Next up: Blue Team
Kazuya's group had been given the fifth and sixth floor due to their leader being the least experienced in the way of battle and, well, Tamaki was almost too happy about that. Sure, she trusted Kazuya, she trusted him a lot! But things could easily go sour when the leader wasn't used to battles or demons (at least not in comparison to the other leaders).
No one else seemed that worried, though. In fact, everyone seemed pretty calm, casual even! It was nice, but she'd expect them to at least be kind of on edge, what with the risks that came with being around here and all that.
Oh well, as long as it didn't hold them up, she guessed it would be fine…! Really, what could possibly go wrong when everyone was so relaxed?
So much, so much could go wrong and Tamaki was regretting ever wondering. They'd barely made it a few feet when the first issue really broke out and… Well, why was she not shocked that Charlie was somehow involved?
She didn't know him as well as she knew Yumi or even Reiko, but… With what she did know? Well, there was plenty of reason to expect something to bubble over. Maybe she should've kept an eye on him or something.
Though she really couldn't blame him fully, not this time. Jimenez was a demon, so she was sure the blame could be equally placed on both of them… Wow, she hoped that didn't sound anti-demon or something like that.
Wait, why would she care? Demons tried to kill her all the time!
She shook her head, focusing back in on Charlie and Jimenez. She might have to jump in to help out Kazuya if it got bad enough… She did kinda consider Charlie her responsibility, after all.
"Come on, what's the big deal?" Jimenez tilted his head to the side. "You're acting like I almost killed you."
"You did almost kill me!" Charlie took a step back, pointing to the blade protruding from Jimenez's arm. "That thing nearly sliced my neck open!"
"I wouldn't have done that, don't freak out." Jimenez should his head. "If you're that worried about it, maybe steer clear of me, yeah?"
"I shouldn't have to steer clear of an ally!" Charlie shook his head, looking around at the others. "Don't you guys agree?!"
"I think Charlie has a point, Jimenez-san…" Tamaki scratched her cheek. "Can you try and be more careful, please?"
Kazuya nodded. "I agree with her, let's all be mindful of each other."
Jimenez sighed. "You guys are so weak-willed… Fine, fine. I'll be more careful it if means less of you all nagging and yelling at me… For now, at least."
"You're saying you betrayed your kingdom for your allies?" Zayin's voice brought everyone to a halt. "Why would you do that?"
Gaston cleared his throat when everyone turned to look at him. "I, ah… Did not find Lord Merkabah's plan for them to be just, that is all."
"Is that so…?" Zayin frowned, shaking his head. "I'm sorry to say, but I don't understand… I could never turn on Millennium, yet you did it so easily…"
"Perhaps Millennium never seems unjust from your point of view, then." Gaston looked at his feet. "I wouldn't expect you to understand."
Zayin paused, thinking for a moment. "I see… I suppose that is an understandable reason to turn on this kingdom of yours."
Gaston said nothing, instead starting to walk again. Seemed like he didn't want to talk about it, then? Well, that made sense to Tamaki. From what she'd heard, it was a pretty recent turn of events for Gaston…
"Come on, everyone." Kazuya walked up to Zayin and put a hand on his back. "Let's keep going. There's still some rooms for us to check out!"
"Alright…" Zayin looked at Gaston's back. "You and I will talk more about this later!"
Gaston froze for a moment. "If that's what you insist on, I suppose."
...Tamaki just hoped this didn't turn out a total trainwreck.
The group had decided to stop for a while when they still hadn't found the item they needed and Tamaki felt she needed a nap. There were so many rooms on these two floors and so far? Nothing! Not one items they could fit into one of those slots…
She was just about ready to give up.
"Are we sure we're even going to find what we need?" Walter rubbed the back of his neck as he sat against the nearby wall. "For all we know, the items aren't in here and we're just wasting our time."
"That's a fair point, but… It's better to search and find nothing than to not search and find out we should've." Yuka chided Walter in a soft voice. "If they don't turn out to be here, we'll just have to plan our next course of action."
"But aren't you getting even the least bit tired?" Walter frowned at her, chin in hand. "It feels as if we're running around doing nothing."
"I understand, but I trust Kazuya and the others. If they think we should do this, we should…" Yuka put a hand on her chest. "You don't have to agree, but could you at least try and hang in there a little while longer? For group morale?"
Walter looked up at Yuka in silence for a moment before standing again, stretching. "Well, alright I suppose. If we all get down, we won't get anywhere, now will we?"
"Exactly." Yuka gave him a smile. "Thank you."
Tamaki felt herself feeling a bit more energized for this too, now! Lucky for her that Walter decided to voice his own thoughts on the matter, huh? Made things easier and she avoided a scolding from Yuka~
"You okay there, Beth?" Nozomi's voice caused the others to pause long enough to notice Beth falling behind. "You seem to be distracted."
"Ah, do I?" Beth blinked a few times. "I'm sorry, I was just worried about Aleph and Hiroko."
"How nice of you, worrying about them like that, but…" Nozomi walked back to her, slinging an arm over her shoulders. "You should focus on yourself right now, you know?"
"I suppose you're right…" Beth nodded a bit. "I'm just, ah, better at thinking of the needs of others. That's how I've always lived."
"And I'm sure that's fine sometimes, but if you don't care for yourself, you can't care for others." Nozomi began walking Beth towards the rest of the group slowly. "Besides, Aleph and Hiroko seem tough and loyal… I'm sure they can take care of themselves! Just ask them about what they did later."
"That would be a good idea, wouldn't it…?" Beth thought for a moment. "I'm just so worried… Aleph had just returned to us and Hiroko ran off without permission, so I-"
"Now, now…" Nozomi shook her head. "You're focusing on others too much right now! We'll need to fix that."
"But there's no time-"
Nozomi held up a finger. "How about this. Right now, we won't worry about this… But if we need to go and regroup again, you and I'll have some girl time where I just teach you to relax and focus on yourself, alright?"
Beth looked away from Nozomi, giving a small nod. "Alright."
Tamaki smiled, that was sweet… Maybe she could get in on that girl time, too…
When they got to the final room, Tamaki was sure it had to be the right one! There was no way it couldn't be, right? She have Kazuya a nod as he paused at the door and, soon enough, he was entering with Pascal trotting behind.
She followed after, watching him as he went to open the box in the middle of the room. When he opened it, she was expecting him to either give them a good to go of some sort or a negative on finding what they needed.
But instead, all she heard from him was a small whimper of "Mom…"
She walked around and held in a gasp when she saw he was grasping a bloody apron. Based off what she'd heard him say and how he was holding it, she'd guess that his mother… Was no longer with them.
Pascal ran around Kazuya, barking a few times before licking his face, as if to try and cheer up his owner. Kazuya continued to cling to it, however, still lost in thought. Should Tamaki say anything? Should she wait until Yuka said something…? She wasn't sure.
Soon enough, though, he was standing again, looking at the group with a forced smile. "I-it doesn't look like it's the item, you guys. Too bad, but… I guess we should head back to the locked door. When Tadano and Naoki get back, we'll see what to do."
"Alright…" Yuka frowned. "Kazuya, do you need to talk?"
"Not right now… Later, later." Kazuya looked away again and Tamaki felt her heart hurt for him. If only there was more she could do for the poor guy...