Magical Girl Phantom Ascension

At least part of the decision is an easy one to make. Even with what you saw before, there are too many unknowns for the idea of confrontation to sit right with you, so Shimizu-san and Miho's ideas are easy to dismiss. However, Pallavi and Midori's suggestions give you more pause. The former strikes you as somewhat naive, yet ultimately the most in-line with your reasons for being here in the first place. The latter feels more promising, yet more prone to going wrong, with so many of you trying to be stealthy; you'd do much better on your own like before.

Maybe that's the way to go. Taking a deep breath to brace yourself, you glance between the other four, not meeting any one gaze for too long to keep your summoned courage from collapsing. "I think Pallavi's idea is best," you begin. She nods happily at your support, while Midori's expression momentarily darkens, but you try to ignore both. "However, I also think there's merit to sneaking in back as well. Since I'm not here on my own this time, I can do that while the rest of you talk to Sakamoto-san and try to learn more from him."

You've barely finished before Shimizu-san raises an objection. "Didn't you say you've already snuck in before? I don't see a point in repeating ourselves. We have numbers on our side now, we can be more direct."

You can feel yourself beginning to wilt again, despite your best efforts. "I didn't really get that far," you mumble self-consciously, gaze dropping by instinct to your feet. "I wanted to observe Sakamoto-san first to see if there was anything odd, and then…"

"I like her plan."

Glancing over in surprise, you find the one who saved you from further self-justification to be none other than Miho. "I like her plan." she repeats, hands on her hips as she meets Shimizu-san's glare unflinching. "We know something's up, that was the point of her coming here before, right? Now we can try and find out what. She goes deeper, while we actually talk to the guy and see if we can trip him up. We cover more bases this way, so one way or another we can get something out of this."

Shimizu-san grumbles, but this time it's Midori's turn to interrupt before she can say anything more. "Whatever we're doing," she says, pointing to a watch poking out of her sleeve, "We need to do it fast. Only ten minutes to closing."

Shimizu-san pinches the bridge of her nose, but after a moment reluctantly nods. "Fine. We take Varma-san's idea, and you go around back. Just, try to find out more this time? Let's go."

You don't bother with a response, already moving toward the alleyway, and trying not to think of it too much as fleeing. It occurs to you to wonder if there was a more self-serving reason for your plan putting you on your own again, but just as quickly dismiss the thought. Still, you can't help but feel some relief, hearing the jingling of the bell, and then silence as you make your way into the darkness alone, detransforming as soon as they've all vanished inside.

This alley, in addition to being much narrower than the one from before, is also much shorter. Turning the back corner, you find yourself in a small open area surrounded on all sides; the next store over from the bookshop extends further back, while the one that makes up the opposite wall of the alley seems to have an extra wing that forms the fourth wall around this space. At the very least, it should be easy to narrow down your options here, as you inspect your surroundings to try to find a way in.

In the opposite corner from you is a small gate to another street, but it seems locked, and not really intended for traffic anyway; more for garbage collectors to access the almost obligatory dumpster sitting nearby. There are three doors here as well leading into each of the surrounding establishments, but closer inspection reveals them to be one-way fire escapes, with no means of opening them from the outside. And you're still not confident enough in your phasing to try to waste too much time on that, either. In a fit of desperation, you even consider lifting the manhole cover in the center, and trying to get up into the shop from the sewers.

No, you're not doing that. You still have some dignity.

Instead, your answer comes by looking up, and spotting a small window on the second floor. Not only must it lead to the upstairs area you saw Sakamoto-san's sister depart to before, it has been left wide open to let in the night breeze. It is not exactly large, sure, but neither are you - it should not be too difficult to slip in though, as long as you can reach it to begin with.

That is where the problem lies - you were never exactly the physical type, and even the textured brick wall feels too smooth and daunting when you've never even tried to climb before. Still, you remind yourself, falling will not hurt the same way it would have before, so it has to be worth a try if nothing else. A minute or so later, pressing yourself up against the wall and searching for handholds, you look down to find… you're not even a foot off the ground. And just as you suspected, it all feels too solid right now to simply walk through.

Letting go of that plan, you step back and reconsider. Should you have brought at least someone else to help? Would it be worth going back around to sneak in the front while invisible? Midori was the one to suggest the alleyway, but perhaps you should have gone in with the rest? Then you would still have been visible, however, and vanishing in front of not only the others but also the owner wouldn't exactly go unnoticed. And the reverse of that, transforming here to use your powers to get inside, feels too flashy not to be noticed.

When you finally figure it out, you can't help but feel embarrassed at how long it took. The dumpster in the other corner isn't exactly right below the window, but it's not too far, and the pavement back here isn't nearly as worn from use as in the other alley. Despite your hesitation, it proves surprisingly easy to push it over, the trundling not exactly silent, but not as loud as you feared, as you gently guide it into place.

From there, it's easier to hoist yourself onto its side (grimacing at the small but disgusting layer of baked-in residue and rot you see inside) and slowly stand up, wobbling, on the sheet-metal covering. You know you'll lose your balance the longer you try to maintain it, so despite the lack of sure footing, you kneel down as best you can and launch yourself upward, scrabbling and just barely managing to grasp onto the windowsill.

You almost lose your grip again when a light flicks on from inside, but petrified as you are, you somehow keep from falling. A voice passes by, and with the fast-paced speaking in another language, it doesn't take much to identify them as the sister you glimpsed briefly before. However, you can't understand any of what she's saying, and you're not even entirely sure which language it is, just that it most certainly isn't japanese.

"... j'ai l'intention d'y jeter un coup d'œil, mais je ne m'inquiéterais pas trop. Ce n'est pas une importante ville, mais c'est quand même une grande, et ce n'est pas non plus le genre d'endroit que les gens quittent en masse. Peut-être qu'ils ont déménagé, mais je suis sûr qu'ils sont toujours là, et nous n'avons tout simplement pas… Oui, même avec mon frère et les autres pour nous aider. Si vous veniez visiter un jour, vous pourriez voir-"

The light turns off once more, punctuated by the light slamming of a door, and you relax again. Unfortunately, this means your grasp on the ledge is beginning to slip - more mad scrambling ensues as you rush to haul yourself in. Somehow, miraculously, you make it inside, narrowly averting having to do this all over again. At least your recent practice with slipping into your own house proves invaluable, as you keep from falling to the floor too loudly on the other side.

Standing up and brushing nonexistent dust from your clothes, you find yourself at one end of a short hallway. On your left, the top of a staircase that descends back down to the first floor of the shop; you can see an open door to the main room at the bottom, and hear the indistinct voices of the others, and a somewhat flustered-sounding Sakamoto-san. To your right, a closed door with a light underneath; you can hear more indistinct muttering, along with what sounds like a shower curtain being opened. Meanwhile, at the other end of the hall, two more doors; one is closed, the other is open. The open room also has its lights off, but a thin strip of light coming from the window lets you just barely make out what appears to be an office, with a desk and computer. The closed door is much less helpful, but you almost think you see a strange glow from beneath it…

Where To Investigate?

> The Back Room, Downstairs. (Given that seemed to be where those jars were being taken, you can try to learn more about what those are for, while listening in on the others' "interrogation." It is already sounding more hostile than it should be… Though you may not get the kind of answers you need down there.)
> The Right Open Door, Upstairs. (The office is sure to have important documents or the like, right? If you can snoop around there, you might be able to learn more about what the owners are really up to and their true goals here… If you have time to go through it all, that is.)
> The Left Closed Door, Upstairs. (On the other hand, this one feels promising; if this is their living space, you may just get a better idea of who -or what- these people truly are… Though whatever's on the other side of the door may be just as dangerous as it is enlightening.)