Nightfall (IC)

[RacingeR]

Masayoshi Kotetsu
April 3^rd – Evening
Shinjuku, Streets – Yamagumi Bar

It definitely was one of those days.

When you injected the strange substance into the woman, the effects were quite instantaneous. You saw with your own eyes how the flesh regenerated at a completely ridiculous speed, the sound of bones being mended reaching you as twisted metal bits that had once been bullets were jettisoned out of the girl’s body. Shortly afterwards, the horrible stabs at her side also started disappearing.

She didn’t heal completely, the wounds still remained, but they were much lighter than before, nowhere near life threatening. However, it seemed that in the time that you had taken to inject the syringe’s contents into her wrist, the girl had lost consciousness completely. You tried rousing her, without success, but at least she seemed stable.

You noticed Katsuo had lumbered by your side at some point, a shell-shocked stare directed at the girl and her miraculous healing.

“Streets’re empty.” He spat out. “There were some strange people, gaijin-looking, standin’ around half a street down, but they evacuated in a black van, nabbed four schoolgirls before they did.”

“There was a very strange woman with ‘em.” He paused, hesitant, you could noticed he was struggling to explain what he had witnessed. “Seemed… inhuman.” He grudgingly declared that word.

You frowned, this was getting too X-files for your taste, but Katsuo didn’t give you time to think.

“You don’t get it, the streets‘re empty. There ain’t a single person ‘round!” Granted, this wasn’t the single most transited joint in Tokyo, but you were sure there should be people around the street at these hours. Hell, it was pretty much peak hour for bar-goers. In fact, you were sure that by now the place should be practically crawling with cops. The commotion would’ve attracted every onlooker in miles. Something was very wrong here.

“Tried calling our guys. But I’ve got no signal.”

[RacingeR]

Shiratori Kaguya
April 3^rd – Evening
Shinjuku, Streets

“Hmmm, no, it seems that I’m not understood.” The thing shaped like a girl shook her head sadly, as if greatly disappointed.

“I say you run, you run. I say you fight, you fight. I say you kill, you kill. My word is law.” Suddenly, with a movement that was so fast it became completely invisible to you, the being softly grabbed onto your face, caressing it even as she lifted your chin gently to force you to look at those disquieting blood-red eyes. “That doesn’t mean you can’t speak your mind, or ask questions. I have no intention whatsoever to travel with mere meat puppets.”

“Come on, Kaguya-chan.” The girl smiled at you. “Ask away.”

You could feel Laura’s hand around yours, tightening strongly.

[palad1n]

Shiratori Kaguya
April 3^rd – Evening
Shinjuku, Streets

“I say you run, you run. I say you fight, you fight. I say you kill, you kill. My word is law.” Suddenly, with a movement that was so fast it became completely invisible to you, the being softly grabbed onto your face, caressing it even as she lifted your chin gently to force you to look at those disquieting blood-red eyes. “That doesn’t mean you can’t speak your mind, or ask questions. I have no intention whatsoever to travel with mere meat puppets. Come on, Kaguya-chan.” The girl smiled at you. “Ask away.”

Kaguya silently gulped. There was just something very wrong and disquieting to the way she caressed her face, even if it's done gently, and how the being smiled while she stared at those blood-red eyes, and comments such as the possibility that she might be ordered to kill only further paralyze the black-haired girl...

But Laura's hand tightening around her own broke Kaguya out of her trance and fear.

That warmth once more brings forth the courage within her heart.

"T-then I'll ask." Kaguya began, staring right into those blood-red eyes with newfound resolve. "What do you mean that we are puppies of Izanami... that we come from Izanami families?"

A pause, and realizing that she had forgotten to ask the most basic question a second later, Kaguya hastily added.

"Oh, and... what is your name?"

[Mormarth]

Masayoshi Kotetsu
April 3rd – Evening
Shinjuku, Streets – Yamagumi Bar

I watched in sullen silence as whatever nonsense was in that syringe fixed her up a good bit, like some sort of RPG potion just healing that HP to maximum, just flying in the face of logic and reason.

I nudged one of the bullets that'd be dislodged with my shoe, it grated against the concrete of the alley.

This is fine.

I fished through my jacket pocket idly, drawing out my half-empty pack and partook of the stress-easing, cancer-causing bounty within.

I fiddled with my lighter, refusing to be cooperative and light the fucking cancer-stick already, and Katsuo lumbered up, eyeing the now-sleeping foreigner with the sort of alarmed bemusement reserved for truly silly bullshit.

"Streets're empty, there were some strange people, gaijin-looking, standin’ around half a street down, but they evacuated in a black van, nabbed four schoolgirls before they did.”

I frowned, flicking the igniter a bit more as I processed that.

Well, they weren't our problem for right now, so it was more of an idle curiosity, but at least we seem to be out of immediate life-threatening danger.

Which was just swell.

Flick, flick.

“There was a very strange woman with ‘em."

I paused, giving my associate a level look, the question apparently on my face.

“Seemed… inhuman.”

Of course, I made a disgusted noise, ceasing my flicking for a moment to run my hand over my face and through my hair.

Of course, because things can't be easy and understandable, they have to just keep making things 'interesting'.

So annoying.

Still, something about what he said seemed off, but my head wasn't cooperating.

“You don’t get it, the streets‘re empty. There ain’t a single person ‘round!”

Oh, right. That.

That was extremely troubling, it wasn't late, and this should be peak hours for people, I mean, this wasn't Kabukicho, but it was well-populated at this time of night.

For no one to be around...

Flick-flick-flick-flick.

“Tried calling our guys. But I’ve got no signal.”

Flick.

A flame illuminated the darkened alley, and I lit my partially chewed cigarette with relief, the slowly building migraine between my brows easing, slightly, things beginning to coalesce into something understandable.

Right.

So.

Let's think things through.

Despite the sudden eruption of a violent gunfight, no police had arrived on-scene, no further back-up from the family either, no people were out on the streets, before they left, they'd made mention of being 'out-of-time'.

Was this some sort of 'incident'?

I took the cigarette out of my mouth , working my jaw as I thought.

Oh, right.

I offered Katsuo one.

"I don't think we're in Shinjuku anymore, brother."

I took another drag and looked into the heavens, looking for some sort of answer.

[Airen]

Elora Griffin
April 3^rd – Evening
Nakano, Amaterasu High School – Student Council room

"The majority of the disappearances are schoolgirls?"

While most of the other information was something she had been aware of from the start, it was this bit of information, slipped in near the end, that had caused the blonde president to repeat the words of her council member aloud, an instinctual response to a newfound bit of knowledge that her (admittedly light) investigations had turned up earlier in the day.

"That's... Yeah, that's the sort of trend that would cause a panic."

The young woman frowns to herself, eyes narrowing slightly in thought.

"Statement wise, I suppose it would be best to stress the importance of going directly home after school and club activities," one hand rising to her head as if to massage away a headache, Elora sighs to herself, "The current conditions are too dangerous to allow loitering without supervision, but shutting down clubs would have everyone throwing a fit... We don't know the cause, so it'll have to be that sort of compromise. School, Clubs and then straight home, in groups if possible, club presidents taking attendance at the beginning and end to ensure that everyone is where they're supposed to be."

Of course, it wasn't like they had the power to truly enforce a curfew, even if she personally stood out and forced everyone off the school grounds physically, but putting the idea in their heads should have some effect, however small...

Although the shaky nature of the memories of the student body...

Well...

It was concerning.

"As for the potential peeping tom... I'll inform the faculty, then Rika-nee and I can look into it a bit more..."

It was more of a lighthearted problem than the disappearances, and indeed, it was one that she brought up again purely to make the tone lighter, however...

"...And I think I'll make a stop at the police station soon too. See if anyone is willing to cough up some rumors for me."

The other problem was clearly bothering her more.

[Vritra]

Yuu Kurogami
April 3rd – Evening
Nakano, Amaterasu High School – Student Council room

“Yes, yes I see my cute little Sakura-chan!”

Intently studying the bountiful tracks of land my cute little Sakura-chan has presented to me. Aaaaah truly, truly what a glorious hero I am! To receive such a wonderful offer to do as I please with is simply a mark of status I can't help but rejoice in. While I can’t really say I understand why my cute little Sakura-chan think I would really want them that big but if she wants to fill her head with silly dreams like that I feel no need to expend the effort to correct her. The smaller they are the easier I can pass for a boy when I feel like it and the smaller they are the more I can move the way I want to, besides, besides its more fun to play with someone else’s than one’s own.

Now then…

I humbly receive this offering after all what else could it be? An open door is an invitation; an emphasized chest is no different!

“I understand, I understand my cute little Sakura-chan! Itadakimasu ~~~”

Shifting my weight, I lunge forward before the words have even finished leaving my mouth to properly bury myself in my cute little Sakura-chan’s bountiful peach fields. Ku ku ku, ah how I truly this little moments when the target’s mind is too busy stuck processing what has happened and what options they can do to actually do anything. Their beauty is truly a gift sent from the heavens and that is why it is appropriate to appreciate them and more to the point appreciate what we can do in them! Caress, mold, and tease ~ I would say this is revenge but such notions are entirely empty I’m simply going to enjoy myself with you until you can’t even think anymore all because I want to! Those expressions, those feelings and those little resistances are so wonderfully intoxicating. Kuuuhahahahaha aaaaaah ~ I can’t get enough, I just can't enough who could guess being unnecessary is such a wonderful thing and to top it all off the real game only starts when my cute little Sakura-chan gets over her shock. Little Sakura-chan is always so cold so it is only natural that I want to bring us closer together and how could I simply ignore the best path to do that, our bonds will be eternal little Sakura-chan. Now then I do hope you’re going to put some effort into resistance after all my cute little Sakura-chan this is worth me putting effort into, this is worth becoming serious for! Summoning the shadow of

Father

The Demon

I throw all pretense of playing around grow deathly serious.

Father

The Demon

would accept nothing less than supremacy after all.

Oh Sakura-chan, oh my cute little Sakura-chan come drown in this and let us become the best of friends but don’t worry my cute little Sakura-chan the fact that your true greatest asset is your butt will be our secret ~.


--------------------------------------------------


Ho hum, clubs to deny, budgets to construct such paper work is indeed utterly dull yet

Father

The Demon

would never accept error so here I am putting everything I have into this. Our date will be such a sweet prize Elora-chan.

“Oh, here’s a big one.” Erika took a random paper from the stack and started reading it. “The swimming team has filed a request and complaint about a possible peeping tom, denouncing that there were strange movements around the club, and that some girls felt observed while changing.”

?

Frowning I contemplate until the last words clear up my confusion and I raise my hand

“Not me then, I haven’t been caught. …Someone will probably have to investigate though.”

I doubt I’ll feel the urge to help but playing with the swim club can be fun so who knows, something to think about in the future.

The talk that follows is however something to think about now. The disappearances were nothing new but it seems I’ve been a bit lax with cross examining things because I didn’t know it was mainly girls. Leaning in towards Kaede I whisper for her take gather the information on the disappearances later. I don’t quite expect it to lead to any new leads but knowing the areas when it happens and looking for patters could still be useful. The devil is in the details is a rather apt saying most of the time.

“Well spooky ghost stories aside anything else we need to run through or is this boring work finally coming to a long overdue end?”

[RacingeR]

Amano Kaede
April 3^rd – Evening
Bunkyo, Sakurai Apartments – Room 500

“I’m not sure, in all honesty, it’s too big for me.” Edmund scratched his head. “The sheer amount of work we’re getting with the number of incidents isn’t helping, I’m just not getting the time to work on it. And we’re a big apartment, you know? It’s hard for any of us to coordinate and everyone’s been acting weird. The chief has been very dodgy for a while, too.”

“I’m going to try and talk with Mizuki’s old partner, the one she was with before she got reassigned with me. She had a few other leads, some I can’t talk about, but there’s a lack of concrete evidence… I can’t find a trail, not yet.” The detective paused, then stared straight at you.

“The reason I’m telling you all of this… well, I needed to get it off my chest, but there’s… some risk with pursuing this investigation. I mean, if someone is inducing the comas and Mizuki was afflicted as she was investigating this, there’s a chance, however small, that I’ll be targeted. So, I think someone else should know about this all and I don’t trust anyone in the police force, at this point. Not with the way everyone’s been acting, at least.” He says, pointing at his gun.

“Plus… Mizuki had a daughter.” Ed’s usual deadpan expression changed, showing a deep concern over the matter. “17 years old… Mizuki was a single mother, too, so the girl’s all alone, too. I know it might be asking too much, but it’d take a load off my shoulders if you could keep an eye out for her.”

“Oh, right… most of the descendants of those families are in high school, but I understand one of the Tennouji family’s heirs, a girl by the name of Tennouji Asuna, attends Tokyo University since this year, and I think you’d have an easier time approaching and investigating her. I’m not saying to do anything risky, but keep your eyes open and see if you find out something.”

[Erlkonig]

Amano Kaede
April 3^rd – Evening
Bunkyo, Sakurai Apartments – Room 500

"Okay," Kaede said, meeting her friend's eyes and nodding firmly. "Tennouji Asuna, probably some diva with an annoying posse, but we're both Tokyo so she shouldn't be hard to approach. I'll keep an eye on her, see if I can't ask around some of my classmates. You know how they are- There's always someone with a friend that knows a friend and so on."

The girl then frowned, crossing and uncrossing her legs as she pondered his other request. "I can understand why you'd want someone to look after her," Kaede replied softly. "But how am I supposed to do that? This Matsumoto family isn't exactly what you'd call approachable, so I can't just pop out of the blue and contact her."

She sighed. "Still... I'm inclined to say yes. Much as I hate it, there's nothing I can do to take care of Yuuta that the doctors aren't better at... And it's not like I'm being swamped by work now- People are so absorbed by this crisis that media for other stuff has slowed down quite a bit."

She bit at her lip, the restlessness about her obvious. "To be honest, I was kind of hoping you'd have something for me to do." She smiled tentatively. "Guess I can always count on you, good old Ed, huh?"

[RacingeR]

Amano Kaede
April 3^rd – Evening
Bunkyo, Sakurai Apartments – Room 500

“The Matsumoto aren’t exactly rich, actually, for what I’ve seen they’ve been quite down on their luck since the old times.” He pauses, and gets up from his seat, returning a weak smile to you. “Just make some time tomorrow evening, I’ll handle the introductions, was planning to take a look and see how she was doing anyway.”

“I better get going, it’s gonna be night soon and I gotta deal with my landlord… damn, I really ought to consider buying a house at this point…”

He moves towards the door.

You get a strange feeling, out of nowhere.

It is not something you can describe easily, it’s hard to put your finger on it, but as you accompany him to the door, you start feeling as if reality as you know it was about to be turned on its head.

[Erlkonig]

Amano Kaede
April 3^rd – Evening
Bunkyo, Sakurai Apartments – Room 500

"Hold on." Kaede says, frowning abruptly, as she felt a weird sensation tingle up her spine. What the hell was that? The girl stood up by reflex from her seat, looking more confused than anything else. "Did... Did you forget anything important in the lounge or something?"

Upon him giving her a look with a carefully raised eyebrow, Kaede sputtered. "Look, I don't know! I just had a hunch or something!"

Ed sighed, shaking his head, but after giving a cursory look over the lounge they both determined that, no, Ed had not forgotten anything and Kaede had just reacted with some kind of paranoia.

"Look," Edmund said. "I can understand why me telling you this would make you nervous, Kaede, but it really wasn't my intention. If it stresses you this much-"

"Oh, shut up." Kaede grumbled, shoving him towards the door. "You know I'm the kind of gal that falls for that whole woman's intuition thing. Maybe I was wrong this time, but the thing just honestly works."

"Alright," Ed said, barking out a tired laugh. "I can buy that." He rested his hand on the doorknob, raising his eyebrow at her one last time. "Though, maybe you're right being worried- Given that tonight's movie night for my sister, the landlord is going to shove a few of my years away. Your intuition got anything to help with that?"

"Yeah," Kaede replied dryly, her amber eyes gleaming dangerously. "It's telling me you should get fuck outta here." She slurred in stereotypically delinquent kansai dialect.

Edmund smirked. "Sage advice." Then, his gaze softened. "Take care, Kaede. And... Thanks, really."

Kaede rolled her eyes, but the blush on her face was obvious. "Just don't kill yourself with caffeine." She smiled, jabbing him on the shoulder playfully.

He laughed. "I won't."

Then, he opened the door.

[RacingeR]

Amano Kaede
April 3^rd – Evening
Bunkyo, Sakurai Apartments – Room 500

The detective walked out the door and into the hallway of the building, still with a faint smile on his mouth. He turned towards you, leaning his body slightly forwards to say something.

There was a detonation, and you could almost swear you saw a bullet fly through the spot Edmund’s head had been a second ago. You saw his face pale as he muttered a curse in English you couldn’t quite discern, and threw his body forward against you, throwing you into the apartment and into the floor, as he also made his way in.

“Bloody hell!” You heard him curse loudly once again as his hands found their way to his gun, and he unsheathed it, looking pale, scared, and resolute.

You heard someone else cursing, in the hallway, a loud “FUCK!” emitted by a male voice, and then footsteps of someone running away from the apartment.

It was all so completely sudden you were unable to react to the development of the situation, and Edmund, despite his training, seemed as confused and scared as you were. However, hearing the one who had shot at him running away, you noticed, much to your horror, the detective’s mouth curving into a gesture of resolution.

Then, holding his gun, he suddenly sprung up from the floor and dashed out of the apartment and through the hallway, in pursuit of the attacker.

[Erlkonig]

Amano Kaede
April 3^rd – Evening
Bunkyo, Sakurai Apartments – Room 500

The moment she processed what had happened, a piercing shriek had already escaped Kaede's lips. Her eyes went wide, face pale as the thunderous boom of the bullet rang through her ears, causing her heart to speed up far beyond it had any right to be. What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck...

"Oh my God!" Kaede gasped, her hands immediately grasping towards the body of her friend the moment she realized who had thrown her to the floor. "Ed! Are you okay!? Ed!?" She spoke as fast as she could, almost nonsensically, even as the man pulled himself up after looking around and making sure nobody was going to be shooting anywhere near his friend again.

Then, as he watched the figure flee, his lips curled. "Stay here and lock yourself in." He grunted, pushing her away when she didn't let go in her panicked state and rushing down the hallway after the... the man who had just tried to kill him. Or her. Or both.

Kaede watched him go, still on her knees and on the floor, her heart beating loudly. Oh my god, Ed. What happened to you? What happened to Yuuta? WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO US?

Words couldn't describe the stress Kaede felt at that moment. She knew, intellectually, that Ed's job could resolve in him involving himself into dangerous things. But... This? A hit in the middle of a fucking apartment visit, right before her eyes? It was so real, so visceral and shocking that it left her unable to even react to what he had just done.

Up until the moment that she realized that her friend could be about to get killed.

"Ed!" She staggered to her feet, running towards the door and sticking her head outside to shout. "Ed, wait! Don't-"

-Don't go? Are you really going to say that? Her words died in her throat as she watched her friend's shadow fade after turning a corner, and adrenaline flooded her brain. This could be his one chance to find something. Someone who could lead us to saving Yuuta.

He's my best friend, Kaede's eyes teared up with impotent rage, the stress and fear of the situation catching up to her. I don't- He said this was out of his league, this danger- I don't want to lose him too!

Then what are you waiting for, you stupid bitch?

Kaede's blood ran cold, as she stiffened. Ed had spoken in a deathly serious tone when he told her to stay. That was no-nonsense, 'don't cross me' level Ed. The level of stupidity that it would take for her to do just that, it might mean that if they lived through this anyways, he might just kill her himself.

And that was, of course, why Kaede slammed the door behind her, stuck her key into her pocket, and rushed after the man herself, tearing off the closest fire extinguisher from the wall.

She never was the smartest girl.

But god damn if she wasn't loyal.

[RacingeR]

Mizunoue Mizuki
April 3^rd – Evening
Shibuya, Otonokizaka High School – Literature Club room

“A-ah… I see…” Inoue’s voice faded, and you could nearly feel the gears inside the first year’s head turning, as she tried to think of a way to insist. The ‘you promised to help me’ phrase was nearly on the tip of her tongue, but she seemed aware of how selfish that would come across. Touma also said nothing to help her out.

The silence stretched, and quickly became very awkward, in part due to the overly shy attitude of the Sakurauchi’s younger sister. Who seemed to be very quickly panicking at said awkwardness, making things even more awkward.

“I-I’m s-sorry for bothering you then!” The dejected-looking girl made a quick bow towards the two of you and practically dashed out of the room, escaping from the awkwardness within as if it was the devil.

You noticed Touma shaking his head, as if telling you to not say anything to keep her from going. When the girl was out the door and past the hallway, the boy turned towards you and said “Well, you got her with that one.”

You couldn’t help but to stare at him interrogatively.

“She is quite the manipulative one, I think. I mean, look at how she carried the conversation… she’d probably not have requested it until she was sure that we’d agree to help.” He shrugged.

The picture his words painted was less that of a wallflower, and more akin to a person who was so actively unsociable that she’d rather try and push her older sister’s friends in doing her a favor rather than make friends of her own.

In fact, she’d made sure she had that promise for help made…

“Either way…” Touma stood up from his chair once again, and stored the Agatha Christie book he’d been reading in his bag. “I’m not getting any reading done here, so I might as well go out. What do you want to do, Mizunoue?”

It seemed that he was leaving the course of action to follow up to you.

[Katie]

Mizunoue Mizuki
April 3^rd – Evening
Shibuya, Otonokizaka High School – Literature Club room

“If she had pushed, it would have been likely that I would have also acquiesced,” Mizuki said, rather worn down by the sudden intrusion of Sakurauchi-san’s sister. While she could certainly react well to surprises, they were also troublesome to deal with. “But it seems her conviction is rather lacking.”

She spotted the Agatha Christie novel Tendou-kun shoved away in his bag. Was it Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple? Or, perhaps, neither of those? The glimpse was too quick to for her to really be certain, but it most probable that Tendou-kun was a Poirot reader. That kind of self-absorbed determination was reflected in her vice-president.

“Ultimately, we promised that we would help investigate into the disappearance of her sister… not coddle her. I hope she understands the difference.” She wasn’t sure of where to go herself, but the decision had been deferred to her. Thus, it was better that she make a quick judgment with the current issues on her mind. “Perhaps…”

“Perhaps it may be best if we visit Sakurauchi-san herself before we embark on our task,” she said quietly, knowing how bitter the suggestion was.

[RacingeR]

Taka Nishi
April 3^rd – Evening
Shinjuku, Toriyama Bar – Back Room

“Wait, wait, wait up.” Hiragami, as expected, panicked upon seeing that you were about to take the invitation back. You saw him, hilariously enough, start to sweat in his hurry and nervousness. It seemed like he was in a worse situation that you had expected.

“Look, I know, you’re here after the info I said I had ‘bout the Lost, right?” He said, lowering his tone of voice and greatly startling you, although you made sure to not show it in your face. It seemed that a spark had been lit in the man’s brain that had made him associate the drunken bragging he had made before with the situation now. It was hard to say how much of your sob story he had bought, but by his expression, it seemed like he thought he had figured you out. It wasn’t hard to deduce that he still thought most of what you had done tonight was ‘real’, but with the added detail of you seeking him specifically for that information.

“C’mere.” He gestured for you to become closer, eyes still glued to the invitation. He must be desperate. You acquiesced and came closer to him despite the smell of alcohol in his breath nearly making you retch. Just how much had this guy been drinking? He probably had started before this game, which explained how easy it had been to get him drunk. But evidently, he wasn’t drunk enough to throw all caution to the wind.

“Look, all I know’s that the Izanami Zaibatsu is somehow involved in all this. Dunno if they’re researching a cure or they got somethin’ to do with the cause of it all, I didn’t ask, just heard stuff through the gravepine.” He spoke quickly, directly to your heard, in a whisper low enough to be almost a mosquito’s buzz. “Y’know how the great families of Japan are all involved with the Zaibatsu? Kurogami, Shiratori, Hoshizora, Tennouji and so on. Most of ‘em are stockholders, and Boss-lady’s family is involved with the company too. I bet the Kurogami are neck-deep in this whole thing. Y’know the rumors right? Th’ whole blood of demons stuff and all.”

[RacingeR]

Mizunoue Mizuki
April 3^rd – Evening
Shibuya, Otonokizaka High School – Literature Club room

Tendou Touma hesitated a bit, then he nodded, and awkwardly patted your shoulder, looking somewhat bitter himself.

“Sure.”

Shibuya, Izanami Hospitals – Near Room 492

The hospital Sakura was resting at was only a few blocks away from the school. You had no idea of how the Sakurauchi family had afforded this hospital: it was discrete, private, and a bit costlier than your usual deal. The Sakurauchis weren’t poor, but you weren’t sure if they made enough to afford this. You had never been at your friend’s home all this time, after all.

You were let pass with ease once your identities were ascertained. For what you understood, this hospital didn’t have fixed visit hours, and as long as the family members allowed you to, you were free to visit whenever as long as it wasn’t before 7 am. You had met Sakura’s mother before, and she had allowed the two of you to visit her daughter in the hospital whenever you wanted, so your identities were already in the database.

The whole hospital was silent, clean, and apart from the noise made by medics, nurses and assorted personnel, nothing interrupted the clinical whiteness that pervaded the place. It was kind of uncanny, uncomfortable, but as you approached the room where your friend was sleeping in through an empty hallway, that was the farthest thing from your mind.

Then, much to your surprise, the door of the room opened, and out of it came…

“Eeeehhh…?”

Sakurauchi Inoue, whom you had parted with a bit less than thirty minutes ago, and who had let a very surprised sound upon seeing you here.

[Katie]

Mizunoue Mizuki
April 3^rd – Evening
Shibuya, Izanami Hospitals – Near Room 492

“Is something the matter?” While they had parted on awkward terms, Mizuki saw nothing wrong with the situation itself. Two friends had gone to see their friend in the hospital, and said friend’s sister had also gone to see her sister in the hospital. The timing was unfortunate, of course, but the motivations were equally valid. Even so, such a coincidental meeting had to be hard on Sakurauchi Inoue, who was cowardly from what she had gleaned from their meeting back at the Literature Club. Thus, it was best to take an approach that avoided conflict.

“Apologies. We won’t take long.” She gave a slight nod towards Tendou-kun—one that didn’t implore him to agree, but warned him of what could happen if he didn’t. It wasn’t that she was threatening him, because he had not yet done anything to warrant such vulgarity, but that the Sakurauchi in front of them looked incredibly vulnerable. Surely, he could read the mood.

[RacingeR]

Mizuhara Mitsuki
April 3^rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets

Kaori paled slightly when she heard your description of what was happening. It was clear that the idea of what you were describing scared her. It was abnormal, strange, and in a way, the fact that she couldn’t see anything of what you were describing was deeply worrying.

“Let’s go home.”

It is the only rational decision that she can make. Noticing that you were acting strange, and that you were seeing, well, even more things that nobody could see… trying to pry you away from all this strangeness and guiding you to a place you were comfortable in was the only thing she could think to do.

You were given to room to protest. Kaori tightly grabbed onto your hard, and started to doggedly drag you on your way home. It was useless, almost hilariously so. What use was there running away when the sky itself was being shattered apart? You could see the cracks expanding, growing, tracing a delicate shape like that of a spiderweb as the sky cracked, little by little. There was no escaping from that. Surely, the phenomena could be seen from any part of the city.

What did it matter, anyway? This was merely a dream. No, it must be a dream.

You didn’t notice when, but the people in the streets started to get sparser and sparser. Kaori’s grip on you became tighter and tighter, to the point it was starting to hurt. Pain. Could you feel pain in a dream?

The pace you were walking at accelerated and accelerated, becoming even quicker, and you had no idea why. Except when you caught Kaori peering at the sky quite a few times, her face paling more each time, to the point she looked white as a paper. Definitely… at some point, she had started to see the cracked sky as well.

At some point, you had broken into a run, being dragged by your more athletic friend who seemed to be breaking into a panic. You barely noticed the few dolls here and there pointing at the sky and talking between themselves. You barely noticed that the contents of the stores on both sides of the streets had been replaced completely by what looked like mannequins.

And then…

Kaori and you crashed against someone. A doll. You lost your balance and fell alongside your friend, painfully hitting your backside against the sidewalk’s ground. It hurt quite a lot. Could you feel that much pain in a dream without waking up?

“Oh my, isn’t it Kaori-chan and Mitsuki-chan from my class? Are you two alright?”

You looked up towards the doll you had crashed against, only to notice you recognized her. She was a classmate of yours… Ikeda Minori. She was heavily recognizable to you because she always had those strange blue butterfly markings along her figure and clothing. That, and she always addressed you in an overly familiar way, although you weren’t exactly in the same circles, so to speak. There was a clique where upper-class ladies like her belonged, centered about those two queens… Shiratori and Leonhardt, something like that. You’d never paid much attention to the social questions of your school. In fact, you had barely ever interacted with Minori, although she had always been friendly. Overly so.

“Here, I’ll help ya out!” The girl/doll extended her hand towards you, and another towards Kaori, intending to help you both up.

The sky above kept slowly cracking apart.

[RacingeR]

Mizunoue Mizuki
April 3^rd – Evening
Shibuya, Izanami Hospitals – Near Room 492

“Ah, no, nothing is the matter, please take your time.” After a small moment of silence, Inoue recovered enough to be polite and open the door for you to pass. Touma recognized the meaning of your glance, and merely nodded at Inoue, leaving a simple “Thanks” behind as he entered.

As you passed by the younger Sakurauchi, you couldn’t help but notice that she seemed definitely a lot more startled than warranted, and was looking at the both of you with her eyes wide, as if you were ghosts. Weird. But then again, this girl was weird.

You entered the room. It was warm inside, in fact, it was unseasonably warm outside as well, but it still felt cold. It was a clean room, as blindingly white and clinical as the rest of the hospital. The space was ample, allowing for plenty of seats as well as a wardrobe where Sakura’s clothes were stored.

And then, at the center, there was the bed. Sakura was there, and it wasn’t the first time you’d seen her here, but it always made an impact. She looked like she was sleeping, and she had looked like that at first, as if she would wake up at any moment from her long dream… but now, you couldn’t help but to notice that she was paler, and even thought she was somewhat slighter than before. At least, it looked like she was being well-cared for here.

Inoue entered the room after you, whatever motive she had for exiting before apparently forgotten. She took the chair right at the side of the bed’s head, and peered on her sister’s face, as if searching for some sort of answer.

[RacingeR]

Shiratori Kaguya
April 3^rd – Evening
Shinjuku, Streets

The being continued caressing your face for a bit. It was as if she was examining a newly acquired doll, a toy for her entertainment. She smiled slightly, before letting you go, her eyes falling upon Laura. You saw a tremor run her from head to toe, your friend cowering slightly under the red glare of the woman, before lifting her head and staring at her, as if in defiance.

The being giggled, amused. “You’d make for quite a good knight, Laura-chan~” this time, it was your friend’s turn to get her chin lifted, forced to look straight at her eyes.

“Well, you see, I’m fairly sure that your little knight can answer your first question, Kaguya-chan!” She turned her head slightly to stare at you.

Laura slowly nodded. “Y-you’re talking about our families… being stockholders of Izanami Zaibatsu, right?”

You blinked. Your parents had never talked to you about their businesses, so you didn’t know that data. It seemed like your father and Laura’s had interests in common, which perhaps explained why you had been encouraged to get closer to her in the first place.

The woman giggled, and let go of Laura, falling back on her seat. Your friend then moved closer to you, hugging you as if trying to offer you some form of comfort.

“Well~ that’s not quite it, but it doesn’t matter. After all, you’re not from one of the so-called Great Families, Laura-chan.” The thing laughed, as if finding something very amusing. “I wonder if this counts as stealing someone else’s seedlings~, so promising, so promising…”

Suddenly, her eyes were staring straight at yours once again.

“And, as for my name…”

Suddenly, the tone of her voice changed to something utterly inhuman. A demonic roar, a reverb that couldn’t be in any way produced by an human throat, an utterly disharmonious yet somehow impossibly beautiful sound, beautiful in all of the horror it contained within.

“I am Reign.”

Rei started trembling from head to toe, uncontrollably, terrified out of her mind. Rinko grabbed her head tightly with her hands, looking completely overwhelmed.

But for some reason, both Laura and you… were fine.