All In All

Kirito shrugged, smiling. "Hey, you know this city better than me, you decide. Though I will admit, the arcade sounds fun. I'm a gamer, after all."

Naoki smiled at this. "Okay, arcade it is for now then I guess the mall." For the later she didn't know where exactly she'd be going, but she was sure it would be fun with Kirito and Samara along for the ride. It didn't take them too long to reach the Arcade, it was a medium sized building that was out the way, tucked between a fast food establishment and a small family owned store.

When they entered inside, video games of various kinds were out on display. Though, what was notable is the place was a lot bigger then it appeared on the inside. On the left lead to another room that read 'Classics' in bold, green letters. In the main room where they entered where new and more up to date games, up to including amusingly enough Relative Darkness, the Arising that had came out only a week ago or so.

Before they had some more 'dive' type games, but after the panick and disaster of Lost Realm Online people had pulled the plug on it and few were as eager to fund things so soon. Which was unfortunate because those type of games had much more potential then the traditional ones ever would be able to.

Naoki went further in, ignoring most of everything else as she headed towards the front desk. A man in his twenties dressed in slacks, a blue t-shirt with a name tag of 'Andy' was cleaning the desk with a towel. They didn't notice Naoki,Samara and Kirito at first, but perked up when they did.

"We'll if it isn't my favorite customers. Have a boyfriend Naoki?" They asked.

As usual, Naoki blushed. "Muuh..why does everyone say that? We're just friends."

Andy seemed amused. "All right." They turned to Kirito, holding out a hand. "Andy, owner of this place. Nice to meet you."

Kirito shook Andy's hand firmly. "Nice to meet you as well, sir. You have a nice place here, though looks like you pulled the Full-Dive games... part of that makes me a little sad I guess, but I definitely understand it."

Andy sighed slightly after shaking Kirito's hand. "Yeah. I wanted to try one of those games but after that Realm Online accident I had to pull it at first. I'm sure they'll come back once things settle down. So what types of games do you like playing? I could direct you to which you might like. Little Naoki here? It might surprise ya but she likes violent video games."

* *

Emanulle had decided he would try to help Kaori after thinking it over the last night. He wasn't sure what the cat had meant by its last comment concerning Michru. Losing her to despair that was. Did it mean something like suicide, or something else? He really didn't know but he figured it was something else instead. He hadn't felt it was just some indirect threat from the cat either, so he had that theory out for now.

In the end, he decided he really couldn't afford to ignore it. The only problem was, he wasn't sure if Kaori would even open to him, never mind he had no clue where she was even at right now. This was going to be a pain, he was sure.

Kirito looked at Naoki surprise, but smiled. "That's... interesting. Anyway, I like a lot of games, but I guess I prefer ones where I'd be more active than just using a controller. It's kind of hardwired into me at this point." Naoki would of course realize why that was.

~~~~~

Emanulle didn't really have to wait long. The cat found him. "Hello again, Santos. Looking for someone?"

Naoki decided to find a game that was more active, so that went with a 'shooter' game. It was a brand new House of the Dead game, it was one of Naoki's favorites. "I like games like these, mom found it funny when she found out the first time. Are you okay with something like this?"

The game had some replica guns, as well as a nice screen.

* *

Emanulle glanced at the cat from before. "You could say that. I decided to talk to Kaori again."

Kirito chuckled. "Yeah, this is good. And it IS funny that you like this. No offense, but you don't seem the type at all." He picked up one of the 'guns', testing the weight of it. "A little light... I'll have to adjust how move... it'll work though."

~~~~~

The cat seemed amused. "I see. You'll want this then." A small magical distortion formed in front of him, and a marble sized glass orb appeared within it, a purple mist swirling within it. "Take it. It's magically infused with her scent, and enhanced so that, so long as you hold it in your hand and concentrate, it will lead you straight to her. Arkon's have a strong sense of smell, if I recall?"

Naoki looked slightly embarrassed, but smiled. "I've been told that a few times. Anyway, let's have fun!"

As it turned out with playing the game, Kirito was very good at the game and got a much higher score then she did but Naoki didn't much care. In fact pretty much every video game they had gotten into Kirito consistently got high scores. Naoki liked video games and played them frequently but it was almost like he was on a different level, and his reflexes were crazy. How he managed to pull off some of the things while supposedly being a normal humanoid in this state was beyond her.

Eventually, they retired from the arcade and headed to the local mall, which was packed full of people of various walks of life. Naoki seemed happy and excited, even more so when she saw a familiar pink-haired Shiki and her adorable white-haired sister.

"Megumi, Elsie!"

* *

Emanulle nodded, taking the marble sized glass orb and began concentrating. "..You know, it does occur to me that finding her this quickly out of nowhere is going to look suspcious. Do you want me to leave you out of it?" If so, he was just going have to come up with something but was drawing a pretty big blank.

Kirito blinked at the shout, only to see what looked like Naoki's older sister, and an adorable girl with dog ears and a tail, come running. Elsie slammed into Naoki, hugging her tightly as she giggled, while Megumi came up short, smiling. "Naoki, it's good to see you."

~~~~~

The cat seemed amused. "Kaori has no way of knowing how you managed to find her. It should stay that way. She's not exactly keen on other people getting involved in her life right now. Either way, I'll be going now... and I'm glad you took my words as the warning they were, and not a threat. You'll understand that warning once you understand just what sort of things are going on in this world, under everyone's noses..." The cat slipped away, disappearing from sight.

Naoki was always surprised by how strong Elsie was, she was practicaly bowled over but recovered quickly before laughing and hugging the half-demon tightly. "I missed you too Elsie, what have you been up to? And Kirito? These are my friends, Megumi and Elsie."

"I see you've made a new friend." The calm, deep voice came from Sesshomaru who watched Kirito for a moment before extending his hand. "I'm Sesshomaru."

* *

Emanulle sighed once more before concentrating on what needed to be done. This meeting..he wasn't sure how it would go, it would also depend on what she was doing at the time.

Megumi smiled and waved at Kirito, while Elsie began circling him, sniffing. Kirito was just glad she didn't get too close while doing it, or it would have been very awkward. Elsie had been told not to do this when meeting new people, it was was rude, but she was still young. When addressed by Sesshomaru, he took took the man's offered hand. "Kirito Hama, it's nice to meet you sir." He knew exactly who Sesshomaru was, and was debating if he should be more open about things with this man. He could help, but he suspected that Sesshomaru would be able to tell if he was being deceptive, and didn't want it to turn out badly for himself.

~~~~~

When he would find Kaori, she was again on a roof, gun in hand, looking down on Sayaka and Kayo, who were having lunch at a cafe below, completely unaware of her presence. Kyubey wasn't there, but Kaori assumed he would be soon enough.

Sesshomaru looked over the young man briefly, as if studying something before nodding. "Just Sesshomaru is fine." In the past, he would have demanded more respect but those days are far from over. "Are you new to this city Kirito?"

* *

When it came to finding Kaori, Emanulle wasn't quite sure on how to act. What should I say? Everything that comes to mind doesn't sound right. Still.. It wasn't as if it was implausible he could be here. Kaori knew nothing about him or what he did for his free time after all.

"You know, we should probably stop bumping into each other at these awkward moments." He said casually breaking the ice.

Kirito nodded. "Just been here a few days. Naoki bumped into me, literally, and then we kinda just became friends, I guess." He was going to keep bringing up how she ran into him, because her reaction was usually amusing. For him, anyway.

~~~~~

Kaori paused, and looked over her shoulder at him. Her grip on the gun tightened, but her finger wasn't yet on the trigger. "...If you were bumping into me, you wouldn't be on the roof. Why are you talking to me again? I told you this wasn't your business." Really, the most she'd really said to him so far. Progress? Of course, the cat was nearby, lazily watching.

Naoki made a strange, but cute sound in the back of her throat at that and did her best to ignore what Kirito had said. She focused on Elsie, crouching down and smiling. "What have you and Megumi been up to while I was away?"

Sesshomaru glanced at Naoki then turned back to Kirito. "That does sound like her. She has a habit of bumping into things, but with her track record it tends to work out for the best."

Naoki blushed, she felt he was teasing her too. Why did everyone tease her?

"I'm not sure if you and her are doing anything. If you like, you're welcome to hang out with us."

At the offer, Naoki smiled. "I don't mind. It would be fun. That okay with you Kirito?"

* *

The fact he couldn't tell exactly what had brought him here put Emanulle at a loss of what to do. After a moment, he decided to be honest. "Point." He said. "But I meant what I said when I mentioned getting to know you more. It's hard to do that if I just ignore you when we're in the same area."

One problem was, Emanulle wasn't going to stalk her or anything if she was adamant about him leaving her alone. And if anything that would make him suspicious to anyone remotely sane, anyway. There was the big question of what she was doing running around with a gun on the roof tops. There was also the question of where the hell did she get SJ2 Jackhammer. That wasn't something you just got for civilian use. Black market maybe, or something else.

Kirito shrugged, smiling. "Sure, why not?" The squeak of joy from Elsie definitely amused him, and Megumi just smiled at him. He didn't catch what Megumi whispered to Naoki, though.

"He's handsome, isn't he?"

~~~~~

Kaori's eyes narrowed briefly, before her face regained it's usual neutral expression as she turned to face him. "That doesn't really answer anything. Why do you want to get to know me more? Why even try?"

Naoki chocked, seemingly on air. "I-It's nothing like that Megumi! Nothing at all!"

Sesshomaru raised a brow at the outburst. "..Care to share more?" He was clearly amused.

"Nothing." Naoki mumbled, she hadn't meant to, just she had sort of panicked..and we'll now she wanted to crawl somewhere in a hole on the side.

The former Demon Lord seemed to let it go, continuing to walk but turning his attention towards Kirito. "So long have you been here by chance?" He was trying to get a feel of the young man. Naoki was very trusting and though Kirito seemed nice, Sesshomaru still wanted to get know him a bit more.

* *

Emanulle sighed slightly. "Why? Because while you put off that distant and cold front, but I saw the look on your face when you accidentally hurt one of those girls when I first ran into you. I don't know why you act the way you do, but I know its no fun going things on your own. I've been alone for a long time until recently. I'm not trying to talk you out of whatever it is you're doing, or stop you. I just want to talk occasionally. Our conversations don't have to be anything deeper then what your favorite baseball team is, for all I care. So..I suppose I'm offering a ear to listen to things, anything else is up to you. That's all."

Kirito shook his head. "Not long, no. Just a couple of days. Naoki was actually showing me around today." He paused, glancing over at Megumi excitedly whispering in Naoki's ear and giggling. He then spoke lowly to Sesshomaru. "You'd probably figure out something was odd before long, so I need to talk to you in private when we get a chance. I didn't realize you were connected to this, and I don't want to risk you thinking I'm a threat to Naoki or her friends." He then glanced down, and tensed, seeing Elsie looking up at him with wide eyes, before she giggled, and put a finger to her lips, making a shushing noise before running off and jumping on a startled Megumi's back.

~~~~~

Kaori just stared at him, before looking off the roof again. "...Fine. Don't expect me to actually talk to you about anything though... and don't interfere with what I'm doing again. I don't want to, but... if you become an obstacle to what I'm trying to do... I will kill you." Emotion crept into her voice, her voice wavering at the end. Clearly, the idea of killing him wasn't appealing to her in the slightest, but she seemed resolute in actually doing it if she felt she needed to.

Sesshomaru had to admit, the boy seemed smart and was coming forward. Good. He could get a few answers here and there. His daughters behavior caused him to raise a brow, but he let it go when she zipped her lip and jumped on her sisters back. Those two were something.

It wasn't too long before they reached a book store, Naoki liked to read and it also gave him a chance to talk to Kirito. While Naoki and Megumi were talking, and thoroughly distracted with Elsie and Samara.

Sesshomaru found a corner that was out of the way so they could talk and motioned for Kirito to have a seat.

* *

Emanulle noticed the way her voice wavered at the end, it was as he thought. Kaori wasn't a stone cold killer or anything, just hardened. "Like I said I'm not getting in your way. It's not like you're going around shooting random people."

We'll, that went a bit better then he originally thought. It was a start at any rate.

Kirito paused, glancing around, before sighing. "What do you know about the Myriad Crusaders?"

~~~~~

Kaori paused. "And if I started fighting with those other girls again? What will you do?" The cat seemed to be watching him more closely now.

"I know they're something close to Nobus, though for Magic Girls or Knights. Other then that, I can't say I do know a lot about them. Of course." Sesshomaru paused. "That's partly to being a Earth Realm citizen. There's a lot of information I likely don't know about, I'm sure."

* *

If I don't get involved, what is likely to happen from what little I've seen?

That was a question he had to ask himself, before anything else. Going over the mental list in his head by a few points. One, Kaori clearly didn't want to hurt or kill any of the girls. That much was obvious by how she reacted to accidentally shooting Naoki. Two, it wouldn't have made sense to ask that question, never mind agree to having him around at all. But..nothing made sense. What exactly was the missing piece of the puzzle? She didn't want to fight them, but something was compelling her forward of her own free will.

After a semi long moment, Emanulle sighed. "I don't know you, and a lot of things I could theorized be wrong, but from what I've seen you don't want to hurt the girls. So I won't get involved in your battles that being the case. That said..if you think something is going to happen now, its best I'm not here right now."

Kirito nodded. "That makes sense... My name is actually Kazuto Kirigaya. Kirito Hama is just a codename, based on my name in LRO. Part of my squad is here on Earth investigating the cause of a large magical disturbance, one that could grow to effect more than just Earth. My squad are staying at our base here, while I investigate the situation covertly." He sighed. "What we knew before coming here, was that Time Magic was being used to great effect here on Earth, looping back time repeatedly. We are not sure of how long the loops are, but it's a problem either way. Everyone on Earth is currently unknowingly trapped in a sort of 'Groundhog Day' loop. The only thing you might have noticed would be a strong sense of Deja vu. We also knew of two people who seemed to be connected to the situation; we just aren't sure in what way. Naoki Kaname, and Kaori Tanaka."

~~~~~

Kaori paused. "I see. And I'm not sure if something will happen. I'm watching, to see if I need to act..." She turned back to look down off the roof at Sayaka and Kayo enjoying their lunch. If Sayaka was alone at any moment, Kyubey would show up, she was sure of it. And when he did...

Sesshomaru seemed visibly disturbed for once, even if it was brief. "..Time Magic." He muttered. "It's probably one of the few magic styles besides necromancy that has a law passed against it. Necromancy because of things in the past and cultural push back. Time Magic..we'll its obvious. Even with well meaning people the consequences of it could be enormous. If Kaori or Naoki somehow have it..its best it remains between us. Others, if its true, would want to use that power. You seem to be a intelligent young man, I don't think I have to further elaborate how badly things could esclate potentially politics and personal wise."

* *

Kayo was having a good time, but soon she needed to go to the restroom so she excused herself before leaving.

Kirito nodded. "I've managed to find out a bit already. Naoki, and some number of her friends, have become Magical Girls themselves. She explained that she, and at least one other girl named Mami, are a type of Magical Girl called a Puella Magi. We have the name on file, but very little information, except that Puella Magi have a disturbing trend of suddenly disappearing one day, with a lot of disappearances and deaths occuring around the same time. Sometimes, they are eventually found dead, but usually are never found. They also tend to be in areas where alot of disappearances and suicides occur."

"Now, according to Naoki, these disappearances and suicides are the work of beings called Witches. Unlike the witches widely known, this kind are born of negative emotions, as well as instill them in others. They exist in little pocket dimensions of their own making, which is wear people disappear to, and also drive people to commit suicide. This method of killing is a large part of why they have remained hidden until now. This information, as well as her powers, were passed to her by a friend of hers named Kyubey. Apparently, he grants a wish for you, and in return you become a Puella Magi and fight Witches. Apparently this is how Samara came to be; Naoki wished her to life." Here, he paused.

"Now, the other part of this is where things get particularly disturbing. Kaori Tanaka is apparently a Puella Magi as well, but from what Naoki has told me, she keeps attacking Kyubey, who, again according to Naoki, doesn't recall making a contract with her. I don't know anything about this girl Kaori, other than that she apparently helps the girls out on occasion, tries to shoot Kyubey, and apparently that she is friends with Megumi... who I would guess is aware of a good deal of this as well, though I'm not sure if she told you. They seem to be secretive of it, likely because of Kyubey. I don't know about you, but I'm skeptical of this guy's motives."

~~~~~

Kaori noticed Kayo get up for the moment, and glanced around. If Kyubey was going to make a move, now would be the time.... there! Kyubey hopped up onto the table Sayaka and Kayo were sitting at, but before he could speak, he had to dive out of the way of a bullet. Sayaka leapt back as the table splintered, and was shocked as Kyubey moved to dodge several more shots as Kaori leapt down from the roof. Kyubey bolted, and Kaori was about to move to follow, when she thought of a more pressing matter. She turned to Sayaka. "...Do not make a contract. It'll only end in pain for you." She was only slightly startled when Sayaka grabbed her by the front of the shirt and shook her.

"Where do you get off!? You think you can tell me what to do, and threaten me like that? I don't know what your deal is, but you don't scare me!"

"What do you think about Kyubey?" Sesshomaru asked. "I like to hear your thoughts. But everything you said..it doesn't sound right. Naoki never told me this either. Something definitely is amiss but I don't know all the data."

* *

Not too long after, Kayo who had been trying to maybe look at one or two things before she rejoined Sayaka heard gun shots. What the hell?!

People upon hearing it, scattered and fled mostly being normal humans or not having much of any power themselves. Kayo did the only thing that made sense to her and rushed into the bathroom which was completely empty at this point. Quickly she reached reached into her pocket, pulling ut what seemed to be a pendant.

"Link up!"

A swirling vortex of purple energy engulfed her, temporarily blinding before it died down. In its place was Kayo, but in a suit of armor.

Without a second thought to spare, Kayo rushed out with superhuman speed to where Sayaka and Kaori were, holding her massive sword that was obviously too big for a normal human to wield. She looked around, frowning a bit at seeing the two and lowering her guard.

"What are you doing here Kaori?"

Kirito shook his head. "I don't know much about Kyubey myself. But he apparently forms contracts with young girls, granting a wish in exchange for making them fight these Witches, and apparently these girls then have a tendency to disappear completely, or turn up dead. Add that apparently only these Puella Magi can see him, and it just doesn't sound right. Plus, you have Kaori, who apparently changed from a sweet and bubbly girl to a seemingly emotionless killer overnight and is trying to kill him, and he claims to not know her. It makes no sense. It leaves me to suspect two sources of the time magic. It's either Kyubey himself for some reason, or Kaori."

~~~~~

Kaori tensed pain filling her eyes as she looked at Kayo. 'You always die... I can't let you die again... keeping you and Sayaka out of this is the best thing for you both...' She wrenched Sayaka's hand off her shirt, and glanced at Kayo. "Keep a close eye on her. She's likely to get herself and others killed. Including you." And with that, she took off.