West Side
   
  

 /=======================( - Mikage-cho - West Side - )=======================\ 
|      At first glance, this is Lunarvale. It doesn't take long for people to  |
| know something about this place is not Lunarvale... or even their own        |
| world. It may have something to do with the flashing wall of colors around   |
| the perimeter of the city.                                                   |
|      Fantastical creatures pulled from mythologies around the world, called  |
| "demons," prowl the streets. They are often hostile, but can be convinced    |
| to leave one alone or even give assistance (...sometimes). The people here   |
| seem largely untroubled by them, though places have started selling          |
| firearms and body armor. Yet, violence between human beings here is unheard  |
| of. The Police Station doesn't exist, replaced by a forest of purple trees.  |
| The area is less developed in places, almost like a trip back in time.       |
|      A light haze clouds the corners of one's vision, giving the whole       |
| sector the sensation of being in the middle of a dream. Given the demons     |
| and the nightmarish black wall blocking the way to the east half of town,    |
| however, one could not confuse this dream as pleasant. Such is the nature    |
| of Mikage-cho.                                                               |
|===============================( - Players - )================================|
| Masumi Hayashi [DS] <Ceridwen>        Yukino Mayuzumi [DS] <Vesta>           |
| Yuuka Chiba [SEES] <True Unicorn>     Thora Kobayashi [KDA] <Br'er Rabbit>   |
| Blaise Cameron [U] <None>             Yukiko Amagi [KDA] <Konohana Sakuya>   |
| Souji Seta [KDA] <Izanagi>            Junpei Iori [SEES] <Hermes>            |
|===============================( - Objects - )================================|

|================================( - Exits - )=================================|
| School <S>:              Mikage-cho W - St. Hermelin???                      |
| Forest <F>:              Mikage-cho W - Lost Forest                          |
| Bunker <B>:              Mikage-cho W - Captain Rebellion HQ                 |
| Tunnel <T>:              Mikage-cho - Subway Tunnels                         |
 \============================================================================/
Souji almost jumps back himself, but regains his composure quickly enough to give one of his trademark nods to Blaise, "Hello there, Cameron-san. Sorry for, er, startling you. I was just showing Yukiko the mall here."

He looks between both of his friends as the speak to one another, "A good number of us, it would seem," he answers Blaise's question. He decides it best to NOT mention the fact he had led a raid on the SEBEC building the night that all of this started.

His tone grows a bit more grim as he adds, "By the way, I figured you should know, if you didn't hear already, that it's probably not a good idea to return to the bunker anytime soon. Captain R...is dead." He pauses with that before explaining, "and the DVA device that started this whole mess is there."


And, incidentally, the same guy that leapt into the Inn in the middle of the night, scaring her half to death. Not that she knew to connect Blaise Cameron, man of mystery, to Cosplay-san, the deadly assassin. There is a moment where Yukiko simply blinks dumbly in his direction, glancing between Souji and him.

"I'm sorry?" she says, when he first says her name, and then acts as though he knew her. "Um..." she looks terribly confused for a moment, at least until he mentions the costume shop. "Oh! Last Halloween! I remember you! You got stuck here too?" she asks, a frown playing across her lips. "Captain R? The guy that died in the tunnels?" Yukiko asks, "...he was with you all in your bunker?" she asks.


Blaise Cameron says, "That sucks," observes Blaise. "We've gotta do something to make sure they're all safe'n secure. Assuming they're not running around with superpowers, too." Which is a pretty solid assumption to make, based on the evidence. So far as he knows, he's the only one transported here /without/ super powers of some kind or another. Even Minagi qualifies, and he's sure Yuuka has them.

He's just been a little too nervous to ask her to show him.

Souji, however, maintains Blaise's attention pretty solidly. "/What/!? Why? What happened?," he asks, looking a little.. struck by this. Sure, the Rebellion was vague and a little bit retarded, but they gave him this utterly awesome weapon! Not to mention a pretty sweet ride through the tunnels that SOMEONE SMASHED INTO! Nearly killed him! ..But he's fine now, somehow.

Eyes shift briskly to Yukiko, mood dampened by the news. "He was with us, yeah. I think. At least to some degree, he was fighting the Big Bad out here. Whatever that really is." He exhales a little sigh, head lowering and bangs wafting outwards. "There's just so much we still don't know. We've gotta find that Harem Queen and end this.""


Whatever went on in the tunnels the night before, Fumiya missed it. Over the course of the week he went from conspicuously avoiding people to going out of his way to get as far from the people in Fort Junes he knew as possible. He's finally come to acknowledge what has been gnawing away at him on the inside, but he's far from being able to deal with it. He might not be able to until they leave this place, /if/ they leave this place, which is a thought that continues to worry him.

Once he learned that the tunnel was open he didn't waste much time. Shotgun in tow he made his way to the West Side. He didn't have a particular purpose in mind, and against all wise advice to the contrary he stuck to wandering the unfamiliar streets alone. The one good thing this past week of terror and strife has brought about was an increased combat awareness in the youth. As far as battling with his Persona goes. It was something he needed, even if it came at a rough cost.

At some point during the day a fight turns sour for the youth. Making the most logical choice he's made in awhile, he runs for it. Dashing throught he unfamiliar streets he eventually comes to a stop when he rounds a corner. Leaning against the wall, and breathing heavily, he looks back over the corner to make sure he isn't still being pursued. Satisfied, he rests up against it to catch his breath when he looks off in the other direction and sees a few figures he thinks he recognizes.

His clothes are torn and dirty, he looks like hell warmed over, and for some reason he's carrying a shotgun, but he's still pretty recognizable as the 80s Kid, all things considered.


"Yes," Souji nods bitterly to Blaise, "After our little...ride, Dark O appeared and stabbed the Captain right through the chest. It was terrible."

"Kandori...may already be a god, as Aki has wanted," Souji explains as he recalls the CEO's words from the night before. He refused to believe it himself, but given the scenario he felt it was worth mentioning.

"In addition to finding this Harem Queen, we need to make sure Aki, or any part of Maki for that matter, can access the DVA. Destroying it may even be a good idea. It would keep more of these little hells from popping up in the future."

He gives a wordless smile and nod to the rather outstanding familiar face as he makes his way into the mall.


Yukiko didn't quite know Fumiya as well as she should. Certainly, she met him a few times, but... one advantage of dressing so uniquely, is that it was easier to remember you. For good or ill. "Watanabe-san! What are you doing here?" Yukiko asks, her tone and expression both filled with surprise. "You've been um..." Yukiko takes a moment to glance him over - noting the shotgun... everyone had a shotgun down here!... and torn clothes, "...well, I hope?" she adds. Not that Yukiko looked much better. She had a red jacket atop her usual outfit - and there were stains to her clothes suspiciously like bloodstains that wouldn't wash out.

"I admit - it's hard for me to understand just what's going on here... it's /so/ much more complicated than the TV world," she chirps. "We're uh... going to look through the mall," Yukiko says, her expression becoming bepuzzled as a shock of deja-vu strikes her. "Kinda... like the last time we met, Watanabe-san, but this time, would you like to come with us?" she asks, then glancing towards Blaise, "You can come too, of course."


Blaise had never met Watanabe before. But upon glancing towards him, this is bound to change. Why? Because... well, look at him. How can Blaise /not/ want to meet someone that psychadelic? But now is not the best time for first impressions. Even though to his credit, there isn't any blood staining his outfit, largely due to them being fairly new. But nor does he carry a gun. Of course, as Seta-san might attest, there is little need for a gun when you have a /lightsaber/.

So he eases back a few more steps, eyes returning to Souji. "It's a shame.. he was helpful." Though he expels a small sigh at the rest of the information. "He's mortal. He can bleed, just like anyone else. That means he can be defeated. Titles are just that - titles. Nothin' more. Stay the course, Seta-san, and don't waiver. This place all but feeds on doubt and weakness," he offers, voice softened, but resolute.

"I've heard of the DVA device. If destroying it will help out situation, it should be made an objective... but.. I didn't know Maki was split up. I'd only met her once."

After a contemplative pause, blue-gray eyes lowering, they turn towards Yukiko. She's given a pleasant little smile. "You're too kind, Amagi-san. I might at that."


Just as Fumiya thought when he saw them, it was the Amagi girl and Seta. His teeth clench and he takes in a sharp breath, looking ready to run for it. But he hesitates. There's no point in running from everyone, and this last scuffle he got himself into made him think twice about running back out into the West Side in some random direction.

Slinging the shotgun over his shoulder, and trying to bury that unsettling feeling back to the pit of his stomach, he puts on his most convincing grin and saunters over to the group.

Realizing he's walked in on the middle of a discussion he finds himself a little confused by the tail end of what he just heard, but tries not to dwell on it. Even hearing things from the top would make this place tough to understand. Right now Fumiya's not really best at playing the role of strategist, he's much better off being a glass cannon that's just pointed in the right direction at the right time. Still, when Yukiko invites him along on an investigation he nods. "I'd be happy to help protect a babe." He says, with as much of his normal confident inflection as he can muster.

"What's the deal with the mall, then?"


"Of course," Souji nods confidently in response to Blaise's encouragement, "god or not, I intend to stand against him. He's going to pay for what he's done."

In regards to Maki, Souji pauses for a moment to contemplate the matter himself. All he had to go on were Kandori's cryptic words, "In this world, there are various aspects of Maki. Mai, the girl in the woods, and this Aki are two. According to Kandori, this 'Harem Queen' is yet another. All of them have different opinions of Kandori. Whatever he's done to that girl, it must have been horrible for her to be so fragmented."

Finally, he adds with a bit of concern, "Kandori also said that Maki was one of two people currently in Mikage-Cho capable of being hooked up to the DVA. He said there was yet another, but I really can't be certain who."

With that, Souji turns to Fumiya with a cordial nod, "It is good to see you again, Watanabe-san. It seems you've made it through this...as well as everyone else, at least." He looks between Yukiko and the (now ruddy) neon-dressed teen and enforces her words, "Yes, by all means, feel free to join us."


Yukiko smiles as both Blaise and Fumiya accept the offers, dipping forward in a little bow to both. It was... really nice to be formal, all told. It helped her feel a little normal again, and forget about the fact that they are surrounded by daemons. But Fumiya uses that curious name again, and Yukiko straightens again, looking at him oddly. Thora had explained it to her, but it was still... strange to her.

Clearing her throat, Yukiko turns back towards Souji. "There's only two? Do we have any way of finding the second one? Will they glow or... be obvious, or something?" she asks, moving to enter the mall proper - but turning around once there to keep her eyes on the others.


"Hn." Blaise turns aside, arms folding loosely over his chest. "So the girl in the gingerbread house wasn't... whole." It could potentially make sense. The poor thing seemed rather broken, but she also looked considerably younger than the Maki he'd met. Were they really thinking of the same person? ..Augh, if he could just remember her last name, he could ask that!

Blaise's attention drifts back to the silver-haired ally. "So I'm guessing the base is overrun, protected. We'll need to get in there, get to that device. Until that's with us..."

He allows this to trail. It's unnecessary to further elaborate, he feels. So his eyes drift back to Yukiko, then this new arrival - Watanabe, did she call him? And his choice of words brings a rueful grin to his lips. "What's up? Name's Cameron. Blaise Cameron. The deal with the mall's that it seems pretty safe, and is kind'a stocked. That's where I picked this up," he mentions, gesturing to himself and, most likely, the clothes. "If you need supplies, it might be a good place to check. Ammo and such...," he says, nodding towards the shotgun.


"Fumiya Watanabe." He replies to Blaise. Huh, Cameron? Odd name, sounds foriegn. He's ran into a lot of foriegn-sounding names lately. Maybe they're all the cause of these troubles. Nah, that sounds like something a superstitious old fart would say.

"So it's full-a stuff to snatch and grab, huh? I can dig it. It beats getting gouged by Hanamura." He mutters a bit resentfully. Sure, sometimes the demons around town would drop something useful, but it can't be counted on. Fumiya can't hate Yosuke too much, though. He can't say he'd do much different if he had the resources. "Well it sounds like fun. As fun as anything has been since we got to this place, anyway. Shall we hit it?"

Fumiya doesn't respond to the glance at the shotgun. He really doesn't intend on getting ammo, as illogical as that sounds. The gun is not for shooting.


Souji nods readily in response to Blaise's question, "I'd imagine so, yes. Also, you may want to look into a new weapon. Minato noticed the buggy he got from the base ceased working after the Captain died, so the same may be true of your...saber there."

The silver-haired boy seems to think of something as he continues, "Speaking of which, when he died, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Like a shadow, but different...somehow. He may have not even been real."

He looks between Blaise and Fumiya, politely reminding them, "Actually, a good number of the stores are functioning, so you may need to pay most places. I'd imagines the prices are more reasonable than Yosuke's, though." Not that he didn't trust Yosuke to be a reasonable businessman, but the cirucmstances he was in sort of lent themselves to high prices, he figures.

Looking to Yukiko, he shakes his head vexedly in response to her question, "Apparently not. All we have to go are Kandori's words of 'think Wes Mikage-Cho' in regards to this second person."

Managing a smile, he addresses the group as a whole once more as he changes the subject, "But for now, we should probably rest. Any place here you want to hit up first? When we're done, the diner's still open...somehow. I don't know where they're getting their food from, but I can treat you all."


"Wait, wait, wait... didn't Kandori say, the other night," Yukiko says, pursing her lips and furrowing her brow, "That all of this is just in some girl's head? What if these aspects are a part of her psyche or something... weird..." Yukiko starts to say, but then lets herself trail off. "Ummm... nevermind." she says, drawing up a hand to wave it dismissively.

"Well, is there a... fun store in there?" Yukiko asks, peering about the mall and bringing up her hand to scratch at the tip of her nose, "I think we could stand to, I don't know, relax a little or something. Unless you all want to go look for guns or something like that," Yukiko asks, glancing between the guys she was traveling with.


"Err, well, yeah," Blaise says to Souji. "Of course." In regards to paying and all.

It's Yukiko that snatches his attention, thus. "So it /is/ one person's mind. That settles that mystery." Man, is he sorry he missed that exposition. "We-..."

He cuts himself off, taking a moment to recollect himself before nodding to Yukiko. "You're absolutely right. I could definitely do with some unwinding, some relaxing, and.. and definitely eating." Something he's not been doing for a long time, which is likely why his strength has steadily been sapping. "Can't say I've noticed a diner, though..."


Fumiya listens as intently as he can regarding the source of their problems, and shrugs. "Sounds an awful lot like that TV World. Just instead of being inside a TV this one person's hellish mind dungeon took over a town." There's lots of little details Fumiya hasn't picked up on, though, but that's how it looks to him.

"Unwinding sounds.... nice." He replies, with a bit of a sigh. He doubts he'll be able to really unwind, but there's no point in being a downer.

Though he does change the subject abruptly. "So do we know if we have found everyone else that got sucked into this place? Since this side has opened up we should do a roster or something. Just so we know who's here, and if we know if someone's unaccounted for." Fumiya can still think of a few people he hasn't seen since the night they were sucked in.


"I passed it the last time I was in here," he explains in regards to the diner as the group begins to move through the mall, "since at least some of you are hungry, I suppose we could go there first."

He looks over his shoulder to Fumiya and says, "That would be nice, if difficult. I'll see if we could do some kind of roll call at some point later." He was curious about who was here and who wasn't. Furthermore, he'd like to ensure that those who came along for the raid that day are still alive.

In regards to Yukiko and Blaise's exchange, he further muses, "Yes, this is Maki's mind, if what Kandori says is true. Aki, Mai, and possibly some others are all aspects of here. Sort of like how the shadows we encounter in the TV World are parts of ourselves. At least I think it's like that." He really didn't know, but it gave him hope to think of it that way.


"Seems hard to figure out if everyone's here, unless we conceivably met every human out here." Blaise, however, shrugs. "But it's definitely important to keep the people you know are here, safe and accounted for. We don't wanna lose anyone."

And speaking of which, he still owes Hinata such a /pinch/.

Blaise's attention turns to Souji, eyebrow lifted. "L-let's not talk about that anymore. Not for a little while, at least. Otherwise, there won't be any unwinding done."

Beat.

"If you think you know where it is, lead on!," he says, plastering on a bright smile.


Fumiya tries not to look down when Blaise admits it would be hard to keep track of everyone. He can't really disagree, when he thinks about it. "Well, I guess instead of that we might be better off focusing our efforts on kicking Kandori's ass."

A plan like that seems simple and straightforward and oh-so satisfying.

Glancing towards the mall, Fumiya shrugs. "Well, I'll let you guys lead on. Hitting the mall was your plan, I'm just tagging along." Tagging along and trying to keep his mind preoccupied.


In a bit, the group is at the Peace Diner. The cash register isn't working, and the lighting is rather dim, but food -is- being served and the atmosphere is that of a Denny's or similar such chain of simple, affordable restaurants. Naturally, it doesn't take Souji long to find a table for four and allow all of his friends to sit before seating himself. The menus are printed paper and the items upon them are what one would expect of a western diner. (Lunarvale -was- a rather westernized city after all)

"Order what you want," he invites the others, "I still have a good bit of change from the demons around here." Minagi wasn't with them, so he probably was safe to make such an offer.


Likewise, Yukiko tags along with the group in general, running a hand over the side of her ruined jacket, as if trying to smooth it down, and that would make the whole thing all better. "Hmmn... this place looks Western," she mentions idly, rather stating the obvious. "Is it like this in the normal town? I mean, uh... well, it isn't, obviously, but... erm... nevermind," Yukiko finally ends up stammering out. Once the table is acquired, Yukiko picks up the menu, narrowing her eyes as she peruses it.

"I think I'll have the... um... hamburger. And vegetables," she says, lowering her menu some, as she looks towards Fumiya, "What are you going to order, do you think?" she inquires.


Speaking of people who eat too much...

There's a familiar face already inside the diner, chomping away on plate after plate of food. To most people, it's a simple and corporate restaurant chain. To Thora Kobayashi, this is fine dining. Food she could actually recognize the taste of! And the best thing was she was definitely not hurting for cash.

Of course, Thora's been cleaned up now. She even had that garment she stole from Ongyo-ki mended and washed and still wears it draped around her shoulders. Also of note is the fact that she's gone and woven blue ribbons throughout the coils of her double braids.

Her senses immediately register the presence of Souji, Yukiko, and Fumiya. Looking up from a corn on the cob, Thora gives a cheerful wave at the arriving group.


"Pretty much," Blaise mentions aside to Yukiko. "It was explained to me that Lunarvale's pretty much an American town. If I didn't live in Port Island, I'd probably live there."

Though when they reach the diner and the table, he takes a corner seat opposite Souji and gives an embarrassed smile. "Burger. Just.. just burger. God, I've been craving that." Though in no time at all, his mind drifts in the same direction as the silver-haired boy's.

Minagi.

Exhaling a little sigh, his arms settle overtop the table and his head bows. "She's... off somewhere. Minagi. Kind'a wish she could be here right now. She'd really like this, too..."

And suddenly, THORA! He hadn't noticed her at first! His eyes affix to her... and he gives a slow, meaningful nod.


Cash is one thing no one seems to be short on. Despite Yosuke's attempts to the contrary, Fumiya has managed to hold on to a bit of extra cash from selling the various leftovers off of demons. It's not exactly how he would like to make a living, but if it can help him get by here, great.

Upon seeing Thora Fumiya nearly turns around and leaves, but that would be far too conspicuous, not to mention rude. Biting his lip he keeps heading in, taking a seat with the others. He almost doesn't notice Yukiko's question, and looks up at her, startled.

"What am I having? Probably a burger too. With bacon, that's always great." Fumiya frowns at the mention of vegetables. Sure, veggies work with pretty much any of their traditional meals. But with a /burger/? Why even have a burger if you're gonna have veggies? Fumiya just silently shrugs, and awkwardly shifts in his seat.

"Hey..." He finally starts speaking, without even realizing it, shifting the conversation abruptly. "Do you think... uh.... I mean... is it likely all of Kandori's employees were innocent in all this too?"


Souji doesn't exactly wish Minagi was here. He IS paying the bills, you must realize. That said, he -would- like to apologize to her at some point himself. The silver-haired boy smiles and assures Blaise, "She's a tough girl. She's fine, I'm sure. And she seems to at like you. Anyway, I think I'll have a burger too."

He nods to Yukiko and asks curiously, "I guess this is your first time eating in a place like this, then, huh?"

A waitress appears and promptly, with the most basic of manners, takes the group's orders. As she disappears, Souji spots Thora, to whom he promptly gives a cordial wave and greeting, "It's nice to see you!"

His expression grows more serious as he looks back to Fumiya, "All I know is that Kandori is neither fully to blame nor fully free of guilt. As for the rest of SEBEC? That's anybody's guess."


Yukiko always eats her greens, Fumiya. Yukiko ALWAYS eats her greens.

Well, not really. But still, she was craving vegetables, and sure enough, this place can provide some. Having missed Thora's initial wave, as her head was turned the other direction upon her arrival, she is clued off on Thora's presence by the rest of the gang waving to her. But first, talking to Souji, "Well, I've had a hamburger once or twice in my life, but I cannot say I remember eating in a western style diner before," Yukiko mentions to Souji.

"Well, we all know that SEBEC is evil, so why shouldn't they? It should be obvious, to, once you start... I mean, you can make a paycheque a great deal of ways, you don't need to join an evil business to do it..." Yukiko says, before adding, "Excuse me for a moment."

Standing up from her table, Yukiko turns towards Thora, with a brilliant grin, (Although there is a pause, Yukiko looking to both sides, as if checking for a daemon army that may be hiding behind a table or something,) "Thora-chan!" Yukiko says, traversing the distance between her table and Thora's in the space of a handful of seconds, "You've changed your hairstyle, it looks lovely...um... do you mind company?"


Only when Thora looks up does she notice Blaise is with them. Inwardly, she winces a little, not because this guy's been causing a lot of trouble before but because this guy doesn't have a persona. Then again, it probably wasn't so bad for him since he was stuck over here most of the time. It was weird to see demons that were so non-hostile.

Oddly enough, she doesn't really react when she hears that the topic du jour is SEBEC (and quite likely Kandori, she's heard he's here). Interesting line of questioning you got there, Fumiya. "Hi guys. Hi Yukiko-san. I-"

Thora reddens just slightly. "Well I washed it and...wanted some color." A specific color at least. "I don't mind if you guys join me at all, c'mon over!" Thora's gang of demons is nowhere in sight. Fortunately, they do not follow her everywhere.

That would have made the hour-long shower she took earlier /really awkward/.


Burgers! Lots'a burgers abound!

But then Blaise's attention sets on Souji across from him, and he screws up his expression a little. "I hope so. She's been.. confusing. Confusing since we got here. I keep trying to find her, track'er down, talk to'er, but..." His right hand lifts, waving dismissively. "Doesn't matter. We're here to relax."

Blue-grays shift to Fumiya, and he murmurs, "I really dunno much about SEBEC, myself..." It's KNOWS he's more familiar with. Oh, but do continue discussing SEBEC! Archangel could use the additional information!

Not really catching the invitation yet, he just clears his throat. "Anyway, yanno what I'm looking forward to, gang? Seeing /clearly/. This world is in some kind'a haze, I swear! Can you imagine how beautiful the first day's gonna be when we get back?"


Fumiya remains silent as he gets conflicting responses from Souji and Yukiko. They /might/ be innocent... no they're not... He sighs, not really feeling any closer to the answer he's trying to reach for. But he feels reluctant, all the same, to press it with them.

"Well, nevermind I guess." He finally says. "I guess it's not something we have to worry about right now." He stands to walk over to Thora's table with the others.

"Y'know, as hard as we're finding it, I can't imagine how people who had no idea about any of this stuff are handling it. Bad enough to be transported here without knowing, but to be powerless too? It's scary." He idly glances around. "Honestly, I'm surprised stuff like this is still open. Not that I'm complaining, but it just makes this whole Mikage-cho place feel..... unsettling." A pause. "Well it would be unsettling anyway but... hell, you know what I mean."


"It is unsettling, yes," Souji looks about the place curiously, "it's as if some people seem intent on going on with their lives as though nothing's happened. I'm beginning to think that at least some of the people here might not be real at all." He says that last bit hushedly, knowing how crazy that sounded.

"Sure thing, Thora," He nods in regards to her invitation and makes his way over to her more spacious table as Fumiya does.

After taking his seat, he looks back to Blaise curiously. There -was- something of a fog around Mikage-cho. It was nowhere near as bad as the TV World's, but he did idly wonder if his glasses would help with it.

When Yukiko points out that Thora had done her hair different, Souji takes a better look at the Oni. Thora caring for her physical appearance? This world really was crazy!

Eventually, the waitress who brings them poorly concealing frustration at them moving seats behind a smile. It's a good thing for her Japan isn't too big on tips culturally anyway.


"It's a lovely colour, the blue," Yukiko says in a polite sort of encouraging tone, moving to take a seat somewhere near Thora. No, the atrocious table manners didn't bother her, as she was somewhat used to them by now. *coughChiecough* "I think a nice crimson might look good too on you, all told, but the blue is fantastic," Yukiko says with a smile. Eyes dropping down from Thora's face, however, Yukiko tries to steal a look towards what she is eating, "What are you having, by the way? I think all of us are going to eat burgers," Yukiko says, leaning back a bit in her seat to glance about to the other people at the table.

Yukiko's attention turns towards Fumiya then, inclining her head, "You... feel this place is unsettling because these people are... um... trying to be normal in a daemon-infested hellhole?" she says, pursing her lips and looking bepuzzled at what she had just said.


"Blue is a nice color." Thora smiles distantly, a disturbed look flickering in her eye for just a brief second. It quickly passes. "Blue is a /very/ nice color." At least she doesn't eat when she's talking. A hand reaches back to pluck one of the braids and roll it between her fingers.

"...as for what I'm having." She looks smug. "One of everything. Go with the burgers, they're great." Letting her braid go, Thora leans back in her seat, looking content. Something does seem different about her.

"By the way, Fumiya-san, it's good to see you over here. Haven't seen much of you this past week come to think of it."


H-hey, what? Everyone's leaving the table? Whyfor? What'd he do!? Whyyyy!? D:

Oh, apparently they're all going to join Thora. She's popular! He, however, hardly knows her. Well, beyond a single, disguised encounter, followed by one a little less disguised. Though he had been meaning to talk to her after certain... advice he was given. But insofar, she apparently hasn't let information on him slip. And that... well, that puts her in his respects.

So he rises from his seat and wanders over, posture meek in sharp contrast to his crazy outfit. "Kobayashi-san, wasn't it?," he asks. "Don't suppose you... recall meeting me? Daidara's?"


Fumiya looks completely blank for a moment at Yukiko's query, as if he couldn't comprehend what she had just said. "No, um...." He shakes his head. "That's not how I meant it." Sigh. "I guess I can understand holding onto the familiar in a situation like this. But I guess it just seems like /too much/ to me. Demons are running around outside and they're selling burgers. Doesn't it seem a little weird?" Maybe he's just seen too many Goddamn movies.

"Maybe it's just because we're outsiders it feels weird to me. If this happened in Inaba, I could see most of us trying to go on our normal routine." Even if in their cases their normal routine in such a situation would be to get to the bottom of things, and not much different than they're doing now.

Thora's question hits a little too close to home for Fumiya, and he just tries to brush it off. "Just.. trying to make myself useful. Hunt demons, help people, sell stuff for supplies." That's all. Yup.


Souji looks down to his burger as his arrive. Curriously, he samples it. Not half bad. It was better than Yosuke's 'chicken', for sure, and certainly better than Yukiko's culinary abominations. Afterwards, he returns his attention to his allies. "I suppose," he shrugs at the thought, "I really couldn't picture something like this happening to Inaba to begin with, but Kandori WAS keeping an unconcious girl on an IV in the KNOWS complex, which is a scary thought now that I begin to put this all together."

His gaze seems to focus on Thora for a moment as he pleasantly speaks, "I didn't get to say this last night given what's gone on, but it's good to see you're alright. You are sort of why we went to the SEBEC building that night in the first place."


What Yosuke's 'chicken' and these burgers lacked, that Yukiko's cooking had, was a lot of heart. And love. Or something - and these things were important! Regardless, Yukiko gasps suddenly, and glances towards Souji, "He had a drugged girl in the KNOWS complex?! I... well... that was probably in a meeting, wasn't it?" Yukiko says, bringing up a hand to rub the tip of her nose. She'd been terrible at attending meetings.

Upon getting the burger, however, Yukiko starts to section it off with a knife, cutting the burger into small chunks. "Well, you're right, Watanabe-san," Yukiko tells Fumiya. "It's... all a little strange, for certain." Yukiko says.


It mat have been a while but Thora knows exactly who Blaise is, haivng heard so much of his antics in the past month. There's nothing to really pass on in Thora's book, really, and so far Thora had been content to ask. "That's right. Kobayashi works."

Her full attention is on Fumiya though, watching him and his reaction to her question. "Guess so. You were gone more than me though so I guess that's dedication for you." If everyone starts sitting at her table, she's not going to protest either. Especially as Souji starts talking about interesting stuff.

"Oh, hah, yeah...I know, Shirou told me all about it." His machine-stabbing and all. She doesn't seem really /ashamed/ about indirectly causing this mess but when has Thora ever really shown shame over something? (Well, besides her hideous appearance in the case of Fumiya.)


Lowering at a corner of the table, Blaise just seats himself quietly. Right. Just soak in information and - OOH BURGER - reflect on the situation. Things that lead up to this.

Burger is lifted, nibbled... blink! Blaise lowers the meaty product, swallows heavily, and peers over at Souji. "You went with people into the SEBEC building at night?" His gaze shifts to Thora, then back to Souji critically. There's some very pertinent information to be gleaned here without a doubt.


Fumiya almost winces when Souji mentions going into the SEBEC building. He doesn't say anything about it, though. He even remains silent when Thora is addressing him specifically, which is unusual.

Once it is BURGERTIME he silently eats, letting the others do the talking.

Eventually, at some point in the conversation Fumiya excuses himself as gracefully as he can without saying another word if he could help it.