Misaki-chan

"It was fine," Mari replied. The others gave similar answers. "I am glad to hear that," Misaki smiled. "Mine was fine as well." The group talked for a bit, jumping from topic to topic. Eventually, the singer said, "Ah, by the way, we do need to go down to the police station to give our stories. I would rather we not do it tonight, so maybe we could go in tomorrow if everyone is well enough to go?" "Yeah, that works," someone said. Suddenly, Misaki felt her phone buzz in her pocket. One phone conversation later, she turned to the group and explained, "It was the police station. I scheduled us for 1 PM. They will interview us at the same time. I made sure to request a translator for Mari too." "Cool, that means we have time to get some breakfast before we go." "We should probably get to bed guys; that way we can get out of here early." "Good idea. Do you think anyone will mind if we sleep in here?" "I don't see why not." They quickly found some blankets and pillows to use by asking a nurse for some. As Misaki snuggled into her blanket, she slowly let sleep take her. The next morning, they woke up and got to work at getting Aster his papers for his release. By the time they had everything sorted out, it was already ten am. "Ugh..." the singer said, massaging her neck as they walked out of the hospital. "My neck hurts from sleeping in such a weird position..." After a nice breakfast at a nearby cafe, the group headed down to the police station. Once there, they were greeted by two detectives, one male and one female. "Are you Mimori-san and her group?" the female one asked. "Mmm, we are. I'm Mimori Misaki." "Nice to meet you," the female replied. "I'm Detective Yamashita and my partner here is Detective Endo." "So how long can we expect to be here?" Misaki asked. "Well, we're a bit short staffed at the moment, what with everything that happened yesterday, so we can only go two at a time. But I doubt it will take more than an hour or two." "Ah, do you have the translator I asked for my friend here? She doesn't understand Japanese. Only English." "Don't worry," Detective Endo replied, "I speak english well. So who's going first?" The singer turned to her friends. "Does anyone want to go first? I can if no one else does."

The sound of gravel crunching caused Misaki to turn around to see who was behind them. She stared in shock as she saw the KID impersonator, pointing his gun at the group. His once perfect mask now had a crack, a fact that she noticed as he tilted his head to the side. It felt questioning, though without a face to show an expression, it was hard to tell. All the singer could hear was her heartbeat as the group and KID stared, not moving. Slowly, the KID imposter proceeded to raise one of his hands to tap his head, his sternum, then his shoulders one at a time. A cross? He then put the hand he had just used to make a cross on his body around the gun, readying himself to shoot. This is the end. No getting out of this. She closed her eyes tightly, not wanting the last sight she saw be the splattering of blood of the people she had gone through so much with the past few days. It was only when there was no sound of gunfire, but instead a clack did she open her eyes. She stared in shock once more as she took in this sight. The mask had fallen off. It revealed the face of a middle aged man, who looked so... tired. He fell to his knees, the gun clattering at his side as rain began to fall. The rest had happened in a blur, the disbelief that the crazy adventure she had been dragged into was over. One minute she was standing, the next on her knees as her legs gave out from exhaustion. The police came soon after, taking away the man who seemed so small compared to his alter ego in handcuffs. Some officers helped her and the others get into the nearby ambulances, getting them to a nearby hospital to get them checked out. Misaki was found to be fine, and as a result was approached by the police first to answer questions once she had been discharged. "What can you tell us about what happened?" one of them asked. The singer paused for a second before replying, "... It's a long story and I've had a long day. I should also be with my friends. I'll just come to the station in a day or two." Before the officer could reply, she pulled out a business card from her wallet and handed it to them. "Here's my card. Call me later to set up the time of interview." Without another word, she turned around and headed towards Aster's room. While it was probably rude to leave an officer like that, she was just so tired and needed to take time to digest what had just happened. It ended just as suddenly as it began. But... It doesn't feel over yet. It still feels... dark. Like, something still isn't right. I'll talk to the others and see if they feel it to. As she made it to Aster's room, she saw everyone was up and talking. "How are you all feeling?" she asked as she grabbed a seat. "Was everything ok in your checkup?"

"Where's KID?!" Mari yelled over the chaos, looking around for criminal that was no longer present. "I'm pretty sure that he/she couldn't have gone far," Azura answered between her pants and coughs. "I'm quite positive that the impersonator's nearby. It's highly improbable that KID escaped the crash and explosion. Even if he/she jumped off before the collision, he/she wouldn't have gotten away without a scratch considering the train's velocity at that moment." The girl then eased herself up before wiping some dust off her jeans. "However, it's also possible that KID has an accomplice. We need to find the impersonator quickly before he/she gets away. Though I highly doubt that." "Good idea," Misaki replied, following Azura's lead by taking out her own handkerchief and covering her mouth. "So who wants to go and look for the phantom thief? The remaining one has to stay and guard our blacked out friend here...oh nevermind. I guess he's awake now?" The singer turned towards Aster, whose eyes were fluttering open. "Are you ok?" she asked, checking over him for injuries. "We should get you to a hospital, you probably need to get checked out. Can you stand? Do you need help getting up?"

"How do we stop a train? Well we ask it nicely. I see it happen all the time," Aster said. "Where the hell does that happen?"Misaki heard someone asked. "My friend Dora says so. You know, the explorer." ... Huh? I am so confused right now. "Anyway, the first idea is to run into walls. The second one is to run after the train and think of the third idea." "Misaki's right. Of course we can't just jump on the train. That would be insane," Azura said, gently kicking a pebble a few inches away. "We need to slow the train down, then. Or better, completely stop it from moving. The question is, how? And please, I don't want to say vé mas despacio to the train." "Hmmm, your train of thought is correct," the boy replied as he took out a piece of string with a hook out of his many pockets. He looked at the string before showing a displeased face. "I don't suppose anyone has any rope? Unless we want to slice our hands and perhaps someone's neck with the string? We can hook it to the train and take a ride- I mean climb after the KID Impersonator!" Tossing the hook in Azura's hand, Aster took off running after the train. "What are you doing?!" Misaki shouted as she watched him jump into an abandoned car. "We need to think this through more!" "You're crazy!" Azura yelled out as she followed Aster. "You too?" the singer said. "God, I'm not going to run after a train, especially one going that fast. Aster always seems to have a crazy plan that works, so I'm going to assume he can pull it off again." But while she wasn't going to go run after a train, it didn't mean she wasn't going to run after the others. Knowing Aster, someone was going to get hurt and at the very least she could try and stay nearby so she could help in the aftermath. Misaki took off, trying her best to not trip over the debris that covered the area. Eventually she slowed to a stop as the car and the train left her in the dust and she ran out of breath. "Where... Is a... good way... to catch up...?" she panted, wiping some sweat off her face. It was then she saw a taxi, with a man climbing out. "Ah, wait!" she yelled as she ran over to the man. "You're the taxi driver, right?" "Yeah, doesn't mean I'm gonna drive you! Have you seen that rampaging train?!" he replied. "I'll pay you 5000 yen if you get me close to the train. Just, fifty feet behind it." "Are you insane?!" "10000 yen." "... The things I do for money," the girl heard him mutter. "Get your ass in the car missy, before I change my mind." "Thank you!" she said, climbing in. Misaki barely had time to buckle herself in when the taxi sped off, chasing Aster and the train. Thankfully, the taxi driver knew how to drive fast and soon they were able to see the end of the train. "Almost there..." she said to herself when she noticed that, in all the smoke, Aster was ramming into the train with his car. "What the...?!" "What is that person doing?!" the taxi driver said, just as shocked as the singer. She watched as he rammed into it again, causing the train to go off balance and teeter back and forth between falling to its side and righting itself. One last push and the train fell over, skidding on the road like fingernails on a chalkboard. The taxi screeched to a stop as well, stopping 100 yards from the train. Misaki jumped out of the car, trying her best to see what was happening in all the smoke but couldn't see a thing. As the smoke cleared up a bit, she saw Azura heading towards Aster, who was crumbled on the ground. "Aster! Azura!" she yelled, trying to get their attention to see if they were alright. But neither replied as the girl hauled the limp boy towards a large piece of debris. "What...?" she said, taking a closer look at the wreckage. "Crap! The car!" The singer had forgotten that the car was likely badly damaged in the crash and could be leaking gas. She jumped back into the taxi as she said frantically, "Drive away! Hurry! The car, it might-" Aster's car exploded, metal and glass flying everywhere. She shielded her face, but when nothing came she slowly opened her eyes again. There was fire and car bits everywhere, but not near the taxi. We must have been out of range. "Oh, I have to check on Azura and Aster!" she said, quickly exiting the taxi again. "Hey, what about my money?!" the taxi driver asked, angry. "Oh here," she replied, throwing the bills haphazardly as she starting running over to where the other two had hidden. "Hey, hey! Are you two ok?" she yelled, coughing as some smoke got into her throat. "Come on, we should go."

The group discussed who the KID impersonator was, listing off everyone that it could be. As the suggestion of Aeigo-kun came up, Misaki said, "Mmm, I do not know about him... He may be self centered, but I do not get the feeling that it is him..." The suggestions and discussion kept going until a familiar voice said, "Ah, sorry to butt in on your precious exposition time, but I'm going stop this conversation here." The singer turned around and saw Lilliam, who had somehow appeared. She shifted her body away from the woman, remembering what had happened at the police station. "How did you get in here?" she asked, forgetting to talk in english. "Just thinking with portals," came the reply. She then pointed at Alice and sneered, "So this is where you were hiding. I heard you crashed into the boonies, but I never thought you would've survived the impact. Tougher than your psyche, that's for sure." She then turned to the rest of the group and continued. "I'm just here to make clear a few things. First, that Alice," she said with a wave towards Alice, "has been helping you underlings a bit too much and its starting to send distortions into the whatchamacallit. Second, you're pursuing this KID impersonator thing a bit off track. That Chris Aeigo isn't the KID impersonator. And finally..." Lilliam paused before looking out the windows facing the city and pointing. "That KID impersonator is down there, driving a train and causing huge chaos. Now, I'm cool with chaos, but I thought you may want to know. But whatever you do is up to you, and don't forget that!" She paused again, then looked back at the group. "Well, then, I think that's all! See ya, underlings!" With a wave, the woman jumped out the window. Misaki rushed to see where she had gone, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Come on, we have to hurry!" someone yelled out. From the window, the singer could see the general area of where the train was, so she said, "I know a fast way to get to the train. Follow me!" They managed to finally lay eyes on the train swerving through the streets as they crossed a bridge ten minutes into their running. It was a massive black and white train, with smoke trailing above. It moved randomly, sometimes hitting a standerby and sometimes a building. On top was the KID impersonator, watching the destruction gleefully. "How in the world are we supposed to stop that?" Azura said, shaking her head in disbelief. "We need to get close to KID." "But how?" Misaki replied. "It is not like we can just jump on." This was going to be hard. But they had to stop this mayhem once and for all.

Azura nodded in agreement. "We'd be able to get more information if we're to go in groups, I think. We need to be really cautious, though. Who knows what we might bump into while we're investigating. Let's hurry up and get back. The others should be awake by now." "The question is go where...well let's go to Alice's place. We can get some answers and, I suspect, meet up with Nara too since she's missing. You guys probably have some stuff left there too. A car to be exact, Aleksander," Aster said. After they packed up all their stuff, the group headed out. The area looked familiar, though Misaki couldn't quite place where she had seen the it before. Suddenly, Aster exclaimed, "Mein Gott!" Stopping, the singer turned to see what Aster was looking at. On the wall was the words that she had found the night before. That's why I recognized this place, it was where I saw that. "But what could it mean?" Misaki heard someone whispered next to him. "It translates to God is dead." Aster replied, deadpan. "No." Aleksander said behind the wheel. "It says more like 'by god' than god is dead." "No, 'Gott is tot' means God is dead. I saw it yesterday and looked it up," Misaki replied. After a few minutes, they started walking again. It didn't take long for the group to get to Alice's place. Once inside, Misaki gave a small wave to Ayano, who she saw pass by as they entered. I wonder what we're going to do here. Guess Aster knows since it was his idea. Well, hopefully Alice can help us out.

Before anyone could respond, Kyoko let out a sigh. "First, I can't tell you what Shell's goal is. So that's off the table. However, I can tell you how to catch this elusive ghost. Is that what you want to know?" Misaki looked around the table to see if anyone objected. No one did, so the woman put down the muffin she was eating and covered her mouth as she yawned. "The impersonator works by remaining unknown. KID just happened to be a really convenient target to masquerade as, but really, the power comes from the Noh mask he (or she, let's not discriminate here) wears. I think it wouldn't matter a bit if the impersonator was wearing a black robe or dressed as a clown. The power is in the mask." "See, that mask is a great thing to hide your face behind. Can't tell who's behind that mask, so people start making things up. The result is that the impersonator has a lot of power that he or she didn't have before but does now. The impersonator draws power off fear – fear of the unknown." "If this phantom grows strong by remaining unidentifiable, then all you have to do is make the phantom identifiable. Reveal the phantom's face. Then his (or her, discrimination isn't cool at all) powers should wane. Should, at least." And with that, Kyoko stood up, grabbed her muffin, and headed out the cafe. The group sat in silence for a second before the singer said, "Well, we should all hurry up eating so we can get to catching KID. At least now we know a way to defeat them! Since I am guessing we are going to be starting after we are done, are we going in groups or no?"

The ideas for what to ask bounced between the group as Kyoko munched on a muffin. Asking for the KID impersonator's location wasn't going to happen, since the woman had told them between bites that she didn't know where he was. Mmm, come on Misaki, can't you think of anything? "Come on folks, I'm supposed to be the stupid one here so rack your brains," Aster said. "I'll even make a suggestion for you; What is Shell's goal? No no no priestess-sama don't count that as a question yet." Misaki heard the woman let out a low growl of discontent, but said nothing back. The singer replied, "That works with me. We could also ask how to catch KID like Azura said before or if there is anyone who could help us catch KID." (BTW, Moho, heads up that I'm going to be gone from the 14th to the 20th since I'm going on vacation and will be lacking internet)

By the entrance was Kyoko, the woman they had met yesterday. Should we approach her? Try and get more answers? Maybe- Before she could finish her thoughts, a waiter went over carrying their food. After he set it down, Misaki glanced over at the woman one more time. Maybe we shouldn't bother her. "Itadakimasu," she and a few others said in unison before digging in. As she ate her crepes hungrily, she heard someone say, "It's not like I can't hear you, yeah?" Misaki stopped, looking at the source of the voice. It was Kyoko, holding back a yawn as she made her way over to their table. "Priestess? I'm not a religious figure," she yawned, this time openly. "Well, this place doesn't have much to do in potatoes, but I personally like coming here..." Before anyone could talk, she kept going. "Since you're here, it saves me the effort to send Shell over to give a message. Plus, Shell...can be a bit unreliable, as you know. Anyway, the message." Another yawn accompanied the sentence as she said, "You asked me about Alice when I gave you the opportunity to ask a single question. I said that I didn't know any Alice." She cleared her throat, then said, "Well, I lied. If the Alice you know and the Alice I've heard of are one and the same, then it's no wonder that Shell didn't try to eliminate you back there." The woman paused, then gestured to one of the open chairs at their table. Misaki tacitly gave her permission with a nod, seeing as how they might as well let her sit down. Once seated, Kyoko continued. "I don't want to elaborate anymore on that matter. And since I didn't answer your question properly back then, I think it's alright to ask another question." She raised her index finger. "One question." One question? I don't know if I have one... The others probably have a good question, but I'll try to think of one just in case.

"Your plan is rubbish. He isn't just walking somewhere, waiting for us to see him. We need something he is interested in. How about stole gem?" Aleksander said. Ari nodded, "I nodded with Alek, but we need to do that in stealth." "I don't carry any jewels on me though," Aster replied. "And KID is too OOC - that means out of character - and isn't targeting gems at all. He wants destruction, chaos as per his own character alignment. Skelly did suggest staying together but it would be faster if we went and checked previous checkpoints to see any new flags due to the development that happened yesterday." "I'm cool with it," Azura said, eyes closed. "Just send texts only when necessary, please. And make sure your phones are fully charged. We have a long day ahead of us, so it's best to have our phones' batteries full while we're out. It may be our most convenient way of communication. So, where do we start?" Before anyone could reply, Mari said, "I'd rather not give out my number to all of you. You need not know the reason. But I agree with the plan. I can easily testify that KID isn't after money or riches with my wallet. But KID may be anticipating our plan that does not involve the lure of riches. We can use this plan as a base plan. Well, if you don't want to add complexity to this otherwise simple plan, it's alright..." "Would you like us to get you a prepaid phone then?" Misaki asked. "That way you can stay in contact with us while not giving your phone number out. I saw some at an electronics store nearby." "Anyway, here's my number," Azura said after Mari responded, taking out her phone and repeating the number. Misaki quickly imputed it into her own. Once everyone was done, they went around in a circle repeating their numbers (if the person wanted to) until finally all the numbers were swapped. "Okay, so like Aster suggested earlier, we should check out the previous checkpoints to see if we can find anything new or perhaps some clues that could help us," Azura said as she glanced over to one of the bedrooms. "Let's decide on who goes where once everyone's awake. I'll be heading down for breakfast. Who wants to come? My treat~" "I will come. Snacks are not the best breakfast," the singer replied. Once they gathered everyone who was coming and decided on a place, they headed out. It didn't take them long to reach a small building, with the words Cafe de Fleur curling about on its sign. The store wasn't very full, with only a few people scattered at the wooden tables. The group quickly claimed a table by the window and set their stuff down before heading to the counter to order. As they waited for their food, they started talking, words overlapping with others. As she glanced out the window to watch people walking by, she heard someone say, "Hey, isn't that...?" Looking at them pointing at the door, she turned around to see who they were talking about. (Leaving who it is vague since we could use some interaction with some NPCs but don't really care who.)

"Did I miss anything?" Misaki turned to look at Mari. But before she could answer, Aster jumped up, summersaulting through the air before falling onto the floor. What the hell? The girl watched in surprise and confusion as he got up and punched a wall. "Well, we need to capture KID," he said once it seemed that he had gotten whatever caused him to randomly act the way he did out of his system. "We need a net of course. We also have a stun gun and ammo is out of the question, I'd rather not say what all I carry in case I frighten you. But I know we won't find out much just by being here. Let's all exchange numbers and set our GPS on. We'll create a group and the person who spots him or her will send a message alerting us of their location. I trust everyone has cellphones?" The singer gave a nod, though she wasn't quite sure about this plan. Well, it's not like we have anything better... Aster looked apologetically at Azura, who Misaki saw frowning, before looking at Mari. "I'm not forcing anyone for this, you can all refuse, really. Do mind that I expect a better strategy from the ones who disapprove if we are to have no plan at all. I am stupid more than I should be." "Well, I do not know about the others, but this plan works fine with me. But should we all look for KID on our own or go with other people so the person who spots KID will not be alone?" she said, asking between bites of food.

" I saw it too," Azura said, her voice low. Misaki turned, not noticing that the girl had been present. She continued, "Just saying. Anyway, Misaki's right. We should start planning for our next move, since KID's probably planning for his/her next one too. Let's start...tomorrow, I guess? I say we call it a night, since a lot of stuff's happened today and we need to recharge if we're to catch that impersonator." Azura yawned. Ari added before heading off to his room, "Let's plan the counter attack tomorrow. I'll need some sleep right now..." "It's up to you guys if you still want to stay up. If you need me, I'll be in dream land. Seriously, though, you should catch some Z's while you can. Especially you, Aster-nii, you have dark circles under your eyes. Oyasumi." Once she said her goodnight, she headed off to go to sleep. The singer took a seat nearby and grabbed one of the onigiri to eat. I probably should have eaten more than that korroke. "Azura is right, we should sleep," Misaki said. "It has been a long day..." "Yeah, it's probably a good idea," someone replied. "Well, I am going to bed then. See you tomorrow." After she put the remaining snacks in the nearby mini-fridge, she laid down in the first empty bed she found and let herself sleep. By the time she woke up the next morning, she could hear some chatter outside the room she was sleeping in. Groggily, she made her way to the main room and grabbed a seat by the others. "Am I the last one to wake up?" Misaki asked. "Yeah, you are," someone replied while some of the others looked at her with confused faces. Ah, I spoke japanese, didn't I? "Well," she said as she got up to go grab the food she had gotten the night before so she could eat, "what is our plan for KID?"

"Probably some brain-dead guys are write that." Misaki jumped a bit at the sudden speaking before turning around to see who it was. It was Ari, who seemed to have come back the same time as her. "Excuse me?" she replied, not quite knowing what he meant. But before he could answer, Aster opened the door for them and asked, "Found anything interesting?" Ari said, "No. You?" "Well," the singer said as she entered the room, setting the bag of snacks she brought on the nearby table, "I am not sure if it is interesting, but I saw some graffiti... It was the phrase 'Gott is tot'. It gave me the chills." "'Gott is tot'?" someone said. "What does it mean?" "According to Google, it is german for God is dead," she replied before giving a small shake of the head. "But, I doubt it is important. We should start our planning now. We need to catch KID! So, does anyone have any ideas?"

"Ah, it's been so long since I've eaten some korroke..." she said as she walked under a dull light post. As Misaki finished up the last of the korroke she bought from a 7-11, she looked around to see if there was a trash can around. Huh, no trash can. Whatever, I'll just carry this back with me and throw it out the first chance I get. But I hope everyone likes what I got for snacks! With the trash in one hand and the plastic bag with various snacks in the other, she started making her way back to the hotel. She hadn't done much in the few hours besides walk around while listening to music (though she had stopped once it had gotten dark) and looking around in a few shops. But it had helped clear her head and she was ready to go back to the hotel room to tackle the mystery that was the KID impostor and everything to do with them. "Ah, I should call the group so they don't worry..." she muttered as she got out her phone. It only took a few rings for someone to answer. "Hello?" "It is Misaki. I thought I would call to tell you that I am on my way back to the room. I hope I was not too long." "Nah, you're fine. When are you going to be back?" "Soon. Maybe ten minutes? It depends on-" While mid-sentence, she passed by an alleyway and noticed a trash can. After quickly peering around to see it was just a one way alleyway, with no other turns, she decided it would be safe enough to quickly go into the alley to throw away her trash. "Misaki? Hello? You there?" Forgetting she had been on the phone, she quickly replied while she opened the trash can and threw her trash in. "Ah, sorry. I was distracted for a minute. But as I was saying, it depends on how busy the streets are." "OK. Well, hurry back. We're going to start our counterattack on KID!" "Counterattack?" she asked, not knowing what the word meant. "Like, how we're going to catch the KID impostor." "Oh, ok! Well, I will hurry then. I have snacks too so we can eat those while we think." "See ya soon." "Good bye." After hanging up, she went to go exit the alley when something caught her eye. In bloody red letters, the sentence GOTT IS TOT was sprayed. The phrase sent a quick chill down her back, though she didn't know why. She stared a little longer before going on her way. She had already dilly-dallied enough, she needed hurry back. But all the way back, she just couldn't get the words out of her head. "Gott is tot..." she repeated to herself, the words fumbling in her mouth as she cut through a park nearby the hotel. "What does that mean?" Stop focusing so much on the words. They aren't important. As she stepped off the elevator to their floor and made her way to their room, she dug her hand into her pocket to see if she had brought a room key with her. Crap. Forgot to get one. After a swift knock, she waited for someone to answer the door. When it didn't immediately open, her mind went back to the words. Gott is tot... Gott is tot... I know it isn't important, but my gut is saying differently... Unable to stop thinking about it, she gave into her desire to look up what it meant and grabbed her phone from her pocket. One google search later and she got her answer, though it didn't bring her the peace of mind she thought knowing the meaning would bring. God is dead.

As the electricity raced through the dog, it stopped its killing rampage and halted all movements. Thank god the electricity stopped it. Hopefully it'll stay that way. Around her she cold see people gathering around the the bronze statue since it had stopped. "Sorry, coming through!" Misaki turned around to see the source of voice, recognizing it from somewhere. A girl with a green cap emerged from the crowed and made her way over to the group. Ah, she's that girl from the other day! The one I thought was giving directions to Tsukiko and Mari. The girl quickly looked the bronze dog before returning her gaze to the group and let out a whistle. "Good job." She then walked over and took the gun that Ari had (when did he pull that out?) and put it in her pocket, saying something the singer couldn't quite hear. "You've done me a big favor. I'll spare you on the details, but by stopping this attack, I can clean up this entire mess." The blonde girl then clapped her hands together, causing a thick, obscuring mist to consume the entire crossing. As it happened, Misaki heard a weird whirring sound and suddenly felt a little off balance even though nothing was moving. After a few moments, it stopped as the mist faded. Once the mist was completely gone, the singer noticed that everything was back to the way it was before the attack. The bronze statue was back to sitting on its podium and the people who she had seen get their throats ripped out by the bronze dog just minutes before were back to walking around with the rest of the crowd (who seemed to be going about their business as if nothing had happened). As she looked around, she caught a glimpse of the blonde girl who had caused the mist. What happened to her other clothes? First she was in something casual and now church robes? When did she even have time to change? After hearing someone clear their throat, she turned her attention back to the girl. The church robes flickered as they faded into the clothes she had been wearing before. "Oh, and before you ask, this isn't something I can do every time. First, if I keep messing with life and death, Shell's not going to be very pleased with me. Second, you have to stop the attack before I can fix the problem. If the attack goes through, like the 109 Building attack, I can't do anything about that. That being said, I would like you to catch that impersonator so we don't even need to go through that, but I think you all need some rest first. I'll see you guys later – under more friendly circumstances, perhaps?" After letting out a yawn, she snapped her fingers. All of the sudden, the group was no longer at the crossing. Instead they were in a hotel room, one Misaki had never seen before. "Well, ignore anything that said by Kyoko, she totally nuts. I'll play Payday 2 to beat some Skulldozers in Rats Pro Job tonight. Objection and I'll beat you up so bad..." Ari said, taking out a cigarette. The singer held back the temptation to make a face, not approving of the smoking. Hopefully he'll at least do that outside. "At least that idiot didn't noticed that I still have my crossbow... Bang for the buck..." he said as he began to walk out the room. "I'm going to buy a cigarette. Anyone who have something to buy? Let me buy it..." "I am good," Misaki said. "But I may leave the room for a little while. After all that has happened, I think a nice walk would be a good idea. I will have my phone, so if you need me just call." Without waiting for a response, she quickly exited the room. After everything that had happened the past few days, she just need an hour or two by herself. As she entered the lobby of the hotel, she felt around to see if she had her earbuds on her. Damn, not there. Whatever, I can just ask the front desk if I can grab some here. One conversation with some hotel staff later, she had some earbuds that she plugged into her phone as she exited the hotel. The first notes of one of Tchaikovsky violin compositions began to play as she looked around to see which part of Tokyo she was in. OK, so I've been here a few times. I shouldn't get lost. Time for a walk.

"We need a plan..." Aster said before digging through his pockets and taking out fireworks, duct tape, a c thread and a small fishing net. "Why are you carrying all that around?" Misaki asked, staring. Last she checked, that wasn't stuff someone usually had on them. "For survival?" "It'll be a pretty heavy target to stop... We'll need all our hands to get this thing. I say we get moving while we talk shop," L offered, pulling her stun gun from her messenger bag. Where do these people get all this?! All I have is my phone and wallet. "Not sure if this could work. Bronze is a conductor, and the thing's apparently alive though..." She heard the boy mutter something, but didn't pay much attention as the singer shot a quick look at the statue. She winced as she saw some blood spray and quickly looked away. "Why of course, I've got just the thing!" Misaki turned to see Aster take out what seemed to be a tube of toothpaste of his pocket and snapped on rubber gloves. Squeezing a fair amount of he began to coat the purple thread he had with his hands. His gloves had started to tear and slice at some places, showing how sharp the thread was. "Where'd you get that anyway?" L asked. "Kite flying competition. Illegal of course, cuts other threads," Aster replied as he quickly changed his gloves and began to tie one end of the thread around L's stun gun and the other with a seemingly heavy tile with the letter "A" on it. "Okay, now that the wire is coated with my Salt Paste 2.0 -don't worry it's a legit toothpaste, 1.9 had some coal in it too- we can electrocute that guy from a distance!" Aster said. "Wait, how-" The singer started to ask how exactly toothpaste could electrocute it since when the duo charged after the rampant dog, Elli holding the stun gun and Aster the tile. She watched as the dog seemed to evade them for a while until all of a sudden Mari jumped in front of it, causing it to be a bit distracted. Aster threw the tile straight at its leg. It struck and the momentum caused it spin around and encircle its leg. L pressed a button on her stun gun, letting a current of electricity loose. From the conversation before, Misaki assumed that it went straight from the stun gun to the dog via the thread. She watched the dog, hoping that the electrocution would subdue it. Please work please please please don't just makes the situation worse.

As Misaki looked past the Hatchiko statue and at the sky, she noticed that the sun was setting. It's already that late? Great, and we still are stuck as to wh- Her thoughts stopped as a fluttering shower of white cards suddenly descending around the Hachiko statue. After picking one of the cards up and seeing the KID logo on one of the sides, she looked around to see where the cards were coming from until she saw the KID impersonator was standing on Hachiko's head. They didn't say a word as they got the attention of everyone in the crossing. Once he had it, he started to pull out something out. With the events at the police station still on her mind, she instinctively moved to cover her vitals in case of what he was grabbing was a gun. Instead , however, what he revealed was a magician's staff, completely black except for its white tip. He twirled it around, then placed the white tip onto Hachiko's head. The sound of the staff banging against the bronze resonated through the silent crossing. After a moment of silence, there was another sound, an odd one at that, of growling. The statue of Hachiko jumped off its base, bronze suddenly animate with vicious intent. Misaki jumped, scared and confused. What the..?! The animated statue began to growl at the audience, who began to back away. Suddenly it lunged, taking down a man by his throat. The singer turned away, not wanting to see the bloodshed. She could hear the screams as it kept taking people down. Then, the KID jumped off the statue and began to run away from the scene, firing a gun at the crowd to disperse them. "Cowards... In the Great War, he'll be shot by the commissar...." she heard Ari say. "I've got my own wish... Just like Hellhound from Black Ops. Looks like he's have some cards on his sleeve... Always one step ahead..." Watching in surprise as he took out a gun, he yelled out, "Alright! Elli and Alek! Follow me! We're gonna catch that fool who fleeing! The rest of you, take care of that 'Hellhound'!" "How?!" she yelled back, though it seemed clear no one was listening. Goddamnit, how are we supposed to take down a bronze dog?! For real, it's not like we can melt it or anything seeing as how we don't have anything to melt it with. Is bronze magnetic? Could we subdue it with magnets? Oh god of course not where the hell are we even going to get magnets strong enough to stop it? Think Misaki think, how can we stop it?

Ari sighed, "I dunno. Better wait for this redhead to wake up..." "People say this is an ideal spot to meet," Azura said. "Hachiko is a truly remarkable dog. It's amazing how faithful he is to his owner. Honestly, in the list of things or places that could possibly be connected to KID's attack, this Hachiko statue would be one of the last in mind. But there must be some reason why the lady led us here, and it's likely to be connected to the case. I wonder how?" "Maybe someone connected to the KID case will come here. After all, like you said this is an ideal spot to meet people," Misaki replied, making a guess since that was the best they could do. "Where am I?" The girl turned to see that L had woken up, at least enough to talk. "We are at the Shibuya Crossing," Aleksander replied. "Do you want us to fill you in on what happened?" Misaki asked. After receiving a nod, the group took turns telling the tale of what had happened in the past day, trying their best not to forget any details. "... and once we were at Shibuya Crossing, we started to discuss what we were going to do when a woman brought you to us and then took us to the Hatchiko statue. She talked about it having a darkness, left, and then you woke up," the singer said, concluding the recap. As she heard the group start to talk, she tuned them out for a second and stared at the statue, trying to sense the darkness her fan had talked about but failing to. I'm glad we got L back, but I really do wonder... Why are we here? Why Hachiko?

"Yo!" Misaki turned, seeing a woman in a leather jacket walking over to her. "You're Misaki, aren't you? I've heard you perform, you're so awesome!" "Ah, thank you!" she said, blushing a little. "It's really nice to meet fans like you." It was then she noticed that the woman was holding someone. The woman said, "Found this one tied up in a bathroom stall in a fast-food restaurant. Looked foreign, so I decided to bring her to you, the group of foreigners who've been making quite the racket. She one of yours?" After taking a quick look at the person and noticing it was L, she replied, "Yeah, it is. Thanks for bringing her back to us by the way." "Of course, of course!" the woman said. "Also, while you're here, why don't you take a look at the Hachiko statue?" The Hachiko statue? Why there? Without really listening to see if anyone would object, the leather-clad lady led the group through the crowded crossing until you were in front of the statue. After noticing the attention they were getting due to carrying L around, the woman set the redhead down on a nearby bench. She put her hands on her hips, wistfully looking at Hachiko. "Weird, it looks like Hachiko's gotten...darker. Not quite dirtier, but there's some kind of darkness surrounding it that wasn't there yesterday." Misaki looked at the statue, not feeling the darkness that the woman was talking about. "Well, there's something," she said, "like some kind of dark energy surrounding Hachiko. Gives me the creeps." She sighed, then began to walk off. "Good luck to you, whatever you got yourself into!" And with that the woman was gone. After a moment of silence, she heard someone scowl, "An unconscious L, then a 'dark' statue. So where's the big deal then? Waiting her to wake up?" "Either that or wake her up ourselves," Misaki replied. "But I am wondering why she brought us here... Maybe there is something here for us to find?"

Mari stared at the ground again, "That violinist said that the police couldn't help us. Well, I'm not basing this decision only on his words, but the mysterious phenomenon that happened with the policeman that disappeared when Lilliam confronted us. He suddenly disappeared. I think that black-haired girl noticed it too..." Misaki thought back to what Aeigo-san had said earlier. Didn't she mention something about a police officer as we were talking? Mari scanned the others' faces. "Something strange surround the KID impostor heists. I know it. It can't be a coincidence." "I agree," the singer said. "Something strange is going on, but we do not know what... But in the meantime, I think we should try to find out more about the heist tonight. Maybe look around and see what might be a target. Maybe we will find something that can help us with this KID impostor mystery."

"Huh. You seem willing for information. Boring. But since you're being cooperative, here's a freebie to start." Lilliam grinned. "The next KID attack will take place at the Shibuya Crossing." "Oh, hush, you." Lilliam said as the skeleton girl made a strange sound, shoving them aside and then returned her attention to the group. "Well, if you want any more information, you will actually have to pay a price. For every question you ask, one of you," she says, gesturing to her gun. "That's my price. I think that's reasonable. Oh, I forgot. The person that asks the question...that's the person that I take. Do we have an agreement?" Misaki stared at the woman, not sure what to say. An answer for a person... Is that even worth it? Again, the skeleton girl made a strange sound, though it was tinted with amusement. "Is...there anything you want to know...that badly?" they asks. Tsukiko took a one limping step forward. "I have a question." Lilliam grinned, as if to challenge the girl to see if she'd back down. "And yes, I'm certain about this. After all I'm injured and during the next course of events I'd be more likely a hindrance," the blonde said, answering an unspoken question. "We just got information about the most recent note from the KID impersonator. The note is telling people - or us - to leave the city. It's saying that it's dangerous here. Why's that? What is that we have to be careful of, making even this thief coming and warning us?" Lilliam seemed a little taken back by the question. She answered: "That note isn't meant for you." She took aim at Tsukiko and frowned, looking... disappointed(?) by the question. "I thought you'd ask something a little more interesting, a little more fun. Oh well." She fired, the bullet heading straight for the blonde. The singer closed her eyes, not wanting to see it happen. But when she didn't hear the sound of blood splatter, she opened to her to see the skeleton girl standing in front of Tsukiko. They was clutching its chest, but didn't appear to be in pain. Lilliam cursed, "Goddamnit you, why'd you mess it all up?!" She fired four more times, this time all at the skeleton girl. They recoiled as each bullet hit its mark, but didn't make any outward appearances to be in pain. She tried firing again, only to realize that her gun had run out of shots. Cursing, she threw the gun on the street. "Well...this scenario has gotten boring...rather fast," they finally said. "These people...are my prey, so I would rather...you leave them alone." "Damn you, Reaper!" They paused in response to the name. "Reaper...that's nostalgic...or is it?" The skeleton girl then proceeded to walk forward, back to Lilliam's side, and, turning back to face the group, grabbed Lilliam's arm. Looking at where the bullets had hit them, Misaki saw that they did, in fact, hit her and left holes too. However, there was no blood. Just... Holes. "I hope you enjoyed...this little act. Oh...we will see each other again, under less...friendly circumstances. You are all at death's gate...or are you?" With that, they disappeared along with Lilliam. Once she regained your senses, the singer turned around to see if Aeigo-san was ok as well but saw that her and her brother were gone. Where did they go? In front of her, she heard Aleksander and Tsukiko talking, though what they were saying was beyond her. It sounded like a European language though. "...Right now we need to head to Shibuya I guess," the blonde said, switching from the language she was speaking to english. "Does anyone know where Shibuya Crossing is?" Mari asked. "I do. It's not too far from this police station," Misaki answered. Once again, Aleksander offered to drive everyone to as close to Shibuya Crossing as they could get (seeing as how the traffic there was horrible and not something that was worth dealing with). Once they started driving, a silence fell over the group. "Say..." Tsukiko said, breaking the silence. "What should I have asked the woman instead of my question that she didn't even answer to. Personally I would've loved to know whom KID was referring to in his note even if it weren't addressed to us." "I think your question was a good one," the singer replied. "That woman was just being difficult." Other input was made, but the conversation died down again after a few minutes. Suddenly, some music started to play, much to everyone's confusion. It took her a second to place the song, but once she realized it was one of her newer hits that she had recently made her ringtone, she pulled out her phone and answered. "Hello?" she said. "Hey, it's Aster," the boy on the other side of the line said. "Long story short, our groups need to meet at Shibuya Crossing." "Well our group is heading over there right now actually. But you should hurry, we really need to talk." "About...?" "We can explain when we get there. It'll be easier." "OK. We should be there soon, so meet up at the place with the big red screen?" "That works. We'll see you then." After she hung up, Misaki quickly filled everyone in on what was happening. "We're meeting the group that went to the restaurant at Shibuya Crossing." It didn't take long for them to get to a parking garage to keep Aleksander's car before walking the next few blocks. As they were crossing, she saw the others waiting for them in their planned meeting spot. She waved as they finally met up. Once all the information had been shared, Aster said, "So, what do you make of it? I for once wouldn't mind going out with this Liliam." He let out a whistle, causing Misaki to do a little face palm. Really? She shoots at us and that's what you say? "We wait," Mari said. "For what?" Misaki asked. "I suppose there is nothing we can do, considering all we know is that the next attack will be here, but maybe we should call the police and tell them?"

"I-I-I'm fine! It has been a while!" Aeigo-san said, answering with a sudden crescendo. She eyed the area nervously, as if she made a mistake. Crossing her arms defensively, she said, "U-umm, what I think about the message K..." She paused, then choked on what seemed to be "KID". "The message K-KID wrote?" she continued. "I-I-I thought it was like...he was trying to talk to someone? B-b-b-but I could be totally wrong!" With hands flailing and face bright red, she quickly fell silent. Her brother cleared his throat. "So sorry to interrupt, but we were being chased by a mysterious individual before we made it to this police station." "So-" As if on cue, a gunshot rang out. Instinctively, Misaki jumped and moved as a bullet passed right by Aeigo-kuns's head and ingrained itself into the nearby wall. She turned around, seeing someone in a brown robe holding a gun. Aeigo-san immediately hid herself behind her brother, who turned to face the source of the voice. After pausing, he grimaced. "Ah, you." "You know them?" the singer said, fear and shock running high in her body. How does he know the person with a gun?! The figure shook, as if laughing, then took off the hood from their head, revealing a girl with short red hair and a wicked sneer. "Lilliam Nevermore, at your service." She pointed a finger at Chris, then opened her entire hand and spanned the entire group. "This is getting boring. I think I'll kill you all and end this." "W-What?!" she heard someone cry out. But before Lilliam could shoot again, another figure appeared behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. The redhead spun around, revealing a girl who looked very much like the skeleton man. "What the hell are you doing here?" Lilliam finally exclaimed. "Oh...don't mind me," the skeleton girl replied. "I'm...not here to stop you. Continue as you wish. I think this will be...interesting." The woman grimaced, but recovered her composure and turned towards them. As she took aim, Misaki cowered, hoping that the bullet wouldn't hit anyone, but Lilliam put down her gun and laughed. "Ha! I lie. I'm here to answer a few questions for you guys. But remember, there's a price for everything." First she shoots at us, now she's offering to give us answers to questions? What is with this woman? And where are all the police officers doing something about her? This is a police station for christ sake!

"Ah, t-that policeman...umm, never mind," Aeigo-san finally said after a moment's pause. What policeman? Misaki looked over to where the policeman the siblings had been talking to had been, but saw that he had since wandered off. Huh. I wonder why, especially considering Aeigo-kun had abruptly left him to talk to me. The girl still looked like she had something else to say, but it seemed her nervousness kept the words under lock and key. Noticing that she kept looking at the card Misaki had in her hands, then hiding her glance away, the singer said, "I assume you read the card. Do you have an idea what the message means?" She paused for a second as a realization hit her. "And how rude of me not to ask how you are. After all, it's been a while since we've last seen each other. Not since that event that Hayashi-san held a few months back, right? So how are you?"

"Not important," she heard Aeigo-kun remark. "What an impertinent person you are." He turned away from the officer he was talking to, ignoring Mai's objections, and walked up right to Misaki. Wait, did he- "W-wait a sec, big bro! That person is..." his sister called out, trailing behind, before the violinist raised a single hand to silence her. "Misaki," he said as took a glance at the rest of the group. I had forgotten how rude he is, regardless of his talent. "Aeigo-kun," she replied, knowing that showing the same disrespect he paid her would be a bad idea. "What a surprise to meet you here. I don't believe we've had the... pleasure of meeting outside of musical events." "All useless," he said, speaking in English even after she had replied in japanese (likely for the benefit of her companions). Though to what he was referring to as useless was lost on her. "I've heard the news. You were there at the 109 Building that fateful night, trying to play hero." "More forced into the role then anything," she said, switching back to English. "I suppose you're here to beg the police for help. Well, that's not going to happen. The police are just as stumped as you are, which is frankly embarrassing." He took a card from Aeigo-san, who had made it to her brother's side, before showing it to the group. "This was the most recent KID card left at the scene. I doubt you can get anything that the police haven't, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to show it to you either." "Thank you," the singer said as she took the card to read it. In crisp strokes, it said, "This city is no longer safe. Run away, far away." "What does it say?" someone asked. After quickly translating it, she could hear another person mutter, "What does that mean..?" Noticing Mai's nervous behavior, she asked, "Hey, are you ok Aeigo-san? You look a little jumpy."