Snippet #2690413

The little light show startles Mary, who shields her eyes, but Shuuji barely flinches. He does give a small smile and a shake of his head, gesturing his had toward the door. ❝Come on, everyone. The sooner we get this done with, the better. If we wait too long, who knows who might try to get their hands on her?❞ With that, the president steps out of the door and waits for everyone else to step out. Once everyone has cleared out of the office, Shuuji locks the door and pulls the folder out of his sleeve. He beckons Mary over, who bounds towards him energetically. ❝You should hang onto this, Mary-chan. You're always handling files, anyways.❞ He pats her head before tucking his hand into his sleeve and walking ahead.

Mary, smiling, takes the folder and trots after him. ❝Hurry, hurry, everyone! We've no time to waste! Kocchi, kocchi!❞

After a bit of walking for a bit in the direction they were sent, and Mary just about talking Stephanie's ear off about what kind of clothes she'd like Stephanie and Erena to try, the eight find themselves in a rather rural and foresty area of Yokohama. Mary, who had just been describing what she deems to be the cutest dress from a boutique called Mary Magdalene, stops short and makes a small surprised noise. Her blue eyes widen, posture straightening. What a quaint little house shrouded by greens! It does seem a bit dirty, but it has its own little charm.

❝Wooow! What a place! Isn't it pretty, Stephanie-chan? Erena-chan?❞ She points excitedly at the house, smiling. ❝Let's go save our girl!❞ She takes Stephanie and Erena's arms and starts to trot off, but Shuuji holds an arm out in fornt of her, and the poor girl runs into it. Shuuji also extends the other arm, in case any of the men on his other side had tried to charge off, as well.

❝Don't just go charging off like that. I'm sensing... some strong Ability Presence here. Two really powerful abilities, but it's not one I've sensed before, so it can't be any of the Agency members...❞ He frowns, lowering his arms after saying this bit. He surveys around the house until his eyes rest on the porch, where an angry, short redheaded man seems to be gesturing to something—likely, someone—in the bushes. His eyes follow where he seems to be gesturing, and there's a sudden intake of breath from Shuuji.

That hair and face... he's from the wanted posters in town. Could the Port Mafia really be after her, as well? Shuuji looks to his left, then his right. ❝We've got some dangerous company here, and at least one of them is Mafia. If we're going to approach head on, Victor-kun, Erena-chan, and Mary-chan should be on the offensive. The rest of you—Stephanie-chan, Wilhelm-kun, Jacob-kun, and Mako-kun—should be on the defensive.❞ He pauses then, tapping his finger to his chin. Having so many people on defensive could be bad if they really are Mafia. He nods, then, and continues. ❝On second thought, whichever one of you is better at combat can alternate between the two, but... well, you can imagine.❞

He won't admit it outright, but he definitely will require some protection.