Yu-Gi-Oh: P.O.D: Part 59

Kou and Etsuko exit Etsuko's room with Seb.
    "Whoa what's Kasejima-senpai doing here?" Kou asked.
    Seb looked down at Kasejima with disdain. "I'll paint it short and sweet: she's the one who kept Kary and I from getting in the room. I think she even messed up Kary's mind."
    Kou looked over at Kary. "Hope she's okay...alright, who's carrying who?"
    Seb looked at Kary. "I'm the one who brought her here. I'll carry her." Seb walked over to Kary and picked her up. "Let's get out of here. I don't want to be anywhere near Kasejima-sempai right now."
    Kou nodded then went to pick up Kasejima, upon lifting her Kou wobbled a bit. "Wh-whoa..."
    "Kou-kun, are you okay?" Etsuko asked as Kou tried to keep his balance.
    "Y-Yeah...just...feel a bit woozy..." Kou looked over at Seb. "Etsuko-chan, you wanna thank Seb-kun here? He saved you from...well doing things you'd rather not do." Kou explained, trying to say it as nice as he could.
    Etsuko looked confused. "Things I'd...rather not do...?"
    Seb stayed quiet for a moment. "I'll explain later." he replied, looking away from the others, as Kary let out a groan, slowly waking up.
    "Uhh...my head..." Kary uttered, trying to steady herself.
    "Kary-chan, you okay?" Kou asked, walking over with Kasejima in his arms.
    Seb took a step back after letting Kary go when her balance was about right. "Is everything alright?"
    Kary took a few deep breaths before looking at the group. "Huh? Naruki-san? You're alright?"
    "Yeah, I'm okay, thanks to Seb-kun." Kou replied, glad to see Kary alright.
    "Um...this is really confusing, who are they both anyway? Is it the new Academia year yet or are we back for some reason?" Etsuko asked.
    Seb looked uneasy. "You can call me Seb...and we're on the fourth day of the year."
    Kary took a step towards Etsuko. "My name is Kary. I'm Tacey's friend. We have not met before, I believe."
    Etsuko backed off a bit. "H-Hi..."
    Kary looked back at Kasejima. "Um...would anyone tell me why she is unconscious?"
    Seb took a moment to think. 'Mind Crush, she said? How could she use spell cards to affect her? I better play it safe for now.' "She was barring the way." Seb answered, trying to be diplomatic. "I can't be certain, but I believe that the Darkness had control of her, as it affected Etsuko-chan."
    "A-affected me?" Etsuko asked.
    Kary frowned. "That doesn't sound right."
    "Like I said, I can't be certain. All I know is that she wouldn't let any of us approach Etsuko-chan's room." Seb replied.
    Kary rubbed her fingers over her eyes. "No, I mean what you are saying doesn't sound right. Last I remember, I was reading at the library. How is it that I arrived here?"
    Kou stepped forward. "In any case, let's head back to the white dorm and re-group with the others."
    "Right." Seb answered matter-of-factly. "I do wonder how Yu and the others are holding up with that...incident."
    "Incident?" Kou asked.
    Seb scratched the back of his head. "Y-yeah. Seems like someone planted pictures of you taking a shower in Lena's backpack. At least, that's what I think happened."
    Meanwhile inside the main Academia building, Nanjo and Tacey are holding back Megumi while Yu stands between Megumi and Lena.
    "I don't understand! Why do you suddenly care about Kou!?" Lena asked.
    Megumi tried to break free of Tacey and Nanjo. "Let! Me! Go!"
    "Megumi-san, please, calm down!" Tacey said, struggling to keep Megumi away from Lena. "This has to be a misunderstanding!"
    "Ngh!...catch this you stalker!" Megumi shouted, swinging one arm at full strength while detatching the duel disk, sending it Lena's way.
    "Kya!" Lena shouted.
    "Hey, watch the-" Yu shouted, turning to look at Megumi only for the duel disk to connect with his face, knocking him down. "-temper..."
    "Y-Yu!" Lena bent down and held Yu up. "A-are you okay?"
    Yu rubbed his face, checking his nose for any bleeding. "Crap...bloody thing hurts." He said before checking his teeth for any damage.
    Lena stroked Yu's cheek. "It's okay, you're not bleeding..."
    Yu looked startled. "Huh? L-Lena, what're you...?" he asked.
    "Just...checking to see if you're...alright..." Lena replied.
    Yu looked a bit uneasy. 'Damn...when she doesn't go wild, she's almost like her sister...'
    "Hey! Guys!" Kou suddenly shouted, running over.
    "N-Naruki-kun!"
    "Senpai!"
    "Kou!"
    Yu got up. "Hey, boss. Glad to see you're here."
    "So I heard about some...pictures?" Kou asked, a bit drawn back, seeing Megumi held back by Nanjo and Tacey.
    "Kou, I didn't! I had no idea they were even in here until I fell over!" Lena pleaded.
    Tacey dropped her hold on Megumi. "It almost turned into a fight."
    Yu checked his nose again. "Almost? That's the understatement of the year."
    Nanjo laughed. "I'll say, you'll look like Pinnochio in an hour or two, hahahaha!"
    Yu shook his head. "Yeah, veeery funny. Next time, you won't be laughing so hard when you're the one who gets a duel disk in the face."
    Kou walked over to Lena. "Can I see one of them?"
    Lena looked uneasy but reached into her bag. "Well, looks like one of them is still in here..."
    After being handed the photo, Kou gave a wry smile. "Thought so...hey Yu, when did the white dorm bathrooms start having a single corner shower instead of the ones that're in rows?"
    Yu looked startled. "Huh? Lemme see that."
    Kou handed Yu the photo, waiting for his confirmation.
    Yu examined the photo. "That doesn't make sense."
    Kou thought for a moment. "...it does, I mean who can't have possibly seen the guy's bathroom before?"
    Yu gave the photo back. "Only people who can't enter guy's rooms...girls."
    Kou nodded. "Right." Kou began to pace around. "This thing is most likely photoshopped...and whoever made this had to be a girl, otherwise they wouldn't have made this mistake...so Megumi." Kou looked over at Megumi. "Lena and you both thought the photo was real, but both Yu and I have confirmed that the guy's bathroom is not like this..." Kou looked back at Tacey. "Tacey-san, when Yu and Nanjo looked at the photos, were they shocked or just confused?"
    Tacey looked back at Yu. "I don't know about Nanjo, but Yu did look a bit confused."
    Seb, Kary and Etsuko arrived but they just stopped and watched.
    "Exactly, he didn't jump to a conclusion because to him the photo didn't make sense, his photographic memory didn't kick in."
    Kou looked back at the photo, then back at Megumi. "So Megumi-chan, Lena didn't take or make these photos."
    Megumi frowned in defeat.
    Kou looked back at the photo. "...but...why would someone even bother making these photos..." Kou's eyes widened. "They distracted most people in ADAD..." Kou looked back at Seb. "Seb, you said...Kasejima-senpai was blocking you and Kary from Etsuko's room?"
    Seb let out a sigh and nodded. "I don't quite understand why."
    Kou looked up in thought. "...she was also the one who told me to go to the orange dorm..." Kou grew a solemn look before turning back to Yu. "Yu-kun, you and Seb need to go check Kasejima-senpai's room, find anything that seems out of the ordinary then report to the juice bar."
    Seb clenched his fist. "Right. I'm on my way."
    Yu walked over to Seb. "We're on it."
    As Yu and Seb ran off, Kou walked over to Kary. "Kary-chan, now more than ever we need to find more of these Risen Fiends, you and Tacey need to head back to the library, I'll explain the need of emergence later."
    Kary looked at Tacey. "Very well."
    Tacey nodded at Kou. "We'll pull out every bit of information we can find."
    As Kary and Tacey ran off, Kou turned to Megumi. "Megumi-chan...I think you owe Lena-chan an apology."
    Megumi stayed silent for a moment, but eventually nodded, walking over to Lena.
    Kou finally turned to Etsuko. "Etsuko-chan...there's a lot you need to know."