The Solar stares forward at this place, what a seemingly normal building... But so was school so that means less than nothing in truth. She won't be making any assumptions about the nature of whatever is happening with so little accurate info. "So all we know for sure is weird shit happens here, right? Could try and ask the caretaker but I doubt he'd wanna talk to a bunch of weirdos like us... Though, maybe one of us could get him to chat a bit." She'd give Mal a slight glance, money is such a lame way of getting people to do things. But some old probably underpaid guy who works a job like this? Yeah it might just work out fine here, not that she's going to ask the girl to do it outright. The implication is there, and she can do as she wants with it.

"That's how it always is. They always try to angle everything perfectly for those pictures. This place still gives me a bad feeling, like I can feel the misfortune pouring out from within. I really wish I couldn't feel things like that at times like this..." Gad seemed to consider something for a moment. He seemed somewhat worried and a lot more anxious than usual. "M-maybe it would be better if I went off on my own to investigate. I-I'm not the best in groups with things like this. I tend to draw all the luck away from everyone else..."

Jessica, in her original spirit forme, with orange and purple hair and green eyes. arrives on the scene, still in her Shujin academy uniform from yesterday, immediately notices the intimidating aura around the entire property, also sensing only one lifeform, but, besides him, there is no other lifeforms here, atleast not yet, so she decides to look around the property.

Mayuki Neko, who would become a transfer kosei high school student in a few weeks, takes a walk there with her phone as a map to know directions to kosei high school, unluckily her phone didn't have enough battery that neko forgot to charge it up last night, she is pretty much nervous but annoyed because this happens at times like these, so to search any nerby places that has a phone charger or any sort of source of electricity so that she can turn her phone on, she went ahead to that place, well... On luck she found that place unaware of whatever that is...

Apollo smiles at Gad, not really taking him seriously "I don't really believe in things like luck, but it's your call dude. As for the rest of us, why don't we use the same group as last time? That should save a few minutes of deciding."

Miss Sumeragi would arrive to the seen late, contrary to what she'd stated prior. Of course, it was no mystery considering she carried a frappuccino in her hands and was sipping it loudly like a moron. She'd also brought along an extremely tall shinai bag which would look rather familiar to anyone who'd been around during the last investigation. "I'm sure there's no harm in talking to a caretaker! Besides, we might get the police called on us if someone catches us snooping around. Despite the circumstances this is a residential area." She raised an eyebrow at Gad and chuckled, giving him a hearty pat on the back. "C'mon, lighten up! We'll be fine, even if you do draw the luck away from us! What's gonna happen, we're gonna get a hole punched through our collective noggins? It'll be fine!"

[Kazuo rubs the back of his head as he listen to what everyone else has to say.] "At the very least, I think we should get permission to look through the place. I think it's illegal to just...look around for no reason." [But then again, the legality of many of their actions is questionable at best. Without much else to do, Kazuo would pass through the front gate and leave it open for the rest to pass as well. From there, they can check out the rest of the courtyard and parking lot. The front gates into the apartment itself are closed. The old man too seemed to have noticed they are there but doesn't exactly care much just yet.]

"Here, I'm sure I can talk him into it." Emi cleared her throat and walked towards the old man, wearing her best used car saleswoman smile and a bow of her head. "Good evening, sir! My name is Emi Sumeragi and I'm a teacher at Kosei High School. I'm here with our school's Occult Club to investigate some odd circumstances around the building. Would you be willing to let us investigate the premises?" She was well aware just how exceptionally stupid she sounded asking for permission for an Occult Club, but she was hoping that name dropping Kosei was enough to convince the man.

On her way to the gate, she found everyone else there, that could be a very good opportunity to ask any nearby phone charger around here, she took a deep breath so she can take her usual personality into action. "Hey, do you know if there's any electricity, or at least a place where I can charge my phone?" she asked the old man, she had her cold face and the cold look around, although she asked this kindly, her voice tone and the way she talked may leave a scary impression to the old man. Until... She noticed some woman who is also approaching the old man and asked something about investigating and occult club? That left a confused expression on neko.

[The Carretaker would stop brushing the leaves to turn to Emi, who was an awfully tall woman with white hair and a scar, scaring him at first and probably almost giving him a heart attack. He didn't seem to be doing well, all in all.] Caretaker: "Lady you shouldn't scream on people's faces!" [He straightens his back slowly as to not force himself to much.] Caretaker: "Kosei, you say? I didn't know schools allowed pointless clubs like that but..." [The man wanted to say something but then kept quiet. He would get back to work right away.] Caretaker: "Sure but don't stay here after the sun goes down. If you're all school kids then go wild, just don't break anything or disturb the people living here... not that there's many anymore." [It was then when Mayuki approached. The old man shrugged and pointed towards the main entrance to the building.] Caretaker: "There's a lot of plugs in the reception. Just use any."

"k-kosei...? You didn't mean the school that I'll be in---? " after hearing the conversation more clearly, she knows now this woman must be some teacher from that same school, she can't help but tremble in fear that this teacher would be weird if someone like that student that she can be easily recognised from a picture of paper or anything, when she thought about that while saying it, she'll be in trouble if she was found out that Neko herself is from a break from her school back home. "o-oh, thanks old man" while trembling from her, she still acts all cool with her calm expression, she looked again at that teacher for a second and closed her eyes. "w-well then, I'll go to the main entrance now" she opened her eyes and she walk fast to the main entrance to charge her phone as soon as possible before she gets found out.

"Ah! S-Sorry, I-I forget myself sometimes. Thank you very much for your cooperation! I promise I'll keep my students reigned in as much as possible!" She offered another quick bow before beckoning her students forward. While she was walking, she grabbed a small lock of her pale hair and sighed. "I'm so spoiled with you all that I neglect my ghostly form. Hopefully I don't get us into any trouble~!" Emi quickly regained her energetic smile, briefly scanning over the apartment complex. "Yup! That's some spooky stuff right there! Prime location to shoot a horror movie or something. Be sure to keep it down and try not to spook the residents! If our info is correct, everyone here's probably super on edge."

{Malloryn, who was mostly on her phone during Emi's conversation with the caretaker, smiled as she shifted through a stack of dollar bills in her hand silently, looking at nothing in particular as if there was some kind of camera she was staring at. After Emi left to investigate, she did her best to make herself look like she didn't belong to any of the Kosei gang despite wearing the uniform.} "Salutations!~ I can tell that you've clearly took a lot of time giving this verdant little land a very welcoming appearance. This is an...apartment complex, correct? May I pay for a room? Oh, and don't worry about the extra yen~" {The school girl that almost appeared not to be a part of any school offered to give a hefty amount of yen to the caretaker in hopes she accepts it. Clearly it would be better if she were a resident rather than a student to get more familiar, right?}

"I don't know, I think I could get used to living in a place like this... given enough time." [Now that they are allowed to move anywhere inside the complex within reason, it should be easy to go from one place to another. The Caretaker would turn to look at Malloryn and her ridiculous amount of money. He shrugs.] Caretaker: "I don't mind what you do if you pay for it. You can buy an apartment if you want but just this once I'll let you test the thing. If you can afford to last the night and like it I'll talk to the owner so you can actually sign a contract with him. The keys are at the reception, pick whichever you liked, they are all the same." [Suddenly, Malloryn gained permission to have an entire apartment to themselves for the night.] - 0 - The main building has three floors. The first floor is made up of the reception and in-door pool inside a large room in the back with windows to the rest of the courtyard and the badly kept garden. The residences themselves would be on the second floor and third. There are no cameras anywhere. There would be a map for the building on a wall behind the reception desk with all the apartment numbers, which one is taken, and which aren't and how the building itself is laid out. From the looks of it, although it doesn't have too many apartments, they are very spacious. There are several books of all kinds on top of the desk, lying there, some open, others their bookmarks in between pages. Right under the map are the keys for each vacant apartment. Mayuki will find a plug right behind the reception desk, luckily with the desk's chair right next to it. It looks very comfy. The courtyard was as one would expect, as lifeless as it gets. The statue of the weeping angel holds an empty base, and the large platform under it is covered in old leaves and some mud. It was right in the center of the area with paving stone walkways leading to it from the parking lot and main building, dusty but with weirdly lively colors near the statue. Unless checked, more specific details will be difficult to figure out. - 0 - [Kazuo goes up to the door leading inside the building but stops himself, turning to face the rest of the group.] "Actually, I'll stay here and try to get more information out of the caretaker. I have the feeling he knows more than he lets on. I'll see if certain situations or terms sound any familiar to him. You guys should check the rest." [Says Kazuo, clearing his throat as if to change from his casual mode to a colder approach to situations. So, he would approach the caretaker and make conversation with him. It seems like both will be busy for the time being.]

Neko's happiness started to raise after she saw the charger, plugged her phone into it as the phone started to boot up, it is still at 1%, she sat, she felt comfy with that chair and a happy sigh has been brethren outside her mouth. "man...it has been a long road" she can't beileve she got tired already because of how crowded outside, but rather when she saw that 'teacher' she knows she has to avoid that so there can't be any suspicion of a student being absent back home before transferring here. ... It has been already seconds... The phone is still charging, her tablet is inside her jacket but she doesn't want to waste any battery in it... A little walk can't hurt her at least. Leaving her phone with being still charged behind, neko decided to explore a 'little' bit of this floor. She saw a desk, although she isn't interested in books, it is weird that books are just lying around, she picked the book with the bookmark and gave it to the page where there was the bookmark at.

"I'll go investigate around the premises and see if there's anything in plain sight for us to see. For all we know, this might be a bit of an Occam's Razor!" Not one to leave any of her students entirely alone, she made sure the route she was taking wasn't too far from anyone in particular, simply circling around the building and looking for anything outside that may be of use.

"Thank you very much, sir!" {The rich schoolgirl would give the caretaker the money, because he obviously asked for it, before going in. Like everyone loosely checking the premises, Malloryn did the same. Her heels tapped in the room as she walked without care. Her eyes glanced everywhere around her, mainly looking for the reception so that she can get the keys for her temporary night.} {However...maybe seeing some apparitions along the way would be useful. Maybe.}

"Occam's Razor?" Apollo would follow Emi, politely walking besides and quietly whispering to get her attention. "Um, Sumeragi-sensei..." He would raise his voice after getting her attention, speaking at an appropriate level for conversation. "You know, idioms aren't really my forte. So, what exactly did you mean by the term 'Occam's Razor'?"

Gad would easily go where he was hoping to go, as luck would have it. Just this once. By checking the building map, he would learn that almost the entirety of the building was vacant, with the exception of 4 apartments. Numbers 204, 205, 210 and 302. Finally, there were 10 apartments per floor not counting the first. Mayuri would reach out to take one of the many books, the one with the brown leather cover and open it. The page details multiple methods and rituals to keep evil spirits away from one's own home, by using charms and all types of prayers; however, the reader had crossed most of those out, with only a few still not having been given this treatment. Malloryn then would have the choice to pick any apartment that wasn't the ones previously mentioned. Emi (followed by Apollo) would check the surroundings of the complex, but for the most part, beyond confirming the dreadful state of the area, couldn't find out much else. As the sky get darker, three windows light up from the second floor, but nothing from the third.

"Can't believe people actually would choose to live in a place like this. Well, makes the whole investigating thing easier." With that said Gad would choose to investigate the occupied apartments first. If people were still here they'd likely have more to say about the state of the building and whether or not this place was even haunted in the first place. Of course, he wasn't completely sure where he was going and would likely simply just hope to stumble upon one of the occupied apartments upon scaling the floors.

"Occam's Razor, my dear Apollo-kun, is a principle stated by William of Ockham in around 1200 which states that the simplest option is usually the correct one! In this case however, I highly doubt it. That principle was made to apply to the real world, not ghosts." Emi wasn't too surprised by the awful state of the building. She took note of the lights turning on, however, making a mental note of the one floor that remained dark. "Whatever is cursing this building, I'm sure the lack of consistent maintenance is making it feel well at home. Looks like if there's anyone living on the third floor, they're not home." She looked for the nearest entrance to the building and started for the third floor, but not before checking to see if Apollo was going to follow her or not.

Neko didn't understand what is this other than that this is something like a ritual to make the demons go away, as if it is an occult thing... Wait.... She knows the word occult but she felt like she heard that word today before... Wait.... IT DIDN'T MEAN IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS TEACHER AND THE REST OF THE CREW IN WHICH THEY ARE KOSEI HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH HER? it rang screamingly inside her head, she seems to be more troubled than usual, those are students from kosei high school, and this is the school that she'll move, she should've moved to shujin high instead of this one all along, well... She got no choice then about moving but right now, she'll care about exploring the area a little bit more because it has been just minutes right now. So she closed the book, she walked through every apartment on this floor, she came to think that she has to yet to know which place she should be staying for her first year at kosei.

"Good luck everyone." {The girl would mumble to nobody in particular, leaving everyone in the dust to go check out her new apartment. Whether or not this was a smart investment is yet to be discovered.Instead of letting the keys be out and about to jingle in the presumably quiet halls of an apartment complex inching away from being labelled as 'barren', Malloryn decides to take the keys and put it in her purse. Afterwards, she'd merely go to the third floor of the apartment complex, as she has now chosen the room '306'.}

Apollo nods, considering every word carefully. "Is that right? Well, it's worth considering. For one, most of what we encounter seems to come straight out of the writings and artwork of man. It's almost as if the belief itself gives them form." Apollo would indeed follow behind Sumeragi-sensei.

"hm.... This place seemed to be an apartment, but to have a swimming pool and rooms like these... Tokyo is really strange" Neko is impressed of how amazing this building is, but she is confused of why those people of kosei high school are really curious for something like these, although she can agree the book she read earlier was really strange and looked so ritual-y. Neko went to the reception desk and picked up her phone, the phone's battery is about 65%, she can use it now. For now, she has to go and see the old man and ask whatever is going on over there. She left the main entrance to find the old man.

{Malloryn goes up to the third floor with the keys in her hand. She disregards whatever her comrades are doing for the moment in favor of checking up on her temporary living space. Whether or not this investment would be a bad one can only be told by time.} "Mmm, dust particles. Good thing I brought my tissues." {The girl says, entering the apartment room whilst sneezing into said tissues. Whatever and however the room looked, the first thing she did was turn on her lights and look out the window to see the outside, where she'd rather be than this dump.}

Gad would stare at the door for a second, wondering if anyone was here even. They could possibly be out of the house right now...Though that really brought up the question of how they had the time to clean so much. "Well...Nothing else to do here..." He'd simply knock on the door wondering if he should try giving a command to anyone listening. of course, he felt that would be excessive for the moment. He simply wanted to see if there was any response at all first.

"So there is or at least was something weird running around here... This looks old though, could it be gone by now? Or maybe it just hasn't come to this area recently, no telling for the moment but I guess I should keep my eyes open." The young woman would sigh slightly, eyes still gleaming as she absently begins walking towards the reception desk herself. Huh, someone that ain't from the club just wandering around this place? That's a bit odd, even while distracted by staring into the world beyond normal sight she'd still greet them with a curious look on her face. "Yo, what brings you to a place like this? If you've come to look into the rumors I'm not gonna stop you or anything, but if that's not the case ya might wanna get going soon." There's also the fact she doesn't really make any sound while entering, and simply begins speaking without thought in fact. One might be a bit startled by the apperance of a tall white-haired girl out of seemingly nowhere. Not that she realizes this at the time.

Emi pulled her coat over her mouth, letting out several hacking coughs from the horrific air quality considering the dust. "Damn! I feel like I lost a year out of my life just by existing up here! This place could be as holy as a church and people would still avoid it like the plague." It was impossible for her to ignore the one apartment that actually seemed to have an occupant. She tip-toed towards the apartment door, examining it for a peep-hole or opening of any sort that would allow her to see inside. If there were none, she'd go the straightforward route and knock.

Apollo would be unaffected by the air, able to function without the need for breathing at all. Besides that, he would notice Emi go up to the door, listening in. "Huh? Is one year of your life really so important? That doesn't seem like that much time to me..." He would then focus on the apartment itself, waiting as if expecting a response on the other side.

Took me long enough, here ya guys go And so Gad would knock on the door, immediately having a response of some kind as someone on the other side makes a loud noise, as if startled. Then comes laughter and footsteps approaching, slowly opening the door. Older woman: "Ah~ Akira is it-" She was wearing glasses and her long hair was already turning grey. Even so, she didn't have too many wrinkles and instead, had awful bags under her eyes. Older woman: "Excuse me, I thought it was the neighbor. What may I help you with, young man? Do you need anything?" Sadly for Emi, there was nothing she could use to see through the door of apartment 302. What does happen however, is the sound of a loud groan coming from the other side of the door, but no footsteps. Someone was inside, but they were trying to ignore both Emi and Apollo. Malloryn on the other hand would take the key to apartment 306 and have an easy time getting through the door. She would find a much nicer location, full of furniture and even random decorations that didn't particularly combine with one another. To the right are boxes of all sizes with seemingly abandoned belongings. The apartment itself had a really ample living room with large window to a nearby park. The kitchen was directly connected to the living room, there were two bathrooms, one in the master bedroom and the other in the corridor that connects the master bedroom with two other smaller bedroom and the living room. There was a large couch, which had an equally large rolled futon on top; two people could easily sleep in it Mayuki would have an easy time finding the old man, who was currently chatting with the pale, brown haired Kosei student as he keeps checking a book on his right hand, however, Hikari would get in her way, questioning her as she did. It may be worth nothing Hikari could see the same remnants all over the building. Faint, but pulsating. The more the sun goes down, the more notorious it becomes, enveloping the building further, the pulsations becoming faster.

As she saw the old man on her way, she saw another kosei high school student who is checking the book, she can't help but to be a little angry that those people from kosei are still here and will get her way into finding out to the teacher about Neko herself. little did she know, the precence of a white hair girl is this hikari's appearnce, did i describe it correctly???? shocked her from behind, she turns behind as she find out a taller girl, not that she would hate her for appearing out of nowhere, but she is a bit annoyed of how tall she is than her. "ugh, what do you want?!" angry enough, the startled neko was frowned enough to yell when this girl surprised her from behind at the moment she turns. "rumour? What do you mean?" still angry, neko is confused about which rumour was she talking exactly, local rumour? Internet rumour? An anonymous rumour? Neko doesn't get it. "I was simply here to charge my dead phone" neko settles her voice down, her anger was settled quickly down as her cold eyes was still there all the time, still her eyebrows are a bit down meaning she is still angry.

"How nice of this place to give me a reason why I could change my mind." {The girl looked out the window to see the park that was nearby, scouting to see some other faces that might not know this place exists at all. Or rather, will never go here due to the rumors. Malloryn thinks about how her classmates are doing, and sighs out.} "Still not living here though. Someone else deserves it more." {Realizing the place's vibes weren't as off as the front, she puts her belongings down with no worry, resting her purse on a table nearby but taking her phone with her. She took some glances at the tacky decorum and nods her head, thinking of it as a common Japanese style. The first place Malloryn looks is the kitchen where she checks to see if there is a random sharp object. While she would have gone to check the bathrooms and the upstairs, her inspection is delayed when notices the boxes to her right, most likely of things that were never hers. Instead of rummaging immediately, she checks for any labels or tags that might name who it could possibly belong to.}

Gad was almost a little surprised someone had answered but it seemed more likely than not to him that whoever lived here had a lot of time on their hands. "Sorry to disturb you. I'm actually from the school nearby. I was told to write a report on places with rumors around them. I think it was some kind of assignment to help us differentiate true and fake stories." He'd pretend to be confused before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a notepad he had with him from school along with a pen. "I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about this building since it's the subject to a lot of rumors."

Seeing that whoever was behind the door wasn't keen on replying to her knocks she decided to at least try to communicate with whoever was there. "Hello? I'm sorry to bother you. My name is Emi Sumeragi, I'm with the Kosei High School Occult Club! We've learned of some pretty suspicious stuff happening in this area and we want to help. Would you happen to know anything that could help us?" She wasn't confident that someone who apparently refused to even speak to delivery men to speak to her, but it was worth trying. She even went through the trouble to comb her hair down a little to try to look presentable.

Apollo seems slightly agitated by the lack of a response, thinking Emi's attempts to be a little ridiculuous compared to his own methods. He would lower his voice a little, attempting to not be heard by the tenet. "This is getting us nowhere. If you'd like, I could just sneak into the room via its shadows."

The Solar would blink slightly... Charge her phone? What a weird place to do that, but alright. "Ah, I guess you haven't heard then. Supposedly people around here have a habit of vanishing, it's a local story that I can't confirm the truth of, but this city is pretty weird so these things usually have a grain of truth." She'd then blink a bit, smiling despite the girl's anger and snapping her finger a bit. "Anyway sorry about that introduction, name's Hikari Akimoto. Local high school student and hobbyist investigator of sorts, nice meeting you. You new around the area?" That first impression could have gone better, but the girl isn't incapable of just... Barreling through with a charming grin on her face and a cheery tone that seems legitmantely pleasant rather than mocking. How much that is her, and how much is her power, is franky a pointless question to her mind.

The woman would seem worried at first, but would continue with the same calm tone. Old woman: "That uniform, "Kosei", I see those students pass by all the time. I understand now." At the mention of the rumors, her unease grows, now notorious on her face. However, she decides to get right to it, right after checking her watch. Old woman: "I have time, so ask away. Make sure to leave before the sun goes down, okay? It could get dangerous." She was willing to speak, and the concern was genuine too. - 0 - Emi and Apollo would receive an answer right away. Young woman: "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeell, I don't accept your apology. Unless it's something important I'm not opening the door. If something suspicious is going on then let the police do their job and stop bothering me!" Although the young woman was being loud, her voice was strangely cold, without a single hint of emotion. Right after her reply, she would go back to whatever it was she was doing locked inside her apartment. Meanwhile, Malloryn would find nothing of use by looking through the kitchen. Everything there was completely empty. Then, by checking the boxes, she notices that the labels and tags are all different. Some have letters from A to D and then skip to Z, while others are in numerical order. There are no names. - 0 - As expected, Hikari and Mayuki engage in conversation. No new details are revealed, but the sun keeps going down. It wouldn't be long before the sun is gone, making way for the night sky. Kazuo and the old man two keep up with their own conversation.

"Now now, Apollo-kun! Your eagerness is appreciated but having special powers doesn't mean you can go breaking into anyone's home just because you feel like it. Besides, if you get caught that's a breaking and entering charge on my head, and you're not exactly a very subtle person." Assuming there was nothing else of note on the 3rd floor, she'd move towards the second floor, hoping she could make more progress on the investigation there. "I'm sure that woman will be instrumental in our investigation going forwards, but coaxing her into assisting us is our number one priority. It'd do no good to potentially burn a bridge with her by breaking in, especially if her information is what we're looking for."

Neko would actually feel bad for being arrogant at Hikari but she doesn't know how to react to all of these... It is getting pretty much worse already, she knows by saying 'Local high school student' must be with that teacher woman who is at kosei, she needs to act as if she doesn't know what a kosei high school is, and then get out of here as quick as possible since the day will be over. "w-well, I'm new here in Tokyo, I'm from Kyoto, my name may be weird, but it is Neko... Neko Mayuki" She turns her head sideways from right while a a trace of her hair doesn't show up her eyes or her emotions because in reality, she feels embarrassed to do something like this to her, she would truly feel bad and tries her best not to show that kind of personality to this girl. But "A-A-Anyway, what's with that story or the rumour you are talking about, why's everyone here into this?" she turns her head back, she doesn't feel any anger towards her, but rather... Suspicion torawds her.

{Check as she might, there are no names on the box. She sighs as she sees all the letters and numbers, something that would probably set up a code if they were assigned in some correct position that can spell something like an address or a code.} "...that's interesting, I guess." {With nothing to open the box with, and with her purse oobviouslyy being sooo far, she decides to leave the boxes alone for now. Malloryn goes and heads upstairs, checking all the rooms for anything that could probably open a box, or at least learn the layout.}

"Thank you, then I'll try to be fast." Though as Gad was preparing to ask her about what Kazuo had mentioned before or about other residents of the building. He couldn't help but notice her immediately say something peculiar. Actually, what do you mean by dangerous when the sun goes down? I didn't think the area around here was that dangerous?" Perhaps this was a bad way to start but he'd rather dig on a recent point now then bring it back up later.

Apollo would grumble disappointedly. "So be it." He then follows Emi to the second floor, investigating it to the best of his ability.

Old Woman: "Y... yes, violence is starting to get out of hand lately. It's...not very safe for a bit right after the sun goes down." The woman tries not to look into Gad's eyes, instead, focusing either on the emblem of the uniform or glancing at the notepad he has. Emi and Apollo would go towards the second floor and notice Gad talking to an old lady, the one from apartment 205. Maybe they checked the taken apartments, maybe not, but apartments 204 and 210 are also taken, used by two parties yet unknown. Old Woman: "This gang is very strange, they are around...from 8pm and 9pm. After that they are gone. Even so, they keep eluding the police, there are never traces of them and we can't seem to get them on camera, they..." The woman quickly taps her finger on her leg. Old Woman: "It really is awful, messing with the building and harassing every new tenant until they pack their things and leave. But we can't-won't leave. That must be why the rumors appeared..." - 0 - Malloryn would attempt to go upstairs but as it turns out, there are no stairs inside it. However, she could instead go through the corridor that take to the other two bedrooms and the master bedroom. The very first bedrooms all have all the furniture they need minus the beds, a mere carpet at the center of each with nothing more of interest. The master bedroom on the other hand... was more of the same. There are no beds and the furniture of the room barely combines with one another. Inside one of the nightstands, currently wide open, there are multiple sets of essential oils, alongside a single weird looking diffuser for it all.

Hikari would nod a bit before she goes on, right... People aren't all used to this madhouse she's lived in her whole life. "Neko Mayuki? Huh, neat. As for the kind of rumors... Well rumor has it there's been some kind of attacks or disapperances or something around here? I'm kinda just looking into it with some acquaintances because it's a thing we do together, it's a bit silly to some but we have fun with investigating weird rumors and mysteries." Mostly because they're real, it's almost always somewhat real around here but a lot of people don't like confronting that fact much. And Hikari isn't gonna press if the girl doesn't want to think about the supernatural. "That aside, cool meeting you. Though I should probably get back to it soon I suppose."

"So people do have fun looking in some sorts of serious rumours like these, you all being interesting, can't beileve this is where I'll have to transfer anyway" some occult doesn't really interest her, what does she really has an eye of is all about the technology, it doesn't pipsqueak interest about anything else other than that those  type of kosei students are really weird, she thinks the weirder it gets the more interesting it gets, they truly are thinking about childish things and all. As she lowered her jacket a little bit to get her long hair inside the jacket to put on the 2 blue and red colored hoodie as she thought she has to hide her face a little bit, she has to ask this girl, and the old man some favor so she wouldn't be found out about who she is. "by the way, I'll ask you kindly, can you not tell anyone about the existance of Neko mayuki, think about it, as if you didn't see me, reached to me or asked me, or just use a different name if you can, alright?" before going to ask the old man, she puts a normal face to Hikari as if she wanted to apologize for confusing Hikari like this. When leaving, she realized how much embarrassing she just did as if her hands are trembling as if she wants to kill herself if the teacher founds out about Neko, a student who has just a few weeks before moving to this school, she just hopes that Hikari won't reveal anything about Neko or anything. Now all that left is to look for a way to strike a conversation to stop that student to continue talk to the old man. "you're an obstacle on my way" she stopped a conversation between the old man and the young boy, acting as toxic as she is, the cold eyes are expressed to her eyes, she then sighs, "I just wanted to let the old man know I'm leaving now after I charged my phone, not like I'm stopping you to have your babbly conversation." That's right, she wasn't even aware to this rummour until Hikari told her about it, even though she thinks rumours are just creepypasta being posted anonymously online, not like she is at anyone's side either.

"Funny, a bedroom with no beds. I'm about to call my brother so he can rescue me from this forsaken place." {Despite going about things her usual way, Malloryn feels no need to please anyone, as she is alone with only the thoughts she thinks out loud. Now that she knows there are even more reasons to launder this to someone else, it seems clear that this investment was a waste.} "Surely there might be some type of commoner's sleeping bag in one of the boxes? It's in poor taste, but I abhor the irony of this layout." {She looks at the nightstand with one raised eyebrow, looking at all of these essential oils and things that seem a bit suspicious. Surely this place isn't haunted because it was owned by a middle-aged woman who only believes what a commoner posts online for fun...right?}

The young woman would shrug slightly. "Eh, sure whatever. You've got the look of an outsider ta be sure, people from Tokyo tend to react with less indifference more... Shock and horror to those who investigate this stuff. Or interest, always one of them. Guess I'll see you around school later maybe Neko." As she leaves the Solar would begin focusing upon her power again, trying to find more signs of the spiritual energy her third-eye so to speak had revealed eariler. That, and keeping her eyes out for anyone else from the club, it would be a good idea to mention her findings even if they are minor after all.

"So, all the rumors are the cause of a local gang. I guess that's all I really need to know then. Thank you for your time but before I go would there be anyone else living here who might be worth talking to?" He wasn't exactly convinced, especially with such a dubious response. There was clearly a lot unsettling the woman which is why he felt it best to move on to someone else.

Careful not to alarm the old lady with her own appearance, she instead decided to investigate apartment 210, knocking on the door and putting on a friendly face once more, hoping her ghostly appearance doesn't immediately send the resident into comatose. "You know, Apollo-kun, I don't mean to short-change your capabilities, but if there's one thing I've learned from being a persona-user for over half my life, it's that having special powers doesn't always make you special. Even if you could get away with it, it's best that you follow the laws of society. People who don't do that are usually the type to become the supervillains themselves."

Apollo would stick close to Emi, only catching a few key details of what the woman tells Gad. He gives Emi a tired look, cheekily smiling after thinking up a response. "Well, not like I can say anything about the laws themselves, considering I don't know most of them, but do you really think that it's right to force law on species that are completely segregated from society in the first place? By this logic, the apes in Planet Of The Apes would be the bad guys for starting an uprising, then all of a sudden rebelling against them in turn would also be considered bad." He then closes his eyes in reflection, pausing for an awkward moment. "Come to think of it, with the effect of climate change and the rising ocean levels in recent years, Splatoon would be a more probable future. You've heard of Splatoon, right, Sumeragi-sensei?"

Gad's questions seemed to be getting to the woman who needs time to think before speaking. Old Woman: "If you are to question anyone, ask the people in 210. If you see a little girl around the building don't talk to her though. All I'm going to say on the subject." Without even looking back at him, the old woman would close the door as she returns back inside, her hands almost shaking. Now, only mumbling comes from the other side, but it's impossible to tell what is being said. In front of apartment 210, "Fudo" is written on a small wooden sign. The door was not particularly dusty but the cleaning around it was lackluster. At the very least it's easy to tell the people were still inside, as revealed by the footsteps and voices conversing with one another. After the knock, they remain quiet as two people approach from the other side and get even quieter after opening the door. Young Man: "..." Young Woman: "..." Both had the same golden ring on their fingers and looked about the same age, almost in their 30s. Pale skin and of natural blonde hair, their eyes are like the artic both in color and emotion. At least, it seemed like they were somewhat intimidated by the strange pair from the school. Young Man: "...May I help you two? If this is about some product, we're not buying." - 0 - Malloryn would notice the essential oils and corresponding diffuser. These have been for a long time now, clearly belonging to someone who got out too quickly to remember they even bought these. In particular, the essential oils present are jasmine, chamomile and sandalwood. The diffuser hasn't been used in a long time, but it still remains working. - 0 - Hikari, using her powers again, finds the same signs as before. The energy around the apartment building is getting stronger as the sun keeps going down, but so does the area around the statue too. A strong, constant flow of energy leaves the area of the barely distinguishable drawings and heads towards the building. At least, she found the point of origin. Meanwhile, Neko would approach the man and the student and interrupt whatever it was they were doing in a rather rude way. Kazuo: "..." Caretaker: "..." They look at each other. Caretaker: "..." Kazuo: "..." Then at Neko again before speaking. The caretaker had a very... plain expression, meanwhile Kazuo's eyes just darken as he looks down. Caretaker: "That... is fine, miss. I'm glad it worked." Kazuo: "...You didn't have to be so rude." Kazuo mutters, as he was a bit wounded, asking himself why is it that girls hate him so much and the Caretaker was merely taken by surprise. This was probably the most that had ever happened to him in years. Not an easy life, eh?

"Of course I think it's right to enforce laws on a separate species if they're trying to live among us like you are quite clearly. You wanna live with people? You will abide by the morals of people. Doesn't that seem fair?" At the sudden talk of climate change she tilted her head. "Splat-who? I'm a world history teacher, not a climatologist." Emi was quick to offer a friendly smile to the couple who had opened the door, hoping that her jovial voice and demeanor were enough to offset just how weird both she and Apollo were. "Hello! My name's Emi Sumeragi, I'm a teacher and supervisor of the Occult Club at Kosei High School. We're doing a small investigation of the premises because we've been led to believe something's amiss around here. Would you two know of anything out of the ordinary that has taken place recently?"

The Solar would grin a bit upon seeing Kazuo once again, she'd wandered out and run into the young man not so long ago. "Yo! See you ran into her too, seemed... Well it doesn't matter. Anyways I've found some curious stuff if you wanna hear about it man. And it keeps getting more curious by the moment, feels a bit like we're on a timer or something..." She'd rub at her chin slightly while making that remark, the lower the sun gets the stronger this energy becomes. Not that she'll mention such a thing around the groundskeeper, there isn't really any need to and he'd just think she's crazy. But she knows where it comes from now, which is something hopefully useful. Assuming the boy agreed to speak with her, she'd begin explaining her findings. "In short, I've found a source of spiritual power of some kind. It isn't anything I know well enough to pin down, but it's supernatural for sure. Seems to be coming from some drawnings or something and heading towards the building, and it gets stronger the more time passes. My guess is by sundown or so it'll hit the peak. Any clue what that could be?" Even if she's getting better quickly, the young woman won't deny she doesn't know everything. Hikari is kinda hoping that someone else will know more in this case, maybe get some use from the drawnings.

"excuse me, what were you doing just now is RUDE!" she frowned her eyes at a moment, she took a breath to hold the hoodie trying her best to hide her face. When Hikari explained her about the rummor, it explains all the things that this young boy is doing, she is unsure of how will she reply to him, it didn't matter, they may be a weird group of students but she doesn't want to be found out. "sundown? Wait, what time is it now?" curious about what hikari mentions about 'sundown' or peak, or anything that she mentions about supernatural, she picked her phone to open it and see the clock, in short, what time it is, it made her remember that she hasn't even done anything today.

Apollo would silently and coldly stare at Emi for a few awkward seconds, craning his neck and merely interjecting with a cold monotone dismissal before Emi greets the couple. "My motives are beyond your understanding." He would then turn his back to the group, indicating his self-exclusion from the conversation at hand as he crosses his arms and shakes his head.

{Though her inner being urges her to throw the oils out the window, they were ultimately harmless, as nothing has happened inside the room or to these things. Malloryn sighs and takes them along with their diffuser.} "These pointless things might as well be in my possession, perhaps the maids would know what to do with them." {She walks back to where her purse was and stuffs the diffuser and the essential oils inside. Afterwards, she'd grab her house keys and go up to the boxes, attempting to cut them open and find out what's inside.}

The pair seems unimpressed. Ryo: "I'm Ryo Fudo, and this is my wife, Lan." Lan bows as she is introduced by her husband. The man continues. Ryo: "If it's about the weird rumors then I should tell you right away they are all most likely right. I dunno if you spoke to the others but it's been annoying, it's this weird sensation that you can't shake off and cannot explain. Dunno if that makes sense." Lan: "What my husband oh so eloquently is trying to say is that everything here is pure weird, and yet know nothing about it." The man rolls his eyes and shows some annoyance, only then dropping it. Ryo: "You'll probably have to be more specific with the questions, miss. There's a lot... as you can probably see." For what is worth, the couple is willing to cooperate with their own perspective of the situation, being as honest and direct as it gets. - 0 - Malloryn quite literally finds a huge amount of abandoned belongings, belonging to the bathroom, individual bedrooms, kitchen and even toys I am not allowed to mention in this. With all the different things one could essentially fill the kitchen and even decorate the entire place with how many things were left abandoned. So many in fact you can nearly come up with whatever you wish the boxes have. - 0 - Now that Hikari approaches Kazuo, the caretaker himself shrugs and goes back to working on his own. The young man crosses his arms as he pays attention to what the girl is telling him. "A timer...?" Making a mental note of what she tells him: Energy leaving some drawings and going towards the main building, getting stronger as the night approaches. "I have a hunch after talking with Mister Nagai, but I'll tell you all after we regroup. For now, you should show me the drawings you saw. I may be able to figure something out." Kazuo will now follow Hikari wherever she goes. Neko decides to check the time; currently, it is 07:35pm, the sky is orange and it wouldn't be long until the sun completely disappears by the time 8pm comes.

Apollo turns back around, looking at the couple with interest as he remains with his arms crossed. "You're sure of this? I'd expect at least a little denial." He awkwardly smiles, letting his right arm fall to his side as he unfolds his left hand in front of his chest "Ah, forgive me, I forgot to mention that i'm one of Sumeragi-Sensei's students... Let's discuss these rumors, they may provide valuable clues as to what's causing all this. I've heard that some people here tend to experience night terrors and fall into comas afterwards. Can you affirm that this has happened often? If so, can you tell us anything about the victims? Specifically, anything they may have in common or where and when in particular these events tend to occur?"

Gad would sigh before whispering under his breath after the woman had closed the door. "Great, more ominous warnings. Seems something screwy really is going on here." With that he'd simply try to move over to room 210, however, if people were already there he'd simply watch instead. No need to but in unless needed.

Emi visibly sighed with relief as the couple for once were cooperative. After Apollo asked his questions, she'd nod-nod in approval. "If this doesn't sound familiar, there's also some other telltale signs of potentially occult activity. Stuff like lights flickering despite no electrical malfunctions, suspicious voices or brief and inexplicable sightings of people. This place appears to struggle in terms of maintenance so maybe that first one is a little more common."

Hikari would also check her phone for a moment, shaking her head slightly as she glances over towards Neko with a slight smirk. "I thought you weren't interested in this stuff though? If you wanna hang around and see if we're right or not, that's fine with me. But if we are right I don't take any responblity in the event of something going wrong for ya got it?" With that done she'd put the phone away and nod to Kazuo, grinning slightly while walking over towards the drawings and glancing towards them. Trying to put her own efforts towards figuring the things out, she has been reading up on occult books. Tadashi Yagami may be a weirdo, but the boy seems to know his shit in terms of finding things on demons, as she's found out after being bugged by him while digging through a library. No telling if any of the books she's read up to now had anything useful here though. "Can you make anything of this? I'm... Thinking, been doing some research on my own lately, with a bit of help. Hoping between both of us we can find out something to work with, besides the fact that energy is for sure leaving these things and getting stronger in the main building, that seems important."

{As there are many things in these boxes, the girl feels overwhelmed. Some things which go in some obvious spaces, some things that could've probably looked nice elsewhere, some questionable things that exist right now. However, she mostly looks down at all the tacky accessories that come from the box. Though at this point, tacky may as well be the only way to describe the hotel.} "...I guess there's even more tacky things to put in this living space..." {She inspects the unmentioned toys and raises an eyebrow, soon throwing them off to the side after asking one question.} "Who's pen holders are these?"

"so it is 7:35...." as Neko thought.... it will get late by anytime, but what she is more curious is why those two are being all rude for that today, she can't let go that thought, as if she has something else to do today, or even how would she be found out by their teacher "huh? alright, I'll see what you two are doing, but if you go too far, I'm seriously going to leave" she answered to Hikari, her real intent is to see why are they so much into the occult to the point they, she actually thought it as if this is going to be fun, but she'll never admit that still adjusting her hoodie trying to hide her face, she decided to follow two for now.

The man is the first one to speak, trying to remember the situation around the building but even his own. Ryo: "If you try to sleep or something between 8 and 9 pm, you're guaranteed to have some nightmares. Fairly early too so no idea on how it got so many." Lan: "You fall for it once and they never stop. Nightmares become paranoia and then the coma hits you. Age doesn't matter either." Ryo remains quiet; he didn't know much about the other families as Lan did. Lan: "One member would be afflicted by the coma and then multiple people at once in the building did, which lead them to abandoning the place in fear. New people came in to check the now empty apartments as they got cheaper all of a sudden." She chuckles. Lan: "They knew about what happened and then got to live through the same nightmares. So, as soon as it happened, they all ran away. They seem to be doing fine but refuse to step back here or reclaim their things. So nowadays, it's only us two, the widow at 205, the little girl and her dad at 204, and..." At the mention of "occult activity", Ryo pays attention again, right on time when it comes to the mention of the last person living in the building that wasn't the caretaker. Ryo: "Actually, the girl on the third floor. Forget her name, "Imai" something. She never leaves and is always ordering new stuff right to the door of her apartment her parents are paying. She's a creep and... come to think of it, the first coma happened not long after she showed up." - 0 - Kazuo would take a closer look at the remnants of a drawing by the side of statue. "What I can tell is... not much actually, besides theorizing." He would sit by the side of the drawings as he looks through his bag. It would take a bit but he would find a box of white chalk. "This will do the trick. All these..."remains" are either pink or yellow, so the white will stand out." Kazuo would keep it simple. Try to complete the most notorious shapes; a large circle, straight lines going from one end to the other. In the end, Kazuo would find himself drawing a large hexagram on the stone, matching some of the old drawings but the larger part of the inside still having many shapes he didn't know how to complete. "I decided to go for the obvious and drew the Seal of Solomon, but it doesn't feel right. This thing is way more complex." Kazuo would stand up and turn towards Hikari. "Chances are we'll need to find whoever drew this in the first place to fully recreate it. Demons can be summoned by different means, but specific demons have specific rituals and even symbols that need to be drawn for it to work. These work as protection for the summoner and become connected to the contract, so a permanent marker may disappear in an hour..." Kazuo would kneel down for a moment and pass his finger over some of the pink remains of the old seal. Some of it stays on his finger. "...and chalk may remain there for months." Finally, he would address Neko calmly. "I'll tell it you straight. Things are probably not okay in this building and it could even get dangerous. So, unless you're some kind of super exorcist with the power of Jesus Christ you should keep your distance." He rubs the back of his head, realizing his tone of voice suddenly got super serious. Not that the situation doesn't require it, considering what he thinks may be going on. "If you choose to believe me that is. I won't be responsible for what happens once the sun goes down."

Katty is stunned of how these two can spefic a certain drawing on this statue as if they were mentioning some rituals... Rituals, she feels like she knows this word today... "was that from the book where it says rituals to keep the evil sprits away or something?" neko just wondering what those two were talking and doing... Following them up, she remembered what she have read in that leather-look book. "sorry, who are you again?" neko, being toxic to him, and aware of what the young boy is saying, the girl continues "well, I do agree with you, I wasn't born to fight or anything, I hate crowded places, I would definitely run away or hide if anything happened, well, I don't have the energy to run away though" She then picks up her tablet with buttons as if it looked like a video game console, by opening her jacket to pick it up, closing the jacket then, she proceeds to turn the tablet on. "Hey, kitty!" she shouts at her tablet. --"woo hoo~~ kitty the loyal servant to Mayu-----" a voice from her tablet came out, a high-pitched voice, it felt like as if it is robotish voice, but the voice being cut at the last part. "yeah, let's skip that" she pressed the button to make sure the cat isn't saying nonsense and isn't even revealing neko's last name "now then, kitty, appear as a hologram now" --"alright coming right up!" and then a hologram start to visualise as a colorless sphere with cat ears, opening up with two blue dots as if it is waking up moving all around outside her tablet. "what do you want me to do?-- wait who those weirdos, did you forget your daily tasks milady??" the sphere backed up seeing the two around here, looking back at neko "check any nearby devices" --"alright, will be right back after all the adventure of searching them~~" the sphere can't help but to answer to Neko's commands, the hologram disappeared, the screen on neko's tablet appears to be some codes being processed. "well, it should check around any nearby devices, even if it is just an old device, a device that doesn't support Internet, this thing we made really helps me as a Hacker to look around old tech for proposes, it should be able to find any security camera by now or anything" her eyes shining from all the excitement probably from what neko was explaining, then she realized for a second that this isn't what the young man was talking about, started to be disapointed at herself and being annoyed now. "right... You said something about superpowers to be an exorcist or something... Ugh..." the annoyed look is being taken too much on neko's face now.

The Solar doesn't have anything so techy as a talking tablet, and would simply sigh a bit as a golden burst of energy flashes in her hand for a brief moment before becoming a 'solid gold' baseball bat. Forged from Orichalcum in truth, but there's good odds no one here knows that, Hikari included. And so instead the young woman shall wield the power of the universe, like an especially heavy stick. "Hacking huh... Sounds kinda illegal to me but I can't judge for that, so sure why not. Anyways Kazuo, good to know. I figured it had to be something weird with all this energy, we should probably try to regroup so we can put together what we've learned... Hopefully before things go to hell." Likely not much time left by now, so the Solar would focus on expanding her senses for the moment. Hearing is the main focus in this case, easily allowing her to hear all around the building at least outside the apartments. And giving her the ability to manage that without sensory overload. Curiously, a faint gold and red aura would form around her at this point. Along with the faint image of a blazing sun appearing on her forehead. "With any luck, I can at least figure out where they are. Though it'd be nice if we don't have to go looking too hard." For the moment she's content to simply keep listening, and follow Kazuo if he has any idea how to regroup.

Emi pulled out a notepad to scribble down what the couple was writing. She was surprised to see such detail in their statements. "8-9 PM? Is this something you tested out or a pattern you noticed among victims? I had a feeling the girl upstairs would be important, but this is much more than I could've anticipated." She bowed toward the couple and gave them an enthusiastic smile. "Thank you very much for your cooperation! Hopefully after we're done here you'll be able to live peacefully. She turned to Apollo, nudging his shoulder "Feel free to keep asking them any questions. I'm gonna go see if I can talk to this man and his daughter. Kids are often perceptive of things adults could never be, you know?"

Gad would approach his teacher, having already been nearby and listening. "Sensei, hold up. Might want to be a bit careful about that. I've been warned that talking to children might be a bad idea. Though not sure if the daughter was specifically the one to worry about."

Apollo would jump back out of shock, unaware of the meaning of Emi nudging his shoulder in this social context. "Ah, ah, actually I think they've told us enough. It wouldn't be good if we ended up forgetting details by asking too many questions at once. Actually, wait, I should be writing everything down..." He takes out his notepad and begins jotting down all relevant information, casually following along Emi as he does. "Which reminds me, when are we supposed to reconvene again?"

"What could be wrong with talking to children? That makes me even more curious about what the child might be seeing. But... if it's potentially dangerous for the child I'd best not even risk it. Let's see if the father's home." She turned to Apollo mid-walk, practically backstepping across the room while shrugging at him. "Dunno. Probably when we have substantial information. Which I think we have by now thanks to that couple, but I wanna see if I can get just a bit more." She knocked on the door to room 204, but in case the daughter was used to answering the door she made sure to try and address the father as directly as possible. "Hello? Is the tenant of this apartment home?"

Ryo and Lan both shrug. Ryo: "You just saw it happened, and then we all came to this conclusion. The one who confirmed it is in the hospital right about now." Lan: "Glad this was helpful. Leave before it gets too late." Is all the pair says before the door towards Apartment 210 is closed for good. From the other side, no signs of conversation can be heard. The footsteps instead indicate they don't even stay in the same room. Regardless, the group of three would move instead towards Apartment 204. After Emi knocks on its door, there is nothing but silence. More silence. And... that's right, more silence. However, light is coming from under the door, just like in the other apartments that have people in them, all three of them, even the one on the third floor. The sound of a chair being moved comes from the other side of the door, and upon closer inspection, this one in particular has a door viewer. Emi, Gad or Apollo, if they had their phones with them then they would receive a message notification at the same time. - 0 - Nothing changes outside while Malloryn works on decorating the apartment, other than the sun is quickly disappearing to make way for the night. As she checks, her phone receives a message notification. - 0 - Kazuo had sent a message to the rest of the group through their group chat, asking them that, once they were done, they should meet again at the reception of the apartment; he would be waiting there until they were ready. "My name is Kazuo Takahara, I'm a third-year student at Kosei High School and... I suppose I'm also the President of the Occult Club." Kazuo introduces himself to Neko as she had been asking. He keeps staring down at the hexagram while Neko does her checking of nearby devices. She may be able to find out that there are no security cameras in the apartment building at all, and the total amount of computers is four: Two of them in apartment 302, one in 204 and another in 210. 204 and 210 barely get use, but the two in 302 are constantly ordering new products from the internet. If you tried hard enough you may be able to figure out what is being bought. After this, Kazuo walks up to Hikari and sighs, trying not to laugh. "Stop using your powers for no reason, it's a normal apartment minus the demonic presence, not some other worldly pocket dimension. I sent a message to the others. I'll be at the reception for now." And so Kazuo walks back inside of the apartment building to wait for the time being.

Gad would check his phone, something he almost forgot he had in the first place. Mostly because he just randomly was given it for being the one thousandth visitor to an electronic store he didn't even intend to go to in the first place. He'd rub at the back of his head anxiously. "Should we head back down? I could try to get the person inside to answer more directly but it might be better to just go back."

Apollo pulled out his laptop which he had messaging software on to converse with the rest of the group. He noticed the message from Kazuo, urging them to return to the reception. He held the laptop in one hand and typed with the other with inhuman speed and veracity, responding with "Let's mosey" in English, to the possible annoyance of others as a result of his habit of switching between multiple different language every time he sends a message. He followed up by pulling the keyboard back, switching the laptop to a tablet mode and drawing a chibi sketch of himself giving a thumbs up, sending it to the chat. Eerily silent, he began making his way towards the reception, assuming Gad and Emi would go there on their own.

She stepped away from the door, holding a finger up towards her two students just to check the message. Seeing that it was from Kazuo, she returned to the two students quickly, though she was still checking the door for any answers. "No one's home? Or maybe it's just the kid. Either way, I think we have enough info to fill the others in. C'mon!" Emi would make sure to be the last to leave, just to make sure no one was in any danger. She was noticeably anxious given the decrepit environment.

{As the girl gazed out the window wistfully, not knowing much of what else to do other than to do more peasant work, her phone had sent her a notification. Once it said "Kazuo", she needed no further explanation to leave her room, throwing the curtain to the side and texting back to him.} "Coming!~" {Afterwards she would go and grab her purse, leaving to find the first floor where the reception was. Malloryn would carefully close her door behind her, walking towards the steps and heading down to meet up with everyone else again.}

As it turns out, the entire group decided to meet once more at the reception of the apartment building. Kazuo is sitting on the chair behind the desk checking the books that were left on top out of pure curiosity. A new page, a new time Kazuo's face is filled with disappointment. "No, this won't do." Once they were all there and ready to speak, Kazuo would drop the book and them pile them all together, as the caretaker clearly didn't like to organize his own things. The night is almost there. "All of these rituals are to protect a single family from evil spirits, but nothing that we can use for what's going on." [He looks at everyone in silence for a moment.] "What did you guys find out? Did you talk to everyone already?"

While Katty wasn't bothered to listen or to care about anyone to anyone, like interducing to this young man's name, or rather Hikari doing something, but rather focusing mainly on her tablet, finding out about the results, this isn't the result neko was expecting... But it was rather disappointing... So she is confused if that's the results that they want --"and here's what I found~~" the hologram reappeared once again that it disappeared after what neko pressed a button "you're seriously annoying" she touched the screen as if she was putting that sphere besides or something "I don't know, this is all I found and I don't want to be much of a stalker but---" after she listened to what kazuo had to say about gathering up and she got nervous again if it is something. "w-w-well.... I'll rather be outside.... And taking some air and so...." she avoided meeting so all she had to do is to wait outside and hacked into hikari's phone to listen about what are they saying using her headphones, while she is outside the main building.

Emi whips out her notepad and starts listing off the information she'd found out from the couple. "Apollo-kun and I talked to a couple in room 210 on the second floor, Ryo and Lan Fudo. They told me that if you fall asleep between 8-9 PM, you are guaranteed to have nightmares and potentially fall into a coma. We also know that according to Mr. and Mrs. Fudo the woman living on the third floor arrived around the same time that this all began. Apollo-kun and I also tried to speak to her but she was fairly uncooperative. She closed the notepad and stared at the apartment building, tapping her chin pensively. "There's also a man and his daughter in room 204, but there didn't seem to be anyone home. Gadello-kun also warned me that we shouldn't be talking with children. I'm not sure why though. I'm primarily concerned about the woman on the second floor. She seemed to be our most difficult lead."

{Malloryn tried her best not to butt herself in too much, however she realized that's what she's supposed to do best as the rich girl. So before she saw nobody else was currently speaking up, she walked up and did so herself.} "Aw, I almost forgot that this was an occult investigation!~" {Unlike Emi, she merely went off memory with what she had experienced, which was slightly easy to go off of because of how much she talked to herself like her only friend was herself.} "Well the apartments insides of each apartment aren't as déclassé as one would normally expect. When I had bought it I was fully expecting something more rugged but as it turns out, they have relatively clean and functioning appliances that aren't missing. It's amazing when you need the bare minimum!~ Other than that I've gotten some essential oils from the bedroom with their diffuser that I don't want. Anyone who wants them is free to take it. Oh, and I guess I had to use my keys to cut open some unlabelled boxes that had many items which seemed to belong to the rest of the apartment, but I didn't have time to look through them all thoroughly."

The Solar by now has stopped glowing... But her bat is still out, she considers demonic presence reason enough to remain armed even if she can summon it at any moment. As for her phone Neko would indeed be able to hack it easily, though it's kind of old and the audio quality is crap, she can still hear through it. Evetually the young woman would speak up a bit after a while. To be exact after everyone else bar Apollo and Gad have spoken. She'd simply nod at Mal's words, not having much to add there. Emi though... She has loads of thoughts on what Emi said. "Yeah what Kazuo said, though strangely the energy doesn't have a focal point. It comes from circles not too far away from here, and moves towards the building before covering the whole place. And that's interesting about the third floor, Sumeragi. That paints something of a picture to me there, but maybe it's just bad luck on when she came in... The obvious conclusion is its related though, and that perhaps she's the one who drew out these ritual circles? Just conjuncture on my part, could be be bad circumstances. And not speaking to kids... That's an odd as hell warning, could the demons be manifesting as a child sometimes? I know some such beings can shapeshift so it isn't impossible, but why would that be happening? Or maybe a kid is the summoner...? It muddies the water a bit on third floor girl at least." She'd then go quiet again, waiting to see if anyone else has something to add after that bit of guesswork.

"I talked to the person in 205, that's all. She seemed pretty normal compared to that couple but it was clear that something was making her extremely nervous. All she said was that apparently there's been a gang or something causing problems around the area at night and not to talk to a little girl if I see one roaming around. I guess I didn't try that hard to gather information otherwise I could have..." He'd trail off after that, not wanting to continue with that thought. "Anyway, I think it's safe to trust that women to some extent. She's obviously hiding something but it seems like there's at least reason for her warnings."

Apollo nods along as the others list off information, staying passive for the most part. "It's not bad information, but I doubt we'd get much further by investigation alone. It might not be a bad idea for one of you to take a nap and see what happens. I've drawn out demons in similar ways in the past."

[Kazuo keeps a mental note of everything they are saying as well as their conclusions. With all that information, he too starts painting the image of what possibly could be actually happening in this place.] "A little girl and another on the third floor...? If that's what you guys think, then run with it for now. Though, maybe you should try and find this little girl...?" [After commenting on their findings, it was the young man's time to comment on what he found out from the caretaker and his own attempts at figuring something out of the information given. Kazuo would open his own book and keeps his eyes glued to it.] "I found out some things from Mister Nagai that wasn't at all in the rumors. This will be a lot to take in. He had to clean each apartment and one thing that always showed up in their bathrooms and walls was a single word: "Baku"." [He would turn over the book on a page detailing a demon, the page by its side the rough sketch of it. It's a big creature with a small elephant trunk, a tapir with the paws of a tiger and long claws, and an awful expression on his face.] "Baku is a national demon that is called upon by its summoner in order to devour nightmares and turn them into sweet dream. However, if one is not careful and the ritual is made to last too long, he may grow into a glutton and consume the nice dreams completely until the victim can't wake up. Chances are... we're dealing with him. He went out of control and started to attack everyone." [He closes his eyes as he shares his own conclusion.] "At this stage, we can't kill it as the summoner, who remains awake, is probably being held hostage. To chase it away and reverse the effects, we need to recreate the ritual and have the summoner return it to the Abyss. The problem is that if Baku realizes what's going on, the summoner may be killed and he will escape, dooming all the victims forever." [He turns the page, showing the ritual: One must draw a specific circle that comes from one's own imagination, use a catalyst and call upon the demon. The way the circle is drawn is said that must be done while thinking of the person one wants to help.] "Apollo-san took the words right out of my mouth. We need to bait Baku into action while the others reach the summoner and work on reversing the process. Seems like it's the girl on the third floor but... I don't know if we can be too sure of that. I feel like we're missing something." [He shakes his head.] "Gad and Apollo-san, you guys have the powers of a god, we can't risk that demon taking anything from you; any of you that may have such powers can't act as bait, which means that... I have to be it. My powers seem to be... demonic in nature so he has nothing to gain. Sumeragi-sensei's power is natural among human beings and I don't know anything about Carreu-san or Akimoto-san in that regard. In short, we need to separate in two to succeed and save the people." [Kazuo takes a deep sigh.] "Sorry, that was a lot. This is a complicated situation. Any questions or ideas?"

after overhearing the conversation, she thought the girl from the third floor could be the person at 302 who actively using their devices to order many new products, that being aside, they are like really discuss about the occult stuff, although she tries to believe hikari that supernatural powers being a thing, they are actually helping people, and that's a good thing from what Neko thinks herself, so she won't complain any further like this, It'll only make a fool of herself. "that's...!!! wait... I can't get in if I would be found out" overhearing all these conversation outside, she needs to give someone the number or try to make sure they can reach to the girl, ....at least she thought of one thing, and that would become annoying, she needs to get someone get the tablet she has, but in a way, there's endless possibilities, but she has to use this one. "alright, Kitty, I need your help" she tried to hijack a decent device among the students that has a good audio quality at least, it had to install the same files that Neko has from her tablet using Bluetooth by turning it on, after it installed it started vibrate so strongly among one of these students --"did someone say a... complicated situation~?" a very high pitched voice can be heard very loudly from one of these student's phone, and the screen is turned on, to their normal screen, but a colorless sphere with cat ears can move around. --"I'm Kitty~ a saviour of justice and----..... yeah let's just skip for the obvious parts since things like these would be boring" the sphere continues to the main subject "well then, if you seek reaching for the girl, you have to first... uh..... alright, the secret item is dropped!" meanwhile, Neko had to use screen share between her tablet and her phone, she put the tablet with the video game button in the front of the door, ran as fast as she could to the statue and hide there monitor everything and use the tablet wirelessly using her phone, she had no other devices with her today, but she'll use these for times like these, she put the hood away so her hair can take a breath finally while hiding. --"the secret item is now dropped in the front door, please pick it up because you may need it for this, ᵃⁿᵈ ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ʳᵉˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ᵐᵉ, ᴵ ⁿᵉᵉᵈ ᵗᵒ ᵇʳᵉᵃᵗʰᵉ ᵒⁿ ᵐʸ ᵒʷⁿ" the device is now at the door, the screen is on to the results of the search of these devices that Neko just found, the 4 computers, Two of them in apartment 302, one in 204 and another in 210, the ones being used are the computers from 302.

The Solar would look over at Kazuo, groaning slightly... A hostage huh, how freaking annoying. Kazuo's logic on being bait himself makes sense though, and she can confirm herself and Mal as bad options too. "Mal's got one of those Personas too, and I'm... Fuck if I know, chosen by a god way bigger than most I think? I don't really understand much about the source of my powers though, he spoke once and that's all I've heard. Feels like a hands-off guy mostly." As for questions or ideas, well she does have one... But it probably wouldn't work for some reason, ugh. "What if we could sever the connection between the demon and the summoner, then kill it? I have an trick that might work to break the link but I haven't tested it... Maybe keep that as a back up plan since I'm not sure how it'll go? Untested methods sometimes backfire with me, admittedly. " Her power can react with various forms of magic in all kinds of exciting ways, some of them are even stable and non-harmful to those around her.

"I suppose one way of baiting it out would be using some form of magic that can attract it, but if it eats dreams, couldn't one of us just go to sleep? The Baku would come to find us so long as we fall asleep on the premises." Emi tapped her foot and grumbled. "Assuming we take that option, I think it's best that I do it. You know... just in case things go south?"

{She opens her eyes for just a second as Hikari mentions her persona out of the blue. Malloryn sighs as her mood turns slightly sour.} "Gods, is possessing a Persona really this common nowadays? I swore that I haven't let it come out for even a second..." {However seeing Emi provide a different option gives her the topic needed to get her mind off of something that seems not to be any special at all.} "Then again, Miss Sumeragi does have a point. And since she volunteered first, I don't mind if we let her bait so long as we go with this plan!~ Kazuo, any objections?"

Apollo chuckles at Malloryn's sour disposition, his own expression being cheery and of mockery. "We live in a world where the Demon Summoning Program is available on Google Play. Of course, you're a persona user." He then spreads his feet out slightly, curling his fists by his thighs as he puts on a more solemn face. "Well... it seems like we've know what course of action to take. I suggest we move this conversation along, we don't wanna find ourselves coming up just short of enough time to actually pull this off."

[Kazuo's mind, coming up with some kind of plan, is interrupted by his phone suddenly being hijacked by someone or something. "The entire cat motif is extra" He thinks. The message given... he didn't really know what to think of it, and as the rest speak, he decided to go check the front door and see what the whole deal is about. He would find the... abandoned tablet and check it to notice the devices and from where they originate.] "I don't know what this is but hey, I'll keep it." [Before moving on to the final plan, he would approach Hikari and hand over the tablet.] "Since you, Gad and Apollo-san are going to focus on reversing the ritual, you should use this. From the looks of it you can hijack the computers of 204, 210 and 302. Maybe you'll find out something?" [He would let her take it before walking back towards the desk, turning to see everyone with a clearer idea of what to do.] "I think we should hurry up a bit more, yes. Here's what we'll do." [Kazuo would point towards Hikari, Gad and Apollo.] "You three have powers that belong to deities or are on those grounds, so we can't let Baku even have a taste of it. Focus on finding the summoner and reverse the ritual. It's important we succeed at it because there's no other way to reverse the damage. Merely killing the demon or separating it from the origin won't do that much. In short, continue and finish the investigation." [Then Kazuo would toss the book he was showing the group at Gad. Inside are the instructions to reverse the original ritual in case they forget with all the things they must do. Next, he would focus on Malloryn and Emi.] "I didn't even know Carreu-san had a Persona but... this'll work then. Carreu-san, Sumeragi-sensei and I will be acting as bait. Mister Nagai told me that in most cases, it was pairs of people that got affected the quickest. The more people we get, the quicker it'll react. It's simple, we just have to fall asleep in similar conditions to the previous victims." [He would stay silent for a moment before remembering something.] "Actually, Carreu-san, didn't you have the key to one of the apartments? Why don't we use that one? If it has a bed, couch, or a futon I think we'll be able to get on it. But...the floor does work too, in this situation."

{The girl merely laughs and flicks her wrist behind her as she walks forward, ignoring Apollo and dismissing him to go out with his own crew. Her own smile comes back as soon as Kazuo tells everyone of the final plans, giving him a half-closed gaze so as to tease him slightly.} "Ooo, aren't you so brave, Takahara-San?~ Very well, let's all participate in this Damsel in Distress type operation, for the sake of the occult club of course." {Once the word "floor" reached one ear, she dangled her apartment keys in a way that makes the word leave out her other ear. She gives a slight chuckle before directing her attention to her fellow persona-user, Emi.} "Come on, Miss Sumeragi. Sleepover at my place, 306! No offense but the floor's where we walk! We are not sleeping on this floor under any circumstances. So long as I pay for everything of course, tee-hee!~" {With no objections underway, she decides to skip towards her own apartment door, completely forgetting that she hasn't finished decorating the place anyway.}

[Kazuo has faced demons, incredibly powerful human, even gods, and came out on top through wit and luck. What he cannot possibly ever do is not react to girls messing with him. He covers his face to hide any sign of red or change in facial expression long enough to be able to let it all out with a sigh.] "Right. Damsel in Distress Operation is a go then. I'll let you guys handle the rest, I'm counting on you." [Kazuo would look at the three that would remain awake and push himself. He would lift his hand a bit and give them a thumbs up and an awkward smile before following after Malloryn.] "Sumeragi-sensei, you seem capable of sleeping anywhere. This will be piece of cake, right?" [He comments as he is on his way up.] - 0 - Apollo, Hikari and Gad are now able to move around the building at their leisure once again. Hikari is holding the mysterious tablet of an unknown owner which may be able to reveal more information from apartments 204, 210 and 302. The ritual of Baku requires the original summoner to be present. The circle they originally drew must be repeated on top of the original place where it was made; the same catalyst used then must be used as well. The original summoner must then order the demon to return from where it came.

Right... Hacking huh, fine then. She's only got a basic understanding of computers. The kind of understanding born from messing with cheap devices and making them work longer more than any proper training. But so long as using the thing isn't too complex she should be able to manage. Assuming it did work then she'd quickly begin going through the info on 302 while calling upon her power once again, not in any way that's visible but the girl's mind begins running in over drive and taking all the evidence she can gather from the data in rapidly. Attempting to paint a profile of the person living there based upon what can be dug up from her network, not unlike what one might expect of a master investigation in fiction to do. "I'm gonna see what I can find out from here for now, I know some tricks that help with investigating things at least. Not sure if you guys have anything there, but if so now's the time to bring it out boys."

"Really, I hate using 'tricks' for things like this. Let me think... I don't know if I can really do much but maybe... No, probably wouldn't be helpful. I'm just going to try and see if I can find these people directly. Even if I don't speak to them I can still get more from just getting near them." Gad didn't exactly feel confidant about any of this, neither did he really want to utilize his own abilities in any excessive way. For now he just would try to get back into the building and try to make his way to the third floor.

"Nothing wrong with taking a nap in the grass! But even sleeping on a couch would be easier." Emi started towards apartment 306 rather slowly, like she were half asleep during the walk already. "Never did I think I'd be instructed to sleep on the job. I can't tell if this is a blessing or a curse." By the time the trio had entered the apartment she'd already found a corner of carpet that seemed particularly comfortable and started lounging, pulling the very same women's magazine from earlier in the day and covering her face with it. Within mere minutes, she was snoring away blissfully, at least for now.

Apollo shakes his head, leisurely hanging about by Hikari as Gad goes his own way. "I'll refrain from using my powers, as well... for my own reasons." He glances over at the screen of the tablet Hikari was holding, absently waiting for anything to catch his attention

[Once on the third floor and seeing Emi so easily fall asleep was at the very least reassuring in that their plan may work. Truth is that he was not exactly sure as to what expect. This was walking into a terrible trap they will regret. They may be hurt in the process, but he couldn't tell them that straight up by the chance of them saying no.] "Sumeragi-sensei is something. I can't believe an adult that looks this intimidating at first glance can just act like a schoolgirl." [He rubs the back of his head. Kazuo was used to keeping details to himself and modifying the truth to get what he wants and get the upper hand in dangerous situations or whenever it came to demons, but this time he couldn't help but feel a bit guilty about it. "It'll be fine, I just have to trust the others will catch the demon quickly." He thinks as he sits on the couch.] "This thing is massive; I wonder if it was assembled inside of the apartment... not that it matters. I'll see you on the other side, Carreu-san." [He waves at Malloryn before resting his back against the back pillows while crossing his arms, deciding to try and fall asleep in that position. With both eyes closed, he tries to lose focus by thinking of anything, whatever it was. In the end, he falls asleep suddenly as he tried to figure out a way to fall asleep.] - 0 - Emi, now asleep, may shape her dreams. Perhaps she is thinking of something she wants more than anything, with the people she cares about and longs for, maybe the people she can no longer recognize. She may be dreaming of sleeping at home. Whatever it is, dreams can be a utopia for others to enter, one you now have full control over. - 0 - Through the use of her power and the tablet's own information she can find a lot of things from the person in Apartment 302. Her name is Satono Imai, aged 15 and currently a first-year student in Karukozaka High School living on her own; the apartment itself is being paid by her parents while she uses more of her monthly money on pointless items such as candles, creepy dolls and cat-themed clothing. She regularly orders cat food, hair dyes and art supplies on top of that, like big canvas, different types of pencil, paint, crayons and brushes. From the reception and on the way to the third floor, Gad find trouble in the form of not getting there, but instead ending up inside of the swimming pool room, now completely dark and only illuminated by the pool's lights at the bottom, showing how the water moves in an irregular form, circling around the center of it, slowly.

{As Malloryn opens the door, she merely stares at Emi for a few seconds, wondering how her teacher had the guts to sleep on the floor. Her eyes were slightly dull as she did, her mind thinking back on how she really said that "nobody was about to sleep on the floor". She was only broken out of her thoughts by Kazuo, who had wished her well on this journey. Since there was no real need to be pleasant, Malloryn responded in a simple manner.} "Mhmm, thanks. Night." {The girl says, a lot more crass in her dry delivery than how she was back when they first got here. After slamming the door shut, she leaves Kazuo on the couch, every light in the apartment room now being turned off. Malloryn proceeds to put a blindfold on before she goes to bed, burying her face in her pillow.}

As Malloryn and Kazuo would very soon come to find, Miss Sumeragi's dreams weren't exactly pleasant most of the time when she even dreamt, even without the Baku's influence. Emi found herself in a dark and cold steel room that would have become all too familiar to her, wrapped up in a hospital bed. "No, no, not again! Anywhere but here...!" She curled up in her bed, quickly bursting into tears as all the memories of the scenery flooded back, paining her just to think about them. Kazuo and Mal would find themselves in their own similar empty steel room, waking up in a hospital bed and seeing nothing but a sink, a toilet, and a mirror in the corner. Strangely enough despite the medical setting, they'd still be normally dressed, as if they were just plopped down into the area. Their cell doors were wide open, seemingly bludgeoned into metal clumps by some strange force. From across the halls they could easily hear their teacher panicking, her own cell door intact but unlocked.

Hikari would relay her findings to Apollo, I won't type it all out here because Kaz's post can be scrolled up to. Just assume he knows all that was mentioned of her knowledge. "... That's what I've got anyways, any thoughts? I feel like she's kinda weird, but maybe not in a dangerous and supernatural way. At least personally this girl doesn't feel right, gonna keep working on some more." 210 is her next target, and yet again the young woman applies her divine talents towards the art of putting together a profile from even the barest evidence. This isn't exactly burning through much of her power after all, so there's little reason not to call upon it. There isn't even any hint of the glimmering sunshine that marks serious use of her might.

Apollo cringes at the description, feeling uncomfortable just hearing about this person. "Ugh... is that kinda lifestyle supposed to be acceptable for humans? I imagine she doesn't get much exercise. That's very problematic, especially later in one's life." He then starts towards the building, taking in his surroundings on the way as he casually waits for whatever Hikari has to say. "Honestly... i'd prefer if we were dealing with some experienced demon summoner. If it really is someone that just happened upon the knowledge to summon a demon, then we also have to worry about whoever or whatever supplied them that knowledge. Hikari, when you learn everything you can, would you mind giving that tablet to me?"

{Malloryn yawns, taking off her blindfold that she uses to sleep with...until she realizes that she doesn't have it anymore. Even though it would've been obvious by the fact that she sees this new environment, it's only noticed by the girl once she sees that the cell doors have been opened for them by a very upstanding individual probably.} "Gee, were we too late?" {Instead of trying to wake up Kazuo, Malloryn goes and ventures towards Emi's cell, knocking on the door quietly. She didn't feel too bothered to open it just yet, a bit wary of the fact that this seems like the perfect place for some unstable accident to occur.} "Hey, Miss Sumeragi. Erm...we're here?"

[The sound of panic and crying forced him to wake up. It was weird at first, too lucid for it to be a normal dream. It reminded him of something, like a school he saw once. "Is this really the time to be thinking about whatever that Alpaca was?" He shakes his head, quickly getting up and seeing Malloryn leave before he does.] "What is this place...? It's giving me a weird feeling." [Like a chill was running down his spine, he takes a deep breath and quickly catches up Malloryn announcing their arrival. What happened here? Is this a nightmare world? With no more time to think he was willing to use, Kazuo would forcefully open the door and step inside, trying to figure what was even going on.] "Sumeragi-sensei, were you attacked!? ...Carreu-san, be on your guard." - 0 - Ryo and Lan Fudo, a pair that had gotten married not too long ago, the woman marrying into her husband's family. There was nothing too out of the ordinary for their daily life based on their history search beyond social media, video hosting sites and Wikipedia. However, not too long ago, searches on "divorce", "depression", "curses", "constant nightmares" and even "I'm tired of my husband/spouse" comes up. Months prior, the searches were on trips to other countries and places to visit around Tokyo. Something was taking a toll on their psyche. Not much else can be learnt about them as their usage of their computer is fairly infrequent.

Hearing Malloryn and Kazuo's voices sent her jumping out of the bad and clinging to the walls so hard they started cracking. This was the first time any nightmare of hers had ever featured a student. "Wha?! I'm not... alone?" Her weeping stopped and she walked up to the door. Anyone outside the room would simply see Scathach crush the door in much the same way that the others had been rolled up into balls of scrap. Emi emerged from the cell, and for a brief moment Mal and Kazuo wouldn't see their normal teacher. In fact, the person who was there didn't seem to be her at all, instead a short girl with light brown hair and a medical robe. As soon as they blinked, however, they'd see their teacher once more, rubbing her eyes. "This is not a place I'd have ever wanted any of you to see, but I suppose against a demon who's been causing nightmares this was a given. That or the place with the alpaca... A-Anyways! Stick with me, and... try not to look around too much. You don't want to see what happened here." Emi simply beckoned her two students to follow her, making sure they were no more than a few feet away at all times. Should Kazuo and Malloryn decide look around they'd be treated to grizzly, albeit limited sights, with people in lab coats who seemed to have been butchered, the occasional armed guard with armor that'd been caved in, and sometimes medical patients who were bloodied just as much. The only thing stopping the two from witnessing total carnage was the incredibly dim lighting.

"A pool room...It had to be now of all times? ..." Of course he'd notice the water. It was hard to miss with the only light source here being in the pool. However, that still didn't make it any clear what exactly he was looking at. "Alright, why don't we start with introductions? If you can even talk that is. I know you at very least probably get the gist of what I'm saying if your sentient... And if your not then hopefully you don't react to sound..." Naturally, most would at very least have a basic understanding of the young man's words even if they didn't speak the same language. Mostly, this side effect was limited by the intelligence of whatever he was speaking to but it was also a good way to gauge threats that could be dealt with diplomatically and those that could not.

{Malloryn would immediately ease up as Kazuo comes in the picture, now standing more relaxed in the presence of the person that can test the waters first. She stands back, waiting for Kazuo to forcefully open the door until some "unknown presence" decides to do it themself. Obviously a persona. In response to her teacher's slight ramblings, Malloryn would think to herself.} "...alpaca? Miss Sumeragi, are we sure this nightmare demon hasn't already plagued our minds?" {As she waited to hear further instructions, she had already decided to look around the place, raising her eyebrow at every single corpse that had stood present in whatever medical facility the dream has placed them in. Not even a sigh or a groan, nothing really comes from the girl as she stared off at these lifeless bodies that were once called people.} "Though if you say not to take in our surroundings, I'll follow suit. Duly noted, Miss Sumeragi!~" {The girl would sigh to herself, remembering that there might really be more scary sights that lurk in the dark. She decides to place herself behind the group, walking once told to, not really having much to say on any matters nor knowing at all how to react, merely standing still. Her heart would feel bad about not having any methods of comforting her teacher being in their tragic backstory, merely idling by in a silent wait for the demon.}

She'd once again relay what was gathered, this time not even stopping from beginning her next investigation into the last of these people while doing so. "Almost done, just need to take a little look at the folks in 210 and then ya can have a look... This pair doesn't seem liable to be our demon summoners though, do they? I just can't imagine some random folks with a few recent troubles in their relationship conjuring things from another world." The Solar sighs, continuing her use of supernautral power to aid in putting together a psychological profile based on the data. With any luck 204 will have more for her to work with, because might of the sun or not that just wasn't enough info in the last one for her to get much of a picture.

Apollo nods his head, still just musing over the information given by Hikari. "Honestly? I wouldn't discount the possibility. That Imai seems much more suspicious to me, however. It doesn't help that she completely refuses to cooperate with us, either."

"Who...?" [He was confused about the change in appearance, but his immediate wink got in the way of further inspection. He curses his own humanity in that moment, but quickly pieces the information together based on what they spoke about a while ago.] "So that's what you looked like..." [Which means this must be Emi's dream. "Her dream...? How is this even working." Kazuo feels a chill run down his spine. Unless this was his own dream and his mind was just playing around with the info, then this was already a major danger. He would follow Emi but couldn't help himself to look around. The scenery of death was shocking; the chill running down his spine returns as well. The possibility of all this having happened already too was unsettling to him.] "Too late, Emi. It is... a bit to take in but I think I'll be fine. I've seen worse." [There was this other sensation that suddenly hit him the moment he said those words. He felt like vomiting, but he had no nausea, he felt his entire body weird for a moment before needing to take a deep breath.] "...No, no I don't think I have. I'll be fine though. Let's just... find a nicer place to be in." - 0 - As Gad speaks to the pool, the movements in it fully stop; ripples emanating from a point in the middle of it constantly. In no time at all comes the deep, mocking voice. ???: "Are you scared, boy?" The ripples become more frequent for a while. ???: "Join me in this pool. We can have a lot of fun like that. We can communicate more easily if we can look into each other's eyes. I bet you can't even see my own. Isn't that a bit rude? You are being very demanding already, boy." - 0 - Hikari checks for information on apartment 204. In this one, three people live: Go, Akira and Miki Kuroda; a single father and his two twin 9-year-old daughters. The computer has two different users, the one belonging to the father acting as the administrator. Based on everything, he has two different jobs and is very hardworking, to the point of almost never seeing his kids just so they can pay off the treatment one of the girls is going through; Miki has been in a coma for months. The other user counts for both Akira and Miki. The one using this computer is fairly active in comparison to the administrator, and it's mostly internet searches. Specifically, it asks about how long a coma lasts; sites for famous children's TV shows; asks about why people die; where do people go when they die; how to help someone with nightmares; there are even questions about why people fall into a coma. Finally, this family has been living in the building for longer than the people in 210 and 302. Miki fell into a coma around the time the girl in 302 got to the building, but the search history is older.

Emi tilted her head at Kazuo as he stared at her, looking over herself like she had some sort of blemish or stain. "How who looked? What're you talking about?" She eventually shrugged it off and continued down the bloodied corridors, stopping in front of one specific room for just a moment. It was quite clearly an office, and on the plating was the label "Dr. Tsukikage Sumeragi". "I'm sorry you two, I... I never wanted you to see this. You won't have to see it any more once we reach the lobby, it's a straight line from here. Just... don't go into the testing rooms." Her voice audibly wavered as she struggled to pry her attention away from the room, desperately trying to hide the fact that she was holding tears back. "I'm sure whatever we're looking for is probably in the lobby. It was a big room, after all. Had to be to impress the politicians." The closer the group got to the lobby, the more the scenery started to twist and warp, with architectural shapes slowly shifting to be completely impossible, and some rooms just seeming to be dead ends with bulbous stone behind them. These were more than likely areas that were gaps in Emi's memory, filled instead by random stone.

The young woman sighs while summing up things for Apollo, based on what they know... Damn. "So, I highly doubt its them. The summoner has some protections in place at least that seem to be working a bit for now, and given the girl fell into a coma... Yeah can't be one of them. The husband and wife can't be ruled out, but I feel as if our most likely suspect is probably 302 girl. It feels too obvious, but sometimes the obvious correct. Any objections to getting some answers one way or another from her?" She'd hand the tablet over to Apollo while waiting for his reply, she isn't so absent minded as to totally forget the boy had asked for it. And she's got no reason not to grant his request really.

{Unlike Kazuo, Malloryn didn't seem to feel bad about the bloodiness or the feeling of dead bodies being scattered about yet unseen, merely holding her nose until she decides to speak. She waves her hand, trying her best to reassure her own teacher about their tolerance to gore.} "Aw, Sumeragi-Sensei, it's fine. Don't feel too bad for us~!" {Until she takes a glance at Kazuo, who seems to be the direct opposite of how she's currently acting. With that, she sighs, her gaze lowering slightly. Malloryn's tone instantly got more serious once the mood was set in stone.} "Nevermind, you can feel bad." {The girl would follow behind the two, eyes shifting at all the scenery. She only takes an indirect glance at the testing rooms, before trying to analyze the architecture of the place, something that's obviously supposed to be appearing as weird and incomplete.} "Though I do have to admit, the decorum's a tad bit unusual. Foreign or Japanese culture?"

Apollo would seem to get emotional as the details were relayed to him, something he would try to hide by looking off to the side distractedly. He nods when Hikari hands him the tablet, focusing on it while replying to Hikari. "That seems like our best course of action, although i'd rather do it in the most forceful way possible!" He manually turns the tablet off and then opens up the back, removing the battery and taking the sd card out if it has one. Afterwards, he throws the battery in the nearest trash can and places the tablet itself in his bag, putting the sd card in the slot of his laptop. An action which may allow him to access everything previously stored on the tablet or give the original owner the ability to gain total control over his device at Isla's discretion based on the knowledge that the security on Apollo's laptop was set up by an experienced technician. Of course, it would also be up to them what could actually be found on the sd card or if one existed in the first place. "I'm gonna see if I can get any information on our mysterious benefactor. Until I can ascertain their motives, i'll have to consider them untrustworthy."

It was pretty clear that whatever he was dealing with wasn't something he could trust. Still, water wasn't something he'd be able to shrug off if this thing tried to drown him. Despite his power he still needed oxygen. "I'm not actually the strongest swimmer so I'll have to pass. Besides, they say eyes are a window into someone's soul and I already feel like I can see your soul fine from here." That being said, his own eyes would gleam with a faint golden glow. He wasn't doing something crazy or anything. He was simply trying to read the intention of his conversation party. "If I'm being too demanding then why don't you ask me something? Then we'll be even."

[Kazuo wonders if it would've been better if he had been the one to fall asleep first, or maybe if he should've done it all on his own. At least that way, he would only have to worry about himself. Maybe even see bits and pieces from his own past. It was too late now; it was as if they entered a new reality.] "This is all manners of screwed up. If this is the demon's doing, then... I may have underestimated it." [With so many victims, chances are it has grown in power way beyond his expectations; after all each human's magnetite and strength varies. Even a small child could become a summoner and cast a Megidolaon no sage could ever dream of.] "Still..." [Kazuo would keep following Emi, they had to reach the lobby after all. Still, he would try to check the strange stones. See how they feel, if they can be felt at all.] - 0 - The voice slowly gains a shape, a kind of silhouette in the water; large like a bear, with sharp fur and small tusks on the edges of its gaping humanoid mouth, filled with small but sharp teeth, only hidden by the large trunk on the front of its head. Its mane and long tail float and move like waves, increasingly more furious as the creature reveals itself. ???: "A question. Fine then, boy. Do you know who I am...?" Those familiar with them would feel it, no matter where they were in the building, the presence of a powerful demon. It would sniff and look around, prey being obvious to him. ???: "Lucky you, boy. I was hoping to eat you right now to finally escape the confines of this damn building, but it looks like I'll get to have fun before I break free." The demon hovers above the water and phases through the ceiling. ???: "When I'm done, and if I find you, I'll gut you." - 0 - Sadly for Apollo,(((whoever left the tablet cannot be reached at the moment so I'll improvise with this one, it ain't Isla))) he can't find anything of note, just more of the same information Hikari just got without the interpretation she provided, merely search results, basic files and uses. Soon enough, they feel the power of a demon growing exponentially somewhere in the building. They cannot tell where it is or where it is going. The overwhelming power was coming from everywhere.

"This place is located in Japan, it's a pharmaceutical building. Well... was. I think it's been demolished. Last I saw this place was around fifteen years ago. As for the demon's doing? Likely not, these bodies are usually part of the scenery when I dream of this place. I doubt the demon's killed anyone, at least not here. Most of these are..." Her expression darkened, perhaps moreso than Kazuo and Malloryn would've ever seen before, her eyes even darkened by her own bangs. Her mouth hung open, like she was about to finish her sentence, but instead stayed quiet and carried onward, sliding the lobby door open. "Try not to get too distracted Takahara-kun. This place is like a labyrinth." As Kazuo examined the rocks he'd find they had an almost sponge-like texture, but his hand would react with an odd numbness when he touched them. The lobby room would be mostly intact unlike the ends of the hallway, with no spiraling rock structures to impede their progress. It was also oddly clean compared to the testing chambers, with not a single person to be found in it.

{Nice to know that this place stayed in Japan then. Her gaze averted to the side as Malloryn kept her comments, instead walking forwards and not bothering to question anything. However she merely raised an eyebrow as Emi decided not to finish her sentence.} {If the place was always like this, maybe it should've been common sense that there was no demon needed for the bodies to pile up. Even so, the lobby lacking corpses and being complete compared to the hallways leave something to be desired. Not more dead bodies or blood staining the room to make everything bland and ugly, but something eventful to happen.} "And I assume the lobby is clean of what happens inside because all the horrors are confidential information?" {The girl says to her teacher, walking forwards a bit and looking around to take a more thorough inspection of the scenery. Of course, she didn't actually make any effort to stray away from her group just to do so.}

"I look forward to it then..." Something else was burning in his eyes, almost in response to the demon's ferocity. It was subtle but a fire was forming very carefully deep within the golden light. For a moment Gad seemed as though he was in a trance but he'd quickly break out of such a state as he processed what was happening. "Wait, this doesn't seem good at all. Maybe I should tell the others...Should I really be using...that though. Wait, do I know anyone's name besides Kazuo...did they tell me their name? I-I'll remember in a moment. It's more important I follow that monster." That being said Gad would try to find a way out of the pool room and if he could a staircase leading up. Whatever he needed to do he needed to do it fast.

The young woman simply shrugs and begins heading off towards 302. "Fair enough Apollo, I'm less worried about the one who gave us this than that girl... But I don't want to apply needless force either, we can't be sure she's behind it man." Being the level-headed reasonable person here pains Hikari a great deal, but she'll do it despite herself. And upon reaching the door she just clears her throat before knocking and speaking out in a calm and appealing voice. "Excuse me, I was wondering if I could speak with you about a few things? I don't mean to be a bother but I am rather curious. If it's not any trouble we'd really be appreciative of that." Once again her power pushes forward, not anything so blunt as mind control or the like. But it does make her words seem as reasonable and persuasive as they can possibly be to any given person... Which of course means in effect, if she had any chance of it working no matter how small it should. If the girl simply won't listen to this request no matter what however, she'd obviously ignore even the superhumanly silver tongue being used at the moment.

Apollo ejects the sd card and places it in his bag as well, nodding as Hikari goes off. "Good point, i'll check out 204 to be safe. See ya!" He then heads off towards Apartment 204, cautiously examing the hallway for anyone out in the open before staring at the door to the apartment with hesitation.

As Malloryn inspects the lobby a safety poster catches her eye. It's not that the poster is unusual in shape and form. It looks like any regular medical notice meant to inform patients of hospital safety procedures. What makes the poster strange are the things it is warning against. Coming in dressed, smiling, speaking, and breathing are listed at the very top. The rest is illegible gibberish that may belong to some dead language. The receptionist desk in the lobby is empty and calls come in going unanswered. A static intercom occasionally chimes in with low drones. Phantom wheelchairs squeak in the vicinity. These emissions of sound saturate the sterile atmosphere. A boy enters the lobby. Though boy may not be an appropriate title for this child. The boy looks way too much like a mini Kazuo to be seen as a stranger. The miniature's arms are a portrait of pain with scrapes up to the shoulders caked with dry blood. His eyes are dulled with pain and he beelines for the empty receptionist desk. Banging on the false glass barrier of it with increasing desperation. No one answers, but a low buzz is heard and two doors leading back into the depths of the hospital are opened. - 0 - Gad would be quick in going up the stairs and even pass by Hikari, who was also moving towards the third floor. However, as he was following the demon, he would find himself in Apartment 306, where the other three are currently sleeping. At first, it looked all normal... up until the demon's shape appeared, dispersing into mist, and entering the body of all three. Their skin becomes sickly pale, even worse for Emi's case. Their hair flows slightly, like carried by invisible waves. Their eyes keep moving rapidly. Baku bit the bait. Meanwhile, Hikari reaches Apartment 302, where the girl immediately replies at her annoying visitor’s request. Satono: "Sorry to say but you are a bother. It is trouble, annoying too. I told your friends before to let me be already, so buzz off. Go bark somewhere else." Two distinct "meows" would follow once the girl makes her decision known to Hikari, as if reiterating the point. "Go away", "Leave me be". It did not seem like they allow dogs inside. Of course, Satono was not about to go and break the rules now. - 0 - Apollo reaches the second floor and examines the hallway carefully. The dust in front of Apartment 204 seems to have lifted a bit; someone recently tried to clean it but did not finish, unlike Apartment 205's perfect condition. As expected, 210 is as dusty as the rest of the area. There no other thing worthy of note at the moment. 7

Emi's brow raised significantly at the appearance of the Kazuo-like boy, looking back at Kazuo and Mal and pointing at the child with visible confusion. "I know this is my dream but somehow this part is new. Do you two know what this is all about?" As the buzz went off she looked like she practically had a heart attack, briefly cowering out of some sort of very primal reaction. She took a moment to shake off the instinctual fear instilled in her and stepped towards the hall, not quite entering it but peeking inside to see the door that opened if she could. "To think I'd have to explore this wretched place again. This demon has a cruel sense of humor. I'll let you two decide where to go, kids. There's no way in hell I'm splitting from you in this graveyard of a hospital."

"Not going to bother reading the rest..." {Malloryn also raised a brow once the miniature Kazuo came through the door. She actually stepped back once, having suspicion that it's presence alone forebode a trap. Though when it didn't try to speak to anyone, she took her caution back, stepping forward again.} "No, I don't. And if I had to guess, this dream is unstable and soon something that's linked to me will show up for no reason other than to add suspense." {She sighs out and walks over to the miniature Kazuo, but still keeping her distance so as to not bug him as he's in the middle of his journey to whoever knows where. Despite the confusing circumstances, a grin appears on her face as she guesses in her head that this'll lead them to the end goal.} "Nevertheless, I have no idea where to go, but...Kazuo, if the scenery won't change on us last second, let's check the testing rooms. If nothing else, the office that had someone's name on it will be last." {Once miniature Kazuo was at least 6 ft apart from her, Malloryn decides to venture back into the hallways, immediately going first out of the pack and making attempts to check wherever it is they need to go. Even so, she doesn't hesitate in letting Kazuo lead in her stead if he so desires, merely slowing down and letting him be line leader without a single objection.}

"I'm... out of my element here." [Kazuo would look at the apparent child version of himself and feel some familiarity, but at the same time it was the opposite. He couldn't quite tell, especially with the massive gaps in his memory.] "...you think I had something to do with this place too? There's a chance. Maybe after, maybe before. I don't even know." [His head hurt, he was at least sure of that. He shakes his head while he keeps staring at the small version of himself. He would follow the other two but would not stop looking back, touching his shoulders.] "This has to be fake but... I can't shake this feeling..." [He didn't know what to make of this.]

The young woman just sighs... Fine then, she can stop playing around she guesses. The time for being polite about this has passed. The door would likely find itself blasting off its hinges as the Solar slams her right leg into it with a quick and inhumanly strong kick. "Right, this is my bad. I wasn't asking so I shouldn't have pretended I was, yeah? You're gonna answer some questions, there isn't any other choice here at all. Look at this, and tell me if you know anything about it. I'll know if you're lying." She really will know if the girl's lying, calling upon a little trick of investigation which allows her to detect lies with perfect accuracy. There's also the fact her voice simply bears utterly no arguing with it, the aura of threat flowing off the girl is rather strong as she pulls out her phone and shows a picture of the magical circles they'd seen earlier. "I'm just trying to figure a few things out honestly, and if you aren't behind it you're in danger instead. So let's make this quick, for both our sakes." A show of force like this isn't especially what she wanted to resort to, but it'll have to work. If the girl tries to call for anyone well... Hikari's fast, she can snatch away any phone long before it's used.

Apollo is unnerved by the condition of the area outside 204, deducting that the person working on it abruptly stopped for one reason or another. Deciding to investigate, he goes up to the door of the apartment and rapes it lightly with his right knuckle. "Hello? Anybody home?"

Gad wasn't quite sure how to react to what he just witnessed. He wasn't exactly sure what he could do with his abilities. Originally, he was going to use this with Hikari but it seemed more urgent that he try it here instead. That being said, he never tried this trick with sleeping people before and whether it worked or not depended on their level of cognition inside of whatever dream they were having. "Kazuo and Sumeragi-Sensei...Listen to my voice, that's an order." A golden shine in his eyes as he tried to make it so his voice could be heard within their minds and possibly the other way around as well. He was unsure if this would really work but he had to try. "If you can hear me then something just entered your bodies. I'm not sure what it was but it's form was made of water. You all look more sickly now so be on your guard."

The boy walks past the group, a few paces down the hallway to stand in front of a door with a bright red sign above it. the sign reads "outpatient surgery". The boy presses a red button next to the door and is let in by another clinical buzz. The hallway is now sharp to the sight as the lobby looks increasingly blurred. Additionally, they hear Gad's muffled voice coming from all over, saying: "If you can...entered your bodies....form...water....look more sickly....-e on your guard..." - 0 - Hikari easily tears through the front door like it was nothing. The interior of the Aparment is incredibly dark, not counting the two monitors lighting the girl's silhouette, who falls off her chair at the sudden burst of random violence. Satono: "What the hell is your problem, you MANIAC!? There is NO way you are escaping the police from this." Satono was clearly a teenage girl living on her own as sthe profile had indicated. She was wearing a large hoodie. Her hair was neck length, with the ends curled up and extending to the sides giving a messy impression, her forehead covered by straight bangs. Her eyes were glaring back at Hikari with a mixture of annoyance and fright. Satono: "Kosei High School, right? I already know you're here with some Emi Sumeragi, a teacher!" Even so, Satono checks the pictures before totally dismissing it by the fact the front door into her home just got ruined. She would stand up and scratch her head quickly, not breaking contact with her big, almost feline eyes. Satono: "I don't know what this creepy thing you show me is, and even if I did I wouldn't tell you. Are we done here? I have the police, my parents and our lawyer to call." Hikari is absolutely unable to detect any kind of truth or lie from anything Satono said, and it was obvious threats were barely working. Finally, there is no guarantee Gad will know if his attempt worked or not. - 0 - Apollo knocks on the door, but there is not a single response coming from the other side, not even a reaction as opposed to the last time, where someone got closer to the door to check. No matter how much he waited, nothing happened. The Apartment 204 was as empty as it could get. 6

"Worrisome." Apollo would step into the nearest shadow. If there were none nearby, he would create his own by forming a pillar of rock. He steps out from a shadow within the room, either a natural or created one. He surveys his surroundings, first looking for a sign of life before doing anything else.

Hiikari sighs a bit while starting to look into the realm of spirits and demons once more, searching for energy that might indicate someone or something here connected to the demonic power she felt earlier. "The rest of them have nothing to do with it, the breaking in thing was all me. And if you do call the cops oh well. I have my ways of vanishing. As for you calling anyone... Nah, not yet. Once we're done sure, ruin my life if it makes you feel better that's fine. But right now I don't have the fucking time to waste when I'm trying to keep people from getting hurt." At this point Hikari begins searching the place for anything that might indicate the girl is indeed their summoner, all while speaking in a completely bored and calm tone. Hopefully with her sixth sense active once again that should hopefully be easier. She's also still got her lie detection that doesn't seem to be working out as much. And is keeping a bit of an eye on the strange girl, still ready to keep her from making any calls if needed.

At the sound of Gad's voice Emi started darting her head around to look for the source. "He can do that?! That's pretty handy! W-Wait... Entered our bodies? Water? Sickly? Well the third is normal for me, but I'm not sure about water and entering our bodies." She runs over to follow after the boy in a quick decision, hoping the child doesn't find it weird that she's trailing behind him. "I'm gonna see where this kid goes! We've got no other clues for now, I'm guessing this is gonna lead us out in one way or another!"

"I'm just going to assume my name wasn't called because I'm uninvolved." {She sighs out, knowing it's probably otherwise, but if she really was right then jinxing herself is not the way to go in this situation.} "Mhmm, don't hurt yourself, Miss Sumeragi~! Kazuo get over here." {Malloryn checks herself in a small pocket mirror as an excuse to let Emi finally lead the way before going onwards, calling out for her fellow classmate. The boy they're trailing is like Kazuo after all, so he's obviously important.}

"If it wasn't obvious enough already... the demon is screwing with us. Be careful, there's no telling what will happen anymore." [Kazuo cannot figure out what else to say in this situation as he follows along, instinctively looking at his own wrists. Was the kid a part of his past? Was it all an illusion?] "I have a bad feeling, how strong is this demon...?"

"Alright...seems as though I'm barely getting through. Keeping communication up anymore might not be the most productive thing... Who...was...she...started with an H...Hi-Hikari! Yeah, I totally knew that! Alright, time to give this a shot." Gad would breathe in slightly, trying to at least make some space between him and those sleeping by going into the hall. He'd begin speaking, his voice wasn't loud but there was a resounding nature to it. Hopefully even if only slightly Hikari would hear him from wherever she was. "Hikari, I order you to reply. Where are you? ... Uhm, not that I'm actually trying to be pushy." Of course, if this worked he'd be able to open a telepathic channel between them.

You arrive in a silent operating theater run by various machines. The human touch is fulfilled here by grey plated clawed mechanical arms that swiftly glide about the room to procure surgical tools. Any voice commands are issued by a central monitor that mimics a bored receptionist voice. The black reflective monitor also displays vital signs as fluctuating multicolored waves. Hanging over the phantom patient, who lies under a white blanket, is a silver skeleton interlaced with black wiring. The silver skeleton preps for surgery by slicing two scalpels against each other. He soundlessly does it over the phantom patient, but a low whimper can be heard among the metallic grinding. The operating room has a circular set of windows that allow you to see many blank-faced doctors observing the procedure. The doctors can see you too. They don't do much about your presence taking it as part of the operation. The boy you followed in already sits right beside the phantom patient. He has many needles inserted into his wounds and the tubing of those needles directly connects to the phantom patient. Some of the tubing is still clear and empty while the tubing near the boy's neck already is already filled with coursing blood. The boy sits still and unreactive for the procedure. - 0 - Hikari finds nothing of demons in the apartment, not even the rest of the building anymore. Instead, she only finds an overwhelming power coming from 306, where Malloryn, Emi and Kazuo are acting as bait. Further examining of the room reveals occult material describing yokai from folk tales all over Japan, but no amulets, no information on how to summon any within her physical belongings. At best are symbols and perfect recreations of the creatures on canvas. Satono: "Are you crazy!? Ugh, of course you are." The problem with Hikari's idea of Satono using a phone is that she's still right next to her computer, and while Hikari was busy checking the apartment, she had already sent a quick message to others, asking for help and to call the police for her. They should be arriving shortly too. Satono: "You speak like some self-righteous maniac, how can you save people if your first instinct is to trespass and then threaten the people inside. Some hero you are. You ruined your own life, don't blame me for looking after myself." At the same time, Hikari can hear Gad's voice speaking into her mind, asking for her location. Whether she decides to reply and stablish a telepathic channel, it would be entirely up to her. She can merely ignore him and instead focus on her task. - 0 - The nearest shadow is the one under the door of Apartment 204, allowing him safe access into the place; there is no one inside the place at the time. On the front are a pair of small shoes that have not been moved for a long time, certainly belonging to a very young girl. The inside layout is the same as the other ones. Clothes are hanged and drying by the window and others are waiting to be ironed. The computer to the side is on, the desktop in full display. Some toys, dolls and a sketch book are by the side of the very same computer. Under the TV, currently off, is a plastic box. 5

Hikari just sighs, whatever. She'll deal with the cops at some point, and pay the girl off. What matters now is she hears Gad and this idiot clearly has nothing to do with it, so that's fucking great. She'd reply mentally as the young man makes contact. "Well, it wasn't the shut-in behind this as far as I can tell. And she's got the police on the way so that's... Great, damn idiot. I took a gamble breaking in, but it's nothing I can't handle in the long run. You got any other ideas?" "Eh, fair enough. I can't say I have more time to waste here so, see ya again never hopefully." She'd simply begin walking out, vanishing from the girl's sightlines with ease even if they wanted to try and keep observing, for the moment she'll stay in the shadows and wait for Gad to reply.

Emi gazed onwards at the ghastly operation with an expression that was a mixture of horror and pure confusion, not even sure what a skeleton would be doing operating on a ghost, let alone using tubes attached to some random child. "I'm... not even sure what to do about this... Or even if we should do anything about this. See those windows? They're watching us. This hospital is where I was transformed, but nothing like this occurred here!" She steps forwards, but not too close as to alert any of the observing doctors, rather keeping a safe distance as if she were simply supervising the operation. From here she'd try to get a better look on what exactly the skeletal surgeon was doing. "We could interrupt them, but depending on what they're doing that could have disastrous consequences."

{Malloryn doesn't say anything about the unusual procedure that's occurring. She shakes her head and responds to her teacher.} "I wasn't going to butt in anytime soon. But it's nice to know that this is what we're dealing with, I guess." {The girl stays put, merely inching closer to Emi to take a closer look as well. She can't help but still keep her voice to a minimum despite the doctor's not at all caring about their presence, maybe the skeleton somehow still has the ability to hear.} "Besides, I'd rather help someone interrupt instead of doing it myself. If the rewards are greater than the consequences, of course."

"What the hell...?" [To say Kazuo was confused by the events occurring right in front of him and then Emi's own commentary. What is the demon even planning, what is his goal now? He's glad it isn't attacking but still.] "Y-Yeah, we shouldn’t interfere too much. I don't know if I want that...thing...jump at me out of nowhere and stab my guts. I have the feeling it would do that." [While the other two take a closer look at the operation, Kazuo slowly approaches the child to see if his expression has changed and to also understand what it is it's happening to him. The tubes don't give him the best feeling, and they make his skin itch. Kazuo keeps rubbing his right arm and he feels cold the closer he gets.] "What are they doing to you...?" [He mutters, voicing his thoughts next to him.]

A dead end? Gad would have to think on this. The police were another matter but...He could deal with them...he could deal with a lot of things right now... If he was a little more forceful. If he used his power more. Kazuo and Ms. Sumeragi were counting on him now. If he didn't act they would... 'I'll handle the police when they come. Is there any apartments we haven't checked yet. Wait, I'm going to contact Apollo too.' Once again he'd speak out loud, trying to make his voice heard through the house. Provided Apollo could still perceive sound he'd likely at very least hear something from Gad and Gad's message would still be perfectly understood this way. "Apollo, reply to me. Oh, Hikari's on the phone too. Tell us if you've found something." That being said he'd open the telepathic channel between him and Hikari to Apollo to as long as Apollo did in fact receive his order.

The silver skeleton does not mind the presence of the girls. It even seems to grow more dramatic in action with the close observation of its methods. It drops the two scalpels in its hands and suddenly opens its metallic rib cage with those same hands. The rib cage opens with a high-pitched whine and then a whole rib is taken from it in a fluid breaking motion. The silver skeleton raises its broken rib allowing it to shine under the artificial light. Then the rib is plunged into the throat of the ghost beneath the sheet and the sheet raises enough to allow some view of a young girl's startled expression underneath. A sharp scream begins from beneath the sheet only to be rendered a bubbling gurgle by the gouging. Everything after that happens all at once. A large bleeding puncture wound appears over Emi's throat without the pain involved. All the tubes connecting to the child Kazuo fill with blood and the child's eyes open revealing dilated pupils. The same occurs to Kazuo's eyes as his body begins to show identical scars to that of his child version. Nothing as spontaneous happens to Marollyn. There is only slight caving of her chest as if a whole section of bone was taken out of it. The observing doctors clap and cheer at the spectacle. - 0 - Satono keeps glaring at Hikari as she goes out, not even bothering to reply to the random thug who came in and threatened her. The solar would find it easy to leave, there is nothing keeping her inside and Satono would not dare or even bother to try anything. From the looks of it, the girl just wanted to be left alone to her own devices. Then, Gad attempts to contact Apollo, whatever it is he is currently doing. - 0 - Apollo would find that the sketch book functions as a diary of sorts, with mostly drawings and rough writings of different events during the last few months. Through it, he finds out what Hikari relied to him before with a bit more. Months back, Akira talks about how her sister is having nightmares ever since mom left and dad started working harder; there is a drawing of the four of them. She can't sleep well either, but her sister outright can't; Miki is drawn crying. She mentions the nice neighbor, Jun Asuka, has been really nice to both of them, Akira frequently visits her when the night comes between 8 and 9; Akira and Jun are drawn eating cookies. Akira then mentions making a new friend who said he would help her; the friend is a man in a tall mean in a suit and hat. Akira doesn’t write anything but makes a drawing of herself and a tapir; there’s a circle at the bottom with complex shapes and symbols, like a crest of some kind. Akira is sad because Miki was taken to the hospital in Shinjuku; she draws Miki again. Finally, and before every following drawing is about random house objects, it ends by her mentioning people in the building are also going to the hospital in Shinjuku. Apollo would then check the desktop and find nothing much of interest besides a few games for kids and the internet browser; he has no further access to anything else, all severely restricted by the administrator, presumably the dad. By the side of the monitor however there is a doll wearing a small dress and a wig, very clearly added recently. It is a clay doll colored green, and the legs are glued together, the arms lazily posed. The word "Sleeping" is written on its featureless face. Finally, if he checked the plastic box, he would find that it's filled with art supplies, like crayons, coloring pencils and most of all, chalk. It’s at this moment that Gad’s voice appears out of nowhere for Apollo, though, whether he wants to connect and reply to him is entirely his decision, 4

Apollo responds to Gad in an urgent and comparatively much more serious tone. "Gad? Hikari? I found out who the summoner is, it's Akira Kuroda. I can explain later, right now finding out their current location is a high priority." He then attempts to exit through the same set of shadows he entered from, waiting for a response from Hikari and Gad.

Emi tilted her head at the sight of the skeletal surgeon becoming more theatrical. There wasn't much point to being theatrical in a medical operation after all. When the wound opened up on her neck, she barely even noticed until a significant amount of blood started trailing down. "Ehhh?! H-How'd he do that, I thought he was a surgeon not a magician!!" Seeing as the doctor didn't respond to Malloryn's attempt to communicate, she figured any further attempts would be fruitless. "So, what's the plan? We're all significantly injured, there's nowhere really to go from here, and now we've got a skeleton doctor who seems more concerned with dramatically puncturing my jugular vein than answering our questions." Having noticed the startled girl beneath the sheet of cloth, she stepped toward the operating table, hoping the surgeon doesn't mind her getting even closer. "I think there's someone in there..."

Hikari would respond to Apollo in a curious tone... "Well, some mistakes have been made, but I'll handle them since they're on my end. And oi Apollo, did you remember to get both the name of the summoner and the item they used to summon the demon with? We need both in one place if we're gonna have any chance of this working. You did get something that might be the item in question, right? And uh, you sure you need to handle the cops, Gad? I can probably do it... Probably." She's still vanished for the moment, mentally replying to Apollo and Gad both through the channel the latter had created. With any luck, Apollo either did it or will be able to get that without any fuss.

Apollo nods as Hikari reminds me of the items he needed. "Seriously!? Well, as long as you can handle it yourself, I suppose it doesn't matter. I'll grab the item." Without even admitting to himself that he forgot entirely, Apollo goes back into the room the same way, grabs the doll and sketch book then leaves again.

"Excuse me, ALL of us?" {Malloryn said, no scars or blood coming out of her just yet, at least compared to her two partners. Instead she had a slightly confused expression, holding her now slightly caved in chest with one arm.} "Besides, there's no time for consent!" {From underneath the hospital bed, a square foot of the floor changed into a springboard, which worked to suddenly raise the bed a bit into the air as if it were connected to a device. The intent wasn't to try and launch anything, rather bunt the bed enough to knock the blanket off, attempting for the face to be uncovered at the very least which would let Emi see who was under the sheet.}

"Ah...ah...!?" [Kazuo's insides twist. His whole body felt lighter at that moment as he notices the scars suddenly appearing on his arms. He didn't want to believe it; he would take of his blazer and roll up his sleeves just to make sure. The reaction repeats and his mind goes blank for a good moment.] "I-I just want... c-can we go now...!? I haaate this!" [He does a lot of nothing. He couldn't put his mind back on the right places after seeing "his own" injuries. He wanted to pass out and be done with it. He slowly backs away from the kid and the rest of the group. He would keep walking backwards until a wall stopped him.]

The bed raises and the white sheet slowly slips off the girl underneath. The sheet lands on the floor. A barely awake miniature of Emi is not visible to everyone. In her brutally scarred and torn apart glory. The miniature's internal organs are on the cusp of sliding out of translucent, ripped apart skin. Her vital rapidly deteriorating in real-time on the monitor. The skeleton surgeon continues to perform its magic tricks on thin air. Silver limbs uselessly gliding through emptied space with misplaced purpose. Blood now drizzles on the floor. The tubes connected to Kazuo's miniature detached from the patient. The transferred blood is still distributed but to the linoleum tile floor. Kazuo's miniature pales considerably as he limblessly slides out of his seat. The room's doors snap shut. The mechanical cranes whirl and twist above. - 0 - Hikari would successfully disappear out of sight of Apartment 302 and Gad was still where he once was. The sound of sirens in the distance grew closer, the announcement of the police being at the doors of the building any second now; 9 PM almost there, drawing nearer, despite only being 10 minutes at best since they separated at 8 PM. - 0 - It was all too obvious now that Apollo had retried the "Sleeping Doll"; it was full of demonic energy, more so than most demons that had manifested in the Human World he could've possibly encountered up until this point. It had the same frequency and ferocity as the school whenever Kodomo manifested during the night. The "Sleeping Doll", the catalyst for the ritual, was an object that had arrived directly from the Demon World. Doll and sketchbook in hand, he would step out of the shadows to find the door to Apartment 205 opening, a young girl with a pale complexion, heavy bags under her eyes and short, black hair stares at him. She remains silent at first as she looks up to the unknown man, up until she notices the doll and sketchbook in his hands. Girl: "...-ose are mine..." She mumbles nervously and she looks down, resigned. 3

Apollo looks surprised to see the girl suddenly appear, then strangely sighs of relief upon hearing her speak. "Right, i'm sorry, I took your belongings without asking. But, nevermind that, for now. I'm worried you might be in danger, so you'll have to bear with me for a second." He flips the sketch book to the complex symbols, showing it to Akira. "Someone told you to draw this, didn't they? Do you think you could show me exactly what they made you do?"

Gad would grow nervous at the sound of sirens. He wishes he could do more to help the situation but at this rate dealing with the police was probably only something he could do. (Guess I'll be the one to deal with the police then. I'll be counting on your guys to figure everything else out.) That said he'd begin his movement back to the entrance hopefully. The police probably would arrive soon and hopefully he'd be able to make it there in time to meet them.

"..." {The girl sighs out, snapping her fingers before clasping her hands together, smiling in order to hide the intense glare being shared with both her teacher and fellow classmate. Or rather...former, teacher and fellow classmate. Malloryn speaks in a slightly condescending tone which is being masked by the fact that she's ditched her true nature in favor of a sarcastically plum jive.} {Meanwhile, eerie masks appear from the ground with their mouth agape, the holes of their facial expression shooting out arrows of varying materials and degrees at the supposed mechanical cranes which whirl and twist from above.} "...anything that calls for a miraculous triumph over a situation as dire as this must be in order soon~! Alas, I sincerely doubt it~. But if we do...I'll be paying off both of your future expenses for the rest of your lives! Sumeragi-Senpai, Kazuo-San, any objections?~"

Having seen a miniature of herself being mangled and torn, she decided that perhaps humoring the psychotic skeleton doctor any longer was a bad idea. "I think we should go, we're at a dead-end at this point! Shit, the door's closed! Hold on, kids!!" Emi cracked her knuckles and charged forwards, using her unnatural brute force to quite literally punch the operating room door open. Even should the door be shut by powerful magic, her inhuman strength would likely leave a small dent at least. "I broke out of this place once before, I can do it again!!!"

[Kazuo had about enough of this, he would remember to always take care of himself just to avoid hospitals now and forever, even in the chance he is about to become a father, he would rather burn down the entire thing before stepping in.] "I-I have no idea-I really-Just-I'm panicking I think?" [He was barely understanding whatever Malloryn and Emi were saying, but he could see what they were doing, but at this point, he moved between both girls, trying to stay away from everything else. He couldn't think whenever he saw his own arms with those injuries. He goes blank. His insides sink and his sweats becomes cold. Something he doesn't remember floors him.]

The mechanical cranes are skewered by arrows. The arrows crack their silver shell only to reveal a mess of black circuitry underneath. The cranes become non-functional and slowly power down until they limply drift in the air. The doctors swarm around in the viewing gallery like an angered mob. They quickly scribble down furious notes and press a variety of red buttons in the gallery to resume the operation. The random button pressing jolts the silver skeleton back to life. This time though the silver skeleton is no longer interested in cutting up mini-Emi. It deftly tosses one of its scalpels at Kazuo and is dragged toward Emi with a fury. The operating room doors only have a dent despite the woman’s overwhelming force. The air in the room begins to burn in the lungs. - 0 - Gad would easily make his way back towards the first floor and then the outside and as expected, the police were there already. Two officers would calmly start approaching Gad as he is the first one to appear. Officer 1: "Hello, we were called about a break-in, do you know anything about that" Officer 2: "What's your name boy?" He would keep staring at Gad, making a detailed mental note. Officer 2: "I can already tell you go to Kosei, good school. My brother-in-law went there till last year." - 0 - All Hikari really had to do was go down the stairs once, and there he was, Apollo speaking to a very young girl. She keeps staring at Apollo as he opens the sketch book and the drawing there, knowing full well when she made it and what it was for. Her eyes get watery and her entire expression sinks. Akira: "N-no! When I did everyone got sick, and then they couldn't wake up, and now they are the hospital and are not better, and Miki too! It's my fault, I don't want to do it again!" Her voice cracks multiple times, coming out sore and raspy. She was unable to process the many thoughts suddenly surfacing after who knows how long. She covers her ears and tears start falling, her lips and jaw tremble. She's terrified. Akira: "He doesn't listen to me, I can't make him leave!" 2

Apollo jerks back, mortified. He gets down on one knee and sets the sketchbook and doll down, trying to make soothing gestures with his hands. "Listen to me, Akira-chan. You were tricked into summoning a demon, it's not your fault. There's still a chance for the victims to recover too, even Miki. So try to stay strong for her sake, alright? The only way to make the demon return and everyone to wake up is if you repeat the ritual and tell it to go away. Don't worry, i'll protect you." Apollo then stands up, causing small sediment to materialize and swirl around him. "My name is Apollo Sonnenschein, third year at Kosei. I was born with magical powers that allow me to fight evil and right wrongs. I've been dealing with demons for awhile, so you can trust me, okay?" The fact that Apollo had a fair amount of actual followers who may've spread knowledge of him through word of mouth could lead credence to Apollo's claim.

"Oh." {Malloryn covered her mouth with her hand, though it was still pretty clear from her expression that she was surprised about the results that had come from the arrows that shot at the mechanical cranes. It's pretty obvious it was getting hard to breath, as the doctors weren't happy with the results. Though she only covered her mouth to make an expression, she does so again to let out a cough.} {Malloryn looked to the side, thinking to herself. As she did so, she raised her hand and snapped her fingers again, revealing an open trap door in the middle of the silver skeleton's path towards Emi. If they were to step on it, they'd be met with their figure halfway into the ground. Whether or not they do step into the trap door, a spiked boulder would crash into the vicinity of where the trap door was.} "Nevermind. Next expense you can't pay for yourself, not for the rest of your life~."

[Kazuo is unable to react to the scalpel being thrown at him, stabbing into his chest with frightening ease. The blade is short, sharp but not nearly enough to cause much damage. Still, he is shocked, barely able to move. His inside sink once more the moment he sees the small piece of metal stabbed in his chest.] "...Hah...Ah....?" [This entire situation, it was sparking a sense of helplessness he didn't know how to fight. It was creeping up on him, from the depths of his mind. It was always there, and although he cannot remember it, he feels it.] "I...! I need out...! I-" [And yet he couldn't move, taken by the blade in his chest and scars on his arms. He would hold it and take it out quickly, merely throwing it away and looking everywhere, pressing his back against the nearest wall. The sharp pain comes, but he knows it could’ve been way worse.] “K-Kubo-san…!” [The same feeling of despair creeps up on him, freezing him in place.]

Seeing as the door wouldn't budge, the next best option was to destroy the skeletal surgeon that was now charging at them. Emi wasn't sure whether or not her Persona was functional in a dreamscape like the present one, but even without it she was sure she could provide defensive support. "Takahara! Behind me!!" She positioned herself in front of Kazuo, raising her fists in a boxer's stance and grinning at the mechanical doctor. Her lungs were starting to burn so there was no way she could win a battle of attrition as easily as she normally did, but she wasn't afraid to start one anyways. The pale-haired woman charged at the skeleton, trying to ram her bare fist into the surgeon's skull, hoping the results were better than on the door. "Eye sockets on me, freakshow! I'll turn you into scrap with just my hands!!"

Gazelle would look up at the officer, putting on a somewhat tired look but still looking at the officers with the proper respect. "Oh, I'm guessing they really did get the police called on them. Sorry about this officer's. I'm Gadello Visalia, a third year at Kosei. We're here working on a project for school about rumours and misinformation. Well, most of us are part of the occult club as well so we thought it'd be fun to do our project on a haunted seeming location. We talked to the landlord here first and were allowed to look around as long as we didn't trespass. Unfortunately, one of my classmates got a little excited and apparently entered some girl's apartment. That's probably why you got called. I was told that the individual in question had some mental issues by another resident I interviewed and I guess they thought my friend was trying to rob them. Sorry to waste your time on something so minor. I know how busy you guys must be." His words naturally would seem a bit extra convincing, of course he didn't really think the officers distrusted him anyway. It would probably be bad too force his command too much. For now, all he needed was to appeal to their reluctance to deal with a small situation like this.

Hikari would walk up with a small wave, having overheard the talk with her enhanced senses and smiling at Akira a bit. "Heh, yeah he's right... And I'll help too if it comes to that, I may not look like it but I'm pretty good at handling monsters too. Name's Hikari Akimoto, I guess you could say I'm a hero kinda. Or trying to be. " There'd be a pause before her next words, pondering carefully as her divine power focuses itself towards giving the child a good impression and coming off more confident. "More importantly than either of us though? You're stronger than ya think, this thing wouldn't be here without you. And that means you can send it back, that's just how these things go." It's not actually how these things always work of course. But it is here, and the smile of surefire confidence in Akira should with any luck be infectious. That's what Hikari is hoping for anyway.

A spiked boulder crushes the silver skeleton into shrapnel that slices into Emi's bare fist. The skin of her fist is shredded off completely revealing the red sinew underneath and exposing tendons to the noxious fumes in the air. From that point onward a painful reaction takes place. The lungs of every living being in the room begin to burn after each breath. It is nearly impossible to gulp down the air without coughing up droplets of red afterward. The throat also scrapes from the exertion of breathing like a knife being dragged up and down the windpipe. Emi is the first to view the slow, grinding corrosion of the exposed tendons in her hand. These open areas of tissue start to drip off as if turning into a liquid. Smattering against the pristine floor and allowing bone to see the false light of the room. This same process happens to any open wounds on Kazuo and Malloryn's person. The same excruciating melting of the muscles and tendons that hold the skeleton together. If the pain of this chemical reaction is not enough to cause their vision to blacken then the air slowly drags the consciousness out of them. The unseeable air slices up their throats with each labored breath. Their chests being deprived of the oxygen they need to function. it's like stupidly slowly drowning in air. With enough tunnel vision to be aware of the pain and surroundings, but not enough to fight for any longer. - 0 - Akira has never heard about Apollo, but the quick magic trick he was doing with the sediment, adding with the despair and guilt the girl was being ravaged by helped make her calm down just a bit, choosing to believe in him and his words, then all is enhanced by Hikari's sudden appearance. Akira: "If they can be saved... I-I can do it...! W-What do I have to say...? What do I have to do...? S-Should I use the doll the same way...?" What they explain, where to go, and what to do, she would do without a question. Time is running short as 9pm is mere fleeting moments away. - 0 - The story Gad was giving them was indeed convincing, and it does help it was the absolute truth of the matter, both officers figured as much, and they also felt that way. Officer 1: "Ah, that would explain it! But even if your friend didn't intend to rob anyone, trespassing is a serious offense, and we need to talk to her. Worst case scenario, it's three years in jail or a fine of no more than 100.000 yen." Officer 2: "We don't like the idea of throwing people behind the bars, especially so young. Let's make it simple, because otherwise it only gets worse for everyone." The Officers believe everything Gadello just told them, but it would seem like they were even more dead set on finding out what happened tonight. 1

{Despite not having any open wounds on her at the moment, her privilege is the real wound that sets into the rich girl. She falls to her knees, the shadow of her bangs covering her eyes as she looks at everyone who is suffering from actual injuries. Malloryn's veiled gaze is one of pure disdain.} "should've never...joined this stupid club..." {Dies. Probably.}

The girl smiles at Akira and begins leading them off, she remembers where the circle was after all. "We don't have much time, gotta work fast so I'll explain on the way over. The short of it is this: You need to do what you did to summon it, in reverse. Fill out the same circle you imagined at the time, use the same item that was used in summoning it to begin with, but rather than calling for the demon to come, you need to call out for it to leave, dismiss the demon." She'd go a bit quiet at that point while walking towards the ritual site. Leaving a moment for Akira to say if she understands or not, and giving Apollo a moment to speak as well. If she missed anything he can think of, now's the time to speak up while he can. And hopefully, Gad has the cops distracted enough they can simply walk to the circle's area without issue.

[Kazuo immediately drops on the floor, in shock the moment his throat burns worse than hell. He tries to stop breathing, but then the pain from his own worsening wounds would force him to gasp, cough and cry out in pain. All too familiar; something he’s dreamed of before. He wants to move his right hand, but he can't, he has no control over it. He weakly grabs on to Emi's ankle with his left before coughing up an imitation of words. The last one that was going through his head.] "So-..ry..- I-.. fault." [No matter how much he tried to hold on, he could only feel the pain and see dark. Nearly unable to even pass out peacefully, the agony won't stop. Kazuo isn't sure if he's thinking anymore.]

"Ah, actually, hold on a second." Apollo picks up the items he left on the ground and teleports back into Akira's apartment, grabbing the box of art supplies and carrying it in one hand with the doll and sketch book both in the other, just in case. He then comes back to Akira and Hikari, walking with them to the ritual site. "Alright, Akira-chan, try to recreate the ritual circle the best you can and use it to unsummon the demon. Don't worry about anything about else, i'll protect you if anything goes wrong." Apollo sets the doll and art supplies on the ground in front of the place where the circle is to be drawn, casually summoning his axe and leaning its blades behind his head, ready to swing it at a moment's notice.

As Emi's hand is shredded to the bare muscle she lets out a harrowing shriek of agony and fear. Considering just how durable she normally was, the fact that she'd nearly lost her hand in a single moment was nothing short of horrifying. "H-Hold on kids...! We'll get through this!! Hold on...!!" Even she couldn't stay standing. Though she'd persevere for a little longer than Mal and Kazuo, she'd eventually succumb to the overwhelming pain stopping her from even properly taking a breath. As Kazuo grabbed her leg, she looked back at him with tears forming in her eyes. Even if this was a dream, just the sight of her students in such pain filled her with unimaginable despair. "Please... s-stay with... me...! Don't... go... Please!!" As her vision faded she clawed her mangled hand into the floor, leaving a trail of blood as the exposed muscle on her fingers was grinded down to the bone from her vain attempts to get back up.

"I'd love for it to be simple officers but I'm afraid my friend is a little freaked about by authority. They ran out of the building as soon as they heard the police were coming. I didn't exactly see which way they went. I understand that running away probably isn't going to help them any but I think they've been stopped on the street by police one too many times. They don't exactly look the most friendly I guess you could say... It's little embarrassing to say but I'm not 100% on their name either. A refer to them as a friend but honestly we just met in the club. Let me think H...Hitsuke? Hitsuke Akimata I think it was. Sorry I can't provide better answers than that. I have a teacher here too supervising us but I think they locked themselves in a room with some of the less focused students so they'd focus on the project."

Akira would pay as much attention as she could, mentally repeating each step she would have to do in the coming moments while following Hikari down towards the first floor and past the main doors, directly towards the dried up fountain and the decaying concrete around it. Memories of what she did months ago in desperation would surface. She knew exactly what needed to be done. She was on the verge of tears and shaking, but pressed forward all the same, telling herself that tears won't bring her sister back. Akira: "I want Miki-chan back...!" Gad was distracting the cops. Whatever it was he was doing, it was working, because the cops would cross their arms and focus on every single think Gad was telling them. And they were believing it. Officer 2: "I dunno about this chief, this sounds dangerous, we should go and look for her." The other cop would only take one extra second to reply, seemingly wondering about what he was just told, like he KNEW it wasn't right. He glares at Gad and clears his throat, ready to call him out on it. Officer 1: "Thank you for your help, boy. Get home quickly." Or not. The cops decide that it would be better to focus on the student that may be dangerous and just ran away rather than take in any interviews or further questioning. After all, what would happen if this Hitsuke Akimata breaks into another house? They couldn't have it. Because of them leaving for the time being, Hikari, Apollo and Akira have an easy time getting to the circle. The little girl would open her box of art supplies and reach for her chalk, then checking the design she replicated in her sketchbook. Her hand would swiftly draw on top of the small, basic bits Kazuo was able to restore, completing the complex array of unique symbols. Akira: "N-Now...t-the doll!!" Akira would stumble at first to grab on to the doll, quickly getting rid of dress and wig she made of it, leaving them on the grass. She would place the artifact right on the middle of it all. Time appears to stop at the moment when the summoning circle lights up, its complex design changing into a luminescent deep blue that pierces the dark around them, even the light illuminating the area. The group feels a strange pressure in their chest, like a second set of palpitations overtaking and then going away; a chill running down their spine. It was the presence of a powerful demon, or even thousands upon millions of them. Akira: "I called you here, to eat the nightmares of Miki-chan! You did that and...and you got scary, too scary, I don't want you here anymore! Go back home, Baku! Give her back!" The entire apartment is covered in a blue mist, which would then turn into heavier clouds of smoke and liquid pouring down all over the area. Puddles would form and join, the substance reacting violently as the powerful circle calls it all back into itself. It gains form, it attempts to retain some kind of appearance, but all it can manage is cry out. Baku: "NO! I WAS ALMOST DONE! I WAS ABOUT TO ESCAPE YOUR PATHETIC CONTRACT!!" The puddle was the demon being pulled back into the Demon World. Akira only watches in silence. Baku: "I'LL TAKE IT ALL! JUST LIKE HE SAID!! THE DAY A PENUMBRA IS BORN AND MALKUTH IS DEVOURED BY CHAOS, SO WILL I RAVAGE YOU!!!" Despite the ferocity of its last words, every last trace of Baku disappears pathetically into the recently made drawings, which are then erased from existence, leaving behind only the Sleeping Doll, standing where it was placed. Akira falls onto the grass, rather shocked by what just happened, too much for her young mind. The demon was now gone, and its power faded. The trio that were acting as bait at Apartment 306 were free to go. They may have a hard time moving around and regaining emotional composure, but their bodies would feel healthy and well rested, more so than before. Even if they did not truly die and were at the brink, they knew it was too close.

THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH Eventually, Satono's calls had to be answered, and the broken door had to be accounted for. The pair of policemen would return to the scene and properly interview the girl and then everyone that lived in the building. In the end, they were able to piece enough information together to figure out Hikari Akimoto was the one to blame for the broken door. After all, pointers such as Kosei High School, Occult Club and "Blonde" were telling. It is unknown how the girl was able to avoid a trial and jail time, but so it would seem that she had some luck with her still, having to pay a total of 120.000 yen, 30.000 of those going directly to Satono due to damages, and 90.000 for the charges. Kazuo would take hold of the Sleeping Doll used as the catalyst to summon Baku, letting the others know too; he had no intention of letting anyone use it again, deciding it would be for the better if he found a way to at least seal it away somewhere safe. No other name would come up and no further complications occurred. Until a few days later, anyways. The Principal quickly caught wind of what transpired at Muromachi Apartments, calling the entire club to his office. Considering the gravity of the situation, it would've been enough to expel the students and fire the teacher, but it seemed like he was in a particularly good mood at the time, and was capable of mustering some semblance of mercy upon the group. Because no misdemeanor can go unpunished, any and all Occult Club activities would remain suspended until further notice, and they would not be allowed to use their own club room. As such, the Occult Case of the Doll of Dreams came to a close, officially recorded as "That time the Occult Club went to a nearby apartment building and threatened an innocent girl" in the eyes of Kosei High School. =END=