Meeting [Naomi/ Safi/ Sentinel]

“oww…” Hyde rubbed his head and frowned, he wasn’t expecting to get knocked for realizing things. Hyde then looked back at Naomi and realized that she wasn’t acting as cheerful as usual. “Hey Naomi, is there something bothering you? I know it might be none of my business, but you don’t seem as happy as usual. “ Hyde would say to Naomi while Sentinel would go on with the analysis and explanation of the team’s current choices. “Saving the girls is definitely something we should do; this isn’t the first time that someone has been sent to the alternate worlds under mysterious circumstances. That yata character was also sent to the alternate world, and we had that doppelganger incident. If we are to take precautions, I would say that getting some supplies for this particular mission is needed. To get supplies, we need money. The invading shadow has a bounty on its head, which could be a source of income that we can take advantage of. It’s just us four for now, but it doesn’t mean that we wouldn’t find more allies along the way. The most important thing is that we keep the hope alive… “ Hyde would say with confidence in his group. They definitely had a pair of smart brains and strong hearts, the combination of the two could bring about a miracle.

“That’s only a suggestion though if we was to take action immediately. Though, I really don’t think we should wait for more casualties to happen before we start to act. Even the smallest of progressive moves could prove beneficial. “After that, Hyde ended his serious tone and switched it with his usual one. “Or something like that.” He then pops a sushi in his mouth and drinks his cup of lemonade. This was some good food, and Hyde wasn’t about to waste it. After swallowing, Hyde continued. “It’s also good to not over-analyze things, this man couldn’t be totally aware of our existence. We haven’t done anything too high-profile yet for him to think of us as a thread, there might even be a chance that he underestimates us. For safety, we could always conceal our identities and go by our code-names to address each other, that’s a useful trick that could be used to prevent the criminal from identifying us easily.

Naomi would shake her head at Alphonse’s suggestion to look for all the girls who fit that definition, “I hate to say it, but doing that would take far too long and leave us with basically half the population of Azores as potential targets. We may have to assume that ‘Dally’ refers to something much more specific to an individual person, rather than a general term that can be applied to anyone.” After all, why would he be looking for someone specifically with only such a vague term that could mean most of the world’s population, “There may be one other issue here. If this ‘Dally’ girl was the target, why did those other people go missing? And why was Rinna the only one, up until now, left alone after seeing him?” Something inside of her was having trouble making sense of the holes popping up in the criminal’s behavior. He was doing his best to hide, but left someone who could identify him around. Not only that, he told her what he was looking for. His actions were not normal under any circumstances. Either this guy had a personality disorder or, maybe… No. That was a crazy idea.

And Hyde figured out how to say the exact wrong thing at the exact right time. How could he not tell that he was the reason her mood was getting worse and worse. He had started this conversation by whining and thinking they owed him an explanation for his instinctive ability to jump the gun. Then he all-at-once proved that he couldn’t be trusted with information, because he wouldn’t share it with them. Even if it was as important as what the criminal was looking for, he would keep it to himself. She was quickly finding out that this ‘team’ was closer to four chickens running around with their heads cut off. How pointless. Without saying any actual words to him, she would look up at him with daggers in her eyes. He really was beginning to push her into the red. She would give him a smile though, and push it aside, “I’m just a little tired. I didn’t think I’d be doing anything today, so I stayed up late. Don’t worry about it.” It was true that she stayed up late, but she did that every night. She was just trying to keep this makeshift team from falling completely apart. It was all they had at the moment.

“Always assume that the person you are up against knows you are there, and knows exactly what you are doing and how to counter it.” Naomi would speak up, finally calming down just enough to contribute to the plans these three were coming up with, “If you want to go into one of the alternate worlds, it’s not just items you have to prepare. You have to be ready for all the consequences that come with it.” She was speaking from personal experience. Not in the sense of taking on Shadows, but it was what she thought about every time she did her job. It was just something she didn’t think about anymore. Her eyes would snap at Hyde when he mentioned that Invading Shadow again. She was tired of hearing about that thing, “Don’t you dare even think about it.” She wouldn’t let them take on that Shadow. Not now, not yet. If they walked in there, she was sure they would all die. She would let out a sigh, “As much as you don’t want to over-analyze this situation, over-analyzing it is safer than going in without thinking about everything that could happen.”

Sentinel would nod at Naomi's counterpoint, "What you say is quite true, it would be difficult to narrow down a target from such a vague term, and the four of can in way keep track of everyone on the island. I was just merely offering as another way of viewing the situation. However, taking the name approach would be quicker. Perhaps we could use a phone book, and see if we can narrow down the possible suspects. Alternatively, we could always ask Lune if she has the nickname of "Dally"." That would certainly settle the debate of which way to go, granted Sentinel was hopeful that it would be Naomi's method rather than his own. Much more efficient and it would allow the group to more accurately predict Lewis' motives and moves. Hopefully, they could be put him into an early check-mate before things go really out of hand.

The android listened as people seemed to generally agree that caution was the best way to go about this mission, though Hyde seemed to not want to over-analyze the situation. "While I agree that worrying is unhealthy, I have to agree more with Naomi. To keep everyone safe, it is best to assume the worst and consider all the negative scenarios as the only realistic scenarios. No plan survives contact with the enemy as many wise commanders would say. Battles and wars are not won without predicting what the enemy knows and may do with the knowledge they have or is presented to them." Sentinel was one of the people who always assumed the worst when it came to Maria. He did a full background check on the neighbors before they even moved in, heck he observed the neighborhood for a little over a week before actually choosing the house on sale. Was it a bit odd? Yes, but he had to keep Maria safe, he couldn't let his creator be right...at any cost.

Naomi soon revealed she was far less than willing to go fight the invading shadow, well if she was that much against it then it was worth considering. For the team to work, then they would need to consider each other's thoughts and motivations. "It might benefit us by taking action relatively quickly about it. We have to consider that this presence is trailing Lune and the other presence, this seems to indicate that it is hunting or stalking them. Even the most patient predators will strike when the time is right." That was just a rather fancy way of saying that Lune was in grave danger, perhaps not right now, but something was stalking her and the other presence. That much was clear, after allowing the others a moment to comprehend that situation he would move on to the subject of preparation, "We had best gather items to prepare us for our next challenge. I believe some of the items are capable of reviving incapacitated allies. Beyond that I believe that Sharaku would come at a time where he was unable to maximize his full potential, I was thinking of purchasing two snuff souls to help with that issue." Sentinel believed that doing that much would at least allow him to cover two particular weaknesses that their powers did not. "I think that would cover some of our major weaknesses, healing seems to be covered by multiple people so I'm not very concerned on that front." The android would say, granted he was saving up for a vest that would greatly aid them in the hostile environment that the group seemed to dive deeper and deeper into.

Things were starting to get out of hand, why was everyone’s opinions starting to drift apart from each other?  It’s good to have a difference of opinions; a separate point of view could help look at things differently. However, there is this one gray area that we could all see ourselves agreeing on. That’s usually the moment when things start to get done, so what’s the problem now. “…..” Naomi was in a bad mood, Alphonse was overanalyzing just a tad. Even Sharaku’s calm attitude was starting to get a little bit flustered; the whole conversation was bringing them on edge.  Hyde wasn’t the leader, but he felt that he had to speak up at a time like this. “Hey guys! Guys! What are we doing right now? We are all just a group of friends that managed to come together through a difficult time in our lives that involves the supernatural. Even after that, we decided to stick together, ok?  So even now, while another difficult trail heads our way, lets continue to stick together. That’s how we win, because we aren’t alone.” Hyde then starts to address each one of his teammates, but he had his eyes close and his arms crossed. He was going into deep thinking, really trying his best to be a rallying cry in this meeting that was about to take a nosedive.

“Naomi, I don’t know what happened that could put you in such a bad mood. I’m that kind of guy when I sense something going on in the air, call it my intuition. When you wanted to save Sora, this wasn’t a case where we didn’t have anything to do with our lives at that point to suddenly jump into a portal to risk it all to save someone that you cared about. We did it because we cared about you, also in regards to human life in general. I wasn’t going to abandon you or leave you to do this alone, that’s horrible. It was the second time we fought together as a group, and we won.  We won as team, Alphonse pushed himself extra hard, and I carried him home after he passed out. We have that kind of solidarity with each other now, and we can count on each other now. What of instead of acting, we just waited for the situation to be changed with Sora?  Could you dare to assume the worst that could happen to him if you did absolutely nothing? Before then, the very first time we fought together, the shadow we fought was a snake. We didn’t know about your phobia, and you were vulnerable. What could of happened to you if I didn’t say anything or left you alone  like that? I don’t want to ponder the possibility of being useless, seeing you like that in such a state ever again, because you aren’t alone anymore. So please have a little faith, we can beat the invading shadow as long as we continue to work together, or anything that comes in our way. It’s only a stepping stone, so we could truly be ready to save that little girl that’s waiting for us in the alternate world.

Then, it was time  comment on Alphonse. “Alphonse, you are one of the smartest guys I know.  There are plenty of possibilities to consider, like a new one. I’m not weak to ice anymore, my persona also changed a bit slightly. Basically, I did  something for us to even the odds even more,  but it only going to work as efficiently we continue to nurture this bond that we have with everyone. It goes without saying; Sharaku isn’t the only one when it comes to the potential of things. We are fully aware of your final mode thing that you did this one time, but the backlash leaves you vulnerable. If there’s something to ponder, it’s this question. What happens after you push yourself to your maximum potential, and the fight continues to go on because the enemy decides to hold on to just a little bit of life left? Or this,  what happens if you use that mode and continue to miss every single time? It’s all probability here, and you know we can cover our bases. I might be talking out of my ass, but with that ferocity that I see inside of you whenever you mention maria and anything associated with danger comes up within a topic, there’s a lot more past that breaking point that you haven’t reached yet. What we all have right now is not our true potential, we can access much more than this,  I’m sure of it. That’s why I keep stressing the fact that we should fight the invading shadow, try out our growing strategy. Scan the enemy, expose the weakness, cripple him, and make intelligent decisions that can either insure our victory, or survival. You want that vest Alphonso? We kill that shadow, get our money, and you got that vest, making us even stronger as a unit when we go to save Luna. A little girl just like Maria, all alone, afraid, just waiting for a miracle to happen.

Then it was Sharaku, Hyde’s eyes was still closed. Maybe it’s because he was kind of speaking out of his usual character with his serious demeanor that he refused to make eye contact. If he did, maybe people wouldn’t take him seriously because they are used to him and his blunders in the past. “ You are right Sharaku, having confidence in ourselves is what we need right now. Anything should happen in battle, but that’s exactly why we should be prepared. Your current skill set involves ice, extensive attacks that cover a wide range of enemies but take a lot of your mana in the process. If anything should be in question, it’s your period of growth from our last encounters we had as a team, or maybe any personal encounters that you had without me..or someone else …I don’t know.  There might be different trials that you have to face  in order to reach that growth threshold, don’t be afraid to inform us about it. No matter how big, it’s never an inconvenience, because you are an irreplaceable comrade. “ Hyde then opens his eyes and plops a sushi in his mouth, he had his smile back with a relaxed posture.

“A strong heart gives birth to a strong soul, a strong soul is the component needed to create a miracle. We are a group full of strong hearts, with  our own hopes and dreams for the future. When something like the shadows and these dimensions threaten our future, our similar desires of protecting that future coincide and create a miracle. That’s what I believe we have here, a miracle just waiting to happen.

Strength

Spoiler:

As Hyde spoke, Naomi could feel the very last of her nerves snapping. He had the nerve to mention how things could have gone wrong if anything had changed when Yatagarasu got his Persona. Not only that, he was using it as an argument to go rushing blindly into a fight that was under a completely different set of circumstances. Before she could even think better of it, she lashed her arm out like a cobra hiding in its den in an attempt to bash Hyde right in the face. She’d bring it forward so her knuckles would land right between his eyes. Given how fast her hands were, she thought it a miracle if he could dodge. If he managed to, however, she had her other fist ready to go to make sure he got the message. She was tired, angry, and in a whole new world of annoyance. She usually liked the part of the show where the heroes riled together despite everything and got ready to go defeat whatever the big problem was. But that was a show. It was a half-hour long adventure scripted out so that the heroes would always win by the end. This was real life, where the thing at stake wasn’t just how well they could entertain an audience. They were putting their lives on the line.

She’d bring her hand back to her side and finally release all the bile that had been building up inside of her, she would speak directly to Hyde, “Yeah, we can count on each other. We can depend completely on this team made up of acquaintances with freaky powers.” She’d give the role call, “We’ve got the girl with all the maturity of a five year old, who is ready take your head and smash it so many times against the wall that your brain leaks out through your eyes. Then there is Alphonse, who’s prime directive is Maria. Let’s think about all the ways that could go wrong. How simply being in that line of work and this one will eventually butt heads. I bet you that when they do, you won’t see hide or tail of him near the battle, because he’ll be more worried about the little girl. Sharaku is, well, honestly he’s just very quiet. I don’t really have much to complain about with him other than you can never tell just what he’s thinking.” She didn’t mean to snap at the other two, but she was too blinded by rage to keep calm.

She’d take in a deep breath before she finished this, “And last, and certainly least, is you, Hyde. You act like the leader, but all you do is go on suicidal hunches. You don’t think anything through. You’re more concerned with protecting everyone under the sun and dragging everyone you can down with you. You can’t even tell your ‘team’ the important information you find out, like what the criminal is after, unless you can directly benefit from it. You want to know why I think that is? Because you have a hero complex, always needing to be the center of attention, the one who gets all the glory and fame when everything is over. As far as you’re concerned this ‘team’ is nothing more than a group you like to keep around because someone needs to see you being the ‘hero’ or it just doesn’t feel the same to you. You also don’t seem to have a bone in your body that tells you when to shut up or when to move on from a topic.” Her voice hadn’t faltered once, nor had the anger calmed, “You want to know the truth about why I didn’t go the first time? A) Because it was suicide, B) Because I had no interest in dying, C) Because I know both of those things, and D) Because I didn’t know you well enough to justify taking the offer to skin your ass right there. Well, now I know. So, if you ever go there again, I hope that Shadow has fun tearing you apart. Goodness knows, you’ve shown you deserve it and are all too eager.” She had so much more to say, but she couldn’t find the exact way to say it. She’d look at Sharaku with a glare more out of the angry-high she was still on than actual distaste for him, “By the way, that’s your answer for why I don’t want to go. Because I know that thing cold rip us to shreds.”

After saying all of that, she still didn’t feel any better. But it wasn’t because she was angry with him anymore. It was because she was now angry with herself. She had just blown up and taken it out on someone else. She let out a heavy sigh and she hit her head against the table, “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to say those things.” She just couldn’t get herself to calm down. Every time she thought she was almost there, Hyde managed to pull her back in. The guy just didn’t know when to drop an issue. He couldn’t see that everything he said only made her even angrier, especially when he played the die-hard-optimist and lectured her. She could tell this wasn’t just his fault though, part of it was how stubborn she was. She needed to explain herself when it came to the Shadow. She owed them all an explanation, “The truth is, when you first called us to go take on the Shadow in that alternate world, someone made me an offer. If I took out Hyde, the Shadow would help me and we would leave you for dead.” She hadn’t wanted to tell them, since she thought it would make them always suspicious of her, but that decision was causing problems, “Since I got that offer, I just haven’t wanted to go anywhere near that Shadow.” That was the ultimate truth. Every time she thought about that Shadow, something in her brain would tell her that they would all die. As much as she tried to keep away all the negative things in life, that wasn’t who she really was. This was just something she couldn’t push away. She would look up at Hyde with a glare, anticipating what he would say next, “And don’t give me another friendship speech. That doesn’t help. Unless you want me to punch you in the face again, which I honestly wouldn’t mind.”

Spoiler:

When Sharaku asked how the android knew about his pacing problem the android, would wait to offer his response, "I've seen in battle that you open with a very specific technique and then suddenly you stop casting it. It was obviously very powerful, so I simply guessed that you had run out of something that prevented you from casting it. Though your point about healing is quite strong, however I hope that we don't all take such a serious blow that it knocks us all down. I trust that at least one of us would be able to evade such an attack." Granted, the forms of these attacks seemed to change...suddenly. Each shadow had a different attack pattern of some sort, making it harder to predict the proper evasive maneuver to counter such attacks. These creatures were quite curious and interesting, but he was soon drawn out of his thoughts by the speech that Hyde gave.

The android would listen quietly to the speech given by his red-headed teammate, it involved various scenarios that he would consider silently while looking at Hyde. He didn't have really much to say in response, but he was going to comment on how it was a fairly good speech until Naomi snapped. The android was more than a bit flabbergasted and it showed on his face. He didn't even expect this out of Naomi of all people. Granted, who did he expect this from? Well...himself maybe...but everyone else didn't seem prone to fits of rage and anger. Naomi on the other hand didn't stop at scolding Hyde, but pointing out everyone's flaws. When she mentioned his, he couldn't deny it really. Then again it wasn't like he had much of a choice, he wished he did, but if Maria was in danger then he had to protect her. He couldn't allow that bastard he called his creator to be right with his last words.

Once her rant was over, she would apologize, which was rather odd, but she didn't mince her words one bit. Perhaps it was to show that she didn't like having to talk about issues like that at all. To be honest, it seemed quite contrary to her positive and care-free personality. However, when she mentioned an offer Sentinel would cock an eyebrow at her. "An offer? That is concerning. It means someone knows that you have power, and that you two are connected to each other. It could also mean that if we were to go and fight that shadow it could very well be a trap of some sort." And considering how she spoke, she was very well convinced that the shadow would tear the group to shreds. It wasn't as bad as her phobia to snakes, but it was bad enough to cause her to snap out at others. However, the android felt that this meeting should come to an end very soon. It was evident that Naomi and Hyde were not getting along, and Sharaku may or may not be getting irritated. It was always hard to tell what he was thinking.

The android would set his hands on the table and say in a very calm, yet somewhat more authoritative voice, "In light of this new information, I believe we should cast our vote on what we should do then take the rest of the day off to prepare or reflect on what has been said. I believe we would be better off going to rescue Lune and hopefully Rinna. Furthermore, we have more information about that situation. Furthermore, Lune and Rinna might be able to shed more on the situation due to their direct involvement. If our primary goal is discovering what is going on then that would be our best course of action. Perhaps, they could have information that would help us plan our next move better. At least, that is my proposed plan. If you agree that is the best course of action, then feel free to voice your consent, if you disagree then voice your dissent. After we cast our votes, I believe that we should disperse for the day. Take time to prepare for the next step and then proceed when we're all prepared." That was his opinion and he would look at the rest. He could see that Hyde had matured a bit, but there was still a ways to go before he could become a great leader. Thus, Sentinel decided that now was the time for the android to try and help him lead...at least a little bit. He had something to say about Naomi's outburst, but it was best not distract them with negative things just yet. That would be a good end-note, granted it might irritate the "girl with a maturity of a five year old", but he hoped to put her words in a far more postive light.

Hyde practically flew out of the chair when Naomi punched him. Usually his six sense would have told him about the immediate danger, but Naomi was Hyde’s friend. He was comfortable around her, so of course he wouldn’t expect any aggressive actions from her. All the same, later he got clocked by her fist, his head registered the pain and Hyde winced in pain a little a bit. “….” He wouldn’t say anything for a minute, simply rubbing his head and slowly picking up the chair he knocked over as Naomi continued on with her harsh speech. However, Hyde said his next words calmly, even though on that point were mixed feelings about when she put her hands on him.

“Actually, I honestly drew a blank about the dally part and I remembered off the tip of my mind. And then I do apologize about that, but I believe it’s a load of crap you are accusing me of doing anything intentional for my own benefit, that’s not the sort of guy I am and it’s obvious that you don’t know me well enough if you got to that presumption. You guys are my friends, not just some group that I’m using to rally on some glory trip for my own self. Who in the hell would want to become involved in supernatural nonsense intentionally? I didn’t sustain a persona to defend myself, and I sure as hell ran when Ueitawa flipped. I came to Azores because I desired to live peacefully, and maybe serve as many people as I can along the way and spread goodwill. That’s all I wanted, and that life was taken from me because of the same spiritual nonsense that I know if we ignore, would probably be even worse off than Ueitawa, along with all of the innocent people who looked after me when I had nothing simply dying. Dying when I have power now, and I can do something about this. It wasn’t only ueitawa for me, I raced away from something like this TWICE, and I always imagined if I held some sort of power, perhaps things would have been different; possibly I could have saved some people. This isn’t a friendship speech, I’m struggling for the lifetimes of others that can’t, and I’m fighting for my own. ”

He didn’t want to mention the contract now; it really wasn’t the time or place. “And that’s my honest opinion Naomi. Here is another one, I personally respect women, and I never put forward my hand towards them in peculiar conditions. So if hitting me really makes you feel better, feel free. But I don’t think of you as a traitor or any differently because of the message you received. Or because you hit me, because I made my mistakes too. I see that today, but I refuse to be afraid.”

When Alphonse started to draw his conclusion as to what the next course of action should be, Hyde nodded his head. “I agree, lets save the girls. Irrespective of how this meeting turned out, It was still unspoilt. We needed to vent, and we totally needed to be revealed to each of our good sides and tough sides. If we can be this open with each other and then push all of the negativity behind us, we can continue to grow. “ Before Naomi gave her own vote, Hyde would answer to Sharaku’s comment again. However, Hyde would give a smile of his own. “Considerably, you were thought about at least. As long as I don’t make it dull, perhaps we could all laugh about this sometime when this is totally over. But you are right; I suppose I throw to break myself from reaching all of these presumptions. It’s definitely something I’m doing unconsciously, so I appreciate you for indicating out my self-centeredness as to how the world actually operates. Hopefully, I could remember this coming together and refrain from doing so, and then we could totally get along better.” And then Hyde was finished talking, he looked at the sushi and frowned. “I don’t think everyone is hungry then, I actually made those for you guys. The owner taught me a how to do it, it was pretty taxing. Oh well….” Hyde then starts to pack up the sushi since no one was really eating.

She would give Alphonse the most skeptical stare in her life, “If we’re connected, I don’t know about it. That was the first time I’d heard the voice and he hasn’t said anything since. Whatever happened, it was probably a one-time thing. At least, I hope it was.” It still didn’t change the fact that going near that Shadow scared her to death. When he said that it meant that someone knew about them, her eyes would widen. She had been so afraid of that offer and the Shadow that she hadn’t even thought about it. Someone knew about them, their power, and it was a creepy disembodied voice that wanted murder. Oh, that just made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. Now she’d have to be paranoid about being watched by it for the rest of her life, “Well, that’s just wonderful. Someone who can talk to people through their heads knows that we’re here and he has something against Hyde.” Sharaku and Alphonse hadn’t been part of the deal. She wondered what made Hyde so special, or if it really had anything to do with him specifically. From the sound of it, Alphonse and Shraku hadn’t heard the voice, meaning it was only her. If the person really wanted Hyde, wouldn’t it have given all three of them the offer? She was also sure it had nothing to do with her in particular, because she hadn’t heard it since. What exactly was that voice’s goal? She wondered about it until she realized she was getting severely off track and pushed it aside. She would come back to it later, when this conversation wasn’t going on.

Naomi would turn her head away as Sharaku spoke. Yes, she had been fully aware that everything she said was a contradiction. She was so used to staying in her house, away from other people, that she couldn’t even tell when she was being a hypocrite. It’s not like she needed to until now. Why was it easier to talk to people online than in real life? Then again, the pressure to use these powers and get used to them wasn’t helping. Then there was the fact that it felt like they didn’t have a choice but to go save everyone that was in even the slightest bit of trouble. All of this was just something she wasn’t ready for. Actually, if she could go back to the days where she did nothing but sit in front of her computer all day, she probably would. He was right though. She didn’t try to get to know any of them. She was only there when she was needed. Although, in her defense, she was also spending some of her time looking around the other worlds. Those doors had appeared and they were now a part of their reality. She was going to learn that new reality and find out how to live with it before it overpowered her. She did want to show them what she found someday, but she wasn’t exactly going to drag them into the place before knowing they would be safe going in more than one person at a time. At least she was getting to know people there so that she wouldn’t be completely lost. How much were they getting done? While they were at it, none of them had been trying to get to know her either. That wasn’t a one-way street. She would say that though. It shouldn’t be just their job to get to know her. It was all of their jobs to learn about each other. They really needed to be a team.

Then, there was Hyde, giving another speech. He would never understand both how badly she wanted to punch him again and how much she felt like apologizing for it at the same time. Yes, he drove her crazy and pushed all of her buttons without knowing when to shut up, and he never seemed to understand what he did wrong in the eyes of other people, and she was still positive that he was a complete and total idiot who rushed into suicidal missions without thinking, but she didn’t really hate him. He annoyed the crap out of her, especially when he messed up like with the “Dally” girl clue, but that didn’t mean she wanted to murder him. Maybe beat him to a bloody pulp, but not murder. In fact, half the reason he annoyed her was that stupid, blind optimism he seemed to have. That idea that everything would be alright, and that if you just rushed into a situation without thinking you would still end up on top. That impossible situation where you could always win, no matter what happened. Naomi wanted to constantly deck him for it. Not because she hated it, but because it reminded her of who she wanted to be. Who she was always pretending to be. Someone who was always happy and could make the room smile by telling them that everything would be alright. She wanted to be like that. Always looking on the bright side instead of having all the negative thoughts curled up in the back of her mind. Being near him reminded her of what she wasn’t, no matter how much she pretended to be. Okay, she would still like the ability to think things through and not be a complete idiot, but the optimism wouldn’t be bad to have. She’d raise an eyebrow at Hyde, “So you’re giving me permission to punch you again?” She would reach across the table one more time, but instead of punching him, she would flick him in the forehead. One punch to the face was enough for today, “Next time, tell us all of the things you learn, or I will kick you much lower than I punched. I’ll try to do the same. Deal?” Between Sharaku telling her how she was also in the wrong, and Hyde inexplicability forgiving her for what she did, she could at least try to calm down. Besides, most of her arguments where fallacies anyway.

This team was still new and each of them had their own ideas about what should be done next. Fights were inevitable between the four of them. As much as she didn’t like fighting as a rule, she accepted it. She did feel like they needed to find Lune and Rinna though. Those two were normal girls caught up in a supernatural situation and she had no idea what would happen if they left them all alone for too long, “If we each come prepared to find Lune, we could make it out of there just fine. Although, it could be hard. We really do need be ready for anything. Each of us should have a quick escape, but other than that I have no idea.” She wasn’t even sure how much each of them was carrying. It was possible that they really did have nothing. If that was the case, did they really have to take on that one Shadow so they could get ready to fight the thing watching over Lune? That thought terrified her. They would have to do it eventually anyway. She just wished they had more time to learn about what kind of power they really had. If she kept putting it off though, they wouldn’t get anywhere. She’d look at each of them in turn before opening her mouth, “Both of them are probably dangerous, so… I mean… We should probably be sure we’re ready before we even think about going.” She couldn’t bring herself to say yes, but she also couldn’t say no. She had to trust her team, despite her fear about that voice. That was the only way anything would get done on her end.

"We'll deal with whoever that person is when the times come. While that voice's knowledge is of some concern, we need to handle the bridges we have before us. If that voice becomes a problem or is part of the problem then we'll deal with it as well. However, one step at a time for now." Sentinel would say to Naomi trying to get her to relax about the voice and that situation. Granted, if this voice know that much about Hyde and Naomi it was fairly safe to assume that he knew Sentinel's weakness. It wouldn't surprise him, if the voice tried to use Maria to his advantage...well he'd just have to double his nightly patrols and security protocols. If someone wanted to get their hands on Maria, Sentinel would catch them and break them...permanently.

Things continued to escalate as Sharaku decided it was his turn to speak up. Sentinel was surprised he found it all hilarious, what a strange sense of humor. However, Sharaku unleashed his own opinion upon the entire group, which Sentinel would listen intently to get the darker skinned man's opinion. At last, the darker skinned man would criticize his choice to push a vote, his criticism was valid. "I didn't believe that voting would solve any of it, I was trying to contain the problem before it got worse. Though perhaps, it is better that we get it all out at once. I believe many therapists and psychologists said that releasing anxiety and tension is better than holding it in. Furthermore, I was hoping to remind everyone here what the goal of this meeting was. To take action, when we're prepared to." That was all Sentinel had to say in his mind, hopefully that didn't step on anyone else's toes so they could move on with the meeting.

Hyde came forward with another reason mention Ueitawa, a place that Sentinel fled from as well. He had no intentions of mentioning he was from there. It was irrelevant for the most part, but it was clear that Hyde was fighting for others. Naomi seemed to calm down and agreed about pursuing the taken girls, but noted the danger. "Well we have these." He would say reaching in his pocket and revealing his traseto gem, "When I was browsing the shop in the Velvet Room I inquired about it. Evidently it can teleport us quickly and safely out of the alternate worlds. So we have our escape in case we get into a pinch. Also, that is what we agreed on. Get ready, as best as we can, then take action and save those girls." At least that is what Sentinel believed they agreed to do. After a few moments of pause he would glance around the table looking at his teammates, "I believe that settles the main business of this meeting? We have our plan and have agreed upon our action? Shall we disperse and begin our preparations?"

“Deal! And make sure you keep your promises, because I keep mine!” Hyde gave  Naomi an earnest smile as he agreed to naomi’s request.  He then continued to pack his sushi up but something else happened. “Huh” Hyde was pretty surprised when Sharaku hopped out of his chair to grab a sushi. “You know, you changed quite a bit. You are a bit more uppity than you used to be. I wonder if you would agree to that rock climbing trip that I wanted to have now. “ Hyde would say with a small laugh  as he  packed out the rest of the sushi. It was a good gesture, but Hyde didn’t want to force anyone to eat if they wasn’t hungry, that’s not something he was too fond of. Besides, Hyde was no stranger to tummy aches.” As a matter of fact, that traesto gem thing. I have one too , I also have some beads that could basically heal any injury done by shadows fully.  And this weird card that gives me a strange feeling that il get stronger if I crush it. But I’m a bit skeptical about using it, I guess we would just have to wait and see. “ Hyde would say nonchalantly as he takes the packed sushi and puts it in his book bag, it would be a midnight snack or something when he gets home.

“I have to do some shopping of my own, if I can find anything that I would want to have, or something that would be useful to have. Besides that,  I’ll be heading to the police  to try to see if I can get one of them on our side. At least one that would believe this crazy story you know. Don’t worry, I met this guy before, and he seemed like a cool fellow.  I won’t use any names besides my own, if this man can humor me at least, we could at least  put the police on the right track if they have the wrong name. That could  maybe put the pressure on the criminal in the real world and perhaps divert attention from the girls for a little bit. Hiding in plain sight  was probably the beauty of it when he used his power to  mess up Rinna’s head like that, now it won’t be so easy. “

Alphonse was right. They could worry about that voice later. For now, it wasn’t causing a problem and they had other things to be concerned with. Things that were much more worrisome than the voice. Still, the idea of rushing into a situation like this made her feel a little sick in her stomach. She never would have guessed that she would ever be having this conversation about going to an alternate world to help save a girl from a strange criminal. She seriously had to reconsider her life. At this point, she should just make business cards and start handing them out to people on the street. Heavens knew she would at least sound the part of a lunatic that way, “Well, I don’t have much. Just one of those gems and five little things that will sort of heal us. But you guys have that covered without me.” It seemed they all had healing skills except her.

She would almost shutter when Sharaku got that happy look on his face. She was not used to it at all. He gave little smiles or grins, but nothing that pronounced. Had she entered the Twilight Zone? She’d clear her throat before answering him, “I suppose we are. Not much else, unless someone has anything else to add.” She hoped they were done. She still had things to do today, and every minute she spent here was another minute closer to running out of time

Naomi would give Hyde a stare, daring him to accuse her of just about anything, “I’ve never broken a promise my entire life. Well, except for that one, but I needed to break that one.” There were extenuating circumstances that time, so it didn’t count. Her stare would change to one the questioned Hyde’s entire reason for existence when he said he was going to the police, “Are you crazy? What are they going to do? They can’t go into alternate worlds. All you’re going to do is make them think you need psychiatric help. Don’t do it.” She would groan through her teeth. Knowing Hyde, he would do it anyway. This was so not helpful. She had to wonder why he thoughts it was a good idea to tell the cops. Scratch that, she wondered why he thought it was a good idea to tell anyone.