Logs: Mikage-cho 101

 Mikage-cho W - St. Hermelin???
      St. Hermelin, on the surface, is identical in Mikage-cho. This notion would be discarded somewhere along
the way of witnessing people not being quite what they were! Between the feared Dean Harding becoming a caring
individual and a popular educator turning into a mute - among other things - it's not long until any sense of
familiarity goes to the wayside.          
      The school appears as it was in the 2008 school year. The old gymnasium hasn't been expanded as it was
early in 2009, and there's no hole in the wall. Most of the classrooms do not even see use, the school
population notably smaller. The library has undergone the most peculiar change - a foreboding black doorway
sits near the back, the whole room coated in butterfly markings. Nobody is sure as to its purpose, or even
how to open it. A loud heartbeat can be heard if you stand close to it.          
      People here live in fear of a girl in black, whose influence sometimes rearranges the school into a
twisted set of corridors and dead-ends full of demons. Even a trip to the bathroom, in the best of times,
can spell disaster.

It is midafternoon!

Minagi had come to the school after punching her way through the various streets, or looking intimindating at weaker willed Demons. The previous night had been hard on her, getting a civilian out of harms way, but only to come back to what she thought was a corpse of...well, not a friend, but someone she didn't necissarily want dead. Minagi took her frustraitions out on the deserving, but even she knew that it weighed on her. She thought it funny, that such things mattered to her now...just a short time ago she wouldn't have cared...or laughed.

The school came into sight, so Minagi thought it might be a good place to get some rest, or some food before she decided to head back towards Fort Junes again. Luckily, she didn't get into any random encounters, and with her hands behind her arms she walked towards the door of the school. Still waring the school outfit one size too big for her.

Yu, too, had made his way to the school. He had been doing a fairly solid job of fighting through the ever-growing hordes of demons so far today, but it wasn't long before his numerous injuries started getting to him, even with how much they had been treated. Arrow wounds are a pain like that, especially ones so carefully aimed to cripple him, ones that Shiori told him he may not even have survived if not for his Persona. By midafternoon, he needed to find himself some shelter to recouperate, and St. Hermelin seemed like an excellent place for that.

Though tired and seeming to be enduring pain, the Inaban walks more than staggers as he enters. As he peruses about the area, it doesn't take long for his eyes to catch the familiar sight of Minagi. "Shimizu-san," he calls out to her with a casual wave as he begins to approach, "have you been alright? I hadn't noticed you since after you disappeared with Hoshimoto-san last night."

Minako's been bearing up well. She met up with one of her classmates--well, Midori's from 2-A, not 2-B, but that's still close enough!--and re-joined with Himeru, so her spirits have been good. She also spent a lot of time with Minato, making sure he's okay, catching up with him, just /being/ with him... She's crossing the school grounds, coming away from checking the fields to make sure everything's normal (and also just get out of the cramped confines of the school; she likes her school okay but not when it's almost all she's been hanging out in for the past couple of weeks), when she spots Minagi and Yu approaching the main doors.

More to the point, they look like they've seen /way/ better days. Minagi is understandable, she fought that demon girl too, but Yu looks *really* bad, and more importantly, he's cute! Minagi she'll apologize to later, given as Minako now knows for 100% that she wasn't just saying things to be hurtful.

"Yu!" Minako calls, running up towards her and Minagi. "Minagi-chan! Are you two okay? You look like you've been hurt pretty bad!" It might just be accumulated wounds from fighting in the streets for so long, but the brunette's concern is genuine nonetheless, even if she stops next to Yu first.

If Minagi was a flirt, she might understand what is going on here.

She is not, however.

She looked down at herself for a moment, realizing that...yeah, it has been a few days sense she HADN'T had a fight...or a good shower...or somethign to eat...or Aki dickery. She looks over at Yu, and gives him a weak smile, shaking her head.

"I came back...but by then it was already over..." She says, "I walked off after that. I needed to clear my head." She continues. Looking at Minako, she scratches the back of her head. "I really could use some food."

Yu nods to Minagi as she answers before explaining his own absence, "Yes, I didn't return right away myself. I do hope Wataru is okay, though. When Shiori and Lucas took him back, he didn't look too well." That was an understatement. He was literally on the brink between life and death, and of course, no longer with his Persona.

Before he could give much thought the situation, a familiar face approaches. Wasn't that A-ko from several days ago? As quaint as the girl was, he certainly appreciates the concern. With a ready smile, he assures her, "I'll be fine. I've had worse. They're just a bit of a nuisance right now more than anything." That was the truth;though the wounds were at one point critical, their well-chosen locations made heavy movement, like fighting hordes of demons, for any extended amount of time a bit irritating.

"How've you been, A-Ko?" Yu asks genuinely, trying his best not to let his condition be a hinderance. It really was nice to see the unusual girl again, especially since their time in Mikage-Cho would likely soon be coming to an end. Some at Fort Junes were preparing to mobilize against the Harem Queen, and if all went well, they would be home free in the aftermath. Prior to now, he never spent long in Lunarvale, so he figured they'd probably be distant for awhile.

Minako has no idea who Shiori or Lucas or Wataru are, but she does turn more serious when he comes up. Is that what Minagi was really talking about? The brunette had just assumed she was talking about the fight with the demon girl Alice. "I hope they're okay," she offers, since even if she doesn't know them, she doesn't want anyone getting badly hurt. A smile for Yu, too. "I'm glad you're not so bad off as you look, too!"

Just in case Minagi *did* mean the fight with Alice, though, Minako reassures her, "Don't worry about it. It was really intense for everyone. We've got some stuff inside--my big brother and me got food before we crashed here, and there's leftovers from when I made lunch earlier with my friends." Her grin turns mischievous as she slips her arms around Yu's. Even if she's worried about his health, a girl has her priorities~ "Yu, you'll join us, right? <3"

A genuinely amused laugh sounds when he calls her by that nickname. "Ah~, that's right, you wouldn't know, huh? That was actually kind of a joke, that name. If you want to call me that, that's fine too, but my real name's Minako Arisato. But you can call me Minako-chan! <3 I've been doing really well, at that. I was reunited with my brother and I got a Persona!"

Woah, she just comes out and says it.

Minagi was about to fill her in...

But then food!

Minagi's stomach growls really loudly, as she looks embarrased for a moment. Her cheeks turning a slight shade of red, before rubbing a hand behind her head. "I guess I am hungrier than I thought..." she says, laughing a little.

Minagi also gave Minako a smile, turning to look at her a moment. "It's good that he's found someone from his family again. I am really happy for him...for you both. Though, I guess it makes sense now why you reacted to me like you did." She continues. "Minato is a special person to me." she boldly states, but no doubt not meaning it like it sounded. "Though it will be interesting to see how Aigis-san reacts to you once we get out."

Yu just sighs in Minagi's direction at her sudden reaction to food. The sigh, however, is followed by a small grin as he returns his attention to Minako, giving one his familiar nods, "That would be wonderful. I haven't eaten anything all day. Hibiki-san would kill me if that kept up. She says I should eat when I'm hurt." Although he did think she worried about him too much at times, he was grateful for all her help and wasn't certain if he'd still be alive right now if not for her.

He struggles not to quirk a brow at her incredibly open revelation. And at the fact she was Minato's sister. He saw no relation, furthermore their demeanors were like night and day. "Arisato-san," he adresses her properly now, still feeling a bit awkward doing it (he was used to calling Minato that), "when this all is over, may I advise not being so...open about that? It's not something everyone understands, while others understand it too well." Would it be after all this? This was a pretty bizarre occurence in and of itself. Regardless, he turns to Minagi, as though to give her the same warning, thought silently as he figures she won't need it, given her history.

Minako giggles at the roar of Minagi's stomach, curling a hand up to her mouth. That smile only gets more effusive when the younger girl expresses her happiness for the Arisato twins. "Thank you! I'm really sorry I hit you, too. I..." She trails off for a second before she gives her an apologetic look. "...well, it looks like you understand already, so I don't have to say it." Minagi *was* saying something about her friend saving her, so it's not surprising to Minako to hear her say he's important to her. She does, however, let go of Yu's arm to give the younger girl a quick hug.

"Oh, Aigis-chan's already here. She gave me a hug and said she had to watch over me," Minako tells the younger girl as she pulls back. "She said there's reinforcements here too! Himeru-chan's pretty worried about it, though... I can't blame her, either. If the demons here get out into the real world..." It'd be serious trouble for everybody.

But then Yu is calling her Arisato-san, and Minako rounds on him, planting her hands on her hips. "Aahhhh! You just called me 'Arisato-san'! What's with that cold form of address? I just told you to call me 'Minako-chan'! Is that any way to talk to a cute, delicate girl like me?" She straightens at the warning, though, blinking. In a world like this, at least, it's not like anyone would hide that they have a Persona--not when it's their way of surviving demons. But in the outside world... Minako nods. "Okay. I'll remember that. Thank you for worrying about me, Yu! <3"

Aaaaand it's right back onto his arm, though this time she's guiding him and Minagi inside. "C'mon, you two! I'll show you to where we set up the food."

D'awww...

Minagi returns the hug, it was like she had another sister...or something. She grins, it was a bright end to a rather somewhat gloomy day. Well, less end and more middle...god shut up! Time is hard! "Oh, it's alright! You only hit my head." She says, tapping on her own skull a minute. "It's pretty hard." She says, taking a jab at herself, but it was all in good fun.

"Aigis-san is over here?!" She says, totally surprised... "I haven't seen her in so long! I'm glad, but how did...nah, I'll ask that later. Probably Aigis just punched the barrier hard enough and let herself in." She giggled. And then back to serious town... "Yeah...if the demons get out...hmm..." Minagi didn't like the thought of this. "There are too many to just go hunt down either...man." She says, frustraited, she wasn't smart enough to figure this out!

Then Minagi turns to Yu! "Gosh! So cold! She is offering us lunch and you are so formal!" she says, giving Minako a thumbs up. She gets it, sorta... "And look, she's so modest too!"

Yu flusters some as Minagi chides him and Minako corrects him. He really wasn't used to people like her, people who were so open. "I'm sorry, I'm just concerned, yes, " he apologizes genuinely as he tries to shift to a more pleasant subject, "So how about that food?"

Assuming the group begins to move along, he would occasionally bring his attention back to Minako. Given how privacy was not an issue right now, he asks decides to find out how in-the-know she is forwardly. "So, Minako-chan," he tries to adress her as she wishes, still a bit unaccostumed to it, "How familiar are you with what's going on here? I don't suppose your brother or anyone has told you about what we've been up to?"

At least now that misunderstandings have been cleared up and apologies have been made, Minako and Minagi are on cordial terms! She laughs, the sound friendly and infectious, when the black-haired girl makes the jab about her head. "Yup, she is!"

...though come to think of it, Minako doesn't really know how she got in. Huh. Oh well! They'll get out soon enough, and it'll be just fine. They just... need to figure out how to deal with the demons too.

She giggles again when Minagi helps her double-team on Yu, too, grinning at the younger girl. "It's okay~" she reassures him--and then it's off to get /food/. Minako will gladly lead them to the classroom where they gathered everything.

"Uh... I know about Personas. Big brother told me about SEES and Evokers, too," she continues thoughtfully. It was kind of an inevitable Q&A session after she first saw him and a few others, then *herself* shot a ghost out of her head. "I've heard about Aki... but I don't really know *too* much more than that about how or why all this happened, I think." That part, sadly and ironically, wasn't as important when they were catching up.

Minagi flashes Minako a smile back, Yu had no chance against the pair of girls! Their power level was just too high!

As they walk, Minagi listens, "I honestly don't know what's going on here myself...and I've been here and involved sense before I had a persona. When you met me before, Minako, I hadn't awakened yet." She says, shrugging, "Though I wasn't normal before...it's a long story that can wait." She says, with a forced smile.

"I think the just of it is...Kandori's project was a success, but it got out of his control...or something? We have Aki, Mai, and Maki running around...some people are involved int his too...like a guy from SEES I didn't know too well...Wataru.." She grows a little more quiet about this.

Minagi tries to sort this all out. "I think what we gota do is...Uh...talk to the Harem Queen? But I don't know if that will solve anything. We still have to take care of the DVA system...And then there is Aki too..." Minagi seems to think for a while.

"Sorry, Yu, I don't think I really understand everything going on...All I know is certain people need to be punched, and some people need a hug...and some people need to be punched and then hugged when they are not so crazy anymore."

Yu looks between the two girls. Neither of them really seemed to have a grasp of the full picture. To be honest, he didn't either, but he'd like to think he had some goals in mind. Before anyone could ask him to, the young man was already manuevering a set of desks so that the three could sit together more easily. "We'll have plenty to talk about over our little meal then, yes?" He tries to word it as pleasantly as possible despite, well, everything.

He seats himself and invites the others to shortly after. "It's been a bit confusing up until now," Yu explains hopefully, "but I'm fairly certain that an encounter with the Harem Queen, in one way or another, will enable us to exit." He pauses for a moment before adding, his tone revealing his own frustration in pondering the matter, "Mai says she can be saved, but Kandori and Aki say she will need to be defeated. I think you know who I trust more."

"Wowww... I don't understand anything you just said," Minako tells Minagi, blinking her red eyes wide and proving Yu's impression of her completely right. In fairness, she's been spending most of her time managing not to get into any trouble and hanging out at the high school; it's hard to know the full extent of the situation, or even enough of the situation to know how screwed they may well be, when you're out of the loop like that, and when you don't know any of the people (or close to it) who were just mentioned. Just, ~whoosh~--over the head like a double-bladed throwing axe. Yu gets a smile regardless. "Sounds good!"

And then they're where they need to be, and Minako starts rummaging through the supplies. They're out of veggie soup now, but... maybe she could whip together something decent. The mini-stove's here too, and they've got plastic plates and cups... "I'll make us some rice balls," she declares, smiling. That's simple enough! She gets a pot, fills it with water, and puts it on to boil.

That won't happen for a while, though, so Minako rejoins the others. "Hmmm..." she murmurs, sitting down next to Yu. Her only cue here is that Aki's said to be a pretty horrible person, since Kandori and Mai are unfamiliar names. She smiles, regardless; she has her own opinions regardless of everything else. "Well, I like the sound of 'saving' better than 'defeating' anyway!"

Minagi sat down, crossing her hands and looking at Yu.

"Hmm...Mai said that huh?" she thought. "I dunno...she is just as unreliable as Aki is.." She pondered. "As for Kandori.." She clenched a fist. "He has a lot to answer for himself." Minagi wasn't sure if she was still afraid of him any more. She has persona, but...even with Chariot, Minagi wasn't sure if she could have taken him on. Her reaction to him was always fright for some reason.

"And sorry, Minako...it's a lot complicated. I kinda just make stuff up as I go along."

"Kandori is the CEO of SEBEC, also extremely evil." she comments. "I dunno what this Harem queen is anyway.." She sighs. "Even then, if WE can get out...I don't that will solve anything. We still need to stop the DVA system." thinking about this.

"I don't know about you, but I am not leaving until the DVA system is off line, and this place is normal again. Also, these demons are gone. I wana go home just as much as anyone..."

"Thank you," Yu nods with a small grin to Minako as she begins to prepare food for the three. Hopefully, her cooking is better than the infamous culinary ability, or lack thereof, of most his female friends. If she were separated from her family for awhile, he figures she may be, like Nanako and he, fairly independent in that regard and used to preparing food. He'll be finding out in a few minutes, though.

Looking between the two girls, he explains what he's discovered about the mysteries of Mikage-Cho so far, "What Lunarvale has become is a manifestation of a girl, Maki's, mind. Aspects of her reign here. Mai, Aki, the Maki who walks the city now, and even this Harem Queen, supposedly, are all parts of her." Of all the puzzles here, the one of their relation and it's significance was one that baffled him most. A girl with multiple shadows who rejected each other. Would the suffering Maki be alieved if they did so no longer?

The boy then looks to Minagi and answers in agreement, "Yes, we need to keep Aki and Kandori away from the DVA at all costs. In any place under its effect, they are truly gods." He seemed to shiver at that thought. Aki may be a sympathiable being, but her malice was undeniable. and Kandori was just Jerkass Evil Incarnate. Them, as gods, perhaps outside of here?

"Extremely evil?" Minako repeats. "Like how?"

A thousand years later... No, not quite, but that's probably what it'd seem like after Minagi and Yu go through the laundry list of what Kandori's done to deserve that particular label. She smiles and shakes her head at Minagi's apology, but... that really doesn't change the fact that she has no idea what the DVA System is, or what the circumstances are, or who these people might be. Yu is rather more helpful in that regard, and while Minako still doesn't completely get what he's talking about, it seems clear enough that she nods once in... quasi-understanding.

"So it's... kind of like she's a broken mirror, and we have to put the pieces back together?" she attempts to summarize. The mention of /gods/, though... Something about that--it puts a bit of a shiver through her spine. "Gods? Are you serious? What kind of gods?"

Beyond, you know, extremely malicious ones.

Minagi let lose a big yawwwwn....

"Bad ones..." She said, trying to keep her eyes open. "Kandori...uses people. It's...hard to explain..." She says, and finally when they were not looking.

It might come to realize that she had fallen asleep. Apparently Minagi's exhaustion had caught up to her.

"Pieces of a mirror describes it well," Yu says calmly, impressed by how quickly she picked up on the idea, "but it's not us who has to put them back together. It is they who need to accept themselves as part of a whole. This is much harder than it sounds." Convincing Aki of her ties was ironically the easiest, it would seem, but also the least meaningful. Convincing the other sides of her that they were indeed one with as dark a being as Aki would be much more difficult. And until they did, Aki would cotinue to harbor malice. Talk about a super-psychological Catch-22.

"Of all the parts of Maki, Aki seems to be the most powerful. She rules absolutely in this realm. Because she loves Kandori, she's invested in him some of this power. Kandori was the one who drugged and hooked Maki up to the device behind all this in the first place, using a front of 'trying to cure her condition. Why any part of her loves him enough to call him 'daddy' is beyond me," the silver-haired boy explains the pair's divinity as best he can before looking to Minagi. He wasn't surprised a long talk like that would put someone to sleep. He gives an adoring little chuckle at the sight.

"Anyway, we've definitely been at work at getting to the bottom of this," he notes before moving to a perhaps more welcome subject, "You know, Minato never told me he had a sister." Not that he was surprised by that. Until recently, he didn't know the SEES captain all too well. And there was always the possibility he didn't remember her. Yu himself didn't completely recognize Nanako and Dojima when he first moved to Inaba.

Awww. Poor Minagi, all tuckered out. Minako gives her an affectionate look, petting her hair gently before she gets up to check on the water. It's good and boiling, so she measures out some rice and puts it in, stirring the mix before putting on a lid. She starts bringing out other ingredients too--there's no seaweed, but there *is* some furikake, and they managed to get some pickled plums too for cheap. As she does so, the brunette listens, occasionally looking over at Yu, nodding, and making noises to indicate that she's paying attention.

"That's really horrible!" she declares as quietly as she can to let Minagi rest while still conveying her outrage. "Hooking a girl up to a machine like that... How could he?! I hope she can get herself back together!" LITERALLY! Hur hur hur! ...ahem.

Minako gives Yu a bittersweet smile. "I don't think he would've," she replies, shaking her head. "He thought I was dead for the last ten years, and I thought the same about him. You aren't a member of SEES too, are you, Yu?"

Awwwkwaaaard.

"I feel sorry for her too," Yu says empathically before pondering his own actions, "Perhaps that's why I've been making so many efforts to help her here. I mean, I hardly even knew her before." He wouldn't admit it, but he's really no stranger to...helping strangers. At least some of the people's he's rescued from the TV world qualified as such prior.

"I'm sorry to hear that," the silver-haired young man's face does somber as she mentions that, "though I suppose it is good that neither of you are as you assumed, hm?" He does his best to sound pleasant before answering her question, "No, I work with another group of friends in Inaba. We've been working on solving the troubles the town's been facing, like the murders, and Kandori's new little pet project that just showed up around town. It's pretty complicated, and we have enough to focus on right now here, but maybe I'll explain to you a bit more about what we do and most of us got our Personae after this mess is cleaned up. It would give me an excuse to talk to you again to." He gives a playful little grin with that last remark.

"It doesn't matter if you didn't know her before! After all, you can't get to know someone until you start to talk to them, right?" Minako smiles at Yu. "You can still start to get to know someone, even if you're thrust into a situation and didn't know them before. That's how it works! I think it's really admirable that you're trying to hard to help her now, Yu."

A little laugh, and the brunette pushes back her bangs. She lowers her red eyes to the table, just the littlest bit of a warm glow on her cheeks as a smile creeps up her lips. "Yeah. I'm really... really happy he's okay. It feels like... I've finally woken up from a bad dream I didn't know I was having. Everything's different now."

Oho~, is that just a little bit of flirting, Yu~~? Minako giggles delightedly and grins right back at him. "Ahh, have you fallen for me? <3 I should warn you, I'm a bit of a heartbreaker! <3" She may not precisely know what a heartbreaker is. "But I'd really like that! I want to know everything about what my brother's been doing. Especially if there's been murders going on, that's just awful!"

Yu hides a blush as Minako praises his kindness. She really knew how to say the right things, didn't she? Her point really made him think. Until he moved to Inaba, he never really knew anyone. And if it weren't for these events being thrust upon him, he was planning to continue that trend. The more he contemplates the matter, however, the more he's glad he didn't remain a stranger to all he's met so far.

"Hopefully you two can catch up on old times some more once we're out of this," he says hopefully.

Then comes her comment at his gesture, to which Yu chuckles faintly and replies, "Really, now? Well, you certainly look the part."

His little flirting bout over, Yu rises from the seat and asks honestly, "Hey, would you like a hand with those? I prepare them for lunch all the time."

Perhaps that's just how Fools are. For all her friendliness, and for all that at first she just thought all of this was a prank being played on her by her friends, Minako never really formed any lasting bonds with anyone either. She's flirted, but she's never been on a date; she's made friends, but no one who stayed in touch after she left their immediate presence. But this is the beginning of a new story. Everything will be different now! Everything's already different.

"Yeah!" she replies, that glow deepening. "I'm going to transfer to my big brother's school, so we'll be together a lot from now on. We're all the other has left, after all."

She giggles mischievously at Yu's counter-flirting, and brightens when the silver-haired boy offers to cook with her. "Oh, really? Sure, that'd be great! We can split the rice up, and..."

> Minako and Yu spent time together preparing a meal... The hours flew by!