Covert Operations
By: Ominae
Rating: T
Chapter 9: The Raid
Security Room, Ayanagi Grand Building, Ayanagi City, Toyama, Japan
It's 10:05 PM. Most of the people who work in the building have left for the night. The only people left are those who conduct security and maintenance, all the way to early morning on graveyard shifts.
The security room, currently, consisted of five persons in dark blue guard uniform shirts, black pants and dress shoes. The two women and three males in their 30s were vigilant in ensuring the building and the employees working inside are safe.
"All clear on the entrances."
"All clear on the elevator lobbies."
"Same on the roof."
The guards sounded off when they checked the screens on their consoles.
"Looks like we're going to have a quiet night like always."
As they continued to do their work, they failed to note that within a few milliseconds, their security feeds were already hijacked. Courtesy of Rebecca and Shaun.
Even when checking the security feeds for the elevator, all the guards will see are an endless loop.
50th Floor, Abstergo Entertainment Japan Ayanagi Office, Ayanagi Grand Building, Ayanagi City, Toyama, Japan
The offices of Abstergo Entertainment Japan's Ayanagi branch, located from the 45th to the 50th floors (the latter serving as the last floor for the AGB), were mostly empty.
And when it is mostly empty, one office in the 50th floor had its light on for the whole night.
That office belonged to Kenjiro Maeda, AE Japan's representative in charge of the company's operations in Northwestern Japan. He was lately holding up phone calls in his office after office hours with AE offices in Europe and North America, all of it done in English.
["I know, I know."] Maeda sighed while he was on Zoom call. ["I agree. Those Assassins are holding up our research on leads for the Observatory."]
["Sadly the rest of us are sharing that assessment."] That reply was from Canadian creative team member Olivier Garneau, who called in from Montreal, Quebec in Canada. ["I'm getting calls from Ms. England on the matter to double our manpower if possible."]
["I don't think we can rush things, especially when we're low on financial requirements."]
Olivier nodded. ["I'll be speaking to her on the next meeting on that matter. I'm flying in to Philadelphia in a few days for the opening of AE's Philadelphia office; Ms. England will be there on the sidelines."]
["Ah. Sounds like a good opportunity."]
["Indeed it is."]
["For now, we'll carry on like the usual. I think we'll expect a call for an upcoming meeting with her."]
["Alright."]
["Let's watch out for those Assassins for now."]
["I'd say the same thing."]
The Zoom call ended afterwards.
Finally. The Japanese Templar member was relieved that he has a chance to take a break. Now I can take a break.
What he didn't know was that Yu, Raido and Mark infiltrated the empty offices at a rapid pace after receiving word from Rebecca and Shaun that the target floors are entirely empty.
A few minutes later, Maeda booted his desktop computer down.
At the same time, the door was opened. The trio came bursting in to storm Maeda's office. Their Daewoo K7s were aimed at him, but Mark went to examine the tactical armband sleeve on his right arm.
"It's him." Mark said to the other two in Japanese after he opened the sleeve cover to examine a printed photo of Maeda as seen through an official SID profile.
Yu and Raido nodded.
"WAIT! WAIT! I don't know what you guys want! But if it's money or some precious things...!"
The two SHADOW agents/Assassins fired their suppressed submachine guns at him. After being hit by several 9mm bullets, Maeda dropped dead.
["You know what to do."]
Yu began to secure all the brass casings. Mark inserted a USB memory stick into an open USB slot and booted the desktop.
Raido went to work to remove the bullets; they were stuck on the wall behind the office chair. ["I'll try to take what I can. But some of the bullets may be on the target's corpse."]
["It's fine."] Mark went to work to get a password program from the memory stick to hack the desktop. ["All right. The password program Shaun cooked up worked."]
["Leave it to me. It'll take a few minutes."] Shaun said on the comms.
["Understood. But we'll have to make it quick."]
["Rebecca's still doing her magic on her side to help out."]
["Got it."]
["These assault gloves work just fine, so we don't have to worry about leaving fingerprints."] Yu said after he collected the casings.
["Looks pretty quick."] Mark stared at the download prompt on the desktop screen.
["You guys can get out as soon as the download's finished."] Shaun informed the three-man team.
["Thanks, mate. The download's at 98%... and done."] Mark instantly took the memory stick.
["Way is clear for now."]
["Gotcha."]
["All right. Got what I can."] Raido told Mark.
Mark nodded.
The trio moved out from the office, leaving the corpse behind. They then moved back to the elevator lobby.
["Next time, we need to get brass catchers."]
["Agreed."]
B3 Parking Area, Ayanagi Grand Building, Ayanagi City, Toyama, Japan
When the elevator doors opened up, Yu was the first person to leave the car and rush towards the parked Holden Calais VE Series II. Mark and Raido were the next to follow.
["All clear."] Raido said after he patted Mark on the shoulder.
["Get in."] Mark got the remote key and pressed the unlock button. ["I'll drive."]
Yu got in the rear passenger seat while Raido went for the front passenger seat after he approached the sedan from the left.
["Let's move."] Yu said after he closed the door.
["Yeah..."] Mark moved the gear stick from P to D before he stepped on the accelerator.
["After this, we need to get dropped off ASAP."]
["I assume that you need to be back at school tomorrow?"]
Yu nodded.
["Great. We'll head back to the Center before we part ways."]
["Who's doing the report?"] Raido asked.
For that question, nobody seemed to have a good reply.
The Calais VE Series II drove out of the parking lot, back into the streets of Ayanagi.
For anyone in the streets tonight, it seemed like an ordinary night. Nothing was out of the ordinary.
?
"Looks like it's serious if the Kanto Regional Police Bureau warrants its involvement in Yasoinaba."
The man could be hearing sighing as he walked down the street. Which is a bit deserted for the night.
"Oh well. Like nothing that they can do... considering that they got an inspector to go to town."
He looked at his wristwatch.
"Dinner in Okina's pretty good, but I gotta head back."
He hurried on to the city's train station, hoping to get the next train as much as possible to Yasoinaba.
Yu Narukami's Temp Room
Dojima Residence, Residential District, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
After what seemed to be half an hour away from Yasoinaba, Yu came back to the Dojima Residence through the portal that materialized in his closet.
Yu slightly opened to see if anyone was around. When he saw that the coast was clear, he slowly opened the door.
Better hurry up and change.
He started by taking off the vambrace and kept it in the small box.
I need to find a way to better store it from Nanako or ojisan's prying eyes and hands in case they come inside.
Yu undressed from the clothes he used in and out of Ayanagi City to a t-shirt, sweatshirt and pants. The weather was a bit cold.
He then left his room to head to the bathroom to wash up, brush his teeth and drink water in the kitchen before going to the room and get some sleep.
Although before Yu went back to his room to get some sleep, he reviewed his class materials from today and made sure he did any homework required to be done for tomorrow.
April 21, 2011
En route to Yasoinaba High, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
Like any other weekday, Yu went off to Yasoinaba High after seeing Nanako off. It was raining today, but not heavy. Which was relief.
Still, Yu brought an umbrella that he bought from Junes a few days after he came just in case the rain would come.
And Yu was thankful that he made the decision to buy it. Good thing too that there was a discount when he bought the umbrella, apparently due to clearing out old stocks before a batch of new ones were due to arrive.
"Hey..." Yu turned around to see Yosuke running just to catch up with him.
"Glad I caught up with you."
"Something up?"
Yosuke nodded. "I went to check the weather through NHK. Seems that the sun's due to come up this afternoon. Means that we don't have to keep worrying about the fog for the meantime."
"Good thing too." Yu replied. "Least we can get in some time for planning."
"Yeah. The fog starts to set in after it rains for a few days."
"I think we'll have to speak to Chie soon about this."
"Got it."
Somewhere in 1st Floor, Yasoinaba High, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
Yu just came down to the building's first floor to grab something for lunch. Yosuke had something to take care of and Chie... well... Chie went off to check on some things if anything mentioned Yukiko going missing in Japanese internet land.
Not that English-speaking news from overseas. At beast, it would have a brief description without her name being mentioned at all.
"Hello, Narukami-san."
The student heard a familiar voice.
And that familiar female voice belonged to...
"Nagase-senpai."
"Ah, good to see a familiar face." The junior student greeted Yu.
"Is something the matter? I'm about to get something to eat."
"Not really. I just wanted to let you know that the kendo club is open later. You can come and see if you're still interested."
Yu nodded.
"I imagine the basketball and soccer clubs are also doing the same thing like the other clubs in school."
"I guess so. I got to meet some of them."
"Well then. I look forward to seeing you in the club."
"O-of course, senpai."
Nagase bowed slightly and went off. He saw her going to the faculty office.
"Wonder what's she doing in the faculty office?"
Yu thought nothing of what was going to happne to her.
Lunch would not wait for Yu, so he had to go eat ASAP.
April 20, 2011
MOM's Office, The Center, Unknown Location
MOM was just briefed by Billy the minute she went into her office for the day. She was told that the targeted hit on Maeda in Ayanagi City was a success. SID previously reported that the SHADOW agents invovled were not detected and were in and out in a matter of minutes.
"Great work to the agents." was all that MOM said after she read the SID report.
"But SID also reported that another group was involved." Billy said from his hovercraft.
"How?"
"SID was suppose to support the SHADOWs in Ayanagi by taking out the building's security system. But our hackers mention that someone else was able to beat them to it."
"I see. Did SID detect anything else?"
"No. Our comms were working at the time. But there was nothing to indicate that the other party who jumped in to hack the security system did anythin to interrupt us."
"Well that's a relief. Get SID to do an assessment and see if there was anything that could be done to prevent a similar incident based on what happened yesterday."
"Right away."
"Did the three submit the report regarding the incident?"
"Not yet. They're mostly busy with schoolwork, but they said one of them should reach out later to inform you who'll submit the final report."
"Understood. Better follow up with them as soon as possible."
Billy left the office, leaving MOM to contemplate on what happened yesterday.
Did they do this? I know that they don't interfere with our work. But what if they just took advantage on it just to mess around with Abstergo?
April 21, 2011
Somewhere on 2nd Floor, Yasoinaba High, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
With class dismissed for the day, Yu had the opportunity to go to the male toilet in order to relieve himself.
Well... until he noted that his O-Watch began to beep. Good thing that it wasn't very loud, making the average person think that the watch had some kind of sound activated like an alarm when a certain time has passed.
Crap. Need to find an empty stall.
Yu went inside the male toilet and found the nearest stall, which was fortunately empty.
Good.
["Narukami here."] Yu spoke in whispers just to avoid being caught.
["Good timing, Yu."] Billy responded to Yu. ["I assume you're still in school?"]
["Yeah. I have to stay behind for club participation requirements. I'm heading out in a bit to investigate Mayonaka TV either today or in a few days."]
["All right. SID already submitted a report on the incident yesterday in Ayanagi. MOM mentioned that you guys need to submit the report."]
["Individually?"]
["No. MOM wants all of you to put what happened in the operation. One section in the report is suppose to be written by you, Raido and Mark."]
["Got it. Is there a deadline for all of this? I mean, I guess MOM decided all of this by now."]
["Yeah. Sorry about this. It would be nice if one of you guys wrote the report."]
["It's fine. I'll drop messages to Mark and Raido about the matter."]
["Okay. I'll end things here. Just drop me me a message in case of unexpected things. I'll speak to them later."]
["Understood."]
With the call finished, Yu decided to make the most of out of his position to relieve himself.
Alright. Time to take a piss.
Kendo Hall, Yasoinaba High, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
After taking his time in the toilet, Yu went off to the school's kendo hall. He brought a change of clothes with him, consisting of a gym shirt and a pair of black sweatpants.
Kendo shinais were provided by kendo club veterans for the newcomers to use.
Yu was amazed that the school could afford to have a separate kendo hall for the said club.
"Whoa..."
"Narukami-san, this is for you."
Yu got a slightly used shinai from Nagase. "Oh. Thank you."
"Do you how to do kendo?"
"I know the basics. I don't remember how long was it, but I remember doing kendo when I was in elementary school."
"All right. Then it should be just a matter of muscle memory."
Yu didn't understand what she meant.
"In the meantime, just follow our lead. Don't rush. And if you have any questions, let us know, okay?"
Yu nodded. "I understand."
In fact, I can grip this shinai just like any kind of sword-type weapon.
Yu gripped the shinai's tsuka with his hands. Of course, he had to account the style of holding it.
Let's see... Start by bending the elbows a bit. Then use my thumb and index fingers to support the grip. Followed by having the ring and small fingers used to support the bottom of the tsuka.
He adjusted his grip on the tsuka bit by bit just to get a hang of it.
"Well it seems that you're still okay." Nagase commented, seeing that Yu got the handling right.
"Senpai. The sensei just arrived." One of the kendo club members, seemingly a male sophomore student, ran up to her.
"All right. Just tell those joining for practice to get ready to form up."
"Got it."
"Shuggoooo!"
One of the older kendo club members shouted. The members in kendo gi/hakama were the first to form a horizontal line in front of the sensei, who appears to be in his late 50s with short black hair. The others in ordinary clothes were coached the older/more experienced members on lining up and holding their shinais when they are not in kamae.
So with the shinai blade with the nakayui and tsuru facing downward. Hold it with the left hand. Place it on the left side of the waist.
"Seiza!" The club members and those trying the club out sat down on the floor. They started by stepping back slightly with the left foot before lowerig the knee so that it goes to the floor. The right foot was next, also done in the same manner. They sat down with their buttocks placed on top of their heels.
Their shinais were placed on their left side.
For those who aren't used to this, it can be quite a challenge.
"Mokuso!"
The students were told to place their hands on their lap, palms faced up. Their fingers overlapped. Their eyes were closed, followed by slow breathing.
"Yame!"
Meditation was over. Their hands were placed on their laps.
"Rei!"
The members and the newcomers bowed after they placed their hands on the floor; the left and right index and thumb fingers joined together to form a triangle. They bowed in front of the sensei. They then turned to their left and right and bowed before they faced the sensei.
"A good afternoon to the newcomers willing to try out for the kendo club. I want all of you just to watch and listen to the senpais and ask questions when you are not sure. You'll also have the opportunity to watch your senpais do practice shiai matches. But otherwise, do enjoy your time on the first day and see if the club is right for you."
The sensei stopped for a minute and motioned to one of the club members to check if someone was outside.
"There's a few things I'd like to mention before we start." The sensei said before he continued. "You may or may not have heard word going around the the club may be forced to disband."
The club members whispered to each other and asked what was happening.
"For instance, some of your senpais are due to leave the club when they graduate. Like always, I want the members to elect someone to serve as club president and vice-president."
Like all Japanese junior and senior high school, they know that studying in high school lasts for four years. The system was based on the Ameican education system placed on Japan after World War II during the occupation of Japan by the Allied Forces.
And that was how modern Japan rolled with it.
"After this week, I hope most of the newcomers will choose to stay and do kendo. I find it good when the club has new blood. And for the old to leave and pass on whatever knowledge and experience they gained from."
"Hai, sensei!" The non-gi/hakama-wearing students replied in unison.
"All right. I hope you enjoy your time here."
"Rei!"
"Onegai shimasu!"
After the club members and newcomers bowed to the sensei while in seiza, the former began to assemble the latter into groups where one or two club members would instruct them in the basics.
This would last half an hour. For the rest of the class, the newcomers would be told to sit in seiza. Exceptions were given to those who have leg problems while doing the seiza.
In the meantime, the club members put on a shiai and showed the newcomers how things would be once they settled into the club and the sensei allowed them to wear bogu after passing a test on kendo basics.
The kendo session went on from the basic instruction for the newcomers to the shiais the club members were putting on as a teams of five members were composed for each of the shiais.
The newcomers were very interested in them.
Yu was no exception.
I could learn a thing or two and perhaps improve my combat skills, while having the chance to sweat a lot.
It took a while for the shiais to finish up.
But when they were finished, the members formed up in lines in front of each other, as if on instinct. They waited for a "Rei!" to come before they bowed to each other. Afterwards, they bowed to the sensei.
From there, the sensei told everyone to line up since club time was almost up.
April 20, 2011
MOM's Office, The Center, Unknown Location
Billy debriefed MOM on who was going to write the report regarding Ayanagi.
"So no final decision on who's writing the report?" MOM asked him.
"Not sure yet. Yu told me that he may head to Mayonaka TV to investigate the world there. From what SID agents have been able to put down, Yukiko Amagi of Yasoinaba's still missing."
"I don't blame him if he's doing that. I read in a previous report that the fog in the town comes around, based on the town's current weather conditions."
"I think we'll have to get our satellites to monitor the weather changes in Yasoinaba ASAP."
"Sounds like a good idea. See if the satellites are calibrated..."
"Already did that. SID will let me know if they can detect anymore of those paranormal anomalies."
"Excuse me a minute." Billy said when he checked the screen on the left armrest in his hovercraft. "Sorry for that; apparently it seems that I got an idea on who's doing the report regarding Ayanagi."
"And?" MOM raised an eyebrow.
April 21, 2011
Kendo Hall, Yasoinaba High, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
The first day of kendo just wrapped up well with little to no trouble from the newcomers. Most of the club members were busy fixing up the hall to make sure it was not messy. A couple of the club members spoke to the newcomers; they announced that anyone who's still interested to join the club should start coming by next Thursday.
The sensei stuck around for a while in case some of the newcomers need to ask him questions regarding kendo.
"How was the first day, Narukami-san?"
Yu stretched his feet, being a bit tired from seiza all afternoon. He looked and saw Nagase give a smile.
"Actually, it was interesting. I only had a bit of experience with kendo, but only in another town I lived in back in Tokyo a few years ago."
"I see." She decided not to pry any further. "Well I hope you're convinced to join the club."
"I think so." Since I'm only hear for a year, I'll have to make the best out of my time in Yasogami High.
"Sounds good. I look forward to seeing you next week."
Yu nodded.
Oh yeah. I'll have to see if I need to meet with Chie and Yosuke... or maybe figure out the report on what happened in Ayanagi.
Yu just left the kendo hall, having changed back to fresh clothes (aside from his YH student uniform). He was about to see if he can make the call/s when he heard someone call for him.
"Hey, Yu."
A (familiar) brown-haired teenager in YH gym uniform waved at him after Yu walked towards the field. It appears that like kendo, soccer was over for the day.
"Daisuke." Yu greeted him. "You guys are done?"
"Yeah. You went to the kendo club."
Yu nodded. "Yeah. I may consider it."
"I see. Some of the guys did wonder about it after you went to look at the basketball and soccer clubs."
"Yeah... Perhaps I'll have to go and flip a coin or two."
"Hey you two."
Yu and Daisuke greeted another teenager with dark blue hair. He was seen wearing the school's black basketball uniform.
"Kou." Daisuke gave Kou a high five. "You guys are done?"
"Yeah. We just wrapped up a couple of minutes ago."
"Did you guys go to the kendo club?"
Daisuke sighed. "Yeah. Wanted to see if I wanted a change of pace. Still on the fence, but I'm likely not going to join."
"Not me..." Kou shook his head. "I'm sticking to what I know."
"It's cool."
"So... you guys wanna swing by to get ramen for dinner?"
Daisuke and Yu looked at each other before they looked at Kou nodded in unison.
"So it's ramen then..." Kou said when he spoke to Daisuke. "We need to change."
"Good idea." Daisuke nodded in agreement when he told Yu. "Better wait for us near the entrance."
"No problem." Yu replied.
"All right. Let's go Kou."
"I'll call Aiya later after we finish changing, Daisuke."
Yu walked to the entrance while Kou and Daisuke went for the male locker room. On the way there, he received a SMS from an unknown number.
Yo. We need to discuss about who's writing the report.
Yu read the message. He was about to answer when he saw Kou and Daisuke already dressed in YH uniforms instead of their usual gym clothes.
"All right, guys. Let's go hit up Aiya." Kou was already enthusiastic about going to the Chinese restaurant.
Chinese Diner Aiya, Central Shopping District, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
It was a good thing Kou called up Aiya ahead of time. The restaurant does accept reservations as a general courtesy for customers who want to get a seat ahead of time. Otherwise, their usual business is for anyone to get a seat if they choose to walk in.
Yu, Kou and Daisuke got seats at Aiya's.
The seats they got are located at the counter.
"What are you guys getting?" An Aiya waiter asked from behind the counter.
"One shoyu ramen." Kou told the waiter.
"Make it two." Yu raised his hand.
"Getting the hakata ramen." Daisuke made his order.
"Alrighty." The waiter wrote down their orders. "Two shoyus and one hakata. You guys'll have to wait."
"Hi guys." The trio turned to the side and see a familiar female in the restaurant. She happens to be wearing a white shirt, skirt, bandanna worn over her head with a clip and a red apron.
"Aika-san." Daisuke said hello.
"I see that Ichijo-senpai and Narukami-senpai with you, Nagase-senpai." She said while she placed plastic glasses of water with ice inside.
"Well, it's nice to get eat outside for a change."
"Hey Aika." Kou asked the YH student and part-time waitress. "You guys have gyoza today?"
"Sure."
"What kind?"
"Well there's the Ramen Gyoza Special. It's just gyoza with fried noodle and peanut sauce. Otherwise, there's the Yaki Gyoza with sauce on the side."
Yu raised his hand up.
"I think Narukami-senpai wants it." Aika said when she looked at him. "Do you want the Ramen Gyoza Special?"
Yu nodded quickly.
"Make it two." Kou told Aika.
Aika got her notepad and wrote the details. "Got it. I'll get back to you guys with the gyoza ASAP."
"Thanks a lot."
"Additional order over here!" Aika went to the kitchen to pass the note to the waiter working inside when he placed a bowl on the counter.
"Okay. I'll pass this on." The waiter took the note and read it before he handed it over to another waiter.
"So Daisuke," Kou took a swig of ice cold water. "I saw the freshman who showed up to watch you guys do soccer."
Aika got to the counter quickly and got their gyozas.
"She's watching you the entire time. I heard her say, "Wow! He kicked the ball so hard!"."
Yu noted that Daisuke didn't have much words to say.
Except.
"I... I don't think I noticed her. Was busy explaining to the newcomers how to do dribbling."
"Really?" Kou pretended to be shocked. "Seems like a waste."
"Well, enough of that for now."
The waiter came back with the bowls of ramen.
"Here you go. Two shoyus and one hakata."
"Thank you." The three YH students said in unison as they got the bowls carefully from the waiter, considering that it's hot.
"You boys enjoy the ramen."
Kou was the first to dig into his ramen after he ate some of the gyoza. Daisuke and Yu did so likewise.
"So how's kendo?" Daisuke asked Yu.
"It's interesting." Yu said after he drank some of the broth in his ramen. "I did some kendo many moons ago, so it's kind of nice to see something I'm familiar with."
"Does that mean a yes?" Kou asked while a bite out of his ramen.
"I guess so." Yu replied after he digged into his gyoza before his ramen.
"All right. I guess it's time we did our best next week."
As Yu ate, he felt somthing.
It was as if he felt he knew his friends a lot more than he used to.
The trio continued to eat what was deemed their dinner.
Thou art I and I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... It brings thee closer to the truth... Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Strength Arcana.
Before they finished up, Yu sent out messages to Nanako on his phone that he's eating out at Aiya.
Living Area/Dining Area
Dojima Residence, Residential District, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
"I'm back, Nanako."
Yu entered the residence after seeing Kou and Ichijo off.
"Welcome back, onii-chan." Nanako greeted her brother with a smile.
"Your dad's not coming back home early, I assume?" Yu asked when he got his shoes off.
Nanako shook his head. "No. He said that he has to take care of some papers by the end of the night."
Yu sighed, feeling sorry for his cousin that the only parent she has left isn't always with her 24/7. "I don't blame him. His work sometimes need his constant presence so that you and I can sleep soundly everday."
Nanako nodded.
"Did you eat dinner already?"
"I did."
Yu had no reason to think she lied. Since his aunt passed away years after she was born, he had a gut feeling that Nanako took it upon herself to at least know to prepare some food that didn't need to be whipped out without any complex instructions getting in the way.
That and her dad is a plainclothes police officer. With a vice.
The SHADOW agent wondered if there was some alien tech that he can pilfer... or rather borrow in order to get him to drop his nasty smoking habit.
"All right. Are you going to use the bath?"
Nanako nodded.
"You go ahead first. I need to take care of something. Has to do something with school."
"Okay."
The Iphone 4 vibrated in the pocket of his pants.
Wonder who's contacting me?
Nanako went to the toilet when Yu opened the message.
Me and Raido did our part of the report. MOM's jsut waiting for everyone to turn in the full report with our accounts written.
I guess this is a good comprimise as any.
Yu went to send a reply.
Let MOM know that I'll add my details on the report later. Gotta settle some things.
With the mesage sent out, he went to check the kitchen to see if the refrigerator and the pantry needs to be restocked.
Not bad... Maybe if I can make a run for Junes?
Velvet Room, the place that exists between dream and reality; mind and matter
"Ah... Welcome back." Igor greeted Yu in his presence when he took a seat.
Better settle things first in the Velvet Room.
"Marie's not here."
Margaret sighed. "My apologies. She cannot be made available."
"It's fine. I need to take care of fusing my Persona if I can. I have to take care of an errand."
"Of course. Allow us to examine the Personas you registered with us."
"All right."
"Let me check Le Grimoire..."
Yu waited. He felt a bit uneasy that Igor was just staring at him. He wondered if he didn't have anything else to do.
"You have Izanagi, Pixie, Angel, Sandman and Ukobach." Margaret informed Yu of the personas he has access to. "You also have Forneus and Nata Tanshi as your latest Persona acquisitions."
"I'm thinking of fusing some personas if I can. There's an upcoming mission that I have to do." Yu said.
Margaret slightly nodded. "Understood."
May need to get a persona or two... I'll have to try something.
"I may need help to check what kind of persona I can access by fusing."
Margaret showed him some pages from Le Grimoire. He saw a lot of creatures on the pages that he, theoretically, could summon. Most were greyed out, meaning that he doesn't have access yet.
Yu noted a couple of creatures that caught his attention (or curiosity, if you will).
One was a bipedal horse-like creature standing up with its arms and hands up high, as if was praising something.
The other was a creature that resembled some sort of manta ray.
"How can I get these two?"
"Ah yes." Margaret said when she pointed to the horse-like creature. "This is Orobas. A Persona one can acquire under the Magician arcana. Since you have a bond with one of your classmates, Orobas will have some benefits when he is fused."
After Yu heard Margaret's explanation, he contemplated on whether he should proceed with getting Orobas.
"I understand. I think I still want to proceed..."
"Very well. I must warn you that it'll cost you some money."
Yu raised an eyebrow. "Remind me again why the Velvet Room needs Yen?"
"Allow me to explain..." Igor decided that it was his turn to explain the nature of the Velvet Room.
Supermarket Section, Junes Yasoinaba Store, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
After Yu took care of things in the Velvet Room, he immediately went for the nearest grocery cart that was left in some corner. He immediately went to check the seafood section. He heard word from some of the residents of Yasoinaba of discounts that the store give when it's evening.
"Let's see if there's some discounts today."
Checking the sushi and seafood section, he saw that some of the sushi and sashimi were given a 50% discount.
"This'll have to do for now. Maybe in the weekend, there ought to be time for cooked food. Yeah... that sounds nice."
He then placed the sushi/sashimi he can get on the cart.
"Hopefully there's nothing serious coming up in the weekend."
After the seafood section, Yu went to get milk and cereal, followed by orange and apple juice."
Musn't forget to get some coffee for Dojima-ojisan.
Passing by a shelf of instant coffee, Yu picked up a glass jar of UCC's The Blend 177. It was advertised with the taste being rich, despite having some bitterness. "Not sure if he'd like this kind of instant coffee, considering I threw away the jar that's already empty this morning."
Doesn't hurt to try though...
Living Area/Dining Area
Dojima Residence, Residential District, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
Yu came back to the residence. He noted that Ryotaro isn't back (yet).
"Hey, Nanako." As usual, Yu placed the grocery bags down before he took off his shoes.
"Welcome back, onii-chan." Nanako came to look inside the bags. "Do you need help?"
"We'll see. Come on."
Nanako walked beside her cousin to the refrigerator. After Yu placed the groceries down on the counter near the sink, he started with the seafood and sushi/sashimi before he got the water and juices next.
There should be enough wasabi and soy sauce for this week.
"You can fold the plastic bags, Nanako." Yu told her after he closed the refrigerator door.
"Got it." Nanako placed the empty plastic bags on the table. She placed hands on the bag and ran her hands on it to make sure it was really flat. After seeing the plastic bags were completely flat, Nanako folded it by putting the right side over to the left side. It was now folded in half.
Afterwards, Nanako folded the plastic in half with the top half folded over the bottom.
"Good job, Nanako." Yu smiled when he saw her fold the plastic neatly.
"Thank you."
"You know where to keep it?"
"Yes."
"All right. You can take care of that."
"Okay."
Nanako went to work in folding the plastic bags and keeping them while Yu checked to make sure any food items that can be kept in the refrigerator are kept inside. It was a good thing that there's a lot of space in it.
Okay. We're good to go.
Yu Narukami's Temp Room
With Nanako getting her things ready for school before heading to sleep after she had her bath, Yu went to look over the things he needed to do for tomorrow.
While he did so as soon as possible, he also had to do another thing.
Better get to the report.
Yu already got his Dell Inspiron N5030 laptop booted up and ready to go while he finished up his homework.
"Here goes."
He began on typing on his laptop on an open Word document. He typed in how he and the others infiltrated the target building in Ayanagi. In there, they got Maeda in his office and shot him several times. He also mentioned that the brass was secured and any files taken from his office computer.
Damn. I wonder if they know that the floor's security cameras were hacked by yours truly? Not like SHADOW personnel from HQ tried to contact us, except to monitor us via hacked cameras.
It didn't take that long; Yu's part of the report was worth reading over at least 10 minutes long. Hopefully, it would be good for a compiled SHADOW report.
He sent a SMS message to Mark and Raido that he just wrapped up typing his part of the after action report to SHADOW. Yu got a reply from the group chat that he can e-mail it to Raido with Mark's e-mail in CC when he's ready to e-mail his document. Mark would copy and paste his contents to the master document.
All done.
Yu's laptop has an encrypted app installed by SHADOW prior to his time off from the unit, which is used to e-mail things from him to Center HQ and vice versa. With that, he e-mailed the document he typed up to his teammates.
Yu booted down the laptop and closed the top cover. He then kept it in the closet.
With most of his homework done and the report turned in, Yu changed to his usual gray sweater and black gym sweatpants. He got his futon ready in the room.
Before Yu went to sleep, he got a SMS from Chie.
Are you free tomorrow? We need to spend some time in palace. Y'know, clear it partially so that it's easy for us when we need to raid it and get to Yukiko.
April 22, 2011
En route to Yasoinaba High, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
Yu and Yosuke were walking towards Yasoinaba. Like always, they mentioned about the homework and if they had a hard time managing it.
"Oh yeah..." Yosuke said. "Didn't see the fog in Yasoinaba."
"Me neither. Looks like the weather report from yesterday's pretty accurate."
As they made the approach to the school, Yosuke threw in a random question on whether Yu has a hard time sleeping at nights.
Yosuke's question threw him for a loop (for a bit).
For a while, he remembered all the missions he did with SHADOW. And with the Assassins.
"Not much..." Yu replied.
"For a second, I thought you were gonna say yes." Yosuke chuckled.
Yu nodded. "For now, I guess we can do the thing later..."
"That's right. I'll let Chie know then after school's over."
2-2 Classroom, 2nd Floor, Yasoinaba High, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
Class was over for Friday.
All the students in 2-2 were now laying back, speaking to their classmates on what are they gonna do when the weekend comes.
Except for three students.
Yosuke spoke to Chie, the latter still in her seat. Yu happened to be in the toilet, relieving himself. When he came back to pick up his things, Chie told him that they need to head to Junes.
The other two got their students packed up and went towards the school entrance.
From there, they went for Junes.
Food Court, Junes Yasoinaba Store, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
The middle of the afternoon seemed good for Yu, Yosuke and Chie.
Very few people were eating outside and on the top floor, which meant that they had some time to get food and drinks for snacks.
"Okay. It's time we head in." Chie said after she snacked on the last takoyaki (of course, she did wait for it to cool down. Don't want the mouth to get burned, y'know?).
"Better make sure our gear's ready to go." Yosuke grinned.
"You mean you forgot to pick better stuff?" Yu remarked sarcastically.
"Of course not." Yosuke said, almost wanting to smack his hands on the table to emphasis his point.
"Doesn't matter for now. Let's make sure they're ready once we get to Mayonaka."
After eating enough until dinner, the trio went to the electronic section and waited for most customers/employees to be away. They went for the same HD TV screen they used to get in to the realm.
Mayonaka TV entrance
"You guys are late."
Teddie greeted the students when they got to the entrance.
"Don't know if you're being sarcastic or what," Yu told the bear. "but we got our high school thing going on."
"Anything unusual from the palace?" Chie asked Teddie.
"Nah." Teddie shook his head. "I'll take you guys there when you're ready."
"Lead on."
Outskirts of Yukiko's Castle
After Teddie helped the trio arrive at the castle, Yosuke handed a key to Yu.
"Got the key from the time we trounced on that knight." Yu got the key from Yosuke and pocketed it.
"Thanks, Yosuke."
"One thing, guys." Teddie went up to the trio. "Since you've been able to explore the castle in the past, you should be able to continue from where you last left off."
"Sounds good. That oughta save us some time." Chie said.
"Agreed. Now we can't get confused." Yosuke nodded.
"Let's go." Yu made sure the Hidden Blade was already fitted on his left arm.
5th Floor, Yukiko's Castle
Yu was the first to go through the castle's red portal, being its defacto entrance. He then looked around to see that no enemies were present.
Yosuke and Chie were next.
"Coast is clear." Yu pointed the hallway up ahead with his right thumb. "We'll have to find a way to go up."
"Let's head to end of the floor and look for the door we haven't opened up yet." Yosuke suggested.
"Good idea. I'll take point as usual."
Yu took the lead in making sure the path up ahead was clear; Yosuke and Chie took to the rear and make sure no Shadows try to sneak up on them.
The trio ran up to what seem the long hallway until they spotted an unopened door.
"This one maybe?" Chie pointed to the door.
"Could be." Yu got the key. "I'll see if this works."
The key was placed in to the keyhole. When Yu turned it to the right side, a click sound was heard. He then pushed the door open.
"We got stairs." Yosuke said when he got his Poison kunais ready.
"Let's go."
6th Floor, Yukiko's Castle
Yu pushed the door slightly before he kicked it in.
"Whoa, man. You're like some kinda detective in the TV." Yosuke whistled, raising his kunais up in anticipation of a fight.
"Looks clear... but..." Chie frowned after making the comments.
"Ah come on Chie!"
The trio heard various voices. But no one was around. But there was one thing in common.
They're all talking about Yukiko.
And how she's pretty and whether's she a boy magnet.
They could hear her saying "shut up, shut up, shut up."
"I could hear a lot of voices." Teddie's voice came in after the others died down. "I can sense that you guys are getting closer. Hang in there."
"Something's up ahead." Chie squinted her eyes to look down the hallway. "Something shiny."
"Let's go and see." Yu said.
"Right." Yosuke nodded. "Maybe there's something we can use."
They ran to the end of the hallway. When they got there, Yu took out his combat knife from his sheath (strapped at his rear horizontally via belt) and tried to see if he can pry the golden yellow chest open. Placing the bladed tip on the edges, Yu went to see if it can be opened.
"Nothing. Can't be budged." Yu sheathed his combat knife.
"We gotta come back later. For now, let's keep going." Chie told Yu.
"Alright."
They backtracked and went for the lone door. When they opened it, it led to another hallway.
"What's behind this door?" Yosuke whispered. He leaned up near the door and slowly opened it to see what was inside.
Inside was a giant Red Shadow loitering around a golden yellow chest.
"Oh sh*t." Yosuke looked at Chie and Yu and quickly shook his head.
"We can come back later." Yu whispered. "I can see another chest up ahead."
"Okay, okay, okay." Yosuke silent closed the door and ran up with other two. When they ran to the chest, a Burning Beetle was seen nearby.
"Hah!" Yu jumped on the BB and stabbed it on the head. It keeled over easily due to it being a surprise attack, belly up before it disintegrated.
"Opening it now..." Yosuke opened the chest and took a set of prayer beads. "Got some Revival Beads."
"Nice one, Yosuke." Yu gave a thumbs up. "Better hang on to it."
Chie opened the door next to the chest. It led to a hallway, but the way further down was blocked by a couple of Magical Maguses. They seemed to be staring down at them.
"Can't wait steath." Yosuke sighed. "They're looking at us."
"Time to go hard!" Yu went for the leap, using the Hidden Blade to jump on the first MM. While he stabbed it, he called for Ukobach from the depths of his mind. When his tarot card appeared, he reached for it with his free hand and crused it.
"Hey, hey." Ukobach happily chimed it.
"Use Agi on the other Shadow!" Yu commanded it.
"Gotcha..." Ukobach used his giant spoon to toss hot and burning coal to the other MM.
The Shaodw panicked and saw that he was burning.
"I'll end it! AIYAH!" Chie shouted and executed a double roundhouse kick on the burning MM.
"Get the door!"
"Right!" Yosuke said as he shoved it open.
Meanwhile, Yu saw that time stopped. He saw four tarot cards floating in front of him.
I'll take these.
Two of them were Temperence cards. A voice told him that they're for chest keys. And there was a chance to get one more.
One more. I think this one's to make us better.
The cup tarot card was taken. He was also told by a voice that his team will feel a bit better.
After the card shuffle was finished, time continued.
"I feel better somehow." Yosuke said as he stretched his arms and legs.
Yu checked his pockets to see a couple of keys.
"Are those chest keys?" Chie asked.
"I guess so." Yu shrugged.
"Bet we can get them to open the chests we backtracked." Yosuke gave a suggestion.
April 21, 2011
MOM's Office, The Center, Unknown Location
MOM was given a report by the SHADOW division, detailing what happened at Ayanagi last night.
In said report, Mark, Raido and Yu did their work like clockwork. They took out Maeda and secured any data his computer may have to incriminate Abstergo and its affiliates in their hunt.
They also mentioned that nothing else was out of the ordinary.
Nothing huh?
MOM was still worried.
Did someone else piggyback on their operation, but chose to observe instead?
She wondered if the Assassins chose to watch the trio take out their target, using them as a proxy.
Doesn't help to check later on. Better ask SID to check how their comms security was after they mentioned that they had a break-in recently.
April 22, 2011
7th Floor, Yukiko's Castle
After the trio came up the stars, they could hear Yukiko's voice.
"Hasn't my prince come yet? My dear prince... Please hurry and take me away! Somewhere.. to a world where nobody knows me..."
"She's close." Teddie chimed in. "I can feel it."
Without saying a word, the trio ran up the empty corridor before they saw a couple of Burning Beetles.
"Beetles...!" Yosuke shouted.
Before the trio could get into combat poses, one of the BBs tried to stab Yu with its horn. Somehow, it tripped and fell down on its back.
"Fell down with the belly up." Yu smirked.
"Okay..." Chie cracked her knuckles. "Okay Tomoe! Use Bufu on the other beetle!"
Chie's Persona appeared and used Bufu on the second BB.
"All right! Both are down!"
"Let's pounce on 'em!" Yosuke raised his kunais up high.
"Go!" Yu jumped on the nearest BB and stabbed it with his combat knife. Yosuke joined in. Chie simply used Tomoe and her kicks to take out the other beetle.
Their bodies disappeared after they were killed.
"All right. Let's do the usual." Yu said after he sheathed his combat knife.
The trio began to check a few doors down the corridor. They do this by slowly opening the door to take a peek.
"Found a door with stairs!"
Chie pushed the door heading to the room with a staircase going up.
"All clear!" Chie leaned on the door after using her right shoulder to push it more until it was left open.
Yu and the others ran up the stairs.
8th Floor, Yukiko's Castle
When the trio walked up the last steps to the 8th floor, they were confronted with a couple of double doors.
Yu approached the door to touch it and see if it's rigged.
"Huh? This smell is..." Teddie sounded very apprehensive. "It must be her! She's right behind this door!"
"Form up, guys!" Yu waved to Yosuke and Chie to get to the door.
From out of nowhere, Teddie just showed up.
"Teddie? How did you get here?" Yosuke was shocked to see Teddie, considering that he stands back to scan the enemy.
Teddie glared at him. "There's no time for that. Yukiko-chan's in danger."
"Chan?"
Yu rolled his eyes. "Come on. We don't have time to waste."
Chie went for the left door. Yu stayed for the right door.
"One, two..." Yu counted down.
"Three!" Chie shouted, pushing the door. Yu did the same as well.
Throne Room, Yukiko's Castle
The trio (and Teddie) ran up to the throne and saw Yukiko.
Correction. There's two Yukikos. One was in the kimono. The other was in a pink evening ball dress with a tiara worn over her head.
"There's two Yukikos." Yu said, gripping his weapon. "Just like last time."
"Oh my... what is this?" THE Yukiko with yellow eyes greeted the new arrivals as they run to the Yukiko donned in the kimono. "Three princes are here to see me."
"Three princes?" Chie raised an eyebrow.
"Are you the surprise guest who came in late? My, it's getting crowded. Why don't you and I go somewhere else…? A land far, far away, where no one knows me. If you're my Prince, you'd take me there, won't you?"
"I'm not liking this at all." Yosuke sighed.
"Ooh... Is this "scoring a hot stud"!?" Teddie took the opportunity to ask an inappropriate question.
"What the hell are you doing?" Yosuke was now getting mad at the bear.
"Does the third prince refer to me?" Chie was lost in the shadow's question.
"Duh! The third one's gotta be me!" Teddie interjected.
All that Yu can do is to put his hand over his face in frustration.
"Why yes, Chie." The shadow paid close attention to her. "You are my prince. Or at least she was."
"Huh?" Chie was confused.
"When it comes down to it, Chie's just not good enough! She can't take me away from here! She can't save me!"
"Stop it." The actual Yukiko weakly protested the shadow's clamoring,
"Historic inn? Manager training!? I'm sick of all these things chaining me down! I never asked to be born here! Everything's decided for me! From how I live, to where I die! I'm so sick of it! To hell with it all!"
"That's not true."
"I just want to go somewhere far away… Anywhere but here… Someone, please take me away… I can't leave here on my own… I'm completely useless…"
"Stop."
"I have no hope if I stay, and no courage to leave… So I sit on my ass hoping that someday my Prince will come! I don't care where we go! Anywhere's fine! As long as it's not here, I don't give a damn! Historical tradition? Pride of the town? What a bunch of bullshit!"
"How dare you?!"
From those words, the trio (and Teddie) were now seemingly holding their breaths... knowing that Yukiko will deny the shadow's accusations.
"No..."
"Yukiko, wait!" Yosuke shouted for her to stop.
"You're... not me."
Ah shit. Here we go again! Yu moved slowly with his right foot forward.
"Ah ha ha ha! This feels wonderful! It's building… more and more… If this keeps up…"
The shadow began to change from its humanoid form to a big red bird.
On the side was a discarded cage used for pets. However, the paranormal atmosphere in the throne room enabled it to grow large, move on its own and catch Yukiko to hold her as its prisoner.
"CHIEE!"
"Incoming!" Teddie shouted after the big bird retreated to its cage, which came from the chandelier above.
"I am a Shadow! The true self!" The bird shadow boasted from the cage. "Now, my Prince… Why don't we dance and make merry together?"
"We're coming Yukiko." Chie streched her legs as Tomoe was summoned.
"Oh really…? Then I'll make sure to give you plenty to deal with!"
"Time to switch it up." Yu remarked after he saw it use Agi attacks on the party. He then remembered something the party got from the chest raids.
Found this strange pin. Chie showed him a pin that had an ember on it. Maybe you should take it.
Yu immediately pinned the item on his uniform before he summoned his personas. He needed time to stay still to analyze them.
"Ukobach!"
He switched from Izanagi to Ukobach. The demon showed up in response to his summons.
When the additional Agi attacks started, Ukobach used the coal on his giant spoon to absorb the flames.
"Nice save." Yosuke said with approval.
"We're not out of the woods yet. We need to weaken it."
"Teddie! Can you scan her?" Yosuke went to ask the bear.
"Cover me..." Teddie replied, squatting down behind Yosuke. "Hmmm... Okay. Got it."
"Anything?" Chie asked when she got Tomoe to use Skull Cracker at her.
"It's weak against ice. Any ice moves you guys have can work."
"Got it..." Chie got Tomoe to use Bufu on the shadow. "Use Bufu on her!"
Tomoe twirled the naginata on her hands before an ice-shaped diamond was tossed at her. The bird fell down on the ground.
"Okay! Pile on!" Chie shouted.
"Let's do it!" Yu used the Hidden Blade when he made the jump.
Yosuke made the move instead first, thrusting the kunais into the shadow. Yu followed with Chie executing an axe kick on the head.
After a few minutes of struggle, the bird escaped and hopped back into the cage. It then jumped out of the cage and flew briefly in front of Yu for a Double Fang, in where it uses it clawed feet to slash and stab someone.
Yu used the vambrace to block the incoming slashes and stabs. When the second round came, he drew out the Hidden Blade and used it to parry the same attack.
"Tch!" The Shadow grew very angry as her attacks failed.
"Gotta learn those moves from you." Yosuke was amazed that Yu survived it.
"Sure. If we can get outta here." Yu said before he summoned Izanagi. "Okay! Use Rakunda on her!"
Izanagi appeared and casted Rakunda.
"My turn..." Tomoe casted another Bufu on the bird, making it fall down on the ground.
"Second round's a good opporunity..." Yosuke remarked.
"AIYAHH!" Chie shouted as she led the attack.
"What?!" The bird retreated back to the cage, door shut after surviving the combined attack. "Are you trying to make me mad?!"
A white sphere surrounded the cage.
"Look out guys! The shadow casted White Wall to protect itself from taking a lot of damage from ice attacks."
"Better concentrate on your kicks, Chie."
"Got it!"
"Yosuke, we better move!"
"Alright, Jiraiya! Use Garu!"
Jiraiya appeared and use garu after the bird emerged out of the cage.
Yu casted Tarukaja on Chie. "Izanagi, use Tarukaja on Chie!"
Izanagi showed up to cast Tarukaja.
"Nice. I think my kicks and whatnot are gonna rock."
Chie called for Tomoe. "Skewer this bird!"
Tomoe showed up and swung her naginata to slice it diagonally.
The bird winced in pain, but chose to soldier on.
"Watch out sensei! Rakunda already wore off."
The bird giggled. "We're not done yet. Show me this strength of yours."
Dammit. Not when the timing's bad. I have to cast another one.
"Come my prince."
"She's summoning a Charming Prince!" Teddie alerted the trio to the appearing creature, which looked like someone dressed in medieval Europe. "And it's weak to Electricity."
"Cover me." Yu spoke to Yosuke and Chie. Both nodded.
"Use Zio on Charming Prince!" Yu shouted when he pointed to the creature. Izanagi appeared and lightning struck CP down.
"All right! One down!" Chie shouted, pumping her fist.
Yu casted Tarukaja on himself after he found out that the Tarukaja status on Chie lapsed. He then went for another Zio on CP.
Chie assisted by using a roundhouse kick to take it out.
"My prince! My charming prince!" The bird shouted.
"You're not getting any help from here!" Yu glared at it before he shouted. "Tarukaja!"
Chie felt another power-up from the spell.
Yosuke used the kunais to slash the bird. Yu stood back and casted Tarukaja on him.
"Oh no you don't!" The bird retreated to the cage.
"Izanagi! I need Sukunda!" Izanagi appeared and casted Sukunda on the bird.
"Jiraiya! Use Sukukaja on Chie!" Jiraiya appeared and casted the spell on Chie. It enveloped her in a yellow pillar of light.
The bird later casted a room-wide spell. "BURN FOR ASHES!"
"Holy crap!" Yosuke shouted in (some) fear when the fire engulfted the room, except (somehow) for Yukiko being safe. The trio got hit by it, but was not seriously hurt.
"Dang!" Chie winced in pain. "Thanks for the assist, Yosuke!"
Yu gritted his teeth after he got hit by the fire. He saw his left arm was on fire; he moved to quickly put it out.
Yosuke saw that the fire showed up on his right leg. He too moved it to put it out.
"You guys got hit, but it's not that bad! Better heal up to be safe." Teddie advised the team.
"Got it." Yosuke called Jiraiya to use Dia on Chie; he casted it again on himself and Yu.
"Come on, Tomoe!" Chie called for Tomoe, who sicced on the bird with Bufu.
For the third time, the team piled up on the bird and proceeded to beat it up senseless. Regardless, if it meant punche, kicks (or in the case of the boys, their bladed weapons).
The bird quickly flew back to her cage, feeling a bit weak. "Looks like... I had the wrong idea."
The trio kept up their combat stances.
"You're no princes! Die, you worthless commoners!"
The bird stared at Chie and shieked. A blue circle of light appeared before her and popped.
"Oh... c...crap! I feel like I can't fight... my body's too scared." Chie's arms were all over hers, as if she was cold.
"Ha ha ha ha!" The bird tried again, this time doing so by Yu.
"Oh no!" Teddie was scared of what he saw. "The shadow's using Terror Voice! Sensei and Chie-chan are acting scared!"
"Dammit!" Yosuke moved in center and covered for the two of them by casting Sukukaja. Afterwards, he followed by using Bash to make Jiraiya deliver a strong punch at the bird.
Yu called for his tarot cards, making time stop. "A...aa...angel!"
Izanagi was recalled. And Angel came forth.
"Angel..." He looked at the persona standing on his left. "Use Patra..."
"As you command." The persona casted Patra on Yu and Chie, removing the fear status inflicted by the bird.
"No more!" Chie shouted in anger, cracking the knuckles on her fingers.
Yu called for Forneus among his card. "Forneus!"
Angel disappeared, leaving Forneus in her place.
"Use Bufu!"
Forneus obeyed and used Bufu on the bird.
"Go!" Yu shouted and rallied the others to take down the bird.
"No! Back!" The bird tried to fly away. Yu summoned Ukobach again to make it absorb its fire attacks. Jiraiya moved from the back and stabbed it with the shurikens embedded in its hands.
"Chie! Now!" Yosuke called for her.
"Okay!" Houuuu... attta!" Chie made Tomoe use a roundhouse kick that sent it flying to the ceiling.
Yu got Izanagi to cut the cage's chain link. Jiraiya was on the scene to grab the cage before it placed it down gently. Tomoe used the naginata to break the door open.
"Chie!" Yukiko was happy that Chie (and company) came to save her.
"Yukiko.." Chie hugged her hard, feeling relieved that it was safe.
Teddie came along when he turned to the side to see the bird struggle to stand up. It saw that it changed forms.
This time, it took on Yukiko's humanoid form while in the evening ball dress and tiara.
Chapter 9 END
PS - So Yu's joining the kendo club. Natch. So the various kendo related terms are pretty much searchable online. Most I would expect to left in romanized Japanese (as much as possible) since this is how I was instructed by my Japanese senseis.
Plus, they'd be awkward (most at least) when they're given the English translation to be used in the story.
Do note that this sports event is not in the game. I chose to do this since I'm a kendoka, although I've yet to come back since I finished my Master's and I'm taking time off to look for a full-time paying job for now. Oh well, I get to improvise.
Othewise, do enjoy and feel free to comment and let me know whatcha think in the reviews. Been a while now that I got a Master's.
