Kensuke Aida and Toji Suzuhara nearly ran into each other within Matsumoto Castle. "Oh
sweet, you got out too," muttered Toji.
"Why wouldn't I?" asked Kensuke. "We were both in the real world upon entering the fog, so why wouldn't we return once it faded?"
"I dunno, the A.T. Agent I was fighting beside just up and vanished with the fog!"
"He probably was originally in the Metaverse, so he must have remained there...kind of a way of preserving the initial ontological starting point once the fog's interference ceased-"
"I don't know what
any of that means," groused Toji. "I mean, this castle's already smaller than it was in the Metaverse. What if I had spawned back inside a wall?"
Kensuke waved him off. "Eh, you'd be fine. Unless there was a trick wall that opened into a secret space, the local cognition wouldn't allow for empty spaces to overlap with physical barriers in reality...I think."
"Oh, you
think?!"
"Hey, instead of complaining at me, maybe we should go find Mishima-san? We got split up when trying to pacify a wild Shadow."
"Tch. Fine."
The two boys moved past beams of old yet finely polished wood, ascending the stairs to the main floor; they barely had a chance to look out open windows before Ryuji Sakamoto entered through the primary doorway, hobbling on his cane. Tired eyes looked in their direction, widening with visible relief. "Good...you kids okay?"
"We're fine, sensei," said Toji, giving him a once over. "What happened?"
"There was a big flash of light; it sucked up the fog and all the Remnants, and then I was back in the real world, along with a bunch of the other defenders. Figure the others who were still standing got left behind in the Metaverse when reality split back apart again." There was a complicated expression on his face. "Though, with the fog gone...it ain't pretty out there."
Kensuke and Toji looked confused. "Really?" wondered the former, walking around Sakamoto to head for the door-
"
Don't," snapped Sakamoto. "You don't need to see it."
"But-"
"Do I have to make it an
order?" he growled with a strange intensity. "Let it lie."
Kensuke boggled, impulsively looking for the windows; however, this forced him to look around the main floor, where several wounded Agents were treating their own wounds. A few were out cold entirely, exhausted from the battle they had endured in the fog...at least, he
hoped they were just unconscious. Before his thoughts could spiral any further (what was outside? What had happened? Was it
that gruesome...?), a sure hand clapped onto his shoulder. "Toji...?"
"If Sakamoto-sensei says we don't need to see it, then we don't need to see it," grimly said Toji, his expression taking on a fatalistic shape. "Maybe we should just...cool our jets."
"...I guess that's all we can do for now," muttered Kensuke.
xx
Ryuji was glad that Suzuhara-kun had talked some sense into Aida. The kids had dealt with enough death as of late without seeing...outside.
For the streets to have that many bodies...the fog must have manifested incredibly rapidly after Adachi beat Morooka. Just
thinking about the Smiling Traitor made him want to hit something, anything!
That's when his phone rang; picking it up, Ryuji recognized the caller ID. "Hello Iwai."
"
Sakamoto. I tried calling both the Commissioner and the Superintendent of Chūbu, and got nothing. With that little light show I just saw, I figured you and your band of troublemakers were around."
"That'd be accurate."
A 'light show'...so he saw the pillar. "How'd you know to come to Tokyo-2?"
"
Got a little tip. Thought the oddities smelled funny, so I redirected a crapload of Agents to Nagano Prefecture. Then once that strange fog disappeared, the sight of the city was enough for us to kick it into high gear. How's the CPC?"
"Still standing," he murmured, gazing down a hallway; Yuuki Mishima approached with trepidation, eyes widening with relief at the sight of him. "Iwai...it's bad. Real bad."
"
How bad?"
"Does the term
Siberian Sunset mean anything to you?"
"
No."
"Then you'll probably find out by tonight...but Morooka's dead." Iwai cursed. "It gets 'better.' You're not gonna
believe who offed him..."
xxxx
/Room 4, 3rd Floor, Vulcanus Dorms, Hakone Academy/
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prMt9BHAL5M
Day had given way to the evening, and Minato was finally beginning to stir from his extended nap.
"
In other news, more details are coming out of Tokyo-2 after the Fog of Desolation faded from sight earlier today. Initial casualty estimates from first responders indicate that over four hundred and fifty thousand civilians lost their lives because of the cognitive anomaly-"
Click.
"
-the Japanese government has effectively ceased to be, with both the head of state and head of government passing away as a result of this incident, along with all members of the Cabinet, the National Diet, and the Supreme Court-"
Click.
"
Tragically, the Imperial Family in its entirety was present in Tokyo-2 when the Fog of Desolation struck, having been recalled by the Emperor following the Annihilation of Korea during the last new moon. With this, the Heisei Era, along with the world's oldest hereditary monarchy, has come to a sorrowful end-"
Click.
"
-to alleviate the unprecedented havoc that has ensued as a result of the loss of the national government, the forty-seven prefectural governors have declared a constitutional crisis, announcing a preliminary plan to temporarily reorganize the country into a confederation, with each Prefecture being a sovereign entity in its own right. The surviving command staff of the JSSDF have promised a guarantee of mutual security for all Prefectures, requesting that the governors nominate a representative to serve as a de facto and de jure President. Critics are already calling this 'Council of 47' a return to the feudal domains that existed prior to the Meiji Era, but others are saying that circumstances demand social stability and societal continuity first and foremost-"
Click.
All this clicking is getting annoying, mused Minato as he slowly opened his eyes. Sure enough, Yu Narukami was practically glued to both the television and his phone. "Anything new?"
"The fog's gone. Everything else feels like it's going to hell," bluntly said Yu.
"...so, situation normal?"
Yu changed the channel once more.
"
-Acting Commissioner Munehisa Iwai, based on testimony from the late Morooka's personal secretary, claimed that the instigator for the Fog of Desolation was an escaped prisoner by the name of Tohru Adachi. Infamously known as the Smiling Traitor, Adachi allegedly was broken out of a top secret Metaverse prison by Strega. If this is true, then this represents yet another escalation in our war against the Angels and their allies-"
Minato winced. "Ah."
"Yeah," murmured Yu with a furrowed brow.
"...so Minazuki and Adachi makes two. With Takaya and Jin, that means we're both two-for-two on the bad guy count."
"...admittedly so."
"Does it make you feel better?"
"Not really."
Minato shrugged. "Eh, I tried."
Yu simply changed the channel once more.
"
-initial murmurs from our reporters at the UN indicate the Security Council will allow private companies and individuals to send humanitarian aid if they so wish. However, given Strega's concentration on Japan, it is rumored that they will not allow for any official government aid, lest the current détente between Strega and the rest of the world be broken-"
"Cowards," bitterly said Yu.
"They're just trying to survive as best as they know how," assuaged Minato. "And let's be honest: no other country can stop them. It's up to us."
"...I know. Doesn't mean I have to like it." Click.
"
We've just received word that after two rounds of voting, the Council of 47 have elected the Governor of Kyoto, Masayoshi Shido, to be the nominative President of the new prefectural confederation. Governor Shido's office has announced that they will release a new constitution to codify the responsibilities, rights, privileges, and duties of the new government, to be voted on by all of the nation's municipalities..."
"...huh. Wonder how Amamiya's rival feels," wondered Yu.
Minato rolled his eyes. "You
know he hates being called Amamiya's rival."
"Don't care, because that's what he is."
xxxx
Meanwhile, at a tiny little apartment elsewhere within Tokyo-3, a glass cup shattered against the television screen. Even though the image was marred, Shido's face on the newscast was
still visible.
Goro Akechi snarled at the very sight of him.
For once, the quiet stranger said nothing.
"...there's just no escaping him, is there?" he growled (out of anger;
definitely not out of desperation or despair. Definitely not.).
xxxx
Meanwhile, at a ramen restaurant in Takahama, situated on the northern shores of Fukui Prefecture — due north of both Kyoto and Osaka — Tohru Adachi was watching the wall-mounted television in silence, slurping noisily at his noodles. The news that Governor Shido of Kyoto was going to become the nation's de facto President was still making the rounds. "Hoo boy, ain't that a hoot? Wonder if baldy's gonna call himself the Shogun...eh, not my business anyhow."
The Angel of the Sky burned within the back of his mind.
"YOUR MOTIVES ARE BEFUDDLING," roared the sky.
The great eye peered curiously into his soul.
"WHAT DRIVES YOU TO SUCH LENGTHS?"
Why would I need a reason? It's not like any of this matters. He took another sip from his bottle of beer, downing the rest of it one gulp. "Eh, nothing like a drink after a hard day's work..." Looking over at the bartender — whose eyes seemed to widen with dawning recognition, because Adachi's face had
been on TV that day — he jovially remarked, "Hey now, I'm not gonna 'cause any trouble. Just gimme another beer and we'll be
just fine." It was the quickest bottle of beer he had ever gotten. "Man, the service here isn't a joke..."
Two bowls of ramen and a few more beers later, and Adachi left; he was long gone by the time the local police arrived to investigate.
Thus did the chapter close on one of the most momentous days in the history of Japan.
xxxx
END OF 8/21/2015
xxxx
/oh snap
//we practically got ourselves a Shido Shogunate up in here
