Part 50: 08/27/09 - 08/31/09
Well, we're just a few short days away from... being back to school...
Iwatodai Dorm
Just watching him is making me sweat! Makoto-kun, can you get him outta here?
Sorry, Yuka-tan... I didn't mean to freak you out...
Here, I'll give you half! But you gotta use my chopsticks, cause I didn't bring any spares.
Why would I want any!? Anyway... This whole summer has been scorching... I can't concentrate on my homework With this heat.I see Yukari's never managed to enjoy something as simple as a curry before. Oddly disappointing, in a way.
Merely standing in one spot does not seem to count as relaxing. Today, I am observing everyone's actions so that tomorrow, I might relax in the correct manner.Well, yeah. Anyone here could've told you that otherwise The Lost would be the most relaxed folks ever!
It's likely that the outage was caused by students planning their summer vacations...
I gotta hurry or I'll miss the trailers! But I gotta eat first, or I'll faint on the way over... Oh, hey, Makoto. I'm thinking of catching some flicks. Wanna come along? The lineup today is choice, man!
Sure. Sweet! Just gimme a minute to finish eating! When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars / Way of Life
It's kinda weird to see a movie with another guy, but... I'm getting pumped all the same! Let's go! Oh, don't let me forget the popcorn with extra butter!
No, Junpei is not mid-blink here. He's, like, thinking or something.
Why couldn't I have been born in the U.S.A.? By now, I'd have been all... Saving the babes! Fighting for my country! And everyone would be like--
> You decide to go back to the dorm with Junpei.
Did you expect Junpei to secretly be a westaboo? No? Don't worry, he probably isn't because as far as I remember this never comes up again.
Speaking of Junpei, the only thing of note in the dorm is that we can walk Koromaru today. Definitely gonna do that, then.
Joy
Don't wear yourself out, okay?
A guy watches something like that, and he feels like he can take on the world!Like, sure, but it did give a Charm boost...
...But the coolest part was how the heroine understood the main dude by the end. Even being a super badass would suck if no one knew about it...> You spoke with Junpei for a while.
Well, wanna go back?
So, out of curiosity I did count it out and it would be completely possible to get Academics maxed. On the 31st of August. If we spent every day, including this Thursday, doing nohing but getting Academics.
That's dumb, so of course we won't be doing that. I'd rather do things.
Silence
I apologize for the interruption, but do you have a moment? Coming...
The Chairman will be here tonight. We'll meet on the 4th floor as usual. That's all.Well, uh, the last time that Mitsuru came around like this was when Koromaru joined the party...
Iwatodai Dorm
I wanna be that badass someday! If they keep playing the same movies, I swear I'll go see them, like, ten times.> Junpei is not interested in seeing any other movies.
Dangit Junpei, do your homework already. Don't just watch Die Hard on loop all day!
The elementary school children who took a bicycle trip around Japan have returned. The kids are tanned and happy, and their families are overcome with joy to have them back...
I will relax until then. Do you have any suggestions on how to relax, Makoto-san? Let's go to the movies. The... movies? I see... So going out is considered to be relaxing. too. Then let us go and relax. When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars / Way of Life
Oh, great, we're gonna be watching a Naruto movie...
Does this refer to opposing platoons of ninjas on the screen? According to Junpei-san... "Ninjas are the coolest of the cool!"
I would've been more surprised if Aigis' scene didn't end with us gaining Academics, honestly. That said...
Ninja is the ultimate status that a man can achieve. In combat. the power of their body is equivalent that of highly advanced special weapons. They were war machines, with unparalleled fighting skill.
...... Was it an ice age? ...... Perhaps the proliferation of the Internet? ...... An enigma I may never resolve... Thank you very much for today.
...... That was a humorous joke.> You decided to go back to the dorm with Aigis.
Of course, Aigis learns weird, awkward, bad habits...
Troubled
You must be kidding...
After running several tests, we've learned that he has more then adequate potential. I called this meeting so that I could introduce him, since he'll be joining our squad. B-But Mr. Chairman, he's still in elementary school. 
Besides... Besides... what? His ability is quite promising. With the proper training, he could be a big help. But, is HE okay with it?
I believe I can be of some assistance... 
Now, I finally know why I was given this power. ...So, as you can see, it was his own decision.
Nice to meet you all. I'll try not to get in anyone's way. Nice to meet you, too. ......
It may be hard at times, but stick with it. Yes, got it!Something was obviously gonna happen, but... really? We really have Ken joining SEES now? Can he even fight?
Iwatodai Dorm
His age worries me, though... We will need to keep a close eye on him.
He is quite brave for his age.
When I was in elementary school, I was a real scaredy cat. I used to cry and run away when a bee would come near me.Ikutsuki telling us about himself as a crybaby child is really weird.
I promise to do my best.
He's young. but he thinks like an adult.
......
...Yeah, so, the Omega Spear we're using is meant to be Ken's weapon. But spears are too good for Ken, so we're using them.
Really...? That's unusual... Yeah, it's not as easy to handle as a sword... I wonder why he chose that. Most likely because of his size. A spear evens out the disadvantage he might have against a taller enemy.
That makes sense. I'm not surprised Ken-kun thought of that.
If he sticks with me, I'll show him how it's done! He can call me Junpei-senpai. Stop acting like a little kid... Ken-kun's more mature than you are.
They make quite a pair. Junpei-kun is the silly older brother, and Ken-kun is the reliable younger brother.I... really, REALLY can't see it.
Yeah, Ken couldn't ask for a cooler older bro than me!
Oh, right... Since he's not in any clubs, this is his first chance to be a senpai.Koromaru's too busy today hanging out with Ken to go for a walk or anything, so we'll need to find something to do. I guess we could go to Tartarus to see what Ken can do, or whatever, but nah.
We'll hang out with Mutatsu and see this for the first time. It's so nice to finally have.
Pretty sure it just saved us an extra day of having to spend time without a rank up too. Thanks, Eligor!
Since we won't quite get max Academics by the end of the month, it'll still take a bit of time later.
That's really not a big deal, though, and something we can easily work around.
Troubled
Next year, I'll be a senior... Huh? That girl...
Uh, w-well... I mean, I'm surprised you remember me.
Same here... Well, you kinda stand out in that dress... So... What are you drawing?
Uhh, no reason... I was just thinking, it must be nice to have something you're really into.
Oh, yeah? ...Still, I'd like to see it when you're done, okay? ...... Iwatodai Dorm
A kid's resolve can be much stronger than an adult's... ......
But on the day of the show, the audience was completely empty. It seems most of the ticket-holders had contracted Apathy Syndrome...
...I'll do my best as a SEES member.I'm sure you will, kid. I'm sure you will.
...Just kidding.dangit aigis
Although he's still a child...
Every year, I wish I'd finished my homework in July, but somehow I never actually do it... But I bet Junpei hasn't even started. He can beg all he wants, but I'm not gonna let him copy off mine.Oh wait hang on, I nearly forgot!
Much better; there's that problem solved.
I think he wasn't sure how to bring it up... ...But I'm glad he's looking better now. Wanna go to the film festival? You want to go with me? ...Sure, that sounds fun. I was actually thinking about going, because the theme today seems interesting. This will be fun! When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars / Way of Life
So the last time I passed by this theater, I asked the ticket clerk. He said, "It's a science fiction story that could really happen." Maybe it's just me, but I'm not very interested in movies Where people travel in time or cast spells... I'd rather see movies that make you think, "10 years down the road. this could happen." Like the way everything around you gets more and more high-tech. That's my favorite kind of SF... Oh, sorry! I got a little carried away... We still haven't seen the movie yet. I hope we can get good seats.
Oddly, this is a Charm boost. Yeah, I dunno.
Did you see that iron!? It got rid of wrinkles on their clothes in half a second... To get that much heat out of an iron so quickly, you'd probably have to keep it charged... Though it wouldn't have to be with electricity... It could be a gas hybrid... Or maybe they have a totally new energy source... but how would they power the iron with it?Fuuka really sure does care way too much about a small, minor background deal at best.
...... *gasp* S-Sorry! The movie got me all excited, so... I got carried away thinking about it. ...Let's see another movie together sometime.> You decide to go back to the dorm with Fuuka.
Iwatodai Dorm
As expected, The Lost are increasing in number.We're still not entirely ready for whatever's coming up at the start of September here, but we'll get to that sooner or later.
There's going to be a full moon soon. I hope you are prepared to be busy again.
This enables him to compensate for his small stature and fight bigger enemies. Indeed, a spear is the perfect weapon for Amada-san.
He must be having a hard time with Ken-kun fighting in the battles...Fortunately for both of them, we've had a whole zero fights since Ken joined yesterday.
Akihiko-senpai is very kind, which is difficult to tell from his appearance.
Its hit rate is high, but the amount of damage it does is minimal. I have to attack enemies little by little... So, please don't get mad if it takes me a long time to defeat them.If it takes that long to take care of anything, something has gone wrong.
That's for you to discover. Yeah, you're right... I have to discover it on my own...It's weird seeing Junpei get this introspective, not because it's Junpei or anything. We've seen before that he can definitely do that with the right motivation. No, what makes it weird is that this is clearly related to the gothic lolita from Strega that he's seen twice ever.
I don't know what's gotten into him, but... ...he should really be concentrating on his homework.
Can you do it? I'm your man. Good. I'm counting on you.
It occurs to me that after this, we've gone with more than half of everyone here. Just Yukari, Mitsuru and now Ken to go with us on a walk with Koromaru.
Joy
I'm thinking about trying my own all-night movie marathon now... I'll rent DVDs of all the movies I missed out on, and watch them all back-to-back. That's the kind of thing you can only do on summer vacation.Personally, that's the kind of thing I could never do - summer or otherwise - so more power to ya, I guess.
> You spoke with Fuuka for a while.
I should let him in the bath with me when we get back.That sounds like a really bad idea, but what do I know.
The nice thing about nearly having maxed Academics is that very soon it means we're basically guaranteed to have a borderline perpetual Great status for Makoto at least.
The Voice Someone Calls
Makes sense that Pharos'd turn up at this point, since we do have a week 'til the full moon and all.
Are you ready...? Only a few trials remain... ...So, be careful.
I look forward to seeing you again.> Pharos disappeared...
If we didn't have more movie stuff to probably deal with now, we might be a bit at a loss for what to do today. Might.
Iwatodai Dorm
Tanaka's selling a very nice accessory today, though! We can actually buy this from Be Blue V already, and have been able to for a while, but it's worth buying from Tanaka since it's roughly half the normal price.
Plus it's Ice Amp in an accessory, and why would you NOT want that? Sure, it doesn't stack with the actual Amp passive but we can't get any Amp skills directly for a while still.
He'd better get started on that homework, or he'll be in trouble. As for me, I'm all done now! Time for some fun!
With so many films on one ticket, the price ended up being very low. Is Iwatodai the only place that holds festivals like this?
It sure seems like this is something that's pretty much required in
...And now, the news. The Apathy Syndrome that's becoming more widespread...
It's inevitable when one has a month off that there will be at least one day with a clear schedule.I... I have to question your definition of a "month off" if it consists of one free day.
Hmm... What should I do? Wanna go to the movies? Hm... the movies... I just remembered that I received VIP tickets from a distributor... ...I think I'll make use of them.
All right, let's go. When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars / Way of Life
It should be an interesting experience. Shall we enter?
Once again, completely expected from Mitsuru but given "romance movies" it'd be understandable if you thought it was Charm.
Isn't it quite a coincidence for the man to find her, when he had no idea where she was? And why would he wait until the last moment to announce that he's secretly a prince?
And the ending... It stopped right when the prince and the woman settled down. But what about after that? If they had shown the real life of royalty, I assure you it wouldn't have been a happy ending. They didn't show the most difficult parts. ...I'm sorry. I shouldn't be so critical of the movie you wanted to see With me.
I suppose I enjoyed it on some level, since I was able to relate to the characters so strongly.> Mitsuru seems a little embarrassed.
> You decided to go back to the dorm with Mitsuru.
Iwatodai Dorm
Those people--"The Lost"... They've been increasing... I wish there was something I could do.Wait 6 days and you might be able to. Someone definitely will get to then, at least.
More important today is that we can spend the evening with Koromaru and Mitsuru!
Joy
It must be something akin to a hometown for him...
Today's movie did have its charms. ...Does it seem out of character for me to say something like that?> You spoke quietly with Mitsuru...
Well then, let's go home.
There's really not much left to this. I'm pretty we sure we definitely finished our summer homework that apparently exists a while back by now.
Welp, last day before summer ends. I'm sure something nice'll happen today.
Troubled
That's because you keep coming back. I'm Junpei. What's your name? You live around here?Rather than answer though, she closes her sketchbook and gets up to leave.
I said, "Wait"! You're hurt!
But, you're bleeding, for cryin' out loud! C'mon, show me your hand. You need to put some pressure on it. Why are you in such a panic?
Are you crazy? Anyone would freak out over this. You need to see a doctor. ...You want me to go with you? ...... ...You're weird.
Huh? That's my name. You asked, right, Junpei? ...I'm almost done with the picture. 
Unless it's literally a Rorschach test or something, then even Junpei will technically understand it. Sorta. He'll be able to figure out some interpretation of it at least.
Iwatodai Dorm
I've only ever seen employee previews before... I've never had a chance to see a movie start to finish before.That is... really weird. Not quite the weirdest thing I've heard before, but it's not exactly normal either.
I'm sorry about all the extra attention we got because of my VIP tickets... Anyway, thank you for inviting me.
Children will return to school tomorrow for a new term. To get rid of those sad faces, we suggest...
Well, since it's the last day... I was wondering if you had any plans. I-I was just curious. It's no big deal...There's really no need to be tsundere over summer plans of all things. Jeez.
...You want to go to the movies? S-Sure! When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars / Way of Life
Oh, I wouldn't have recognised it then. Still need to finish Harakiri Sunshine first.
Err... I-I wasn't really looking forward to this, you understand... I was just bored, and I thought it would pass the time. Oh no! It's starting! Quick, we gotta get good seats!Seriously, kid. Drop the schtick, it's not working for you.
Oh! Did you see the part where Amoebaman gets captured!? And, and the part where he was in that underground prison, but Morus Signal came to help! And they had him tied up, and the bad guys were about to shoot him, but then the whole team--! ...Ahem. ......
I'm more of a fan of Red Axe personally, but I can totally see the appeal.
B-But it's all just fake... ...Hee hee. I had a lot of fun. Thank you very much for inviting me along.> You decided to go back to the dorm with Ken.
Iwatodai Dorm
I think this goes without saying, but please make sure you're prepared.We're still not really prepared. Gotta do more Tartarus first, but we're still not gonna do that juuuuust yet.
Well, it has powerful light abilities. Which means it is weak against darkness skills, like Mudo.Fittingly, then, Ken covers the last magical niche we were missing. Technically, we have all elements covered outside of Makoto in some way now. It's a little bit of a stretch for Pierce in particular, but Junpei can do it sorta so it's not just "well some people do it as a basic attack."
He probably gave up on finishing his homework...Unless he really thinks he can get it all done in one night...
She's definitely a weirdo...In-universe, Junpei is the only person here who's even met Chidori AND knows her name for good measure. To me, she seems like the least weird out of all three members of Strega, but that's not saying much.
But that's all we've got tonight. Nothing noteworthy to do on Monday nights, except Tartarus and pfft that can wait a bit.
First, we gotta go back to school. Well, it's been long enough and this'll give us back our S.Link variety so it's not really a bad thing. I guess.
Speaking of Tartarus, we'll should go deal with that in the next few days. That means we should have time to deal with it next time.
Yukari's, well, the same as before which makes sense. Her stats are still pretty high, but without anything better than Garu, both available and currently visible, she's rapidly falling behind.
Junpei is falling behind faster, but that's pretty much entirely because I can't be arsed grinding folks on free days and whenever we're done with a real run. Thanks to EXP scaling though, this should fix itself if it matters.
Akihiko's in a simpilar position, but debuffs are always useful so he's a bit better than it seems. Plus his next skill is Zionga which helps with his bottomed out damage potential.
Mitsuru's a one-woman wrecking machine. If something can't be hurt by Ice OR Ailments, she's still good support and can even be self-sustaining. Plus next she's gonna get Tentarafoo just to make large groups of enemies a bigger non-issue as well.
Plus, y'know, those Varuna Bracers are a really good choice for Mitsuru right now for obvious reasons.
Aigis is good at tanking and can buff to mitigate damage across the board. Her damage isn't bad either, and she's a level away from getting significantly better; Fatal End is Slash damage with a base power of 230. That's more than Kill Rush at its best or 2/3rds of Swift Strike's potential damage. Only "downside" is that it hits a single target.
Koromaru is like one level higher than before, but that's it. He's pretty much fine at what he needs to do, though.
Compared to our past couple new party members, Ken is a bit underwhelming. He's not a robo-tank like Aigis, or the best at dodging AND eating damage like Koromaru but he lets us get more spears (most import is Nihil Spears!) so he's got that going for him at least.
He's also a sorta-generalist like Akihiko, but he's lacking in debuffs. He can use Hama for instant death, Cruel Attack for potent Pierce damage (especially on Downed targets) and Zionga to compete with Akihiko for Elec coverage.
Notably, he's one level away from Diarama to cover healing a bit as well. Oddly, he only has two more skills to learn after that.
Same deal as usual, though this time we'll shake things up a little bit:
Which TWO members of SEES do you want to come to Tartarus?