[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/b4mXgO7.png[/img]
[color=#008b45][H2]ASAHI GOROSHI[/H2][/color][/center]


Asahi was pleasantly surprised to see so many people in his room. His family coming by to wish him well was one thing, as well as the boys who hung out with him because of his family. Yoshino and Yuuno were very nice. But to see the rest of his boys like Shiro, Kosuke, and a whole bunch of others. They mostly seemed like Shiro’s friends really, but Asahi would take everyone he could get. There was a lot of work to do, and this gut shot wasn’t going to stop him.


[color=008b45]”I’m glad you’re all here. That ought to save me time from explaining it every time. I’ll start from the beginning…”[/color]


[center]Some time later[/center]


Asahi was hard at working getting ready for the festival. He was discharged from the hospital two days after the initial visit, but even from his hospital bed he made sure to drill the others about the routine. There was going to be at least three performances, each about ten minutes long, with a three minute break between each performance. In all, roughly about 40 minutes. And in those forty minutes Asahi needed to awe the crowd. The first preformance mainly involved the Ebony Strykers, specifcally Asahi and his personal crew. It was a dance routine, relying solely on their skills and some gadgetry. The next performance was a collaboration between the Ebony Strykers and Cobalt Bruisers, with a song and dance number. Asahi of course will still be participating in it, but in this performance the Ebony Strykers would take a supportive role and let the Cobalt Bruisers take center stage. The last performance Asahi was most nervous about, because he had to work with Retsu for it. Again, it was another concert of sorts, but with Retsu providing “Special Effects”. She kept the information deliberately vague aside that she’ll be using some DGO avatars for the performance, and that Yoshino would be using her avatar to get involved. Asahi did his best to do everything he could for the third act, but this was down to whoever Retsu had selected.


At the festival, Asahi was at the Ebony Stryker’s room getting ready. He wouldn’t be in costume just yet, as he was the unoffical spokesperson for the Ebony Strykers. While Yoshino was Moon Rider’s mouth piece, she had her own hands full with simply running the festival, and could spare very little time for the guild. Indeed, as Asahi was getting his paperwork together it dawned on him that without Moon Rider’s direct leadership, with Yoshino not directly involving herself in the affairs of the Ebony Strykers in real life, Asahi has taken up the mantle of leadership, at least in appearances. He was now their “face”, and that’s not even mentioning his loyalties to the Sweepers. But that was just the thing: this was Asahi’s only real chance to change things. Without the Sweepers appointing a real leader (as far as he knows) and Moon Rider reclusiveness, the Ebony Stryker needs a figurehead to guide them, or at least direct them. And Asahi had become that person.


It was still a lot to take in. On one hand Asahi wanted this; he wanted to be the big man that everyone looked towards. But he also felt nervous and uncertain, not sure what to do with this new found power. Aside from make the best use of it of course. The performance wasn’t until sometime later anyways, so Asahi would be busy with other businesses he had here at the festival.


Indeed, while Asahi was mostly concerned about the concert, that didn’t mean he couldn’t spare some time and money for other events too. Namely, food stands. The Ivory Masks ran their maid cafe which no doubt many people would flock towards to try their sweets and such. However Asahi had his own plans to undermine their operations: no one would go and eat there if they’re already full. Using his connection with the Sweepers and coordinating with various Ebony Strykers not directly involved with the concert, Asahi arranged for various other food stands in the festival to serve the best quality festival snacks they could at affordable prices, with the intent of undercutting the Maid Cafe prices. Sure they might not have the same pompous atmosphere as a maid cafe, they they had good food and cute girls, which was essentially the same thing. Not to mention that each stall had it’s own theme instead of just maid, such as traditional tea shops, cosplay, foreign, and whatever other theme the individual stall owner decided. Asahi simply funded them with good food and equipment to do their jobs.


And of course there was still Deep Ground to worry about. While Asahi hasn’t gotten any reports yet, he was almost certain that some would use this opportunity to attempt to sow chaos in DGO. The tensions between the Ebony Stryker loyalists and Sweepers were still there, being held in check only by this festival. Indeed, this festival meant more to the Ebony Strykers than just getting a hint for the Red Guild’s treasure. It was suppose to help unify the two factions within the Strykers into a partnership. Asahi may not know who leads the Sweepers, and he barely knows Moon Rider, but for all intents and purposes Asahi was suppose to represent their unity. All the more reason he was nervous and needs to clean up his act.


Getting the paperwork done Asahi looked to the others. They were either chatting, trying on their outfits, or practicing their routine. Surely they were nervous too. Many would be performing for their first time. None of them had done anything like this for the Ebony Strykers, that’s for certain. Asahi had to look confident for them though, so he clapped their hands to get their attention. [color=008b45]”Okay everyone! It’s been a pretty hectic week for us. We’ve done a lot of training, and lot of prep work, not to mention all of that plus our personal obligations. I’ll try not to go on a tangent and get to the point: This is our debut. Yeah sure, if we win this competition we get the a hint to the Red Guild’s treasure and then we can try to grab that. But what we’re about to do is more than that. We’re doing this as ourselves, to show the world what the Ebony Strykers are capable of. Too many think that we’re just a ragtag group of misfits and assholes. They think that just because we had one fight with the Sweepers in our guild, that we’re going to fall apart. But those people are dumbass motherfuckers who don’t realize what it really means to be the Black Guild. We’re not just outlaws, or sweepers, normal folk or fucked up in the head. We’re the Ebony Strykers, and toughest, coolest, and the best DGO’s got to offer. Now let’s get out there and show them what we can do!”[/color]




[hr]


[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/vJxiQ6a.png[/img]
[color=#cd2626][H2]RETSU GOROSHI[/H2][/color][/center]


As Retsu was bugging the mansion she received a message from Broker of Fortune. Seemed like she found something interesting. Fortunately Retsu was actually going to bring down some dirty linens for washing anyways, so taking a basketful she headed down to the washers were Kanbaru was at. Making her way down Retsu found Kanbaru, making her footsteps just loud enough for Kanbaru to notice. [color=cd2626]”I have some linens that need to be cleaned. Is the wash available?”[/color] Retsu called out, still pretending to do some work. Once she scanned the room and ensured it was only Kanbaru there, Retsu went over to where the girl was. There she noticed that Kanbaru was looking at a book that for some reason, had a drawing of an eye in it. Retsu imagined that this was made to deter Yoshino, what with her aversion at eye contact. Was this once yoshino’s room or her book? Retsu wasn’t sure, but she had other things to deal with.


Retsu turned towards the computer. It was certainly an old one, not like the more advanced  computers used nowadays. Fortunately, Retsu was no stranger to old timey hardware, however she also knew that she lacked the time or materials to actually get into the computer. So she’ll have to settle for the next best thing. Taking some tools out from her satchels Retsu deftly opened up the computer, attaching an extra device to the motherboard. This device would allow Retsu spy on this computer, letting her observe it’s activities the next time it’s turned on. With time she could even activate it remotely. However she can’t do much right now, as their time was almost up.


Once Retsu was done and put everything back she turned to Kanbaru. [color=cd2626]”Our shift is almost done, let’s get our things and set up for the next girls.”[/color] Of course this was just Retsu’s way of saying that they have to go now. Retsu sent a message over to Kanbaru that essentially told her to leave everything back the way she found it, aside from the laundry which they need to do anyways. More maids would be coming soon while the ones that got here first are suppose to go work on another building, but Retsu and Kanbaru would be heading back to school instead. There they’ll get ready for their next plan.


[center]Sometime later[/center]


Though Retsu intended more subterfuge, she was instead asked to help Asahi. Yoshino herself asked Retsu to lend her aid to her brother, which Retsu did without question. Sure she didn’t want to and figured that his entire plan was much more complicated than it needed to be, but it ultimately didn’t negatively affect Retsu’s plan in any way. She simply intended to spy on the festival and find out who knows the hint, and then interrogate them for it. She could still do this while helping Asahi, and in fact this could give her a reasonable alibi for herself.


As for how she intended to help, Retsu intended to make use of the holographic projectors that she had shown Yoshino. They weren’t exactly easy to come by, and Retsu needed some time to instal them, but by the time the festival rolled around everything was set up. Retsu would only need to operate the holographic projectors, which she had already linked up to herself. The only thing she had to worry about was the power supply, as holograms eat up a lot of energy. She had multiple generators running at the moment and she had to make sure none of them were in any way faulty or damaged, as even just one would severely limit the functionality of the holograms. More so if they get damaged during the final act. Again, Retsu cared very little about Asahi’s entire routine, and when asked to help she intends to take over the show during the final act. What she had in mind was much cooler. All she needed was Moon Rider.


For now, there was plenty of time before the performances. She was going to have a look around the festival, enjoy the sights, maybe even have a snack or two. After all, Retsu was just a normal girl. And sometimes she liked doing normal, girly things. And her first stop would be that maid cafe she’s heard so much about...