DCW IRL Round 14: Shibuya Infinity

[tengaku squared 291]

(I just stopped bolding a while ago to show it was all Japanese, but I guess then I'd have to and bold the dialogue with Azura/Rye which I am too lazy for...meh everyone understood. I do agree with the language policy :V I was going to mention it earlier since people translated when they felt like it.)

 

"Why your hotel?" Mari objected. Aster sighed.

 

"Nara- oh you seriously weren't thinking it was secret after your Filipino outbursts? Anyway, I know a person that can surely provide first-aid to foreigners in Japan for free." They were walking away from the scene when a car slowed down besides them. It was Aleksanders'.

 

"Yo player, where you goin?" Ari was riding in the front. In the back were three injured people 'Wait, riding with two girls? Smooth Niichan. Real smooth.' (Amber, Tsukiko and Ren).

 

"Ah, convenient of you guys to show up. There should be a net-cafe around here somewhere. Park the car near it and go around its back, seeing as you'll be the ones who reach first. If anything is asked just state. 7817. Repeat, 7817. Got that?" Aster said. It was more of an order than a request, but his tone was neutral. The people in the car nodded, memorizing the number and wondering what it was.

 

"What will happen there?" Mari asked again. "Bandages and cupcakes." Aster answered. Two more people had reached them; Misaki and Azura. Turned out they had been following the car as Aleksander was driving slowly because they had no more room and thought it'd be best to stay together. 

 

Misaki's ears picked up the mention of a net-cafe and gave directions to the people in the car. Seemed like it was the only one there. Aster then said, "Thanks, now can you show us the way? I didn't know where it was either." The remaining people gave him a weird look but Misaki led the way, wondering just how much of an airhead Aster was. 

 

"What happened in the roof though?" Misaki asked. "*On" Mari spoke up and looked away when Misaki turned to her. "Right, on. Thank you."

 

"Well, we jumped off the roof and shot the bomb in the process." Aster said looking up with a small smirk. Soon they reached the net cafe and went around the back. Aster knocked on the door which opened promptly. There stood a girl in a white blouse and black denims. There was a flash of movement and the next second Aster and the girl stood, baring guns at each other. Hers was a silver revolver.

 

"You knocked incorrectly." She said coldly, staring as Aster dead on. She was just as tall as him, if not a centimetre short. Her hair was short and parted in the middle. 

 

"And you could have done a better job with the package. Envelope and cello-tape?" Aster raised an eyebrow.

 

"It was four in the freaking morning." She stared at the three girls behind him. "You starting a harem or-" Aster placed a hand over her mouth and elbowed her in the gut. Forcing a smile, he turned to others. "Don't mind her OW DON'T BITE YOU CROWBAT."  He let go and she cleared the way for others to go in.

 

"Your friends are inside, being treated by your friends." She said. Aster sighed. "Thanks, Alice." When the others went in she promptly kneed Aster in the gut as well. "An eye for an eye." She muttered.

 

Aster did have to tell the others all that had happened. After he was done, he pointed a thumb in Alice's direction and introduced her. Others were curious about their relation and some voiced it. "I'm his colleague, if you might. And I can do more push-ups than him." "The last part was unnecessary." Aster seemed annoyed. "So, any idea what to do next?"

(For the sake of speed, any role-player that continues should basically skip their perspective to this part. Thanks, guys!)

[Maltavite 61]

Ari looked at Aster, "Hey, what would we do with the wounded?"

[A L 217]

(I just briefed everyone of the attack without dialogue before Alice's introduction. Since you guys have been reading it, I thought just that one sentence would suffice.) #

EDIT: Ari just take them to that place so we can all gather and make it seem like we're some secret organization. 

[Kaitou Kid Legendary Thief 197]

When amber regained consciousness she was already in a car. Somehow, she had forgotten or perhaps simply lost awareness of what had happened from the collapsing building and escaping it. She was riding together with the guy who had tried to save her, the guy called Ren, and another girl whom she remembered seeing but haven't really met.

Due to her condition, her blood has taken longer than usually to stop and she's feeling very lethargic at the moment. Since she was already in the car, she thought it might be better to continue resting more.

It stopped for a moment and she somehow heard AL's voice and then the car sped off. Within a few more minutes they have reached the destination and they got off, with Amber still feeling groggy but able to walk.

"Where's this place?" Amber asked Ren softly, who didn't seem to hear because he too, was in some bad condition , so she continued keeping quiet.

'I hope this is all we have to walk cuz I think it's hard on me...' Amber thought as she entered the structure.

--------

(Take everything in quotes as English please... It's really hard for me to type the syntax on phone so yea...)

[Misaki-chan 164]

"Come this way," someone told her and the others that were injured, pointing towards a room.

 

They compliantly followed, leaving the uninjured to wait for them while they got treated. The room was simple, with several beds semi-surrounded by curtains and boxes scattered around the edges. Misaki laid down on the bed closest to the door before slinging her uninjured arm over her eyes and letting out a sigh. Today has been so crazy.

 

"Hey, do you mind sitting up so I can check you out?"

"Mm?" she murmured as she moved her arm to see a Japanese woman looking back at her. "Yeah, sure."

 

As she moved to sit up, the woman asked, "So where do you need attention?"

 

"Well," Misaki said, "My left arm has been throbbing a bit and my ears had been ringing a lot since I was where the explosion happened, but that's mostly subsided by now. But for the most part I think I'm just scratched up."

 

"Well let me take a look to make sure," she said as she turned to close the curtains to give them privacy. "I'm Fujisaki Ayano by the way. Nice to meet you Mimori-san."

 

"How did you-"

 

"I was told. Now do you mind lifting your shirt up a bit so I can see if there's any bruising?"

 

"Ok. And please, call me Misaki."

 

"Then call me Ayano."

 

After a checkup, which didn't result in anything more than some disinfectant and bandages, Ayano left the singer to change into the clothes that they had provided for her (seeing as how her current clothes were bloodied and torn). Now donning a plaid button-up with a pair of jeans, she decided to grab a quick nap. Might as well.

 

"I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when I'm needed?" she asked Ayano as she passed by. When she gave a nod, the singer thanked her with a smile and laid down. Thank god my job has taught me to fall asleep quickly.

[Henry Gordan 20]

Oh, I'm so confused. But never mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¨

 

Aleksander felt frustrated. He wanted to beat something. But they very alive, at least now.

 

"Ok, what do we do now? Did anyone meet Mr Skel? Or was that it?" Aleksander asked as he changed his sweaty t-shirt to another.

 

Everybody said that they didn't meet Mr Skeleton but nobody wanted to disguise about what would happen now.

 

"Ok, Aster, could you please explain everything. What the hell is going on here? Who's she? Your sister?" Aleksander shouted to Aster.

[A L 217]

(^Summary for you: Everyone escaped the exploding building, Aleksander used his car to transport the injured people with Ari while Misaki and Azura walking behind the car, but since they couldn't go to a hospital without being detained by the police because they were involved in the explosion for questioning and stuff. They ran into Aster and Mari who had safely landed from the roof using the parachute and upon Aster's instructions they went somewhere they'd be able to get first-aid for the injured and some rest. That place happens to be some rooms behind a net cafe and Aster knows who runs the place apparently.)

 

 

"My sister? Her?" Aster held back laughter while Alice fell to the floor in what others assumed to be hysterics. "No no no, we just work together." She got up, her face completely stoic that the people around her sweat dropped and didn't ask any questions. "We know the owner of this cafe because of business which is why he keeps rooms like these here. Oh, did you see if blood transfusions were necessary?" The last question was meant for Alice. She huffed and communicated with her eyes saying "Who-Do-You-Think-I-Am?"

 

"I made the bomb explode on the roof with KID in its range. I guess he or she survived because the building still exploded. Which brings me to the question of how you-" Aster looked at Azura. "-came into possession of it in the first place. Any explanation? By the way we are all DCWers here, I'm AL. Pronounce each letter separately."

[Rye 122]

Azura sat silently, itching for a change of clothes. 

 

"Ok, what do we do now? Did anyone meet Mr Skel? Or was that it?" One of the other guys, who Azura remembered as the car's driver, said as he removed his sweaty shirt and replaced it with a cleaner one. Everyone said they didn't meet the skeleton man.

 

"Ok, Aster, could you please explain everything. What the hell is going on here? Who's she? Your sister?" The driver guy shouted to the guy from the roof earlier. Aster? Isn't that...? Azura thought to herself as Alice and the guy named Aster explained how they were just comrades and that they came to have the place because of business, respectively. 

 

"I made the bomb explode on the roof with KID in its range. I guess he or she survived because the building still exploded. Which brings me to the question of how you-" Azura looked up as she sensed Aster's gaze.  "-came into possession of it in the first place. Any explanation? By the way we are all DCWers here, I'm AL. Pronounce each letter separately." 

 

"Hey, I just fell into a janitor's closet by accident and found the bomb there. I picked it up and stuffed it in my backpack to show to you guys later. I figured something like that could be related to what was going on. And sure enough, it was. I honestly never knew it was a bomb until you told me so," Azura responded, leaning back against the cushioned seat. 

 

"Oh, and nice meeting you, A-L." Azura said, and smiled as if she was amused. "I'm Azura, by the way." Silence followed her statement.

 

A Japanese woman dressed similarly to Alice went up to her offering a clean change of clothes. Azura thanked her, took the pile and examined them. She found it strange how the clothes were in her size, since she couldn't recall ever telling anyone her measurements. She looked inquisitively at Aster, who just shrugged in response.

 

She went on ahead to the bathroom, changing into the clean white shirt and jeans that had been given to her. Once she had changed into the comfortable clothes, she returned to the living room and saw everyone heading for the stairs. "I think it's best if we rest for now, since everyone's been pretty much exhausted after everything that's happened today." Aster answered her unspoken question, and Azura followed suit.

 

They were led to the second floor, into a large bedroom that was comparable to a hotel's luxury suite in size. Several futon beds were laid out on the floor, along with a bunch of pillows and blankets. Azura found hers next to the window, not far from the door, and took a pillow. She prayed silently for everyone's safety, and it didn't take long before she drifted off to sleep.

[tengaku squared 291]

Azura went back to staring at the ceiling, still smiling. "It's really interesting, what's going on," She mused. "It's like we're in one of those IRL rounds in the forums.

Lolololol. Unfortunately, please remove this particular statement because it just might create issues down the road. Thanks!

[Rye 122]

Lolololol. Unfortunately, please remove this particular statement because it just might create issues down the road. Thanks!

 

Sure thing! I actually meant it as a joke. You know, kinda like breaking the fourth wall XD

 

I do wonder, though, how it might create issues later on...............

 

Edit: Done~

[tengaku squared 291]

"Well...hello. Good afternoon." There was a pause. "Oh, the sun has set. Good evening, then."

 

While the style of speech was familiar – it sounded a lot like the skeleton-looking man, the voice itself was not. Instead of a man's voice, it was a girl's voice. In fact, as you turned towards the source of the voice, it was a girl. While she would have appeared rather cute otherwise, her appearance suffered from the same problems as the skeleton man – dead black eyes, unbelievably pale skin, oil-slick black hair, and poor posture.

 

"I see you have...failed in your objective." The skeleton girl appeared disappointed, though again, with that dead expression it was hard to tell. "Ah...to think we placed so much trust in you. It's time to eliminate you all, isn't...it?" She looked around the room, then her eyes fell on Alice, and a rare flash of some expression went across the girl's face. "Oh, I see...how this is. Actually...it will be too troublesome to take you on by myself..." and her voice trailed off and she paused.

 

"Please don't...misunderstand my motivations. I'm* not...letting you go. I'll still be watching you from...the shadows, I suppose you can call them." She paused again. "I will meet you again...under less hostile circumstances." She appeared to leave and turned around, then stopped and looked back at the group. "Now, I hear you've been calling me things like Mr. Skel, or the skeleton man. That...is rather charming. However...I have a name...we all have a name."

 

"I am Shell. We...are all Shell. Now then, good evening." With that, the girl disappeared.

 

* atashi

 

(I decided to give him/her/it/them a name.)

[A L 217]

"Placed trust in us?" Aster mused. He was talking in Japanese now, not wanting to get used to English in Japan. He was referring to Shell's earlier statement

 

"Them huh?" Alice muttered. Aster glanced at her. She slumped to the floor, sitting cross-legged. Most of the other members were resting now, mainly due to injuries and fatigue. After Azura and Aster had questioned Mari who had said something about a girl in a hood handing them the bomb. 

 

"How do they fit though?" Alice changed the subject to poke fun at Aster, her hand rubbing the back of her neck. Aster was wearing a white dress shirt and pants that clung to his frame, revealing an aspect he was not fond of. "Nice frame. They look better on you than me."

 

"Oh shut up." Aster shot back, wondering why he hadn't gotten the straight hair from his mother but inherited her pear shape instead. The shirt had to be tucked into the black pants otherwise it would look too apparent, too...girly. A shiver crept down his spine as the word travelled through his mind. 

 

"Do you know why we weren't just eliminated?" Aster tried obtain some answers to no avail.

"What do you say in such cases? That's right, classified information." She did a Mikuru expression with the last two words yet her face remained stoic as ever. "But it's a long story I don't feel like telling."

 

"Okay then. I suppose I'll wait for others to gather round again." Aster munched on a bar of Twix, offering one to Alice who refused, taking out her own. "I took the liberty of raiding your Neechan's items."

 

"Isn't that stealing?"

 

"Like I care." And he whacked her head and turned to retire for the night, deciding to get any sleep he could but of course she shot out her foot and tripped him.

 

=====

 

(If only I did character development like this in fanfiction of mine :V)

[Misaki-chan 164]

When Misaki first woke up, the first thing she noticed was someone was trying to pick her up. "What..?" she muttered, still sleepy.

 

"Sorry for waking you up," Ayano-san said. "The others are moving to the rooms upstairs to rest, so I thought I'd just move you there by having Ito-kun take you since there's no point in waking you up just so you could go back to sleep."

 

"Mmmm... I see.... I can walk though...." she said, her speech slurring a bit as she gently pushed Ito-kun away to stand up. When she did, she swayed and grabbed onto Ayano-san to balance herself. "Sorry," the singer said.

 

"It's alright. How about you lean on me as we go? You must be tired since you just woke up."

 

"Mkay..." she replied, leaning more fully onto the shorter woman.

 

It only took them a minute to reach the upstair room, where Misaki could see the others lying down. "Here you go," the woman said, laying her down.

 

"Thanks..." Misaki said, wrapping herself into the blankets and letting herself fall back into a slumber.

 

When she woke up the second time, the sunset had slipped into the room and dyed it a mix of reds and oranges. Everyone else was still asleep. When she heard her stomach growl, she ventured out of the room in search of a kitchen of sorts (or at the very least a vending machine). As she went down the stairs, she ran into Ayano-san. "Ayano-san," Misaki smiled, "hey."

 

"Hey," she replied, smiling back. "What are you doing up? I would have thought you'd sleep more, considering how tired you were."

 

"Hungry. Do you mind showing me where I can get some food?"
 

"Of course. Come on, there's some leftover curry in the fridge."

 

"Oooo, perfect. Lead the way!"

[Henry Gordan 20]

ARRGH! That autosave is worth of nothing. It doesn't save. Or at least it doesn't open the save.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"GROOUL"

 

Aleksander couldn't sleep. That girl, Misaki, had just left and woke her up. Now he was hungry.

 

"Why am I hungry in big city? I could go out and eat something good."

 

He took his jeans and went to back door. Nobody resisted as he silently closed the door and took his car.

He drove to local pub, which was Irish pub look-a-like. Luckily it the kitchen was still open. He ordered steak and potatoes.

 

It took more than hour to him to get back to their "hotel". He went silently inside and took his shoes away. Ad now he heard someone say: "Maybe Shell took more hostages."

 

WHAAT! Are they talking about me? Well I'm not hostage. Their faces will be so good to watch.

 

Aleksander sneaked to the door of the room where they were sleeping and opened the door.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Was it I who is missing, or someone else

[Nara-chan 38]

I somehow want to say something but I'm afraid I will get struck by lightning or something :V

------------------

(Back at the splodey building)

  

 "I don't think you're stupid..." she muttered, not wanting to say her native language's counterpart of "stupid". In fact, he probably knew from the moment Skelly Guy told everyone that all of them were on that site. She was unique, in that sense.

-------------------

 In a moment, they were at a place with the promised bandages and cupcakes (she couldn't care less about the bandages) with a girl named Alice as it's facilitator/whatever-you-call-it. Said whatever-you-call-it looked like her ("Mari"'s hair was messier, though), but nah she wouldn't hold a gun. She was kind of sick of them. Being at the receiving end of one twice in a day was enough excitement.

 

 Hey what do you think? Is this a good start to your trip?, asked a voice in her head.

 That's a stupid question. Of course not!, said another.

 Now I really am going crazy...,  she muttered under her breath as she tried to find a room. Her search, however, was interrupted by the skeleton man's voice...wait, it's a skeleton girl...

 

 As she droned on in a monotone voice, she caught a few words about "failing a mission," "elimination,' and "Shell". Well, their beauty is far from a shell's though...

 

 Then she went to her room, brought out her pillow, wrapped the blankets around herself, and sank into a dreamless sleep.

-------------

 (Morning)

  She awakened to a subtle smell tickling her nose. She groggily pushed herself up from her slumber, and tried to find the source with half-opened eyes.

 

 *bang*

 

 Not a very good move on her part. She groaned, eyes wide open now, hands massaging her face. And she had found the source: the bathroom. The pail was filled with warm water, and it was giving of a nice smell that she couldn't quite describe. With the source found, she then realized that she didn't change clothes. Oh crap. Am I really that stupid?

----------

[Rye 122]

Azura drifted in and out of consciousness. Her dreams, as usual, were vivid. Tonight, they were bizarre yet somehow realistic. At one point, she saw a rather pale, unhealthy-looking girl who reminded her of the Skeleton Man the group had encountered earlier. The girl appeared to be talking, but Azura couldn't quite comprehend what she was saying in her dreamy state.

 

Sunlight entered the room, shining directly on the face of Azura who was sleeping nearest to the windows. This made her stir in her sleep and eventually waking her up as she blinked a couple of times and rubbed the sleep off her eyes. She turned to her side to avoid getting blinded by the sunlight, and checked her wristwatch. 

 

It was just a few minutes past seven in the morning. She sat upright, expecting to see the familiar environment of her hotel room, before yesterday's events came crashing back to her memory. She scanned the area around her. The others were still sleeping, still recovering after what happened the day before. "I hope the others are better now," Azura said to herself.

 

That was when she noticed that a girl---Mari---was awake too. She was headed to the bathroom and was walking in a somewhat trance-like state, then entered and shut the door. A few moments later, she heard a bang coming from the restroom, startling her. She got up and walked quickly towards the bathroom door, knocking on it softly when she reached it. 

 

"Hey Mari, you all right in there?" Azura asked, her voice low, not wanting to wake the others up. "I'm okay," Mari replied from inside the bathroom. 

 

"Careful in there." Azura advised. "Sure thing. Thanks."

 

Azura took her backpack and exited the room. She headed for the bathroom on the first floor where she had changed in last night, and proceeded with her morning routine. She was a bit surprised when she got out of the shower and found a pile of neatly folded fluffy-looking towels along with her clothes. Her outfit from yesterday had been washed, dried, and ironed overnight. "Wow."

 

When she got out of the bathroom, a pleasant smell greeted her nostrils. She immediately recognized it as the smell of bacon and eggs. She walked into the dining room and couldn't help but gasp when she saw the feast laid out on the table. Aster was sitting on one of the chairs, staring into space, his plate unexpectedly empty.

 

"Good morning," Azura said, sitting on the chair opposite Aster's. He looked up at her and greeted back. After a bit, a wet-haired Mari joined them. "Hey Mari," Azura greeted. Mari nodded in return.

 

Time passed and people started coming in one by one. It was almost nine o'clock when the room was filled, everyone present except for those who were injured. Azura softly said a prayer of thanks before she started eating. Breakfast went by in silence, only interrupted by the frequent sounds of utensils hitting plates. Everyone seemed to be famished.

 

Once they were done eating, a couple of maids went in and cleared the table, picking up the dishes. Still, no one spoke.

 

Azura decided to break the silence. "Did everyone sleep well?" She asked. There were a mixture of shrugs and nods, some shaking their heads. 

 

"Speaking of which, I had a weird dream last night." Azura shared. "In my dream, I think I saw a skeleton girl in the room."

[tengaku squared 291]

Meanwhile:

 

The 109 Building was no more. All that was left was a heap of ashes and the occasional pillar sticking out, a sad reminder of what used to be there. The entire scene was taped off with police tape, but there was no authority figure nearby. Perhaps the police already searched the area and gave up. Or they were taking a break. Whatever the reason, the Aeigo siblings walked along the scene at that moment. The younger one, Mai, pointed at the scene and shouted:

 

"Big bro*, there's a card over here!" She walked over to the scene, under the tape, and picked up the card. She looked at one side, frowned, then flipped it over and looked at the other side. While she was examining the card, Chris walked up and put a hand on her shoulder, and began pulling her over to the other side of the tape. "Hey, don't you see the tape? You can't come over here right now."

 

"I know. S-sorry." She continued looking at the card. The other side, which she looked at before, had the KID insignia. The side Mai was looking at had some text on it, and it read:

 

"This city is no longer safe. Run away, far away."

 

Chris gestured for Mai to hand over the card, who complied. Chris took his own look at the card, and frowned, then put it in his pocket. "We're going to hand this over to the police." He walked off, leaving Mai alone for a moment. Once she realized he was leaving, she took off after him. "W-wait, big bro!" She caught up to him and slowed down to a walking pace. "Hey, big bro, aren't these KID messages odd?"

 

"How should I know?"

 

"Well, the one before said something like 'I hope you are safe. Do not worry, everything will work out.' And the one before that said 'The crimes must continue, but so will the messages.' And didn't the first one say something like..."

 

"Quiet!" Chris's sudden exclamation caused Mai to clam up with a "s-s-sorry". He put his arm around Mai in a protective gesture and looked around. "Someone's watching us. Let's get out of here." With that, the two ran off to the police station, which was where they were going anyway, but the humor was that the police station was an even better place to go. Once they left, some figure, their pursuer, who was on a building, also disappeared.

 

("This city is no longer safe. Run away, far away", "I hope you are safe. Do not worry, everything will work out", and " The crimes must continue, but so will the messages". Hmm, not typical KID messages. Perhaps he/she/it's trying to contact someone? Oops, *spoilers*.

 

* onii (without the -chan honorific) )

[Kaitou Kid Legendary Thief 197]

Finally Amber could get some rest after the intense-filled KID hunting. The room wasn't very big but at least she's got bandages and a bed. Everybody seemed to be in the other rooms chatting away because she could hear soft chatters here and there. Something seemed to have happened in her sleep too, but she was too far asleep to realize anything. In the meanwhile, she's the only one in the room and for some reason her chocolates have reduced.

[tengaku squared 291]

(Oh, there isn't much of an objective yet. If you want one, it would probably be:

 

Find out about the next KID attack.

 

Good people to talk to: Shell (if you can find him/her/it/them), Kyoko Sasaki (will likely be cryptic), Lilliam Nevermore (will demand something in exchange, watch out).

 

Other people that could help: Aeigo siblings (At the police station. they know about the KID cards. While Mai will likely be happy to help, Chris will be distrusting of you guys).

 

I thought up of a few questions you guys may have, and here are some answers.

 

- When is C.M. Robert going to show up? The answer is once you get closer to the end of the first chapter.

 

- Who is Shell? The answer is...well, Shell is kind of an odd case. There's a reason I don't have a character profile for Shell – would it make sense if I said it was redundant?

 

- Who is Kyoko Sasaki? The answer is: actually, why don't you find out yourself?

 

- Who is Lilliam Nevermore? The answer is: a return visitor.

 

Mind you, there hasn't been any advance notice with these KID attacks, so the police won't be able to help you~

 

Good luck, guys, on your investigation!)

[Misaki-chan 164]

After eating her curry with Ayano, Misaki had gone back asleep and it was about six AM (at least, according to the clock on the wall) when she woke up. From the looks of everyone else sleeping, she was the first up. She headed to the bathroom, making sure to grab the white blouse and tan capris that had been laid out for her next to her bed, and quickly freshened up before heading to the kitchen. There, she saw a few people, including Ayano in a red apron, busy cooking up breakfast. "Morning everyone. Can I help?" the singer asked, entering the kitchen but still staying near the walls so she wouldn't get in the way of the bustling cooks.

 

"Ah, Misaki-san!" the woman in red said. "Good morning!"

 

"Can you get to chopping the green onions?" one of the men in the kitchen asked. "We need it."

"Of course," she said as she made her way to a cutting board and grabbed a knife. "How much?"

 

"Just chop up what's out."

 

Once the onions were chopped, Misaki helped out in the kitchen until the others started to trickle down about an hour after she had shown up in the kitchen. "Go eat," Ayano told her, gently pushing her out of the kitchen. "We're more or less done with cooking anyway."

 

Breakfast was a quiet affair, with only the knives, forks and spoons making conversation as they clinked against the dishes. Once everyone was done, a few people started clearing the table for them. The singer started to stand up, ready to help, but one of them said quietly, "No need. We've got it."

 

With a nod, she sat herself back down. Once the dishes were cleared, the group still sat in silence. "Did everyone sleep well?" the off-looking Japanese (perhaps half?) girl asked. There were a mixture of shrugs and nods, some shaking their heads. 

 

"Speaking of which, I had a weird dream last night." the girl shared. "In my dream, I think I saw a skeleton girl in the room."

 

"Eh?" Misaki said. "Really? What happened in the dream?"

[Henry Gordan 20]

Aleksander entered to the room and noticed that nobody was awake. 

 

"Huh!? I'm sure I heard someone talking here."

 

"Nooo-o! Don't go! Please!" One of the sleepers said.

 

"Heh! It was just someone sleep talking."

 

Aleksander laid down and fell asleep.

 

Aleksander slept until clock was 8 am. He was last person to wake up.

 

I hope there is coffee on breakfast. If no, I'm going to sleep all day."

 

As he entered, others were talking about last night.

 

One of the girls said:

 

 

"In my dream, I think I saw a skeleton girl in the room."  

"Eh?" Other answered. "Really? What happened in the dream?"

 

First girl was just going to say something as Aleksander said:

WHAT! I thought she was real.

[Rye 122]

"Speaking of which, I had a weird dream last night." Azura shared. "In my dream, I think I saw a skeleton girl in the room."
 
"Eh?" Misaki said. "Really? What happened in the dream?"

 

Azura was about to respond when one of the others, who she remembered as the car's driver from yesterday, suddenly exclaimed, "WHAT! I thought she was real."

 

"What do you mean?" Azura was surprised for a moment. Everyone else was, too, except for Alice and Aster who kept their expressions neutral. Then Azura smiled, realization hitting her. "I see. . ." She said to herself. 

 

"Do enlighten us?" Misaki said, looking confused. There were several nods and words of affirmation. 

 

"Well, in my 'dream', I saw a pale, unhealthy-looking girl standing in the room. She looked awfully familiar to the Skeleton Man we encountered earlier, that's why I referred to her as a 'skeleton girl'."  Azura paused, trying to remember the details. "I think she was trying to say something, but for some reason I couldn't understand what she was saying. As it turns out, it wasn't a dream. Am I right, Aster-nii?" All eyes turned to Aster.

 

 Aster nodded as the ghost of a smile flickered on his lips. "It's true," Alice added. Aster then told them exactly what happened the night before. Once he finished retelling the story, dreadful silence filled the room. Confusion was etched on the expressions of most of them, the others remaining neutral. Azura was sure all of them had a hundred questions running through their heads at the moment. It frustrated Azura not being able to understand what was happening. 

 

"Do you guys think he/she's still alive?" Azura asked, breaking the silence for the second time that morning. "Who?" Misaki asked. "The KID impersonator," Azura replied. 

 

"For all we know, he could still be," Azura mused. "And the fact that he may still be out there, possibly planning his next move---it's unnerving. I'm afraid of what might happen if he plans to attack again. I think that the best thing we can do for now, when we don't really have any leads yet, is to find out more about this KID impersonator. Hopefully, through that, we might be able to figure out his next move." Azura suggested. 

 

"What do you guys think?"

[A L 217]

'Aster-nii? Well, only one person would say that.' Aster leaned against the wall, suppressing a yawn. He wondered why he had not developed some kind of hatred against them after having slept against one last night. 'If only Alice didn't pull that stunt, I wouldn't have to stay on guard outside neechan's room.' Amber had looked a bit better at breakfast, but she would still be out of commission for a while, niichan also included. "Sheesh, two older siblings down." He muttered.

 

Aster did not want to rely on Alice. She always hid her motives, it had been only some months since she joined Aster's party and became the head of their Japan branch. Alice had gone overkill with everything and turned an international homework-for-money secret society into an organization. But this time, things were not in his favour. 

 

"Well, I suppose Alice will be kind enough to take care of the wounded, but that will be all she does. In case someone suddenly has an inspiration they'll have to walk by themselves, victims to a shooting or not. If we are to find out more about KID's movements - of course they're alive the building still exploded - we could try going to the police, see if they've been warned of such a thing before since it was in the newspaper." Aster began to pace the room. He had eaten very little due to focusing on multiple subjects and the rush of last night had begun to take its toll; it was not often that he fired guns at people. 

 

"I suppose you've all been fed and watered but I would like to gorge myself on junk food; I did run away from home after all." Aster spoke in Japanese to the confusion of some. Alice looked at him without emotion before taking some money out of her wallet. "Smaller change, convenient and stuff." She said. Aster took it, all the 10,000 yen notes he had would stand out. They were for making deals anyway. 

 

"Anyone want to come with me? My treat, unless you're older than me." Aster smiled. He knew just which restaurant to go to, eyeing it yesterday. "We could probably buy another newspaper too."

 

======

 

(Well I never planned for this base to have anyone besides Alice - isn't that name familiar? go check - but in case you didn't get it, the restaurant route is to get in touch with Lilliam Nevermore.) 

[Kaitou Kid Legendary Thief 197]

Amber tried to get out of bed but a few steps was all she could manage before she had to start grabbing on stuff. She felt like going along outside for some fresh air but she wasn't sure she could make it back in her condition. Maybe she could at least take a walk to the entrance of the shop? Amber limped to the exit of the room and swung the door open.

"Owghhh!" Someone yelled. It seemed like Amber had slammed the door into someone. On a closer look, she realized she had accidentally knocked into AL.

"Ah.. Oops!" Amber stuck her tongue out playfully. "Didn't know you were there... Ah... by the way..."

Amber noticed some others around as well. "Anything just happened?"

[tengaku squared 291]

(Status report. I'd like to get the less serious stuff out of the way first, so...

 

You are all such lolicons, srsly what is wrong with you people. :<

 

Now onto the more serious stuff, activity and what not.

 

The following people are currently on hiatus:

Ren-kun

Rukia Kurosaki

 

I would like to see more activity from the following people:

Henry Gordan

Bain

Tsukiko

 

I haven't noticed any people that haven't shown enough activity. Please keep a fast pace, guys!

 

Alice, huh? That name sounds nostalgic.

 

Btw, leave the interactions with Lilliam, Kyoko, and the Aeigo siblings for me. This may get interesting; I want to play a more active role.)