"Dove!" Ren called as he jumped backwards away from a recovering shadow, pulling out his handgun and firing a round at the pixie that was trying to sneak up on Ryuji.
"Stab and penetrate! Pierce and Drill!" Shiho yelled as she turned into a blur, stabbing through the shadow.
As she recovered from her attack, she slightly froze upon what she saw on the ground, before suddenly waving rapidly at Ren to come over to see as well.
"Whewww! I love that feeling! It's like leveling up in an RPG!" Ryuji said as he stretched his arms.
"Come on Skull, it's probably just an adrenaline rush." Ann muttered. She was quite bothered by the fact that she was constantly being protected by the group. She wanted to run out and fight alongside her friends! She isn't just a pretty face!
'Hehe'
"Huh?!" Ann whipped her body around looking for the voice she heard. But found nothing.
"Hey, take a look at this," Shiho and Ren approached the others with clear shock written on their faces.
"No 'effin way." Ryuji's mouth was nearly on the floor when he saw what was in their hands, "Is this real?!"
In the hands of the raven-haired pair was a wad of yen!
"Did…..did they drop this?" Ryuji shakily asked
"Yeah…..I do think it's real. They even have watermarks." Ren revealed in surprise as he thumbed through the wad of money. "There is around 5,000 yen here. This really is like an RPG."
"The power of cognition maybe? Skull thought this world was like an RPG so the 'mobs' started dropping cash?" Morgana suggested. After wandering around Yongen-Jaya he had seen a number of young people playing video games. He had to admit, he saw the appeal.
"Speaking of video games, 'Stab and penetrate, Pierce and drill!'?" Ren gave Shiho a sly smirk. "You don't seem the otaku type."
"Hmph, at least you have taste!" Shiho snorted cutely, "Scáthach really likes that 'version' of her, as she put it."
Appearing, Scáthach said, "I may be a warrior, but I am a woman nonetheless. That depiction of me was beautiful." before vanishing
'She's embarrassed.' The group thought while restraining a smile.
---
The group continued their trek through the palace, dispatching the shadows they came across. Morgana taught them the basics of stealth. Or rather, he told them to just stick to hiding behind things. Obvious in hindsight. What wasn't obvious was,
"These things are kind of stupid…." Shiho muttered humorously as the shadow guards completely ignored the group who was hiding behind chairs lined up in the hallway.
"Huh what was that?!" The guard yelled before looking around. "Huh, must have been the wind."
It continued on its patrol.
"I don't understand." Ryuji said. "We're indoors….AND we're obvious right here!"
"Cognition bullshit," Ren sighed.
Ann suddenly heard a giggle in her mind again. She noticed that it showed up again when she was thinking about how bad it felt to be protected.
'I want to protect them!' she thought with gnashed teeth, glancing at the glowing Shiho, the cocky and proud Morgana, and Ren, who shocked her with his skill in leadership. She ignored Ryuji. It wasn't that she didn't want to protect him too. They've been friends forever. He was just…..picking his nose.
They needed some time to catch their breath, so the group was very excited finding a new safe room. As they entered Ryuji tossed himself onto a nearby couch. Not even questioning what it was doing in here. Perhaps this safe room corresponded to the teacher's lounge in reality. Ann and Shiho gracefully sat next to each other at the table in the room. Followed by Ren and Morgana who had entered last.
"I'm hungryyyyyyyyyy," Ryuji groaned, "Do we have any snacks?"
"Nah, but there are some drinks, check the bag," Ren told him. "Anyone need first aid?"
As he looked around he saw Shiho shake her head, Morgana gave him a deadpan look. Oh yeah, he can heal himself can't he?
"Ann?"
"I'm fine," Ann said with a strained smile. 'It's not like I did anything anyways.'
'She's getting stressed. How can I handle this?'
'Give her a big ole hug!' Pixie demanded in his mind, 'Awh stop Arsene! I'm sorry!'
Ignoring the chatter in his head, which was shockingly easy to do, Ren looked at Ann.
Their eyes met, Ren's steely grey eyes behind his mask showed nothing but confidence in her. Not contempt. No impatience. Not annoyance.
Ann slightly blushed, 'His glare is kinda hot actually.'
"What?" She asked nervously.
"Don't worry. Remember who Ann is. Who are you? Not what others say. Who are YOU?" Ren asked gently.
---
'Who am I?' Ann was lost in thought. She was barely paying attention to the things around her. What Ren said had shaken her, it even made her forget about those sexy eyes….okay not really but she was truly focusing on his words.
'Who is Ann?'
The group left her quietly to her thoughts, Shiho and Morgana acting as protectors. Morgana was taking it so seriously you would think his persona was a knight and not a thief. His huge cartoon-like eyes darting left and right to prevent any would-be ambush.
"Do you hear that?" Ann asked aloud. "I keep hearing something."
The group stopped and listened carefully…..
"Nope. Nothin'" Ryuji yawned
"Shut up idiot!" Morgana groaned as he strained himself to listen. He had to protect Ann after all!
"WHY YOU-"
"Shh." Shiho said with a glare before closing her eyes and focusing once more.
'Heh, aye, she's a firecracker that one.' Captain Kidd's voice rumbled in Ryuji's head.
Suddenly Scáthach silently appeared behind Shiho who was focusing and stared directly at Ryuji. Well, not at him but at something deeper. Then she disappeared.
Shaken, Ryuji turned to Ren, seeing him so focused on listening he turned away.
'Captain, what the hell was that?'
The captain did not reply, but Ryuji could feel him rapidly shaking his head in the back of his mind.
"I hear something," Morgana said quietly as his brow scrunched.
"Oh, yeah. Cat like hearing or whatever."
"Ignoring that," Morgana began before he began to...blush somehow? "It sounds like moaning…."
"No that's not what I heard." Ann replied absentmindedly. "It's like...a voice I can't understand."
"GO GO KAMOSHIDA-SENSEI!!!"
A chorus of feminine voices could be heard in the distance. Ann's face instantly fell, her teeth gnashing once more.
"Hm, should we check this out?" Morgana asked.
"As much as I don't want to…" Shiho began with a grimace
"We can probably get some info from eavesdropping." Ren finished.
Nodding at each other they decided to make their way towards the sound. Ann was still gnashing her teeth in anger, her mind had completely focused on her anger and hatred towards Kamoshida, her own weakness. 'Who is Ann?' rang occasionally in the back of her head gently like a soothing bell.
---