[🩵| Rito's Vengeance Remake |🩷]

⟨ [ Arc 1 ~🩵| |🩷~ Part 6 ] ⟩

Rito's POV (-Inner Character Monologue-)
{≈ Rito has been training secretly, pushing himself beyond his usual limits, trying not to rely solely on Yami's strength. He realizes he can't always stay in the background, protected by others, especially not her, As they spar, he reflects on how much everyone around him has been supportive. ≈}
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𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙔𝙚𝙩, 𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚; 𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙩, 𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙔𝙖𝙢𝙞.
{~ Rito's gaze shifts to Yami, who appears as resolute and calm as ever, yet he can sense there's something deeper she keeps hidden-a vulnerability masked by her fierce determination. It's almost as if she's encouraging him, pushing him to become stronger for reasons she keeps to herself. ~}
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Yami's POV
{< 🄹🅄🅂🅃 🅃🄷🄴🄽, 🅂🄷🄴 🄸🄽🅃🄴🅁🅁🅄🄿🅃🅂 🄷🄸🅂 🅃🄷🄾🅄🄶🄷🅃🅂, 🄷🄴🅁 🅅🄾🄸🄲🄴 🅂🄷🄰🅁🄿 🅈🄴🅃 🄾🄳🄳🄻🅈 🄼🄾🅃🄸🅅🄰🅃🄸🄽🄶: >}
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Yami: "𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆, 𝗬𝘂𝘂𝗸𝗶 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼? 𝗛𝗺𝗽𝗵, 𝗜'𝗺 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱!"
𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙢, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣:
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Rito's POV
Rito: "𝗔𝗵𝗵, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁! 𝗜'𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝘁! 𝗜'𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂!"
𝙃𝙚 𝙡𝙪𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙛𝙪𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨. 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙠𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙤, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙩, 𝙛𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮, 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨. 𝙄𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 {≈ Yami. As he strikes, he can't help but feel a rush of pride as he finally lands a solid hit. ≈}
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Rito: "𝗛𝗲𝗵, 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗬𝗮𝗺𝗶-𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻!"
𝙍𝙞𝙩𝙤'𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙨 𝙖 𝙗𝙤𝙡𝙙, 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚, 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚.
Rito: "𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿, 𝗬𝗮𝗺𝗶, 𝗼𝗿 𝗜 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂!"
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Yami's POV
𝙔𝙖𝙢𝙞 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚, 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚, 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙡𝙮, 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙙𝙢𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.
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Yami: "𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼 𝗬𝘂𝘂𝗸𝗶. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀... 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲."
(-Inner Character Monologue-) Despite her words, she remains guarded, her warrior's pride as fierce as ever, yet there's an undercurrent of warmth in her tone. This is a side of her she rarely allows others to see, but with Rito, she's gradually letting her guard down.
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Rito's POV
(‹ 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝑹𝒊𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒛𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓. ›)
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Rito: "𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸, 𝗬𝗮𝗺𝗶. 𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿."
𝙃𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙨. 𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙖 𝙥𝙝𝙮𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙣𝙚; 𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙣.
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Yami's POV
She looks at him, a bit surprised by his suggestion. Her initial response is measured, but there's a glint of approval in her eyes.
Yami: "𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗹𝘆, 𝗬𝘂𝘂𝗸𝗶 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼. 𝗜'𝗺... 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱, 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁. 𝗜 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗿."
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𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙔𝙖𝙢𝙞'𝙨 𝙪𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙜𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙨. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙈𝙞𝙠𝙖𝙣'𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨, 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙍𝙞𝙩𝙤'𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙢. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚.
Rito: "𝗢𝗵, 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘄? 𝗗𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗲, 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂? 𝗕𝘂𝘁, 𝗬𝗮𝗺𝗶, 𝗜 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗲."
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Yami's POV
Yami feels her cheeks warm slightly, a rare blush creeping onto her face. His words stir emotions she's not entirely comfortable acknowledging, her usual composed self slightly thrown off balance. (" 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥, 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞. ")
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Yami: "𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳, 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼. 𝗔 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀; 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵."
𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨, 𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙮𝙚𝙩. 𝘿𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚-𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩, 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮.
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Rito's POV
𝙍𝙞𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙝, 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙏𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝, 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙢.
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Rito: "𝗜 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝗬𝗮𝗺𝗶, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲. 𝗜 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲, 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼𝗼... 𝗦𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲, 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲."
(-Inner Character Monologue-) Yami's stoic expression falters slightly, a rare moment of vulnerability passing between them.
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Yami's POV
𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙨𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙞𝙩. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙨, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙, 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙡𝙮.
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Yami: "𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗺𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗲𝘁, 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀... 𝗺𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲, 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘁."
(--Multi Characters Monologues--) As the two of them stand there, both visibly affected by each other's words and actions, there's an unspoken connection forming between them. Their sparring session has turned into something much deeper-a test of trust, resilience, and mutual respect, leading them to a new understanding of each other.
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Rito's POV
𝙍𝙞𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙬𝙠𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙔𝙖𝙢𝙞 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨, 𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙛𝙪𝙡, 𝙖𝙨 𝙔𝙖𝙢𝙞 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙣.
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He sighs, feeling a bit defeated, but also amused by her sharp instincts.
Rito: "𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲? 𝗜 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁..."
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Yami's POV
𝙔𝙖𝙢𝙞 𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙨, 𝙖 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙧𝙠 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙗𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙢. Her voice is calm, a hint of pride in her tone.
Yami: "𝗢𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲, 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄. 𝗜'𝗺 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻, 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝘂𝗽."
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Rito's POV
Rito sighs, scratching his head with a sheepish expression.
Rito: "𝗠𝗮𝗻, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗸𝘀. 𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆. 𝗚𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗜 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝗮𝗱𝗹𝘆, 𝗵𝘂𝗵?"
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Yami's POV
𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙬, 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙖𝙯𝙚.
Yami: "𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝘂𝗽 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝘆, 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼, 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼."
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Rito's POV
𝙍𝙞𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙧𝙪𝙜𝙨, 𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙, 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙨, 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙪𝙨𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣.
Rito: "𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗵, 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄. 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗬𝗮𝗺𝗶-𝗜 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝘁. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗼... 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘄."
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Yami's POV
𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨.
Yami: "𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗶𝘁, 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. 𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗜 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗱."
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Rito's POV
Rito chuckles, a bit relieved that she recognizes his efforts, though 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨.
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Rito: "𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗵, 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗲. 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗜'𝗺 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻, 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵'𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝘅 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝘀𝗼... 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴."
He glances at his watch, realizing it's almost time for class. He offers Yami a friendly smile, genuine warmth in his tone. Rito: "𝗔𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆, 𝗬𝗮𝗺𝗶, 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳, 𝗼𝗸𝗮𝘆? 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿!"
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Yami's POV
Yami nods, (‹ 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒎 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚'𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈. ›)
Yami: "𝗢𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲, 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼. 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗹𝘆. 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝘀. 𝗜𝗳 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹, 𝗶𝘁'𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀, 𝘀𝗼... 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘁."
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Rito's POV
𝙃𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙙𝙨, 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚.
"𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱. 𝗜 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝗮𝗸𝗶-𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗽𝗮𝗶. 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝗮𝗿𝘂𝘆𝗮𝗺𝗮." As if on cue, his friend Saruyama appears, his face lighting up as he spots Rito.
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Saruyama's POV
Saruyama: "𝗛𝗲𝘆, 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼! 𝗛𝗼𝘄'𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻? 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗳𝗳? 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿. 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗼'𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀."
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Rito's POV
(-Inner Character Monologue-) Rito sighs, feeling the weight of the situation but keeping his answers vague to avoid dragging his friend into danger.
Rito: "𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗲𝘁. 𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼. 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵. 𝗦𝗲𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀."
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Kyoko's POV
Kyoko: "𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼-𝗸𝘂𝗻, 𝗵𝗼𝘄'𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴? 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝘁-𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗠𝗶𝗸𝗮𝗱𝗼-𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗶 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗷𝘂-𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗶. 𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝘁."
𝙍𝙞𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙙𝙨, 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙮. 𝙃𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙆𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙤'𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙖 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙.
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Rito's POV
Rito: "𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀, 𝗞𝘆𝗼𝗸𝗼. 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗺𝗲 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹, 𝗼𝗸𝗮𝘆? 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴... 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱."
Guard's POV
Guard: "𝗛𝗺𝗽𝗵. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿. 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗷𝗼𝗯. 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻. 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗲."
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Momo's POV
Momo: "𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼, 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲! 𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲, 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗴𝗼... 𝗜'𝗺 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂."
(-Inner Character Monologue-) She glances around After Having A Nightmare frantically, her eyes filled with worry as she tries to rouse the others.
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Momo: "𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲? 𝗛𝗲𝘆, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲, 𝘄𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘂𝗽! 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲, 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘂𝗽!"
(" 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨, 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭. ")
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Nana's POV
(-Inner Character Monologue-) Nana stretches, her expression turning into a scowl as she realizes something's off.
Nana: "𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘁 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆, 𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗼? 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗪𝗮𝗶𝘁... 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲?"
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𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨, 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙈𝙚𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡.
Nana: "𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗼, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱? 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲?"
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Guard's POV
Guard: "𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂! 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝘄𝗼... 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗽𝗶𝗱 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹𝘀. 𝗪𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝘂𝗽, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝘁. 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲, 𝗻𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲."
His voice is laced with a menacing tone, and the girls exchange anxious glances, their expressions a mixture of fear and determination as they try to assess their options and brace for whatever may come next.
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Rito's POV
(-Inner Character Monologue-) Rito scratches the back of his head, smiling nervously as he glances at Kyoko.
Rito: "𝗪𝗮𝗶𝘁, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘂𝘀? 𝗜 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂... 𝗯𝘂𝘁, 𝗼𝗵 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹, 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲! 𝗜'𝗺 𝘂𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁."
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Kyoko's POV
(-Inner Character Monologue-) Kyoko gives him a bright smile, her tone full of encouragement and a glint of playfulness in her eyes.
Kyoko: "𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆? 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁! 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸, 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼-𝗸𝘂𝗻. 𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲! 𝗧𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗵𝗲!"
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Rito's POV
𝙍𝙞𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙚𝙨, 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙢 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙆𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙤'𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨. 𝙃𝙚 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙔𝙖𝙢𝙞 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠.
Rito: "𝗬𝗮𝗺𝗶, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱, 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂? 𝗜'𝗺 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗞𝘆𝗼𝗸𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘂𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁."
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Yami's POV
(-Inner Character Monologue-) Yami nods, arms crossed, her expression calm and assessing. She seems to have thought it through and gives her approval with a small smile.
Yami: "𝗢𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮. 𝗞𝘆𝗼𝗸𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲-𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆. 𝗪𝗲'𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿."
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Rito's POV
Feeling reassured, Rito flashes them a grateful grin.
Rito: "𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻, 𝗜 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗬𝗮𝗺𝗶 𝗞𝘆𝗼𝗸𝗼!"
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Yami's POV
Yami's serious expression softens just a bit, and she nods.
Yami: "𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗬𝘂𝘂𝗸𝗶 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼. 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴-𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲. 𝗯𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝗽 𝗶 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗲𝗰𝗰𝗵𝗶"
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Rito's Pov (-Inner Character Monologue-)
𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙔𝙖𝙢𝙞 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙍𝙞𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙠𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩. 𝙁𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙-𝙇𝙖𝙡𝙖, 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙪𝙣𝙖, 𝙈𝙞𝙠𝙖𝙣, 𝙈𝙤𝙢𝙤, 𝙉𝙖𝙣𝙖, 𝙔𝙪𝙞, 𝙍𝙪𝙣, 𝙈𝙚𝙖, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙍𝙞𝙣-𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙥𝙖𝙞. 𝙃𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚. 𝘼 𝙩𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙜𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙩 𝙜𝙣𝙖𝙬𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥.
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Rito: "𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴... 𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀. 𝗦𝗵𝗲'𝘀 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁."
Eventually, exhaustion overtakes him, and he drifts off to sleep.
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Momo's POV
Momo's gaze darts around the dim room, (‹ 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌. ›)
Momo: "𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼? 𝗛𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱... 𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲? 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴."
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Nana's POV
(-Inner Character Monologue-) Nana stirs beside her, rubbing her eyes with a scowl. She's disoriented but tries to appear brave as she assesses their surroundings. Nana: "𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗼, 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝘁! 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽... 𝗪𝗮𝗶𝘁. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲?"
(" 𝘼𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙢. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙪𝙙𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙈𝙚𝙖, 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. ") Nana: "𝗠𝗲𝗮, 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱? 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲... 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴?"
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Guard's POV
A nearby guard, looming in the shadows, snarls at the two girls, his tone threatening as he orders them to stay silent. Guard: "𝗦𝗵𝘂𝘁 𝘂𝗽, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘀. 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵, 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆. 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘀𝘀."
Suddenly, he's struck by a flash of red hair-Mea's strand curls around him, knocking him off balance as she gives a defiant laugh.
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Mea's POV
Mea: "𝗛𝗲𝗵, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲, 𝗵𝘂𝗵? 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆, 𝗜'𝗺 𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄. 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄."
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨, 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙈𝙚𝙖 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.
Rito's POV
Rito: "𝗢𝗵, 𝗬𝗮𝗺𝗶, 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝘂𝗽? 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁... 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆!"
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Yami's POV
𝙔𝙖𝙢𝙞, 𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙣𝙤𝙙𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙢. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙬, 𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚.
Yami: "𝗬𝗲𝘀, 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿. 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀. 𝗜'𝗺 𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂. 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴... 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴."
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She glances up at him with a small smirk.
Yami: "𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵, 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗶𝘁, 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗸𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱."
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Rito's POV
Rito laughs, feeling a bit embarrassed but also grateful for the compliment.
Rito: "𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝗳 𝗜 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱."
Just then, the doorbell rings, and Kyoko steps in with a cheerful smile.
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Kyoko's POV
Kyoko: "𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼-𝗸𝘂𝗻! 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗬𝗮𝗺𝗶-𝘀𝗮𝗻! 𝗜'𝗺 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻! 𝗜 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵."
Rito's POV
Rito chuckles, sensing the excitement between them. (" 𝙃𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙝𝙚'𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙙𝙤𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 ") but feels inspired to give it his all.
Rito: "𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀... 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹, 𝗜'𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘁! 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗱, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝘄𝗼. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁?"
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Mea's POV
Mea: "𝗜𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱-𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗶𝗸𝗮𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗷𝘂-𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗶. 𝗜'𝗺 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵."
Momo's POV
(-Inner Character Monologue-) Momo listens intently, her expression worried but relieved to hear that Yami might still be free.
Momo: "𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗮𝗺𝗶-𝘀𝗮𝗻'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵. 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝘀𝗵𝗲'𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼. 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿."
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Nana's POV
(-Inner Character Monologue-) Nana's face shows growing frustration, her tone bordering on panic as she tries to process everything.
Nana: "𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗱. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀? 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼? 𝗠𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲... 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗲!"
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Rito's POV
𝙃𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙬𝙠𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙡𝙮, 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣.
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Rito: "𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘄? 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝘂𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗜'𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗱! 𝗜 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲."
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Yami's POV
𝙔𝙖𝙢𝙞'𝙨 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙪𝙥 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙪𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙢 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙮. 𝙎𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙆𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙨. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙍𝙞𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙙.
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Yami: "𝗚𝗹𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝘁. 𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁, 𝗞𝘆𝗼𝗸𝗼-𝘀𝗮𝗻-𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲!"
(-Inner Character Monologue-) She shifts into a ready stance, her posture grounded and focused, scanning Kyoko's movements. There's a seriousness to her expression, but also an eagerness to test her skills.
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Kyoko's POV
(-Inner Character Monologue-) Kyoko grins, excitement brimming in her eyes as she steps forward confidently.
Kyoko: "𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆! 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗬𝗮𝗺𝗶-𝘀𝗮𝗻!"
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{≈ She throws a quick attack, testing Yami's reflexes. To her surprise, Yami sidesteps effortlessly, analyzing Kyoko's fighting stance with a cool, tactical eye. ≈}
Yami: "𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘆. 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁'𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲-𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸."
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Kyoko's POV
𝙆𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙤 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙜𝙖𝙨𝙥, 𝙖 𝙛𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙙𝙢𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙨, 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙔𝙖𝙢𝙞'𝙨 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩. 𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧, 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙜𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚.
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Kyoko: "𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁? 𝗜 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘀! 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿-𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗱𝗼𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀!"
{≈ The two go back and forth, trading blows and dodges with skill and precision, until finally, they break apart to catch their breath. ≈}
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Rito's POV
Rito, now looking wide-eyed and slightly overwhelmed, steps forward, clapping with a huge grin.
Rito: "𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝘄𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝘄𝗼! 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁?"
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Kyoko's POV
Kyoko, still breathing hard from the spar, smirks at him, shaking her head.
Kyoko: "𝗢𝗵, 𝘄𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝘁, 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼-𝗸𝘂𝗻! 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼."
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Rito's POV
(-Inner Character Monologue-) Rito's expression falters, the nervousness returning. He laughs a bit, realizing there's no getting out of it.
Rito: "𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗺𝗲...? 𝗜𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻."
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Yami's POV
Yami folds her arms, watching Rito with an amused but firm look.
Yami: "𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗬𝘂𝘂𝗸𝗶 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲. 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝘁. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲."
She gives him a rare, encouraging smile. Yami: "𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘀𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁. 𝗙𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵."
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Rito's POV
(-Inner Character Monologue-) Rito sighs deeply, gathering his resolve. He takes a few breaths, settling into his stance and doing his best to look determined.
Rito: "𝗔𝗹𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲! 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁. 𝗜 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘂𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂-𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲. 𝗞𝘆𝗼𝗸𝗼-𝘀𝗮𝗻, 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆!"
𝙃𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤. 𝙃𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣: 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙪𝙩, 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙮.
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Rito's POV (-Inner Character Monologue-)
"𝗔𝗹𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼. 𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝘀, 𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀. 𝗠𝘆 𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝗜 𝗵𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁... 𝗪𝗮𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗴𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆!"
(" 𝙃𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚, 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙆𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙤'𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙮, 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙝. ")
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Kyoko's POV
𝙆𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙍𝙞𝙩𝙤'𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚.
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Kyoko's Inner Monologue
"𝗛𝗲'𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲-𝗵𝗲'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲."
"He's desperate to get stronger so he can protect them. But I won't let him do this alone-he's not the only one who wants to protect everyone."
(-Inner Character Monologue-) She leaps forward, aiming a controlled attack toward him, laughing slightly as she watches him dodge. Kyoko: "𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲, 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼-𝗸𝘂𝗻! 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁. 𝗜'𝗺 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹. 𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴!"
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Lala's POV
𝙇𝙖𝙡𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙧𝙨, 𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙚, 𝙪𝙣𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨. 𝘼 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮'𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙. 𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚:
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Lala: "𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼... 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂? 𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂..."
(-Inner Character Monologue-) She can't remember how she ended up here, but she holds on to hope, trusting that Rito will somehow come to their aid.
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Haruna's POV
𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙪𝙣𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙪𝙥, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙨 𝙬𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧. 𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙍𝙞𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙨𝙤𝙛𝙩-𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙣, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢:
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Haruna: "𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼-𝗸𝘂𝗻... 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲, 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘂𝘀..."
(-Inner Character Monologue-) She's always admired Rito's determination, and even now, she trusts that he'll somehow find them.
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Mikan's POV
𝙈𝙞𝙠𝙖𝙣 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧. 𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙪𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣. 𝘿𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙚𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣:
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Mikan: "𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼... 𝗜 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂. 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲."
(-Inner Character Monologue-) Even though she's scared, Mikan tries to stay strong for everyone else, suppressing her own worries to be a comforting presence.
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Yui's POV
𝙔𝙪𝙞 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙢, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨:
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Yui: "𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼... 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂? 𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲..."
(-Inner Character Monologue-) She struggles to keep her emotions in check but realizes she has to rely on Rito as much as everyone else.
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Run's POV
𝙍𝙪𝙣'𝙨 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙜𝙖𝙨𝙥𝙨. 𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩:
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Run: "𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼! 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘂𝘀, 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲..."
(-Inner Character Monologue-) She clutches her hands tightly, longing for a sign that he'll come to their rescue.
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Rin's POV
𝙍𝙞𝙣, 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙪𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙮 𝙜𝙣𝙖𝙬𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙬, 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚:
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Rin: "𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼... 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂?"
(-Inner Character Monologue-) She feels her heart heavy with worry, especially for the others, and hopes desperately that Rito will find them.
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Momo's POV
𝙈𝙤𝙢𝙤, 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙖𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨. 𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙇𝙖𝙡𝙖, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙛𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧'𝙨 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨.
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Momo: "𝗟𝗮𝗹𝗮, 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴. 𝗪𝗲'𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀."
(-Inner Character Monologue-) Even though Momo feels the weight of worry herself, she knows she has to be the voice of reassurance. If they are going to get out of here, they'll need to stick together.
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Nana's POV
𝙉𝙖𝙣𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙣, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙇𝙖𝙡𝙖 𝙨𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙙. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙨 𝙪𝙥, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙞𝙭 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚:
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Nana: "𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝗽 𝘆𝗲𝘁! 𝗪𝗲'𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝘀."
(-Inner Character Monologue-) Though she's struggling to stay calm herself, she wants her sisters to feel a glimmer of hope.
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Mea's POV
𝙈𝙚𝙖, 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨, 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙪𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙮𝙯𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨, 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙚.
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Mea: "𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲. 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲."
(-Inner Character Monologue-) She steadies her breathing, reminding herself that she has the strength and skills to help them, even in this dire situation.
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Rito's POV
𝙍𝙞𝙩𝙤, 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙔𝙖𝙢𝙞 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙆𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙤, 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙥𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙢𝙞𝙭 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙇𝙖𝙡𝙖, 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙪𝙣𝙖, 𝙈𝙞𝙠𝙖𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩. {< 🅆🄸🅃🄷 🄰 🅂🅄🅁🄶🄴 🄾🄵 🅆🄸🄻🄻🄿🄾🅆🄴🅁, 🄷🄴 🅂🄲🅁🄴🄰🄼🅂 🄾🅄🅃, 🅃🄷🄴 🅂🄾🅄🄽🄳 🄴🄲🄷🄾🄸🄽🄶 🄰🄲🅁🄾🅂🅂 🅃🄷🄴 🄵🄸🄴🄻🄳. >}
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Rito: "𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽-𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁! 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲!"
(-Inner Character Monologue-) His gaze hardens, and a renewed energy courses through him, pushing him to give everything he has.
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Yami's POV
𝙔𝙖𝙢𝙞 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙍𝙞𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮, 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚.
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Yami (internally): "𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲, 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼. 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲."
(-Inner Character Monologue-) She stands beside him, a quiet strength radiating from her as she readies herself for whatever lies ahead.
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Kyoko's POV
𝙆𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙤, 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙍𝙞𝙩𝙤'𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨, 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚. 𝙎𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚.
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Kyoko (internally): "𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝗼-𝗸𝘂𝗻. 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲. 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺, 𝘁𝗼𝗼."
(-Inner Character Monologue-) Her smile is warm, filled with admiration as she watches Rito, knowing they're fighting for a cause worth every ounce of strength they have.
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Mysterious Mercenary's POV
𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖 𝙝𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩, 𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙗𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨, 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙡 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙮𝙚. 𝙃𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙧𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧.
Mercenary: "𝗕𝗼𝘀𝘀, 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲... 𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻."
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Mysterious Boss's POV
𝙄𝙣 𝙖 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝-𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙝 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨, 𝙖 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙧, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙗𝙨𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙙.
Boss: "𝗔 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻, 𝗵𝘂𝗵? 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲. 𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻... 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁."
(-Inner Character Monologue-) The boss's expression is unreadable but calculating, already considering the next steps in their plan.
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