Inoue noticed him weighing it up with his hands on the hilt, almost choking as he lifted it up off the ground without issue. It looked like it weighed a tonne, with the creaking floorboards underneath it a testament to that.

Inoue gulped. It was a wonder there was anything left of the two photographers to throw out. "Well, you'll need to shift that habit, and fast. If you thought the tabloids about you were bad before, just wait until this gets out." He said, internally feeling a bit ill as he contemplated the amount of work he'd have to do to make up for this.

However, the reaction he'd coaxed out of Astaire was unexpected. He raised an eyebrow as he turned to face him. "Why? What do you think they'll be saying?"

Puzzled by his lack of deflation and disappointment, Inoue elaborated. "Oh, I don't know. I imagine it'll be something along the line of "Psycho bodyguard brutalises press on stage at Risette's rehearsal?!" or something to that effect." He said, gesturing with his chopsticks.

A very rapid train of thought seemed to be leaving the station, if Astaire's face was anything to go by. "Say, just out of curiosity, what would be worse?" He began, his hands brushing the photographs in his pocket. "Me brutalising two intruders, or rumours of a love triangle involving Ms. Kujikawa, myself and someone else?"

Thoroughly puzzled once more, Inoue stopped to take in what he'd just been asked. "That's an… oddly specific situation you're comparing that to. But from a press standpoint? I guess the love triangle. Idols have been kicked out of the business for less."

Astaire sighed lightly as Inoue spoke. "Good. That's a relief" He said. "I'll still need to apologise to Ms. Kujikawa, though. I shan't feel right facing her until I do."

Just about done with his food, Inoue tidied himself up and stood up straight once again. "Whatever you do, you'd better do it quick. This sort of thing makes work a living hell, know what I mean? Anyway, there's another rehearsal starting soon, I'd best be going. Later." Inoue said with a small wave, running up towards the dressing rooms.

Brilliant. More awful music to listen to in the meantime. All the same, little could stem the small feeling of relief Astaire felt well up in his chest.

"Oh, darn it! Now my eyes are all puffy!" Rise said quietly to herself, reaching for the eye cream in her cabinet. On top of everything else, the tears had displaced some of her makeup. Things just got better and better, it seemed. She was going to need help with this. One speed dial later and Rise's stylist, Ms. Mori, was helping repair the damage. Obviously there was the slight matter of explaining why she'd been crying in the first place, which gave the two something to talk about as Mori worked.

All manner of powders and instruments were applied before Rise was looking right again. She was pretty enough without makeup, but she was far from it with badly-damaged makeup. "There we go, good as new! What do you think?" Mori asked, smiling.

"Yeah, it's great. Thank you, Mori-san." Rise replied halfheartedly.

Rise's uncharacteristic lack of enthusiasm caught Mori's attention. "What's the matter? Are you feeling okay?"

Usually Rise enjoyed her work, hence why she'd returned after hiatus. Seeing her now was a far cry from how she usually was. "It's just him, you know?! What was he thinking, going off like that? He isn't even sorry for it!" She yelled all at once, nearly on the verge of tears again. "I'm… I'm scared that he'll do it again. That maybe he might actually kill someone."

Sensing her concern, Mori placed her hands on her shoulders. "Look, maybe you just need to talk things over with him. From the sounds of it, I don't think he'd refuse whatever you ask of him." She put her hands on her hips and stared at Rise via the mirror in front of her. "Just walk right up and say to him, "Stop hurting people, I as your Queen demand it!""

Her dramatic flair made Rise stifle a laugh. "Well, I don't think that's exactly how I'd put it." She said with a small smile. "But do you really think it'd be that easy?"

Mori nodded. "Sure! You're gonna have to talk to him eventually, right? You might as well get it over with sooner rather than later, or you both might regret it."

Rise seemed to find Mori's enthusiasm rather infectious as she picked herself up from her chair, determination to set things right filling her chest. "You're right! I'll go talk to him right now, thanks, Mori-san!" She said as she rushed out the door. As though guided by radar, she headed towards stage right. There was little doubt in her mind that Astaire would be there, given how averse he was to parting with her in the first place.

At least, that's what Rise hoped. In truth, she wasn't sure what he'd be thinking, nor how he'd react after stewing over what happened for all this time. The further towards the backstage door she got, the more she felt her chest tighten in anxiety. As she reached out and held the door handle, she took a deep breath to calm herself. There was no need to make this any more difficult than it had to be.

Just as she'd suspected, Astaire was still outside. He was leaning on the guardrail beside the stairs, glancing over towards the stage while also scanning the area below him.

Perhaps it was best to approach this casually and try not to make a bigger scene than last time. Stepping over as carefully as she could, as though trying not to rouse a sleeping beast, Rise made her way over and placed her arms on the banister in a similar fashion. However, she forgot the part where she was supposed to say something to break the tension, leaving the two in an awkward silence.

Though both parties found putting their thoughts into words difficult, somebody had to say something. "Do you enjoy hurting other people?" Rise finally asked. She felt a weight take form in her chest as she anticipated Astaire's answer, fearing he'd be honest and say "Yes."

"No." The knight said simply. "We Warriors of Sunlight are dedicated to protecting and assisting others. We do not shy away from combat, but we do not actively seek it." He explained, his eyes glued to the floor. "However, it is oft all too easy to forget I no longer abide by Lordran's rules. My methods of dealing with threats are practically ingrained into my soul. They're not exactly easy to give up."

Come to think of it, nobody really knew how long Astaire had been in Lordran, not even himself. For all anybody knew, he'd been fighting the same battles for hundreds of years without end. It was easy enough to theorise that he recalled modern activities from muscle memory, but it was even easier to suggest that Lordran, and the behaviours within it, had done the same on a much grander scale.

In spite of these thoughts, Rise was firm. "Whatever the case, you need to know how to control yourself. If those two had died today…"

It didn't bear worth thinking about. The words failed to escape from Rise's mouth as she trailed off.

All the while, Astaire's head hung low and his eyes glued themselves to the floor. "I've been pondering what Yosuke said about me ruining your life. As much as it pains me to admit it, I fear he may be closer to the mark than I'm comfortable with."

Seeing the stalwart fellow berate himself in such a way was rather difficult to bear, Rise found. It couldn't be easy knowing, or at least thinking, that you were the sole cause of misery in someone's life. "However…" Astaire picked up, reaching into his pocket and holding its contents out to Rise. "...I feel as though the consequences of my misdeeds should rest on my shoulders alone, not yours."

She took the photos, scanning them carefully as she flicked through them all. She made a mental note to question her kouhai as to what exactly she thought she was playing at before deciding to dance with her bodyguard. From the angle at which they were taken, it was obvious they'd been snapped from the staircase. Apparently, taking photos of the two dancing had apparently been more interesting than Rise's never-before-seen concert.

Seeing as her kouhai wasn't around to interrogate, she settled for the second best line of approach. "Why exactly were you two dancing together in the first place?"

"I'll be honest with you." Astaire began, taking a deep breath before he dared say anything. "That music was bloody awful." The response was almost so blunt that Rise almost questioned whether Astaire had been the one saying it at all. "The stage was bright, loud, flashy and obtrusive. The costumes look like insulting, overly cutesy rubbish and the dancing was… I'm not even sure what it was. But I know I didn't like it." He finished.

As his charge began to narrow her eyes at him, Astaire's hands flew up. "L-Look, I don't know why! If I could choose to enjoy it I would, but something about this whole song and dance just really, REALLY riles me up down inside! It's nothing to do with you personally, it's the whole idea of it all!"

Rise could have said something. Truth be told, she still kind of felt like saying something. Then again, it was pretty clear that Astaire wasn't hating on her as much as the whole idol thing itself. It seemed there really was no accounting for taste. She put her words aside for now. "...How is this related to Kanami, exactly?"

A few blinks and a pause preceded Astaire's jolt back to reality. "Right, right! Anyway, Ms. Mashita drummed up a conversation with me and asked why I wasn't enjoying the show, but I couldn't really elucidate on the matter very well. She figured that I might get a better idea of why I didn't like the music and the dancing if she showed me some other types instead. I didn't think she'd rope me into it as well, though…" He trailed off, thinking on the matter further as he watched Rise flick through the photos. "...It's my own fault for stepping away and allowing them in, really. I suppose it's a punishment for my carelessness."

For some reason, the detail which stuck out the most in the pictures was how close Astaire and Kanami were, waltzing hand-in-hand and looking each other in the eye. As much as she tried to shake it out of her head, Rise couldn't let it go. "So… this is why you beat those guys up?" She eyed Astaire suspiciously, so intensely that he turned his head just in time to immediately regret doing so.

Sensing what she was getting at, Astaire shook his hands in denial. "N-no! No, no, no, that's not it at all! We only just met a few minutes ago, of course not!" He failed to notice that Rise's glare was boring larger and larger holes into his head with each passing second. Finally, he sighed and slowed down. "I'm not sure why, but those people with cameras seem to be obsessed with you and I, especially if we're… together." He gulped as he tried not to imagine the implications. "So, I figured that they might try to use those pictures to spin some farcical tale together about you, Ms. Mashita and I!"

There was no denying that. Rise knew all too well that the press was ready to look for any little detail that might suggest the two were an item and create some sort of scandal. Adding Kanami into the mix would only worsen things. "So wait, you…?"

"I didn't know what they'd make of it all. They were planning to sell them to someone, but that's all I know." Astaire cocked his head to one side as he spoke. "If they got away with those pictures, there's no telling what exactly could come about from it." He cocked his head to the other side. "However, as things stand now, I think I could somewhat accurately guess what they'll focus on when it comes to printing more newspapers." He said, jabbing a thumb to his chest. "I'm sure it'd be clear to anyone out there that you didn't tell me to do anything. The fault lies with me."

With his train of thought and his motivations more clearly laid out, Rise wasn't exactly feeling how she thought she would at the end of the explanation. The tabloids could be vicious, to extents that Astaire could barely comprehend, and yet he'd willingly stepped into the line of fire for not only her sake, but for Kanami's as well, who he'd barely known for a few minutes.

"I mean, anybody would do the same, I think." Astaire said, much quieter than when he'd started talking. "I got a little carried away, but he was running at you after his partner shocked me, and I wasn't sure what he'd..." He dragged off, looking rather uncomfortable at bringing the whole affair up again. "...I was worried. I don't think I could forgive myself if I let something happen to you." The knight turned away, averting his gaze. "That's why I beat them as much as I did."

Tears began welling up in Rise's eyes as she loosened her grip on the photos, stepped forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Astaire's waist. Needless to say the knight himself turned beetroot red as she did. "You're a real big piece of work, you know that?" Her words came through barely-contained sniffs as she tried her best not to cry.

It was hard not to get swept up in all the little things in Rise's hug. The way her heartbeat knocked lightly against her chest onto Astaire's, the smell of her hair and perfume; All of them in unison was enough to send his heart racing. Nonetheless, Astaire slowly raised his arms, hesitated for a moment or two, then finally settled for lightly pulling her in closer. "I suppose I am."

The two sat like this for a while, with Astaire making sure to maniacally scan the surroundings for more intruding paparazzi, lest this whole incident repeat itself. Eventually they released each other, with Astaire surprised to notice that Rise's face was also sporting a healthy red glow much like his own. Then again, she had been crying, it was likely something to do with that. Just as he began to relax, a finger was pointed at Astaire's face. "You've gotta promise me, okay? No more beating people up unless there's absolutely, positively, inescapably no other way out, got it?!"

Her demand was so sharp a change from her previous rosy-cheeked demeanour that Astaire visibly jumped in shock. "Y-Yes Ms. Kujikawa! Absolutely!" He quickly stiffened his back and stood up straight as he spoke, much like a disciplined soldier.

Likewise, Astaire's shift from worried to relieved and finally to fright was much too sudden and funny for Rise to not crack a smile as a result. She laughed to herself as the knight deflated in relief once again. As she wiped a small tear from the corner of her eye, she looked Astaire in his. "I'm sorry I slapped you and yelled at you."

"Not at all. I apologise for doing… that in front of you and everyone else." He thumped his fist to his heart and continued, "I'll try and find a better way of dealing with these things in the future, I assure you."

Rise smiled. "Well, in any case, I'm glad this is all taken care of." She said, reaching down and picking a photograph off the floor. "We'd better hide these somewhere before somebody sees them." The duo hastily gathered the photos up and tossed them into the Bottomless Box, where nobody but Astaire would be able to find them.

"So… I imagine you'll be continuing the show, then." Astaire said a little more disdainfully than he intended.

However, the look on Rise's face as she looked out at the stage seemed to say otherwise. "I wouldn't be too sure of that. You beating those guys up wasn't exactly on today's schedule." She looked at her watch and began backing off towards the dressing room doors again. "Look, I'll go see what Inoue says and get back to you, okay?"

"Very well. I shall keep watch properly this time." Astaire replied with a nod. Seeming content with his answer, Rise disappeared backstage once again, feeling a lump in her throat as she went. The moment she left, Astaire bounded over the guardrail, foregoing the stairs once again before he whipped out his Zweihander and let it sit on his shoulder. Nobody was coming near this area again if they knew what was good for them.

For a few scant moments, Astaire considered heading after Rise, given how long she was taking. How far away could Inoue possibly have gone in such a short length of time? If nothing else, surely Rise of all people would have his phone number, right? His thoughts compounding inside his head, Astaire managed to momentarily distract himself as he halted the impatient tapping of his foot on the floor.

As inviting as peering ever further into the inky depths of the Bottomless Box was, Astaire remained steadfast. "Knowing my luck," he thought, "the moment I avert my gaze, something will happen. I just know it." Yet in spite of this, he still found himself getting increasingly antsy as time went by.

He peered out to the stage, checking nobody was on it, nor on stage left. He poked his head up over the staircase, ensuring nobody was above him. He gazed down the walkway Rise and he had come in by, seeing naught but technical assistants going about their duties with the machines littered around them. Finally, he darted over to the staircase to his right, which was situated snugly against the wall. It seemed to lead down to a set of red doors with daylight filtering through them, but nothing else.

An empty stage, an empty stage left, an empty walkway and an empty fire exit. In the time he'd taken to make his checks, Astaire could've rifled through his box multiple times by now.

...Surely one peek couldn't hurt, right?

Unbuttoning the middle few buttons on his coat, Astaire flipped the lock on the box and began fumbling around. He felt the handle of his Zweihander, ever familiar, floating beside some chunks of Titanite. It seemed that the deeper he reached into the box, the more unfamiliar things he began to find, things he didn't remember picking up. "Chances are I might find some clue as to who I was in a prior cycle if I look deeply enough." Astaire told himself.

"Wait a minute, that doesn't feel right." Amongst the many familiar objects, Astaire's hand finally stopped on something. It felt a bit like the hilt of a sword, yet there were sections of it which seemed uneven, as though it were made out of rough material and hadn't been forged yet. "When did I pick this up? I don't think I-"

"Hey."

"GAH!" Astaire cried out in shock as he leapt back, his hand launching out of his box and bringing the object with it, instinctively pointing it at the source of the noise. On the other end of what appeared to be a large sword carved from some kind of thick, black mineral, stood a lone young man who seemed to be around Rise's age, if not a little older. In spite of having his hands up in front of him, his expression was calm and unfettered.

"Hey, hey, calm down! No need to beat me black and blue as well, friend." Astaire narrowed his eyes at the boy. He was certainly no friend of his, much less anyone he recognised in any sense. Chances are he'd remember someone like him rather easily, given how... Astaire settled for "handsome" - he was. His perfectly styled chestnut hair and flawless face, owed to a lot of makeup, seemed to indicate that he wasn't just another normal worker either.

"Identify yourself. If you're not supposed to be here, then leave." He finally said, brandishing his odd-looking black sword with both hands now.

The young man waved a dismissive hand at him. "Oh come now, that's hardly necessary. I was just on my way to my dressing room and decided to say hello, that's all." He assured Astaire, smiling.

Figuring he could assess the angular, rough-looking greatsword later, Astaire set it up against one of the crates and relaxed a bit. "Please don't sneak up on me like that, much less when I'm on duty." He didn't want to imagine what Rise would do if he'd injured another person so soon after they'd made up. "That aside, it's nice to meet you, Mister...?"

"Kaoru Airashi." The young man said, extending his hand. "But all my friends call me Ka-kun." He finished with a wink.

Something about the lad made Astaire uncomfortable, but he accepted his handshake regardless. "Mr. Airashi then. I am Kni-"

"You're Astaire-kun, right?" The handshake froze as Astaire raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, but I'm afraid this isn't the first time I've caught your name, what with the newspapers and all." Murderous oaths ran about Astaire's head as he cursed the tabloids ever more.

Astaire withdrew his hand and settled it on the hilt of his sword again, perhaps feeling a little more cautious than he should have been. "That being the case, you'd think someone with sense would have given me a little more warning before sneaking up on me." He motioned his head over to the stage. "I daresay nobody wants a repeat of earlier."

In spite of his words, Kaoru rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. "I suppose not, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. You've piqued my curiosity, you know?"

Feeling ever more on edge, Astaire narrowed his eyes and eyed Kaoru up suspiciously. "Do tell."

"Well," Kaoru began, "Being part of the same company as Rise-chan, I hear a lot of things by osmosis concerning the affairs of others. Yet in spite of that, never once did I catch wind of her either having or needing a new bodyguard. It seems like you just stepped out of the ether one day!"

It was all Astaire could do to hold back a cough as a tightness took hold in his chest. "Well then, I suppose you're not as well informed as you think you are. One can't know everything all the time."

"Ahaha! Yes, quite." He continued. "But that's only because one usually doesn't have as many friends as I do. Connections are the lifeblood of showbusiness Astaire-kun, and staying well informed helps present opportunities to build said connections. Information flow is a given in an idol's line of work." He said confidently.

Arrogant was the word Astaire would have used. If he was going for a good first impression, he wasn't doing a good job. "I suppose you'd know more about that than I. Should I assume you're here to garner information from me as well, then?"

The idol gave him a smile. "Right on the money. I shan't take long, I promise."

"Not if I have anything to do with it." Astaire thought to himself. Judging from his general demeanour, it'd probably be easier to humour him than to drive him off.

The questioning began as Kaoru produced a phone from his back pocket. "Now, first off, that sword." He began, gesturing to the large slab of mineral on a stick. "Where'd you pull that out from? It's not the first time you've done it, if the news is to be believed."

Already it seemed like humouring the fellow hadn't been the best idea. A line of thought cast itself into the waters of Astaire's head as he fished around for, not only an excuse, but a good excuse. "It's… hm." He began, entirely unconvincingly.

"Magic. It's magic."

Goddamnit.

The look on Kaoru's face wasn't exactly the one he'd been expecting. If anything it gave him the impression that he'd just given him more questions. "Magic? Like, pulling a rabbit out of a hat? That kind of magic?"

Was that something humans did? That didn't sound like any Sorcery or Miracle Astaire had learned before. In fact he struggled to imagine the practical combat applications of such an act in the first place. "Indeed. I'm proficient in a few kinds of magic, and this is one of them." Screw it, time to roll with it.

His supposed knowledge of magic seemed to spark Kaoru's interest. "Really now? So you can perform other feats just like that?" Astaire nodded, slowly feeling a little more manic as time went on. "Could you show me one?"

Damn. DAMN. For a moment Astaire briefly wished he'd kept a shovel on him so he could dig himself out of the grave he was currently putting himself in to. His mind raced, "What do I do? What do I show him?" A catalyst? A Talisman? If he pulled one out, it'd give away the existence of the Bottomless Box, and that'd be another layer on top of the cake of things he'd just have to explain.

Finally, it came to him. "Certainly. Behold!" He said, digging into the depths of his soul and summoning the power of his Pyromancy Flame into his hand, lighting it up with a small, glowing flame.

"Wow, that's certainly something, Astaire-kun." For a brief moment it appeared as though Kaoru would be sated with this. "I'm still unsure as to how a magician becomes a bodyguard capable of carrying something that big, but there are more important things at hand." Yes. Score one for Knight Astaire. "Now, could you tell me about your relationship with Rise-chan?"

It was a small wonder that an audible "thud" couldn't be heard as Astaire's lungs felt like they dropped to the bottom of his torso. "B-Beg pardon?"

"Well, it's not exactly my place to pry, but…" Funny, coming from the one who insisted he was so well informed. "...the only times you've been majorly seen together, you've both gone into the same hotel room. Without coming out the whole time. Even during the night." The initial surprise at the question quickly began simmering over to anger as Astaire finally realised the snake's true intentions. "Care to explain that? Are you two, y'know…"

"I think it's about time you made your way on to your dressing room, Mr. Airashi." Astaire began, his voice much lower and more serious than it had previously been. "I'm suddenly not in a very talkative mood."

Bad idea. "Oh, so it's a romantic thing then?" The pyromancy flame in Astaire's hand seemed to begin simmering a little hotter as Kaoru kept talking. "I mean it'd make more sense that way, since Rise-chan would likely have wanted you out of the spotlight before now, but it seems a little reckless to-"

Between the time it had taken him to look down to, and up from his notes on his phone, Kaoru found that Astaire had suddenly closed the distance between them. So close in fact that he could could practically hear his blood boiling underneath his skin. "You're no better than the rest of them. I should have known." Even an idiot could have seen that Astaire was barely keeping his composure.

In spite of that, Kaoru remained unnervingly unmoved. "Have I hit a nerve, then? I suppose it must be true. I'm told that room only has one bed after all."

No sooner had the words escaped his mouth, Kaoru suddenly felt his feet leave the floor as Astaire forcefully lifted him by the collar, his face so close that he could practically see the fire raging behind his eyes. "Ms. Kujikawa has kindly taken me in because I have nowhere else to go. I sleep on the floor and take inventory. That is all." He said through gritted teeth. "And should I find out that you are twisting her boundless kindness into some sort of lecherous facade, I'll see to it that you're not far behind those two who were just on stage."

Any sensible person could have had a number of reactions. Retaliative anger, worry, fear, annoyance, the list went on.

Kaoru showed none of these. He seemed to close his eyes and sigh, placing a hand on Astaire's at his collar. "Alright Astaire-kun, I'll take your word for it. You seem a decent fellow, after all." His seemingly unending calm was enough to throw the knight for a loop, in the end he was the one looking more surprised than the one he was holding. "Now, if you'd please let me down."

The seconds that followed were intense. All other sounds seemed to drown out, save for the light breathing from both parties involved. To say the tension could have been cut with a knife was an understatement, more that it could have been waded through as water. Finally, after keeping their positions for a small while longer, Astaire released his grip.

Several electronic beeps sounded from Kaoru's hand before he held up his phone. "See? All gone. You can trust me, Astaire-kun, honest!" Yet Astaire's glare lingered. He didn't want to admit that he couldn't read what he'd left on the note, or fully understood what he'd deleted. "I'm just concerned about Rise-chan, y'know? I'm one of her biggest fans myself. Wouldn't you be worried if someone you liked started hanging around with strange men who appeared from nowhere?"

The deep exhalation that left Astaire's nose seemed to vent him of the fire burning inside him as he slowly regained his stature. "I'd like to hope your usual brand of questioning isn't quite as… inflammatory. Someone could lose their heads over such baseless accusations."

A rich statement coming from someone who very nearly had. "Ahahaha. I've had a few close stints, I'll admit. But you're a special case, Astaire-kun. If you were someone else's bodyguard that'd be right as rain, but you must understand that I'm simply worried about Rise-chan's image of purity." The puzzled look that Astaire gave him let him know to continue. "An idol, male or female, needs to be pure. She can't devote herself to just one person, she needs to be devoted to everyone, meaning her fans above all else."

So that was the reason Rise was so concerned over the matter. This image of "purity", as he put it. "An Idol is either pure, or she is discarded. There is little room for error." Kaoru continued as he put away his phone, walking off towards the stairs. Just as he went to pass Astaire by, he whispered to him, "If you truly care about her, you'd be better off out of the way. Bye."

Calm. Keep calm. Let him walk away. Let him think whatever he damn well pleases. All these thoughts and more echoed in Astaire's head as he listened to Kaoru walk off. He heard him utter something to someone before finally being cut off by the sound of the door closing.

"Bastard!" Astaire growled to himself, turning around and slamming his fist into one of the wooden crates, caving it in slightly and embedding his knuckles with splinters. "I never should have humoured him in the first place. Damn it all" He thought, brushing his hand off and ignoring the sting of pain that shot through it.

His heart finally lifted as a familiar voice graced his ears. "Astaire-kun, is everything okay?" The moment she spoke, Rise seemed to cast a spell on him and immediately flush all his pent up tension away like a hot shower. "Were you talking to Ka-kun just now?" The tension mounted ever so slightly again as she mentioned his name, however.

Meeting her eyes sorted that right out. "Yes, unfortunately. He's a mite too… invasive, for my liking." To cut a long story short and with many less expletives. "Regardless, what did Mr. Inoue say to you?"

Rise perked right up as she clapped her hands together. "Good news, we've got the day off! Seeing as this whole thing was so out of the blue and those two will need some taking care of, management thought it best if we scarper for the time being!" She explained, clearly too overjoyed at the thought of having a day off to be concerned over why she got it in the first place.

"My, how generous of them." Not that Astaire was going to complain about it. He met her as she came down the stairs and took after her through the electric jungle of wires towards the exit.

Outside the studio, it became all too clear to Astaire that word of his endeavours had spread quickly. Staff, other idols and men in suits seemed to be giving him looks of fear, reservation and suspicion in varying amounts. Considering how large said demographics were to the surroundings, it was more than enough to make him feel on edge.

As though keen telepathically, Rise spoke up. "Don't worry about it. It's just not often something like this happens." As she turned to look at him, for some reason her expression turned from concerned to somewhat alarmed. "Then again, maybe that's not why they're looking..."

Just as he opened his mouth to ask what she was on about, the wind picked up, making it all too clear to Astaire that he was feeling the breeze in more places than strictly necessary. Taking a closer look at his coat, the sleeves were purpled with dried blood, the large gash where his Zweihander had dug into him was made all the more apparent, the ends were tattered from the forest monster's wind magic, and two dagger holes in the back were at odds with his movements, widening slightly as he went.

"Gwyn's beard, I didn't notice how bad it was until now!" Astaire exclaimed as he huddled his arms around himself to try and stave off the chill on the wind. " Perhaps it'd be prudent to fish out my armour next time a fight is incurred."

His words seemed to hit a switch in Rise's head as she clicked her fingers. "Got it!" She turned on the spot and began walking backwards, jabbing a finger in Astaire's direction. "We're gonna go to Inaba and get it fixed and cleaned! Kanji's mom owns a textile shop in town, I'm sure she could do something with it!"

"Not to mention I still need to get Teddie to finally make me a pair of glasses. I never thought I'd see the day when I was actually running low on Green Blossom." The mere thought of walking through the TV again made Astaire feel queasy and the inside of his mouth taste bitter.

The two approached the large black car that they'd arrived in, hopping into the back after telling the driver where to go. The embrace of the leather seats seemed to draw Astaire in as he exhaled deeply, sinking down ever further. "What a day it's been." He said mostly to himself.

"What a morning, more like!" Rise said as she jabbed Astaire in the arm. "This is just a one time thing, my days usually stretch on much longer than this!" It almost sounded like she was boasting slightly.

Thinking about experiencing all the events of today over an extended period seemed to refresh the wave of exhaustion which currently loomed over Astaire. "How much longer are we talking about?"

"I've gone from morning until dark some days!" Rise looked over and giggled at the look Astaire was giving her in reaction. Needless to say he wasn't pleased. "Hey, you'd be surprised by how much being an idol takes it out of you, nobody ever said it was an easy job, after all."

It certainly wasn't anywhere comparable to fighting undead and monsters, but it was surprisingly tiring all the same. "So you're up dancing and whatnot from dawn 'til dusk?" Astaire asked, genuinely curious now.

"Not exactly, there's often a bunch of stuff that needs doing. Rehearsals, photo shoots, commercial recordings, stuff for TV…" She continued on and on, everything eventually devolving into white noise as the sheer flood of information overwhelmed Astaire entirely "...and of course there's my big concert coming up in a little while, so there'll be a lot of preparation for that too." She finally finished.

The staggered stare she was receiving in return spoke volumes. "That sounds awful. I daresay a normal person would keel over from exhaustion."

"Ah!" Rise raised her hand to her forehead and turned away is faux-sorrow. "Calling me abnormal! How awful!" She said with an air of obviously-faked distress, keeping an eye on Astaire's reflection in the tinted window.

Unfortunately, it seemed Astaire wasn't as privy to her games as some others were. "N-No, no! Not at all!" He said, frantically waving his hands in front of him as though trying to wipe what he'd said from some unseen record. "I mean… not abnormal, per se. More…" Astaire drummed his fingers on his cheek as he cradled his chin in thought. Finally he spoke, "...special. I suppose that'd be the word."

Luckily for her, Rise quickly averted her gaze in time to hide the redness approaching her cheeks. "Oh come on now, it's not that impressive." She said, twirling the end of one of her twintails around her finger.

"It is to me." Astaire said. "I didn't see much of it, but that whole performance out on stage hardly seemed easy." Not that it was any easier to listen to. "I know I certainly couldn't pull that off, much less until nightfall."

Finally, Rise turned back to look at him with a small giggle, a genuine smile on her face. "Thank you, Astaire-kun."

Her smile seemed infectious, as it began to spread of Astaire's cheeks as well. "Not at all, Ms. Kujikawa."

For a moment, the two basked in the silence of the car ride, content with each other's company until, "Oh, shoot!" Rise exclaimed to the sound of Astaire bumping his head off the roof in shock. She reached into her bag on the seat next to her and produced a small, familiar container. "My omelette! I almost forgot about it!" she cheered, popping the top off posthaste. However, just as she reached for the first bite, she paused. Her eyes narrowed and slowly turned to meet Astaire's. "...This does taste good, doesn't it?"

The knight raised an eyebrow in return. "...Yes? Why wouldn't it?" He asked.

Rise's eyes remained narrowed. Internally, she knew Astaire was unlikely to be a good enough actor to convince her otherwise, but on the other hand, he may have stomached it earlier and simply said it was good to please her, much like Nanako had.

...But on the other hand, he'd made it perfectly clear what he'd thought of her performance backstage earlier. Perhaps he really was telling the truth. Perhaps she'd finally gotten the fine art of omelette-making down pat. Finally, Rise exhaled. "...Well, I'm sure you'd have told me if it was that bad, right?" She asked him for confirmation before turning her gaze to the first bite of the omelette. "...Here goes."

"Shomethingsh's sherioushly wrong wish you!" Rise gargled out through the mouthfuls of cold water running from the tap to her tongue. "I shought you shaid it wash tashty!" She continued, reeling back from the sink to wipe the sweat from her brow.

Meanwhile, Astaire could do little but sit by her side and shrug. "It was! It is! You think I'd let you eat it if I didn't think it was alright?!" He persisted, having stated his case on the entire run up to the room previously.

The fearless knight shuddered in his skin as the girl much smaller and thinner than him shot him a death glare from the sink. "ARE YOU SHURE?!" If looks could have killed, Astaire would have been turned to dust on the wind in an instant.

However, fantastic lummox that he was, Astaire replied "I mean it was a little plain, sure but-" He ended abruptly as a mouthful of water pummelled him in the face as Rise looked at him in disbelief.

"A LITTLE PLAIN?!" she fumed, not sure if her face was turning red because of the ensuing supernova inside her mouth, or her sheer unfathomable rage. Either way, she began fanning her mouth as she realised she'd been away from the sink for 3 consecutive seconds, returning in a flash.

Many litres of water and several packs of ice cubes later, everything finally calmed down. The two lay on bed and floor respectively, one relieved that their skull hadn't melted before caving in and the other relieved they hadn't been skinned where they stood.

"I think you need to see a Doctor." Rise said.

"After what you've just been through, I suspect we both should." Replied Astaire. "It really did taste fine to me, though."

He heard a barely audible chuckle from above him in response. "Well, at least one person thinks my cooking it good. That's something, right?"

A nice sentiment, Astaire thought. Then as he mulled it over, he shook his head in disbelief and peeped up over the covers. "Wait, I'm the first? Of how many?"

Rise seemed to avoid the question by getting up and stretching herself up. "Oh, it doesn't really matter. It was only a few times." How could it not matter? This was the key element Astaire needed to figure out who to be more concerned for, Rise for not learning from her past mistakes, or him for not succumbing to them. "Either way, we really should get going to Inaba. Maybe we'll even be lucky and nothing weird will happen."

This was going to have to wait for later. Putting his food-related concerns out of his head, Astaire picked himself up and stood alongside Rise in front of the TV. "Right you are. After you, Ms. Kujikawa."

Rise glanced up to him as he let out a deep breath, not doing a very good job at hiding the look of unease plastered on his face. "Hey." She gave him a nudge on the hand with her own. "I know it's bad, but this is the last time you'll have to deal with it. Promise." She said, extending her hand towards her taller companion.

With a sigh, Astaire took her hand. "I suppose you're right. If we keep a decent pace it couldn't be much worse than last time, right?"

Astaire rolled limply onto the floor of Junes, not especially caring if anyone saw him. "Guuuuuuuurgh." Was the only noise that escaped him as he tried to pull himself up, his head clouded and fuzzy within.

His attempts to right himself weren't helped any as Rise plummeted on top of him, leaving Astaire able only to wheeze as he felt the air forcefully leave his lungs. Naturally, his companion raised her hands to her mouth as she realised how she'd landed. "OhmigoshI'msosorry! Are you alright, Astaire-kun?" Considering he tried answering with a zombie-like moan, she was pretty sure she knew the answer. She knelt down and wrapped his nearest arm around her neck, trying to pry him off the floor. "Well, I think that could have gone a lot worse, don't you?"

"As much as I'd like to agree with you, Ms. Kujikawa…" Astaire began as he pulled himself up, taking a deep breath to try and clear his head. "...to put it lightly, Hell itself is probably a preferable alternative to how I feel right now." He quickly straightened himself out with Rise's help, though his head was still light and swimming with some distasteful sensation. "But like you said, it's the last time. I can deal with it." Astaire assured her with a nod.

That said, finding Teddie would be another matter entirely. As Astaire glanced down the rows and rows of aisles, he could see neither hide nor hair of the furry blue one. An especially concerning matter seeing as he seemed pretty hard to lose in a crowd.

Aisle after aisle after aisle after aisle passed by, devoid of Ursidae, blue or otherwise. "Gods above, this is never going to end, is it? How can one so rotund and loud be so hard to find?" Astaire idly commented, his sickness fading and quickly being replaced with firm frustration.

"Teddie doesn't really have a set place in here. I'm sure he has a job, I just can't remember ever seeing him do it." Rise said, occasionally standing on her toes to peek over the crowds as best she could. "I think Yosuke should be around here somewhere though, we could ask him."

"No." The reply came almost before Rise herself had finished, taking her back. "I'm sure he'd be just as thrilled to see me as I would be him. I'll search this whole place on my own if I have to." He finalised, quickening his pace as he ever more rapidly scanned the endless array of paths lined throughout the building. His pace quickened even to the point of Rise being unable to catch up.

"Excuse me, Sir?" Astaire turned to meet the unfamiliar voice, finding himself looking down at a young woman in a Junes apron, wearing a sheepish expression. "Can I, uh... help you with anything today?"

"Well that depends." Astaire replied, unperturbed. "How much do you know about hunting bears?"

Whatever response the girl had been expecting to get, it wasn't that. She was momentarily stunned as she tried to process what she'd just been asked, trying to formulate a response.

Without prior warning, a cry of "Did someone say bear?!" pierced Astaire's ears from immediately behind him, sounding off every single alarm he had in him.

"GAH, GET AWAY!" Astaire bellowed as he turned and ploughed his fist into whatever had been breathing down his neck, sending the anomalous blue object flying back down the aisle before rolling to a stop. In the succeeding seconds after the adrenaline had worn off, it only became clear what exactly he'd hit. "Oh Gods, Teddie!" Feeling the guilt quickly welling up in his chest, Astaire rushed over to assist the unfortunate blue mess. Given his spinning eyes and general motionlessness, it didn't seem like he was getting up on his own any time soon.

Though it may have come as a shock to many, manhandling bears wasn't exactly a skill Astaire could be said to have picked up. He tried lifting Teddie from every angle imaginable, but it was almost as though he'd glued himself to the floor, given how well he was doing. Finally, he'd resorted to standing over him, wrapping his arms around Teddie's back and attempting to haul him up in a sort of suplex motion. "Rrrrrgh! How are you the one thing I can't lift?!" Astaire asked through clenched teeth.

No sooner had he asked it, Teddie's eyes sprung open. "WAAAH! DON'T HIT ME AGAIN!" He shrieked as he bolted upwards, the top of his fuzzy head cracking Astaire directly in the nose, while also sending him soaring backwards onto the floor, clutching his nose in pain. "What the heck do you think you're doing, Stairry-kun? I could have died! Or worse, been crippled to the point of hideousness!" Teddie motioned wildly, pointing an accusatory paw at Astaire as he picked himself up.

"I don't like being snuck up on! Furthermore, what sort of ingrate comes up behind a man and-" He paused, both in voice and movement, one eyebrow raised.. "...What did you just call me?"

"Jeez, what got into you? Having legs that long and taking off like that is unfair!" Came the dulcet tone of Rise's voice around the corner of the aisle, peeking down to see what she'd missed. Both fellows turned towards her in unison, at which point she couldn't help but break out in laughter. "You two… you look exactly like each other!" She managed through giggles.

Astaire had left a sore-looking red mark between Teddie's eyes, spreading down to his nose, whereas Teddie's headbutt had knocked Astaire in such a way that his nose had gone the same shade of red in response. The two looked each other up and down before turning back with a simultaneous "Do not!"

"Oh right! Yes!" Astaire exclaimed as he recalled what they'd actually been bear hunting in aid of. "Teddie, do you have those TV world glasses handy? I don't think I'll make the trip back without them." True enough, produced from seemingly nowhere was a brand now pair of glasses, with deep blue frames to match Astaire's coat. "Excellent! Many thanks, my rotund blue friend."

Rise looked up at him expectantly. "Come on, try them on already I wanna see what you look like with them on!"

As per her request, on they went. Shockingly, they were a perfect fit. Having the frames in view would take some getting used to, but otherwise…

...otherwise…

He'd had them on for nary a few seconds, yet something odd seemed to be happening. It wasn't TV sickness, but it certainly wasn't normal. "This feels off. Is this meant to happen?" The puzzled looks he got in return told him as much. "My coat feels heavier, for some reason."

"Huh? That's never happened before. Try taking them off, Stairry-kun."

With a narrow-eyed glare, Astaire complied. The moment the frames left his eyes, he suddenly felt a renewed sense of energy flowing through him, like somebody had loosened the valve keeping his stamina at bay. "Wow, that's far better! I feel like I could run a mile!"

Especially convenient, as Rise wrapped her arms around one of his and began dragging him away. "Great! We'd better get going Teddie, I need Kanji's mom to make Astaire-kun look less shabby. Later!" She smiled and waved while simultaneously dragging the much taller fellow behind her. Noticing her companion's puzzled look, she stood on her toes to meet his ear. "Unless you'd rather wait around for Yosuke to come and knock Teddie into doing his job?"

If Astaire had left any faster, Rise estimated her feet would have left the ground entirely.

"Hmmm..."

"What's wrong?" Rise asked. Astaire'd been humming and looking at his glasses for a while now, nearly walking into a few people as the two walked into town.

"It's not something I've done in a while, but I have this sort of… sense, where if I look at something long enough, I can pry out certain details about it."

Rise looked at him, puzzled. "That sounds… really specific, as far as superpowers go."

"It's actually pretty useful. All sorts of strange and foreign things wind up in Lordran, so it helps you find out how they got there." He said, narrowly looking up to avoid walking into a street light. "I want to see if I can pry out why these glasses made he feel so strange." He said, his glare intensifying even further.

All fell silent for a while. Rise glanced over at him occasionally, noticing a bead of sweat working its way down his brow. He was staring really hard. "Hey, Astaire-kun?" Nothing. He seemed to have gone into some kind of stony trance, making it a wonder he was even walking at all. "Call me crazy, but I don't think it's working. Hello?" She waved a hand in front of his face. Again, nothing.

If nothing else, his dedication was admirable, she supposed. Considering her only other talking partner had regressed to a monk-tier meditative state, Rise found herself drawn towards her phone. Given she hadn't heard from Yu in a while, maybe pestering him would be a good idea.

"Hey, Senpai! Everything okay after last night?"

...Well, that's what she'd wanted to type. Her typical Rise-isms littered the screen, leaving the message legible only to her, Yu and possibly Naoto if she took long enough. She hit send, knowing to wait at least a minute for the predetermined translation time.

"Tired but fine."

Simple and to the point, as always.

"Good! Astaire-kun and I were going to go into Inaba for a while, think we'll see you around~?"

"School stuff, too busy."

Oh, right. Everyone else was still stuck in school for the next couple of weeks. It'd been so long since Rise'd seen the inside of Yasogami High that it hadn't really crossed her mind. In the midst of pondering her response, another vibration caught her attention. Especially odd, seeing as Yu typically never sent follow-up messages.

"Actually, while you're there, could you two do something for me?"

"Don't be silly, of course we can!" - She replied, not consulting Astaire in the slightest. Not like she had much of a choice as she lightly tugged him to the side, preventing his oncoming collision with a street light.

"Nanako should still be in school around now, could you check on her for a while? If weird stuff is going to start happening again, I don't want to take any chances."

Rise's face suddenly lit up. It hadn't occurred to her that easier access to Inaba also made reaching Nanako a breeze. After promising her to go to the beach and all the rest of it, now it was easier than ever! She hastily tapped in her reply before turning to Astaire. "Hey Astaire-kun, snap out of it already, we've got places to be!" Needless to say it wasn't that easy, given Astaire reacted about as much as he'd done before.

Rise pouted. This wasn't going to do at all. She tried yanking the glasses away from his grasp, but to her surprise Astaire had a vice-grip on them, even with only two fingers. She briefly considered slapping him awake, but figured she'd done quite enough of that for one morning.

Finally, something hit her. Closing the distance between them, she took his free arm and wrapped both of hers around it, leaning her head into him as she did so. "Hm? What the-?" Astaire seemed to slide out of his trance, blinking rapidly and shaking his head as he realised he wasn't where he started. It took a second for him to realise the familiar warm sensation creeping up his arm. His face bore an alarmed expression as it quickly began reddening. "Is… something wrong, Ms. Kujikawa?" He asked, trying to maintain his composure.

"Nah." Rise replied, not letting go and continuing to look up at him innocently. It was all she could do to stifle a giggle as Astaire quickly flustered, trying to make sense of the situation. "Although we do need to get going right now, so come on!" She unhooked herself from his arm and began dragging him along behind her, making a beeline for Nanako's school as he tried stammering out questions.

Rise recalled Nanako telling her about her walks to and from school from time to time when everyone visited her place during Yu's stay, meaning she more or less knew where she was supposed to be going. As if that weren't sufficient enough, the din of school children playing emanating from the yard outside was a dead giveaway.

Astaire's eyes widened as they entered the schoolyard. In spite of all his time spent in Lordran, he couldn't recall ever seeing people as small before. He also noted that while the noise they made hadn't ceased, it had certainly gotten a lot quieter upon their arrival, a fact which didn't seem to perturb Rise one bit as she strode confidently towards one group of girls in particular.

"RISE-CHAN!" One girl in particular cried, pigtails blowing behind her as she ran towards them. It seemed her cries had also served to alert several other girls around her, who were all making their way over as a result.

Rise knelt down to meet the little girl face-to-face. "Hey, Nanako-chan!" She smiled. It was only when she noticed Nanako now staring above her rather than at her that said smile dropped a little. "Oh, right." She stood up and turned a hand to her imposing companion. "This is Astaire-kun, he's my new bodyguard!" She said cheerily, trying to lighten the mood.

Sensing he wasn't exactly as welcome as Rise was, Astaire waved at the young girl. It worked for phantoms, surely it'd work here. "Greetings."

"Hi…" Nanako replied simply.

…

…

Well that didn't work. The situation was still incredibly awkward. Just as Astaire planned to remove himself from the situation, a call came from behind. "Hey!" A distinctly young, male voice shouted. Astaire and Rise turned, meeting the eyes of a similar crowd of young boys, one of which was looking up at Astaire. "You're that guy off the news, right? The guy with the big sword?"

"Gods above, not this again." Astaire thought. "Yes, we're one in the same." The crowd of young boys seemed to look amongst each other, wearing looks of… excitement? Intrigued at the unexpected reaction, Astaire raised an eyebrow at the speaker for the boys, a lad with black hair wearing a yellow shirt and shorts. "Why do you ask?"

"Could we see that sword of yours?!" The speaker asked, his fists balled and his eyes practically glowing. His friends behind him echoed the sentiment, seeming to teem with anticipation, cries of encouragement coming in spades.

Baffled though he was, the enthusiasm amongst his young audience was enough to coax a smile out of Astaire. Not waiting to think about whether or not it was even a good idea, he reached into his coat and produced his weapon of choice, hoisting it over his shoulder to the unified sound of awe from the boys. "There we go. Any other requests?"

"Where the heck did you pull that from?!" One boy asked, rightly accompanied by roughly five others asking the same thing.

"Weren't you watching? I pulled it out of my coat. Look, I'll show you again, hold this." He said with a sly smile, setting the Zweihander down on the ground. "Oh, and don't touch the blade, it'll burn your skin right off."

Taking his warning to heart, the boys all crowded around the hilt of the sword, three trying to hoist up the hilt and two others pulling at the crossguards on either side. Try as they might, the large hunk of metal stayed put. "This is way too heavy! Nobody could carry this one handed!" One in particular said through gritted teeth.

Astaire snickered to himself, having more fun with the children than he'd had in a long time. "What?! You can't be serious, can you? If you lot can't even manage that you'll have a hell of a time with this!" He said, whipping out Smough's Greathammer, again to the awe of his new fans. "Tell you what!" He laid the massive instrument down, head to the ground so that the grip stretched across horizontally. "If you lot can lift the head even slightly off the ground, I'll show you where I was hiding it and my sword, deal?"

He hardly needed to ask. In a matter of seconds, boys were leaping up and grabbing onto the handle, their feet dangling uselessly as the sheer weight of Smough's hammer trounced them completely.

Rise couldn't help but giggle at the sight of her imposing companion kneeling down and getting along with the children. Perhaps in some previous life of his he'd been good enough with kids to retain some of his skills even now. Figuring leaving him to his own devices couldn't be too harmful, she turned and knelt to face Nanako directly. "Say, Nanako-chan, have you seen or heard anything weird going on around here as of late?"

The young girl tapped her chin as she mulled over recent events before finally shaking her head. "I don't think so. I didn't see anything on the news, and that weird fog hasn't come back for a while." Well that was a relief. Then again, just because nobody had seen or heard anything didn't mean nothing was happening. It seemed a little pre-emptive to be too relaxed as things were now. "Um…" Nanako started, snapping Rise out of her thoughts. "Have you talked to Big Bro much lately?" She asked, clearly anxiously awaiting the answer.

"Not only have I talked to him lately, he's the reason we're here!" It was hard not to smile at the way Nanako's face lit up. "He was worried about you, but since he's so far away he asked Astaire-kun and I to come see how things were!" Her infectious smile was enough to light up the entire playground, it was almost unbearably cute.

Nanako looked over to the other side of the yard, catching Rise's focus too. The boys were all standing on their toes and stretching upwards towards the sky at Astaire's command, shouting something or other about the sun. "Does that mean he's friends with Big Bro too?" The younger girl asked. At Rise's nod of affirmation, she looked at him again. "He seems a lot scarier on the TV."

"He can be pretty scary when he needs to be. But I'll let you in on a little secret." Rise said, lowering her voice to a whisper as she leaned into Nanako's ear. "Deep down, I think he's actually pretty sweet." The two giggled to themselves, taking another look at what the boys were up to.

"...and you take this and this." Astaire finished, handing one of the boys a lengthy branch from a nearby tree, as well as a plank shield. "Now you, try and break his guard." He signalled to another boy, who had a much thicker, longer stick and was holding it much like Astaire would a greatsword. "While you try and maintain it, got it?"

The boy with the shield balked a little at the idea. "No way! What if he hits me in the head?!"

"Hmm. Good point. Take this too." Astaire said before plopping a knight's helmet onto the shielded youth. "That ought to do it. Now have at it!"

The boys circled around each other just as Astaire had instructed, waiting for one another to move. The boy with the Greatbranch moved first, yet his initial swing was slow enough that his foe with the shield easily saw it coming and countered in turn, sending him off balance.

"Don't give up! You need to learn to work with the momentum! Don't forget to space your arms for leverage!" Astaire bellowed in support.

He only stopped his fervent cries when a tap on the shoulder greeted him from behind. "Astaire-kun? I'm not so sure this is a good idea." Rise rightly pointed out. "If a teacher catches them doing this, or you encouraging them, I don't think it'll end well for anybody."

"I don't know, they seem like naturals to me. They could likely defend themselves with the best of them, given the time and training." Yet as Astaire spoke, his eyes met the quickly narrowing glare Rise was giving him. He let out a sigh. "But I suppose you're right. Perhaps now isn't the time. Pack it up everyone, we don't want anyone getting in trouble." He said, walking over to the clearly dismayed sparring ring he'd assembled.

Watching him intently, Rise's attention was caught by the sound of footsteps rushing up to meet her. "Rise-chan, Rise-chan!" Both Rise and Astaire halted in place, frozen at the distressed tone evident in Nanako's cries. "Something weird is happening out there!" She pointed out to the entrance to the yard.

Upon rushing over to see what she meant, Astaire froze in horror, as did Rise, albeit for differing reasons.

A massive wall of impenetrable fog had erected itself at the end of the path, just before the road. It surrounded no other part of the school, nor even the yard itself. It was a single, condensed shape of sheer mist. "Wh-what? No, no, this can't be right! The fog doesn't appear in the middle of the day! It doesn't just sit in one place either!"

"Get inside." Astaire said simply.

His charge looked at him in confusion. "What? Astaire-kun, I know you don't know what the fog means but-"

A weight bore down on Rise as Astaire clasped his hands on her shoulders, staring her directly in the eyes. "I know exactly what the fog means. Get yourself and everyone else inside and lock every door you pass through. Now."

He neither looked nor sounded like he was joking. Not wasting any more time, Rise shouted at the top of her lungs, barking orders at all the children to get inside. Within seconds the playground was bare, leaving Astaire as the only one outside as Rise propped a nearby chair up against the entrance. "C'mon, everyone stick together! Everyone into the one room, hurry!" She called out, despite not being entirely sure why.

Rushing upstairs, the children hustled into the room closest to the stairs and locked the door behind them. As luck would have it, the room's window overlooked the playground, meaning everyone could finally see what the big deal was. Rise rushed over with as much anticipation as the kids, desperate to see all was well outside.

The fact that Astaire now stood fully armoured, sword in hand and shield on back, told her all she needed to know.

The atmosphere weighed heavy on Astaire. It always did when this sort of thing happened. Nowhere to run and very few places to hide. Still was the air to the point where the only audible sound was Astaire's breath ruffling the cloth draped around his head. Any minute now, it'd come. That spine-tingling, telltale noise.

A minute passed. Then another. All the while, Astaire's eyes dared not leave the fog.

His heart shook as the sound emanated in the air. At the end of the fog-addled path, a visage of pure darkness rose from the ground, standing to full height as the fetid black portal it brought with it began to fade. It bore a familiar set of armour, lifted as it no doubt was from a particular embraced knight of Carim.

"I take it you're not the real Lautrec, are you?" The Dark Spirit responded by drawing the long, curved sword it held at it's side. Though it was mired with darkness, it wasn't hard to see that it was a Washing Pole. That ferociously long blade didn't lie. "Well, whoever you really are under that helmet, I assume you're not here for an honourable duel either."

The spirit pointed a finger at Astaire, continuing to lock eye contact with him under its helmet as it pointed down to the ground after.

Astaire brought his other hand to the hilt of his Zweihander, feeling the familiar heat bleed through his hood from the blade. "I thought as much. Sorry to say it, but I'm not in much of a position to fight fair either." As the dark spirit drew closer, Astaire began to feel the anticipation rush through his body, his grip on the hilt of his sword further tightening. "I've only got one life here, and I'm not going to lose it to scum like you."

AN: Jesus, this took a while. Part of the reason for this taking as long was because I wasn't happy with how this chapter started out. Everything leading up to Rise and Astaire reconciling took way longer than anything else, because I felt resolving it quickly felt too "cheap," but at the same time, dwelling on it for too long would result in this whole thing becoming very boring very quickly. At this point I must have re-written and edited it about 4 times. I'm still not happy with it, but I feel it's better to keep moving along and have other, more interesting things happen. Here's hoping the next chapter doesn't take as long!