[center][h2]Tachibana Masaru[/h2][h3]Branch-092 — Training Facility[/h3][/center]

With his arrow landing squarely between the joints of the stone statue, Masaru was more than ready to expect the follow-up to provoke [i]some[/i] sort of reaction. When the choice of reaction was for the simulated monster to simply turtle up and let the next few arrows bounce harmlessly off it's shell, the archer quickly took a few steps backwards and aimed right at where one of the seams of the statue-turned shell was.

When the entire [i]upper body[/i] of the statue spun around in an attempt to clothesline him, though, Masaru had a scant few seconds to react; the only thing he [i]could[/i] do in that situation was to fall to the ground and narrowly avoiding being caught by the blow. With a slight wince as his body hit the simulated paved stone floor, the young man rolled to the side and readied his bow for another shot———

Only for the simulation to suddenly cut off and for the world around them to dissolve back into the same blank white slate it usually was. All of the tension that was beginning to build up in his body as the fight was about to go somewhere serious disappeared in the blink of an eye, and Masaru couldn't help but let out a small sigh of disappointment. This was the first time he had been interrupted in the middle of a hunt like that, which [i]did[/i] bother him, granted...

But if the two of them (among others) were being called for a briefing, there was a real possibility that something was afoot. Given that the reason he had joined wasn't to loiter around (for the most part), Masaru hoped that whatever everyone was being pulled for wasn't anything too mired in administrative red tape.

Though the sound of broken steel did pull a bit of his attention (as did the broken blade bouncing on the floor on impact), the Agent chose to not acknowledge that part of the situation and instead sheathed his bow as he followed after Zhao towards the briefing room.

Throughout the briefing, Masaru had stood by in silence with the others as the higher-ups went over the operation at hand. While he was left feeling rather concerned about how many people were being sent in for a single mission (especially considering the relative scale) and the possibility that there was something being left unsaid about the Anomany they were slated to hunt down, the Agent simply stayed quiet and chose not to question the situation. Hopefully the sheer number of Agents (and the presence of a cooperative Anomaly on the team) would mean that everything would be resolved simply enough.

Key word being "hopefully", of course. At least this was a planned mission and not some spontaneous emergency breaking out.

[hr][center][h3]Nagano Prefecture — Abandoned Mansion[/h3][/center]
The fact that Agent Yakumo's abilities could transport them over such large distances in the blink of an eye was terribly convenient, as it meant that he (and everyone else) didn't have to suffer through an hours-long ride through the highways of Japan with nothing but anticipation and tension choking the atmosphere in the back of some unmarked vehicle. A step through brought them from the carefully cleaned and regulated facility to the overgrown and dilapidated ruins of a once-grand mansion, and Masaru—assigned to the flanking team as he was—simply tried to get into his usual streaming-style mindset. Even if the problem ahead was likely responsible for more than just those few civilian deaths, staying hyper-anxious about the situation would only likely leave him too high-strung to function properly.

In other words? If it was banter they wanted, banter they would get.

After taking the charm from Ah-ryeon and slipping it into his pocket, Masaru increased his pace to catch up with the others as he unsheathed and held his bow to the side with his left hand.

"I'm not super keen on horror movies, but there are a few games I've played that fit the bill well enough," he added, raising an eyebrow at Zhao's own hopes before shrugging his shoulders. "If we're talking battlefields, though, uh... Kawanakajima, I think? Been a hot minute since I've stared at history stuff, but that stuff's famous enough for that to stick in my brain."

With that, though, Masaru pulled an arrow out of the quiver on his back and held it at the ready.

"In any case, I'm ready whenever you two are. Lead the way."

[@Psyker Landshark][@Raineh Daze]