Chapter Text
Naoya is expecting confusion and possibly slight excitement when he gives Yuzu the COMPs. Instead, she looks at him, looks around, decides the coast is clear enough and then decks him in the face. And then kicks him in the nuts when he doubles over. She flips him off for good measure and then books it towards Kayuza and Atsuro.
He can vaguely hear his brother-cousin and his student cheer when Yuzu reaches them. They seem intimately familiar with the device, their hands flying over the controls. Atsuro already has his laptop out, plugging his COMP into it.
Well, as strange as that was, it was not nearly as strange as what was coming. Naoya slinks back into the crowd, still cradling his injured face.
(Naoya considers committing violence.)
Keisuke is… puzzled. Very puzzled. Atsuro and his friends’ numbers are very low, but they seem calm — joking, even. Atsuro waves when he sees him, and the girl in impractical shoes and the boy with cat headphone wires wave as well, their faces breaking into grins.
Blue hair with red pants is Kayuza and heels with no ankle support is Yuzu, and they’re very insistent that he joins their party. Too insistent, and somehow, not caring if he joins or not at all at the same time.
They show him a list, as if it means anything to him. It reads: Keisuke, Midori, clothes shopping, manual charger, PANCAKES, mistletoe (and in smaller writing next to it; “I refuse to call it devil’s fuge, fuck you”), Miss Mari, Krusnik, Haru, Amane, punch Amane’s dad, Kaido, Gin, Honda, Izuna, Shoji, Naoya if he decides not to suck, HOTEL ROOMS, restore local power, Black Frost and finally, Ramen Guy.
Who the hell is Ramen Guy. Why doesn’t he get a name. Why are they worried about transparent ice in the middle of summer. What’s a devil’s fuge and is it mistletoe. What the fuck is going on. He joins the group anyway.
(When he (re)joins the group, and thus the loop, he lightly hits Kayuza on the head. Intentionally making things confusing is rude, even if it was pretty funny. Yuzu laughs at Atsuro’s evasive trying-to-not-get-bonked maneuvers, although that doesn’t save her from the inevitable gentle chop to the scalp. He gets bonked anyway.)
Atsuro’s done with the Macca-Yen exchange program by lunchtime. They’re in an outdoor food court, eating cold pasta (this time; they’ll try the bakery’s sandwiches next go-around) and people watching. Most people are just bewildered, although even now there’s whispers of monsters.
The pasta is alright. The people are alright. The making of bank, however, is fucking awesome. They’ll have to go to an ATM soon and withdraw some cash, but Yuzu has enough money on her to cover the meal. Kayuza is staring down a pigeon, which either means he’s thinking about the domestication and abandonment of pigeons and is about to cry, or he’s dissociating again.
Atsuro wonders if he’ll get a call from the bank or his parents about the… roughly 127,036 extra yen in his account. Eh, he’ll figure it out. He’ll say the Shomonkai gave it to him or something.
(Amane will probably scoff at that. They spent all their money on the altars and the COMPs, and she frequently ate people’s leftovers. God he hates her dad. They all hate her dad.)
They manage to acquire a ground-floor hotel room (with SHOWERS!) that don’t use electronic locks. It’s almost 3pm, which means it’s almost time to hunt for crank-powered chargers and save Naoya’s neighbor from getting mauled. They stay in one room; safer, cheaper, easier to escape from in case of emergency.
There’s two beds, and a slightly uncomfortable plush chair. Keisuke has always preferred sleeping alone, and Kayuza and Atsuro always share a bed with her anyway. They tried sleeping in separate beds once, got very cold and very scared, and decided to not sleep apart again.
She’s folded herself into the chair when Kayuza comes back from lockpicking the supply closet for the large towels and the spare first aid kit. The store they get clothes from won’t be easily raided until tomorrow (they are Not paying 18,000 yen for one coat), so they settle for nicking some strawberries and getting to work.
(They heard of this hotel last cycle and… yeah, it’s definitely a small place. Unfortunately last time someone had completely Agidyne’d the building, for some reason. They had those little cereal boxes! Who doesn’t love those little cereal boxes!)
They save the poor Shomonkai follower that night, thoroughly ignore Amane’s warning to stay in the cemetery, and wander into the nearby woods to search for mistletoe. It’s not scary anymore, their nerves steeled already from previous loops.
They fight together like a dance, or like a machine, but mostly like souls who have been intertwined for an eternity.
They sleep in the dirt for old times’ sake.
(They’ve done so every time.)