Charles Patricius

[Apollymi]

Maintaining a state of blissful unawareness was one thing. Ai watched as Kazuhiko prepared himself for both offense and defense, and began to see this match more like a chess match than a simple card game. "Ara? Kazu-tan, is that a full blown strategy coming out in two turns. Should I feel flattered~" she said almost teasingly. In the meantime, a young man was walking up behind Emirie garnering himself an eye role from one like Konomi who was a bit more used to this type of thing. Still, it wasn't truly her place to interfere in others affairs. Just the same, Anya was watching and staring almost blankly at that boy who'd walked up behind her older sister. Emirie for her part in this paused her speech to Konomi and pushed her little glasses up onto her face. She took a shallow breath to gather her thoughts before speaking, deciding to acknowledge all necessary points. "I was having a rather enjoyable conversation, already, Hinokawa-san. Also isn't it quite unusual to try to strike up a conversation from directly behind someone? It seems like an invasion of personal space," she expressed immediately. There was no tonal variation to her voice. She was quite even tempered, but she also didn't turn around to acknowledge the lad standing behind her. She'd also gone without introducing herself at all, figuring doing such a thing would only lead to a false sense of familiarity that she wasn't willing to invite. "I won't be able to play for a little while yet, but that is also fine with me as I have all these people to keep me company already..." she made the gentle gesture all the way around the table. Was it a warning, or simply clarification that she didn't intend to talk with strangers truly? Either could be assumed, 'Big Sis, is managing. Good! Anya is proud!~' the pink haired girl though her eyes still glued to that young man.

Meanwhile, Reiji was busy showing Miko the rest of his stock. After they came to an agreement there was a certain indulgence mentioned. A lack of formality was the request from Reiji and given the way his voice sounded when he made the request, Miko would happily oblige. "I don't see it as indulgent or shameful. How people sound when they talk to each other is important...so, If you're sure, you don't mind and since we'll likely be seeing a lot of each other," Miko started "I'll skip the formalities, Reiji-san♪!~" Miko chirped soon after. "Though, I usually request equality for that sort of thing, I get you're on the clock and all... maybe later♪~" she mused innocently. If there was one thing Miko was always willing to bond with someone over, it was her innate love of Abe no Seimei. "Really? That's awesome. I kind of just ended up looking through all the cards and putting the decks together based on extra lore stuff I know about Abe no Seimei. I spend a lot of summers at the Seimei Shrine so I know a bunch of lore and the variations on it are a certified way to get me into something new. Was his first one supposed to be the Divining one or the one that screams Aggressive spell use? I could see a case for either, considering what his first life was apparently like," Miko claimed willing to gush over Abe no Seimei. As for her previous questions apparently they were a hefty list, Miko had the grace to look a bit embarrassed as she and Reiji were shut into this storage room together so she could see around it. This sort of scenario reminded her of the pantry situation with her mentor, though this man seemed a bit upstanding for that sort of thing. She learned of rarities, of the lack of this stores pulls of that particular card presently. "I'm going to need a lot of luck! I think that sixth deck is going to be my personal project..." Miko exclaimed as if excited. "Even so, i don't care about optimal combinations... this is Seimei-sama. Put in one of everything and let him guide! This is the only way to play! If you believe in Seimei-sama he'll believe in you♪!~" she exclaimed. Looking around at the rest of his merchandise, she was able to make a few minor interpretive differences between the decks she knew were being played and other things. "Hm, this is so much stuff.... I might have to start over. I wouldn't let my friends get normal stuff when all this cool stuff is an option. Oh, and I can get a plushy for Anya-chan! I like the little kitty one. It has the same face that she makes all the time~" Miko uttered. Yes, if she stayed in this room too long, she'd definitely be clearing this man of an awful lot of stock but that would be fine.

[Bloodedge]

Kazuhiko was indeed working his way through a strategy already. Even with his limited experience dealing with Ai, he'd seen enough to know neither she nor the deck she chose were to be underestimated. Well, there was also another factor. Kazuhiko put his all into every match he played. This would be no exception. "All part of the game! I'm not just gonna let myself walk right into an outright beatdown. If you win, you're gonna win against the best moves I've got!" he announced prior to a long silence he couldn't even explain. A few moments later though, he was gaining an understanding. Why? An exchange between Emirie and one of the local lads could be heard, with the latter not seeming very content to take a hint. "Gomen, gomen! I know it's weird to walk up behind like this, but I didn't want to get in anybody's way on the other side. This is a pretty big table you guys have here," the orange-haired boy claimed. Emirie obviously had all the company a person could want in an outing, and then some. Hinokawa wouldn't be discrediting that, but what he brought to the table was a different sort of offer entirely. He even leaned in a bit closer to speak more gently, all to separate his conversation with Emirie from whatever she thought of the others. "I get it, but a little one-on-one is good from time to time right? I'll keep it real; I'm not just trying to play games here. We could go get our own table and chat, or maybe go grab a bite to eat? Coffee?" he pestered. In one moment, his hand shifted from the chair to Emirie's shoulder. Kazuhiko witnessed this alongside Emirie's totally disinterested expression, but... 'I don't know what this feeling is. It's weird. I feel weird,' he thought. Little did he realize, he'd yet to pass his turn... and he was making more progress toward scooting his chair back to make room for a rise. Before he could, however, Seiichi was speaking to the lad. "I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be bugging off by now, dude," he interjected. By then, another interruption was well on its way. The smellier of four boys from that other table had seen a grand opportunity in the past few moments, deciding now was the time to strike. He'd also be heading toward Emirie.

Meanwhile, Reiji was given satisfaction via Miko's acceptance. "Arigatou gozaimasu," he said with a slight head-incline. She was seemingly just as willing to forego formalities the other way around, but an understanding was shared about his current position. "I'll keep it in mind if I ever find myself in our company outside of work," was all he said about that. Reiji didn't imagine that possibility without becoming the chaperone of some tournament-related trip or something of the sort, but... he also hadn't expected his earlier trip home with Sakura. Life had become very strange this last few days. Moving on, Miko had a lot of appreciation for Abe no Seimei ─ appreciation she was openly willing to share. Reiji could follow along as one who respected the historical figure and thoroughly enjoyed the card game renditions. He could at least keep the conversation going in relation to the cards. "The Diviner deck is the second to release. The first follows the 'fox child' story in which a young Abe-dono commands multiple different magics to destroy the opponent. After those, there is the summoner playstyle, the exorcist, and the enchanter/territory playstyle, in that order. Your plan for the new Outer Path actually sounds very fun. It's always good to see someone who isn't just playing the meta for meta's sake. I wouldn't assume that playstyle will make a deep run in big tournaments, but... it is possible, and it would definitely be fun and within the spirit of the deck," he rambled slightly. "Anyway, you're free to select anything from in this room as well. It's all for sale even if I can't find space for it outside. If you need help bringing something down, let me know." As he spoke, Reiji reached out to bring down the plushy Miko spoke of. It was an interesting choice, he thought. "This one? I think it's actually one of the new additions to Abe's third deck ─ one of the shikigami maybe."

[Apollymi]

There was a certain energy which Kazuhiko seemed to bring to all things. He was doing his best, even in a game against a relatively new player. "Oh? That's a positive stance, if I win, I know the victory is mine without the feeling of being shorted, and if I lose, I put up a good fight. Interesting choices, Kazu-tan~" Ai commented almost absently. Still the lad had yet to pass turn, but Ai knew this was likely. The folly of mankind was often reaching too high... and everyone was able to see such folly at work. Konomi would only be seen shaking her head, as any normal person would have moved away from a girl whose demeanor was so standoffish, but it seemed sense was not on this one's side. The lad known as Hinokawa wouldn't take the hints offered and seemed content to keep talking to Emirie, even after she'd done all that was necessary to make her stance known. She looked up with those purple eyes of hers, seeming to narrow in annoyance as the lad offered apologies with no real move to correct his errors. No... he moved forward with them instead. "It is almost like we intended to keep to ourselves. Funny how such arrangements don't seem the proper deterrent," Emirie said but again there was nothing playful in those words. She only became more disinterested as this lad leaned in further to share quieter words and apparently try his hand at persuasion. "Hinokawa-san is there something you're not understanding? I'm sure I mentioned you were invading my personal space and you did not correct it and only moved closer, I am not making you an invitation nor accepting one. Remove your hand from me," she said a clear and concise sentence. Her face had shown something akin to annoyance. She was too young to be annoyed by a random person. Anya stared continuously, her eyes not moving from the boy behind even so she heard that string of thoughts from Kazuhiko and looked towards him. Her own eyes sparkling, encouraging even, 'Papa should protect!' that was the thought that Anya had. Ah, but he didn't have to immediately, Seiichi had decided to help out, pointing out what was missed and being more direct about it. Emirie had spent part of the morning bonding with her twin, she appreciated his help in this moment, and sent him a look tainted with relief. Her observations of humans so far said that men who ignored women usually would back off if another man said so... this was made excessively clear after the issue with Soma earlier. Before she spoke again though... she paused, her breathing becoming nigh nonexistent, why, something was coming and it was assaulting her sense of smell enough that she didn't want to speak and take in the air which was being polluted by that gross boy making his approach.

Meanwhile, Miko was in that storage room, apparently getting her way with a few caveats. The knowledge that this man was proper during business hours would mean she wouldn't be pressing the issue of his address for her while he worked. That didn't mean however that she'd let it go, it seemed he was nice enough to make the coniseration himself. "You don't have to thank me," Miko uttered quickly her face blushing intensely as it always would. Moving on, her questions about the Seimei deck order were answered specifically. Reiji was quite knowledgeable about it which only served to increase Miko's happiness. "Sou ka, creation cycle then... makes sense," she mused as she looked around. "Meta is for the faithless... I am not. I believe in Seimei-sama♪!~" Miko stated fully. "Besides if I can't play the way I want to and feel satisfied by the process and outcome, I am doing myself and everyone else a disservice," she expressed her thoughts on searching up metas and using the same tactics of everyone else. Still, knowing the kinds of things she was looking for would make her major collection easier to manage. Beyond this, she was handed that plushie she'd asked about and could only fawn over it just a bit. "Squee♪~" she nodded as she received it. "If all of this stuff is for sale, I see a lot of things that could help personalize the experience for myself and my friends. And don't worry, one of us is really into analog gaming and between Saku-chan and Kazuchii, I don't see us skipping it in rotation at all~" she said about their group activities. 'Hm, if I want the best value and for everyone to get a box, I would have to get one for everyone present and then for those who can or would show interest and one for luck,' she thought while doing quick math in her head. "In addition to all the other things I am going to end up asking for today... I also need twenty of this sets boxes. They were planning to do a box opening when Saku-chan gets back from her trip and I don't want anyone missing out," Miko asserted. As for the rest of the things, she would easily begin searching through specific mats, boxes and album variations for the group.

[Bloodedge]

Hinokawa wasn't making much progress ─ especially with the interruption of Seiichi from a bit down the table. He was already having a tough enough time breaking the ice, much to his own annoyance. What he didn't need was the addition of some goody-two-shoes. "Ehh?" Hinokawa uttered, his existing impatience showing as annoyance toward Seiichi. "What's that? You her boyfriend or something? I'm doing a thing here," he stated. Seiichi glared, his brow furrowing briefly. At the same time, Kazuhiko was trying to figure out what that strange feeling was. He watched the oddest interaction happen across and down the table, but his mentality only settled when his eyes wandered to settle on Anya. He looked into that expectant, encouraging face and had a few thoughts about his current emotions. 'Is that it? I feel like they're just... unworthy. Is this dad mode? It feels so weird. I think I should...' Kazu paused there, finally realizing he was halfway out of his chair already. 'When did I get here?' he wondered. Looking toward Emirie again, he saw a struggle most disturbing to witness. That face ─ that terrible face he'd seen too many times had an additional meaning he'd never expected. That couldn't be allowed at all. "Gomen," he said to Ai. Their game would be interrupted before he even passed his turn. First though, Hinokawa was interrupted by a shoving... from none other than Hanabira. "Oi, didn't you hear the girl talk? Hands off buddy!" he announced, aiming to weasel himself into the spot previously occupied. "Don't worry, Oujo-san. You don't have to worry about lames and inactive boyfriends when you're in the same building as me. C'mon, let's get you to a safer place and I'll let you know the dangers of a card shop♥~"

Hanabira had one arm extending. He intended to touch Emirie's shoulder and usher her to another location. Sadly for him, that hand was stopped as Kazuhiko grabbed his wrist. No normal human had seen his trip around the table. In truth, he'd only leapt over it to snatch Hanabira's wrist before contact could be made. "Dude, that's dumb. Who do you think is gonna let you get away with that move?" he asked of the other male. "Huh? Ohh, I get it! You guys are all in this together to keep all the girls! So they're all actually single huh?" Hanabira questioned. For whatever reason, he seemed wholly incapable of freeing his arm. Kazuhiko's hold wasn't budging even by a millimeter. Knowing Seiichi was feeling a bit antsy with the 'no assaulting humans' rule in place, Kazu decided an allowance was to be made. "I didn't see anybody get their ass handed to them at all," was all he said. Only a blink later, while Hanabira was trying to understand that statement, Seiichi was out of his chair with a fist sinking into the smelly lad's cheek. The impact alone sent him closer to Kazuhiko. Of course, Kazu had frustration to vent as well. He pulled the boy past his own body, and a knee to the gut sent Hanabira crashing into a wall ─ after which his larger frame would land atop Hinokawa. Kazuhiko and Seiichi bumped fists thereafter as the former looked to the table of remaining lads. "Anybody else feel like stepping out of their league today?" That question came with a glare ─ one featuring eyes that seemed to glow scarlet. For a moment, there was naught but silent shock from that other table. . .

Speaking of shock, Reiji was surprised to hear the opinion of another player who shunned the meta. He always believed there were still some gems out there who understood the point of retaining fun, even in competitive scenes. Even without seeing this one's deck or playstyle, he had respect for yet another player today. "You're already moving onto my favorites list, Miko-chan," he said since there was no one else to hear his informal address. Reiji would receive another surprise in this little meeting, though. He had around 80 cases of the new set available, and Miko wanted... twenty of them. Reiji paused with a few items in one hand and the Abe bag in the other, wondering if he even heard her correctly. "You want... twenty cases? For a single group opening? I've seen vendors who don't order that much. I remember when that was the total number I ordered for stocking purposes. Aren't you all mostly new players?"

[Apollymi]

"No..." Emirie started to speak but had to stop. That gross smell was encroaching upon her, and it was stifling. An assault to her nose which made her retch physically as the smelly lad tried to stop one, but introduced his own grossness in a manner way too direct for Emirie. Ai for her part in this simply waved it off, "No worries..." she offered. There was a certain amount of violence she expected from the males of this group, and if Soma wasn't enough of a deterrent, perhaps this next bit would be. "Ha! The only danger in this card shop is you. But I suppose all of you want to learn this lesson individually~" Kaguya said as if amused. Being turned down nicely wasn't enough. The wrong idea was gathered, by one lad who thought Seiichi came to Emirie's defense as her boyfriend, instead of their actual sibling relationship. She also knew he could only do so much given they weren't supposed to be hurting humans. "He's smelly!" was Anya's understanding, said aloud with clapped hands enough to make Kaguya snicker and Ai, stifle a laugh. Meanwhile, Chika as a parent was likely about to seem odd. "Great note, High Five!~" she said offering the girl a hand slap which she took as if she'd done something great. There was panic in Emirie, pure and unadulterated at the thought of being touched by that gross male.

But luck was on her side, as Kazuhiko stood grabbing that hand and her twin brother being given the go ahead to act. The pure force given to that lad with a fist to the face was poetry in motion. And the follow up attack was also grounding. Anya watched with stars in her eyes. 'Onii-san, Papa... COOL!♥~' she thought nearly standing in Chika's lap with sheer childish excitement and admiration as she gave them both the thumbs up. This was peak drama to a child her age. And the bad guys didn't win. With the smelly one a safe distance away, Emirie could finally breathe a sigh of relief, though it was still tainted enough by stagnant air that she fanned her hands around herself. "Left bottom pocket on Mi-chan's bag should have something for you~" Kaguya mentioned. "I'll step out of my league if you look at me like that♥~" Kaguya flirted earning her a glare from Kei, who glared at her in return and received only a blown kiss for her trouble. Knowing that Miko kept a few handkerchiefs there. One was taken and held over her nose for a second or two. "Thank you for that. You would think it would be obvious that Seiichi is my twin... I thought I was very straight forward about my lack of interest. But that assault to my olfactory senses was far too great for me to overcome in a single moment..." Emirie mentioned. Looking at her father and brother with great appreciation. "Hai hai, I guess we're super lucky nothing happened~" Konomi said chuckling. These were a group of standup guys even without all the extra magical weirdness.

At the same time, Miko's desire to be addressed more informally was being acknowledged within that closed off closet space. The more she thought about it, the more something a bit less proper in a place like this would be an amazing turn of events. Still, she could allow this to progress at its own pace. "I do like being on a favorites list. I have one of those myself and you're working your way up too, Reiji-san!~" Miko said as the sound of her name hit her ears melodiously. Apparently, she'd be distracting him just a bit. She remained looking at things, gathering some in her own hands and pointing at a few others which fell out of her line of reach. She'd just grabbed up a starter deck featuring the 'God of Nature: Enlil' which she knew Emirie to be working on when the pause came from Reiji about her choice in number of boxes of the new set. "Yes, nothing is too extreme when showing devotion for Seimei-sama!~" she said initially only to have more valid points as well. "I want to buy twenty. Most of us are pretty new, but we're doing a lot of traveling and have a lot of downtime that doesn't allow conventional electronics. Besides, once any of us are into something, we're all in... I'm committed to my own deck and I know Kazuchii is committed to his. I know my friends will enjoy and I don't want anyone left out of the opening if they want to participate. I also have one for luck, in case I can't get what I'm looking for~" she expressed. "You don't have to get those together right now. We can grab them up before we leave, but I'm trying to get everyone working on protecting their collections and finishing their deck building before we leave today. Also, do you have anything featuring Astraea? I remember Kazuchii mentioning she's his favorite," Miko concluded almost innocently. This group took their activities very seriously and she was one hundred percent committed to all things Abe no Seimei.

[Bloodedge]

Before he got any form of response from the other males in the shop, Kazu heard a response from Kaguya. She could always be trusted to throw in a casual flirt whenever the mood struck. If nothing else, it served as a solid tension-breaker... for a moment in this case. "Later," he stated while Hinokawa squeezed himself out from beneath the larger, now unconscious male. "Oh, I see what's going on here! Captain Save-a-hoe's here boys! Thinks he can sweet his way in with all the ladies, show a couple of moves on guys who can't fight..." As he spoke and stumbled to his feet, Hinokawa received Kazu's glare; however he also reached into his pocket. A phone was revealed, and on it... was an image of one Tohsaka Sakura as she seemingly played around with the spunk of Kakihara Shota on her tongue. "But isn't this your girl from the other day? That's crazy dude! You're not getting anywhere long-term if this is what's happening behind your back, softie! How many of these girls are cucking you too?" the lad goaded, even scrolling to another picture of... what seemed to be a very expressive moment of orgasm from the impassive girl they'd seen in the shop previously. Little did Hinokawa realize, there was a magical weight bearing down on the immediate area. There was a darkness within Kimura Kazuhiko ─ one that was quickly rising to the surface as Hinokawa continued scrolling. When he spoke, Kazu did so with an eerie calmness and an underlying... hatred? "Sou... Hey, how many of you have seen that here?" he asked.

Though none of the boys at tables could sense the insanity, even Reiji had a strange feeling of foreboding from within that storage room. He couldn't quantify it, so he let it slip his mind within moments. First and foremost, apparently Miko had a list of favorites he was moving up as well. "That's refreshing to hear. Arigatou," he said. Regardless, twenty cases of cards was a tall order for anyone. It was quite heartwarming to see such dedication to the game. It was undoubtedly an order he'd be fulfilling, but first he'd be reaching some higher shelves for the items Miko couldn't reach herself. Reiji's left arm was full in no time at all. His right hand was also filling up quickly. "Kimura-kun is very obsessive over Astraea. I may have a collector's edition figure deeper in storage from her featured subset's release, but... Astraea isn't the most popular card or deck. These things usually have to be ordered ahead of time. If you're looking to make that kind of purchase, I could frontload it for another day."

[Apollymi]

Kaguya had tried to diffuse a situation. As always she was trying to keep things from escalating but it would seem that Hinokawa wasn't willing to save his own life and bow out gracefully. No, he'd decided lashing out was the point to take, even going so far as to provide evidence of Sakura's sexual activity and calling Kazuhiko a cuck. "You could have just been quiet. You didn't have to start this..." Konomi mentioned. While Soma counted as a delinquent, Kazuhiko and Seiichi had only acted in pure defense of an individual. "Oh? They have no sense of survival~ Anything that happens to you've earned~" Kaguya mentioned to no one in particular. But all the girls in this room could feel the magic oppressing the space. Even with Kazuhiko being so calm the danger was clear and present. "This isn't good at all. Would it be wrong to thank him for proving exactly why he was being ignored..." Ai mentioned whether she'd seen this coming or not wasn't obvious. Meanwhile, it'd be Angelica who moved to look at these supposed images. They were of Sakura maybe... "These look weird to me. What's going on did something happen to Saku?" she said of the images, but she also understood, that Kazuhiko was near a breaking point. "I know somethings about to happen here, Saku-chan is safe and having fun. I know who she is with right now and its no one who I think would be problematic enough to fake or leak nudes," Kaguya claimed, she implanted the suggestion that the images might be fake if only to keep them from further spreading. A quick text was shot to Miko, for two reasons, 'I know you probably heard it but, it's dangerous out here. Your King is going to execute a whole crew. Keep the shop owner busy for as along as you can~" she messaged Miko.

Within that storage room, Miko was getting a lot of things together. But she also felt something odd. She could hear the words, she heard the scuffle and all was well. Ah, but Kazuhiko sounded quite dangerous out there. Apparently, Miko was being thanked again. "Here to be refreshing♫~" she chimed. Still, she kept pointing at things she thought she or her group would want and got a text which had her slipping her phone into her hand. A quick reply would occur and she'd keep up what she was doing. 'Hai. Try and talk him down. If all else fails contact Saku and/or Hiru-nii, I was planning a reveal already :3 Sorry humans are so sucky today O_O' Miko added quickly and hit send. Soon enough she was holding more things and so was Reiji, she could only hope that most of this blew over before they had to exit and everyone got kicked out of this place. "Well, if you have any deeper in, I can hold some more of that stuff for right now. I'm stronger than I look, but I owe him a lot and I want him to have something nice today♪!~" Miko claimed in utter devotion and cuteness. Still if it worked as a distraction she'd definitely put herself between the door out and the search. It was the best she could manage for now. 'Gambareyo!~' she chimed.

[Bloodedge]

Just as Angelica believed, there was something quite 'off' about those images Hinokawa showed. Those were undoubtedly Sakura; Kazuhiko knew as much. The how and why were mysteries, but somehow... none of that mattered to him. She could have been whoring her way around Osaka, Japan, or even the entire world; that wasn't something he felt entitled enough to concern himself with. The real issue here was a decision he'd recently made about people like Hinokawa. He wasn't worthy. "No point worrying about that now, bub! Half of Japan's probably seen that bitch. Wait around a couple more days and she'll probably be able to tell you what the whole shop's baby juices taste like. Or maybe she'll be asking you to take care of her baby while she gets pumped full of the next one!" Hinokawa continued goading, as his next movement rolled over to a short video clip. The voice of Kakihara Shota played to announced an impending ejaculation that would find its way inside Sakura. Visually, there was a shot of her receiving quite the pummeling while she gave the affirmative for that exact outcome. Kazuhiko's eyes never left the phone, but his thought process didn't show. 'That's real. That's Saku. It does suck a little to see like that, but... that's not the issue. Why isn't that the issue?' he wondered. Whatever the case, Kazu's hand was slowly reaching up for the phone. "Ehh?! Going full cuck already? You should have just said you were that kind of guy," Hinokawa said. "Hell yeah; pass your next girl my way and I'll turn her out right in front of you!" another of the boys added. When Kazu's hand reached that phone, he grabbed it... and it crumbled. His eyes transitioned from scarlet to deep crimson as he mulled over Hinokawa's first words. "Half of Japan? That's about sixty million. I could kill sixty million by morning," Kazu announced in all seriousness. He thought nothing of it. Sixty million humans dead wouldn't even be a training montage worthy of the things that lay ahead for him. Hinokawa and the others were stunned to silence for a moment, but only due to the seriousness presented. Moments later... "Kaahahahaha! Oh, that's good! You want the whole anime protagonist thing, don't y─"

No further words would come from Hinokawa. Mid-word, the boy who ignored the warning of an easily-shattered phone found himself pressed into the wall as Kazu gripped his throat with a single hand. His feet weren't touching the ground, instead flailing about as he grasped at Kazu's arms ─ all to no avail. "Emirie ─ come here," Kazu stated. All the while, Reiji was having a very casual time in Miko's company, none the wiser to everything happening out in the shop. "Successfully, I might add," he said. Reiji scanned the storage room for something he would need momentarily. Miko did have an interest in the figure he mentioned, offering to carry some of the items he had. Ah, but he saw precisely what he was looking for: a trolley that everything in his arms currently could be placed atop and moved through the room. "I wouldn't dare put that burden on you whether you can handle it or not. You're already one of my precious customers, so you'll be taken care of," he assured. "Kimura-kun has some very dear friends, it seems. If you want to order something else in, the computer I use for ordering legacy items is near where I think that figure is. This way," he added, opening an arm to gesture down a corridor of shelves.

[Apollymi]

This man known as Hinokawa couldn't close his mouth and the more vitriol he spewed the more obvious it became that his punishment was about to be something ridiculous. Ai continued to watch, knowing the truth... every good hero had a dark arc and they were in the middle of Kazuhiko's even if they had long periods of happiness between the dark moments. One like Kaguya had stopped caring, even as the phone he'd reached for shattered. "These are definitely my least favorite kinds of people. All talk, no substance, no sense, no morals..." Kaguya didn't even have the heart to flirt currently. This whole situation sounded too familiar for her to be pleased right now. Kei on the other hand had something to say to that last man to speak, "Ewww, no one wants any of you stupid lightless cave dwellers..." Kei couldn't help the comment. Konomi was now whispering if only because there was much going on she thought the issue with Soma was something but what Kazuhiko was doing felt different, "Can we let him kill 60 million people, because that seems extreme..." she said carefully. "The number of us who could actually physically stop him is limited," mentioned Ai as if this was nothing to worry about. Chika was covering the ears of Anya but that wasn't helping since she could still hear Kazuhiko's thoughts. 'Papa, feels weird but it was still cool...' Anya thought as she looked around.

At the same time, Emirie soon heard her name. Having finally removed the cloth from her nose and mouth she pushed her glasses up on her nose, and stood. She had no reason not to answer her father when he called her so she'd approach, carefully. "Hai? What do you need?" she asked pleasantly as always for him specifically. At the same time, Miko was busy having a casual conversation with Reiji and keeping him as busy as she could manage without anyone being naked. Apparently, she was successfully being refreshing a wide smile spread across Miko's face. "Hai!~ Arigatou♪!~" Miko chimed happily. If she could keep this man successfully in this storage room until the front died down, she'd do her best. Whatever the case, Reiji wouldn't think of burdening Miko, he placed many of those items on a rolling cart, making Miko do much the same since all of it was things she'd be purchasing. He called her a precious customer, who'd be taken care of, and she looked up at him with large imploring eyes. "Sugoi! That sounds awesome, Reiji-san♪!~" Miko couldn't help herself. Her mind definitely took that as a flirt, but she'd hold off on that for now. And there was the mention that Kazuhiko had dear friends, "He really does. He takes care of all of us though so... we take care of him too~" Miko claimed without question. Beyond that point she could do a bit of ordering apparently. Moroever he offered to front some costs for ordering some specific things if she wanted. They were headed further into this space, which meant that there was less for ehr to field. "You'd really do that for me? Arigatou..." she said truly pleased about buying some nice things for her friends. She moved to slip past Reiji but wouldn't be able to completely clear him giving the cramped space, "Shitsureishimasu♪~" Miko uttered innocently.

[Bloodedge]

Kazuhiko may have been in the first phase of a rampage, or something of the sort. Oh well; the boys in this shop signed up for it with their audacious overreaching. For now, he was content to strangulate Hinokawa while waiting for Emirie's approach. She answered easily enough and stepped forward, but... other boys were trying to scurry away. "Seiichi," was all Kazu said. "Hai!" Seiichi replied while darting out to cut the other group off. While that was being handled, Kazu pulled Hinokawa down, forcing him to the floor with a foot in his back. "Apologize," he said plainly. Hinokawa, who'd been placed at Emirie's feet, was gasping for air and reeling from the pain of impact. No way was he going to let himself be beaten down by a cuck! "Guah! No way I'm gonna let y─" Interrupted again was Hinokawa, who received a prompt stomp to the back ─ one nearly costing him his ability to walk. "Once more. You'll never walk again. Apologize," Kazu demanded as the boy underfoot cried out. "AHH! Gomennasai gomennasai!" he answered eventually. "It's a start. Somebody wake up the other one."

In the meantime, a couple of the other boys were still lagging behind, seeing no reason to escape. They viewed Hinokawa as another individual who couldn't really put up a fight, so one of them was still laughing and goading when Kei spoke up. "You're one to talk! Nobody was looking to eat beansprouts today anyway, right boys?" he heckled. All the while, Reiji and his newly-freed arms thought he was taking the polite approach and letting Miko go ahead deeper into the storage room. Instead, he was unknowingly opening himself up to being one wall in a tight squeeze through the space. While Miko started shuffling by, he aimed for composure and avoidance of another massive misunderstanding in his life by addressing the ongoing discussion. "... Yes, it would be no problem. A bond of friendship as strong as what I see in you all is contagious. Seeing it only makes me want to insert myself in a similar way, so I'll do whatever I can as well," the owner assured. A nice, wholesome topic such as that would keep things moving forward normally, he thought. . .

[Apollymi]

Kazuhiko was busy showing everyone what kind of general he was on the battlefield against Saxons. His own children were currently acting as soldiers freely taking orders, Seiichi rose to cut off an escape route and Emirie got there to receive an apology. Kazuhiko was willing to force the issue with pure pressure against the spine of the boy he'd allowed to fall to the floor. The initial shot to his back wasn't enough, he'd tried to be at least verbally combative, but alas, he was soon uttering an apology. "The lack of intelligence in these beings is way too high," Emirie mentioned. "Thank you... for saving me," she added to her father in a manner which made her look a bit more like her mother. At the same time, the other of Kazuhiko's children born today moved, as Sena finally moved from her spot at the front of the table and walked around her brother, "Sliding through, Aniki~" she mentioned only to walk over and deliver a not so gentle kick to the fat lad's body, intending to make him hit his head once more and wake him from his peaceful unconscious. At the same time, a certain point had been struck... "And now he's going to get beaten up by a girl, way to lose the rest of your dignity..." Kaguya said about the one male who tried to heckle Kei.

The white haired girl who was a bit emotionally unstable to start with, who spent her time as a monster was no less one in human form. She stood swiftly moving forward she decided her best course of action was a soft tissue blow, so the lad who'd called her a beanspout, could still be laughing as her fist aimed to collide directly with the center of his form. She aimed to hit him hard enough to send him toppling to the ground after which she'd casually move to the side to begin stepping on and breaking his ribs, one by one. All the while, Kaguya was making an emergency phone call to one Daikichi Hiruko, who was about the only person she knew who could help them with their current number of potential bodies. Whatever the case, within that closed in space, Miko was... being her naturally distracting self and in turn being naturally distracted. Even while knowing exactly what was going on outside of this space, she was enjoying her alone time with one Akaba Reiji. First there was something in the wording of Reiji's statement which gave her pause, 'We got somewhere for you to insert yourself!~' said a once quiet voice in her head. 'Welcome back Sina...' she muttered in her mind, still she didn't disagree. No, Miko had tried to slide by Reiji and went on to speak, while shuffling her hips past him and rubbing against him about about thigh length with the roundness of her ass. "We wouldn't mind something like that, the old and young need each other for balancing purposes. So feel free to insert yourself as you like, Reiji-san♪~" she said those words and they might have been wholesome but the movement of her hips as she tried to shimmy past him, were anything but, though innocent she seemed, those shorts and that half top of hers weren't hiding any of the softness of her frame.

[Bloodedge]

Kazuhiko agreed to the lack of intelligence in these human scum. The longer he interacted with them in this situation, the more Kazu saw them as Saxons in need of culling. Luckily for them, this wasn't a war or a campaign; they had a chance to earn their survival. Besides... he had some individuals around to keep him relatively calm, like Emirie as she uttered words of thanks. "It's fine. I brought you here," he replied, taking blame for the situation even starting. It seemed all of his children were playing a part in this scene today. When Kazu needed someone to wake the fat bastard, Sena came to the call to pummel the lad into... what one might only be able to call a waking concussion. Hanabira woke with swirling eyes after nearly denting the wall with his head. Seiichi, who'd been passed on Sena's journey, winced at the treatment. "Waking CTE. That's one way to do it─" he observed. "Haah?! Ugh... what the fuck happened? Where am I?" Hanabira asked. Before he could even take another breath or reach for his aching head and stomach, Hinokawa's body was slammed into his and used as a buffer for crushing. Kazu knew Emirie had an issue with that one's smell, so he thought to limit contact where possible. "You're in Hell. Apologize for being trash before I send you somewhere worse," Kazu demanded, grinding one boy into the body of another in such a way as to keep both from... well, from mustering enough air to scream. Before that apology came, Kazu did have another question for Emirie. "His breath isn't going to bother you, is it?"

Ah, but some things may have been even worse. The boy so content to loudly heckle what he thought was the least mature girl of the bunch (bar the toddler) was discovering what immaturity really meant. A swift movement from Kei made him transition from laughing, to vomiting as a punch to the abdomen made his body coil even as it flew and rolled back. He couldn't even manage anything beyond that before a series of kicks seemed to crack something in his torso. For each rib, there was a full trickle from his eye and a gurgled screech from his mouth. Seiichi was still observing in the moment, feeling quite strangely about the method he was watching. Was that attractive? Where did he get that thought from? Either way, there was something else about it. "Two punctures," he observed, yet te kicking continued. "Sorry... five." All the while, the phone of Daikichi Hiruko was ringing as he enjoyed an impromptu tryst with Sakura on a private cruise. "Oya? Sumanai... I've got to take this. Keep going though♥~" he said while picking up the phone. "Moshi moshi, Kayacchi. Miss me already?♥~" he flirted without hesitation, even as some likely recognizable sounds were leaking through the phone.

In the storage room, Reiji was failing at keeping things moving toward propriety. Miko's response to his previous words were innocent enough by interpretation, but there was nothing innocent about what he felt. In having her ass rub along his thigh, she'd inadvertently be rubbing directly over his manhood. It took so little to get a physical response in such situations, yet she brought so much soft flesh that a more immediate result showed itself. Pinned against his leg by that cloud of flesh was a cock that stirred without hesitation, twitching as if fighting against an obstructive force ─ or as if literally rising to a challenge presented. "Ahem!" he cleared his throat hoping for a viable distraction. "Yes, balance is always nice. Sumimasen; I should have led the way. I didn't intend to cause any discomfort."

[Apollymi]

Apparently Kazuhiko wouldn't be accepting the thanks offered by one of his older daughters. No, he'd claim it was his fault for bringing her to this place. He strangely accepted blame without fault or hesitation, even though she didn't see it that way. "Iia, you aren't in control of how others behave. The owner of this shop is quite the stand up guy, there is nothing to be done about those who hide their disgusting selves in plain sight," Emirie summarized. It was obviously an issue of boys like these, who didn't know when to stop themselves. Keeping Kauzhiko calm was what his children were managing to do, but beyond that point there was the wake up of the fat one, which Sena did without any extra fuss. "Was that a compliment? I figured it was the best option. I'm not touching that..." Sena mentioned as if it was perfectly reasonable. As for the question posed to Emirie after the second person to try and assault her was woken up in a very rough manner, she found herself gently tucked behind her father. "It's mostly fine from here, right behind you... all I can smell is roasted almonds. That's kind of comforting actually," she mused seeming to take some sense of calm and comfort from behind behind her father in a moment like this.

Meanwhile, Kei was venting her frustrations on a target who'd earned it by her own, "Trash! How dare you waste food like that... the nerve of you!" Kei hissed quietly. Her words were for a lad who couldn't even properly respond. Ai would be the one teasing gently, "Eh? Kei-tan... you knocked his soul out of his body, of course he doesn't have the stomach to keep his food down~" Ai said lightly. "Well, he should have thought of that before he had the stomach to utter such shitty words to me! Die trash! My dumbass brother takes more punishment than this!" she would continue uttering, curses and annoyances at a boy in the floor. All the while, Kaguya was now on the phone with a certain individual. While he stopped to answer the phone, Sakura kept moving her hips, she was in front of him, backing into him rhythmically so that her skin was gently slapping against his thighs. "Hai hai, whatever you need to do, Hirrun♥~" she chimed. Meanwhile, the man on thep hone made a small smile come to Kaguya's face, "Oya? Sounding like that, I might actually miss you♥~" Kaguya also flirted. "Too bad that's not completely the only reason I am calling. We might have run into a few issues, and need a clean-up type situation. Are you able to help us out with something like that?" she asked in a casual way, but there was a certain underlying theme going on, one which would undoubtedly need care.

At the same time, Miko was learning how much of a distraction she could truly be. She was just innocnetly speaking, even so it seemed her words were enough to keep Reiji busy. Ah, but his body was honest if nothing else, and as she aimed to slide by him, she felt it. Something quite surprising hidden down the length of his pants gently rubbing against her bottom. "Boing!" she mused only to chuckle. "Hm, I didn't know he could rub off on me like that, still box is open♪~" Miko mused gently. She wouldn't immediately be moving away from this, no, the dimensions were a bit to startling for that. Even as Reiji cleared his throat she found herself wanting to be a bit devious. Ah, and the return of Japanese culture happened where he apologized for potentially making her uncomfortable. "Iia, I like this quite a bit better than the alternative, and I'm not uncomfortable," she managed looking up at him with those wide brown eyes. "At the risk of being a bit too forward, I promised myself to shoot every shot I wanted to take... and this is definitely a prime opportunity I don't want to waste," Miko mentioned while shifting her hips just a little up and down and knowing that the length was exactly the sort of thing she was interested in. "if you're interested, I am fully willing to take responsibility for the hardship I caused, Reiji-san♪!~" Miko mentioned. A tiny bit of drool was accumulating at the left corner of her mouth again.

[Bloodedge]

Emirie wasn't allowing Kazu to have blame for current events, but he had no further comment about that. The way he saw things wouldn't change. It should have been his responsibility to act before matters escalated, whether as a father or simply as the one who invited others along. In the end, that was his decision... just as it was his decision to gag Hanabira and stifle his breath if it proved too much of an annoyance to Emirie. Luckily for Hanabira, that wasn't the case. Since she wasn't bothered from her current position, Kazu would neither move nor let her be any closer to the bothersome rubbish. "Good. Stay there," he said, further crushing one lad using another. "You stepped out of your league. Twice. Apologize," he demanded of Hanabira. "Ack! Who the hell do you think you are? It ain't your league, you shrimp-dick cuck-o!" Hanabira replied. Swiftly did Kazuhiko's foot leave Hinokawa's gut, colliding with Hanabira's face and returning to its original position before bodies were even shifted. As a result, Hanabira's head slammed the wall once again, and his eyes came to a slow close. "Who? Oh... is he conscious?"

Two assaulters were currently making no progress on drawing out apologies. On Kei's end, it was arguable whether her victim could even speak past the blood and vomit flooding his throat. Seiichi kept watch with only one eye open. He wasn't sure how he felt about that form of abuse. Either he didn't want to get on Shirogane Kei's bad side under any circumstance... or he did under a specific one. Either way, she was making a beeline toward murder with no additional results presently. Even the other boys who had so much to say and laugh about were merely looking on, cowering by now. "Uh... he's actually going to die before you get a reaction out of him. Is that going to make you feel better?" he asked calmly. In the meantime, Kaguya's emergency phone call was off to an interesting start. "Mmm, good girl♥~ Makes me want to see if we can make this boat rock~" he flirted. The phone would pick up another slapping sound by the time his chat with Kaguya started ─ that particular one caused by a bit of hand-to-ass contact. Nevertheless, his conversation would carry on as normal. "Don't actually admit to missing me. If you did, you'd be on this cruise with us. Boooo♥~" he joked initially. Following that, however, things took an interesting and semi-serious turn. "Kayacchi, be careful how you talk about things like that. You make a house-cleaning favor request sound like something untoward. Where you are is probably in some company's established territory too, so that'd be an issue. Lucky I like you, huh? What's the situation?"

Boing. What a strange thing that was for Miko to mutter. Of course, given her position relative to Reiji's, there was only one viable reason for the outburst. She also wasn't making any haste to finish moving past him, which wasn't putting a stop to things any quicker. The tone of their conversation changed completely. Miko expressed her preference for this setup over any alternatives, and... it didn't seem she was talking about moving ahead. No, she immediately started claiming forward behavior instead. She'd promised herself to attack chances in moments of desire. How else was he to interpret those words? What was going on with these modern teens? Why was she making it a matter of taking responsibility? How were her up and down movements in any way conducive to moving deeper into the closet? Well, the last question in Reiji's mind had an obvious answer: they weren't. Overall though, there was one thing happening without fail. Reiji was growing a firmer bulge in his breeches, utterly trapped against Miko's grinding rear as he managed to string one clause together. "Have... have modern teens undergone some drastic changes I wasn't aware of?" he wondered, looking down at the girl in confusion. Reiji wasn't outright turning her down ─ something slightly unusual for him. It wasn't helping at all that she looked very familiar, like someone he knew and had a great deal of interest in long ago. If her hair were just a little longer, she'd almost be the spitting image of that woman ─ almost.

[Apollymi]

Emirie was content to stay behind her father's back as he advised. Whatever his thoughts were, she didn't believe he could take personal responsibility for this day turning out this way. Meanwhile, a demanded apology would end up only with more vulgarities being uttered. Anya remained with her mother's hands clamped over her ears, but that didn't stop her from seeing the punishments being meted out. 'Papa's so cool! Onii-chama too!~' she thought. While not as immediately active as Soma had been, it was still something she could appreciate. Oddly enough it wasn't just the youngest girl who thought their father was cool, both Sena and Emirie also thought so given this show of paternal affection and protection. A demand of apology was made, but instead of it being made more insults were launched, "For a bunch of people who've never put their meat in anything but their hands, you lot are awful concerned about someone else's!" were Kei's words after hearing that one shrimp related comment. Meanwhile, Sena looked at the fat one and nodded. "Definitely out, should I wake him up again?" she wondered ready to bounce his head off the wall once more with a quick kick, if it were needed. Of course, every woman not his own daughter would agree that such was a vast underestimation of what was going on, and with the odd obsession with comparison. "Oh? Calming down..." Ai mentioned noting the more sensible response. Only five of that lad's ribs were cracked as Kei's eyes shifted, to the last man standing, one being held from escape by Seiichi. "Hmph, I'm hardly upset to start with. But shouldn't all trash be on the ground confessing and apologizing?" she questioned, her light blue eyes narrowing as she stared at the last man with pure menace visible in her visage.

As for what Seiichi had to say, a gentle toss of white locks occurred as the pressure applied to that lad's side had already stopped but she remained stepping on him. "If he dies he deserves it. His observational skills are faulty considering how easily his bones snapped after he called me a beansprout~" Kei mentioned with her nose up in the air. Ah well, that was emotional immaturity, but contrary to all aspects of her, she'd spent far too much of her time in the otherworld as a monster, her logic around the death of humans was... less than human at best. Meanwhile, a little moan was escaping Sakura as she continued the work of her hips after that slap to her rear. Of course, the conversation between Hiruko and Kaguya was cheeky and flirty and she was sure there was a lot going on in the background of her own conversation. "Eh? We would have loved something like that. I even made Mi-chan get a little sailor suit... but you know how it is. We have to do some normal stuff every now and again~" she said almost teasingly. Of course, their current situation was far from normal in this particular case, but they could do quite a lot. The tone shift in Hiruko was noted, and something Kaguya had noted before and she found it easy to fall into. "Oh? I wasn't making it sound like anything like that. I'm just asking an innocent question, we don't have our own place here yet so it was a bit more open to interpretation, Hi-niisama♥!~" she chimed while listening to Kei threaten another and giving a thumbs up. "We're so lucky you like us♥~ As for the situation..." she paused giving thought to how to express it. "A big group of us are shopping today, you know us and our stunning friends, that group is steady growing for some... reasons. Well, apparently this group of guys in this card shop happens to have gotten their hands on some trade secrets concerning a certain purple haired card game enthusiast. They decided to try and use that for leverage to gain entry to our group of stunning friends. Tables were flipped, three to five drinks were spilled and we don't want to leave a mess in the card shop is all. The owner of his place is currently locked in the stock room so we can't exactly clean it up ourselves you see. One of them even fell outside, it's been crazy♥~" Kaguya mentioned as if this made perfect sense.

Speaking of crazy things, Miko was distracting herself, maybe even more than she was managing to distract Reiji. By her own current hearing, Kaguya was on the phone with Hiruko, a good choice, and the boys native to this card shop would be... suffering the consequences of their actions. It was the best she could do, to simply make sure Reiji didn't walk out of this space in the middle of what would likely be the clean up of a very specific kind of accident. "Some of us have..." she answered his question. "While I can't speak for everyone at least my friends and I seem to have all come to the same conclusion. Life is too short and unpredictable to not explore every avenue and have all the fun you can~ As long as everyone understand and no one is hurt, we seem to be pretty free with ourselves... I am at least~" she claimed a small smile coming to her face. "So, Reiji-san, interested in not wasting a prime opportunity? I can take care of this for you..." she mentioned while moving her hips just a little bit more with that overly innocent face of hers looking up at him. "And you can help me too~" she claimed earnestly. "See I'm very easily distracted and I couldn't leave this thought alone if I know I it's here and I didn't take care of it myself, I'm trying to be responsible and take care of my new favorite shopkeep♪~" Miko mentioned playfully. The truth of the matter was, she'd very much enjoy finding out what kind of man this one was truly. She already felt quite comfortable in his presence and the size of his manhood against his thigh said, she'd be having one hell of an afternoon.