[X] ...Yamato. You just knew your brother had the potential to do it. And, judging by everyone else's votes, they did as well.
It did take a bit to get everyone on the same page. Mainly because everyone was kind of doing their own thing while you, Yamato, and Estella were discussing the voting idea. Yameko was acting as a sort of mediator between Hiroko and Kazama. By that, you mean literally standing or sitting between them at any given moment. Kazama is usually either walking around without a care in the world and drinking whatever she managed to grab from Keishi's fridge. Meanwhile, Hiroko tries to maintain a sense of decorum even in a place like this.
"So, I'm guessing you two came to this town together?" Kazama said while glancing at Yameko and Hiroko out of the corner of her eye, "What caused it? Rural life not enough for you two?"
Yameko hums to herself, "In a way, I suppose. The countryside has a charm all its own, but Hiroko and I felt we needed to..."
"...broaden our horizons," Hiroko finishes for her, the two touching the tips of their tails together as they chuckle with each other.
Kazama shivers, "Urgh. You know when you do stuff like that, it's more creepy than endearing, right?"
"I don't think someone who lives in a secret door in the attic of a school known for its delinquents should be the one to talk about what is or isn't considered 'creepy'," Hiroko retorts, her eyes flashing at the Bakeneko.
Kazama doesn't seem intimidated. She just shrugs and says, "That's kind of the point. If you're creepy, people will stay away from you. And that's exactly what I wanted. I'm trying to be creepy. You are coming across as creepy."
Before Hiroko could retort to the Bakeneko, Yameko butted in and said, "So, Kazama-san, what was it, exactly, that convinced you to come here? I mean no offense by this, but you don't seem like the type to come to a gathering such as this on a whim."
Kazama's ears twitched as she turned away from the Kitsune, "I just...decided that...I'd come around. Heard that you guys were going up against the Organization. And I figured you could use my help. That's all."
Yameko tilted her head in confusion, while Hiroko's lips curled into a mischievous smile. She leaned in and whispered something into Yameko's ear. It didn't take long for Yameko to get the same grin on her face. She proceeded to nod along with Kazama's excuse, "Yes, yes, I see, I see. And I'm certain it has nothing to do with Yamato-sama informing you of this meeting's existence."
Kazama muttered "sama' under her breath but kept up her stoic expression. She waved a hand through the air, "Right. And don't think you can rile me up if that's what you're trying to do. I'm not as easy as some people are."
"Hmm, I suppose. Though I am unsure what you...oh! Yamato-sama! It is good to see you," Yameko said while looking over Kazama's shoulder.
Kazama rolled her eyes while bringing her watermelon-flavored drink up to her mouth, "Nice try, but that trick isn't gonna work on-"
"Hello, Yameko. Hiroko. Kazama," the Bakeneko spat her drink out at the sound of Yamato's voice. He didn't react but stepped forward to put a hand on the coughing girl's back to help her out. He only took his hand away when she stopped coughing, "Are you alright, Kazama? Do you require some water or a tissue?"
"N-N-No! I-I-I'm fine! Just-Just let me-," Kazama was interrupted when Hiroko handed her a handkerchief from her sleeve. The Bakeneko glared at the grinning Kumiho but accepted the offered item without any fuss. She then used it to clean her mouth, doing everything in her power to hide the blush on her cheeks.
While your brother was dealing with them, you and Estella went to check on Keishi, Aina, and Irina. They had all somehow gravitated toward a different corner of the warehouse. Irina was sitting in a chair with a water bottle in one hand, animatedly describing something to Keishi and Aina. You had to get pretty close before you could hear what she was saying.
"So, there I was," Irina said, extending her hand in front of her, while she exaggerated her tone, "standing right next to the door inside the Princess' favorite bakery. It was unfortunate that I had to leave her alone for a while, but needs must. I had already informed the cashiers that I was here for the reservation and was just waiting for them to provide it to me. But, just as they called the name I gave them, someone sitting next to the counter stood up. While I was observing them, they ran to the counter and did the unthinkable."
Irina hits her thigh with a fist and shouts, "They stole the Princess' favorite snack!"
Aina gasps in shock and surprise, while Keishi just stares on in abject confusion. Though he gasps as well after a few seconds, he sounds less enthused than Aina. Irina doesn't seem to mind, though. She just keeps going, "I could scarcely believe it! For someone to have the unmitigated gall to try something so heinous. I knew I could not let such a thing go without properly punishing the perpetrator. As I stood up, I ran after the ruffian as they ran out through the fire exit. They tried to lose me, but I'm far too stubborn and way too familiar with these city streets. They could not lose me for long. And they seemed to realize this. And that...that is when things get complicated."
"How does someone trying to steal a snack from a bakery get complicated?" Keishi asks, not sounding very convinced about the importance of this. In contrast, Aina was hanging onto Irina's every word, her tail slowly wagging behind her.
"I'm glad you asked, mister lives in a warehouse, with the only person to keep him company being a nice-looking and extremely affectionate girl," Keishi's cheeks turned a bright shade of red, while Aina just looked confused. Irina's smile is short-lived as she continues her story, "It got more complicated, cause it turns out the guy wasn't acting alone. Apparently, this whole situation was planned. When I cornered the guy in an abandoned building, ten more dudes showed up out of nowhere. They were all armed with swords, and a few had guns."
That gets Keishi and Aina's attention. Both lean forward, their eyes sparkling with curiosity and concern. Irina pauses for a moment to let the tension build before she continues, "However, they were no match for a bodyguard of my caliber. Three shots was all it took to bring down the gunmen. The rest fell to a combination of martial arts strikes and good old-fashioned fisticuffs. They all went down, and I saved the Princess' snack from being tampered with."
"Wow!~" Aina claps her hands in excitement, "Irina! Strong!"
"Damn straight I am!" Irina laughs while receiving the praise.
Keishi claps as well, but then he asks, "Wait, why did they steal the snack anyway? Seems kind of weird for armed men to be interested in taking a random girl's snack food."
"The Princess is not just a 'random girl' mister," she points a finger at Keishi, making the young man to lean back, "She's the current owner of one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in Japan. There are plenty of people who'd want her dead. And one of the easiest and hardest to track ways is by poisoning her food."
"Which is why I have you taste-test most of it for me. Most human poisons don't work on monsters," Estella says as she wheels herself to Irina's side. Irina quickly stands up, throws her drink to Keishi, and walks over to Estella's back. Keishi grabs it out of the air while Irina kisses Estella's cheek. Estella smiles as you approach and wave to Keishi and Aina.
"Hayato. Estella. Hey there. Hope you guys are enjoying yourselves," he said as he and Aina stood up. Aina picked up the empty water bottle and put it in the nearby trash. Keishi stretched his arms out while yawning, "Did you two need something?"
"Yeah, so, listen, man," you explain what you, Estella, and Yamato talked about. After that, it was a simple matter of gathering everyone at the center of the warehouse to discuss it as a group. Yamato, Estella, and you were at the center of a semicircle formed by everyone who had gathered. Once everyone was together, you spoke first, "Okay, so, hopefully everyone knows the score. For those who don't know, we're gonna be deciding who gets to lead this little group of ours. Now the first thing we need to do is decide on the candidates-"
"Count me out," Kazama interrupts you, creating an "X" across her chest with her arms. When everyone turns their eyes to her, she explains, "I'm under no delusions about my ability to be a leader. I'm better off hanging in the background, researching things online. Not at the forefront trying to tell people what to do. Even the idea makes my skin crawl."
"At least you admit it," Hiroko mumbles to herself. Then she looks up and says, "Though I do agree with her on the 'being in the background' part. As the same applies to Yameko and me."
"Our skills are far more effective when our foes do not see us coming," Yameko finished for her. The two shared a smile and held hands for a few moments.
"That eliminates three possible candidates," your brother says before looking at Keishi and Aina, "What about you, Keishi?"
"Keishi! Leader!" Aina pumps her fist in the air while keeping one paw on Keishi's shoulder, "Brave and smart! And cool!"
Keishi chuckles but gently pushes Aina's hand off his shoulder, "That's nice of you, Aina. But, I'm gonna have to say no. I...I don't think I'd be a good fit for a leader."
"But...," Aina fell silent upon noticing Keishi's composed expression. Her tail goes limp, and her shoulders slump, but she doesn't protest his decision.
"And you already know I'm saying no. I'm the bodyguard. I keep the leader safe," Irina said, jerking a thumb at herself, "So, that leaves the two Nagai's and my Prinzessin. Which means we're voting between the three of you, right?"
"That we are," Estella said as she placed one hand in her lap and put on her best smile, "Though, I promise that you all may choose whomever you wish. Do not feel pressured by personal connections."
"I say the same," Yamato said as he put his hands in his pockets while watching the crowd.
You just cross your arms and try to look your best. You don't feel the need to say anything. You'll let everyone speak for themselves. But as you do, you remember that you're missing someone and you raise your hands to ask the last member of your group, "Ya want to say anything, Yato?"
"I will abstain. I feel that....I couldn't put my biases aside. Please forgive me, Lord Hayato," you can feel the shame in Yato's voice as he speaks.
You rub your gloves to comfort him a bit, "No shame in that, buddy. Now then, let's hear your votes, everyone!"
And so you do.
"I vote for the Prinzessin," that's Irina. Not surprising.
"Hayato!" Aina, surprisingly, votes for you. Didn't see that coming.
"Um, I have to say...Yamato. Sorry, Hayato and Estella," you and Estella both wave at Keishi, showing him that there are no hard feelings.
"Yamato," Kazama says.
"Yamato," Yameko says.
"And I also vote for Yamato," Hiroko says.
"I believe that's that," Estella says as everyone looks at Yamato to see his reaction to winning.
You move over and put an arm around his shoulder, "Congrats, bro! I knew you would make it."
But Yamato maintains the same indifferent expression as always. He looks out at the group and says, "I request to know the reasons behind your votes, Hiroko, Kazama, and Keishi. Yameko, I trust that you did not choose me simply because we are Bonded."
Yameko shakes her head, "Of course not, Yamato-sama. I chose you, as I believe having you as the leader of our group is the best possible outcome. Your skill set puts you in a great position to be a leader."
"I concur with Yameko. Hayato and Estella both have their merits. And Estella has experience leading an organization. However, a crucial skill that any leader should possess is the ability to see through hostile deceptions while ensuring that their foes cannot see through their own. And, based on what I see of you three...," Hiroko goes silent as she looks between all of you.
[Hayato Trickery: 3]
[Yamato Trickery: 102]
[Estella Trickery: 78]
"...I would say that Yamato can do that the best."
Kazama raises her hand and says, "I'd like to add on to that. Hayato, Estella, and I mean this in the most complimentary way possible, both of you would suck at leading this group."
You flinch a bit at how blunt she was, but Estella doesn't seem bothered. Instead, she says, "I see. Could you elaborate?"
"Using certain terms, Hayato is the heart of the group. He's got a big heart, is really honest, and can easily see through people's emotions. But he doesn't have much in the way of strategic thinking. I'd like to remind everyone that his plan for dealing with my illusions was to just run straight through them. And, yeah, it worked, but it was still a straightforward plan lacking nuance. Not exactly something you want in a leader who's gonna be making decisions all the time. He's better as the negotiator or front-line general."
"You, Estella, should be with me working on logistics. You're good at your job; I don't doubt that. But the primary thing our little party is gonna need to stand a chance against the Organization is resources and influential allies. Yamato, even if he is a prodigy, couldn't get us that. You can. Not to mention, if the Organization caught wind of you being in charge, they could easily trace it back to your company, causing issues. It's better for you to defer to Yamato. Harder to deal with you that way."
"And Yamato? He's got the strategic mind to make perfect use of all of our talents. And even if he doesn't, he's got me and these two foxes to back him up," Kazama finishes by letting out a sigh. She wipes her forehead with the back of her hand, "Ah, oh boy. Haven't talked that much in a while. I need some water."
Aina shoves a full bottle of water in Kazama's face. The Bakeneko gingerly takes it into her hand and nods a silent "Thank you" to Aina. Aina smiles, but it soon disappears as her eyes lock onto Kazama's tails. The Bakeneko notices and grabs both of her tails before Aina can do anything.
Everyone looks to Keishi and waits for his explanation. The guy swallows audibly from all the attention while running a hand through his hair, "We-Well, I just...decided to? It just...felt right? Sorry, I don't have a real reason like Kazama does."
"That is adequate," Yamato says before patting your arm to signal that you can let him go. You do so and step back, allowing him to be the center of attention. He takes his arms out of his pockets and puts them behind his back as he looks out at his new comrades. Everyone falls silent as they stare and wait for him to say his first words as the leader. You whisper, "Speech!" to him, hoping he gets the memo.
[Yamato Feelings: 18 VS DC 30: Failure!]
[Yamato Persuasion: 6 VS DC 30: Failure!]
[Yamato CSC: Alexander + Patton = 36 + 26 = 62 VS DC 45; Success! +3 XP]
"First, I do thank you all for putting your trust in me. I hope that I can prove myself worthy of said trust. Second, I will lay out precisely where we all stand regarding the current circumstances. We are aware that our enemies are known as the Organization. We are also aware that they have many resources and have infiltrated Raijin to some extent. We know that they wish to find and, possibly, destroy supernatural creatures and the humans who Bond with them. And we cannot allow such a thing to go uncontested."
He begins to pace back and forth in front of everyone, "As it stands, our greatest weakness is a lack of information regarding our foes. We don't know where our opponents are based, what their full capabilities are, what their ultimate goal is, or how many agents they have at their disposal. Therefore, I shall propose the tasks that each of us will be assigned going forward. Kazama, Estella. I want both of you to work on improving our logistical and espionage capabilities. Ensure that we have the resources needed to accomplish our goals while attempting to gain some form of surveillance on the Organization. I will leave it up to you to decide how you do this, but I would suggest that Estella work on discovering how many companies, groups, and otherwise support or donate to the Organization. Kazama, you may attempt to hack into their databases to see if you can find anything of note."
"Keishi, Aina. If possible, I want both of you to focus on the ground level. Explore as much as you dare, and look for any noteworthy events. See if they involve the supernatural or the Organization in any way. I would prefer if you do not get involved until letting the rest of us know, but if you feel that you must, go ahead. Anything else, I leave to your discretion."
"Hayato, Yameko, Hiroko. You three and I will remain at Raijin and act like everything is normal. However, we must remain vigilant and ensure that we keep the Organization within our sight. We can't allow them to catch us off guard. Act like everything is normal, but do not forget that we are in enemy territory. As a side note, moving forward, we are not to disclose what is happening to anyone outside of this circle without informing the others first. After that, we may consider bringing those new people in as members."
He stops walking and stares out at the group with a blank expression, "Finally, I suggest we have these meetings at least once every month. If an emergency occurs, call the others and we should attempt to arrive here as soon as possible. This warehouse will serve as our base until we locate a better location. If there are any questions, please ask them now."
Everyone remains silent. Though you don't think it's because they don't have any questions. But more because... well... that speech, while good, was pretty dry. You couldn't feel any emotion in it at all. And one look at Aina's cross-eyed expression tells you that not everyone understood that.
So, you raise your hand to get the attention on you.
"Yes, Hayato?" Yamato says, waving for you to go ahead.
[Speech + Empathy CSC: Persuasion + Feelings = 30 + 60 = 90 VS DC 60: Success! +3XP]
"So, to recap," you hold up your hands and count off on your fingers, "Estella and Kazama check our money and spy on the bad guys. Aina and Keishi keep an eye out for any interesting stuff going on in the city that might have to do with the bad guys. You, me, Yameko, and Hiroko all go back to school and act like everything is normal, while keeping an eye on the bad guys in secret. Did I get it?"
"Yes, you did."
"Awesome! You heard the man, everyone! Let's get moving...uh...uh," you pause, lowering the fist you had in the air as something dawns on you, "Actually, what are gonna call ourselves? You can't form a group like this without a group name, right?"
Your question actually floors everyone. They all start looking around and saying their answers out loud.
"I thought something slipped my mind."
"I figured the Princess would come up with something."
"Group name?"
"He means what we call ourselves collectively, Aina. And, I thought that Yamato would have something."
"That did slip my mind as well. I apologize."
"Well, don't look at me. I can hardly come up with good names in RPGs. No way I can come up with something here."
You hold up a hand, "Okay, no problem. We just need to come up with a name real quick. Shouldn't be hard. Right?"
Everyone agrees with you.
And you couldn't have been more wrong.
"I'm telling you guys! Team Seven is perfect!"
"We are not naming ourselves after a group of ninjas!"
"It's not for that! It's meant to represent the Seven Samurai! Those guys were awesome!"
"But there's way more than seven of us."
"It can still count!"
"I still say that the Secret Paranormal Association is a good idea. It can even be an acronym. S.P.A."
"Hey, if it's acronyms you want, then how about this: Organization for Human-Monster Unions. OHMU for short."
"I feel that people will mix us up with the Organization."
"How the heck will they do that? We literally have Unions in our name!"
"Look lets start over and-"
And so on and so forth. No real consensus was reached, so Yamato suggested that you all leave it until later. Especially when it started getting dark out.
You bid farewell to everyone, and despite how the meeting ended, you feel...confident about this.
It's good to know you have allies.
New SLs and Bond Formed!
SL: Name Pending Team Formed! Starts at SL 3/10! This SL will increase as the story goes on and as major plot points are cleared!
Bond: Part Of A Team: You're now part of a Team with a bunch of other people who share the same goals as you. You can call upon them for help, just as they can call upon you. It's good to have lots of friends.
Unlocked Estella and Irina SL! Both start at Relationship 2/10 with 4/3 RP. Can Rank Up!
