Charles Patricius

Sakura sent a reminder of the presents she'd left. Kazu would have to address that matter later; he still couldn't go find out what it was. No, there was something massively important standing in the room ─ something unprecedented. Kaguya hadn't given all the details, but how could she? No one could be properly prepared for this turn of events. "Hardly! Could have given more of a warning," he said in a hushed tone. Meanwhile, Sosuke heard the appreciation of an unknown blonde lass for how he addressed his daughter. That girl seemed to be from the western world, but her Japanese was impeccable. Surely this group was, indeed, elite. "She speaks so well. I didn't think I'd ever see a westerner as articulate as Animusphere-kun again," he commented. With that came Miko's introduction of her parents, a nod of acknowledgment from Sosuke, and an introduction from Risa ─ one Kazu thought needed addressing. "Nope. No way. I can't," he said. If not for Angelica's magical intervention, Kazu would have burst through his pants right then and there. "Kimura Kazuhiko desu. Annie, you've got a thousand explanations to give about something," he added. In the meantime, Sosuke was stepping forward to place a hand atop Kaguya's head. "Good to see you in person again, Kaya-chan. Kimura-kun... I saw you recently. . ."

At the convenience store, Hiroshi's offer of a ramen cup was unneeded. That was all well; he could pass that next cup along to the next customer. "As you wish. Though a bit of nourishment would do you well. At your earliest convenience, I would recommend something with meat," Hiroshi said upon observing this girl's physique. Spiritually, she was in need of balance, but that sort of matter couldn't be addressed in this world. Hiroshi could only do his best to translate such warnings appropriately, as he'd taken to doing of late. Whatever the case, he was soon processing customer orders and hearing Rita's voice once more. "Everything's fine. While you're here, however, this young woman is Nanami Mami. She claims to be here for orientation," he said. All the while, Kusanagi was entering the shop right behind Rita. That loitering girl... something was interesting about her. She was certainly going through quite a few mental processes ─ none of them good. Of course, that sort of thing meant they were all good in Kusanagi's case. Perhaps he'd also loiter a bit and try one of those ramen cups. "... We're waiting five minutes," he said to Princess. "I decided to try those noodles after all. . ."

Could Kaguya have given more of a warning? Maybe, but... she knew the intricacies of the Iino Family and it wasn't something that could be fully explained. "Some things have to be lived♥!~" she said shrugging. Speaking of living, Sousuke was being surprised by the articulate nature of Angelica. In typical tusndere fashion she seemed quite pleased by the compliment. "Weird, I like that compliment, thanks. I'm... Luviagelita Angelica Edelfelt. But... Angelica or Angie are fine," she said to the parents at large using her whole name to avoid the Kazuhiko follow up. At the same time, Miko was thinking about the articulation of one Marisbury Animusphere and her brain immediately jumped to other things she knew the man to be capable of with his tongue. She closed her eyes and shut it out lest something very strange come out of her mouth. 'Brain, parents hare here... please stop.' she offered herself. Meanwhile, Risa was being treated to a rare reaction. "Hehehe~ I haven't heard that since, Sato-chan. Hai hai," she offered since the lad gave his name, she supposed she'd be calling him Kazu to avoid any unnecessary discontent. "This is such a later thing. I probably can't actually explain it," she said, answering to her usual nickname without thinking about it. All the same Kaguya was getting happy head pats which made her quite giddy. "Always great to see you, Sou-jii~" she commented, it made the sharp eyed look from Miko worth getting. "Papa." was all Miko had to say to her father. "Oh? You look a lot like my college roommate, actually..." Saori glanced at Miko more directly and then back at her mother and she could see it clearly. A person right between them in age range with features that were stunningly similar. "Sou ka, I should have noticed that before... it really has been too long," Saori mentioned. "Oh, Hayami Saori. Yoroshiku." she said. "Oh, Saori-nee, my aunt is your college roommate. She lives in this town and owns that convenience store, Nara Rita... you should hang out with her. She could use a friend." Miko followed up. "Oh yeah, this little cutie did mention knowing you. She said you were a history teacher," Risa said of Miko who just wanted everyone not to spend too much time talking about anything related to the magical world things. "Man trouble? Do I get to beat someone up? Also yes, I teach high school history." Saori said, it was always surprising to others what she did for work. "Mama you're a librarian..." Miko said given the obvious juxtaposition between attractiveness and academia.

At the same time, Mami was being treated to the advice of Hiroshi. He sounded like some sort of strange wellness guru. Though Mami ate decent meals from time to time, nourishment wasn't what she considered to be an important part of her day. He claimed he could at her earliest convenience recommend something with meat. She looked at him longer, he was too straightforward to be a pervert so she could assume he meant that platonically. "Iia, there really isn't a need to bother, Fukuyama-san." she offered. Soon enough, Hiroshi was speaking to Rita and it seemed her new hire was here, "Sou, I forgot about that... Nara Rita and I own this place. Thank you for your interest in working here. Come on, Nanami-chan. I'll show you around a bit, answer any of your questions and then you can do your paperwork," Rita said. "Iia, Nara-san, thank you for having me. I'm grateful for the opportunity..." the girl said playing with those large and innocent eyes of hers appearing meek. At the same time, something strange was happening as Kusanagi apparently decided that he and Princess were waiting around for about five minutes. He also claimed he wanted to try the noodles. Princess looked at him with a raised brow and then around the room, what had caught his attention. She supposed she'd be observing. "Hai hai, you're the boss. The Ramen really is great though," she said in truth. She was actually thinking of making more trips to this place just for the soup. Just the same she'd be keeping an eye on the man she was with, lest she not figure out what was so amusing to him. Rita was interesting enough in a work sense she seemed easily capable of separating her personal life from everything else.

What an interesting name this seemingly European girl had. Luviagelita Angelica Edelfelt was one hell of a mouthful, but Sosuke had heard more intense names. "That's an incredible name. Hmm. Would you be alright with Ruri? Taking our language into account, it could be the lu and vi from your name, or the lu and the li that appears twice. I think it sounds a bit... superhero," he mused. His past hobby had been brought back to the forefront of his mind recently, so he was back to thinking in terms of a television show. "If not, Angie-chan will have to do," he concluded. By then, Kazu was looking at the man strangely. Now that he thought about it, there was something odd about both of Miko's parents, not just her mother. Well... Iino Risa was a whole extra list of things he wanted to unpack in multiple ways later, but for now... Sosuke was addressing him. "Did you? Uhh... cool hair, glasses, looks more like my dad than I'd like to think... I must not have seen you," said Kazu. Just then, Sosuke shook his head. "Iia. It was on Mimi's Instagram," Sosuke said before addressing Miko herself. "It's fine. I'm just curious, as I've never met this friend before. I'm also curious to know who this Annie is, since you answered to it."

Meanwhile, Nanami Mami was being rerouted to the shop owner, Rita. Hiroshi was happy enough to have one less person to deal with at once, but lo... he'd soon have another as Kusanagi stood in wait for a cup of ramen. The green-haired man wasn't paying much mind to Hiroshi or the ramen assembly. His gaze meandered, but his focal point was Mami. That innocence was a lie, and not a small one. Her sense of self-preservation transcended instinct and entered the realm of obsession, and that... was exciting. "Oya? There may be another variable. This is interesting," he mused absently.

Angelica did have quite the name, but a nickname or two was missing from her casual references. It would seem that if Iino Sousuke was good at something, it would be naming teenage girls in such a way as to have them like it. Angelica listened to what the man had to say, he complimented her name and then offered an easier method to refer to her, which amounted to, Ruri. "That I like that. Mi-chan your dad is awesome!" Angelica said she was practically starry eyed. "Easy Princess, you'll end up in the same boat as Kaya-sen," Miko said turning her head. "It's a great boat♥!~" Kaguya confirmed. There was no need for him to refer to her as Angelica. "Other thing isn't necessary. Ruri desu!" Angelica confirmed, which made Saori chuckle."Also what's a superhero, I know what a hero is..." Angelica followed up making eyes widen around the room. These teenagers were way too into adults for their own good. She didn't envy Miko dealing with corralling her friends, but perhaps that was where those snaps came from, she'd seen one from the soft deer girl. Miko's warnings were not being heeded which was enough problems to begin with, Kazuhiko assumed her father was mentioning seeing him around... but it was her Instagram which made sense. "Sou, I forgot you don't have the no adult policy most people our age have on that sort of thing..." Kaguya said remembering that Miko's life was one lived almost completely transparently. "Hell I am almost thirty and I wouldn't let my parents see my Instagram either..." Saori said with a shrug. Well, Miko wasn't a liar in this case she saw something wrong with the way people interacted with their parents. Regardless, it would be something else, her father's interrogation turned on her as he questioned her answering to Annie as a nickname. Risa watched this unfold with a smirk... there were plenty of reasons a girl might answer to not her own name but the way her daughter looked currently she didn't want to explain. 'Fuck! I answered without thinking. Fuck fuck fuck fuck!' she was shouting in her head. "I answered to it because he calls me that. It was a reflex," she said honestly. No extra details. 'Good shit brain. More questions will follow.' Kaguya watched her friend process and though she couldn't hear it, she knew she was freaking out. Obviously, she'd forgotten the easy explanations she could use, in her time outside of the modern world. "Sou-jii, this is a pretty extreme interrogation. Obviously, they are gaming friends~" she said with a shrug, it was true enough for Miko to not freak out about it, and technically answered their closeness and the lack of mention of it before now. 'That's why you're getting dick. As soon as I figure out how to give it!' Miko thought. 'My VP. MY BESTIE. MINE!' there was triumph as that light danced in her eyes.

In the meantime, Mami was being shown around and was paying at least cursory attention to her boss. Playing innocent and attentive to make sure she stayed on that woman's good side was likely for the best. If nothing else, it seemed likely that she wouldn't have to deal with her too much. "I'll be taking some time off pretty soon, but Hiroshi-san is my store manager and you'll be working most closely with him for a while," mentioned Rita. Mami smiled her eyes closing for a moment, this was almost too good to be true. It was definitely worthwhile to have it that way. "Hai hai, he was very nice when he introduced himself. He seems like he's quite knowledgeable. I'll pay close attention to what he says," she said all the right things. Just the same, Princess was finally able to see what Kusanagi was busy watching, while Hiroshi prepared his ramen bowl, Princess was finally able to make some more direct observations. "Sou ka, she's pretty. Her personality is fucked, but... you like that part, huh?" she said while observing him.

The name Ruri was acceptable, according to Angelica. Sosuke nodded; he'd address her as such henceforth. "Ruri it is then. Hajimemashite, Ruri-chan," he said. Strangely, the girl questioned a superhero. Sosuke thought that was odd, but perhaps it was a matter of language barriers? He'd assume as much, despite her fluent Japanese. "Hmm, how to put it? It's the usual hero of justice, but one with inhuman powers. I'm not sure what another word for it would be," he explained. As for Kazuhiko and the way he addressed Miko, it was explained that they were gaming friends. That made a great deal of sense, and in fact, Kazu was prepared to say something similar before Kaguya spoke up. "What she said. Her character in AoE is Anais, so... Annie," said Kazu. Sosuke nodded again. This alleged 'interrogation' of his was mere curiosity, but that part had now been settled. "Sou ka. I still haven't had much chance to look at that game. A bunch of silly cases have been reaching my desk lately, claiming it's connected to some disappearances. I can't appreciate it while still associating it with annoyance. Now then..."

Sosuke had more curiosities to express, but he wouldn't get much of a chance to ask Kazu another question. Why? Well, that little black pup made his return once more. Darting into the living room was Naito, who made a beeline for none other than Iino Risa, heeling at her feet and looking rather expectant. Mere seconds later, just as before... Yuuya followed suit in full armor. "Naito! I told you to..." The black-haired lad paused, shocked by the sudden appearance of two total strangers. That wasn't possible. Ignoring his fully-armored state, Yuuya had a single question. "... How are there people here?" he wondered. All the while, Sosuke had the subtlest twinkle in his eye. "Ho? Is that cosplay?! It's so well-made, like a black dragoon knight! Are ou all going to that convention?" the man questioned excitedly. Meanwhile, Kazuhiko registered Yuuya's question and understood what was so bothersome a few moments before. "Oh. I get it. I get things now."

Kusanagi received his ramen cup in only a short amount of time, much to the store's credit. Serving ramen in a convenience store should have been a stupid idea, but the first sip of broth let him realize it wasn't made the normal way. "This is actually good. It's closer to miso soup," he observed. He consumed only a single bite of each topping, and a single slurp of noodles before passing the cup to Princess. Though Kusanagi enjoyed the cup, he never wanted it; he was just looking for an excuse. Now, he knew who he'd be looking for... for leisure purposes. "She's my favorite type of person. Looks like a new hire. I'll keep an eye open, but for now... I need to calm myself. Come on." With that said, Kusanagi would be taking his leave of the shop. After dealing with Rita and seeing that girl, his excitement was elevated a bit too much for comfort. Luckily, he had Princess for quite a while longer. . .

Ruri was the new name Angelica would be enjoying for the foreseeable future. It was quite the enjoyable thing... Iino Sosuke was really great, and also really nice explaining to Angelica the 'hero of justice'. "Of course, it's great to meet you too. Thanks... I don't know why but I think that sounds cool~" Angelica said truly happy and thinking that whatever a hero of justice was it sounded cool. It was a weird thing, but she liked the idea of it applying to her, so perhaps she'd adopt it. "Well, I know what kind of shows we're going to be watching♥~" Kaguya teased, now having somewhere to start on the interest list of Angelica. Kazu stepped up, explaining the name of Miko's avatar and why she was generally called Annie by him. That was a relief as long as no other questions were asked, Miko could live her life quietly. Ah, but the mention of why Sousuke hadn't been able to enjoy or even try out the game so far was something which made Miko's eyes widen. "Papa, I didn't know you were handling those cases," Miko said. Oddly enough she could help him with those, knowing exactly the truth of the matter, but it wasn't the sort of thing one could simply explain without it sounding outlandish or crazy.

Well, crazy was about to be par for the course around here, as a small black pup came barreling into the room to sit at Risa's feet. Odd, she was concentrating on the things going on in this room. All of the things not being said by this group of teens was almost more important than what they were saying, of this she was certain. But she was still a woman and when being approached by a cute thing she couldn't really help herself. "Ara, aren't you a little cutie?" she said to the creature only to look up and see a boy in full armor. "A wild armored cutie appears... where are you hiding all these people in this house?" Risa wondered. It truly was small, and it seemed that this lad didn't understand how they'd gotten there. "We're Miko's parents," she said as if that was an explanation but sadly it wasn't. Miko's eyes widened. Whatever that creature was at her mother's feet was magical in nature cute though it was and Yuuya appeared in front of her parents in full armor for her dad to assume they were attending a convention. "Box it. Also that's very accurate, having nerds for parents is a bit strange. That was a compliment," she said about the convention and her dad's notice. Well he could be distracted but there was real armor and a real magical creature just sitting in this living room. Saori was at a loss for words, she couldn't really help in this situation it was quite tenuous. Miko didn't know there was a convention, but there was a thing she always wanted to do at one of those and she would definitely make time for it after finishing her work. "I want to know what you get, but I feel like I shouldn't ask right now..." she said and her brain was rapid firing. 'If one wrong question is asked I won't have a choice. They're nerds, taking them through the door wouldn't be the worst thing ever. Then I could fully explain not just tell the truth without context.' Miko thought rapidly. She was busy weighing potentials waiting to see if a choice would be made which caused her to act.

At the same time, Kusanagi was busy tasting his ramen which he claimed was a bit more like miso soup. He only had a single set of bites before that soup was passed to Princess. Princess for her part in this wouldn't be turning down a snack and it seemed she'd be needing it, given his next statement. That blonde girl was his favorite type, which led her to believe he knew exactly how fucked up she was by observation alone and enjoyed torturing that type. The same way he seemed to enjoy breaking Princess's own bitchy exterior. Whatever the case, she could only shrug. "Great. I knew this was going to happen. Well... at least there's food..." she thought. That girl was going to be a problem for this place, of that Princess was certain, she could only hope it wouldn't cause problems for the man making the ramen, he deserved an award. "Also... so I don't forget, freaky..." she said between bites. Willing to follow him off while that girl finished her orientation and the like.

It could hardly be said that Sosuke was 'handling' those cases. He didn't connect some video game to the cases like some conspiracies were starting to claim. "There have been a couple of notable names reported by people who were preparing for that release tournament. People will find any common denominator to blame, sadly," he said to further disregard any connection. More importantly at the moment, Sosuke was very invested in this boy and his assumed cosplay. Yuuya, on the other hand, was flabbergasted. There were two people he didn't know in his house, but that shouldn't have been possible. Marisbury Animusphere made sense as the son of the Nexus, but normal people shouldn't have even registered the house existing, much less be able to enter without Yuuya's permission. Kazu realized this was strange, as he knew Yuuya was nowhere to be seen today. "Parents... ohayou gozaimasu. Tenjou Yuuya desu. Uh..."

Yuuya was always a timid soul, but he was more confused than anything now. Just the same, Kazu wondered exactly what he should say. Miko didn't want to ask about the thing he understood. Alas, it was becoming increasingly relevant as he looked between the two adults. For now, he couldn't even be bothered by the visage of Miko's mother or the questioning of her father. "No point, Yuuya. The Nexus doesn't know who they are," he said simply. There was probably no avoiding a certain turn of events here. After a few additional moments of thought, he realized something else inevitable. "Right. I didn't actually play AoE the video game. I met Annie in the magical world it's based on about 300 years ago," he said as if it made the most sense in the world. Sosuke looked at the lad, blinking repeatedly before chuckling. "Is that it? Are you actually LARPing? That's another thing I wanted to do once," the older male said in good spirits. "Annie. . ."

According to Sousuke it was normal for the people to try and associate anything due to a commonality on the list. That being said, that conspiracy theory wasn't actually a conspiracy people were disappearing due to the magical world that AoE was based on, and many did so by immersing themselves heavily into the video game. Of course, there wasn't any way to explain that... "Conspiracies tend to have some truth to them even if it doesn't make sense all the time," Miko offered of course, she understood. Her father was the type of person who needed legitimate proof to make a conclusive decision. Iino Sousuke was a Supreme Court Justice... it was one of his charm points. In fact so was his nerdiness as evidenced by his interest in Yuuya's armor. "Iino Sousuke and Iino Risa," Miko said for Yuuya point at her parents.

What did Kazu have to say, the Nexus didn't know who her parents were... that was weird. Marisbury could go anywhere he wanted that the Nexus acknowledged as his son. It would only get worse from there... as Kazu explained how he knew Miko as Annie in the simplest terms possible and what did Iino Sousuke have to say... they were LARPing. Miko's mother had remained quiet watching and contemplating the words. If these kids were LARPing they were almost fully committed to it. There wasn't a single flinch in Kazu as he explained himself and the boy's armor looked quite heavy and the creature sitting at her feet was a dog but not of a breed she'd ever seen before. "Ara, that'd be some kind of commitment to thing," Risa said. "LARPIng would be a good choice. Kaya-sen did just say gaming, that's open enough to interpretation to explain why she knows about it. Especially given she doesn't do tech. A very logical conclusion to make..." Miko commented absently as she'd become prone to doing lately. Risa was a librarian, the fantasy aspect was easy, but Kazu also said Miko's name as Annie again and the girls' head moved without thought, the same way it did when her father called her Mimi. Far too much time had passed of her answering to that name. "Yeah, I know... I'm already there. I already thought about it, I did when I remembered that they are nerds. Especially given I don't lie. If they have to start somewhere... there is safe as well," Miko said. She felt very strongly about that, even in pressurized situations, Miko didn't tell lies, it felt wrong to do so. Much of this conversation went over Angelica's head, it was weird for the Nexus not to know someone, weirder still whatever LARPing was, and though she knew about the disappearances because Kauzhiko had told her about them before, she didn't know that Miko's father was looking into them. What an interesting world this was. If nothing else, she could see the mana of that pair of people and say... that they definitely didn't belong on this side of the world, not really... "Step 2. Mama, Papa... I have something to show you..." Miko said. "Oh? Made that decision pretty quickly~" Kaguya said seemingly amused.

"Fair as that is, there's no room for chances when dealing with the law. Justice must be absolute, and so too must be all investigations," Sosuke insisted. Even if he wanted to believe a video game was connected to several missing persons cases, he could never enforce the law based on something like that. Leaving work-related matters aside for now, the male Iino thought it was worthwhile to delve into whatever these teens were doing now. Whether gaming or LARPing, he was very interested in seeing whatever resulted in this amazing black armor. It looked real, but also... unreal in the sense of being fantastical in nature. Whatever the Nexus was must have been something relevant... oh, how true that actually was.

LARPing would have made sense as an excuse. In a technical sense, it was accurate to what they were all doing. On the other hand, there was no getting around the fact that Iino Sosuke and Iino Risa did not belong in this building. That fact would be addressed one way or another, and Kazu thought it was best done before too many questions were asked. Apparently, Miko thought the same. "Hm? Well... this is taking a turn. You're all making it seem like this magical world is a real thing. I'll have you all know, I grew up watching Digimon. Don't give me hope for a childhood dream," Sosuke stated as he prepared for whatever Miko had to show.

He wasn't the only one waiting, of course. Marisbury Animusphere himself had recently entered the building, as if his presence was to be expected. If there were any remaining questions about the choice to show Alaya to Miko's parents, he was now here to make sure it was done. "Perfect timing. I've been meaning to see the door for myself as well," he commented absently, making Sosuke even more curious about the coming events.

In the meantime, that red Ferrari recently purchased by Hiruko was parking at the very same manor Sakura agreed to stay in for a few days. Shota had only woken recently, and thought he had additional time to pursue Sakura for yet another sexual endeavor... but he was instead greeted by a knock on the door. Upon allowing entry to his new abode, Shota grinned arrogantly at the other male. "Ohayou, Niisan. You're late, but you're right on time. There's someone I should introduce you to!" the younger male said. To that, Hiruko had nothing but the usual grin to offer. "Ho? Right, you said something about a new conquest or something, right? I'll be honest ─ that sort of thing doesn't really interest me. I'm here on business, remember?"

"Sou... " Miko said, without agreeing. Investigations and the like were one thing, but what counted as justice wasn't something she could say was a definite in one way or another. Too many things had to be felt, or played by ear in the last three hundred years of her life. Not to even talk about the last week were literally everything had been turned upside. Life was too flexible now for absolutes. "Digimon?" That was all that was said soon because of what Sousuke mentioned. It would oddly enough be Saori who answered finding it an interesting turn of events. "Digimon is an old anime about a bunch of kids getting transported to a digital world with their companions/pets," she answered for the blonde lass who nodded. So this world understood travel between worlds differently. As for what Sousuke said, a few words in it, echoed something Miko had thought herself earlier. "I thought something very similar recently for different reasons. It's odd to hear it outside of my own head..." Miko said tentatively. Moving on, Risa and Sousuke were preparing to follow Miko, but another voice would be entering the fray. Marisbury Animusphere, who drew immediate light and recognition from Miko as the sound of his voice made even her human ears twitch. "Box it. I need warnings if you are going to randomly show up, and talk like that..." Miko said speaking to that man fairly directly but such was simply the nature of their relationship now, she'd at least not called him the shortened cute version of his name... yet. And with that, they headed towards the bathroom. And would pass what was a pretty normal set up aside from the shattered mirrors. Miko and Risa would be going along with whoever else felt the need to. Saori for her part in this was content not to intrude, Kaguya knew she'd get the extra later and needed a few more minutes of down time. And Angelica still wasn't ready to move yet. Given the small space they'd reach that door, which seemed open to the air on the other side within just a few moments.

At the same time, the mansion was being visited by someone unexpected. But that didn't matter much to Sakura, who would be happily approaching form the beach with bags and light-hearted happiness. After all, her friends were okay, she could feel the magical bonds between Miko and Kazuhiko now that she'd taken in some mana actually worth ingesting. And he claimed they were close to being able to reunite. And she had plenty of time to watch people and figure out what kinds of activities to potentially undertake as a group. She wanted to show them the cool things on the beach. And while she considered these things she walked back to the house. 'I wonder if the beach will be a big group activity or a small one? Maybe I should look into more things to do...' she thought absently. Well, she could go home for a bath, and then change into something more suitable for a night walk on the beach instead... that seemed like a reasonable enough plan.