[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/zhp2XL5.png[/img]

[color=firebrick][b]"Nobody panic. I'm used to this."[/b][/color][/center]

[color=firebrick][b]"The verdict can wait."[/b][/color] Evil Eye's admonition was short and not very heartfelt. She wanted to say something about the fact that she and Roche were the gatekeepers of Club membership, but decided she would rather not feed into the negative spiral Michi was creating. She seemed to feel many things, pulling her in different directions, but none of those feelings amounted to any action. She wanted to protect the Club. She wanted Michi to feel terror even if provoking her wasn't the smartest thing to do. She wanted to feel that her presence here was in any way justified, that she wasn't the reason everything was falling apart. She wanted to do something, [i]anything[/i] useful.

When Tsubomi disappeared, all at once, Evil Eye's desires were silenced. The tears that had been unwillingly wiped away stopped coming, as if they had never represented her real feelings in the first place. The river of her turbulent emotions turned slow, like a rushing river rapid had become a creek of molasses. It clouded with a sediment of apathy—her desires became lost in the midst of it, like a crocodile's tears in a bayou full of filth. Only one thought made its way into her barren consciousness. [color=firebrick][b][i]Just do your fucking job.[/i][/b][/color]

She pulled out her cell phone and called Rei. The sun hadn't even set before Kiyo had added her to speed dial after Tsubomi had nearly been kidnapped. In some ways, it felt as if that day had never ended. It probably wouldn't matter, anyway. If she tried to flee, she would probably just find her way back to where Black Gate wanted her to be, to see whatever show she wanted to put on. If this wasn't a dream, and she could really call someone, would she be able to hear their voice? Still, though she felt as if nothing she could do would help, her checklist of contingencies remained, and needed to be marked off. Mechanically, she occupied the now-empty seat in front of her and held the speaker to her ear. She moved as if whatever had just happened inside her psyche wasn't unusual in the least.