#Yakou box

[kt-splits]

Master Detective Archives: Rain Code x Lawson exclusive screenshot collab 2L bromides

$5 USD each.

Some characters have more than one screenshot. So please be sure to tell me specifically which one you'd like when reserving 😊

I will stop taking reservations on August 2nd, 2024

Please practice reblog karma!

[unfortunate--moth]

the yakou dlc is SO GOOD and EMOTIONAL and I have SO many thoughts. but we STILL have not gotten a name for his fucking wife. what is her name. do i need to just play the pronoun game any time i mention her in my fics. girl help. did i miss something.

[aappleslice]

f furroughs........ (seth x yakou)

they're silly

[loremaster]

well now that i’ve preemptively explained the biggest jumpscare on this playlist… i can share the whole thing!! i’ve been meticulously tweaking the song order for weeks now…. enjoy :)’

below for more explanation for each song (and a TW for one of them): (big spoilers ofc)

so yeah i lied entirely this isn’t a vivia/yakou playlist it’s a vivia/yakou/his wife playlist lol. it’s got a bunch of my favorite songs about death and mourning YAAAAAAYYYYY

[snivyartjpeg]

rain code au where yuma sets out to go get yakou some meat buns but accidentally pisses off a wizard instead and in that same day halara brings the saddest smallest most pitious sopping wet creature to ever have the misfortune of existing into the NDA because this microscopic organism approached them mewling pathetically and begging to be adopted bc it was born in a cardboard box all alone with no one to love it and also for some reason its fur is so so soft yet hypoallergenic and it's so pettable and easy to pick up in one hand and kiss on its little itty bitty eemeny meemeny forehead forever

[satoshi-mochida]

Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE+ launches October 1 in the west

From Gematsu

Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE+ will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam on October 1 in the west for $59.99 / €59.99 / £54.99, Spike Chunsoft announced. In Japan, the game will launch as previously announced on July 18 for 6,350 yen.

The Japanese release will only support Japanese voice-overs, and Japanese, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese text at launch, but will be updated with additional language support when the western version launches. The western release will support English and Japanese voice-overs, as well as English, Japanese, French, Italian, German, and Spanish text.

The PlayStation 5 version of Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE+ will be available both physically and digitally worldwide, while the Xbox Series and PC versions will be digital-only. In the west, a “Lucid-Noir Limited Edition” will also be available for $99.99 / €99.99 / £89.99, which includes a copy of the game, an outer box with artwork by Rui Komatsuzaki, a SteelBook, 6.5-inches Shinigami plush, and the official soundtrack “Noise of Neon.”

A Digital Deluxe Edition will also be available worldwide for $69.99 / €69.99 / £59.99 / 7,200 yen, which includes the base game, a digital art book, and a digital soundtrack.

Pre-orders for any edition on PlayStation 5 include the novel “How to Be a Master Detective: A Halara Nightmare Case.” First-print physical copies of the game include a printed version of the novel, while pre-orders for the digital edition include a digital version of the novel.

Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE+ is an enhanced version of Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE, which originally launched for Switch. It adds the following content:

-Enhanced Graphics and Reduced Loading Time – Supports 4K graphics, enhancing the beauty of the Kanai Ward cityscapes and characters. Load times are significantly reduced compared to the original version.

-New Gallery Mode – Enjoy cinematics and background music -Includes All Previously Released Downloadable Content – Play through all five substories featuring different Master Detectives

“Ch. Desuhiko: Charisma Killed the Cat”

“Ch. Fubuki: Fubuki’s Luckiest Day”

“Ch. Halara: Raining Cats & Dog”

“Ch. Vivia: The Near-Death Detective + Ch. Yakou: Thank You, My Detective”

Watch the announcement trailer below. Visit the official website here: English / Japanese.

Announce Trailer

English

[Currently set to private]

Japanese

[shadow-laviko]

Thing no one asked about

I've been thinking a lot today

And I want to give my opinion about what I think Rain Code characters smell like

(Also interested in hearing what you guys think)

Spoilers for chapter 0... and maybe chapter 5 actually

Bonus point : I tend to mistake scent and smell, so, might use both, sorry in advance

So,

Yuma : Smells like the plastic of rainboots/rain coat + faint flowery smell of the likes of roses (no specific one) or lavender

Shinigami : Smells like dusty feathers and strawberry candies, or something sweet maybe vanilla too

Aide (Fake Zilch) : While impersonating Zilch : Cologne and some faint blend of animal smells (like rodents, cat litter or dogs... maybe especially rodents). While himself : maybe cologne, and a faint smell of blood and gun powder (maybe also dirt but hmm not sure about this one)

Melami : Makeup and luxury perfumes

Pucci : Laudry mostly

Aphex : Either cologne or strong deodorant for men + faint scent of sweat

Zange : Paper/ink, and cigar and cologne

Swank : Cigar and I can't think of anything else

Yakou : Cigarettes of course, and maybe some food smell of some kind + some kind of sea smelling shampoo/shower gel

Halara : Rain coat/rain boots and maybe some catnip to attract cats + maybe sakura blossom shower gel

Fubuki : Pink rose and some type of wood like pine maybe... or cinnamon

Vivia : Ashes/dust and books/papers

Desuhiko : Depending of whether he's on a case or not. If on a case : a blend of laundry, makeup, perfume and cologne. If not on a case... Some neutral deodorant and that specific smell from clothes you wear often. You know the one? It's not stinky, it just has a distinct scent, even when clean

Priest : Wax and something else like maybe... I don't know, something strong but not agressive

The other 3 from chapter 1 (not counting the boy and his dad) : Idk. Maybe cookies or apple pie for the Servant

Seth : Dirt and a blend of flowers like daisies or something (lilac?)... Maybe daisies and lemon actually

Martina : I don't really know, perfume and something else?

Yomi : Cedar wood and leather (maybe cologne too)

Kurumi : Laundry and either vanilla or orange blossom water

The other Aetheria girls : I don't really know, I feel like Waruna would smell like a specific shampoo, (but I can’t figure out which one), maybe makeup for Yoshiko and pomegranate shower gel for Kurane

Shachi : Sweat and idk, maybe coffee, or motor oil

Ikari : The specific smell of swimming cap and stagnating water

Servan : Same as Desuhiko, the smell of clothes you wear often

Margulaw : Old wooden furnitures/antiquities + that old people smell

Iruka : Salt (for some fucking reason ???) and gunpowder or motor oil

Guillaume : Bubblegum and books/papers/cards, and rainboots/ rain coat

Dominic : Hard to explain and can be different for everyone, but, I'd say he smells like that old plushie you've had since your childhood

Fink : no idea

Huesca : Similar to the smell there is at an hospital/at the doctor

Akira (The robot guy) : The smell of a tech shop / of... you know when you open a box with your new TV/computer/phone/console/electronic device? Well, that one. And maybe tea of some kind

The Ramen Stand Owner : Well, ramen (I know there are different kinds, so like, either a blend of many kinds, or just the most basic one)

Makoto : Lavender for sure, and enigma. I don't know how to describe it, but an enigma/mystery has some kind of smell (not the words, the idea/phenomenon in itself). Or maybe it's like the mood an enigma sets, which somehow kinda transposes into a scent? Idk how to describe it... + maybe some conditioner

The previous Amaterasu CEO : Idk, rich man something, like whisky or tobacco or cologne, idk, the kind of things tou think about when you picture a CEO in your mind

Did I forget anyone? I don't know

[moldsporr]

Wip I will never finish 👍

Magical girls au... Kirakira Maho Shojo Tantei... details under cut

Yuma is an average girl!!! Then, this weird purple alien... stuffed animal... ghost... comes and tells her about her destiny as a magical girl. She gets a transforming item (a button that's basically just the WDO symbol), and transforms into a magical girl!!!! Still trying to figure out if they get special names

Shinigami, our mascot character, tells Yuma that she needs a mentor! And she leads Yuma to... Yakou, an ex-magical girl. Yakou is now saddled with training Yuma.

If this was a show, the first six episodes would introduce a new member to Yuma- ep one = shinigami, ep two = yakou, ep three = halara, ep four = desuhiko, etc etc

We defeat the villains (amaterasu) in this order: swank, Seth, guillaume + dominic, Martina, yomi, Makoto. However they often come back after being defeated cuz they're trying to win back respect from their team

Shinigami can also transform, but that's a later development and is used as a Final Move

Magical items!! Yuma has a sword, Yakou has a knife, Halara has brass knuckles, desuhiko has a bow, fubuki has a gun, vivia has a box cutter that can change size

The others interact with Shinigami but she lives with Yuma

They are all women !!! Except Halara. Our enby ruler

The clone thing still exists here. Yuma and Makoto are the split pieces of a princess of another world... the First Princess... who had to split herself in order to defeat the Evil Guys taking over her kingdom... yes I like Precure

Yuma doesn't know this, Makoto does. Makoto doesn't really wanna come back together she's busy being her own person and all. However destiny dictates they have to come back together...

Yuma says "no <3" and they decide to just work together instead of going back to being one person

Yippee!!!! Oh also yakous wife is still dead. She was a magical girl too and was killed. Kinda why Yakou quit. Yakou comes along with the group for the Final Battle and gets revenge on Huesca, who's the bad guy's scientist person

It does result in yomi being defeated so. Yeah

Oh the Bad Guys also have items to transform. Buttons with the Amaterasu symbol. Yayayayya. These guys could know each other Irl......

[blackstarmylove]

Just a Normal Friday (HC)

Pairing: None.

Warning: Random craziness.

Prompt: What is a normal Friday in Starless? I'm glad you asked.

A/N: Some of these are taken from the prompts I wrote for Starless Nov Writing Practice.

———————————————

It's the end of the weekdays, and Unei has signed hundreds of papers, including thank you cards, in response to the fan mail. Most cast members are busy, so Unei writes the thank you cards. That explains why Mizuki's writing sounded so mature and composed in the card you received, right? Now, Unei has one of the worst hand cramps in history.

Everyone was confused when Aogiri asked a random question:

Aogiri: "Why can't leopards play hide and seek?" Akira: "Why would leopards want to play hide and seek?" Sotetsu: "Where did this come from?" Hari: "Um...leopards are fairly large. They can reach up to 80 cm in height." Yakou: "Yes, they can weigh up to 90 kg." Kokuyou: "No one asked you two." Qu: "I don't think Aogiri's asking for facts." Ran: "Why, Aogiri?" Aogiri: "Because they are always spotted. Get it?" Taiga: "Was that a dad joke?" Aogiri: "I've another one. What kind of music do elves refer to?" Kokuyou: "Who cares." Aogiri: "Wrap music."

Nekome sneaks into the locker room and leaves five gift boxes on one of the benches. The names on each box read Yoshino, Maica, Zakuro, Rico, and Takami. Inside the boxes are cursed dolls resembling Annabelle, Mandy, Harold, Okiku, and Chucky. But the dolls are actually haunted.

➣ Full Version: Just a Normal Friday

———————————————

➣ For the full masterlists, please visit my website.  ➣ Tumblr MLs: [SFW][N.SFW]

[creampuffiemina]

Midori's interactions with the rain code cast

NDA (ft pucci n kurumj)

- fubuki n her r besties‼️

- "er what comes after three again, midori?" "I forgot."

- yuma n midori are chill w each other

- shinigami dislikes her (when has she actually liked anyone?)

- desuhiko n dori are music buddies‼️‼️ they play their guitars together or sum shit like that

- she is secretly afraid of halara. Would avoid talking to them at all cost

- vivia n her don't mind each others existence. They would read books in silence

- dori admires yakou

- "hey, dori, dya mind buying me some cigarettes?" "but. Chief, this is your 6th box of the day. Are You sure?" "." "yes."

- pucci and her would be besties rip in peace pucci lavmin 🙏🙏

- kurumi and her r besties as well‼️‼️the first time they met, kurumi doesn't know that dori is a master detective

Amaterasu corp

- koto n dori is dating. Idk how but this is how they met I suppose. And after that they coincidentally keep meeting each other and then. Yeah.

- she would hate yomi and she would let him know

- she's neutral with the others, but seth dislikes her for some reason.

And if anyone wants the template for the relationship chart here it is. It's rlly messy so idk, use it if u wnat 😭

[genork-the-fandork]

Human

Word Count: 775 Prompt: Life & Death Featured Characters: Halara Nightmare, Yakou Furio (brief) A/N: So, Halara might be the love of my life. I've definitely said that to someone about Kirigiri and Chiaki and Rantaro, and I mean it for all three, I assure you. Halara is just so awesome, it's such a shame we don't get to see more of them post their feature in Chapter 1. I don't know what it is about Kodaka's badass characters, man. Plus, canonically nonbinary? Literal monarch shit. This drabble is a reference to their line about only trusting the dead, and in case it wasn't clear, I'm using they/them pronouns for Halara! And yes, I intend to have Halara be the "face" of my content this week! :3 Note: I know Halara is allergic to cats, but pretend they found a way to not touch this one. You'll see what I mean if you read! @raincodeweek

Trigger Warning: Animal death & implied cruelty.

Halara Nightmare despised all humans, viewed them all as worthless. Even the World Detective Organization could not assuage the filth they saw in every human's countenance. Humans were good for one thing, and one thing only: payment. Though they had every confidence in their skills, they knew it was worth nothing unless there was money behind it. And Halara was never lacking for it, thanks to the wealth offered for services rendered. Quite amusing, too, for some of the cases took far less time than the client intended.

Kanai Ward was no exception to this rule they had meticulously crafted over the years. The Chief was amusing, as were the rest of the detectives sent by the WDO. That did not mean Halara liked them. If they could help it, they wouldn't have to spend too long in this forsaken city. It reeked of something not quite like death, which was the only thing Halara truly respected in this world.

To a point, that is.

The stray cat looked as if she had seen better days, soaking wet and shivering. Halara crouched in such a way that they were both sheltered from the unending rain. Although the city was wet, the rain at least remained a steady pour, not nearly enough to soak one through to the bone if amply protected. The cat relished this lack of rain, shuffling closer. A slight purr rose from its chest, and Halara felt a rare genuine smile crawl up their face. They reached out, tempted to wrap the cat into their raincoat and spirit the poor feline away.

Unfortunately, their time was not ample, and they always finished a job. Halara sighed, finding a sturdy box to shepherd the cat into. "Call my name, and I will come to your aid."

Tilting its head, the cat mewed. Halara nodded. "Exactly like that."

It was almost a shame to leave the cat behind, for the assignment Chief Yakou had given them for the day was elementary, child's play. Halara almost laughed at the sour look on the client's face as they handed over the payment. Slipping the money into their raincoat, they resolved to find the cat again, perhaps slip it into the Sun and Moon Hotel. Desuhiko and Fubuki were unlikely able to keep a secret, but the way they often talked, it wasn't as if anyone would believe Halara had a secret cat.

But when Halara returned to where the cat had been, they found only death. A fierce anger overtook them at the sight of the broken corpse before her, a fierce desire to find whoever had done this and do to them what they had done to such an innocent animal. This. This was why Halara despised all humans. Their cruelty and malice truly knew no bounds. Though not all humans were to be held accountable for this specific crime, they all had the capability. In some strange way, all were culpable in this crime.

Humans were vile, and nothing would ever change that for Halara.

~ ~ ~

Yakou found them by the riverbank, cradling the box in which they had placed the cat. He didn't say it, and they didn't offer an explanation. Halara reached down as far as their arms could reach, lightly depositing the box on the water. As they expected, the box soaked through, and with its added weight, began to sink into the water. If they could remove the pollution they had heard was clogging this water, they would fix it. But for now, it was a fitting place. Still within the city of its birth, but far enough from human interference.

"Come on inside," Yakou finally said. "I promise Yuma didn't cook this time."

"In a minute." Halara rolled their candy around with their tongue. It was not unlike Yakou's cigarette, though at least the candy was not poisoning them quite as quickly as the nicotine. They expected the Chief's footsteps to recede, to leave them to their thoughts, but instead, he crouched beside them, a respectable distance away. Halara tensed nonetheless, as they always did in close quarters.

There was the unmistakable feeling that Yakou was about to say something, and finally, he did: "I'm sorry."

Halara closed their eyes. "I don't need my Forte to tell me it was cruelty. This is why I only trust the dead."

"Even when the dead are just as human as I am?"

"Even then."

He chuckled and stood. Now his footsteps receded, but Halara still made out his parting words: "So you do have a heart."

Of course I have a heart. Halara couldn't fight the grin. I'm all too human myself.

[kt-splits]

Amnibus Master Detective Archives Rain Code badges.

$5.50 each

These are a pre-order and won't be released until March 2025.

Reservations close January 8th

DM to reserve.

Practice reblog karma 💜

[viviakoushippingweek]

Hi! So happy to be running Viviakou shipping week and I'm happy to announce the set date for Viviakou Shipping Week!

It will take place on April 25th through May 1st!

This is chosen due to April 28th being the day between Vivia's and Yakou's birthdays! I'm still taking prompt suggestions through the ask box and dms! Current prompts we have so far is:

Death, Tattoos, Mementos, Rainy Day, Reunion, Alternative Universe, Domestic Fluff, and Free Day

Thank you so much and if you have any questions feel free to dm or ask me! Have a good day!

[wildfire317s-oc-box]

A sweet apology

A Master Detectives Archive: Raincode Fanstory

SPOILERS WARNING: spoilers for chapter four, chapter five and chief yakou's dlc!

Trigger warning: mentions death, mentions murder, mentions technical cannibalism, mentions kidnapping (or detective-napping?), mentions alcohol use, mentions ghosts, swearwords.

A.N: This is a PLATONIC friendship-fic between Desuhiko Thunderbolt and Vivia Twilight. After the event's of Dr.Huesca's murder, the chiefs death and being kidnapped and separated from Yuma and Kurumi, Desuhiko realizes that he had been kind of a jerk towards Vivia the day before and decides to raid Makoto's pantry and attempt to make amends while Halara and Fubuki keep an eye on Yuma. While they are apart Vivia makes a few interesting discoveries.

Cast and text colors: Desuhiko Thunderbolt, Vivia Twilight, Halara Nightmare & Fubuki Clockford

Honorable mentions: Yakou Furio, Mrs/Kaguya Furio, Makoto Kagustuchi

The last thing Desuhiko remembered before passing out and waking up in this rather fancy looking apartment that he had to assume was that Makoto guy's was coming back to the agency from the most recent murder case and mourning the chief's death. He remembered Halara answering a call from Number One before a terrorist attack took out the WDO headquarters and Number One with it, and thsn some sort of gas pouring out of that little box Makoto gave Yuma. He sat up and rubbed a sore spot on the back of his head where he presumably hit his head on his chair. Looking around the room Desuhiko found that Halara and Fubuki were already awake and...Where were Kurumi, Yuma and Vivia? "Um...Where are the others?" He asked, finally speaking up and blinking away the fuzziness in his eyes. Unlike Fubuki, Halara did not look up from where they were hunched over what looked like a monitor. Fubuki answered sounding very distressed "Yuma and Kurumi are in danger but Vivia is right here-" She was about to gesture to Halara's other side before seeing that the sleepier detective had vanished and started to panic. "-Huh?!? Oh no Halara, Vivia got taken too!" "Calm down." Halara commanded, finally speaking up. "He said something about feeling tired and wandered off to find somewhere to take a nap about ten minutes ago..." they explained, admittedly they were concerned that Vivia had decided to take another nap so soon after waking up from being knocked out but they supposed he was actually running off to use his forte.

"Okay...Wait what kind of danger?!" Desuhiko asked leaping up from the couch he had been unceremoniously dumped on and bolting over to the monitor, nearly crashing into Halara after half-tripping over the coffee table. The screen was split into a five by five grid of several different camera feeds, almost like a security system and Yuma and Kurumi were running around inside what looked like some kind of factory. "They are fine for now, I'll let you know if anything to concerning happens but for the time being I need you to go check on Vivia" Halara replied before shooing him away. "Why? And why can't Fubuki go check on him?" Desuhiko asked a bit annoyed as he crossed his arms. Admittedly he was still pretty pissed at Vivia because of his behavior during Dr.Huesca's murder case regarding the chief..,granted they had gotten a bit close through talking about their pasts and interests when Yuma or one of the others wasn't dragging them into something and he was used to him being stand-off-ish when it came to emotions but being out right cold and unfeeling about the whole thing was not cool. "Because the last thing we need is for all of us to be spread out across the penthouse without telling everyone where were going incase something dangerous happens and because I need her to be over here incase Yuma gets in over his head so she can turn back time and hopefully he makes a better decision" Halara responded not in the mood for his grouchiness before Fubuki chimed in "Thankfully this place has energy drinks" she explained, simultaneously dissuading his concerns about her getting too worn out and eliminating his excuse of giving her a break. Desuhiko groaned dramatically before sulking off to see where Vivia disappeared to.

After a few minutes and growing concerned as to where exactly Vivia was hiding, Desuhiko finally found him sleeping curled up into a ball at the bottom of a closet. He knelt down and was about to wake him up, but he noticed something he never thought he would see. Vivia's cheeks were wet and judging by the unmistakeable streaks of black mascara and purple eyeliner, he had been crying in his sleep. Desuhiko sat beside him, what was left of his anger and annoyance towards the taller detective dissipating and being replaced with guilt, if he was weak to a woman's tears he was weaker still to the tears of a friend. "I guess I probably shouldn't have gone off on you like that or called you coldhearted back there huh..." he muttered at Vivia's sleeping form. He sat there quietly and wondered what had made Vivia of all people start crying, even if it was in his sleep it wasn't normal for him. Could he have seen something heart-shattering while using his forte? Maybe, but he figured that what he had said earlier also had something to do with it. "I dont know what you're seeing right now but I'm going to try to cheer you up when you wake up" he stated sounding determined before getting up, closing the door until its only open a crack and making his way back to Halara and Fubuki.

"I found him, Apparently he decided to take a nap in a closet back that way" Desuhiko explained, gesturing back the way he came. Now it was time to broach the more difficult subject...He never was good at doing that but it had to be done since neither Halara nor Fubuki seem to have noticed, May as well just come right out and say it. "I think I managed to hurt Vivia's feelings...What should I do?" Desuhiko blurted out without really thinking of how to explain himself. "Huh?" Fubuki asked her confusion as to what the jumble of words that flew from his mouth at mach three even meant evident, "What makes you think that?" Halara asked sounding nonchalant as usual. Now that the hard part was out of the way Desuhiko took a deep breath before explaining himself a bit slower. "I think that I accidentally hurt his feelings yesterday when I exploded on him and especially when I called him coldhearted after the chief...died..." he said, wincing a bit "-And I want to apologize and at-least attempt to make him feel better but I don't know where to start." He continued, as hesitant as he was to ask Halara for help considering he would probably go into debt; this didn't feel like something he could just brush off with a simple "Im sorry for earlier". "Am I to assume this is a request?" Halara asked despite the majority of their focus being on the screen. "No I'm not paying you, jeez what happened to questions between friends?! Princess any idea's?" Desuhiko whined in response. "Well...My parents always had our servants make chocolate chip cookies for me when I was upset" Fubuki suggested helpfully. "...I'm not even going to try to unpack all of that right now, but thanks for the idea" Desuhiko replied a little bit baffled by her response before bounding over to what he correctly assumed to be the kitchen and starting to raid the pantry and cabinets. Assuming that he was a normal person; the least Makoto could do was let him use whatever baking supplies he had to attempt to make cookies.

For some reason he was mildly surprised to find a recipe book for cookies as well as everything to make chocolate chip cookies scattered about the kitchen. "What are you getting into?" Halara questioned from where they remained perched at the monitor after hearing cabinet-doors open and shut as well as various containers and bags being jostled around. "Oh you know, matches and cigarettes...I'm making cookies what did you think I was getting into?" Desuhiko asked sarcastically while depositing what he had found onto the countertop nearest to the oven. After dragging the already open recipe book over to where he had set himself up, Desuhiko started going through the cabinets and drawers he hadn't yet gone through to find some measuring spoons; which he found after a few tries. "I mean it's the least that Makoto, presumably; could do after knocking us out and dragging us here." He continued his thoughts aloud as he found the measuring cups and followed the instructions which he found to be specific to the point of being weird, and started to pre-heat the oven first. "Don't burn yourself or set anything on fire, all of the doors are electronically locked and despite their reformation I doubt the peacekeepers would make their way here in a hurry." Halara warned, finally but momentarily looking away from the screen only to give Desuhiko their most intimidating death-glare yet. "Gotcha, gotcha I will not burn myself or set anything on fire" Desuhiko swore holding up his hand in a mock-oath before continuing to preheat the oven to the specified temperature. As he measured everything out and mixed things together his thoughts wandered to what Vivia was seeing while using his forte.

Vivia floated around what looked like an abandoned laboratory in his ghost form. As cheesy as it sounded it was in fact what they had all come to at-least suspect. Everyone besides themselves and Yuma were semi-immortal creatures known as homunculi. It almost reminded him of something out of one of his sci-fi-horror novels. He was originally planning on following Yuma and Kurumi around to keep an eye on them but while Yuma was distracted talking to the imposter from the Amaterasu express and Kurumi had wandered off, Vivia happened to spot a familiar beige raincoat with those all to familiar patterns of fabric paint and other more colorful sew-on patches. He decided to follow the zombified-homunculus that had once been the chief, and the first person who ever gave a single damn about him. He wondered if Yakou was still in there somewhere or if he was more or less a wandering corpse like most of the others. He didn't really care that this Chief Yakou wasn't the original, he was still his Chief. Then Vivia's thoughts wandered to the day before when he could feel his eyes welling up and wanting so badly to let the tears fall but for some reason he couldn't..."Was it what little pride I had left that stopped me in an attempt to stay strong for Yuma and the others? Or was it shame in my knowledge of what had truly happened that made me feel as though I was not allowed to mourn? Or am I truly as numb to death and coldhearted as some of the others believe and I'm fooling myself?" He wondered to himself, "which is it...?" He wasn't sure but seeing Chief Yakou like this and being more aware of all of the pain he had been through especially during his final hour made the tears well back up and this time Vivia was helpless to stop them from falling. Like a sorrowful child, he wrapped his spectral arms around the chiefs stiff shoulders in an attempt to give him the hug he should have given him while they were all in the mystery labyrinth and to his surprise, Yakou spoke. "Vi-...vi-..a...?" He asked in a broken, crackly voice that sounded like he was struggling to speak even that single word, catching the phantom detective off guard. Could Yakou sense his presence somehow? He was kind of tiptoeing the line between the realms of the living and the dead so Vivia supposed it wouldn't be too far out of the realm of possibility. "Yes Chief it's me...I'm here...." Vivia murmured through sniffles and trying to sound reassuring. But could Chief Yakou even hear him or just sense him? He wondered as he floated around him. Vivia was unsure of his feelings but whatever he was feeling only made the tears fall heavier.

He could feel his actual bodies ears perk up slightly. Was someone talking to him? Vivia wondered who would be attempting to talk to him while he was sleeping. As far as he knew Desuhiko was still understandably unconscious considering he had somehow managed to hit both his chair and then the ground head-first when they were knocked out, Halara was busy keeping an eye on Yuma and Kurumi, and Fubuki had most likely forgotten where he disappeared to. It probably didn't matter...if it was anything dangerous they would probably just shake him awake instead, despite his desire to die. Vivia stayed by Yakou's side for a while longer before noticing he was not the only spirit here. There was the ghost of a woman about Yakou's age, with long purple hair watching him with a saddened expression. She actually looked like the woman in the photo that the Chief had on him, perhaps she was the same woman? Vivia glided over to her and asked "Do you happen to know the chief?" With a slight head-tilt. The woman smiled at him softly and nodded, "I do, I'm his wife; Kaguya Furio...and you must be Vivia. I would hear him talking about you and the others to Yuma whenever I went to check on him." She explains. The pair talked for a while as they kept an eye on Yakou, and eventually the topic of Desuhiko calling Vivia out on his lack of visible emotion during the last case and generally chewing him out came up and passed. Evidently Desuhiko's words had stung a bit but it was only really hitting Vivia now so it was amplified.

After a while of trailing after the chief and talking to his wife's spirit, Vivia had a sense that his feelings about the situation were growing clearer and supposed he could understand where Desuhiko was coming from; As far as either of them knew at the time they had all just lost the chief forever and everyone besides him had dropped their facades, even Halara. So thinking about it now Desuhiko's little outburst made sense. "Maybe hearing that the chief is...not completely dead...might help him calm down?...then again it may just rile him up...again...what should i do...?" Vivia wondered aloud before turning to Kaguya to see if she has anything to say. "Well...If you don't say anything about it when you get back to the others, Yuma probably will..." Kaguya states trying to be reassuring. "True...though knowing Desuhiko he would probably suggest trying to break in to get the chief...and judging from what I have seen so far that would not be a smart idea...hopefully he has cooled down enough to take the danger into consideration..." Vivia voiced his concerns but ultimately decided that he would tell the others, He believed that the chief retained just barely enough of his mental faculties to recognize his fellow detectives and refrain from attacking them if they hypothetically were to come looking for him, it was the other zombified homunculi that he as concerned about. "My forte will reach its limit soon...I should head back...So long Chief...please take care of him miss Kaguya..." Vivia explained before turning to leave.

To nobodies surprise, by the time he was done mixing the ingredients and had gotten the dough on the baking pan; Desuhiko had somehow gotten the upper half of the front of his hoodie and the lower half of his face covered in flour and had several small globs of dough and a couple of chocolate chips stuck to his face. "Hey princess can I borrow you for a sec?" He asked around the baking-spatula he had used to scrape the majority of the dough from the sides of the bowl, which was currently crammed into one side of his mouth. After getting a nod from Halara, Fubuki quickly darted over being careful not to trip. "Yes Desuhiko? What's the matter, did you get attacked by some kind of flour monster?" Fubuki gasped looking at his current appearance curiously and slightly alarmed "What? No, I just wanted to get a second opinion on the cookie dough" Desuhiko explained, trying not to harp on her, he was the one who had accidentally dusted himself with the flour by stirring too hard after all and considering all of the weird shit master detectives see on the job especially on this one he's not to certain how far out of the realm of possibility fubuki's weird thoughts might be. Desuhiko handed her the whisk which was resting in the bowl. "Won't eating the dough make us sick with...what was it again? Something about salmon?" Fubuki asked at first concerned but then confused. "Salmonella? No, unless those eggs were brought here straight from the hen that laid them which is already unlikely enough as it is; that is actually extremely unlikely." Halara chimed in before deciding to take a quick break while Yuma was in an area that looked to be just outside of Kanai ward judging by the lack of cloud cover. "Third opinion works too" Desuhiko shrugged as Fubuki eagerly took the whisk from his hand while Halara snagged the bowl which still had some bits of dough in it before returning to the monitor.

"Oh these are very good though i do still think they would be better baked" Fubuki chirped happily narrowly avoiding getting her lip piercing caught in the whisk multiple times. "Not the best but they aren't horrible..." Halara added from where they were once again perched in-front of the monitor they were watching Yuma on. "So they don't taste like Yuma decided to help?" Desuhiko asked jokingly, he had to rag on his man just a little bit because c'mon who messes up cooking fried rice of all things so badly that Chief Yakou who was not only the resident food lover but was also almost always hungry, wouldn't eat it? "Why would it when Yuma isn't here?" Fubuki asked looking at him with a very confused expression, probably having forgotten that contrary to his profile; Yuma sucked at cooking. "Decidedly...Fubuki come back over here please, Yuma looks like he is heading back into the factory..." Halara responds before waving Fubuki over, who rejoins them at the monitor. With that Desuhiko slides the baking pan into the oven, being careful to not accidentally burn himself and set the timer. The last thing he needs is to injure himself while in a situation where he may need to disguise himself and the others. But what to do now? The cookies were baking and there was no use watching them, Halara and Fubuki were hogging the space in-front of the monitor and Vivia was asleep and doing who knows what as usual. After a moment Desuhiko wandered over to where he spotted his bag, opened it and began digging through it in an attempt to find something to entertain himself with. "My "totally normal" and "not at all dirty" magazines perhaps? Nope! Nope, Definitely not! I do NOT want the others to know I had those on me at all times and i do not need to give myself an accidental nosebleed. Again..." Desuhiko mentally scolded himself for not just leaving those magazines back at his hotel room as he shoved them further into the back of his backpack and continued looking through his backpack. "My notebook maybe? Nah I don't really have any ideas to write down or draw out at the moment and I don't really feel like hopping into my bag just to find the pen i accidentally left in my other pants." He sighed and reached for his guitar, pulled it out of his backpack, grabbed the pick from its internal pocket and sat on the floor beside his bag. He strummed a few practice notes before deciding to practice his playing with the song "Sincerely Me" from that one musical that he had seen a while back.

After strumming out a couple of songs, getting bored since he didn't really have an audience, stealing a couple of pastries that looked like they were from that cafe in ginma district to snack on, and checking the oven at-least ten times; Desuhiko FINALLY heard the timer on the oven ding and darted over to the oven and nearly burned himself when he went to grab the pan of cookies without an oven-mitt on but thankfully remembered when Fubuki turned around and asked if he was forgetting something. It took him a moment to realize that she probably just used her forte to make sure he didn't accidentally hurt himself. "Thanks for the save Princess" he calls over to her after removing the pan of cookies from the oven and setting them on the stove. "You're welcome Desuhiko, don't forget to let them cool" Fubuki chirps cheerfully as a bewildered look crosses Desuhiko's face. Did he really mess up that badly last time? Or did he mess up and then either she or Halara messed up? He shook those thoughts from his mind, those screw-ups were in the past...kinda, but either way they weren't important and asking Fubuki to explain any further would either be like listening to a toddler describe a bad dream or like listening to a horror story being told in a voice that would better fit talking about something normal. After about two minutes and deciding he can't wait any longer, Desuhiko digs through a couple drawers, finds a spatula and moves the cookies onto a random, clean plate that he found in one of the cabinets. A couple broke during the transfer but he figured he could save the ones that broke for himself, Fubuki and Halara. Mostly himself though since he did the majority of the work. Desuhiko hummed as he thought, He may as well do a second taste test just to double check. Unsurprisingly the cookies, while not as hot as they were; were still fairly hot, but damn they were good. "How are they?" Halara asked after hearing him muttering swears while picking up the broken cookie pieces. "My fingers are burning but I don't care" Desuhiko replied rather pleased with himself and the fact that he had not accidentally burned anything. He then heard a set of familiar quiet but shuffling footsteps coming from the hallway.

Vivia re-entered his body just in-time before his forte reached its limit and blinked awake. He laid there allowing himself to wake up a little and make his final decision to tell them about the chief's situation after Yuma is safe. He quietly clambers out of the closet, yawns and stretches himself out a little and having taken a nap in a more cramped space than usual he hears his joints and back snap and pop. He then takes notice of the rather sweet scent wafting down the hall from the kitchen area. "How strange..." he muttered to himself before deciding to investigate curious as to what was made and who made it. Vivia shuffled down the hall trying to get his legs to "wake up" and stop feeling like they were made of TV static. "Oops, busted" he heard Desuhiko say followed by that familiar, playfully mischievous laugh that he had heard to many times when the disguise detective decided to use his forte to play a prank on himself or the others and got caught in the act. "Hm?" He hummed curiously before spotting the plate of cookies and the small stack of cookie pieces that remained on a baking tray. "Did you...make these?" Vivia asked looking at Desuhiko with a fairly confused expression. "I..erm..shit..ah..I wanted to apologize for being a huge jerk yesterday...so I made these for you.." he heard Desuhiko struggling as he tried to explain himself, unable to meet Vivia's curious gaze and quickly holding out a cookie for him to grab. Vivia blinked slowly before carefully taking the treat that had been more or less nearly shoved in his face and taking a bite. He all to quickly remembered that he had not eaten since breakfast the day before and practically inhaled the pastry. "Thank you..." he murmured awkwardly as he grabbed a few more from the plate as a peculiar note on the counter caught his eye. "You welcome, just try to actually taste the next one will ya" he heard Desuhiko huff as he grabbed the broken cookies from the pan and went to plop back down on the couch. Vivia nodded, took a large bite of another cookie, swallowed and announced that a note was left for them and he continued to read the note aloud decided to take the plate of cookies with him as he walked:

"To the detectives of the Nocturnal Detective Agency-

I apologize for the rude surprise, However this particular situation is one that Yuma has to take care of without your assistance or at least without the assistance of your forte's but do not worry I have set up a monitor displaying the live security camera feed of the restricted area where Yuma and Kurumi currently are. I do not intend to harm him, Kurumi or any of you, however I am armed incase I need to defend myself. That said my penthouse is yours to use for the time being, I suggest taking a dip in the jacuzzi as some of you may be sore due to rough, unexpected landings and the trip up here, you needed to be stacked on top of each-other so everyone would fit in the elevator. You have most likely already figured this out but the doors and windows are locked so please refrain from anything involving matches, lighters, cigarettes and generally open flames. - Makoto Kagusuchi" Vivia flopped onto the couch beside Desuhiko as he finished reading and set the note down on the side-table beside them. He couldn't see anywhere that would be more comfortable for him to tuck himself away out here and he felt to lazy to wander back to the closet so he stayed flopped across the couch, stealing most of it.

Vivia was about to reach into his coat and start reading one of the handful of books he kept stowed away in his internal pockets when he noticed Desuhiko staring at him incredulously. "Hm?" He hummed toward the disguise detective curious as to why he was being stared at. "I'm just now realizing that this is the first time any of us have actually seen you use a couch or sit on anything besides the floor in general." He listened as Desuhiko explained himself, understanding that this was probably a little weird for all of them considering he usually tucked himself away either under the piano at the hotel or his preferred spot the fireplace back at the agency. Even when they were riding in those rafts for at least an hour during the marunomon bank heist case Vivia was perched on the floor. "I didn't see anywhere more comfortable to place myself and I dont feel like going back in the closet...I'm sorry if this is unusual...". Vivia glanced away to find that while he and Desuhiko were distracted; Fubuki had gotten up from where she was sitting beside Halara and was looking through Desuhiko's bag for something. Moments later, Vivia watched as Desuhiko's gaze followed his own and the sight caused the shorter boy to cry out in alarm "Hey! What are you doing in my bag?!" Before leaping to his feet and dart over nearly tripping over Vivia's long legs. After which Vivia decided to bury himself in one of his books and only caught snippets of the following conversation. "Oh I was hoping you had a swim suit I could borrow Desuhiko" "I might but why?" "The note mentioned a jacuzzi, thats one of those cute little pools right?" "Technically...Wait dont tell me you were actually going to trust the guy who dragged us here to not try something!" "But you trusted the food he had lying around so-?" "Okay fair bu-" Vivia did not catch the rest as he found himself dosing off again.

When Vivia next woke up there was a bright light shining directly into his eyes, a loud siren blaring outside, what sounded like a comedy movie as well as a lot of splashing and laughing from one side of the room and Halara was shouting about something on the other. He covered his eyes and blinked them a few times before realizing that the blindingly bright light had been the light of the sun released from behind the heavy blanket of storm clouds that Kanai ward was notorious for. Looking at his surroundings Vivia quickly deciphered what been going on during his impromptu nap; Halara being the most responsible out of all of them had unsurprisingly remained glued to their spot by the monitor and was grumbling about someone being an idiot and pressing a big red button that "clearly should have been left alone", while Fubuki and Desuhiko had apparently found a wine cabinet or something similar and had decided to get drunk in the jacuzzi. At least Desuhiko was tipsy, Fubuki on the other hand seemed to be handling the alcohol well and was mostly sober. To him it sounded like they were playing a game of sorts with the movie they were watching where if one of them laughed at the movie they would get splashed. Since Halara seemed like they were too stressed to want anyone near them right now and Vivia wanted to get out of the sun, he decided to join Desuhiko and Fubuki in the jacuzzi. He was caught off guard when Desuhiko spotted him walking over and tossed him a pair of black and purple swim-trunks that he had already pulled out of the bag just in case with a drunken smile and cackled out "There ya go Viv-! Go change and come join us!". Vivia nodded before stalking off to find a bathroom to change in after which he heard Desuhiko boldly call out to Halara "hey Halara how about you stop stressin' over somethin' you cant do anything about and come relax for a bit". He soon returned, joined Desuhiko, Fubuki and surprisingly Halara in the jacuzzi and decided to let himself relax. In listening to Halara muttering into their drink he found out that they had decided to join the fun because the last thing they needed was to give themselves an aneurysm and they had changed into a single-piece swimsuit in the apartments bedroom. The movie that Desuhiko had found buried somewhere in his bag was a comedy movie that was more or less watching what its like to play dungeons and dragons from the perspective of the player-characters and was something they could all enjoy, they were at a part about the main group of characters confronting a small castles worth of french knights who were rather creative in their insults. This would be where both Makoto and Yuma would find all of them drunkenly giggling at the movie and cracking jokes while completely soaked and their makeup smeared before Yuma coursed them back into their normal clothes and dragged them back to the hotel mentioning something about Makoto having work to do.

After the whole ordeal with Yuma and Makoto, and all of what was really going on being revealed to all of Kanai ward, it was time for the detectives to pack up and head home. Desuhiko yawned as he opened the door and entered the Nocturnal detective agency for the last time this trip. He figured that since he didn't find Vivia sleeping under the Piano like usual that morning; the phantom detective had decided to stay the night in the agency for the last night there. Desuhiko walked down the stairs being careful not to stumble and found Vivia exactly where he had expected him; back to being curled up in the fireplace, his suitcase wide open and having only one stack of books half as tall as the suitcase itself, a handful of various travel-size toiletries and literally nothing else. Vivia had evidently gotten cold at some point and stole the blanket off the chiefs bed causing Desuhiko to shake his head as a sad smile crossed his face. "Geez did he even finish packing?" He wondered aloud keeping his voice hushed as he glanced around the room, surprised that he found or rather didn't find anything else that looked like it belonged to Vivia and considering that as far as any of them were aware he opted out of getting a room at the hotel and was technically supposed to be sharing a room with Fubuki since she was the only one who could both afford to and would be willing to pay for a room with two beds; Desuhiko shrugged and guessed that he had finished packing before sitting on the floor beside the fireplace setting his bag opposite him. He knew that Halara and Fubuki would join them once they woke up but didn't feel like waiting for them to wake up to head to the agency, he hadn't actually even had breakfast yet and just grabbed some for himself and Vivia. He sighed as he folded his arms behind his head and waited for Vivia to wake up. It had only been a short while and this water-logged city was already on its way to making a ton of big changes, Desuhiko could just kind of sense it and it felt kind of bitter-sweet. The city was finally improving but most of the people who wanted to see it improve the most had died just before the start, the citizens of Kanai Ward wouldn't need a big shot like him around much longer as a detective or otherwise because they would grow to have their own and finally the big secret about the whole place was out to everyone who needed to know it. He sighed as his thoughts drifted to his main man Yuma, He had noticed when he first entered the sub but now that he thought about it he wasn't surprised that Yuma had already left; this whole trip had been a wild ride of mind fuckery for all of them but especially for him however he knows that Yuma is stronger and more stubborn than he realizes...it doesn't stop him from worrying about him though. "Eh he's a tough kid he'll be fine, shit he was Number One before all of this after all" Desuhiko mutters to himself with a shrug.

After a couple minutes of waiting Desuhiko finally acknowledges his quietly growling stomach with an annoyed grumble and digs the breakfast he had grabbed for himself out of his bag. He ate quietly while debating whether or not he should wake Vivia up or let him keep sleeping. He hummed softly before taking a sip from a vending machine boba-tea he had gotten himself when he heard Vivia speak up from just behind him. "Oh you're here already..." Vivia observed, startling Desuhiko and nearly making him snort boba tea out of his nose "Geez!" Desuhiko exclaimed coughing a little until he regained his breath before continuing "yeah I am...I didn't see you under the piano like usual after I woke up so I figured I'd bring you breakfast" he explained as he pulled what he had snagged for Vivia out of his bag and held it out to him. Desuhiko and Vivia stared at each-other for a bit before, much to Desuhiko's relief; Vivia takes what he had brought for him and starts eating. He would be lying to himself if he denied that he was worried about Vivia and had inadvertently taken over the chiefs position of making sure he had eaten and had something to drink at least once a day and was generally taking care of himself, despite definitely being more pushy about it. Desuhiko had even managed to convince Fubuki and Halara to help him help Vivia, and surprisingly Halara was treating this as a favor between friends. But now the chief was on his mind which brought forth a question, one that had been gnawing at his mind for a bit; "Hey Vivia when you were using your forte while we were stuck in Kanai tower, Did you happen to see the chief?" Desuhiko asked before taking another drink of his tea. He waited while Vivia worked out how to respond and after a moment he answered, "I did...He had more control of himself than most of those in the restricted area...and he was in one of the safer areas of the restricted area when I checked...however it is still to dangerous for anyone who is not properly prepared due to anyone else who may be wandering around...". Desuhiko sighed mildly annoyed "I figured as much but I still got my hopes up...D'you think he'll be alright? We all saw that the zombified homunculi with less control of themselves dont seem to care who they're eating as long as they're eating...".

Vivia thought about Desuhiko's question, on one hand he knew that the chief had his wife looking out for him but on the other the chief did have a tendency to accidentally get himself into trouble much like the rest of them. "I think so...as danger prone as he may be...He has someone special to him looking out for him from the other side..." he finally answers. "Who? Is it the lady from the picture?" He heard Desuhiko guess before taking a bite of a pastry he had gotten himself. Vivia chuckled softly "First try...your powers of deduction are getting better" he jokingly teased. Vivia sighed softly as he thought, should he bring up the medicine that miss Kaguya had so emphatically talked with him about before he explained that he was not able to interact with the physical world while using his forte? He could not use the riddles he was so used to speaking in with Desuhiko, he had to be fairly blunt and plain-spoken with his words. Vivia sighed again before deciding to bring it up, "His wife did mention something rather interesting...She mentioned a medicine she was working on before her assassination...She worked in regenerative medicine and was working on a project that would help heal and regenerate damaged and dead braincells...theoretically it could fix zombified braincells...and if I remember correctly she mentioned something about there being a prototype in her lab within the restricted area...". Desuhiko was giving him that look again...that look of shock and confusion that usually comes after saying or doing something absurd before the disguise detective squeaked out an exasperated response, "Why didn't you mention it sooner?!?". "I wanted to be sure that Makoto would actually go through with his promise to make Kanai ward a better place before trusting him with this information..." Vivia explained his fairly sound reasoning, considering Makoto's part in everything that happened. Vivia had his eyes shut in a slow blink as he lazily attempted to blink away the sleep in his eyes, but he heard Desuhiko's defeated sigh. He had a fair point and Desuhiko knew it, he decided to continue. "-And I knew if I mentioned it sooner, You and Yuma would talk yourselves into ""jail-breaking"" him before taking your safety into consideration...and then Halara would insist on going with to keep you both safe, Fubuki would get taken along just incase...and because you are all dear friends of mine I would end up going along as well..." Vivia explained before shifting around in a small stretch before making a suggestion "If I recall correctly Makoto mentioned something about seeing us off, I'll mention it to him then..." he stated before opening and taking a long sip from the vending machine coffee that Desuhiko had grabbed for him.

The pair fell into semi-comfortable silence while they ate and it wasn't too long before they heard the hatch open and heard Halara and Fubuki coming down the stairs. They all knew Kurumi wanted to see them off and it was decided that they would wait for her to say her goodbyes before heading home, besides it would give them more time to make sure that everything was packed and gave them time to (semi-begrudgingly in halara's case) exchange outside of work contact information so they could keep in touch as friends. They soon said their goodbyes, Vivia held true to his promise and they all departed Kanai ward for their respective homes and next mysteries.

[sweetbottletops]

The October 2023 issue of Da Vinci magazine!

Agu got the cover story!

Prior to this she was interviewed in the May issue which you can still purchase at places like amazon.jp. I imagine this can also be purchased there very soon as in Japan magazines tend to come out way before their print date. This looks like the pre-order page.

"I drew the cover illustration for the October issue of "Da Vinci" released on September 6📗 I also draw a new manga for the SNS manga feature." Twitter

And that's not all.... if you order the issue from Animate you can get a clear file of the clean cover image while supplies last.

They are keeping her really busy but it's all good things.

More details on content below the cut.

Release date: September 06, 2023  Format: A4 size  Product form: Magazine  Pages: 180

Natsuhiko Kyogoku/SNS Manga

★ Cover Illustration "The person I was interested in was not a man" Feature 1 The latest work in the "Hyakki Yakou" series has been published! Writer Debut 30th Anniversary Natsuhiko Kyogoku Long Interview with Natsuhiko Kyogoku Guide to the Complete "Hyakki Yakou" Series Luxury Talk! Natsuhiko Kyogoku × Miyuki Miyabe and others Dear Sir, Natsuhiko Kyogoku [Contribution & Interview] Yukito Ayatsuji/Ryo Arai/Arisu Arisugawa Special feature 2 Anytime, with one hand, as much as you want. There is an SNS manga for a night alone [Manga] ★ Sumiko Arai “The person I was interested in was not a man” Hanage no Mai “Kora-kun and Amagi-kun” [Manga & Interview] Diana “Night Words” "Tachi" Penguin Box "Odekakeko Shark" Yajima "Uncle Who Reincarnated as a Cat" SNS Manga Editor Roundtable SNS Manga Must-Read Guide, etc.

[tobiasdrake]

This took a turn for the ominous. We may be about to lose Shinigami.

Part of the contract. You're not her partner. Number One is.

She can't. That's part of the contract too. She can't talk to you about Number One.

Makoto's identity means that she isn't your reliable ally anymore. He's here to repossess your shinigami.

Just like she said: This is about to get really bad.

No. That's not. He isn't. He couldn't be. There's no way. There is absolutely no way.

WHAT THE FUCK.

WHAT THE FUCK.

How. What. How. Why. When. How. What.

We're Number One? Then who the hell is the old man with the chin dick? Why is Yuma so young? Did the contract do that? He isn't a homunculus; We know he has red blood.

What the fuck.

What the fuck.

What the fuck.

That's how we were able to check out the Book of Death from the library. We just. Used our clearance. To do it. Holy shit, that's easy.

But how? Who the hell was the old man? A body double?

Okay but when and where, tho. Yuma gets the Solution Blade direct from Shinigami. When did you meet up with Shinigami in secret to get a Solution Blade from her, and why wouldn't she have noticed that happening?

Don't look so chipper with Yuma's face, it's creepy.

Well our double sucked and I hated him. He's lucky he's dead or I would have him fired for being an heartless asshole. I still can't believe that shit he said about Yakou.

Yes, I do adapt quickly. Fuck you, I'm the boss man.

Option 1: As Number One, it would be trivially easy to falsify that information.

Option 2: There really is a detective-in-training Yuma Kokohead. We konked him out and took his pants.

Come on crackpot theory. Let's roll for a 20!

YES! WE MUGGED YUMA AND STOLE HIS PANTS! I WIN FOREVER!!!

Are you talking about REAL YUMA!? Yeah, I know exactly the guy. Real Yuma is the real Yuma! I am so happy right now.

XD There was no trick to it. Real Yuma's entirely sincere about wanting to sell ramen instead of put up with our bullshit.

You know what? Fair. I did knock him out and steal his pants, after all. That was pretty rude of me. I'm Number One of the entire WDO. I can buy my own pants.

Because we knocked him out and left him lying in the inaccessible back area of the storage room after we took his pants.

OH MY GOD

Yuma Kokohead's background check said he was a good cook. That's what instigated the arsenic and battery acid stew we nearly killed Yakou with.

Oh my god. Of course he became a ramen salesman and makes pretty good ramen.

We need to hire him. Maybe he can help us with the "only human flesh can properly feed homunculi" problem with his brilliant culinary expertise. Yuma Kokohead may be the key to this city's salvation.

Finally, the crux of Makoto's identity mystery: Why did he go to so much trouble to enter here?

Oh! Out of spite! Great. Load off my mind. Yuma, cut his head off and put it in a box.

If Yuma dies then he leaves evidence behind that could reveal Makoto's true nature. But if Yuma drops off the face of the universe then that's that. Only one version of Number One exists.

Of course, that's a double-edged sword. We can just as well leave Makoto in here, solving the problem of his perfect immortality.

Yeah. See. That's what I'm talking about when I say your problem is capitalist thinking. Rather than asking, "What can I do to help the people of my city?" you're instead thinking, "What business can I acquire to consolidate further wealth and power?"

You were never going to save this city with that attitude, my guy.