Chapter Text
~~~0-0-0~~~
[Taya Residence, Earth-146692]
After the battle with the Sephira, Tiphereth, and the Einherjar at Hoshinomiya, tensions quickly arose when Yuri Saiki, the mysterious, aloof genius of the school, had caused a scene after it.
Chito's group including herself, Mikoto Misaka, Lain Iwakura, Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, Nobara Kugisaki, Jolyne Cujoh, Kenpachi Zaraki, Nero, Shadow the Hedgehog, Lloyd Irving, Genis Sage, Stardust/Davie Wonder John, Lady Black/Piltz Dunant, Allen Walker, Tusk, and Aleister Crowley III were shocked to find out that their group leader wasn't the one just holding secrets of their own. Unfortunately, Hinako Shirai, Lime and Yuzuki Shijou, and the rest of their Hoshinomiya friends including Sanae Nishida, Sarasa Morikawa, Rin Sanada, Kei Narimiya, Ako Ichinose, Shihori Sugamoto, Chihiro Inoue, Fumio Taya, Kaori Mitsui, and Rika Yoshimura had realised that Yuri had a lot more than what she had.
Yuuri went to look for Yuri S., who ran away teary-eyed after the failed reunion.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that Yuri was a best friend of the Shijou sisters, but their relationship soured after Yuri blamed both of them for not caring after her father was killed from a freak accident. And so when Hinako heard the fact that both sisters were dead and somehow they were miraculously alive for yet to-be-revealed reasons, it was a massive crisis of reality for her.
Back at the Taya mansion, the rest gathered inside as the tension was immediately palpable. Lime and Yuzuki were forced to confess on who they really were, which did little to ease everything. The Hoshinomiya students sans Mao Ninagawa, who for some reason did not join in, had to deal with this newfound problem. Perhaps the most uncharacteristic thing who asked first is none other than Chihiro.
The normally shy girl was not happy.
"You lied to us!" Chihiro exclaimed as she asserted herself. "Why? Why you did this?!"
"I knew something was fishy with the two of you." Ako added as she looked at the Shijou sisters, before looking at Hinako. "And you, you didn't even bother telling that we're with a walking corpse at our school after all this time?"
"Look, I didn't even know that they have been dead." Hinako calmly said. "And I also admit that this is too shocking as well! Especially with the revelation that Yuri is their friend!"
"And here I thought I've been hiding secrets." Chito noted, before looking at Ako. "But that's the truth. They are dead." She added.
"But still, how is that possible?" Genis asked.
"We don't know, but it possibly has to do with the Reflector system." Davie replied. "But we're not jumping to conclusions yet especially when both don't want to talk about it, yet."
"Understandable, considering their rather pained life." Piltz replied.
"I've been meaning to ask this, but how do you even know Saiki? We've been seeing the girl quite a lot in our classroom, but being friends with her is unheard of, given her reclusive lifestyle." Fumio questioned the Shijou sisters.
"Go on. It's your turn to tell, since we already knew of it." Chito suggested.
"What do you mean?" Kei asked in a different tone out of her usual joy.
"It's best if we have them tell it all." Chito added.
Lime was the first one to respond. She recounted her and Yuzuki's first time meeting with Yuri during elementary years, whom the Shijou sisters befriended the child genius, regardless of her smarts. In fact, both of them were Yuri's first real friends who showed genuine compassion and understanding of her circumstances, rather than to be treated as some nobody from her other peers thanks to her lack of ability to show emotions or even emotional feelings. "That's how we firstly met Yuri. She's essentially a complete outcast amongst the rest."
"But seeing her sitting by herself, we took the chance to befriend her. And essentially that's how our friendship bloomed." Yuzuki added with a sad tone. "We helped her out getting out of her shell. And believe it or not, because of us, she made a few friends outside of the two of us, all for the while balancing her... Well, research papers and her scientific works at such a young age." She continued.
"Wait, you meant she was not that aloof girl during her childhood?" Nero asked.
Yuzuki only shook her head.
"Well, that's unexpected even for us." Shihori said.
"You shouldn't judge her base on how she looked like." Lime said rather bitterly. "Yuri is a lonely girl at the time and she essentially clings to living a normal life." She continued with another tone of sadness.
"Well, we did notice that she is just an aloof girl, yet we never knew how far we dug to a rabbit hole when we found out who she truly is." Sanae added with empathy.
Lime noted. "It's complicated."
"Lime and Yuzuki, we know that you're both troubled with this, but could you at least stop hiding this shit, especially you Lime!" Jolyne exclaimed as she slammed her fist to the table, scaring half of them. "You prove yourself that you are a changed person, but deep down YOU still hide things to us that lead to this goddamn mess in the first place, and this is even worse than how you used others for Fragments! Yuri's words were genuinely bitter and she is clearly hurt on the inside, and why you two did not bother forgiving her after her freaking father died?!" She snapped.
"Jolyne-san, isn't that too much?" Rika asked.
Yuzuki could only shout, completely losing her composure.
"How could you say that to us?!" Yuzuki said, with her tear-laden eyes in full-force. "We too were traumatised of her father's death... How? How, when we were just children at that time, could even handle such an ordeal like that?! We just tried our best, and Yuri did not want to open up to us!" She bellowed.
Mikoto joined in, unable to comprehend the insanity that was around her.
"Well, you could have at least talked it out to her mother rather than running away." Mikoto said in fury. "But instead, we have to get dragged to this problem that you two directly caused! Problems we try to solve, only for it to make things even more complicated!"
"Why you all can't just respect what we're going through?!" Yuzuki cried out.
"Guys, please." Rin said as she tries to stop the ensuing argument.
Kenpachi could only look at dismay. "Look, I'd better say this but right now Yuri is not going to be at least forgiving, even if Yuuri talked her out of it." He continued as he clutched his hair.
"I never knew you had even more bitter pain, Lime and Yuzuki." Sarasa added. "After Hinako lost her will to ballet because of her injuries, I was embittered. You saw it. It was not until you all convinced me that I would do better and be Hinako's friendly rival." She continued. "But why go all the trouble when you try to hide the fact that you are both dead, getting revived for some strange reason, and lie to us about your relation to Saiki, when she is deeply hurt of your actions."
"I know there won't be forgiving with Yuri, but this is our fault that Yuri became such a social wreck that she won't even bother talking to anyone." Lime apologetically said.
"Won't be forgiving?" Chito said. "Sure. But this is not unlike me grappling through such a reality that I'm not who I really am." She added. "Forgiveness is a long path, especially for the fact that Yuri is still in deep emotional pain over your actions. Well, I won't say it is a quick and instant way. Right now, give Yuri some space. She's still trying to calm herself down, and I hope Yuu would patch things a little slow."
Rin only said. "Thanks for telling us all about it. I never knew you two went so much pain."
"Can we leave?" Rika asked the rest. "I know this is a personal matter, so I'll leave the rest for you all to handle it. And Lime and Yuzuki, as well as Hinako, please... Don't make this worse." She added remorsefully.
"Don't worry." Hinako replied.
Sanae, Sarasa, Rin, Kei, Ako, Shihori, Chihiro, Kaori, and Rika left the mansion as they wanted to give the rest a calming period over the chaos that happened.
Tusk only glanced at his power suit's armband as a text message from Ange came in from his holographic interface.
"How's things there lately? You don't say you forget me. Anyways, Vivian, Momoka, and Pamela told me to stay at home for now. This morning sickness... Well, keep it that way." - Ange
Tusk only looked at his wife's message with a bittersweet expression to his face.
"Don't be reckless, Ange." Tusk replied.
~~~0-0-0~~~
[Science Club Room, Hoshinomiya Girls' High School, Earth-3371]
Meanwhile, Yuuri went to the academy rooftops as she tried to look for Yuri Saiki, until she arrived at the same room that Chito's group had once overlooked in the past: the Science Club Room. But contrary to that, only Yuri S. was there and no one else had visited it.
Yuuri approached the door as she knocked. Only for her to be greeted with...
"GO AWAY! DON'T TALK TO ME!" Yuri S. shouted on the other side of the room as she was bawling out of spite.
"But Yuri-san..." Yuuri said in sadness.
"NO! GET OUT!" Yuri S. added in a much more desperate manner as she didn't want to be disturbed with. The only thing Yuuri heard was the intellect's loud sobbing as she tried to release all of her pent-up emotions. Yuuri could only feel sorry for her as she knew she is in deep emotional pain, but at levels she not seen before.
Yuuri only sadly left the area as she texted the rest of the group about her failed visit.
"Today's meeting was a failure, damn it. Yuri-chan is not likely going out of her own personal room, no matter how much I try to budge her into going out. It's personally going to be a pain in the ass, so I'll just leave her alone for now." Yuuri said as she sent the message.
And another one showed up: it was from Naruko Noda, of all people. The person she had caused undue trouble because of her disastrous attempts at romancing her. But to Yuuri's surprise, Naruko's text was rather genuine as if she had pierced right through Yuuri's tablet.
"Dear Yuuri. Even if I hate you for the mess you've caused, I've been meaning to ask this: Are you okay? Sorry for going out of line earlier, but I felt deeply hurt with the mess you started." - Naruko.
"I'm okay, Naruko-chan. Things have been stressful lately in this world. Saving the world, yada-yada. But when we hafta deal with personal issues, we're royally screwed. I'm saying this because I'm scared." - Yuuri.
"That's painful. But please, don't kill yourself over it. You are a hero, but this is stepping a little too far if you don't take care of yourself. I love you, Yuuri, no matter what happened in the past, even at the expense of losing my marriage to my now ex-husband. So don't do this to yourself." - Naruko.
"Love you too, Naruko-chan. I... I want to patch things up with you after this mission." - Yuuri.
After that brief exchange, Yuuri left the academy as she looked at the facade of the Science Club Room. She had seen Yuri S. for the first time like the usual aloof girl with a high IQ, but that perception was quickly shattered when she saw the real Yuri Saiki: troubled, pained, and broken.
~~~0-0-0~~~
Moments later...
Yuuri came back to the mansion as she met up with the rest of the group, as well as with Hinako, Lime and Yuzuki, Fumio, Yumeshi, Nana, and Kashiko. Most of them were still reeling from the chaos of the argument that happened earlier at the mansion. Lain, on the other hand, was specifically calm.
"Did you manage to deal with her?" Hinako asked.
"Ugh... The whole thing was an epic fail." Yuuri added as she looked at the Reflector trio.
"I can guess that Saiki is still bitter." Lain added as she ate a potato chip. "Especially the circumstances, I'm betting that she doesn't even want to talk."
"Yeah, no kidding." Yuuri added as she sat down at the sofa. "I tried to convince her and she gave me shit!" She then looked at Lime and Yuzuki. "Oi, I get a lot of shit because of you two. Explain this to me."
"Yuu, please no." Chito said.
"We... We just wanted to apologise to her." Lime added.
"Apologies will not be that simple, especially with what just transpired earlier." Nero said as he only twirled his gun.
Kashiko went forward.
"Yuri was a nice girl despite her gloomy persona. But as mentioned, give her some time." Kashiko said as she looked at her granddaughter. "I know you tried your hardest, Chito."
"Grandma..." Chito simply said.
Fumio only reassured both Lime and Yuzuki, before speaking to them softly.
"Everything will be fine. I know it's hard, but trust us, Saiki will forgive you two." Fumio added. "Chito-onee-sama had helped me out of my predicament about my piano skills, so you should do the same thing as well. Just give her time and she will do it."
"What about if she won't forgive us?" Lime questioned.
"It won't hurt. Just let them do her thing first and she will, eventually." Hinako replied solemnly. "It's a very difficult thing to do, but it's also... Rewarding." She added.
Lime and Yuzuki only broke down more in tears as Hinako attempted to embrace the two.
"Did we take things too far...?" Yuzuki added.
"No, but at least you admitted that you two are at fault." Davie replied.
"It's better than to mope and hide it forever." Crowley III added, before looking outside. "Speaking of, we're going back to Ninagawa's residence. We can't forget about her and her mother."
"I'll bring the sisters back to their home." Tusk said, before looking at Shadow.
"We're ensuring that the Einherjar won't attack them from out of nowhere." Shadow replied.
"Those guys aren't stopping anymore, don't they?" Hinako questioned.
"No." Chito said. "Odin and them are ensuring that their attacks against us will be successful and it's going to get worse. And Hinako, get some rest for now."
"There's no telling how many times they have tried to attack." Yuji stated.
Evening...
As the rest went back to Mao's residence, the rest of Chito's team including herself, Yuuri, Yuji, Nobara, Megumi, Lain, and Mikoto were in their own rooms, on the verge of being asleep. All of them were trying to clear their heads after the drama that ensued within the residence following the reveal that Lime and Yuzuki directly caused Yuri S. to be a painful emotional wreck on the inside.
Mikoto slept in her own room, still trying to puzzle the painful tragedy that hit between both the Shijous and Yuri S., all while she tries to talk to her rival-yet-friend Misaki Shokuhou. Unfortunately, Mikoto only got nothing good out of her friend's lacklustre advice, citing the lack of Misaki's ability to solve such a bitter relationship beyond what she can handle.
Chito, meanwhile, only looked at the ceiling, pondering to herself about the chaos that happened, while Fumio was already asleep. She was seen talking to Ako through Table Chat, before a message from Yuuri came out.
"Naruko-chan is willing to forgive me now." - Yuuri.
"Yuu. Even after all the times you caused this mess?" - Chito.
"Well, at least she's better now. But still, I felt bad putting her in such a shitty state that I can't even forgive myself anymore after I ruined her marriage to some man. Not since after the insanity. I just want to make things up and be a better girlfriend to her. After this mission." - Yuuri.
"If that's what you want, then so be it." - Chito.
Yuuri, in her usual red track suit and track pants, glanced at Chito's messages, before looking at the picture of Naruko on her phone.
"I still have to fight, no matter what... For Naruko-chan. For Chii. For anyone. And hopefully, things will be fixed between the two of us." Yuuri monologued as she was on the verge of falling asleep. "Einherjars, Odin-sama, Sephira... Just how crazy things have truly become ever since we stepped on this world? Mahito and his gang of Cursed Spirits had ruined any chance of us being discreet." She asked to herself. "If I thought about the time Chii was not even the person I knew in the past after all the years we travelled through the megacity, this one took the cake." She ended before sleeping as she clutched on her pillow.
Two hours later at 12:00 A.M., Lain, wearing a gray hoodie and red checkered pajamas, as well as white socks, was still awake as she was seen talking to the staff members of the Unity Force Academy through her laptop. One of which was Max Tennyson and a young woman.
The woman is in her mid-to-late twenties with a moderately muscular and curvaceous build. She has mid-back length blonde hair and brown eyes. Her bangs fall in a hawk's wing pattern from right to left, occasionally partially obscuring her left eye. Each of her ears is pierced with a silver stud. She wears a black, short-sleeved turtleneck under her military uniform and often while in casual dress as well. This is Riza Hawkeye, a First Lieutenant from the Amestrian State Military who serves as one of Unity Force Academy's staff members.
"Hawkeye-sensei?" Lain questioned tiredly.
"I've been meaning to ask. How's the progress lately?" Riza asked.
"Well... The threats are still far from over yet. Last time, Mahito and his gang attacked out hideout and essentially ruined what left of our chances to operate discreetly. Now, we're currently handling with an even bigger problem on our hands beside the Sephirot: Odin and the Einherjars, as well as Heimdall." Lain listed.
"So some Norse interlopers are now on the loose there?" Riza questioned.
"Worse thing is that Mahito's gang was working with them." Lain continued as she typed some info. "And Odin is bent on finding Chito for her power, which is what they're truly going after." She added.
"Iwakura, if anything doesn't go normally, don't hesitate to tell us." Riza replied.
"Thanks." Lain added, before signing off.
With a tired face, Lain went back to sleep, or she should have been, when a figure loomed behind her. Then a female masked person appeared behind her all of a sudden.
"Wha...?" Lain said in surprise, before a blunt object in the form of a steel pipe hit her in the head, completely knocking her out as she hit the floor.
The masked person then approached the unconscious Lain as she tied her up before stuffing a sack on her head, as she then looked at her captive.
"You're going to tell me where the girl is and why your group is hiding her. Trust me, you will know who I am later, Iwakura." The masked assailant said, before she carried her over as she used a dimensional travelling device similar to the ones that the Unity Force used.
With Lain now at the mercy of her captor, the heroes were unaware of what just transpired in her bedroom.
~~~0-0-0~~~
[Abandoned Warehouse, Earth-146692]
Just two hours after the masked assailant kidnapped Lain, she forcibly strapped Lain on a chair and restrained her the moment she brought her in, before a familiar face was standing right next to her: Odin with his pet ravens Huginn and Muninn.
The assailant then unmasked herself, revealing to be none other than Mao Ninagawa of all people.
"Where's the girl, Ninagawa?" Odin questioned the celebrity.
"I can sense that she's at Taya's mansion. But given them, they're not going to tell us the truth, so it's better to question Iwakura first." Mao noted as she took out a bucket of cold water as she splashed it right against Lain.
Lain jolted suddenly from the cold water splashed right to her face as she woke up. "What? Where am I?" She questioned, before looking at the familiar faces in front of her. "Mao? What are you doing?! Why... Why?"
"Because I have a loose end to tie up, Iwakura." Mao said with a threat that seemed out of place. "And I decided that he'll help me out of it."
"Help you? Mao, have you lost it?!" Lain exclaimed in complete shock at what her friend had just freely said. "You turned on us by working with a madman who is out for blood!"
Odin stepped up as he looked at Lain with disdain.
"You think I did not know what you people have been up to lately?" Odin said maliciously as he turned his Gungnir into a spear and pointed it right to her throat. "You are hiding a potential person to my plans for the past two weeks and here you are trying to pretend that I didn't know? Had it not for a fatal flaw in your plan, namely this person over here, I'd be having a blind eye over what you are up against." He threatened.
Mao only crossed her arms as she looked at Lain. "This is going nowhere." She coldly said as she took out a steel rod and with all her might she smacked her former friend into the head. "TELL US WHAT YOU KNOW!"
But Lain resisted, before resorting to a more drastic course of action: using Mao's mother Erika as a way to convince her.
"You think this is what your mother wanted? To be this?" Lain said as she spat some blood on her. "I trusted you and this is how you repay me!"
"I would have listened to it, but I've decided that enough is enough." Mao sternly replied. "And this man will help me out of it. But here's the thing, Iwakura."
"What do you mean?" Lain said.
"I'm trying to fulfil my purpose and that is trying to expose Shirai and you all. After half of your group freeloaded into my mansion, I get nothing good out of it while you all think that you're all above." Mao said with a sinister smile that seemed genuinely horrifying. "And Chito? Ever since the mess she caused here, I've been wondering how did that solve everything?" She added rather maliciously.
"What?" Lain said in shock.
"All these false faces you put up." Mao said with a hammer blow. "I cannot stand the idea why you are all even trying to act like some hero, when all it did is suffering. But this is the real world, Iwakura. You don't get to dictate what I want. Because let's face it. You're not the only one who suffered a shit past. But that's a topic for another day." She ended. "I'm sorry, Iwakura. But this needs to be done." She added before deciding to constantly torture her for more info.
"I'll leave you in charge, Ninagawa. Don't fail this." Odin said before disappearing from sight.
"Please, don't!" Lain exclaimed.
"Tell me how can I get to Chito or else your secrets will be exposed." Mao said as she gave her some blackmail.
"J... Just tell her secrets to the rest of the student body and at your club in Hoshinomiya... That's all I can say to you!" Lain said in panic, feeling guilty of attempting to turn on anyone. "You said that there's this meeting about that Little Mermaid play that will be happening at your school festival? Just tell them and that's it, so free me!"
"Free you? Not happening." Mao said coldly. "I cannot allow a loose end to run amok and throw a wrench to Odin's plans. I'm sorry, Lain. But once you really know me in full, I am not the friend you truly want, no matter how much friendly facade I put just to hide who I am. And believe me, it's a cruel world out there, just like my past." She added with a stern expression on her face before taking another steel pipe. "Now, get some rest." She said rather darkly before using the pipe to knock Lain out cold.
With that, Mao left the warehouse, leaving only Lain at the mercy of being a torture victim to the so-called "friend" that she once knew in this world.
~~~0-0-0~~~
Early in the morning at around 6:30 A.M., the rest of Chito's group were alerted of Lain's disappearance, after she and Yuuri went to her room, only for the room to be empty. Naturally, it led Chito to gather the rest of her group to discuss the matter about it, so they went to the Ninagawa Mansion to meet up. Everything was fine for them, as they saw Mao in her usual school uniform, fully prepared for another meeting regarding the school festival and the upcoming play of the Little Mermaid, before leaving the mansion without any word as she met up with her butler.
The rest could not help but to be suspicious of Mao's behaviour, so they tried to think if the disappearance of Lain had something to do with her, but for them they are not sure. So to make things manageable, Chito decided that the rest of the group goes to Hoshinomiya, while the rest attempt to track down Lain's last whereabouts, as well as the usual patrol for any presence regarding Odin or the Einherjar.
"Man, this is borderline crazy. Yesterday, we had to deal with a giant, two emotional wrecks, a girl not wanting to go out after said fact, and now Lain-chan's disappearance." Yuuri commented as she ate some miso soup.
"No one even knew of how the assailant even intruded her room." Tusk pondered as he tried to piece the puzzle as much as he can.
"There were no signs of forced entry or anything that would indicate the perpetrator broke crudely in a traditional breaking and entering fashion." Davie said suspiciously. "We cannot rule the possibility of Ninagawa, given her behaviour." He continued.
"But we're not jumping to even more dead-end conclusions, Davie." Chito replied as she tried to jot down some info. "Either it's Odin or some rival group trying to hunt us down."
"Then that means we're in even more danger than ever before." Kenpachi said as he crossed his arms. "But as per your suggestion, it's best if we keep an eye on her."
"Well, now that you've mentioned it, she's behaving rather weirdly ever since we stopped Tiphereth." Crowley III continued.
"This is why you should never tell anything about it. Saiki is still too emotionally broken to process at seeing both the Shijou sisters walking around, alive and well. You two are an enigma."
"With the way she talked about Yuri, it's as if she had known a great deal about it." Chito commented.
"Would it be because she knows more about what transpired in the past." Megumi simply said.
"But still, that's just out of place for her." Nobara pondered.
"So, what will be the plan then, Chii?" Yuuri asked.
"Usual divide and conquer." Chito added, before laying out the plans. "Same old. The rest of you keep an eye for any traces related to Odin. Some of us, myself included, will visit Hoshinomiya. And the rest will find Lain's last whereabouts around the city. She can't be that far, but she's undetectable since there's no traces of her, so roam around and tell me if you found her." She added, before putting out the names on who goes to their respective objectives.
Hoshinomiya group: Chito, Yuuri, Mikoto, Yuji, Megumi, Nobara, Davie
Patrol group: Nero, Jolyne, Genis, Lloyd, Allen
Search group: Shadow, Kenpachi, Crowley III, Tusk, Piltz
With all set to go, the rest of the group parted ways as they leave to begin their respective objectives. Chito could not help but to dread at how this mission had taken a drastic turn.
~~~0-0-0~~~
[Hoshinomiya Girls' High School, Earth-146692]
Chito's group soon arrived at the academy at around 7:00 A.M. through the front gate, where they would meet up with the rest of their peers. Meeting up with Hinako and the Shijou sisters, the trio greeted the group.
"I've heard that Iwakura-san was kidnapped. What happened?" Hinako asked her.
"Some assailant broke into my family mansion and no traces of B&E were to be seen. That means someone who has access to a dimensional travel device would only do it." Chito replied.
"Wait, but how?" Lime asked.
"That's still unknown. But I'm suspecting of a rival group trying to derail this mission for whatever agenda they have in mind. However, I cannot conclude that they are the cause of it." Chito noted.
"But we're more tad suspicious of Mao-chan." Yuuri said.
"Ninagawa? You think she would even do that?" Hinako questioned.
"Her behaviour after the battle with that Sephira and the Einherjar was rather suspicious." Yuji said.
"Especially with how she reacted regarding the Shijous' connection to Saiki, she was rather upfront about it, like she knew this was all connected." Megumi added to Yuji's statements.
"But then again, we still do not know. We have to keep digging for more info." Chito said. "Hinako, tell us if you noticed something unusual of her. The rest will be waiting at the field."
"Got it." Hinako said, before she and the Shijous went to the academy, while the rest went to the field to monitor anything of suspicious.
"Actually, I changed my mind. Just to be on the safe side, I'll actually go in with Yuu, as well." Chito said. "I cannot risk this one to fail badly and with us being the fall guys to this."
"Then we're appreciated." Yuzuki said. "Sorry for what happened yesterday."
"That's okay. But where's Yuri-chan?" Yuuri asked.
"She said she called in sick. Though I don't believe anything what she says, since I knew she was still in emotional pain about it." Hinako replied.
"She's still grieving and I can tell that her emotions are still in full circle. To be honest, I don't even want to see her again in that state, since I cannot let her suffer more." Lime added earnestly. "We just want to patch things up."
"Man, let's wait until she gets better." Yuuri replied.
Afterwards, both Chito and Yuuri joined in with Hinako and the Shijou sisters, while Chito told Davie to have the rest stay to keep an eye.
"Guess we can visit the school grounds once again, eh?" Yuuri asked.
Inside the academy, Chito and Yuuri joined in with Hinako, Lime, and Yuzuki as they went into the academy. Despite the chaos that happened yesterday, things were fine. Albeit it was just a facade of its own right, as some students around the campus were understandably on the edge.
Murmurs did not go unnoticed as they saw their heroes walking around the classroom.
"Guess they start to know the existence of the Sephirot." Chito examined.
"This is not a regular phenomenon that is happening, Chito-san." Lime stated as she looked at one of the students.
"What are you saying?" Yuuri asked Lime.
"This is not just the Sephirot. It looked like they have known of the existence of your enemies: Einherjar." Lime concluded. "Something out of Norse mythology, your group's encounters with them have put them on the news ever since the first time you faced them."
"This is crazy." Nobara said in ponderance.
Mao then appeared with a rather neutral yet strange expression on her face. Trying to maintain her composure over the incident, she looked at the group.
"Mao-san, why you left us without a word?" Chito questioned the celebrity.
"Important matters." Mao said rather normally. "Plus I had to prepare myself for today's meeting regarding the upcoming school festival and the play." She added with a feigned warmth.
"The Little Mermaid?" Yuuri questioned. "So Hina-chan over here is going to be a part of it?" She asked as she looked at the ballet student.
"Indeed." Mao replied. "And Shirai, why are you still here?"
"Well, I was about to go to my class but the rest of them happened to meet us up." Hinako replied rather earnestly.
"Oh, is it? Why?" Mao questioned rather suspiciously.
"Is it just me or she's acting rather weirdly?" Yuji asked to Megumi and Nobara.
"Mao-chan, you forgot who we are?" Yuuri added incredulously. "I mean no offence, but we are here to keep things under constant vigilance especially with the Einherjar knocking on our doorstep." She added.
"Well, just curious, Yuuri." Mao replied. "Meeting is about to start, so Shirai needs my attention and so as the Shijou sisters." She continued, before smiling. "Just be careful, okay?"
Mao, Hinako, and the Shijou sisters left as they went to Class 1-A where the rest met up.
"Did you see the way she behaved?" Yuuri suspiciously looked at Mao.
"She was okay when we firstly met her. Right now, she's acting way too strange." Chito commented. "So something doesn't feel right. The kidnapping of Lain-san and Mao-san's behaviour. Clearly things doesn't add up here and I'm suspecting that she caused this." She added.
"The plan is to go to Hina-chan's classroom and keep a watch on what she is doing. There is something clearly wrong with her. Or maybe she's trying to hide something from us." Yuuri noted to the rest.
"We are technically going to observe." Chito replied, before one of their Hoshinomiya friends, Kaori Mitsui, showed up.
"Oh, what are you doing here?" Kaori asked as she primmed her hair.
"Kaori, have you seen Mao-san acting a little unusual today?" Chito inquired.
"Mao, you mean? Well, I'm thinking that something hit her head or whatever, but I saw her arriving outside with such a neutral expression." Kaori said suspiciously. "Either she's stressed out because of her responsibility she has to being a lead role to The Little Mermaid play in the festival or she hasn't slept because of her duties as a Festival Committee member. Trust me, it's hell incarnate." She continued casually.
"The thing is, Lain-san was kidnapped." Chito said as she gestured her chin.
"What?! You're kidding me?!" Kaori said in surprise.
"Do we look like we're joking?" Yuuri said in annoyance, before Chito whacked her on the head.
"Can we not?" Chito said, before going back to the topic at hand. "The point is, we don't know who did it. But we cannot rule out the possibility that Mao-san had to do with it."
"What are you even talking about?" Kaori questioned. "I know Mao had some issues with her perfectionism and especially with her anger issues given her past, but I'm doubting that she would even do such a heinous thing."
"It's better to observe." Chito stated.
"Well, whatever floats your boat. But to be honest, even me and Rika are weirded out by her too." Kaori said as she rubbed her hair. "I'll be going now, so meet up." She added with a smile.
Kaori soon parted ways with the two as Chito texted Davie from her tablet.
"We're starting to suspect that Mao-san had to do with this." Chito said as she texted him.
"So you're starting to think that she's behind it. We're still waiting for any confirmation from the search group." - Davie
"We'll keep an eye." Chito stated. "Well, Yuu. Let's get going." She replied.
Minutes later, both Chito and Yuuri went to the second floor as they visited Class 1-A, where there was a meeting taking place regarding the school festival and the play.
Or so they thought, until Chito started hearing things that did not sound like the kind of meeting regarding a school festival. It was Mao speaking in a rather threatening yet malicious manner as if she was busy slandering Hinako regarding her dark secrets, her injuries that led her to stop doing ballet that Mao would use it to mock her, the hidden camera incident, or let alone the theft that got framed Chihiro for it, right in front of her classmates. And as if that was not blatant enough, Mao revealed to Hinako that she changed the script of The Little Mermaid to cater to her grandeur.
Immediately, Chito and Yuuri had heard of Mao's true colours, and of course the argument between Mao and Hinako where their classmates started spewing slanderous statements about the latter.
"Mao... I should have known by now." Chito said as she curled her ball into a fist.
But the crowning moment of that was when she revealed her true agenda: slandering the Unity Force. An act so reprehensible that it pissed the two off.
"But the Unity Force... You think they would be a hero? What did they do? They put you all, us included, in danger. Anyone else, yourselves included, are vulnerable. This will not stand. I cannot stand what they did to me. To my life I clung for. They ruined everything the moment they showed up to my doorstep. My life. My hard work. Everything. They have caused this. Freeloading into my mansion like homeless people? This is a bridge too far." Mao said snidely.
But Chito and Yuuri cannot help but to overhear those words.
"Nice words you have there, Mao-san." Chito said as she looked at Mao, before several of their friends looked at the group. "Befitting for a motherfucking traitor like you!" She added as she slammed the girl into the wall, much to the shock of others. "You did this, do you?!"
"Chito-san?! Yuuri-san?!" Hinako exclaimed.
"Stop it!" A classmate said, before Yuuri pointed a gun to her.
"This person over here tried to slander us, so don't even think about falling into her lies!" Yuuri exclaimed. "This so-called friend we once knew had just showed who she really is!"
"Tell me, what are you trying to hide?" Chito asked to Mao furiously. "Is it that you turned on us AFTER we put our lives at risk? Mao fucking Ninagawa, answer! To all of you, don't even THINK about it!" She added as she removed her eyepatch, revealing her right eye. "Or I'll blow your brains out!"
"This pointless attempt won't deter me, Chito. I did what was necessary." Mao defiantly added.
"Oh, you sad clown. Necessary? By selling your soul to fucking Odin?! The bastard who caused us great pain for the past two weeks! This is how you call repaying the favour by ratting us out to that asshole?! You talk like a professional in some celebrity industry, but deep within that goddamn black heart hidden underneath that kind-heart of yours, you have shown the kind of monster you are! Your talk of such hospitality has fucking sickened us!" Chito fumed in absolute anger.
"You knew?!" Mao argued.
"This person over here is not a truth-speaker. THIS one sold whatever loyalty she has to a fucking Norse God who has been bent on attacking us for over two weeks!" Chito added, causing gasps to ensue.
"Wait, you're saying that she's actually conspiring with the Aesir?" Hinako questioned.
"Are you kidding?!" Yuzuki exclaimed.
"With how she behaved earlier, there is no guessing what Mao-chan is doing." Yuuri noted.
"If you really want to blackmail us hard, Mao-san, then you are out of it." Chito said, before deciding to fight back against Mao's slander. "Let me guess, you had issues with your ex-father because of your mother getting divorced over some disastrous celebrity controversy? Oh, Mao-san. You clearly haven't gone through two decades of hell, and that's not even getting started with how I lived in a lie for 23 years!" She continued. "Nice try slandering Hina-san, but you are clearly deluded to even resort to slandering us. Well, sorry, but you are such a piece of fucking shit that whatever bitter family issues you had in the past is null and void because of what you just did! You are a bitch who pretended to care, only for us to find out that you are even worse than Lime! And after how you mouth that shit regarding Yuri after Tiphereth was dealt with, you clearly show how little you value anything else! Oh, don't even pretend that you did not do something to Lain-san!"
Chito's words had hit a large nail to Mao, where the latter took severe offence in what she just said. Absolutely anyone was shocked at Chito's behavioural change, thanks to her power. Kaori, especially, was surprised.
"Is it a little too far?" Rika asked.
Mao suddenly burst in tears, but the words that she came out of her mouth were absolutely bitter and rageful. And just as expected, Mao went rampant. But it was not the kind of rampancy they expect. It was utterly shocking and different than any other form of rampancy they have ever seen from the Reflectors. Mao was genuinely hurt at Chito's direct words and Yuuri knew Mao had been bottling up a lot of it.
"HOW DARE YOU MOUTH THOSE WORDS, CHITO?! YOU TALK AS IF YOU KNOW MORE ABOUT MY FATHER... MY SHITTY LIFE... AND EVEN MY BITTER CHILDHOOD! YOU AND YOUR GROUP FREELOAD INTO MY HOUSE AND THINK YOU GAVE EVERYTHING BACK IN RETURN?! I JUST TRIED TO BE KIND TO ALL OF YOU, UNITY FORCE! LAIN WAS THE ONLY PERSON I CARED! I JUST DID WHAT WAS NECESSARY! BUT I GET A LOT OF SHIT LIKE I'M JUST A FUCKING PILE OF TRASH IN THIS PLANET! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LOSE SO MANY PEOPLE I CARED IN MY CHILDHOOD, CHITO! I HATE YOU! HATE YOU! HATEYOUHATEYOUHATEYOUHATEYOUHATEYOUHATEYOU!" Mao said without any pausal moments, as her anger reached to a breaking point.
"Mao-san?!" Hinako exclaimed.
"But that's not the only one too..." Yuuri said as she observed the rest of Hinako's classmates sans Kaori and Rika, as well as with Sanae, being affected by the rampancy.
Red aura surrounded Mao, which was then followed by a bluish-purple aura. Then their Common-entering device played MUCH loudly than the usual, all to the point that the lights blinked rapidly in femtoseconds.
"Just die, all of you. I don't need your empathy." Mao threatened.
"What the hell?!" Yuuri exclaimed.
"Are we getting pulled?" Yuzuki questioned in shock.
"Yuu, send the rest in, immediately!" Chito ordered her friend as she texted them.
Then the portal appeared as Mikoto, Yuji, Megumi, Davie, and Nobara went in.
"What's going on in here?!" Nobara questioned as she took out her hammer.
"It's Mao-san. She's going rampant! But this is not a typical one that we have seen!" Lime noted. "This is something else! We're getting pulled in!"
"Wait, what?" Megumi said as he felt the pulling effects of Mao's rampancy.
"Brace yourselves!" Mikoto exclaimed.
With that, the rest of the group were pulled in to the Common, where at the same time the Common-entering device went to full overdrive before it finally snapped thanks to the potency of the rampancy it caused.
~~~0-0-0~~~
[The Central Zone, The Common]
[OST: Papers, Please OST - Glory to Arstotzka]
Chito looked at the Common-entering device and it was shattered to pieces. No one could have possibly overloaded it, even after the Spy placed countermeasures on it to have it last for long, thus losing their only means to travel through the Common. They are sent to the Central Zone of the Common.
"Damn it, we're stuck in here." Chito said as she tossed the now-destroyed device to the ground.
"What in the shitting hell just happened?" Yuji questioned.
"Are we back in the Central Zone?" Hinako pondered.
"Guess we pissed Mao so badly. I knew she was the traitor behind this, but for this to escalate further into a bigger problem?" Mikoto asked.
"This was her fault. Lain-san trusted her and all she get was a traitorous, cowardly move that we did not want to be a part of it." Chito bluntly said.
"But Chito-chan, you really hurt her with those words." Yuzuki said with worry. "I get it that you hate her because of what she did, but you took that a little too far!"
"HOW DARE YOU MOUTH THOSE WORDS, CHITO?! YOU TALK AS IF YOU KNOW MORE ABOUT MY FATHER... MY SHITTY LIFE... AND EVEN MY BITTER CHILDHOOD! YOU AND YOUR GROUP FREELOAD INTO MY HOUSE AND THINK YOU GAVE EVERYTHING BACK IN RETURN?! I JUST TRIED TO BE KIND TO ALL OF YOU, UNITY FORCE! LAIN WAS THE ONLY PERSON I CARED! I JUST DID WHAT WAS NECESSARY! BUT I GET A LOT OF SHIT LIKE I'M JUST A FUCKING PILE OF TRASH IN THIS PLANET! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LOSE SO MANY PEOPLE I CARED IN MY CHILDHOOD, CHITO! I HATE YOU! HATE YOU! HATEYOUHATEYOUHATEYOUHATEYOUHATEYOUHATEYOU!" The echoing, bitter words of Mao repeated on her head.
"I cannot stand with this betrayal that she pulled on us." Chito scowled. "If she wants to fight fire with fire, then I'm in for it."
"But Chito-chan..." Yuzuki said dramatically. "This is a girl who is going through a lot on the inside, similar to Yuri-chan! I get that she's mad, but to just twist the knife further is not going to help everything!"
"Look, we get it. You taught me how not to manipulate people's emotions like in the past and manipulate others into it, but you are becoming essentially like me when I did not heed to your words." Lime argued.
"Don't talk that kind of horseshit to me when you two are hypocrites to begin with for causing Yuri to suffer emotionally!" Chito argued vehemently.
"Listen, this is not the time to argue in the middle of a situation like this!" Yuji bellowed.
Davie stepped in as he looked at Chito.
"Look, Chito. It might be a little hypocritical of me to say this, given my lack of empathy, but your words hurt more than just actions. So maybe calm down for now and deal with this later." Davie stated, before looking at Yuzuki and Lime. "What really happened?"
"While Mao went rampant, it triggered a Common leap that is nothing like the others." Lime replied.
"So you're saying that we didn't end up to any other Zone this time?" Nobara asked Lime.
"But how? She wasn't anywhere near us last time." Hinako noted.
"It's triggered differently." Yuzuki added.
"What are you talking about?" Mikoto asked.
"The Central Zone differs from the other Zones because it directly affects the human core." Yuzuki added.
"So it's not emotions..." Chito said as she looked around the Zone.
"Well, no. Fragments appearing here is different in a way that it's someone's character or instincts that alter, rather than their emotions, similar to the Zones that we have visited for weeks." Yuzuki replied rather reluctantly. "Look, Chito-chan. Your words really threatened Mao. Why you said that she conspired with Odin and saying stuff like she turned on us? That kind of accusatory remarks hurt her!"
"Is it that obvious? Look, she was acting strangely earlier. The B&E that happened at Lain-san's room cannot happen out of coincidence. It's only when she knows someone, namely us. That means she used someone's dimensional travelling device to visit Lain-san's room and kidnap her without our awareness." Chito reminded.
"So you're saying that Mao kidnapped Lain?" Lime asked, with Chito nodding.
"Okay, so that's why you ranted a lot in front of her?" Mikoto added.
"Chii never intended to hurt her, but Mao-chan's actions ripped apart whatever trust we have for her!" Yuuri argued at Mikoto.
"But Mao's words were somehow genuine. She is bitter." Hinako replied.
"Well, in any case, we're stuck here for now until we find her Fragment." Yuzuki said in sadness.
"Then what are we waiting for? We have to go to Anger Zone. That's where we can find her fragment, hopefully." Lime added.
"Guess we're in for an adventure with this one." Yuji added.
With that, the group visited the Anger Zone.
~~~0-0-0~~~
[Anger Zone, The Common]
[OST: Hayato Asano - Qualia (Blue Reflection OST)]
The Anger Zone is unlike the others in that the entire place is purely red and filled with lava. It was also very hot thanks to it, as well. There are also presence of large red spherical rocks floating above. There were no traces of nature to be seen at all, a complete contrast to the other Zones.
The group ventured through the Zone as they proceeded to look for Mao's fragment.
"This place is getting us sweaty already." Yuuri said as she raised the cuff of her clothes.
"Then why you wear a long-sleeved shirt?" Chito questioned annoyingly.
"Well, thought we'd be visitin' the other three zones which are a little colder, but no! This has to be one that we're visiting!" Yuuri dramatically argued.
"Jeez, so dramatic of you." Hinako said offhandedly.
"No one asked your damn opinion!" Yuuri exclaimed in a feisty manner, scaring the crap out of Hinako.
"Temper too much?!" Hinako exclaimed, not risking to annoy Yuuri further.
"Can we just go in and find the Fragment?" Megumi asked the group.
"Well at least we're kinda back on track." Lime added with a chuckle.
"Hey, once we finish dealing with Mao-chan's mess, we're going to fix things with Yuri-chan." Yuuri suggested. "Like how I planned on doing it with Naruko-chan once we finish this shit."
"Naruko-chan?" Yuzuki asked.
"That's a friend of ours back at our home world." Yuuri added. "And most notably, she's a lover of mine."
"EH?!" Hinako, Yuzuki, and Lime exclaimed.
"What? Something wrong with it? That kind of relationship is essentially open and frankly it doesn't even matter if two girls are in love." Yuuri added with a doubtful tone.
"Well, that's not even the issue." Hinako said.
"You hide that thing to us?!" Yuji exclaimed.
"Things were real messy between the two of us because of the stunt I pulled." Yuuri noted.
"Of course, you broke into their mansion and suddenly declared that you fell in love with her. Even though she's clearly married." Chito added with a snort. "You clearly have no sense of shame, Yuu."
"At least we're trying to fix things up, even if it's slow!" Yuuri noted, before toning her tone down. "Though I kinda feel bad about me ruining her marriage. All I wanted is for her to be freed to such a man who just gold-dig her because of wealth and her family status. She was clearly in pain, and I'm the only one who can help her out."
"Way to go ruining someone's marriage out of baseless assumptions, Yuuri. You should be happy of yourself." Davie said in sarcasm, which is even out of character for him.
"Okay, fine. It's my darn fault." Yuuri relented.
After minutes of venturing around the Zone, the group later arrived at another area, where this time they saw Mao's fragment floating, just like every other Fragment.
"This should be it. Hinako, I implore you to do the honours?" Nobara asked.
Hinako tried to, but she stopped herself.
"But what is this Fragment? This doesn't look like anything else!" Hinako exclaimed.
"We're going to try our best." Chito suggested.
"Be careful, though. There's no knowing what that thing could do to us." Nobara suggested.
Hinako attempted to stabilise Mao's Fragment.
But then... Blam!
The Fragment was coated in thick red aura that is angry in nature. It just disappeared out of thin air, and things went from bad to worse when the aura itself started to envelop around the group.
The disturbing effects of it caused Yuzuki and Lime to collapse to their knees, as well as with Mikoto, Nobara, Yuji, Megumi, and even Yuuri to do the same thing. Only Chito and Hinako were unaffected by it.
"Chii, what is going on?!" Yuuri asked her friend.
"What is this?! Are these really human emotions? Their heart?" Hinako said in shock.
"It's Mao's emotions. Angry emotions, long before this mess happened." Chito said.
"My head is hurting...!" Yuji said as he clutched his head in pain.
"I can't stand up...!" Nobara said as she failed to stand up on her legs.
"I'm scared...! This is too scary!" Hinako added.
"Hinako-san, focus!" Chito egged as she and Hinako concentrated. "With everything that happened, Mao-san is clearly in even more pain."
Then amidst the aura, a small speck of yellow light can be seen.
"But what's that? I see a small glint of light amidst this darkness." Hinako described as she looked at it.
"I think those are Mao's memories. Hinako-san, remember the first time when Mao talked about her past life to Lain, the person she could only open up because of how similar they are?" Chito asked Hinako.
"Now that I think of it, she was a celebrity where her parents were under fire for their actions towards their daughter." Hinako added. "But I thought we patched things up with her already?"
"Unfortunately, no. This somehow escalated things a little." Chito said. "I'm guessing she turned on Lain because of Odin. He was using her as a form of blackmail to target me."
"Wait, really?!" Hinako questioned in surprise.
"It must be the reason why she kidnapped Lain. Odin wanted information about me." Chito added.
"So that means you're not lying, after all?" Lime asked Chito.
"Odin is a manipulative bastard. He is desperate and he resorts to using others for his own gain, which is not surprising given his history of using others. But this doesn't excuse her willingly lie to us and pretend that nothing happened." Chito concluded.
Hinako glimpsed at the yellow light.
"Is that a stage? There's a girl on it, and she looks so... happy. Is that... Mao?" Hinako asked.
"Mommy, I'm so excited for this role! Can we take a picture with me and daddy? Please...!"
"Oh, you are the excited one, do you?"
"Now, come on, Mao. You need some break first."
"Bah, you're no fun, daddy! My friends themselves were excited as well!"
"Seems like when Mao used to be a happy girl. But not the case in the present anymore." Chito stated.
"If I could get a little closer, I hope things would be fixed." Hinako stated.
But a voice stopped them from doing so.
"Don't touch that!" The mysterious voice exclaimed.
"What?" Hinako questioned, before strange things happened once again, only this time they were transported back to Class 1-A classroom.
~~~0-0-0~~~
Back at the classroom, the murmurs happened once again. Mao had no memories of being the one who caused the Common leap, and so as the people that got affected by it. Lime had revealed that Mao had unconsciously refused her fragment to be stabilised.
But what really took this to a turn was when Mao looked at Chito's group.
"Chito? What are you all doing here?" Mao asked.
"I ask you the same thing. But first, does anyone even remember what happened?" Chito questioned.
"Uh... No. We have no recollection." Classmate A said.
"The last thing we remembered was with the argument between Ninagawa and Shirai regarding the script, and even then I had vague memories of it." Classmate B added.
"So it's not just affecting Mao, but everyone else here." Yuzuki replied.
"This is off." Davie added. "Lime, you told us once that students here tend to have some recollections whenever we travel to their consciousness."
"But this one seemed to be so different that we had never seen it before." Lime replied.
"So our job is only half-done for the moment." Megumi added.
"Unfortunately, it is." Yuuri continued.
Hinako then approached Mao, as the two exchanged some banter regarding who takes the lead role for the play, where she quickly made the declaration to recast the lead role.
"HUH?!" The rest except Davie, Chito, and Yuuri exclaimed.
"Are you even sure that's a good idea, Hinako?" Sanae asked.
Hinako confessed to anyone that she only did it because of taking up the role when no one else in her class volunteered. So to ensure who does fit the most, Hinako suggested to Mao via an audition to gauge who does fit for the lead role of the play. Of course, it led to a confrontational yet competitive exchange between two rivals, before Mao relented as she announced to the rest of the class about an audition. Hinako and the rest had made their goal to understand her furthermore, as they knew that their first meeting left out a lot of things regarding her.
With that, the meeting was dismissed, before Davie received a message from Piltz about their discovery of Lain's unconscious body. Fortunately, she was still alive, but suffering from severe exhaustion and even some injuries around her. Then to another group who just stopped a group of Einherjar, with Mikoto stating how common they are now lately.
"Mao, we need to talk." Chito said coldly.
"About what?" Mao asked rather confrontationally.
"Rooftops." Chito said.
[Rooftop]
Minutes later, Mao and Chito were seen talking to each other personally.
"I don't know where to start. Look, why you tried to turn on us, Mao?" Chito asked her. "You used Hinako's past to blackmail her into not casting the role and you tried to slander us! You even dared to kidnap Lain-san just to squeeze out information from her!"
"I just did to make sure my mother and even my life wouldn't be killed by that Odin!" Mao said as she gestured. "If I didn't listen to him, he would certainly be heeding on his word!" She added with some tears on her eyes. "Look, I get that you're mad at me, but I had no other choice!"
"You have a choice, Mao! A freaking choice! And you blew it!" Chito shouted. "You don't know what Odin is capable of? He's a manipulative bastard who willingly uses others for his own gain, and he's the reason why things have been hell for us here! And namely, that includes YOU!" She fumed. "What is it so hard to not trust a fucking old asshole of an Æsir who is just here to lie and use your emotions for his own gain to just get to me?! You betrayed Lain-san's trust, the person who understands you the most, and repaid her the favour by kidnapping her and sold her out to him!"
"Chito... Choose your words wisely." Mao added as she cried a little. "You don't understand me what I go through. I just did what I can... But no one seems to understand me what I'm truly going through." She later left as she sniffled.
"I understand, Mao-san. Look, if you don't want to fix yourself, then things will not go in your favour. You will simply end up no different than the enemies you fight against." Chito said, with Mao not bothering to listen to her words. "You think Lain-san will forgive you? You broke her trust and her heart the most. You have a painful past just like me, but this does not excuse you into using others."
But then, a quaking feeling happened as a large Sephira can be seen that resembles a knight, as well as having a lance on his left arm and a shield on the right. This Sephira is known as Netzach.
The rest of Chito's group, as well as Lime and Yuzuki and Hinako, showed up at the rooftops.
"Looks like another one!" Mikoto exclaimed.
"Except this one is different." Chito said.
Then a group of Einherjar and Odin showed up, where the latter fired a ball of purple energy towards the group, before they dodged it.
"So we finally meet at last, Chito." Odin said maliciously.
"Odin..." Chito said.
"Text the rest to meet up here. Odin is here. And Netzach." Chito added, before looking at the Æsir. "You're thinking of hunting me down for my power? You will have to go us first." She added.
"You are an important person for my goals, but since you decided that you aren't willing to surrender, I will do this the hard way." Odin said.
[TO BE CONTINUED...]
~~~0-0-0~~~
The characters that appear in this chapter (in order):
Riza Hawkeye from Full Metal Alchemist
Netzach from Blue Reflection
Kana Sakuragi from Magilumiere Co. Ltd.
~~~0-0-0~~~
[The Irish Pub, Peace Tower, U.F. Earth]
At the lively Irish Pub back at the Peace Tower of the Unity Force Academy, where it was filled to the brim with students from the Unity Force Academy, as well as with outsiders. On the stage were an Irish band playing polka that adds joy around the bar.
Finn O'Duggan and Souma Yukihara were busy as the former served its trademark drinks to including a woman sitting there.
The woman in question has a short brown hair. She wears star-shaped earrings, as well as a tie and a suit. This is known as Kana Sakuragi, a magical girl working with Hitomi Koshigaya, who would later serve as the President of Sakuragi Planning. She primarily serves as Kagari Hinata's current mentor during her five-month rehabilitation.
"Well, things have gotten lively here, huh?" Kana said as she drank some Irish Ale, before smoking.
"And how about you, Ms. Sakuragi? Guess being a magical girl, a president of your magical girl company and now a mentor to a former villainous magical girl really is a handful." O'Duggan replied with a cheer.
Kana only chuckled before responding. "I've made the effort to treat Kagari like a surrogate daughter and put her on the path of goodness, but there were times that she's a handful. Makes sense for a thirteen-year-old like her, but she's a difficult one." She continued before Souma served her a Shepherd's Pie.
"Enjoy!" Souma added with a positive tone. "Guess I don't wanna interrupt your little bantering." He added with a thumbs up.
"That's okay, Yukihara-san." Kana added with a confident tone.
"Well, heard that your friend Ms. Koshigaya is on a mission lately." O'Duggan said as he served her another Irish Ale. "But what brings you here?"
"Well... Aside from relaxing, I meant to ask this personal question." Kana said, turning the mood a little downcast for the two. She then showed O'Duggan a photo of several people in it, which looked like a family photo. "What was it like for you to have a good family?" She asked.
"Good family?" O'Duggan said with a pause. "Ms. Sakuragi, that seems out of nowhere for you to ask that." He continued as he looked at the photo, containing her two-year-old self, as well as her parents and a sapphire bluish-black haired teenage girl of 14 years standing beside Kana's mother. To make things strange, Kana's mother is slightly older, about at least 13 years older than the blue-haired girl. "Your family photo, huh. This is you when you were a two-year-old."
Kana ate some of her pie as she glanced at the photo. "That's my aunt on the left side. But I haven't seen her for 15 years." She added as she continued eating.
"What happened?" O'Duggan questioned.
"Things. A lot of things." Kana said.
~~~0-0-0~~~
A/N: This story is inspired by the ideas of Tamama900. It will continue on the next chapter. Also, what about the last omake you may ask? That will be detailed later!
And with that, have a good day!