You are Senjou Azami, age 18. Presently, a resident at Takamichi Group Home and attending therapy with eight other girls. Those girls are rather unique and special. They are former victims of the Arkadian Kingdom, their Heart Crystal corrupted for nefarious reasons. Each had done terrible things under the influence of corruption, and then became purified and freed by the Pretty Star Warriors. Each of them has their own unique magical powers, just like you.'Police Girl' Shinoda Takeo'Queen Bee' Morita Aoi'Mommy Issues' Shinohara Ren'Normie Teen' Nagato Mari'Romance Nerd' Shibusawa Yuki'Street Kid' Takeoka Rui'Fantasy Lover' Ito Akira'Sport Jock' Ichijou SayakaNow, you're working with them because a simple mission from the godmother has turned into something very complicated. The original mission was moving Kiyotaka Chie and her son Asato away from her abusive husband, Kiyotaka Hisato. It has morphed into something supernatural.The three former yakuza members of the Sumi gang; Kiyotaka Hisato, Maeda Sekine and Kimura Toshimichi, had gone into business selling drugs. Disappointing but unsurprising. They also made some sort of deal with the Arkadian Kingdom to access their magic. Given what happened to the Sumi gang when Lady Hathor of love and madness dominated the crew, such a deal is short sighted and risky. The goals of the Arkadian Kingdom are inimical to the long-term health of normal Japanese, let alone impoverished ex-yakuza.The worst thing about it?Betrayal. They are betraying each other. Brother is murdering brother.You do not know why. You hope it's because the Arkadian Kingdom is poisoning them with corruption and manipulating them. Yet, the betrayal could be a choice made freely. They chose treachery.The magical tools they've gotten from the Arkadian Kingdom has partially corrupted the Heart crystal of Kiyotaka Chie. All because Kiyotaka Hisato was craven and stupid enough to use Arkadian magic on his own wife to avoid arguments about his drug dealing and addiction to meth.What sort of man and husband would do that? What men of honor would cut a deal foreigners and betray their brothers? If the godfather was alive, he'd demand a pinky finger from each of these traitorous kobun underlings before expelling them from the family.Total 50+61+3 = 114. Rounded up. 12,000 yen received.
>>6403866'Street Kid' Takeoka Rui interrupts your thoughts and silently slides some bills into your pocket. She's been camping out in your shadow this entire time, you are barely able to perceive her from the corner of your eye. It's hard not to whip your head around and try to face her, even knowing it's impossible. Her shadow magic allows her to remain hidden but what about offense?The question is important because you are now close enough to the corrupted Chie to hear her music and feel her Disquiet directly. She plays another tune, a soulful and sad classical piece. Her audience's reaction conflicts with the mood, the yakuza hoodlum enthusiastically cheering and clapping without pause looks almost dead with exhaustion. Stream of sweat pour down his face, skin red with exertion and his cheap suit clings to his body wetly.How should you handle this situation? You could just drop the invisibility magic granted by the Fool's Bracer and start talking to Chie. She should still be sane enough to reason with as her Heart Crystal is only a quarter corrupted. If you do though, what will the bewitched man do? You linger behind a toppled over table and ponder."What's the plan?" Your partner in crime asks as she finally decides to step out of your shadow. Now she's fully visible. Her dark eyes are focused on checking out the corner of the bar where the pianist plays."Still deciding. We could just wait a bit longer and let her tire out that guy even more but if he drops dead from exhaustion, it'll be a bigger mess." Your eyes rove around to look for the remains of Yamaguchi Hiro. The punk who kicked this off by kidnapping Chie and apparently got himself killed by her. You can't smell blood nor see any gore, yet one of his lackey described him as a 'smear of flesh'. Suddenly you feel the panicked hand of Takeoka Rui painfully gripping your shoulder as she guides your vision to the ground under the pianist's feet.A smear of flesh? You would describe it as a 'carpet of flesh, hair and clothing'. Stretched out flat as a taut piece of leather is the pulsating and quivering skin of what you think was a human being. Eyes, nose, ears and mouth distorted by the stretching occasionally twitches senselessly. There's a mop of dyed blond hair scattered over the tanned skin like little islands. The purple and white suit are nothing but strips that are swashed in random areas and woven directly into the skin.You stop looking and feel sick. During the brief pauses of the piano music and hectic applause, you could swear you heard deranged moans and insane chatter from the flesh carpet. 'Street Kid' dry heaves besides your side and tries to remain calm.Death would be far more preferable to whatever the corrupted Kiyotaka Chie had done to her kidnapper.
>>6403867"We need to get the Pretty Star Warriors here and purify the crazy woman. I don't want to get too close and end up like that." The former homeless kid runs a hand through her short black hair and tries to calm down after what she had seen. Her voice sounds even quieter than usual, even the music feels more muted.Your livestream chat exploded with activity the last few moments.Reality: GET OUT OF THERE!Truthspeaker: how is he not deadUniversity. Upped Silence around Bar Kismet. cancelled on hallway.HQ: The sooner we can get PSW here, the better.Games: I am coming upstairs now.Warrior: Stop we don't have a plan. Saltfish: I got some drawings ready. Well, the girls know the stakes and risks. 'Police Girl' Shinoda Takeo and 'Romance Nerd' Shibusawa Yuki are covering stairwell A.'Normie Teen' Nagato Mari and 'Fantasy Lover' Ito Akira are covering stairwell B.'Queen bee' Morita Aoi and 'Mommy Issues' Shinohara Ren are outside the building somewhere.'Sport Jock' Ichijou Sayaka on standby in the ground floor lobby. You need to suggest an idea...>Retreat to clean up the two yakuza underlings out in the hallway, ask for backup to assist and Silence to return to hallway. Whittle down numbers first... (combat run with Sport Jock)>Try to get rid of bewitched underling cheering first, either lure him away or knock him out without Chie noticing... (stealth run with Street Kid)>Ask for a distraction, ask the two teams by the stairwells to attract attention... (Feint run with outside team)>Stand up and draw attention, start negotiating right away! Chie is sure to recognize you... (Negotiation run, directly talk to target)>Exit the bar, go back downstairs. You should try to attract the attention of the Pretty Star Warriors somehow... (Purification run, figure out how to attract their attention)>write in
>>6403869>Stand up and draw attention, start negotiating right away! Chie is sure to recognize you... (Negotiation run, directly talk to target)
>>6403886Is this safe? Do we know enough to be able to get through to her even with the Disquiet on? Maybe telling her about Asato and how we kept him safe and he's waiting for her could break through.>You could just drop the invisibility magic granted by the Fool's Bracer and start talking to Chie. She should still be sane enough to reason with as her Heart Crystal is only a quarter corrupted. If you do though, what will the bewitched man do?But then again>the yakuza hoodlum enthusiastically cheering and clapping without pause looks almost dead with exhaustion. Stream of sweat pour down his face, skin red with exertion and his cheap suit clings to his body wetly.Maybe he's too far gone in this state to do much of anything. On the other hand, Yamaguchi Hiro is a flesh carpet on the fucking floor, and the fact that Chie reduced him to that state but didn't harm the other gangsters as much as him says it all regarding her valid antipathy towards him. I don't think there's a real risk here of these incapacitated gangsters doing anything; the only danger I can imagine besides corrupted Chie herself is the Toyo Group randomly showing up and if they do we're capital F FUCKED.>Chie is sure to recognize youWill she? I don't recall, but does she know about our Senjou Azami already? And do you think us calling the godmother's bar to put Asato on the phone for her mom is a wise move? It will be powerful in affecting Chie, but what if the godmother catches on and she instantly knows Azami broke the fucking rules to this extent?
>>6403869>Ask for a distraction, ask the two teams by the stairwells to attract attention... (Feint run with outside team)>>6403895Chie knows Azami. Godmother would probably catch on instantly, I think the point of no return has been passed of breaking the rules. Phone idea is interesting.
>>6403989Then do you think we have enough to be able to reach out to her? I get the feeling hearing Asato on the phone and talking to him might be the clincher to get her to stand down. The problem is building up to that while keeping her attention without making her turn us into a flesh carpet. I hope returning with Chie safe and sound will make up for breaking the rules. I fear the godmother's potential wrath, but surely it won't come to that.What's your reasoning for voting distraction? Got an angle for tackling this situation?
>>6403869Fuck it, we need to have faith and believe in the power of the heart, or whatever>Stand up and draw attention, start negotiating right away! Chie is sure to recognize you... (Negotiation run, directly talk to target)Use Asato on the phone as the key piece in snapping her out of it and reminding Chie of what really matters.
>>6404048Yes, reaching out can work. Clearing the room of the audience means a performer doesn’t have to perform. One on one. Azami may step in and say it’s time to go home or have the phone play. Just sleeper holding Chie while invisible is an option as well. It is also just bad to have non-magical people in the presence of someone who can turn them into carpets. I’m assuming the unnatural toughness also affords some magic resistance.
You currently have plausible deniability due to your invisibility power. Once you drop it, Chie is sure to recognize you and thank the godmother for sending Azami in.Also, you'll be seen by the victimized gangsters. They'll be sure to mention your presence to other Toyo Group members. You still aren't sure if Yamaguchi has backing from his higher ups regarding Chie or not.Right now the two gangsters outside with the girls don't know you're here.
>>6404089>you'll be seen by the victimized gangsters. They'll be sure to mention your presence to other Toyo Group members.Oh fuck>>6403886>>6403989>>6404061How likely they'll ALL snap out of it the moment Chie stops playing or is moved away from the piano? If we go combat run first, we lose time we could have spent rescuing Chie and the longer she plays her piano the worse it'll get here. But if we don't KO all 3 gangsters then they'll be a danger to us and Chie on the way out.>you could swear you heard deranged moans and insane chatter from the flesh carpet.Scumbag Yamaguchi is still conscious>the ground under the pianist's feetAnd he's right there at Chie's feet and his eyes/ears still work. We cannot recover Chie without him noticing and knowingWe might still be fucked. Toyo Group is not going to be happy we're spiriting away one of their ladies... but ultimately she can always come back once things get safer for her and Asato, no? And she'll be alive... which is better than the state Yamaguchi and these gangsters are in. What I'm wondering is what will Toyo Group take offense to the most. Is it us taking Chie away, or Yamaguchi fucking up and causing all this shit to happen?I think the play here with Toyo Group is we still rescue Chie, and then because Chie's corruption is specifically due to Hisato's use of AK magic and the drug sellers clusterfucking each other in addition to Yamaguchi going after her as a result, we throw both Yamaguchi and Hisato under the bus and pin all the blame on AK. Could Toyo Group instead decide to cut off the middlemen directly and try to work with AK theselves? Maybe. Could they turn on Chie for reducing Yamaguchi to a flesh carpet whether she's one of their best ladies or not? Or will they instead shit on Yamaguchi for bringing this all on himself and shaming the Toyo Group, and acknowledge we were protecting their asset and let this ordeal slide? If we go the distance and have Chie purified, that works in our favor mollifying Toyo Group to boot>You're ninety percent sure that the punk who grabbed Chie is doing it without permission and knowledge from the Toyo Group. Of course, you have a ten percent possibility of being wrong. Oh well, that's the criminal life for you. You can't play safe and hope for a guaranteed hundred percent outcome all the time.After all this thinking, I've decided to stand by my vote in >>6404049. This feels like overthinking at this point. We just gotta do what's right
>>6404089>Scumbag Yamaguchi is still conscious>And he's right there at Chie's feet and his eyes/ears still work. We cannot recover Chie without him noticing and knowingAnon, the guy is a carpet, his ability to notice and know is consumed by the pain of being being a carpet.
>>6404191CHECK IT OUT, I'M IN THE HOUSE LIKE CARPETThen yeah okay, let's just drop invis and talk Chie to her senses and get the fuck out of here
>>6403869>Retreat to clean up the two yakuza underlings out in the hallway, ask for backup to assist and Silence to return to hallway. Whittle down numbers first... (combat run with Sport Jock)I thought the thugs were too fucked up to register anything besides going unga on it
>>6404469eh fuck it I switchThey are too fucked up to register>Try to get rid of bewitched underling cheering first, either lure him away or knock him out without Chie noticing... (stealth run with Street Kid)
>>6403989I switch too,>Try to get rid of bewitched underling cheering first, either lure him away or knock him out without Chie noticing... (stealth run with Street Kid)They're weak and dehydrated. Slam a chair into him
We are all over the place with the votes.2 for negotiation2 for stealthNegotiation means you'll auto get in trouble with the godmother and Toyo group knows of your involvement. It also resolves the issue much more quickly since you don't screw around.Stealth means you'll try to maintain plausible deniability while you can and is slightly harder.
>>6404647I will vote to break the tie.>>6403869>Try to get rid of bewitched underling cheering first, either lure him away or knock him out without Chie noticing... (stealth run with Street Kid)
Right stealth time!
>>6404685>>6404706I am OK with this outcome. Here's hoping it doesn't fuck us over
