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F11 and hide behind the significantly tankier teammates.

Half an hour later...
The school's mood is at an all-time high as Class 3-A is fresh off their victory, and the school is abuzz with activity.

You have some time to make preparations before you have to face your peers in tournament combat. Given they prevailed so well over your previous opponents who did give you a hard fight, prepare well.
[Now Playing: Free Time Theme (Tournament) ~~As Swift as Wind~~]
Free Time is now in session. All players have five Activity Points. All facilities are accessible.
The party gains 3000 thalers in allowance.

No. Sorry. It's all a blur. I remember a few things. I was talking with Satoshi, then we came and met you guys at the old base, then I wandered off, and then it all gets blurry after that.
A pause.
Wait. How is the old base?

[Now Playing: Theme of Kanade/Scathach ~Flash Control~]

What follows for Mori is a demonstration of why he, in all circumstances, should never piss off Kanade Mishima.

The moment Mori gets moving, Kanade is already right in front of of the masked Kaijin, who is almost a second too late to evade the lunge aimed right for his head. He pushes off backwards, aiming a kick at Kanade's head....or rather, where Kanade was a second before. In the blink of an eye, Scathach has already vanished.

Or rather, is standing right behind the masked Kaijin.

"!"

Scathach extends her right arm out, a whip comprised of purple energy extending down the length of her arm. With a single, swift cutting motion, she slams it into the opposing Kaijin, hurling him bodily across the room, as he barely manages to regain his footing, landing in a crouching position. The masked Kaijin snarls, moving to throw something, but he finds his arms trapped for just a split second, Mori's roots having entangled him.

Just fast enough for Kanade to cross the entire length of the room faster than Mori can blink.

The masked Kaijin manages to rip himself from Mori's trap just fast enough to parry her blade with his knife, their faces inches apart.

"Such speed, such strength! It's exhilarating! A demon that can finally entertain me."
"Don't flatter yourself. The only person in this room who can satisfy me is helping me."

A blur of black slashes across the masked Kaijin's body, Kanade kicking upwards with her equally-sharp leg to catch the hooded demon off-guard. He barely manages to push away, whipping up a wall of ice to avoid being struck, one which Scathach's body cuts through with almost insulting ease. Kanade yells as she aims a slash downwards at him, only for the masked Kaijin to dissolve into shadows, sinking into the floor.

"So that's your game. Now I understand what you are."

Just as he did to Mori, the masked Kaijin erupts in a burst of shadows behind Kanade, knife aimed right at the base of her neck....or it would be if two things hadn't happened.

Firstly, a cloud of pollen obscuring his vision, throwing his aim off. He sweeps it away with a cloud of ice, but Mori's distraction bought enough time for the second thing to happen.

Secondly, Scathach having already turned to face him, blades at the ready.

She stabs him through the shoulder, pinning him against the wall with one hand. The masked Kaijin unleashes an unholy scream as Scathach skewers him.

Without turning to face Mori, Kanade speaks.
"What we're fighting right now, Sawatari, is not a Kaijin. Kaijin are a perfect blend of demon and human, blessed with great power and great responsibility. What this toad is is a Majin. It's what happens when the person who makes a deal with their inner demon has the willpower to hold their own, but is so depraved on the surface that rather than make a perfect fusion, the human takes over the demon."

She continues to keep the Majin pinned.
"They are more demon than man. They possess power of an Akuma - they could even take over the Domain of an Akuma if they so wanted to- and the heart of a demon, but the strategic mind of a human. They can even generate a Domain of their own, but need an Akuma's Onibi to truly fill it."

"That's why I knew I could trust you the moment you transformed. No matter how lost you think you are, Sawatari....the fact that you became a Kaijin tells me everything I needed to know about you."

---

Street Group (Mildred, Akihiko, Shiro, Jin)
And so it was that two holes were made in one of Hermelin's buildings; one through the ceiling, where Shiro and Jin, with Kazuya in tow, break through, and one through a window, where Mildred and Akihiko break through.

They are met with Saya, her own group in tow.
"Saya! Where are they?!"
"Down the hallway! But...I sense two Kaijin. And one....I don't know. It feels like a Kaijin, but..... "

Popular Group (Aika, Mori)
"I'm alright. You didn't need to heal me, by the way, but it sold the illusion, and I appreciate the sentiment. I was only bruised."
"You planned this from the beginning, Mishima?!"
"I rolled with the punches. I needed an opportunity to get close enough to return the favour."

"M-Mishima-senpai...you're a Kaijin?"

The masked Kaijin snorts.
"Shows how little you know. Of the three strongest Kaijin of the Mishima District, she's the strongest. The Black Princess of Calamity."
"You're making me blush."
"You...to fight the strongest of all Kaijin here..."
"Sawatari. You wanted to learn more about Kaijin. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you earlier. I needed to know I could trust you fully."
"If you follow my lead, this will be a lesson worth retaining."

Kiyomaru lifts an eyebrow.
"My eyes are open, good sir. Have I erred somewhere?"

Street Group (Mildred, Akihiko, Shiro, Jin)
At the sight of the aircon being launched back at him, with Shiro leaping to stab him, the Ripper simply....tilts his head?
"Sorry. Our game's over. My appointment with Fuu-chan is now."

That feeling surges through you again, the feeling of having entered a Domain without having actually entered one.

Shiro finds her blade hitting solid concrete, as a hole opens beneath him, concrete turning to rain-soaked brick as he dips into whatever hellish realm he went into, a chuckle echoing through his mask, before the aircon smashes into that spot, leaving nothing but a broken rooftop and a broken air conditioning unit.

The odd feeling in the air disappears. Akihiko detransforms, smacking the side of the motorbike.
"Dammit. As long as he can do that thing, we'll never catch him. Let me check if the others have-"
He checks his phone, with several messages from Saya, and one from Mori.

Nanjou got taken by the masked Kaijin from last time. Mori and Yagami in trouble. On our way to meet them. Third floor. Come quickly.

At that, Akihiko puts his phone away, and almost immediately reverts back into Ibaraki-Douji.
"Kasuga? What is it?"
"Shiro, Mildred, we need to get to the third floor, and fast. I think Kitakawa's gonna try and meet up with the masked Kaijin. I don't know what he's got planned for Yagami, but it can't be good."

---

Popular Group (Aika, Mori)
The masked Kaijin tilts his head. Slowly, he walks towards Mori, unflinching, at a casual pace.

"Oh, poor you. You're only doing what you feel you have to. Nothing more. Is that right? None of this is what you want to do? It's all just part of your duty?"

The purple pollen is met with a cloud of biting icy wind, both blowing away. The tone of his voice is conversational, like he were speaking about the weather, or a particularly interesting TV show on last night.

"Not your choice to hate some girl who's done nothing but protect you from me the moment I came in here? Not your choice to talk like some anime villain? Not your choice to insult everyone around you? You're pathetic."

The masked Kaijin continues his advance. The shadows beneath his cloak lash out at the thorns thrown at him, ripping them to shreds.

"Take some responsibility. Admit it. This is what you want. All this talk about not having a "self", it's an excuse. You want to hate Mishima. You want to save her, too. You want to be some kind of hero, while hated by everyone else so you can bear that burden alone out of some twisted desire to act the part of a villain. The Kaijin is a reflection of the self. Both the good and the bad. Don't you get it yet? Maybe if you live, Mishima might even explain it all to you."

He flicks a frozen blade out, but barely misses the root - and Yagami - taking her to Mori's side. The masked Kaijin sighs, as if he'd simply dropped a pen, or some other minor irritation.

"That's the beauty of being a demon. We can do whatever we please. The world is our playground. This face of ours is our true face, the one we are destined to show the world. Those chosen by the power of demons to show their true selves are obliged to use that power as they please."