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[SeriousConcentrate]

"Good work, Kasuga. As expected of you. Anyway, what's our cover story? We need some explanation for why this dipshit isn't an Akuma anymore."

"If someone's gotta step up I'll own up to being a Kaijin. I don't give a damn."

[Unlurking Sentinel]

"Are Kaijin supposed to have cover stories? I was under the impression that the White Knight of Mishima simply showed up to domains, and nobody asked questions. Revealing ourselves is not strictly necessary."


"And I can't speak for all of us, but I doubt it's especially prudent in your case. I don't expect the authorities would be complacent knowing that a high school delinquent with a propensity for property damage had suddenly acquired the ability to create localized windstorms at will. Frankly, I would report it myself if doing so didn't associate myself with you so."

[Smoke Mirrors]

"Personally, I’m in favor of stripping him down to his underwear, blindfolding him, tying him to a post, and writing ‘neutralized’ on his chest, or leaving a calling card of some sort. ‘We leave this for you, the Kaijins of Kaname-cho.’” Mori said, not looking up from his phone.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Akihiko considers Mildred's approach for a second.
"....."
"Honda, if your old man hears about this, he might worry. And the cops are already looking for a vigilante Kaijin, too. Nah, for once, I think we should lay low on this, much as I'd like to go gung-ho."

He looks over at Daiya. His face visibly tenses, a worried look on Saya's face as she notices.

After a few moments, the tenseness passes.
"....much as I hate to say it, Sawatari might have the right of it. Sorta. Someone take him to the nurse's office and say they found him fainted outside. They'll probably assume the White Knight saved Koga-senpai and Tadano. Which, technically, isn't a lie."
Tsukasa snorted.
"I'll call it a win when we catch that hooded bastard."
"You saved three people today. I'd call that a win."

Mori's messages, meanwhile, are along the gist of-
You will not believe what Mishima just did.

As that happens, Kanna begins to stir.
"...what....happened?"

[Smoke Mirrors]

"Everyone is safe, that's all you need to worry about for now," Mori replied to Kanna, "how are you feeling?"

He also sent some quick messages to Veep.

I'm coming up, bringing Sakurajima, Miyazono, and Kazami.
If Mishima's fans are still there, inform them that it's in their best interests to be out before I get there.
Also, see about getting some cushions or pillows from the prop closet.
...also also, what was it and do you have it on camera?

He turned to Tsukasa


"Kazami, my friend says your friend did... well it's not clear, but apparently I wouldn't believe it, and he was very insistent about it in the minute we were out, so I think you should come up as well. Bring Miyazono. He turned to Kanna, "I'm taking you up to the theatre room, since it's relatively private. You ok with that?"

[Chevaleresse]

". . . whatever. Tell everyone I beat the shit out of him if you gotta- if you have to." The adjustment in her speech was audible; with the two coming right on top of one another, it was easy to tell how much softer-spoken Shiro was when she was 'behaving.' Which was impressive, given that she wasn't that soft-spoken. "I have better things to worry about than whatever you do with that wannabe."

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"The pain in the back of my neck's gone...I feel....great, actually."

At this, Tsukasa's eyes briefly widen.

At Shiro's suggestion, Akihiko shakes his head.
"We're selling nobody here out. We might not be a team, but we're in this together now. If anyone asks, it was the White Knight. And as nobody knows who that is, nobody is in danger."

Mori just gets a reply after a bit.
They left. Mishima left you this.
A picture is sent to Mori, of an invitation to the Velvet Room. Mori knows this place; it's an exclusive, expensive tea room in Kaname-cho. His name is on it, along with a time after school.
She told me to give it to you. She wanted to talk about something; she got a call and couldn't explain what it was before she left.

[Smoke Mirrors]

The next sound that left Mori's throat was a slightly muffled  growl of utter hatred. He had half a mind to burn the invitation and send Mishima an envelope of the ashes. What stopped him was the simple fact that he... really couldn't afford to turn down an invitation to such an expensive place. Money wasn't exactly easy come, easy go in his household, and he'd probably disappoint his parents if they learned he'd given up such an opportunity. Yes, that was what this was, just an opportunity to learn more about Kanade Mishima in order to help in further endeavors. He could resume plans to destroy her family afterwards.

With that matter settled, Mori could finally register what Kanna said. He forced all the anger out of his body language.


"That's great news!" he cheered, "Do you think you can walk on your own?"

Then, he took on a more even expression, as he turned to Tsukasa.


"Oh, also, you no longer need to come up." Mori said, "It appears that... that woman has already left. Instead..."

He turned to look at Akihiko.


"Kasuga, can you carry Miyazono up for me? And..." he glanced at Jin, "Akutagawa, would you mind helping as well? I'd rather make sure that the trip up is as smooth for Miyazono as possible."

With that hopefully settled, he sent a message to Veep.

Ok then, I'm going to be getting help from Kasuga and Jin Akutagawa instead. Don't ask why I'm with the latter, I'll tell you later.

He was about to put his phone away and head up when a sudden sense of pure fear struck through his mind.

PLEASE tell me Mishima didn't give you the invitation for me PUBLICLY?

[Unlurking Sentinel]

"I told you before, I intend on taking full credit for my own deeds. Perhaps not now, but ultimately."

He approached Kakeko on the ground, and carried him by the arm.


"Regardless, Something needs to be done to keep the order of events perfectly clear, once the police arrive. Unless I'm mistaken, people willingly planting Akuma seeds into their own necks is an unheard of exception, and he could easily contrive his way out of the consequences by claiming to be a regular victim. I will carry Kaneko to the infirmary myself, and explain that the resolution of the two simultaneous Domain incidents here was a fourteen-Kaijin endeavor, that included, but was not limited to, the White Knight of Mishima."

[SeriousConcentrate]

Fwoosh. Proioxis grabbed Kaneko's other arm.

"Then I'm going with you. I'll let you take the lead on explaining things and back you up if needed, don't worry."

[Unlurking Sentinel]

Honda was his last or second-last choice of an assistant for several reasons by now, but... it would be better this way than to leave her to her own devices.


"If you do not intend further violence today, I am not in a position to refuse you."

Just as he was about to leave, he glanced at Tadano and recalled one of the key instigators of the day.


"Th-the missorted letter! Kaneko had it when he used the seed! If he dropped it somewhere...!"

[SirAston]

"Frankly, I'm just glad that it is over for now..."

Yui looked towards the ground for a few seconds, holding her arm.

"Is, err, is there something I can help you with right now, somehow? That's what Helper's Club members do, right...?"

[SeriousConcentrate]

"If you do not intend further violence today, I am not in a position to refuse you."

"Not unless jackass here pops up and tries some more shady business. ...That was a joke. No, I ain't planing on hitting anyone."

"Th-the missorted letter! Kaneko had it when he used the seed! If he dropped it somewhere...!"

"Aw, hell. If it ain't in his pockets it might be in the cafeteria still."

Mildred started going through Kaneko's pockets looking for it.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Finally, Tadano detransforms, his Kaijin form fading away in a swirl of cherry blossom petals, almost collapsing next to a wall out of surprise. He holds up the letter, crumpled but intact.
"I...uh....have it."
He blushes slightly.
"S-sorry, Koga-senpai. I didn't mean for all this to-"

Rise shakes her head.
"No. Don't apologise. You helped save us. As far as I'm concerned, you did nothing wrong. As far as the contents of that letter go..."

She smiles at Riku.

"Give me some time to properly answer you."

Rise then looks towards Masaru.
"Your secret's safe with me. I won't say a word of what I saw today."
"Yeah. K-Koga-senpai's really trustworthy! She'd never tell a soul."

Akihiko, as requested, does eventually check social media. While there are rumours of what happened, mercifully there are no videos of what happened. Only rumours. He sighs in relief.

Kanna sighs.
"Yeah. I think I can walk. Better than walk, actually."

Just as Jin goes to pick up Otoya, he begins to stir too, groaning.
"....Kanna....."
Kanna rushes over to him to check her friend.
"Miyazono! Are you okay? Thank god you're okay."
"....I should....ask you the same question. I couldn't use the power to fix your illness...."
"Don't worry about it, Miya-, no, Otoya. Please. I....don't need you to save me. You already did."

Mori gets a response.
No, she took me aside and told me to hold onto something for you. I didn't know what it was until I had a look.

The last to detransform, with Abe no Seimei shedding his form to return to Kazuya Sugiura, are Durga and Cath Palug. In a burst of lightning, Durga is replaced by...
"It seems we'll be companions in this business."

Ayaka Fujimura, Tennis Club manager, stands before them. Meanwhile, Chiyo waves at the group.
"Hello again!"

If someone were to look at Tsukasa, however, one might notice his eyes firstly focusing intently on Durga, and then on Cath Palug. Then, as Cath Palug transforms back into her human form, his fist clenches, and his breath visibly hitches. All without a word spoken.

[Smoke Mirrors]

Good. If it was discreet, let's keep it that way. Last thing I need is some magazine digging into my family history.

He looked up from his phone and looked around, doing a quick check of all the various intersecting threads of the day. Riku and Koga's story was concluded for the time being. Otoya was awake again, and while Kanna's line was perhaps a bit sappier than his tastes, he was none the less happy for the two of them, and looking forward to further developments.

As for the recently detransformed Kaijin, he cataloged their identities for further research. Thankfully, both were relatively prominent, so he already had files on them. However, he did wince internally when Chiyo transformed, which was only strengthened when he noticed Tsukasa's reaction. He had hoped to keep him out of the loop of Chiyo's resemblance to his girlfriend, largely because of what he'd seen of Tsukasa's reaction to the masked kaijin's obvious bait, but it was certainly too late for that.

Perhaps if he was in full form at the moment he'd be able to come up with some ingenious plan to distract Tsukasa, and carefully orchestrate a private meeting for the discussion of the matter as he'd intended, discussing how they should investigate, what Chiyo was willing to have them do, and all the while gaining more information on Fujimaru and Sugiura.

Unfortunately, after a morning of dealing with Kanna's fatal illness, spilling his guts to Tsukasa, Akihiko, and then the entire kaijin team, getting beaten up, punched in the face, and slow-cooked, having to fight Otoya, falling for the masked bastard's bait himself, getting called psycho, learning that what was going on with him and Fantomas was not normal, dealing with whatever that voice in his head was, and all the other stuff, not to mention the fact that it wasn't even past lunch time and he still had to deal with Mishima later? No, he was fucking exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally by now.

Fuck all my plans about who is or isn't coming up with me. Just get those pillows ready because I have to crash.


"Ok, if you're both awake, I'm heading to the theatre room. If you want to come, I'm willing to offer some help getting up if need be." Mori said to Kanna and Otoya, before turning to Jin and Akihiko, "You two can do whatever you want. I just need to go try to pass out for however long of lunch we have left because I'm running on something like three hours of sleep and today's been exhausting in every sense."