"-repeat the conditions in which Takeba was attacked for additional data."

(chapter originally by Phantom Pen at writing.com)

"Repeat the conditions?" Yukari asked, echoing Mitsuru's words. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's simple, really. The four of us shall return to the site of your attack and wait for any Shadows to attack." Mitsuru said. "However, in order to recreate the conditions as accurately as possible, we will need to do this unarmed..."

"Senpai, isn't that dangerous? I mean, inviting Shadows to attack us without our weapons? That just sounds like a risky plan to me." Minako said, her fears shared with Yukari.

Mitsuru nodded, crossing her arms in a defensive manner. "I realize the danger, and that is why Aigis will accompany us, and we will have our weapons and evokers hidden nearby. Should the Shadows appear, retrieving the gear necessary to protect ourselves should be a trivial matter."

It seemed as if Mitsuru had planned out the experiment as thoroughly as possible. After all, Aigis was an android designed specifically to combat Shadows, and the stash of weapons helped give the other two ladies peace of mind. So, with their gear stored safely in a large box, the four SEES members set out into the night. With Yukari leading the way back to the site of her "attack," Mitsuru and the others couldn't see the worried look on Yukari's face. There was no way this could end well for the young woman; either nothing would happen and Mitsuru would get suspicious, or they'd get attacked by Shadows. Seeing as the stripping Shadows Yukari had told Mitsuru about were completely made up, at least so far as any of them were aware, that would only serve to further discredit Yukari's story.

Finally reaching the strip mall, Yukari signaled to the others that they'd reached the right place. While Minako and Mitsuru looked for a good place to hide their box of gear, Yukari tried her best to look inconspicuous and avoid eye contact with anybody in the area. The -last- thing she needed was to see someone from last night's accidental audience. At about three minutes to midnight, however, Yukari heard a snicker and hushed whispers nearby. Looking around, she found the source of the noise to be two younger men, both looking in her direction. Yukari's cheeks burned with embarrassment when she recognized on of them from the other night, likely sharing the story of what he saw with his friend.

Thankfully for Yukari, she didn't have to endure their gaze for too long. The night sky shifted from its deep blue to an eerie green, and all sound around the four women ceased instantaneously. The Dark Hour was finally upon them.

"And so it begins." Mitsuru said. "Keep a low profile, but stay alert. We don't want the Shadows to know we're expecting them, lest we taint the experiment."

"Got it!"

"Affirmative."

"O-okay..."

And so the four young women went about their business, trying their best to seem relaxed as they waited to see what would happen. For the first half of the Dark Hour, absolutely nothing seemed to happen. With no ambient sound to break the silence of the night, Minako quickly grew restless, taking to pacing back and forth as she waited for something to happen. Mitsuru pretended to check her nails and examine herself in her compact, though Yukari assumed she was likely using the mirror to keep an eye on what was behind her. Aigis, well... Aigis simply stood completely still, lacking the need for stimulation that her human counterparts seemed to have.

"Takeba, are you sure we've recreated conditions as precisely as possible?" Mitsuru finally asked, breaking the quiet of the night.

"Er, yeah... of course!" Yukari nervously stammered. Mitsuru was starting to get suspicious, this was bad news... "I mean, do you think I'm leaving something out?"

"Well, it's simply that we have yet to see any signs of Shadow activity. Perhaps if there was something else about your situation at the time of attack, some kind of activity or noise that we should replicate, we might see better results." Mitsuru answered steadily, her voice betraying no accusations or suspicion, though Yukari wasn't sure whether the tone was natural or ****.

"Senpai has a point, Yukari-chan." Minako chimed in, finally breaking from her pacing. "I mean, anything for the sake of figuring out what's going on, right?"

"Agreed." Aigis said, surprising the other three who had almost forgotten that the robot was even present. "For the sake of tonight's mission, no details should be left out."

THIS was what Yukari had been afraid of. Now Yukari had everyone's eyes on her, and she wasn't sure she could come up with a decent lie this time (not that her lie last time had been decent, but that was beside the point). Feeling her knees begin to shake, Yukari opened her mouth to speak. "I... uh, well..."-