Chapter 35: Onsen are good for relaxing! …Right?
Friday, August 5th, 20XX Night
"Ahh…" An unconscious moan escaped Ren's lips as he relaxed in the onsen. The day had been a stressful struggle, suspended between extremes. Having that trauma wash away was perhaps the most blissful feeling in the world.
The onsen was not particularly large, and Ren supposed the water a little hotter than optimal, but none of that mattered. Arms stretched to the sides, head resting on fake rock, while surrounded by his friends was enough.
The moon was not particularly bright, only a few days past new. The inn did provide a few tungsten bulbs disguised as cheap lanterns. Yusuke was erstwhile engaged in stacking small rocks at the edge of the bath, trying to create an 'aesthetically pleasing' atmosphere. How that could be possible with the constant honks, whistles, and yelling of the nearby downtown Kyoto was hard to imagine. Thankfully he was wearing a towel now at least while he did it.
Morgana, likewise, was not in water but the lazy cat had his eyes closed as he basked in the water's emanating heat. Ryuji, of course, was chilling close to Ren a likewise relaxed smile just touching his face.
Then, as if his eye contact had been a sign, Ryuji opened his eyes and looked at him. "So, when do you think it is going to happen?"
"When… what will happen?" Ren asked completely confused. Their initial plan had been to have a team meeting tonight to figure out the final password for the palace, but everyone had been tired enough from travelling that it was being postponed until after breakfast.
"You know," Ryuji whispered loudly enough for someone walking outside the thick fence separating the inn from the city would hear, "when the girls will mix up the schedule and walk in on us."
Mona raised his head and Yusuke knocked his sculpture over but neither spoke. They were likely stunned as thoroughly as Ren was. Using his battle instincts, he bore through it and asked the obvious question. "W-Why would that happen?"
"Why?" Ryuji looked genuinely confused. "It has to happen. I don't know why, but anytime there is an onsen involved, the guys and girls have to have an erotic yet funny meeting. Man, I know we saw them in swimsuits just the other day, but oh boy…"
Ren could not argue that the thought of the girls desperately trying to cover themselves with towels wasn't an attractive one but… "I still have no idea why this is happening."
"Maybe the heat went to his head?" Morgana suggested.
"Hmm, yes, that does seem likely," Yusuke agreed solemnly, already beginning his sculpture again. "After all, an onsen in summer is just a tad odd."
"Hey!" Ryuji shook a fist at them. "I'm serious! It is going to happen! Notice how we are the only people in here? How there are separate change rooms but only one bath? All of the elements are here!"
Ren just sighed and let his eyes close. "Why don't you turn that imagination to thinking about what the palace is?"
"I'm serious!" Ryuji repeated himself. "Any moment now—"
He did not finish. He did not have to. The sound of the creaky bath door opening had silenced them all.
It is not possible. It can't be…
The sound of footsteps slapping against stone…
Ren tensed, his adrenaline flaring. Unfortunately, he was not confidant in his ability to escape the girls. Hopefully their state of undress would distract them long enough that he could make a quick getaway.
The moment of truth arrived as the towel wrapped figures entered view and…
"Whoa, isn't this cool, boys?" A large father with a massive beard laughed raucously with two young sons. Both of which were quick to take off their towels and jump into the water. Following closely behind them were other groups of men. There was still well over an hour left in the men's bath slot.
Sighing, Ren slumped back against the rocks. "Why did I believe for a second that you were right?"
"B-Because I should have been!" Ryuji whined. It was unlikely that anyone but Ren could even hear him now since the noise level had risen drastically and it looked like the popularity was only increasing. Ren's relaxing time had come to an end.
"Sure, you should have been."
"The universe has betrayed me!" Screaming that, Ryuji darted out of the bath without even a towel and headed for the changeroom.
Shortly after, Morgana and Yusuke wandered over. "I believed the idiot for a moment," Morgana growled, repeating Ren's earlier thoughts.
"Indeed," Yusuke shivered. "For some reason I felt like Ryuji's words were those a divine being freely manipulating the universe to turn the impossible into commonplace."
Ren could only shake his head as he clawed his way out of the bath and grabbed his towel to re-tie it. While there, he grabbed Ryuji's forgotten towel as well. "Yeah sure," Ren forced out the words in a joking voice, "like some malevolent force is behind our lives and can change events at will and they speak through Ryuji. Good one."
"Haha, yeah…" Morgana's voice did not have the joking quality that Ren had been hoping for. As the three of them locked eyes, they rushed after Ryuji. Ren did not know why, but there was a frantic beating in his chest that told him both that Ryuji had to be stopped, and that it was impossible to do so.
Bursting through the door with Morgana on his head and Yusuke on his heels, Ren got a full view of Ryuji sitting on a wooden bench, completely naked, phone in hand.
Hearing the door slam open, Ryuji turned to face them and his face split into that typical goofy smile with a note of pride in it. "I've done it!"
Oh no…
"I found the final word for the palace!"
"Huh?" Ren's word was repeated by both Yusuke and Morgana. The three of them stunned by the surprising twist of events.
There, on Ryuji's screen were three lines of text.
Name: Owada Jyun
Palace: Mansion
Distortion: Onsen
"That's right, we're going back to a onsen!"
Ryuji's words only confirmed to Ren what Yusuke had been saying. Yes, Ryuji had cursed them somehow.
Friday, August 5th, 20XX Night
Ann shivered. For some reason, she felt like she could feel Ryuji gazing at her naked body. Except she was not naked, and Ryuji was probably in the onsen right now. But she could not deny the sudden feeling that had shaken her down to her core.
"I think… something has happened."
"Eh? Really? What did you sense?" Sumire asked from where she was combing her hair. Unlike the rest of them, she looked fresh and completely unfazed.
Futaba groaned and rolled a lazy eye up to glare at them. Her hair was the one that needed brushing. The long orange filaments had some nasty knots that would be painful to get out. She was sprawled out completely on one of the two beds in the room. Ann and Sumire needed to figure out who would be sharing it with her and who would be banished to the small futon in the corner.
Haru and Makoto of course had claimed the first bed by the door. On closer inspection, that bed was also slightly larger than the other… Ann tried not to suspect them of any manipulation of events on that part.
Turning to address Sumire, Ann could do little more than shrug. "Not too sure honestly. Just a premonition. Something tells me that it will revolve around Ryuji getting slapped in the face."
"Oh, can I do it?" Haru asked hopefully. "I've always wanted to slap someone!"
"Haru?" Makoto asked.
"Hmm? Oh, don't you think it would fun? Like on a date with a hot guy, and he gets a little too frisky with his hand, so you slap him? Even though you don't mind the attention?"
"And who exactly are you picturing in these fantasies of yours?" Sumire questioned, perhaps a little harshly.
Without backing down, Haru flashed Sumire a smile. "Why do you think I had someone in particular in mind?"
Maybe it was the long day, or the wait for the hot springs, but Haru at least was not in a mood compatible with backing down. Sparks flew between the girls' eyes.
"Oh, so is this that 'main character' power I've only seen in anime," Futaba teased in a provoking voice.
That didn't help things as Haru turned her gaze to Futaba. "I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Calm down," Makoto snapped. The grating words predictably causing the complete other effect. She was busy counting bills trying to figure out a budget and how much they could spend without access to Haru's family's infinite funds.
Ann held her breath and glanced around the antagonistic room that was one spark away from a melt-down. Her own temper was growing frayed. The premonition in her mind loomed ever closer and they were squabbling over nothing.
"Perhaps you should take your own advice," Sumire replied coldly to Makoto.
"Not all of us had a convenient pillow for the whole train ride!" The student council president bit back, snapping the clasp closed on her wallet with a sharp noise.
"You'd be too nervous to sleep even if Ren-senpai offered!" Sumire continued attacking for some reason. Ann supposed that Haru's words must have resonated a bit too thoroughly.
"I would not be!" Makoto responded throwing the wallet against the bed and rising to her feet. "Not everything is about you, Sumire!"
"Oh? Well—"
Whatever Sumire was going to say was cut off by a banging on the door, loud and urgent. Ann's portent had arrived.
"Everyone decent?" Ryuji's voice called through the thin material. "Three, two, nah, coming in!"
And so he did.
Ann gaped at the audacity of the boy. Then, blushing, Ann remembered that she had taken her shorts off, she was only wearing panties, her bra and a t-shirt that did a bad job of hiding her legs.
Still, it was better than Sumire who had taken her shirt off and flushed bright red as she covered her chest with her arms.
Rising to confront Ryuji, Ann strode past the cellphone in his upraised hand and stared into his goofy, smiling face. As he beheld the room, the grin was slowly transforming into his open mouth drooling position.
Ann did not let him finish observing.
Bringing her hand back, she slapped that face as hard as she could.
When the fires of conflict had finally died down and the girls were dressed enough to not be embarrassed, the boys filed in and took positions around the exterior of the room. Oddly, it was Yusuke who seemed most at home in their room, plopping himself down on Futaba's bed with a vacant expression. Morgana and Ren meanwhile were positioned close to the door, and based on how often Ren's eyes unconsciously flitted to Sumire's chest area, Ann had a strong feeling that he had seen past her to the girl in her state of undress.
Ryuji, meanwhile, had been relegated to the floor where he was sulking and rubbing his cheek. He kept glaring at Makoto who had spent the better part of five minutes ranting at him about entering a woman's room without permission.
"I can't believe I didn't get to do that…" Haru pouted
Ann ignored that and tried to move the conversation on to what was important. "So, the distortion of this Owada guy's palace is…?"
"An Onsen." Ren said simply.
"…Excuse me?" Makoto said, the words polite, the tone anything but.
"Ren tells the truth," Yusuke agreed, "Ryuji discovered it."
That did nothing to ease the mood as Sumire and Makoto glared at the boy again. Ann told herself that her state of undress hadn't been too embarrassing at least. Underwear is no different from a swimsuit…
"So?" Haru looked between the different boys. "This just gives us more time to explore tomorrow. Why did you need to rush in and tell us?"
"Well…" Ren spoke cautiously, his eyes furtively glancing around the room. He seemed unwilling to talk. In fact, Ann was surprised that Morgana hadn't said anything. The cat was being suspiciously quiet.
"Yes?" Makoto prompted him, her voice still sharp. You would think she was the one caught in only a bra.
"I thought we should talk about our strategy going into the palace and come up with some ideas if we run into the expected obstacles…"
"Obstacles?" Ann asked, glad that the conversation was going somewhere. She really wanted to end it without further incidence. She wanted to soak in the onsen, remove the stress of the day and go to bed. Her shoulder muscles were strained from sitting upright all day.
Ren, however, looked far from eager to continue speaking. Ryuji, likewise, had a sullen expression on his face and was not talking.
"They likely mean the requirement to enter the bath," Futaba spoke up. "Pretty common RPG trope, need to procure the correct outfit or whatever to blend in and enter the hideout."
"Correct outfit?" Makoto asked with a frown.
"She means we would have to go in naked," Haru frowned. "But what about our weapons and guns? I can't sneak my axe in under a towel."
"I don't think that's the main issue here," Sumire said in a strangled voice. "Why would we do that anyway? We should just push through with force!"
Ann, who was watching Futaba caught the glance that she shared with Ren and Ryuji. It seemed like the three of them were not confident that it would be possible to get around this potential circumstance.
In some ways, she was grateful that they had figured it out tonight and brought it to their attention. On the other hand, Ann knew that she would be thinking about the possibility all night.
Into the silent room, Haru eventually spoke. "This man, Owada Jyun, has a palace and killed someone. Not only that, but he also blamed someone else for it who committed suicide. If we are unwilling to go naked in front of our friends and mere cognitions to stop him, then we have no right to call ourselves allies of justice!"
Ann gaped at the girl as did most everyone else. It was Yusuke and then Futaba that nodded along in agreement. Morgana, who did not wear clothes also had no qualms about this. He likely removed himself because he struggled to defend an opinion on something he did not do.
"What about your previous argument though?" Sumire said. "Without weapons does it matter if we get through the checkpoint?"
Makoto nodded frantically in agreement of that, her face a scarlet mess as she wrung her hands together.
"We use our personas," Ryuji countered, the first words he had spoken.
Ann's hand pulsed with a twinge of pain amplified by her guilt. His cheek was already starting to bruise.
"That won't work, and you know it," Sumire countered, "It takes a lot out of us to summon them, both physically and mentally. We will even lose access to our healing items."
"I was thinking if it came to this," Ren finally said, "that we would split into two groups. One runs information gathering inside the onsen, and the other tries to get in with gear through an exterior route."
"T-Then we only need to send the men into the onsen!" Makoto laughed nervously; her eyes darted between people looking for agreement. "We can go in through the outside."
Futaba snorted. "Why do I know more about sleazy old men than a high school senior? Weren't you blackmailed by one?"
"S-Shut up!" Makoto ranted, pulling at her hair. "T-This is crazy, why do we have to do this!? There has to be another way!"
Ann lost her patience in that moment. "Don't you have any concept of self-sacrifice? I was on the verge of sleeping with Kamoshida to help Shiho! Ren almost died trying to help Futaba. Sumire was almost killed by her cognitive sister in Kobayakaya's palace! I thought you knew what it meant when you confronted Kaneshiro. What happened to that girl!? I would walk a mile naked through downtown Tokyo to save any of you! Would you not do the same!?"
Makoto froze and wilted underneath Ann's attack. Her head was aching, her hand hurt, and she wanted to go to bed. Right now, the packed room was stifling her. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Ann turned to face Ryuji. His face was oddly solemn, if not starting to swell.
Placing a gentle hand on the injured skin, she spoke quietly. "Sorry about that, I shouldn't have done that…"
Ryuji shrugged. "Someone has to stop me from rushing into stupid things."
"Anyway!" Morgana spoke loudly. "Why don't you all go to bed, and we can reconvene in the morning?"
With unanimous agreement the boys filed out.
In the wake of their absence, awkward silence reigned. Makoto still looked stunned whereas Haru was looking calm as was Futaba. Sumire was upset but had a resolute cast to her eyes. Ann checked her phone and then grabbed her stuff for the hot springs. "Anyone else coming?"
Friday, August 5th, 20XX Late Night
"Ahh…" Haru could not help but release a sigh so deep it was almost a moan as she slipped into the hot water. Very hot water. Even that could not stop her from sinking completely into the water, shoulders falling back and her head lolling against the plastic-feeling rocks on the edge.
Her eyes fluttered closed, and she enjoyed a moment of peace. There was the sound of laughter and some splashing from the other users. Even the sounds of the showers could be heard from where Haru was lounging.
It was a fantastic moment of peace that was the first one she had had all day. Then it ended with the sounds of splashing as someone entered right next to her. "The water is really hot…"
Haru cracked an eye to observe a reserved Makoto. Unlike Haru, Makoto did not let her shoulders roll back and sat hunched forward, her arms clutched in front of her body.
"You don't have to make small talk," Haru told her best friend. Maybe it was because they were the same age, or everyone else already had a close compatriot, but they had fallen in together rather naturally.
"What else would we do in an onsen?"
Haru chuckled at her sulky friend. She must be feeling extremely bad to act in such a manner. "Oh, Mako-chan. You really are too cute."
"Grr… Haru… I don't understand how you can be so nonchalant about this. I can feel their gazes clinging to me already. Yusuke doing his hand thing, Ryuji whistling and leering…"
Haru laughed out loud. "Is that really the worst thing that you can think of?" Haru wondered. "We have the power to change someone's life and get justice for their mother's murder and stop more from—"
"I know! I know!" Makoto cut her off. Clutching her short hair in her hands, Makoto's back curled up as she stared at the surface of the water. Her face was twisted with pain and confusion. "I know that is how it should work. I understand that it should be a small price to pay. It isn't like I believe that no one should see my body before marriage or whatever, I still… I still can't do it."
Haru bit down her desire to reply harshly or snicker. Placing a hand on Makoto's shoulder, Haru simply nodded. "Everyone has their limits I suppose…"
"I hate the way you say that…" Makoto groaned. "Not that I can blame you I suppose…"
Haru struggled to come up with a reply. Then, more because she was curious than anything, she asked a question. "If I was into women, would you be embarrassed to be seen by me as well?"
"Huh?" Makoto finally looked up, staring at Haru for the first time.
"You heard me."
"W-Well…" Trailing off, Makoto scrunched her eyes as she actually considered the question. That was something about her that Haru always appreciated. "Yes, I think I would be. If I could feel your eyes crawling over my body the same way…"
Haru nodded. Tapping her lips with her pointer finger, she considered it. "So, it is more like you don't want to be sexualized, which is why you are fine wearing a swimsuit on the beach but having Ryuji barge in on some of us wearing underwear pissed you off so much."
"I guess?" Makoto agreed sighing.
"In that case though," Haru said with a small smile, "all you are doing at an onsen is wearing the appropriate outfit. You won't be sexualized because you are just fitting in!"
"Urgh, you don't have to say these things, I already considered them. I still don't think I'll be able to do it. I also don't think I am the only one."
Haru followed Makoto's gaze to where Sumire was getting into the bath. Her gorgeous long red hair was thrown over one shoulder and hung down across one breast to her stomach. She had an almost otherworldly beauty to her as she stepped into the water and relaxed. It was sights like that made Haru forget about the often quiet and recluse girl and remember that divine warrior from the palaces that tossed aside shadows with graceful strikes of her sword.
"Do you honestly think that girl will be fine with Ren seeing her naked body?"
"Who knows," Haru replied, her voice sounding oddly robotic. "She may appreciate an excuse to move their relationship forward."
Makoto grunted in affirmation. "What is happening between the two of them? Sometimes I think they are just hiding their relationship, albeit poorly, but then…"
Haru did not need Makoto to finish that statement. There were multiple examples that Haru could probably list half a dozen with no effort. "Something changed in Futaba's palace, yeah?"
"Definitely." Makoto nodded.
Haru struggled to explain it, even to herself. The rescue had brought them closer together, but it had also erected a wall between them. The once inevitability that they would end up together had somehow become less permanent in Haru's mind.
"By the way, Haru, how is your relationship with your father?"
The question coming from left field took Haru like a sucker punch to the face. Reeling back in the water, her sudden jump caused a loud splash of water that drew gazes form everyone. "Ahaha, sorry about that…!"
Settling herself, Haru glared at Makoto and spoke more quietly. "That's sudden."
"Is it? I mean… you were engaged to someone you despised just a few short weeks ago."
Haru could not argue that point. Laughing quietly, it was her turn to fold her arms and bow her head as guilt coursed through her more strongly. "Mako-chan… Do you think I could run a company?"
"A company? You mean your father's? Wait, Haru, is your father setting you up as heir!?"
"…That isn't what I said…"
"Err, right…" Makoto hesitated a long moment before nodding. "The tenderness and dedication you use when caring for plants. I think if you could transfer even a fraction of that to running a company you could manage."
"Thanks."
Haru slipped into silence and did not clarify further.
Saturday, August 6th, 20XX Morning
"Whoa…"
Skull's gasp was definitely deserved. Joker barely recognized the gaudy mansion after its transformation in the metaverse. The building had gone from four to five stories with an iron fence along the outside into a gargantuan thing with steam billowing from dozens of spires. Yet, even from here, it was clear where the treasure would be held.
In the middle of the building, at the very top, the tenth level or so, Ren guessed, there was a beautiful glass dome that reflected the bright Kyoto sunshine. It stood out in harsh contrast to the almost gray slate-like walls of the building.
"So how do we enter?" Noir asked, casually spinning her massive axe.
It was a fair question Ren thought. The casualness of the statement was also warranted. In terms of appearance, it was far from the most intimidating palace they had confronted. Both Futaba's pyramid and Kamoshida's castle came to mind. Not to mention the most visually impressive of all they had confronted: Kaneshiro's bank. It also lacked the otherworldliness of Kobayakawa's playground. Instead of that, they got a stone behemoth with an obvious target.
Similar to most palaces, the area around the palace was relatively unchanged. The world lost a bit of its colour, its vibrancy gone, a sense of dullness or maybe even doom hung over the rich neighbourhood. Ren liked to see that. Perhaps Futaba was an exception, but he had at some point began judging the strength of a palace by the distortion in the rest world.
The hypothesis seemed accurate with Kaneshiro and Futaba having the strongest two palaces and highest level of exterior distortion. Ren had no idea if the trend would continue here.
"We can probably do this in one day," Queen surmised, cocking her hips and placing a hand on one of them.
Joker wondered if she realized how different she acted here… and if she noticed Skull admiring the view with a not very subtle nod of praise.
"Indeed," Joker twirled his knife, striding forward confidently. "Let's do a quick lap of the building, find an entrance."
"Two teams?" Violet asked.
Joker paused, then made the instant decision. "Yeah, you take Queen, Mona, Fox that way. Everyone else with me."
Then, bending his legs slightly, Joker threw himself ten feet straight in the air and landed on the metal fence. Thankfully, it did not have the interspersed spikes, Instead, the cast iron looking material was cubic in chape and almost four inches thick. More than enough to run on.
Taking off, Joker glanced back to confirm that Panther, Skull, and Noir were following him. That was everybody. All eight of them had… Joker came to a sudden halt on the fence just as a shaky voice rang out.
"H-Hold on Ren!"
Sighing, Joker jumped down and sauntered back to Oracle. They had already decided on her name at an earlier time. Violet's group had noticed as well and had paused, waiting. "Skull, switch teams with Queen, get her to lead this group.
"You got it."
As they took off, Joker stayed silent, standing by Oracle's side as the other seven took off with their new groups. Joker was not too happy about it; the healing capacity was overloaded in Queen's group. On the other hand, Violet's group had way more damage.
"S-Sorry," Oracle wilted, knitting her hands together.
"Don't be." Joker said. "You will be helpful. You just need to get used to your power and your capabilities in this world."
"How?" Oracle demanded.
"By doing of course," Joker flashed her one of his incorrigible smiles. "Jump on the fence."
"You and your damn protagonist power…" She muttered for some reason. "I swear if you even try to turn this into a harem, Sojiro will string you up by your guts."
"Uhh, what?"
"Never mind!" Yelling, the definitely-not-calm girl hurled herself at the fence. Totally unaccustomed to the power of the metaverse, and more accurately her persona, Futaba sailed completely over it.
Following with a smirk, Joker perched on top of the thin metal and smiled down at the girl that had fallen on her face. "If you yell any louder, the guards will find us."
"S-Shut up Mr. pretty face!"
Pretty face? Joker wondered. Most of his face was covered by a mask. Shrugging, he changed his posture so that he was sitting on the railing. "So, are you coming up?"
"Grr…" The next time she was too low. She tried to lift her right leg higher, and it collided with the top bar at too sharp of an angle. Bouncing off, she fell back down hard on her backside. "Ohf!"
"Soo…?"
This time Oracle just glared at him harshly. Then she began mumbling to herself and looking at the fence in a critical manner. Sizing up the distance a few more times, she suddenly leaped into the air in a perfect parabola and fell right on top of the fence.
Unfortunately, she was either too surprised or too elated by her success that she forgot the need to balance. Arms windmilling, Oracle let out a shriek as she faceplanted forward ten feet to the ground.
Joker only chuckled and jumped to his feet to look back at her. One advantage of being in the metaverse is that he did not have to worry about her being hurt. It would take a lot more than that fall. "The jump was good. Remember to balance though."
This time, she only rolled over and sighed. "I analyzed it all perfectly… why is this so hard for me?"
"It is hard for everyone at first," Joker shot back. Except maybe Violet… That was not what Oracle wanted to hear though. "It took us a long time to get used to using our full powers. We've now had a lot of time to get used to our limits and exceed them. You're starting further behind than anyone else had too. Also, you don't have a weapon or a way to fight. That makes your role different and more vulnerable."
Oracle looked up at him through those goggles Doppelganging as a mask. "My powers are different… Yes, I see. I need to use my powers differently."
Joker stayed silent. He could not help with this part. Her mind was so unique that more interference at this point would likely only hinder. The silence stretched for a long time. Then, she simply ripped the goggles off and summoned her UFO of a persona that sucked her up into it. Yes, it would be best to keep that from Fox. It would distract him too much.
Then, it floated over to the top of the fence and hovered there. "Happy?" Oracle's voice sounded from inside, muffled and metallic, yet the words were easy to comprehend.
"Are you serious?" Joker responded in a flat voice. "You're going to float around in that thing?"
"Is that a problem?"
"Well… If we need to be stealthy or go through tight corridors it will be."
"Grr…" Slowly, Oracle was released from the inside of Necronomicon, the black metallic tendrils sliding along her body as if reluctant to release her.
Unable to repress it any longer, Joker had to ask. "What is the inside like?"
"Huh? Oh, it's like a computer room. Got some holographic screens that I can inspect and affect things with. Movement controls."
"Oh."
As the goggles reformed, Joker lost sight of her eyes, but she had started to narrow them before he lost sight. "You were imagining something dirty, weren't you?"
"It is your persona," Joker shrugged, trying to deflect.
Oracle smirked. "You know, I read this series where the girls that pilot these mechs, the tendrils in them go inside them to form a connection. Is that what you thought was happening?"
"That the hell are you reading?" Was Joker's only response.
She frowned disappointedly, and then looked down. "Holy hell, I'm standing!"
"You are," Joker agreed. With a look to the side, he confirmed what he had suspected. "You also called shadows down on us."
Following his gaze, she winced. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it. This is a good test of the shadows here and the abilities that you can provide."
"Got it!"
"I'm counting on you!" Jumping down from the fence, Joker twirled his knife in the face of two guards that pulled up. Similar to the one's in Kaneshiro's bank, they looked like hired security. A little extreme for a politician to have, but he must attend many events with security like this.
Unfortunately, the forms of the personas that the shadows took on were unlike any that Joker had seen before. Each one formed into two humanoid shapes that looked like clay, joined together by three metal bars. One through their necks, one the wrists, and the last the ankles. It gave a rather gruesome sight.
Neither spoke further, only moaning as they stood there, energy pooling into their final shapes.
Not letting this opportunity go to waste, Joker ripped off his mask. "Burn them, Lamia!"
A wave of intense heat washed over the odd shadows and began to burn them. Both let odd cries of pain indicating that they were not immune to the fire at least. Their skin crackled and warped, but they remained standing.
"Good hit!" Oracle called. "One more of those will take them down."
Joker stumbled somewhat and almost got his by both of their replies as they flew at him and tried to use physical moves. One still caught him. It packed a punch, but nothing they couldn't handle. "How do you know that!?"
"Cause I can see their health obviously," Oracle replied in with a tone that said he was an idiot. "I can also see yours, and your MP too! Whoa, this is like a video game!"
She can see how much vitality the shadows have left!? Testing her claims, Joker unleashed the same skill again and cleanly burned away both of the monsters. His instincts had told him the same thing would happen. Futaba being able to quantify these things though…
"Wait, so is this something only I can do?" Oracle asked him with wonder.
"Yes!" He snapped back, unable to process what it all meant. Rubbing his head, he asked another question. "What did you call it? Health and M something?"
"MP!" Oracle sounded deeply offended. "Magic points!? Have you never played an RPG!?"
"No!" Joker retorted, flinging his hands up. "We've been referring to them as vitality and mental fortitude."
"Eww."
With one simple word summing up her feelings, Joker rolled his eyes and jumped back unto the fence. "Either way, keep an eye on everyone's values if possible. Sometimes they try to hide their condition from me."
Oddly, she did not agree immediately. "Hey, I'm not a snitch?"
"Snitch?" Joker repeated incredulously. "Their lives are at risk. Everyone's life is."
That made her freeze. When she exited Necronomicon, she looked a little repentant. "Yeah, my bad. This isn't a video game."
Joker nodded and spied a form in white approaching them. "It's time."
Saturday, August 6th, 20XX Noon
"It wasn't too hard to find," Violet called back to them. "Mona and I checked it out and found the temperature bearable. We can definitely penetrate this way."
Oracle, running at the back of the three-man group giggled. "She said penetrate."
"S-Shut up!" Violet threw the words back. At least the girl could move with them now even if she was moving only at a stiff jog.
"We will see I suppose," Senpai sighed. "The worst would be a sudden wave of heat while inside."
"Yeah," Violet agreed, "But even so, we can just heal something like that, yeah?"
She could not see Senpai as he was behind her at the moment, but his words eventually returned in a begrudging tone. "The pain of being burned wouldn't be decreased, so we will maintain vigilance but proceed."
In a short few minutes, they rounded the back of the palace where they met up with the others. Skull and Panther looked bored as they kicked a small rock back and forth between them not letting it drop.
Jumping down beside them, Violet took her position on a periphery looking for encroaching shadows. They had avoided the few periphery guards that were paying attention to the back wall.
"Well, lead on." Joker said.
"Shall I?" Getting permission from a curt nod, Violet jumped to the front of the formation and darted along the narrow pathways to the sheer gray wall. Despite its appearance however, it was rugged and worn. Grabbing into the crumbly material, she began to heft herself straight up.
It was easy in this world. Pushing with her powerful legs, she would often leap nearly two meters at a time as she swiftly climbed to the top of the outer wall where Mona waited. From this perspective, they could view the entire palace. Unfortunately, the entrance they found seemed to vent one of the outside baths. Inside the thick gray stone wall was the conical centre building of which they had only been able to see the glass dome before.
From here, the full structure took shape and one could see the striated shape and count off four distinct layers. They could also tell now that the exhaust spires were tied to each respective level. The only ones that could be reached from here were the first ones. The other option would be to climb the exterior wall of the inner structure to reach the glass dome. Plausible, but that would require breaking through the glass at the end.
Violet had to wait nearly five minutes until Senpai finally scaled the wall last, waiting behind for Oracle who had collapsed upon reaching the top. "Never… Again… Flying next time."
"Get the practice while you can," Senpai replied with no remorse poking her. "Get up, we're moving."
"You know," Oracle said, still sounding winded. "I thought the whole 'phantom thief' thing was just a marketing ploy but… it definitely feels that way, doesn't it?"
That a chuckle from the group as a whole.
"Indeed," Fox said boldly, framing the center building with his fingers. "I cannot wait to see the inside and what malevolent distortions of beauty await us in this otherworldly dream."
"Then let us go already," Mona said, trying to take the helm.
Everyone of course looked to Senpai, who looked at Oracle. It was an awkward moment waiting for her to rise and nod before Senpai gave the okay. Mona pouted but still led the way to the steam outlet. Even a few meters away, she could feel the heat in the air. The grate was already tossed aside. Inside, the temperature reached uncomfortable levels, but never exceeded that.
"Voices ahead," Mona whispered, his quiet voice managing to echo back to all of them. Following closely behind his cat-like body. Violet squinted in the darkness, just able to make out a sliver of light as she got deeper into the palace bowels. Some sections were incredibly steep as they fell back down to the level of the first floor after their climb. Exiting this way would not be easy.
A protracted minute of shuffling in the dark later, they reached the light. The intake fans that pumped the steam up and out through the spires. Mona silently moved over the first grate giving Violet her first glance into the onsen, kind of. She was looking through a spinning pan, a metal grate, and staring down many meters through hazy air. She could vaguely see the bath's edge and figures within, but little more.
Unable to stop here, she continued after Mona. Thankfully, there was a maintenance hatch at the end that the cat was able to kick open and let them out into the bowels of the onsen.
"Ha! This will be a cinch!" Skull said, louder than he should of.
Meeting Violet's expectation, a shadow poked its head in. Reacting with near supernatural reflexes her rapier was out of its sheath and in its face at almost the same time it noticed something was there.
"Ah, my bad!" Skull apologized. Rolling his shoulder to loosen it up he stepped up to Violet's right to face the shadow that was revealing its true form.
Letting Skull redeem himself for his mistake, she took a step back. It looked like it would be him and Mona fighting it with her supporting. There was not enough room for the others. Senpai had not even managed to get out of the pipe. His complaints were muffled and inaudible.
The shadow could not be ignored however, the shadow was one that she had not seen before. It took on the form of a humanoid man, kind of like a boxer. Something about it was… different. Senpai had mentioned the same thing with the ones that he had fought.
"Go," She ordered the boys.
The two performed a perfect pincer attack, Skull and Mona's mace and knife ripping into the shadow's body and… doing nothing.
It was completely immune to physical damage. Then, following Skull, it leapt forward and pounded its fist into Skull's face. The boy crumpled without a sound.
"Jeanne!" Calling for her persona, Violet called upon a beam of light and flurry of cards that trapped the now immobile shadow within. With a burst of light, it was destroyed completely.
Panting from the effort, Violet slowly let her arm fall and turned to Skull who was only now struggling to his feet. Both Mona and Panther had healed him already.
"Fucking Shadow hit like a truck. Think I blacked out for a moment."
"Protect yourself better!" Panther berated him. "You can't be sure if we will be able to heal the injuries."
Violet would have smiled at the tender interaction if the situation hadn't been so dire. Why was the enemy so strong? Senpai had fought two with little to no effort. Would there be that much of a strength difference within the shadows of a single palace?
Growing concerned, Violet scouted ahead. Darting out of the room, she headed left down a tight maintenance passage to where the baths should be. As she had expected, there was a door that stood slightly ajar. Pushing it open slowly, Violet stuck her head in and confirmed what she expected, a hot spring.
The door opened up onto an elevated concealed ledge such that the majority of the water was obscured behind a drop-off. Giving the area a tactical sweep, Violet confirmed it was empty and turned back to grab the others.
With everyone together, they crawled out onto the edge and looked down upon the onsen. Thinking back on the event, Violet should have realized what they would see.
Naked women.
There were at least two dozen of them lounging around the water or inside. If Violet had ever thought of a man's paradise, it would probably be this. All of the women were attractive and diverse. Skin tones that ranged from lighter than Ann to darker than she had ever seen.
"Dude…" Skull's voice was choked. "Umm, what do we do?"
"I uhh…" Senpai sounded completely frazzled.
"Let's go," Violet pled. "We can just walk up around the outside and…"
The doors banged open. "Well, let us see if the new stock has any good ones in them!"
Everyone froze as an old man walked out flanked by four more middle-aged men. Each of them was wearing only a towel. Unlike how Violet would have reacted, the women whistled, called out, and clapped.
None of them hid their bodies but instead started making seductive motions, lifting up breasts, spreading legs.
Violet felt her body begin to shake. She could not move, could not look away. She knew what was going to happen, she wanted to leave, but couldn't.
Is this how Senpai sees me?
Is this what he wants?
The towels fell as the men advanced on the women. Their old leader Owada took three at the same time. It was a visceral, passionate mating. Violet could not tell if the women actually cared about them or were just pretending.
Even as it began, Violet could not force herself away. Violet could feel something inside herself breaking as she watched. This wasn't right. It couldn't be. This was not love. This was a perversion of something sacred.
The moans of pleasure.
The sounds of wet, naked bodies slapping together.
Each second that she watched continued to break her. Tears began to stream down her face heedless of the heat in the onsen.
It was over in a matter of moments. Owada stood in the center of the three women that he had been taking. All of them remained where they lay, panting.
"Hmm, not bad. Enjoy yourself boys, I'm moving up." Ignoring his towel, Owada strolled to the center of the room where a spiral staircase waited that went up. Two large bodyguards stood guard there preventing unwanted personal from ascending.
The others continued watching but Violet let herself get dragged away. She did not fight the person and let her body fall limp in their grasp.
"Damnnn…" Skull's voice had a note of awe in it. "Is the dude a god? I mean… three at once? And he conquered them. Like—"
"Shuush!" Panther said.
"I-I don't think I can do this." Violet was surprised to find that the word's were not hers. It was Queen who had spoken. She was on all fours, head cradled in her hands. Violet got the impression that she had backed out awhile earlier.
"I think we just need to take a five-minute break and—"
Senpai got cut off as Queen's fist slammed against the ground. None of the distracted people below would have heard. "What do you mean, a break!? This is horrible. It's a disgusting place and I can't—"
Skull's loud snort this time broke off the second person in a row. "Come on. Why are you all over-reacting? Bro pays for a bunch of prostitutes, and you are all acting like you are a bunch of nuns sworn to celibacy. Get over it and let's go bash some heads in."
Violet hadn't been the main target, but she still flinched. It had a logical truth to it. Something something the oldest profession in the world. She knew about that. But to experience it, to see it… No, she needed far more than five minutes.
Saturday, August 6th, 20XX Noon
Skull stood defiant. He would not be bullied and belittled this time. Maybe he couldn't understand because he was a boy, but compared to Kamoshida… well, Skull definitely knew which he thought was worse.
Panther shot him a harsh glare, but he saw the truth in her face, she agreed with him.
There was an odd silent trio of Oracle, Fox, and Mona that stood quietly. In fact, Fox had an almost bored aura about him. Joker, however, gave him an exasperated look and Noir a murderous one.
Violet and Queen looked only inwards as they grappled with their crumbling innocence. Skull wanted to yell at them. Had they never watched any porn or hentai? Oracle seemed to have based on her calm demeanor.
In terms of the two girls who had lost their shit, Skull thought there was an excuse for Violet, she had that innocent aura, Queen, however, was a senior. She was almost an adult. This was inexcusable.
Grinding his teeth together, Skull ran out of patience. "So? Can we get a move on? We need to find a way to get higher, yeah?"
"Well…" Panther looked at the two. "Err, maybe we can look for a path up with Oracle?"
"It's obvious though, isn't it?" Joker spoke, his usually charismatic voice a flat monotone. "We can probably just walk straight through the onsen up to the second floor."
"Huh?" Then Skull remembered their conversation yesterday. "Those guards though… Don't they look like they'll only let certain people up?"
"Maybe… Why don't Fox and I check it out? The rest of you can stay here and calm down. Keep a look out for us."
"I am fine with that," Fox agreed readily. "Although the sounds are less than… pleasing."
"Sounds?" Queen asked in a strangled voice. "How can you even think about going down there!?"
"Senpai… I-I don't want you down there."
"I'll do it." Skull spat out. "Stay here and do whatever. Let's go Fox."
Stalking away, Skull found the path back down and walked confidently down it. There was only one set of footsteps following his.
"Ahh, Skull. Do we not need to get towels in order to enter?"
"They got to have them in the changerooms." Skull answered confidently. Reaching the bottom of the maintenance staircase, Skull and Fox exited, for the first time, into an area that was meant to be seen. The hallway was lined with a rich carpet and led to a massive entrance framed with gilded masonry. The sign above it indicated it as the entrance to the "Bottom (AKA the worst) Bath".
It also only has one entrance. This was a mixed bath if there was any further confirmation needed. Walking confidently through the drawn back curtains into the brightly lit space, Skull was treated to eye candy immediately upon viewing a group of three young women about his own age that were sitting naked upon the benches. Maybe because they were shadows with no destination, and no way to leave the palace, they had clothes out, but made no motions to put them on.
Seeing Fox and him enter, the women smiled and waved. One particularly buxom girl who didn't bother trying to hide her nudity smiled and looked him up and down. "Let me know if you need a ticket."
"Y-Yes ma'am!" Blushing furiously, Skull was grateful for the mask and rushed over to the towel bin. Grabbing one, he glanced back at the women who were staring at him expectantly with wolfish smiles.
This isn't right! Skull pled mentally. He was the one who was supposed to chase women. That was what it meant to be a guy! Grabbing a towel, Skull walked behind a bin and began to take off his thief costume. To his surprise, as soon as he started, the whole thing vanished.
Standing stark naked, he gaped for a brief moment before hurriedly wrapping the towel around his waist. His mask was gone as well. "C-Come on Fox. Hurry up and…"
The boy was already wearing a towel.
"…Honestly, sometimes…" Shaking his head, Skull entered into the bath. On the ground floor now, the experience was so much more extreme. He passed within a dozen feet of a couple making love on the rocks at the edge of the bath. Taking the narrow path between the pools of water, Skull kept his eyes on the ground. He had been critical on the girls before and had been fine above. It was so personal down here. He could imagine getting dragged into the water and having…
Shaking his head, Skull sped up and jogged the last meters to the guards. They stood stiffly blocking his way up. "H-Hey, kind of stuffy down here. Can I go see the better baths?"
"Tickets?" The one on the right spoke. He had a black mask on. It was the only difference in their identical two-meter builds.
"That woman mentioned tickets as well…" Fox mused.
"Huh… If I give you some yen, will you—"
"The tickets are given out by the women. If you pleasure them well, they will reward you with a ticket. Get three and you can go up." White mask interjected.
"P-Pleasure them…" Skull did a slow circle, taking in the massive circular bath. The thick steam in the air, the moans always in the background, the small palm trees in various sections.
Throughout it all, Skull caught the eye of nearly half a dozen women staring at him with a small smile, waiting to see who he would choose. Staggering a step, Skull ran. Faster than he ever had as a track athlete.