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Watson takes one of the vulneraries, before turnining to Elyna.
"Don't be a hero. For practicality's sake, take one. If nothing else, it would make the good sister's job easier."

"I don't like seeing the bad guy get away with things. If we can stop Kitakawa from hurting Yagami again, from making her run away....I'll have done my job."

"Not a hit. Just make sure he doesn't get to Yagami before we can warn her about him."

"Not exactly. I need you to find Kitakawa. I need you to keep him away from Yagami. At all costs."

"Yagami....yeah, I know her. Saya was a huge fan of her and Afternoon. She was pretty torn up after her graduation."

Mamiya nodded.
"Well, at least one of you knows who she is. As Kasuga explained, she graduated three years ago. Retired from the idol field and basically disappeared. Her rise was meteoric; went from being a nobody to performing at the Budokan under two years. Now, nobody knows where she is."
"Well, word on the streets said she might have changed her name. Said she might be a student somewhere in the District."
"My sources say that too. We found a transfer form to Hermelin with her name on it. You guys have any idea who it might be?"

Akihiko looked thoughtfully elsewhere.
"Three ideas."
"Okay. So. You guys have any idea why she graduated?"

Professor Greyhame nods as he takes the group over somewhere quiet before continuing.
"I have been running my own investigation into the Seekers of Calamity, with assistance from the Order. Before I continue explaining, I have to have your guarantee that you will not tell anyone else, even the teachers about this. So far, only Professor Estelle knows. You and the other classes are to be informed, because we need to know what you know. Am I clear?"

---

Theodora thinks carefully.
"...you're not just saying that to get me alone, are you?"

The Street Group
"Probably not. But, they did have all of our phone numbers."
"Well, not many people who have mine. Just Honda, Kasuga, and-"

"Well, well. Kasuga, Honda, I'm not surprised you showed. Akutagawa, always nice to see you. But...I never thought Akari would give me the time of day."
Walking towards them was Mamiya Kaname, calmly eating out of a pot of noodles from the nearby convenience store. Jin waved at her.

"Kaname! Well, damn. You called us all in?"
"Yeah. Sorry for the mysterious messages. This was all on short notice."

She nods at Akihiko.
"Guess I'm calling your favour in a little earlier than you expected, huh?"
"I figured. Needed the info for an investigation I'm running, so if I had to do you a favour, I had to."
"Kasuga Akihiko taking on the Akuma, I heard. I knew you had courage but....I didn't expect you to pull something so daring."

Mamiya looks over to others, pausing briefly to slurp up a few more noodles.
"I hope I didn't trouble you all unduly with this. I genuinely wouldn't have done so if I didn't think I needed to."

---

The Helper's Club, about thirty minutes ago....
Just then, as Saya finishes speaking, someone knocks on the door.
"Wonder who that is?"

She opens the door, to reveal Mamiya, tilting her head.
"Is this a bad time? I can come back later, if you all are busy. I have a request, but....it's a very private and urgent one."

---

---

Three years ago....
"Thank you, everyone, for all of your support!"

Today was an emotional moment for Afternoon as they stood in the Budokan, the very pinnacle of music venues. Any musician who wanted to lay claim to being anybody in Japan performed at the Budokan. Only a few other idol groups had ever had the honor of performing here before Afternoon, who had a fair claim to biggest idol group in all of Japan. The last echoes of their final song rang out over the sound of applause and cheering.

But this was also a sad day for some.

"Unfortunately, everybody, this will be my final concert."

A stillness fell upon the audience.

The group's frontman, Fuuka, stepped forward, taking the mic. She could feel all eyes on her. Fuuka Yagami was the best known idol of Afternoon; girls wanted to be her, boys wanted to be with her, her merch sales exceeded everyone else's by a significant margin, and, of course, she had genuine talent. She could sing, she could dance; music magazines suggested she could probably be popular outside of the idol arena, even in America. She looked to her sides as she approached, her unit mates holding back tears. This was it; the end of the road, the final curtain call.

But this was a necessary step.
"Today was my graduation."

The audience was hanging on to her every word. Fuuka's eyes, however, were not on them, but somewhere else. The corners, the darker parts of the venue. Searching.

"Performing here, today, at the Budokan, has been my dream for a very long time, ever since I was a kid. Even when I got into Afternoon, I never thought I could get so high; it was like a carp swimming up the waterfall. I never thought I'd be standing before all of you, like this."

From the side of the stage, their producer stood. He was an average man in a suit, a harsh face but a kind voice and personality; he'd personally mentored Fuuka. He gave her the thumbs up. She stifled a sigh of relief.

Good. He wasn't here. She picked herself up.

"I have to thank our producer, for giving me this opportunity. Without Hyodo-san, we would never have made it so far. I thank my fellow unit members, with whose support we all built Afternoon from the ground up, who stuck it through all the training and all the hard work we had to do. But most of all...."

She mustered a big smile, the biggest for her fans.

"All of you, thank you so much for your support! We would never have made it without you! Thank you all so much! Wherever I go, whatever I do, I will carry all of these fond memories!"

The audience let out a cheer, as Afternoon took their final bows.

Even as the emotions threatened to overflow, Fuuka could feel a single thought in the back of her head.

Was this the end of having to deal with him?

---

The present day...
Shiro, Akihiko and Mildred
"...you guys have any clue what this is about?"
"Beats me, man. I got the same message you guys did."
It was a nice Friday afternoon. Due to an accident taking down most of the school's computer systems, school was out for the day, with clubs starting early to take advantage.

Shiro, Akihiko and the others were outside, having received a text from a mysterious number to all meet a few blocks away from Amamiya, specifically at one of the local convenience stores.
....
Mori and Aika
The two of you find, in your shoe lockers, a simple envelope in sleek handwriting.

You two are roughly aware of what is inside it, even before you open it; an invite to Mamiya Kaname's apartment for a "tea party". Her tea parties, of course, while amazing - due to Mamiya's access to good tea and reputed baking skills - were not entirely social events. Mamiya had a reputation as a "queen bee" of sorts and an amateur detective; she would ply you for information, in exchange for favours from Mamiya.

You wonder, of course, what on earth Mamiya could want from you.
....
Saya, Riku, and the other members of the Helper's Club
"Hey, guys, do you know who left this request?"
Saya walks into the clubroom, holding up a weird request in her hand. She pores over it again.

"It said....whoever left this wants to talk and make a meeting with us half an hour from now and I found it twenty-five minutes ago. Did any of you see who left it here?"
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