6/22 Mon - Iwatodai dormitory - lounge - evening - Kazuki
Arisato Minako is sitting on the armchair that faces the door. Her hair is covering the right side of her face. What is she doing here, why is she here? Is she going to finish the job?
"Yamagishi, Kazuki, you two finally made it," Mitsuru says.
"Sorry, we took so long."
"Nah, it's cool, at least you made it back on time," Minako congratulated me.
What the hell is going on here? Why are we having a meeting in the lounge? Wait, did she say anything about what happened last night? If so, then I bet she spun the story.
"Okay, now that they're here, I need to ask: what happened Yuki and you?" Mitsuru questions.
"What do you mean," Akihiko voices his cluelessness.
"Yuki hasn't shown up for school yesterday or today. Arisato wasn't at school today either. Clearly, something is going on."
Wow, she's puzzling this together pretty easily. I'm impressed...
"Now that ya mention it, I haven't seen leader all day or yesterday," Junpei adds onto what everyone else knows so far.
"Me neither. I thought he just wasn't coming to class," Yukari adds on her speculations.
"About that. Last night, the dorm was attacked by someone," Minako reveals.
Every one jumps up from the couch.
"Who was it!?" Mitsuru pressed for answers.
"He wore a hood and a mask underneath, so I don't know what they looked like and he hit the dorm during the Dark Hour. Not only that, but he told me he kidnapped Makoto. "
"Are you serious," Mitsuru raises her voice in the realization of this revelation.
"Shit, this isn't a joke anymore!?"
"No, it never was Iori."
"Wait, how the hell did we not know that you were fighting someone in the dorm?" Akihiko demands an answer.
"I tried waking you guys up, but you weren't waking up. I did my best to fight them off and I did, but not without taking a major hit.
She moves the hair covering the right side of her eye, revealing her bandaged eye. The sight of it makes me feel nauseated, the sheer thought that I caused such an injury is too much for me to bear, but I can't show that. Everyone else looks dreadfully at her permanently injured eye, same Fuuka.
"Who da hell did, I'll knock their lights out," Junpei declares, seething with rage.
I cringe as he unintentionally aims that at me.
"I'm sorry to burden you guys with all this...I'm sorry for getting this badly injured...it's just when he told me he had Makoto, I let my guard down and he got a good one in...I was desperate to know what happened to Makoto, cause I..."
Yukari takes Minako's hand as she's shedding tears.
"It's okay, you did your best."
"But...Makoto is..."
"Don't worry, we will find Yuki," Mitsuru assures her.
"Yeah, we'll find him in no time at all," Junpei backs up Mitsuru's claim.
Akihiko shoots a glance at his phone.
"It's almost time for the operation."
"Right then, Arisato, you can sit out on the mission."
"Thank you...but I want to fight!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I want to fight!"
"Then get ready, we're going to be setting out soon."
"Got it!"
The meeting ends, everyone else went upstairs to prepare for the mission. Minako stays in the same seat even when everyone else went on. Only Her, Fuuka, and I remain. As she gets up from her seat, I move back one foot. Her demeanor is different than how she was acting seconds ago.
"You two," she directs at us. "Don't tell anyone about what really happened...I might have to kill them if you do."
The threat sends shivers down my spine. Her oppressive presence is crushing me, she's still powerful outside of the Dark Hour. Taking her eyes off us, the dark, cold presence crushing us is lifted. She quietly walks over to the staircase...
7/7 Tue - Shirakawa Boulevard - Dark Hour - Kazuki
When we arrived at Shirakawa Boulevard, everyone else went inside, telling me to stand guard while they explored the hotel to kill the shadows...To be honest, I never thought I would be in front of one of these types of hotels, and with Fuu-chan at that.
Minako's in there with them…it doesn't sit well with me, but for now, I can't do anything to her, and I don't know what's going through her head. Her personality shift is just downright bizarre; she was so bubbly just the other day, and now she's empty as a person. Or maybe that's how she's always been, hiding her true feelings behind the mask of a cheerful and sociable girl.
And why did she come back? Why hasn't she killed us yet, what's her endgame? Too many unknowns, and far too many uncertainties. For now, I'll have to keep my guard up.
"They just engaged the full moon shadow," Fuu-chan announces.
"Give me the run down."
"Everyone is engaging the enemy. Its arcana is hierophant. Everyone is doing well so far, but Minako-chan isn't fighting at full power!"
...She must not want to go all out, or else her story about the 'intruders' would look fishy.
"They did it, they killed the shadow!"
"Sweet!"
Good thing I wasn't needed… Something about that doesn't sit well with me.
"Wait, what's going on," Fuu-chan suddenly asks, bewildered.
"What's wrong?"
"Something happened in there! I can't get ahold of anyone!"
"Is the shadow still alive?"
"No, it's dead, I'm sure of it!"
Damn, maybe Minako did something! No that doesn't make sense, why would she wait after they have taken out the shadow?
"Kazuki-kun, can you go inside there and see what happened?"
"Okay!"
I get up from the ground with my sword.
"Wait, Kazuki-kun I sense someone else here!"
"Wha–"
From above Fuu-chan, blue flames hurl towards me. It hits the ground in front of me, exploding right after contact. The explosion didn't burn me or anything, but it did fling me to the wall of the hotel. My back is going to be sore, I can already feel it. More importantly, I have to get back to the street to protect Fuuka.
"Looks like you're quick to your feet, that's an improvement." The assailant jumps from the top of a five-story building without breaking both his legs. "Yo."
Katsu!? What the hell is this jerk doing here? No, that doesn't matter. Don't waste any time, just go for the attack! I call Janus and run alongside him.
I open with a thrust. Katsu maneuvers around it as if he saw it coming. His fist aims for my gut. I kick to his stomach to keep him away. It was no good, he still managed to hit me, but at least I got a hit in. of us got hit in the same area. Katsu lets out a chuckle.
"Good shot there. Looks like someone got a little better since last time.
"Don't you underestimate me, I'm going all in today."
"Good, it wouldn't be fun if you didn't!"
Katsu lights his foot on fire while dashing towards me. I block the brunt of his kick. Despite blocking it, I can still feel the heat radiating off of his leg. I push him away from me. I move in for a blow with the back of my blade. He blocks the attack with his legs. Damn, I can't give up on the push now! I pivot to build enough momentum. Now next to him, I hit his head with the butt of my sword. Despite being stunned by it, he lights his fist on fire and brings it my way. I duck and roll out of the way of the attack. His fist caves in a wall damn, if I was standing there I would've been a goner.
"Seems like you got a little better since our last fight."
"I didn't want to be thrown on my ass ever again."
"...That masked moron isn't coming to bail you out this time."
"I know she won't."
"Wait...that guy is a chick!?"
"Huh? You didn't know?"
"Hell no. Maybe that's why she's always quiet and acts as a cold bitch."
"Who are you people anyway? Are you and M.G. on the same side?"
"M.G.? Oh, that chick. I guess you could say that, but things have been a bit shaky lately. Oh, speaking of that, have you seen her? A certain someone told me to bring her back with me."
"Why?"
"I don't know and I couldn't give a shit. Maybe she did something she wasn't supposed to do, who knows? Actually, what the hell am I doing..." In the blink of an eye, he's right up in front of me. A hard, sudden object slams into my face. "...I only came to fight you!"
He grabs my shirt and pulls up only to punch me again. I keep trying to recover but he's hitting me too quickly from all sides. Fuuka is telling me where another attack is coming from but I'm too slow to react to it. Then, capping off his assault, he hammers my chest with his fists, beating the air out of me. I slump to my back against a hard, concrete wall.
"That's it? What a joke. I give you credit and then you make me look like an idiot." His fist lights on fire. "I'll end this quickly."
Without any warning, he brings his fist down on me!
...
Katsu, the superior warrior, is about to bring his fist down towards Kazuki, whose eyes are closed. But, in a blink of an eye, Kazuki catches the attack, despite the heat his hand is enduring.
"What the hell!?"
"Such a pitiful attack."
"What the shit did you just say to-"
"Be quiet, you goddamn insect!"
Kazuki kicks Katsu from the ground. His opponent is sent flying into an apartment building. Upon hitting the ground, Katsu tightly clutches his stomach, desperate to catch his breath. The pain of the kick is beyond anything that he has ever felt. Nonetheless, he gets up and prepares to burn him alive.
"You bastard, were you-"
Going beyond Katsu's notice, Kazuki approaches him.
"Did I say you can speak?"
Kazuki throws Katsu up towards a building roof. Kazuki examines his body, a smirk curling on his face. He then takes one big leap to the building he threw Katsu up to.
He takes a look at the buildings and houses of the island city. "So many..." He lowers his head, his body shakes as he lets out a small chuckle. Eventually, he starts laughing, maniacal, and out of control. "...So many…there's so many of them… TOO MANY GODDAMN HUMANS TO KILL! ISN'T THAT GREAT!?" He keeps laughing on and on until a punch makes contact with his cheek.
"Don't ignore me, damn it!"
Katsu is breathing heavily, still recovering from the damage he suffered.
"How annoying." Despite saying that, the entity that took over Kazuki takes on a wicked grin, showing pleasure for what's going to do next. "...I guess I'll kill you first, you piece of filth."
A hotel, but...
Kazuki: So we're heading to a hotel, that's nice.
Fuuka: Yes but...
Kazuki: But what?
Fuuka: It's...
Kazuki: It's what? Hey, why are you blushing?
Fuuka: Because the place we're going to is...
Kazuki: A hotel, right?
Fuuka: Yes, however, it's..."
Kazuki: Oh, I got it. Do you want to try it out?
Fuuka: What!?
Kazuki: Yeah, we could spend the night there, I always wanted to stay in one.
Fuuka: S-seriously, b-but it's indecent!
Kazuki: How?
Fuuka: It's because...because-
Junpei: ...It's a love hotel, my man!
Kazuki: H-huh? Oh, oh shit...Fuu-chan, when I said I wanted to visit a hotel, I meant...
Fuuka: N-no, it's fine, I know what you meant.
Kazuki: Yeah, good, good...Let's forget about this conversation.
Fuuka: Right.