Everybody's fighting

As Okisato headed for Iori's room, he once again came across some women arguing and blocking the way.

"Like hell I'm fine with you putting Tesla on your euros!" a woman with short orange hair shouted.

"We did that YEARS ago! And we aren't unminting them!" a woman with long purple hair sneered.

"Then why'd you bring it up!?"

"To reiterate that Desperados can't subject each other to DESPER matches, so tell your hubby to go cry a river!"

"I'M not a Desperado!"

"And you think I'd challenge you? Never!"

"Oi, could you please move?" Okisato growled.

The two women spun around, hatred seeping out of their eyes, but it was unclear if Okisato was meant to be it's sole recipient. The purple-haired woman seemed to be slightly more annoyed with his presence and slowly strutted up to him.

"Man, do you know who I am?"

Much to his regret, Okisato did, though he chose to play dumb.

"No I don't."

"WELL YOU SHOULD! I am Vlatka Jurkovič, president of Croatia!"

"And I am Slavica Mančić, first lady of Serbia!" the orange-haired woman huffed.

"And I just want to pass by, Okisato grumbled as he tried to get by.

"And why should I allow that?" Vlatka glared as she extended her arm to block Okisato.

As part of his research into the Desperado league, Okisato had learned that all heads of states of Balkan nations were Desperados. This wasn't too surprising given they would most likely want the power of the DESPERs, but Vlatka was easily one of the worst of the bunch.

Prior to becoming president of Croatia, she was an infamous celebrity, known for her various scandals. They were so bad, she was formally blacklisted from the entertainment industry and publicly shunned by all. But then she got her hands on a DESPER and with her prodigious chess talent, she became president of Croatia, consolidating all power under her. Now she had free reign to unleash whatever she felt like upon the Croatian populous.

To make matters worse, she was an extremely combative woman, often picking fights just to prove her superiority. Naturally, this included fights with other Balkan heads of state, with Serbia's president, Đurađ Mančić, being the most frequent target of her ire. Though Bosnia's co-presidents, especially Miralem and Ognjen, were a close second and third, respectively.

Okisato didn't have a personal hatred for her, but there was a high chance he'd develop one for her on the spot with how she was deliberately preventing him from leaving. But he could slip by, the problem was that doing so might cause problems later down the line as Vlatka was most certainly the type that would claim that he'd "violently assaulted" her before running away.

Chess may not be an option either as regardless of if Vlatka knew of who Okisato was, she was likely to refuse a challenge. Though he did have a DESPER key on him, it wouldn't work until the anti-DESPER veil was lifted from the city on the day of the final round.

But there was one thing he could try.

"I'm sorry, but I need to go to my room to practice. My team's up against Bosnia tomorrow, and I want to 4-0 them."

The pick-up line worked like a charm as both women began smiling.

"Oh? You're up against those Bosniak bastards? Then best of luck," Vlatka smirked as she stepped aside.

"Yes, but if Ognjen's playing, go easy on him. He doesn't deserve to be punished alongside the Bosniak-majority team.

"HUH!? You're stooping to match fixing!?"

"Geh!? ... AM NOT!"

Okisato took his chance to slip away as the two resumed their quarrel. But as he rounded the bend, he was yet again faced with more women arguing.

"Get out of my sight! I don't believe an ounce of your "sincerity"!" a girl with short blue hair glared.

"Why? I just want things to go back to how they were before!" a scantily clad girl with blonde hair cried.

Seeing some space to squeeze by, Okisato decided to try and sneak by, but as he did, the blue-haired girl shoved the blonde-haired girl into him, sending them both to the ground.

"Ah! My apologies, sir. I didn't mean to hurt you," the blue-haired girl cried as she tried to help Okisato up.

"It's fine, now I need to get going."

"Are you that upset!? I'm sorry, I'm Anastasia Olinyk. If you want financial compensation-"

"I said it was fine. I really need to get going."

"I don't have much... Here! I have this ticket to an Ichiko Rojas show. Please just take it or I'll feel bad!" Anastasia cried as she grabbed a ticket out of her breasts and shoved it into Okisato's face.

"Ugh, fine."

Anastasia sighed in relief before taking off running, not even bothering to check on the status of the blonde-haired girl. With a sigh, Okisato helped the girl to her feet, and upon noticing her depressed state decided to ask what was wrong.

"You saw all that? That was Anastasia, we were once really close."

"And you are?"

"Alya Mazayeva."

The name sounded familiar to Okisato, and after a quick think, he remembered her name popping up when the team discussed Russia in one of their strategy meetings. "You're an SPCM, right?"

"And a Ewetuber or at least, I was..."

"What happened?"

Alya stared down at the floor for a bit before finally muttering a response. "When the war broke out 2 years ago, we were all shocked. I didn't know what to say. Anastasia wanted me to denounce it, but many who lived near me supported it..."

"So out of fear, you remained silent, yes?"

"That's right. If I came out against it, Anastasia would be pleased, but my country would scorn me, possibly even kill me. But if I came out supporting it, I'd be burning so many bridges with not just my closest friend, but others across the world. Thus, I remained silent, hoping things would end quickly. And sure enough, Tsar Grigori emerged and ended things, giving me hope that now things would be back to normal. But Anastasia was furious, thinking I was just trying to slide everything under the rug. All I said was "now things can go back to how they were before"... But I guess I offended her. I offended her, and now she hates me. We used to be a Ewetuber duo, but the war ruined everything. I want to be friends again, I want to make videos, but no matter what I say, even if I say I was wrong, or my country was wrong, she doesn't believe me. In her mind, I'm a backstabber."

Okisato let out a heavy sigh as he realized he had gotten himself into something deep. He couldn't just walk away now, but he needed to check up on Iori.

"Want to meet a famous Ewetuber?"

It was a gamble, but the only thing Okisato could think of at the moment to be the best of both worlds.

"Ah, I'm sorry. You said you needed to be somewhere. Don't worry about me... I have somewhere I need to be too," Alya nervously laughed as she began to step away.

"And that is?"

A frown appeared on Alya's face as she pulled out a ticket to the Ichiko Rojas show. "Alone."

As Alya trudged away, she bumped into someone who Okisato did not expect to see.

"Well that makes things easy. So care to explain what's been going on, Iori-chan?"

Despite now being bundled up in a tracksuit and face mask with her hair drooping down, it was clear as day to recognize Iori.

"Oh, Oki-kun- ACHOO! Ugh, just had to get out."

"And you're not answering your phone, why?"

"Battery's dead, and teach took the charger," Iori grumbled as she flashed her phone.

It did seem on brand for Maida, but Okisato first needed to confirm this really was Iori. "Tits out, mask down."

Iori instantly unbuttoned her coat, and simultaneously lifted her bra up, while pulling her mask down. "Bad bitch enough for ya!?"

"Yeah, now cover everything back up before you sneeze again."

"HARSH... but kinky."

"Yep, you're the real deal. So where's Maida-sensei?"

"Huh? What's- AChOO! -That about me being real?"

"I'll explain later. So Maida-sensei?"

"Salon. Said she had some uncontrollable urge to go there."

Okisato took off immediately, leaving Iori and Alya behind.

"Wait, 'Iori-chan' as in THE Iori-chan!?" Alya gasped as she turned to face Iori.

"Yup- ACHOO! Sick as fuck right now, but still me."

"You look different with your hair down."

"Ya mean without my "horns"? Wait, I seriously not style em!? Ugh, damn cold."

As Iori began styling her hair on the fly, Okisato managed to reach the salon. There, at the nearest seat, he noticed a capped woman with her head and face completely covered in shaving cream. Noticing the woman appeared to be wearing jeans, along with a pair of blue sneakers, Okisato deduced this was Maida and called out to her.

The woman opened her eyes and began turning red in embarrassment under all that shaving cream. It was Maida, and much to her dismay, one of her students had found her. And worse, she was suck like this until her beauty treatment was over.

"Damn that man for inflicting such a condition on me," Maida thought as she leaned her head back, allowing the stylist to scrape all the cream off with a razor.