<Nocturnal Harmonia>

[Bloodedge]

"It wouldn't have taken that long," Yugi repeated in a mocking tone as he and Miko separated. While she went to the kitchen, he moved toward the courtyard. There, he saw a number of tables in various shapes and sizes. One of them in particular... was quite annoying to look at. Some additional trees had been cut vertically into planks, those being used to form a table suited for that oversized throne at the castle's fore. Yugi stopped and stared at the table that could have easily been the starting framework for a modest house with a few adjustments, then looked at the Shadow Infantrymen who were expecting praise for their works. "I said big. Big... like for a big group at a big dinner. I didn't mean big as in somebody's gonna have to fee-fi-fo-fum their way over to it for morning coffee!" Yugi's chastising of the lower-grade soldiers left them looking a bit like kicked puppies, but he only sighed while looking back up at the table. "Take it down, turn it into the framework for a greenhouse or something. The rest of you, put these normal tables on the ants and send them inside," he ordered.

At the same time, Gojo was receiving Makima's instruction to wrap things up. They had to return to the Hunters Association, but... he already had them moving without bothering to change their activity. "What'cha got?" he wondered, thrusts happening between their bodies without the use of a single muscle ─ simply Gojo's power. Elsewhere in Tokyo, the recently reemployed Aki was reading a text with as many freaky emojis as sentences. "The fuck?" he grumbled through a dangling cigarette. He and Miko did have an agreement to meet for dinner somewhere, but here she was, offering something she'd cooked. That was disturbingly wholesome from some slutty False Ranker he'd met in a Dungeon Break and banged in the back of an airborne car with some other veritable stranger. On the other hand... it was interesting. How interesting? Well... You cook? he sent back. Of course, that wouldn't be the only notification Miko received in the moment...

[BOND ROUTE MILESTONE REACHED]

Bond Route: Hayakawa Aki

Intimacy has reached 25%.

Route Activated: Fox & Blade

Current Progress: 31%

Reward Unlocked:
- Active Skill: Silent Strike
Miko can activate Silent Strike to completely mask the sound of her next attack (15 second cooldown). The silenced attack gains greatly increased critical hit chance and piercing power.
- Passive: Fox's Insight
When undetected or attacking from stealth, Miko gains increased critical hit chance and better ability to read enemy weak points.

[Apollymi]

Miko held up her hands in surrender. She knew what she'd planned to do, but explaining everything would have taken far too long. As such they were both able to separate and being their proper push towards dinner. Yugi complained about the nature of that giant table but having sent his invite he'd be receiving a few text messages. One from Senjumaru Shutara had her paused in a private waiting area in an airport in Italy a few hours after leaving the pair to their trip on yet another layover. Yo! What happens if I push this button? I'm on a layover and my next flight isn't due for a couple of hours. She texted quickly finding the screen she could see rather odd but figuring it was connected directly to thag 'game' like System Miko and Yugi had explained. Maki for her part in this looked at the readout and got a nerdy bit of excitement. You can summon me somewhere? That's crazy! What's it do if I press it? Maki had legitimate questions. Some however were a bit different. The pop up game to Kaguya and she slid out of bed and began writing a note to Miyuki. Making sure she picked up a room key and her 'proper' phone in case of a call. She'd be letting him think she went on a walk with Miko or something of the sort so he wouldn't worry if he woke without her being there. But she also figured it was very likely he wouldn't. She'd be cliking her acceptance after stepping out of the room and walking into a secluded corner. Meanwhile, a different kind of bravery existed at a fairly well known bar. Enju, as she was known by most was drinking whiskey straight in a little tumbler when that message first appeared. She sipped looked at it for a few extra seconds but there was only one way to know what things would happen. She pushed it and she'd be disappearing.

Meanwhile, Miko returned to the kitchen sent a text and soon found a giant pot of boiling water and several shadows hard at work. "Alright I need seven of the deep pans like this lined up. I'm going to be cooking noodles and layering, you guys move in a straight line to keep everything going!" she mentioned as she washed her hands. At that point, seven infantry shadows with the dish she described were lined up near the boiling pot. She dumped several boxes of lasagna noodles into the boiling water along with salt and got a pair of tongs preparing to get them out as soon as they reached the proper amount of al dente. Just the same... a text soon came back along with a notification from the System. She listened to that while looking at the text. 'Sugei, that really worked I guess that confirms that he wasn't as into it, because he met me in full slut mode. But I'm a girl with many facets!' Miko thought pleased as she reached into her pot and began lining up noodles in rows in the pans before reply, and making sure the rotation went along. I love food, so I do a decent bit of cooking for friends and family <(˘ ˘ ˘)> we're having salads, garlic bread and lasagna, with a special ladyfinger dessert ٩>ᴗ<)و I'll send you an invite to the housewarming, you can accept if you want (,,>﹏<,,) And with that and his Intimacy high enough, Miko would be sending her list, which was every man she currently knew, except, Miyuki, Rikuya and Kaito.

Meanwhile, Makima and Gojo were on the move... already. They were going by the Hunter's Association if only so Makima could pick up a few things and then get ready for a proper bit of moving. "Well, I was thinking that the little one would be happy to get a few extra Essence Stones for her weapon, and that he might enjoy some raw materials for crafting and the like. A bottle of wine and maybe I'll swing by Kaiba Corp and see what I can do about borrowing a wyvern corpse for a bit, I'd be able to return it after all~" Makima offered with a wicked grin. But it was never so simple with Makima either. She could easily use those two to leverage one of the bigger magical production companies in the world and keep them in line, which was... at least in part reason enough to make a few moves.

[Bloodedge]

While he was busy chewing out Shadow Soldiers for performing in very strange ways, Yugi received two notifications. The first, interestingly enough, came from Shutara. She'd still not departed, but she had a couple of hours. Before he even gave her a response, he checked the message from Maki. Both of them wanted to know what would happen if they accepted the invitation, so he sent the same message to each of them. It read: If you accept, it'll either teleport you or rip open a gate. We're just calling everyone over for lasagna and shit in our new castle. When that was sent, Yugi began making his way back into the castle. Some were already appearing inside. A certain Akiyama Anan had taken the very first opportunity to be released from that cell under the Hunters Association, and was already wandering around the first floor. Luckily for the timid Hayashi Yuto, he'd accepted the invitation a bit later, and was standing around the entrance hall ─ far from Anan's current location.

Aki had all but decided to accept the invitation, but he was presently occupied with a text exchange. He wanted to get it over with and get that imaginary computer screen out of his line of sight, but getting details was important. He read that last message before deciding it was a worthwhile trip, pressing the accept button, and stepping out into the room next to Yuto. All the while, Gojo was finally lifting Makima from his lap to let leak the conclusion of their session. It seemed they'd be making another stop before their visit, but he was never picky about time anyway. "A wyvern corpse? If you're going to do that, you might as well call America and get them to send big boy over. Too much for a housewarming?~" he joked.

[Apollymi]

Miko continued her cooking process. Eventually getting lasagnas layered and ready to go for the the cooking process. She'd gotten the sauce mixed up, layered in the eggplant into quite a few, and even gotten the cheeses out and on top. The production line of shadows made cooking for large groups rather easy. Once the last of the cheese was settled she looked to igris and asked a question, "How were you cooking all of this Iggy? I need these all heated, until all the cheese is melted and their warm all the way through, but I assume you haven't been using the oven," Miko murmured. Kaguya appeared still dressed in fabulous onsen attire. She popped into the ktichen to see Shadows holding pans of food and Miko still dressed as a 'spicy' maid. "Do I even want to know how something like this happens?~ Looking good, Mi-chan~" Kaguya mused. Beyond that, Yugi's text was received by both individuals who had it. Maki was alone in her own bedroom so... what was a dinner at a new castle with the Players in their open relationship and maybe a few other guests? OMW That would be all Maki's text said after confirmation. A second later and Shutara was reading that one. Will it put me back though? I'm in Italy right now and I don't want to cause an international incident~ Shutara's text shot back, if only because she wouldn't want to miss out on some food or a party and she was bored anyway.

Soon enough Enju was standing in the middle of an entry way with a couple of people she didn't know. One of them seemed rather timid and she immediately wondered if that small girl was some sort of bully, and the other, looked like he 'worked'. She continued drinking that whiskey. "Just for clarification, we're actually in a different place right?" she took that as her opener for either Aki or Yuto. Meanwhile, Makima was finally being lifted off the lap of Gojo, if only because there was stuff to be done. There was quite a bit of him oozing out of her, but such was a rather normal thing, she'd deal with it a bit after making it back to the shower in her office. "Yes, a wyvern corpse. I'd rather consolidate as much power at home as possible before reaching out. Besides, if we can get the technology outliers in line properly, by might or seduction, I'd consider it covering all bases." Makima said with her lips gently upturned. There was something quite amusing about that. Makima would restore her onsen attire so that she'd make her way back into her office looking halfway decent.

[Bloodedge]

Yugi meandered around ants that were carrying tables on their backs, flanked by Infantry. While he did, yet another set of messages came. Maki merely agreed and sent notice of her approach, but Shutara had more questions. As she was in Italy now, she didn't want to create any issues. It was an easy problem to address. I've got a button for that. Just don't be out in the open, was his response before he entered the building.

At the same time, Igris was being questioned about his cooking method. Miko needed heat for her assembled dishes, but she didn't know how he'd been getting by. One long, armored arm lifted at the elbow as Igris pointed nonchalantly at the nearby mages. Just then, Kaguya sauntered into the kitchen. Ever the honorable knight, Igris bowed to the black-haired girl and offered her one of the remaining ladyfingers from that sample bowl. Out in the entrance hall, Bondmates were appearing and meeting each other. Enju was the first to speak to another Bondmate. Between Yuto and Aki, it was the man who could acknowledge her as something close to kindred who responded. "With how all this shit works, I'm not even gonna wonder about how drunk you might be. Yeah. We're at the freaks' house," Aki said as he lit a fresh cigarette. Yugi was drawing closer and closer during that brief exchange, already prepared to add a comment of his own. "You're still in Japan, at least. We're in Aokigahara Forest," he said for everyone's general understanding. Just then, Yuto became visibly uncomfortable. "We're in where?! With, like... the ghosts and the...?"

[Apollymi]

Yugi was making his rounds and sending more clarifying text messages. In that time, Maki showed up also around the front entrance, content to wait out whatever madness had brought them here. In the meantime that text that went straight to Shutara's secondary phone made her smile at it from the other end. She was already in a private waiting room that couldn't be seen into it, for personal safety reasons, she'd just step gently outside the line of the single camera in the room and accept the invitation. Done deal, heading for the kitchen~ Shutara sent a text and moved around the crowd at the front.

Meanwhile, in the ktichen, Kaguya was being offered a ladyfinger which she accepted with sparkling eyes. "Ara~ I get kitchen snacks and I'm not being chastised for not helping must be a great day in Mi-chan Land~" Kaguya teased. "Arigatou~" she offered Igris. "I can't be mad, Iggy made those... so I left him in charge of dessert♪!~" Miko chirped. Beyond that she was also finding out that Igris had been using mages for cooking. "That's actually a pretty reasonable idea. Full magical world bullshit go♪!~" she said having those infantry set down all those lasagna she'd put together. "I need those all melty and combined. Don't burn it♪!~" Miko chriped the orders and then looked at herself. "Probably shouldn't do a dinner party dressed as a maid huh?" Miko asked of the world at large. "Oh and careful, Kaya... last time I saw him, Renny was running around here ass naked with nothing on but a collar and leash♪~" Miko added quite proud of herself. Kaguya in the middle of stuffing her face immediately was set on edge. Meanwhile that group by the door would be having Yugi talk to them, including Enju and Shutara who heard the bit about where they were exactly. "Dude could you two be any more fucking edgy?!~" Shutara claimed. "Still I guess ignore that text... and good to see you, En-nee~" Shutara said while hip checking her fellow Air Gear cast member. "Yep, good to see you, I guess this really is just a weird day. Is there gonna be more alcohol. I am too sober for this..." Enju said, still that chimera of hers was quiet enough for her to enjoy her drink just the same.

Meanwhile, Makima would be walking into her office to see... something rather interesting, but very normal just the same. Kasumi was sitting behind the desk of the Chairwoman, in a lap, bouncing rather steadily. And freezing in pure fear as she realized the door was opening and Makima was entering. 'I'm going to lose my life today... and my job too...' she thought only to continue the movement afterwards. Kasumi had a reddened face and knew she was going to die, might as well go out with a bang. And Gojo was with her, yep, definitely dead inside. Oh well if she was going to die anyway she might as well. "Hi-pyon open up the vault. Toru-pyon, gather 250 B-rank Essence Stones, 2500 C-rank Essence Stones and... I don't know, 90 percent of the D and E rank ones... we definitely have too many over all," Makima said as she looked at the desk. "That took less time than expected. She seemed a bit too skittish, good boy, Hi-pyon!~" Makima mentioned as she'd be taking a minute to step into the shower and clean herself up, only to emerge in a dress shirt, and slacks with a loose tie and those System pumps she'd been given earlier, business casual. Well, she also had another stop to make.

[Bloodedge]

Shortly after Yugi reentered the building and clarified their current location, there were a few stray reactions. Aki took a longer-than-normal drag from his cigarette. Yuto was aghast. Shutara, who appeared around the time he started speaking, questioned the Players' edginess. Enju seemed to be in a similar state of calm to Aki, asking about alcohol. "Yes, that forest. Without the ghosts part," he said first, only to see Yuto freaking out over the sight of midnight-black ants and knights hauling furniture. "Oh. Well... I guess those guys are kind of ghosts. But they're our ghosts. You've got catching up to do," he corrected. "It's not completely an edgy decision. We're here because of all the death in this area. The biggest reason is... hopefully on the way," was his answer to Shutara. "There could be alcohol. Our junk items are better than normal human shit. Pick your poison, I guess," he said to Enju.

Meanwhile, Ren was actually getting himself together, equipping clothes and the like. He loosely listened to all the explanations going on, managing to stop himself from... attacking Shadow Soldiers that were casually walking around. Ren wasn't the only one pausing a rash reaction, though. Back at the Hunters Association, Kasumi was back to riding in Hiruko's lap when Makima and Gojo stepped into the office. She seemed to be putting herself through some mental hoops, but it apparently wasn't enough to stop her continued rise and fall ─ though Hiruko noted a bit of a hiccup as he sat there most casually. "Oya? Bravery, or abandon?" he wondered of Kasumi. "And that was a very short vacation. It's been... four? Five hours?" he questioned when Makima and Gojo moved inward. Ah, but there was an order delivered. Hiruko was to open the vault. From that desk, he could do so with the press of a button... but there were quite a few oddities taking place. Of course, he'd wait a few minutes until Makima returned from her shower to worry about that. "Does this have something to do with the imaginary computer screen I've been seeing for a while now?" he inquired as Gojo was throwing massive piles of Essence Stones into... nonexistence, apparently.

[Apollymi]

The Aokigahara, was something well known to the Japanese populace. it was a place where a number of people were known to have ended their lives. Apparently there weren't ghosts, but the pure black creatures moving around could be likened to ghosts, and they apparently belonged to the Players. "Uh-huh, so... if this is the thing you couldn't explain in detail before," Shutara said as she looked around. "I now understand why," she said. She'd seen them for a total of a half an hour before and she wasn't sure three hours would be enough to understand what was happening here. Meanwhile, Enju was being told she could basically have a refill. Even if what they had to offer wasn't good, it was without question better than nothing, "I'm drinking whiskey, so if you could fill me up again I'd appreciate it~" Enju mentioned before looking at Shutara. "I saw the black things. I don't know how we got there, but I was around for that explanation. Enju mentioned as she took the last sip of whiskey from her glass. In the meantime, Miko had changed out of her maid outfit, but not without Kaguya snapping several pictures for herself, she was now seen wearing a comfortable oversized sweatshirt, which wasn't quite oversized enough, it fit more like a mini-dress and was a deep purple color. She was also wearing thigh highs and was otherwise barefoot for her own comfort. Being dressed enough for comfort in her own home... she looked at now complete dishes and had the whole kitchen forward smelling like an Italian restaurant.

At the same time, Kasumi had thrown herself to the wind so to speak. She'd gone back to bouncing after a momentary hiccup or two, and when asked about it by Hiruko she said... "Abandon... If I'm dying I might as well die happy. And I am dying..." she murmured softly. Whether Makima intended to kill her or not, this moment felt like an odd sort of social suicide. The object of her quiet affection in the same room while she was doing something else... that had to be a nightmare scenario she'd not lived since middle school. "The vacation isn't over... though it could be and I'd feel like I had done what I'd set out to do," Makima said. By the time she emerged from the shower dressed in more appropriate attire she could only chuckle. "Call it an intermission," Makima claimed. Only to hear from Hiruko that he was seeing an imaginary computer screen. "Hoh? That's your invitation to dinner and the house warming. She said she'd left a few off her list, I guess she wouldn't have left you off it..." Makima said "Menu~" she opened up her own actual screen to check on Hiruko's progress, she'd not actually looked before, "Sou ka, that explains it. You're really close to getting your own room. Though if you press the acceptance it will teleport you directly. You should come, they're cooking apparently, and showing off their new home base. Even though it isn't fully furnished just yet~" Makima mentioned. She walked into the vault and picked up a few choice items equal to the amount of Essence Stones she was gifting to Miko. A raijuu core, chimera pieces... some strange fabrics taken from phatoms, and a few phantom beast cores. "There that should do for his personal arsenal... I do have one more stop to make, it's a special treat for both of them~" Makima mentioned with a knowing smirk on her face.

At the same time... the goddess of Death, Irkalla was sitting on her throne, looking at an odd screen in front of her. It was something she could read, but not something she'd ever seen before. "What a unique thing... this must be an invitation from them... but how does it work?" she pressed accept and on both ends of the connection a small deathly tremor would be felt. It wasn't physical, but instead magical. As a connection between her realm, and the world of Gaia tried to form with enough stability for her to pass through... "Ah, how neat. It's going to take a little while, without ripping a hole through the realms though... Metis would understand it a bit better but, if I look a while I should understand it too..." she said her eyes focused on the opening. Perhaps she could help? She'd spend the next few minutes playing with it.

[Bloodedge]

"Pretty much, yeah. I meant to mention it earlier. It's just one of those... more badass to show when telling things," Yugi chattered about the reveal of Shadow powers. At the same time, he was perusing the shop for something alcoholic. Enju wanted whiskey, so he'd be looking for that. As Yugi had come to expect, the prices were rather annoying. "Yep. Pocket change for human stuff that I guess qualifies as top-shelf-ish? But all the good shit is actually expensive. Crafting options, though. Could open a Shadow distillery or something," he rambled. Enju would soon enough have an entire crystal decanter tossed her way. "So... you both summon ghosts and..." Yuto started speaking, only to be interrupted by Aki of all people. "Don't bother. It doesn't become any less weird as you start following along. And I think they thrive on the outlandishness of it."

A short while later, something even more outlandish was happening. The ambient sounds of the dead had been present in the background since their arrival, as it had been when they were surrounded by Hollow Knights and the like. Now, Yugi was registering something more distant... and its source was something resembling a Gate, but no larger than a coin. "Oh shit, dimensional tear mechanics," he presumed. Being the nerd he was, Yugi could hardly resist reaching out to that portal and... casually thrusting his finger into it for a test. If he found nothing wrong there, he'd immediately try for something else. "Wait... can this be like a death glory hole? I'll fucking do it."

All the while, Hiruko was letting Kasumi believe she was making the final decision of her life. Well, he couldn't let her keep thinking that... but he wouldn't stop her just yet. "Sou ka. Make sure you go out with a bang then, I guess~" he teased. From there, he'd simply wait for answers from Makima. The invitation he'd left sitting there was to dinner at the fresh home of Makima's newest ridiculous pets. Hearing that he'd soon have his own room, Hiruko quirked a brow. "Doesn't make much sense, but neither does anything today. If they're working on the place and I get a room for nothing, I guess I should bring some gifts as well. I'll tag along with you first. Do you think they're Ferrari people or Lamborghini people?"

[Apollymi]

Apparently, what was going on with Yugi and Miko was the sort of thing that wouldn't be allowed to exist in a way which was easily digestible. He claimed that it was the sort of thing that had to be shown, and she could believe him, based solely on the confusion currently being presented at seeing what he had going on. "Uh-huh... I think on that note, I'm going to find myself some kitchen snacks~" Shutara claimed hands up in the air as she casually moved around ants and other creatures. At the same time, Yugi was claiming a few things about alcohol and Enju was hearing them all. "I've only ever had top-shelf human stuff, I'm pretty sure the same applies to everyone except you two potentially. Don't sweat it too much~" Enju claimed. Aside from being a whiskey drinker she didn't really care too much, and the whiskey choice was only because it'd already been made. Soon enough a decanter was being tossed her way and she'd be catching it and accepting it. "Sugei, if you had a bar I'd show up~ let me get a second glass~" she claimed honestly. As she poured herself a drink. At the same time, she planned to trade some liquor for a cigarette, she didn't smoke all the time, but enjoyed doing so specificallly while drinking.

After Enju left that lad to his glory-seeking, he'd be discussing things like the huge nerd he was. Soon enough Irkalla would be feeling a bit more from her end of the long and stretchy portal. "Oh, so it's definitely a connection from my realm to theirs... that's Nergal, huh?" she said feeling Yugi's mana from one end after a few seconds of his poking. She'd be sending her own back through it with an extend hand, pushing against the formation of the connection, forming a path which was widened and made sturdier by contact with her own mana. Perhaps she could strengthen the connection by reaching through?

Meanwhile, Kasumi was being allowed to assume her impending doom. So... with Hiruko's teasing, she'd just continue on her way. If she was to go out with a bang, she supposed she'd finish working herself up to one final orgasm. Her body tightening and loosening around his shaft while that orgasm built up in her loins. It would take a few minutes around the time that Makima was collecting items, she'd be slamming herself down that final time and moaning a happy orgasm. "The rooms are for people closely bonded to them. Fifty percent will get you a room key, and you started at 45 percent. I even watched her drop you a million gold just to test the System's functionality," Makima mentioned giving Hiruko more information than most but it was necessary given some other aspects she'd be mentioning soon. "Toru-pyon has one already. I am different the key I got is to their room. And you having a key is definitely something that would be aimed for, she might be targeting you in a way that is technically friendly but more aggressive than normal, for her at least. He told her she could waste fifty Resonance on it. As for what kind of car they'd like, they're teenagers who I am sure aren't even old enough to drive. They want me to send them into a Dungeon with something that flies, that's the kind of crazy they are..." Makima pointed out. Still, she didn't mind if he joined them on the way. Dropping a couple of teenagers a sports car was about par for the course, for Hiruko. Makima assumed he wanted to be dropped by the dealership on his way to the Aokigahara Forest.