#and then suddenly they use a nickname for them and caretaker is like huh. no something is off

[whump-it-like-its-hot]

Sorry to hijack your post but

Imagine this happens when Whumpee is calling Caretaker on the phone

Like for example in a situation where Whumper is forcing Whumpee to call Caretaker, to pretend that everything is fine, but then at the end Whumpee uses this specific name for them, and Caretaker immediately knows that something is very wrong

And that way they can’t do anything about the situation immediately, because they still don’t know where Whumpee is or what happened, all they know is that they’re in danger and hmgfsndgrgfjrhdk <3

Whumpee screaming out to Caretaker, calling them a name they would only use if shit gets serious (ie, they usually call Caretaker a nickname, but calls them by their actual name when something bad happens.)

That was when Caretaker knew: Whumpee is in serious danger.

[blackberry-bloody]

Dayzel's rescue pt.2

Part 1 here

CWs: whumpee thinking caretaker is new whumper

“Mibium huh? So you’re the angel he used to scream for.” Dayzel heard Rupert remark from somewhere behind him. “I’m impressed. It took him almost a year before he bowed like that for me. I wonder-”

“You have the money, can we go now?” Mibium’s voice interrupted. He sounded tense… Frustration clear in his voice. Though Dayzel couldn’t tell if the frustration was directed at Rupert or him. Another wave of shudders wracked through him at the thought.

“He’s all yours.” Rupert called from behind, sounding all too smug.

“Damn right.” Mibium narrowed his eyes at Rupert and made a shoo-ing gesture with his hand. Followed by the sound of a door opening and closing. Leaving Dayzel alone with Mibium for the first time in over two years… But everything was different now. He was different now. A million thoughts and questions swam in his head but he didn’t dare voice any of them. Not before he knew what the consequences would be.

He suddenly flinched hard, earning a pained groan from his strained and tense muscles, feeling Mibium’s soft and warm hand against his freezing cold shoulder. He glanced up briefly at him, wanting to gauge his reaction, but Mibium had an unreadable expression. “I’m sorry.” It was all he could do… Apologize. Apparently he had a lot he would be apologizing for… One way or another. 

“It’s ok Dazzle. Let’s get you home, eh?” Mibium’s voice was soft… None of the anger before. But the use of his nickname felt twisted in the moment… A petname. All too fitting for right now. But all he could do was nod in agreement. He started to stand, only to find himself far too wobbly and weak in the knees. He almost went to try again, but Mibium stopped him and expertly scooped him up effortlessly. This was what Dayzel had wanted… What he’d dreamed about. What he’d begged for. For two years. But not like this… Never like this. He couldn’t take comfort in his former boyfriend turned owner’s hold. Not when he knew what kind of damage Mibium could… And probably would… Do to him. If he could pick Dayzel up and carry him down flights of stairs all the way to his big purple pickup truck, all without so much as breaking a sweat, he knew he would be able to effortlessly shatter Dayzel if he wanted. Dayzel was determined not to give him any more reason to…

Mibium finally put him down on the passenger seat of the truck, buckling him up and giving him a soft smile, before closing the door and walking around to the driver’s side. For a split second Dayzel thought about running. About running off and never looking back. But he shook the thought off… If He’d hurt Mibium this badly? Badly enough to buy him back like this for some form of closure or vengeance? Then he deserved to stay and take whatever punishment was coming to him. No more running.

Mibium climbed in the driver’s side, started the truck up, and they were on their way. Dayzel glanced over to the rearview mirror and watched as the place he’d been held for two years finally disappeared beyond the horizon. He only looked away when something was placed in his lap. Well… Three somethings. His favorite sweater and red pair of gloves. He looked up at Mibium who returned his gaze briefly. “Go on. You don’t even have a shirt on, you must be freezing. I held onto them for you.”

Dayzel hesitated, thinking about how the old him would quip back about him being an ice demon so the cold didn’t affect him, but instead all he could muster up was- “Why?” as he carefully pulled the sweater on over his head, his gloves following soon after. They felt good.

He knew asking was risky… But he had to know. And Mibium always had a way of pulling the real Dayzel out… For better or worse. It was one of the things Dayzel had loved- and feared- when they were together. And now was no exception.

“I knew I’d see you again. And I wanted you to have those for when we met again…” Mibium didn’t look over this time. Too focused on the barely lit roads taking them home. 

Dayzel wrung his hands in his lap, his tail wrapped around his leg tightly. “I… I don’t understand…” How long has Mibium been planning this revenge?

“That’s ok. We can talk more when we get you home.” Mibium half smiled and reached over to turn on the radio. 

Dayzel felt himself flush and shut his mouth, knowing when to take a hint now… Mibium was being kind in how he was telling Dayzel to shut the hell up. And for that he was grateful… He settled in for a long drive home, trying his best not to think about the inevitable.

—

Mibium was kind enough to carry Dayzel inside too. Placing him down on the couch in the living room before going to lock up the truck and front door. Dayzel looked around… It felt familiar. It felt like the closest thing to home since Beth had disowned him. There were a few things Mibium had changed, but it mostly was the same. He felt the tears starting…

He quickly tried to wipe them away before Mibium returned but he was too late. Mibium round the corner and looked at him. He took a step closer, opening his mouth to say something but Dayzel stopped him. There was no going back now… Might as well make the most of it.

“Why?! Why buy me back? What did I do?! What could I possibly have done that warrants this?!” Dayzel sobbed. Mibium, startled, took a step back. “I mean, I know I wasn’t a good boyfriend… But Come on! I- I was trying!”

“You didn’t do anything Dayzel…”

Dayzel burst out into a fit of tearful laughter. “I was that bad huh?” He shook his head… “Please… Just punish me. Or Kill me. Or whatever you’re gonna do to me. But - I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you I SWEAR!” The couch was freezing over along with him. Mibium took the chance to step closer and knelt down to be eye level.

“Dazzle listen to me… Why do you think I’m going to hurt you.”

“WHY?!” he looked at Mibium like he was crazy. “Because you bought me back as a PET!” He sobbed harder. He couldn’t control it now even if he wanted to.

“Is that what he told you?” Mibium’s voice cut through his panic and made him look up. He hesitated before nodding. “Dayzel… He ransomed you to me…”

“Oh…” was all Dayzel could manage before he broke completely and his body crumpled into Mibium in utter exhaustion, still sobbing into the larger man’s shoulder.

[flightysquip]

This is just a warmup drabble about my two main characters for my upcoming story. For reference, this is set waaaay in the past for the canon events that’ll actually happen in the novel. Brooklyn, the robot, starts out as Julian’s caretaker/nanny (the novel will take place after Julian’s an adult). Julian will grow up to be a trans man, but this is set before he’s come out/really comprehended that. All that out of the way, here’s the dumb drabble. If anyone reads this at all, I appreciate you immensely.

Truth be told, Brooklyn wanted to tell Mrs. Silva that he wouldn’t care to look at her either if he had a choice. Especially if he was her child. Still, he listened as she listed her concerns for the day.

“Oh,” She said tiredly, “And she’s going through a phase right now. She won’t respond unless you call her Julian. Petulant brat.” The arrogance in her voice betrayed the opulence of her youth, a stark contrast to the modest bungalow with the broken screen door they lived in now.

He supposed a more charitable bot might have taken the time to fix it himself. 

Brooklyn had never been the charitable type.

“Well, maybe he’s a Julian then,” Lyn—as was his preferred nomenclature—said flippantly. Just to watch her face sour.

“She. I have a little girl.”

“Whatever.” And then, remembering who was paying his salary, he backtracked, voice smoother, softer. Humans, especially fully grown humans, required so much placating. High maintenance creatures, the lot of them. “It’s normal for children to engage in make believe fantasies. Repressing them may give Juli—ah, Augusta a complex, and prove further detriment to their-”

“Her.”

“-her mental health. And don’t you think Gussy could use all the normality she can get?”

Mrs. Silva made a non-commital noise, the sort of sound that indicated Lyn had won this round. As he always did. Damn he was good.

“Just work on the eye contact today, okay? It’s bizarre and unsettling.”

He raised his hand in mock salute. “Can do, Mrs. S.”

Her nose crinkled in distaste, though she chose not to say anything as she walked out the front door (though not without cursing the broken screen for swinging back and hitting her).

Lyn’s smile slipped, his multicolored eyes rolling (a worthy investment of an upgrade, if you asked him. One eye color? Boring. Weak. White sclera? Disgusting. He needed a little style in his life). His steps bounced as he walked to his child client’s room.

Small humans, Lyn thought, were the most tolerable of humans. And such was certainly the case with-

“Julian, huh?”

As expected, the dark haired child didn’t look up. Sitting sprawled on the ground, his prosthetic sitting propped against the wall, his-

Wait. What pronouns was he supposed to use? Mrs. Silva was right about one thing, after all. His client was a child. An extremely vulnerable child at that. Perhaps he was reading too much into a simple name preference.

“Yes,” Julian finally said, fingers moving over the LEGO spread out before him...her...they? No it’d be them. Lyn’s processors would be working overtime today. 

“And why’s that?”

“Because I’m a Julian.”

“Ah. I see. That’s what I said to your mother.”

“She thinks I’m a girl.” 

“I see. And you’re…?”

“Julian.”

Fuck it, they/them it was until Julian stopped being so vague. Or, hell, maybe they were a them. What did Lyn care? He got paid either way.

He crouched down. “What are you doing here?”

“Building.”

“What are you building?”

“Stuff.” There was a brief pause, their green eyes moving upward, staring vaguely at Lyn’s forehead. “And things.”

Lyn chuckled softly. “Stuff and things. My favorite.”

“No, you like hot cheetos and Dr. Phil.” Another block slotted into place.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, kiddo.” Lyn plopped back onto his ass, legs similarly sprawled as Julian’s (though considerably longer). “Hey, can you do me a favor?”

“What?”

“Your mom keeps harping at me. You know what she’s harping about?”

Julian sighed, a low, disappointed sound, head bowing so that the curls in their hair bounced. “Eyes.”

“Yeah, that’s right! Eyes. Listen. People might think it’s rude if you don’t look them in the eyes. And you don’t want that, do you?”

For a moment, he expected them to say they didn’t give a damn what anyone thought. 

Except Julian certainly wasn’t Brooklyn.

“No,” They said softly. “I want friends.”

Something ached within Lyn’s circuits. He ignored it. “Yeah, that’s right. And you have to fit in to make friends.”

Something double-ached within Lyn’s circuits. He ignored it harder.

“Just practice with me, okay? My eyes are pretty, after all.”

“I guess.”

“You guess?”

“Were they expensive?”

Another small laugh from Lyn. “They’re an investment, kid. A worthy investment.” He resituated himself, kneeling before Julian. He took both of their hands into his own. “Just try it for me, okay? Just for a few seconds?”

And so they did, eyes flickering upward, at first focusing on the tip of his nose, then finally settling onto Lyn’s own.

Pupils, Lyn thought abruptly. He’d forgotten to commission pupils when he’d gotten his own eyes put in.  Goddammit.

Julian’s lip quivered, as they suddenly looked away. Breath heavy, their arms wrapped around themself, head giving a small shake of disapproval.

“Jules,” The nickname sat comfortable against his tongue. They must be right, he thought. They were definitely a Julian, no matter how anything else stacked up. “C’mon. Your mom really wants you to be…”

“Good?”

Lyn couldn’t bring himself to agree. He was an asshole, sure, and humans were worthless, double-sure, but this was just a kid. A sweet, vulnerable kid. Plus it was sort of his job to be nice to the little squirt.

“Let’s try once more.”

Two or three tries later, Julian seemed no closer to finding comfort in eye contact. Lyn scraped his fingers through his blond hair, finally changing directions.

“Why don’t you like it, Julian?”

“What?”

“Looking me in the eyes. Am I really that ugly?”

He expected a giggle, but Julian glanced up (albeit at his shoulder), shaking their head. “No.”

“I know. I’m gorgeous.”

“I don’t know about that.” But a very small smile touched on their lips, and Lyn couldn’t help but giggle.

“Alright, alright, pick on the robot. Typical human oppressor. I see how it is.” Lyn forced himself to sound more serious. “But what is it? Does it hurt?”

“No.”

“Uncomfortable?”

Julian hesitated a moment, then nodded.

“Why is that?”

“I don’t know.”

He considered telling them that certainly they must know. But perhaps the issue was just that they lacked the words. “Uncomfortable. Alright. Because you forget to blink?”

Julian smiled, shaking their head.

“Iris colors too bright?”

“No.”

So it must not be a physical discomfort. What were some human concepts about the eye? Windows to the soul, right? Yes, he was certain that was the-

Oh.

Voice softer, as he reached out to pet their hair, Lyn asked, “Does it feel intrusive?”

Julian hesitated again, eyes now on the floor. One of their fingers pushed at a LEGO. 

“Do you know what that means?”

They shook their head.

“Does it feel...ah, how do I put this?  Rude? Like you’re snooping, maybe?”

“Yes.” There was no hesitation there. “People want to be private. It feels...it feels...intrusal, like you said.”

“Intrusive.”

“Intrusive,” Julian repeated back, a little pleased at the act of finding a new word.

And certainly their discomfort wasn’t a feeling that Lyn felt himself, but he could see the logic. The intimacy of eye contact could certainly feel overwhelming, like a prying act.

Which meant-

“You’re not trying to be rude at all, are you?” He took Julian’s hands again. “You’re trying to be polite. To give people their privacy. Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, honey-” He stopped. His monologue about how wrong Julian was in his perception, about how Eye Contact Is Good Actually, felt too authoritarian, too callous.

Too human.

Lyn pressed his lips firmly together, one hand moving away from Julian’s hands to rest against their shoulder. “There is nothing rude, or bad, or broken about you, Julian. You and me, we’re just wired different. But that’s okay. You know that’s okay, right?”

Julian briefly glanced up, before offering a small shrug of their shoulders.

“You are a very good person, Julian. You’re good, and you’re valid, and if you don’t want to look anyone in the eyes, well, fuck ‘em, you don’t have to.”

Oh, maybe using profanity around a child wasn’t the right move.

But Julian giggled, just a little.

“You’ll find the people who matter. Screw the superficial pricks-” Bad language again, shit, “-uh, jerks who think eye contact and social convention is soooo important. And hey, as far as friends go, you have me, right?”

He expected, for a moment, Julian to scoff. Why would they want a robot for a friend?

Julian shuffled closer instead, small arms wrapping around Lyn’s torso, face smushed against his chest. “Thank you.”

“Well, I mean, there’s really nothing to thank me for.” Gently, he brushed his palm against their back. “Do you want to come with me in the kitchen and watch me make mozzarella sticks? I found a new recipe. Flaming hot cheetos for the breading.”

“You would.” Still, Julian held up their arms to be picked up. Lyn scooped them up, balancing them on his hip as he carried them to the kitchen.

No eye contact required, after all, for simple cooking ventures.

[tomboyjessie13-artblog]

Meeting the Fourth Shadow (KH: Remembrance of Days)

~The following story takes place during the events of 358/2 Days, and at the end of the first arc of my story~

Neashi Tamiki, a streetwise individual who lives in Sunset Hill, Twilight Town, in truth she once lived on the Destiny Islands before the Heartless attacked, because of that experience she lost her memories of her past life as a human. That's right, she's a humanoid Nobody who lost her heart and her memories of her friends, she can't remember their faces nor their names...but, it's slowly started to come back to her. and since her heart and will was strong, she can live on as a Nobody, why she knew that? You'd know when you spent sometime in Twilight Town.

During the time she had no memories, she was nursed back to health by the two old women who lived across town, she was also nicknamed "Midori" due to her green hair, even after she got most of her memories back, she still allowed them to call her by that name out of respect for her caretakers. But it didn't last long, her caretakers soon notified her of her "relative" and that they want her to return home. In reality, however, it was just a trap that she couldn't escape from, to lure her into a scheme, a Project lead by the mysterious and cryptic [Mr. Pere Noel].

All of that was three months ago.

She had just returned from her job at the garage, where she had to push cargo to it or fix vehicles. She lived in a two bedroom apartment picked out by the so-called "relative", though she uses the second bedroom for her paintings and drawings. Needless to say, this arrangement was done to prevent bystanders from getting involved. She kicks off her shoes by the door and walked into the living room where she can just lie on the couch, she fell on it faced down on a pillow...But just as she was about to drift off to sleep...

"...Beep beep beep, beep beep beep...beep beep beep, beep beep beep..."

She looked and saw that her laptop was beeping like crazy, to be frank, it didn't surprise her one bit, mainly because it was no ordinary laptop, it's used to make contact with her and vise-versa, and now she has to work with that person; [Mr. Pere Noel].

"Ugh, what now?" she groaned as she sat up to grab the laptop, she leaned back and opened it to find that it's has been on for hours, the screen was just a picture of a red circle in the center.

"Hello, [Fifth Pierrot]. Did I catch you in a bad time?" The voice in her laptop said using her code-name as a light red line in the center of the circle moves when he speaks, it was all distorted to hide his/her identity, but a name like [Mr. Pere Noel], Neashi can tell that he's a man.

"What do you think?" She said with irritation in her voice, "I just got back from my job at the garage, I'm tired, I smell, and my back is killing me and you had to pick this exact moment to bother me in a time like this? What more could you want with me?!"

The man with a distorted voice chuckled, "My apologies, friend, it's just that I'm calling to tell you I'm not going to be bothering you like this anymore." Hearing this, her face turned from irritation to confusion, asking:

"What?"

"I'm saying that your no longer under my thumb anymore."

From hearing that, Neashi let out a sigh of relief. "Well, it's about time." Finally, after all the dirty work she went through, from stealing from rich people's homes to killing rare Heartless to trying to interrogating Powerful Nobodies residing in downtown Twilight Town, she was free, "After everything you have done to me, I can finally take a break." She laid on her couch in a relaxing position.

"Indeed... however."

She perked her head up. "However what?"

"That doesn't mean your off the hook."

She jumped up, "What!? I done everything that almost got me arrested because of you!"

"That was just Phase One of our deal, but I have other businesses to attended to so I couldn't be bothered with you, luckily I have another "Intern" who is VERY eager to meet you."

"Another Intern?"

"Yes, the one you'll be meeting is named [Fourth Shadow], you are to go to Sunset Station and wait for the Dusks, they will take you to the Nobody Territory of "Long Shi City" in Land of the Dragons, you are to meet with him in at 6:40 on the dot."

Land of the Dragons, she had heard of that world multiple times from the Dusks, but she was too angry to think about it. "Are you kidding? I'm still doing this shady business? And now you're gonna get one of your interns to boss me around? You're a pathetic coward and a tyrant!" She yelled before punching the laptop screen with her fist, causing injury to her hand. Neashi winced in pain from the cuts and busted knuckles. "Ngh...Dammit...Curaga." Neashi called out, green colored vines and yellow flowers started to swirl around her hand, healing her injury.

"...I must say...you have a lot of brute strength, Pierrot." [Mr. Pere Noel] said suddenly, Neashi was baffled on how the chat can still operate despite having a busted screen. "So long, [Fifth Pierrot]...we'll meet again another time...Until...hen...play nice...with...[Fou...ha..do..." The laptop shorted out, never to be used again. Neashi sighed irritably, she took the busted laptop and threw it in the garbage in the kitchen in a rage. As she was cooling down, she looked up at the clock on the wall and saw that she only has an hour and thirty-five minutes left, knowing that she too is a Nobody, talking to other Nobodies wouldn't be much trouble.

"Well...if I gonna meet this [Fourth Shadow] dude, I might as well start cleaning up.". She said as she dug through her closet to find clothes for the said world, most of it, however, is just clothing from Twilight Town. "Ahh, these will do." She grabbed out a pair of black thick high-heeled boots that reach her ankles, a pair dark grey leggings, a dark green turtleneck dress that goes down to above her knees, and a black leather coat with buttons.

Later-

She got to Sunset Station as planned, just 15 minutes till 6:40, the sun has already gone down but the sky was colored in a lovely shade of cerulean blue. She sat on the bench and waited for them to arrive, she checked herself in her flip phone's camera to see if she looked alright, finding that she's wearing brown eyeshadow and her trademark lip piercing in the form of rings. Just then a corridor opened up and a white slim hand beaconed her to come with it, Neashi knew who's hand it belongs to, she got up and and stopped by the corridor. As expected, the one that beaconed was the Dusk that [Mr. Pere Noel] mentioned, how was he able to tame Nobodies? Never mind that, her thoughts were interrupted when it threw a black cloak at her.

"Hm?" She looked at the cloak with curiosity, "What's this for, I'm already wearing a coat?" She asked, the Dusk started hissing. To people, Dusks sounds like they're hissing, but in reality, they're actually talking, mainly to other Nobodies. "To protect me from Darkness?" The Dusk nodded, she looked at the cloak again, she just shrugged and threw it on her shoulders as they continued on through the corridor, they kept on walking for a few minutes until she saw a pale red light at the end. Upon entering through it, she became stunned, mouthed agape. There were buildings built alongside a mountain, covered in bright electrical lights and paper lanterns, and is populated with both Lesser and Humanoid Nobodies, this is one of the Nobodies' Territories [Mr. Pere Noel] talked about; "Long Shi City".

"Whoooooa." Neashi said in amazement, aside from Traverse Town that she went to sometime ago with one of her awful clients, she's practically in another world outside of that and Twilight Town; Land of the Dragons, she had heard this world is really ancient, though this spot is both a mixture of ancient and modern culture due to the Nobodies coming from outside of this world, surprising that no human had found this area. Everywhere she looked filled her with delight, the buildings, lights, clothes, and the delicious smell of food in the air, she can also see that the Humanoid Nobodies having a good time...or at least they're acting like it due to having no hearts.

"My goodness, this place is beautiful!" She said in a bright tone, Neashi is quite a sucker for art of any kind, including architecture. "OOF!" She bumped into the Dusk she was following, the Dusk had stopped in front of her for some reason, "Sorry, what's wrong?" The Dusk then turned itself to the left and pointed at a nearby ally. In the ally was a red gate-like door with letters she couldn't understand, is that an entrance to a garden or a brothel? There's only one way to find out, she started walking to the door. The more she got close, the stronger the scent becomes, and scent that filled her with two feelings: delight and hunger, she sniffed the air as she got closer, "...Mmmm, something smells really good.". As she would have thought, the Dusk led her to a traditional Chinese restaurant, but why here?

There was a young woman, wearing an orange short-sleeved Cheongsam with red lining, was waiting at the gates, she looked at Neashi, "Your name, young lady?"

"Huh? oh, Neashi Tamiki."

The woman looked at the list in her hand, "Ah yes, his Lordship reserved a booth for both of you, he's waiting for you right now, please follow me." She gestured inside, what does she mean by "Lordship"? Was she talking about [Fourth Shadow]? Oh well, at least she'll have something to eat, she did as the woman told her to and followed her into the place, the whole restaurant is crowded with more Humanoid Nobodies, there also seems to be a bar ran by another Dusk, only this time it's wearing a velvet red vest with a black bowtie. The decor of the place was as breathtaking as her walk through town...though the only thing that stood out was the Nobodies' symbol hanging on the wall near the kitchen, colored in gold.

She kept on following the woman until they got an empty private booth in the other room. "Was someone supposed to be here?" Neashi asked.

"Oh yes, he must be in the restroom or something, but I'm sure his Lordship will turn up soon." She answered, "In the meantime, you can take your seat, your food will arrive soon."

"Oh goody." She said with some enthusiasm in her voice as she took her seat, as mentioned before she enjoys art of any kind, not only in architecture but in culinary as well. A few minutes had past and nothing seems to had happened yet, didn't [Mr. Pere Noel] mention that his intern was supposed to be here? Neashi then put her phone away as it was gonna die soon, so she's left with no distraction, but was quickly taken out of it by the waitresses carrying food around, erasing her troubles.

"Looks good, huh [Fifth Pierrot]?" Neashi jumped when someone said that. Neashi turned and saw a man across the table from where she was sitting, the most notable features of his appearance is the fact that he's wearing a black cloak with a hood over his head, covering his face.

"How'd you know my name, Nobody!?" She asked in shock, she couldn't believe that she's sitting with a member of Organization XIII, a group of the most powerful yet dangerous Nobodies in existence, the very rulers of all Nothingness.

"Should be no surprise to you considering that you're a Nobody yourself." He said changing the subject. There was awkward silence between, Neashi didn't know how to respond to that.

She gulped, "Alright, listen... as much as I like to talk to one of the rulers of all Nobody-kind, I was actually waiting for someone important." She said while trying not to look nervous.

"Let me guess, is it: [Fourth Shadow]?" The cloaked man answered.

"Yeah!..wait, how'd you know that?" She tilted her head to the side. "And how did you know my name?"

"Heh heh heh." He let out a dark chuckle as he leaned forward on the table, before answering: "Guess."

Neashi looked at him with confusion in her eyes, though his face is hidden, she could've sworn that he smiled at her under his hood, after moments of thinking, her jaw instantly dropped upon realization of who he is.

"You're [Fourth Shadow]?!"

"Bingo!" He said pointing at her nose.

"All this time I've been working with Organization XIII?!"

"Mayyyyybe." He replied in a voice that makes him sound childish, "However, what's going right now is just between us and the Organization so try to keep it down, will ya? We don't want any bystanders listening for us." Neashi, though shocked at first, quickly calmed down and nodded quietly, she shifted herself on her seat to got conformable and asked:

"What does [Mr. Pere Noel] want with me?"

"Why, to take part in the [Project: Pere Noel] of course." He replied with a laid-back smile, his arms were also raised up to his head. "It's a project financed by our leader, Lord Xemnas, The Superior of the In-Between."

"[Project: Pere Noel]?" She asked, she lowering her head as if ashamed, she then let out a soft chuckle before raising her head with a look of disappointment. "Having a title like that makes it feel like I'm a lab rat to the Organization." She said with a half-hearted smile.

"Ok ok." he said waving his left hand, "Maybe that have came out the wrong wa-."

"Oh no, I like the name, but from what [Mr. Pere Noel] put me through, I can't show respect for him nor the project." The man sitting across from her frowned for a bit, it's as if what Neashi said offended him, but then he grinned and laughed it off. "I'd be pretty mad too if I was used as a tool, but the sad part that we don't have any Hearts to feel that way."

"Figures." She rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, are you aware of the roles that the Project does?"

"Well..., there are others as I heard, and I had performed some decent missions that almost got me arrested, and I learned about tons of Heartless I thought that never existed, that's all I know."

"Good Good."

"But isn't that job for the Organization? I mean I heard they only allow thirteen in the group."

"Hehehe, I thought so too, however.." He leaned forward on the table resting on his elbows. "A while back we'd received a 14th member, that and we lost 5 of our members during their stay at Castle Oblivion...some in which are said to be traitors, it kinda stopped our project for a bit but [Mr. Pere Noel] thought it would be wise to secretly train new recruits into the Organization to see if they're more worthy than our late comrades."

"Is that so?" She asked.

"Absolutely." Just then a waitress, wearing a green Cheongsam with yellow lining, came with a big plate asking:

"Who ordered the Stir Fry Chicken, Pork Dumplings, fried rice, and a side of Baijiu and Green Tea?"

"That's us!" [Fourth Shadow] called out to the waitress, she placed the food and drinks on the table.

"Here you go, your Lordship, enjoy."

"Thanks." After the waitress left, he noticed Neashi setting her sight on the pork buns with eagerness in her eyes, mouthwatering and all. "Dig in, Pierrot, I ordered it for both of us."

"Well don't mind if I do." She complied as she grabbed one of the buns and started eating it.

"So as I was saying, he's secretly recruiting Outsider Nobodies, which is what you are, into [Project: Pere Noel] in hopes that one of the few recruits are the most suitable comrades to join our fold." He said sipping on Baijiu. "Or at the very least replace the ones we lost." While setting up her plate for the rice and stir fry, she raised an eyebrow and asked:

"And your point is?"

"My point is that its sort of like a contest except for more beneficial reasons, some of the Members, myself included, are tasked to observe you guys." Neashi was quite interested in what the hooded man was talking about.

"You're friends are on board as well?"

"That's right, but right now its just the two of us." He explained as he made himself a plate as well. "Me, who goes by the name of [Fourth Shadow] as you already know, and Saix, the Superior’s right hand man, is [First Santa Clause]."

"Going for a Twisted Christmas theme huh?" She joked, but then her grin faltered when something came into her mind. "...Who is [Mr. Pere Noel] anyways...is it your Boss?"

"I'm not telling ya, we're keeping his identity confidential." He responded in a more serious tone. "If I did tell you, both of us would be dead by now." Neashi then formed a very mischievous smirk as she leaned back on her seat, lifting her left hand to her chin and gesturing it like if she was about to let out a laugh.

"Hm hm hm." She laughed through her nose, the hooded man was quite surprised by her change in attitude, it's as if she has mood swings, she then spoke again: "I never knew you were scared of your own bosses to not spill it."

"...As if." He rebuffed, he looked like he was forming a sneer underneath his hood. "You're not planning to stick around with the project just so you can get [Mr. Pere Noel]'s identity, are you?" He said tilting his head to the side, Neashi then lowered her hand and continued talking, this time in a more serious tone.

"...Stupid and reckless, yes, but he abducted me from the two old ladies who nursed me back to health, made me look and act like a complete fool, not to mention that I almost got arrested because of all the heists I had to do for him, that in turn caused several criminals to get their hands on me just to do more heists... even as a Nobody, I felt my first emotion from all of this...rage...therefore I plan to get close to him, and to have my revenge on him, he deserves punishment for what he did to me..." She was silent for a moment, but then looked at him in the eyes with another smirk, saying: "...and besides..." She leaned forward to his hooded face, she had just noticed that he has a very jagged scar across his left cheek. "...I can tell that you may be the type of guy who enjoys a game or two."

She leaned back on her seat, still giving him that smirk. From hearing all of that, the hooded man formed a Cheshire cat-like grin towards the green-headed tomboy and began to laugh loudly, "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I like your attitude, Princess, you have what it takes to be a formidable comrade and foe...however." He said as he removed his hood, revealing that he not only possesses the aforementioned scar but also an eyepatch over his right eye, his other eye was colored in a golden yellow, he also has prominent cheekbones, upturn eyebrows, and long black hair with grey streaks tied into a ponytail, judging by his appearance alone, its possible that he could be old. "...Don't think I'm gonna go easy on you, as the their Freeshooter, I promise you that I'll won't hesitate to rain hell on you if you even try to get close to the Project's founder...buuuuut I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt in tracking him down."

"So that's gonna be your game?...trying to prevent me from knowing too much?"

"Yep." He said, still grinning. Neashi thought about this for a moment, she then looked at him with determination in her eyes.

"Very well, Let the games begin, [Fourth Shadow]." She stuck her hand towards him, "Shake on it?" He took her hand and started to shake it vigorously. "Y'know I never actually got your name." She said after they stopped.

"I go by many names from enemies and friends alike, I'm mostly called Xigbar." He answered. "And yours?"

"Neashi Tamiki." She answered back, immediately she noticed that he frowned. "Does my name offend you?"

"No...its just...I felt like I heard it somewhere before...". His answer left her confused, have they met before? Later in the evening, once they're done with the food they ordered, Neashi looked over at the check and asked:

"Do you have any munny to pay for all this?"

He looked to her with a mischievous grin and answered: "As if." And as a result: Neashi was left to pay for the food, losing the munny she needed for a new art book she had her eyes on. Indicating that he's already giving her a hard time on the very first hour.

END

~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Long Shi City is a fictional city I created, it's based on the real-life cities of Dali, China and Jiufen, Taiwan. It also translates to Dragon in Chinese. **Baijiu is Chinese white wine ***Pere Noel is french for "Father Christmas" or "Santa Clause", the project and code names are deprived from the criminal organization under the same name from the Vocaloid song series: The Evillious Chronicles.

[thefifthclown]

Part 1, Chapter 4-The New “Pere Noel”; Scene 3

Fifth, Pierrot, pages 129-136

Two days later, in the dead of night, Lemy once more came to visit the brothel.

With Julia.

After he’d killed Yuzette and listened to the owner’s proposed favor, Lemy had returned home and reported what happened to Julia. Including the fact that “Third, Sleep Princess” wanted to meet with her, and that Ney had told him she was the “Eternal Sorceress”.

Julia had agreed to meet with the owner. She seemed to believe Lemy’s story only halfway, but had judged that she wouldn’t learn anything without meeting with her anyway.

The president couldn’t be seen publicly visiting a brothel. For that reason, the both of them were hiding their faces with hoods.

“Welcome to my humble business.”

When they knocked on the door, the owner herself came out to invite them in.

They were led to a narrow room. After making sure there was no one else around, Julia took off her hood and exposed her face.

“Long time no see.”

The moment the owner said that, Julia’s expression grew suspicious.

“My my, but I’m quite sure you and I have never met before?”

“Yes. Certainly Margarita Blankenheim has never met you face to face. The person she thought was Julia Abelard was your shadow—‘Fourth, Shadow’.”

Julia silently listened to her talk.

“However, that’s not the case for the ‘Clockworker’s Doll’. Isn’t that right? –Mother.”

“…You’ve recovered your memories…Is that right?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“That is a fact Elluka would have no way of knowing…However, I can’t trust your word on that alone. There’s a chance Elluka simply heard that from Margarita.”

Julia sat down in a plain chair in the room.

“Tell me. If you are ‘Third, Sleep Princess’, why are you now in Elluka?”

“—Margarita killed herself by drinking her own ‘gift’. …However, I didn’t die. Rather, at that time the ‘true me’ awakened.”

Lemy had no idea what she was talking about, but it seemed Julia did.

“…Continue.”

“I went to Held’s forest, and there reunited with Elluka. When I told her everything, she lost her head, and tried to take certain measures towards me. Using her magic, she tried to bring me into herself.”

“—The Swap Technique.”

“Exactly. But her plan went off the rails. My spiritual power exceeded hers. I was instead able to successfully take control of her body. I won, heheheheh.”

The owner gave a stifled laugh.

Julia gazed at her for a short while, as though to make certain of who she was looking at.

“—That makes sense. But there’s no proof to substantiate your story…Where’s the doll?”

“I’ve left it somewhere. I don’t remember where. I had no further need of it, you see.”

Upon hearing that, Julia quietly tsked.

“That might be the case for you, but not me. Without that doll, I can’t believe you.”

“Well then, I’ll show you some different proof. –Jacqueline! Come in here a moment!” The owner suddenly called someone, raising her voice.

“--! What are you—”

Julia probably had reasoned that it would be ill-advised for someone else to see her there. She quickly put the hood back on.

“Did you need something, Madam?”

A young woman entered the room. She approached the owner, not sparing a glance for Julia and Lemy.

“I’m thirsty. Bring me some water.”

“Of course…Right away.”

“Ah, wait a second.”

The owner stopped Jacqueline as she turned around to leave.

“You need to properly introduce yourself to our guests.”

“Huh!?” Jacqueline flusteredly looked around the room. “…What are you talking about, Madam? there’s no one here.”

“Oh, I guess there isn’t.”

“Well then, excuse me….Good grief, you say the strangest things sometimes, Madam.” The girl left the room, grumbling to herself.

“Well then—is that enough for you to believe me?”

The owner turned back to Julia with a smile on her face.

“’Hypnosis Magic’—I was helped out by that power of yours many times in the past.”

Julia grinned.

“Indeed. Elluka Clockworker could never use such a powerful technique as this.”

“As far as I am aware, there’s only one person in this world who can—Welcome back, ‘Sleep Princess’.”

The tension seemed to leave Julia’s body, but Lemy watching from the side knew.

That Ney had called Elluka his mother’s “arch enemy”.

That if this brothel owner was Elluka, then it might not be out of place for a duel to begin here.

“What happened to your legs, for you to be in a wheelchair?”

“I told you I won, but Elluka didn’t leave me unscathed. It wasn’t a straightforward thing. The battle of our spirits took a proportionate toll on this body. And so I have become unable to use my lower half.”

“Then that body’s no good. We’ll have to prepare a new one for you eventually. –Once we find one that can accept your spirit.”

“Take as much time looking as you need. Is it alright if I stay by your side once more until then?”

“That’s fine. But I won’t have time to clean you up and take care of you, the way you are.”

“That’s no problem. I too have an attendant. --Come in, Gumillia.”

The owner once more called out.

A green haired girl entered.

Upon seeing her, Julia’s expression once more shifted.

“What are you doing here—”

“Relax. I’ve put her under a powerful hypnosis. Right now Gumillia is my loyal apprentice and caregiver. She won’t take any hostile action against you.”

The owner brightly clapped Gumillia on the back. When she did, Gumillia deeply bowed where she stood.

“Pleased…to work with you.”

On seeing that, the owner nodded in satisfaction.

“Hey, Miss Santa. If possible, I’d like for her to be made a member of Pere Noel—of Sept, if you could. You know of her strength quite well, yes?”

“…Quite unpleasantly, at that. She killed ‘Fourth, Shadow’, and dealt me a great deal of injury once, a long time ago. –So for that reason I can’t just let her in. If something were to happen and her hypnosis were to break, then she’d undoubtedly become a threat.”

“Then how about keeping her around as a spare? Perhaps as the eighth member of Sept. She won’t interact with any members outside of me, and won’t be told anything essential. In either case, it’ll be quite inconvenient for me if I can’t have my caretaker by my side.”

“Well…I suppose it can’t be helped.”

Julia looked over Gumillia again.

“—She’s got a gun. I received a report from Venom that Elluka’s apprentice used a gun with magic in it.”

“Yes, it’s true.”

“So then, we’ll call her ‘Eighth, Sniper’. She—and ‘Elluka’ as well are wanted by the World Police. We need to keep from using your real names around others as much as possible. So then…for you should we use ‘Third, Sleep Princess’ like we did before?”

But the owner shook her head.

“I wouldn’t mind that, but I have been reborn like this. I might as well get a new nickname, too.”

“The only positions open right now are ‘Fourth’ and ‘Seventh’.”

“Well then, let’s use ‘Seventh, Magician’. I’ll inherit the name of poor, dead Isabel. That way she’ll be able to rest in peace, at least a little.”

“Isabel—the false name Yuzette used. What did you do with the body?”

“I reported her death as being by illness. Her corpse doesn’t look like it in the least, but I obscured that with hypnotism. Anyway…the only vacancy now is ‘Fourth, Shadow’…”

The owner, the new ‘Seventh, Magician’, suddenly looked at Lemy, who had been silent this entire time.

“That being that only he can perceive--How about making ‘Ney’ into ‘Fourth, Shadow’? A ‘shadow’ that no one else can see…It’s certainly appropriate, don’t you think?”

“That wouldn’t mean anything. Even if ‘Ney’ became a member, she wouldn’t be able to serve any use.”

“You think so? I can tell at the very least that she can complement ‘Fifth, Pierrot’ in the areas where he’s lacking.”

Listening to them speak, Lemy spoke up to Ney.

“What do you think, Ney?”

…I don’t care one way or the other. This is stupid.

“She says she’s for it.”

There, Jacqueline returned carrying the water.

“Here Madam. I’ve brought it over.”

“Thank you.”

Jacqueline left, leaving the glass of water on the table.

“So then—” Magician raised the glass high. “To the rebirth of the new ‘Pere Noel’…cheers.”

Of course, only Magician had a glass.

It was a worthless toast.

<<prev------directory------next>>

[x0401x]

Yuukei Roadshow Reports and Highlights

Compilation of info found on Twitter and Privatter. Many thanks to ayara-resara for indicating them all!

Translations Index || Next Show >>

@taro4oto2:

Me: Jin-san, in your mind, what kind of adult will Kisaragi Shintarou become in the future...? Jin: Ah~! Kisaragi Shintarou, huh; he is who he is~. I’m thinking of writing songs concerning him from now on too. I’m currently 28, and if I think about him at around this age... I guess he’d probably be a teacher or something like it.

@BlueD01:

“Jin-san, what do you think Momo-chan will be in the future?” Jin-san: Let’s see... *thinks a little* An actress, I guess. “‘An actress’?” *thought process stops* Jin-san: She might also go... overseas. (Memory is faint here.) “Ooh.” Jin-san: I want to write these stories about the future next time. (At last.) “Thank you very much!”

@920ms:

My hands were shaking during Jin-san’s autograph session. Hella.

Although it was a commemorative autograph section for the release of MekaRelo, I’d wanted to tell him no matter what that I get strength from listening to Otsukimi Recital when I have to lighten up... So, I told him this, but I accidentally ended up babbling that Hibiya and Momo’s interactions were the most interesting to me and that I liked them a lot. And then Jin-san said, “I like them too! What will happen to them from now on?? I’m really curious!” as if to dig into it.

Of course I knew that he liked Hibiya and Momo’s combo, but the “What will happen to them from now on?” has been echoing in my brain the entire time... I had a bunch of other things to say, like, “The songs of Momo’s friends are also the best” and, “I’d been listening to Mekakucity Days/Records/Reload a~~ll the time coming the way here”, but my attention was drawn too hard by Jin’s words, so I couldn’t do it...

@BrainBurnShout:

Started with an explosive crossfade.

The host was the woman in charge of KADOKAWA’s Mekakucity Talkers (she’s a beauty).

Jin entered the stage slurping the Shissou Word-themed drink like, “I’d wanted to eat the pancakes but they sold out before I got to it.”

He had his first impression of VOCALOID with “Melt”.

The origin of his conceptualization of “stories told through music” stemmed from Kinniku Shoujo Tai and The Who.

He had planned on the narrative even before Jinzou Enemy, and while gathering up the pattern usage of “a story that ~ the eyes”, the first one he came up with was the one that “locks the eyes”.

One sentence of the initial concept that remained in his PC was: “Medusa does not come out of her house.” (original text)

KagePro is a “curse from his 19-year-old self” because his period of training was long.

He struggles with the consistency of the plot, like, “This and that don’t connect!” and, “That’s my old self~”.

During the innitialization of his PC, he interpreted the “name registration” wrong and accidentally named his PC “Frederica”.

*PC falls down the stairs during moving* Jin: FREDERICAAAAAA!!!!!

He had the ending of the story decided from the beginning.

Due to this, he couldn’t introduce new characters even though he’d always wanted to.

He’s been writing the sequel while thinking that if it turns out impossible to publish, then so be it.

Host: Are you going to make them reincarnate in a parallel world? Jin: That would be a spin-off... like, “Kagerou Quest” or something.

What hides beneath Ayano’s gentleness was something he’d come up with since the initial stages. (He didn’t mention it on Twitter or the like, though.)

[In regards of a question about “becoming an adult”] Jin: Until joining (Edword) Records, I had been in the position of Big Bro, but now I’m a full-fledged Uncle.

Since he’s an adult, he has to pay taxes. He’s been somehow making ends meet with the money that everyone bought the CD with.

[In regards of a question by an Asahiner from the audience about My Funny Weekend] The cheerful verses like the one that goes, “move forward” were said by Hiyori.

The Asahiner who had been waiting all this time for a Hiyori song is overcome with emotion.

The reason why there wasn’t a Hiyori song from the start is that, “If I had included her, everyone’s worries would have been relatively...”

Jin-san: Hiyori-sama.

He has the image of the adult Mekakushi-dan.

It seems Kido will be a caretaker in an orphanage.

When he talked about that image to Sidu-san, the MV’s adult!Kido was suddenly brought up. Jin: Did you turn her into an adult already? Sidu: Should I not have done that?

Hibiya will be an archeologist, and since the Medusa is said to have her roots abroad, he might do a research on that.

Even in Jin-san’s own mind, there are many interpretations: “So and so will get married”, “No, it’ll be so and so”. “The one Shintarou will marry is Haruka!” *audience acclaims*

Jin-san will write the interpretation of the winner of his peerless inner fight.

Haruka is main heroine.

Rather than saying that the albums go from 1st and 2nd to the 3rd, it’s more like the 1st and 2nd are an omnimbus and the 3rd is a backside.

What he depicted with Imaginary Reload was the strength of Mary, who isn’t there just to be protected.

The top was reached by drawing out the 274BPM Konoha~

Remind Blue has parts of Summer Time Record that he hadn’t been able to write about.

It was supposed to be Shintarou’s song, but the lyrics turned out as something that applies to everyone. (Seto has his own Remind Blue and it might be that Kano thinks the same things.)

As a result of Jin-san’s definition of friends, which is “we think alike even without saying anything”, it ended up becoming a song about the whole Mekakushi-dan.

From Jin-san’s childhood experiences, fireworks = summer’s end (an element also used in the novels).

Therefore, the English version of “Wasurete Shimatta Natsu no Owari ni” is “Fireworks in the Summer End”.

@ndfakvnico:

Shissou Word “She’s bad with words, and I’m the same as her, so I made that into a song.”

Additional Memory A song about regret. Jin-san’s grandfather passed away, and for a while upon coming to Tokyo, he hadn’t been able to see him at all. After the funeral, Jin-san found a file with cutouts of himself from magazines that his grandfather had kindly gathered up. He regretted not having been able to convey anything to him.

Lost Day Hour A song about friends. There was a time during middle school in which he found himself unable to go to school. “If you don’t go once, you become less and less able to.” Back then, he encountered wonderful music. A-kun (provisory nickname), who told him that he also liked said music, came around and the two of them formed a band together. Jin became able to attend high school. He didn’t know what a friend was until then, but he thought, “I guess he’s my friend”.

Wasurete Shimatta Natsu no Owari ni A song with the image of summertime fireworks. “Tokachi District holds the second largest fireworks festival of the country. I wonder what being second place is like. Just what are they fighting on this? (laughs)” It’s like the scenery of Gin no Saji; a place with that kind of feeling to it.

Remind Blue “Summer is hot and I don’t like it, but it has its charm. I wonder if I was properly able to make that end of summer into a song.”

As always, he drank a lot of water. Actually, in addition to the four bottles that were put there, he also brought a lot of water with him.

As he talked about each song, he would play them with his accoustic guitar.

“Such an honestly pretty library. So many books. It’s my first time singing in a place like this, so I’d been wondering if I wouldn’t get chased out if someone like me suddenly showed up and started singing. (laugh)”

By the way, he was indeed wearing a jersey... lol.

He was super cool when he was singing, but during the time of exiting the stage, he made his way out unsteadily while bowing, so he gave off a feeling of ordinary Nii-chan and it was heartwarming.

He’s good at singing. (my childish reaction)

His manner of speech was extremely gentle, and though I really enjoy the excitement of live concerts and the like, that calm atmosphere and his kind way of performing and talking had me going, “Aah, this totally goes well with Jin-san. It totally goes super well with him. Play-and-talk live concerts are the best...”

There were 100 people with regular tickets, lots of others were standing behind them, the costumers of the nearby Starbucks were all looking too, and many people also stood watching in rows at the second floor’s corridors.

The venue was a Jin World.

I’d been reflecting on the meaning of him doing a library live, and I think it’s something amazing. At the end of it, a staff member asked something by requesting people to raise their hands, and turns out that there were mostly middle and high scholars attending. It felt like there were also grade scholars and college students. Is there any other rock musician who would open an event at a middle school or a public library? Well, there might be, but that’s still incredible...

We were told that we couldn’t enter the venue unless we had a regular ticket, that it was okay to enter because it was a public space, that we couldn’t get autographs, that we actually could get them even without the ticket, and, hum, get your information... together... (tiny voice)

He talked a lot more about the songs, but it’s not coming to me... aah.

In one sentence, it was awesome.

@kugamiryou

The moderator this time was the editor of Mekakucity Talkers, and her hairstyle was kind of similar to Azami-san’s.The song order of the rendition was “Shissou Word”, “Additional Memory”, “Lost Day Hour”, “My Funny Weekend” and “Wasurete Shimatta Natsu no Owari ni”... but! Guess what: Jin-san said, “I wanna play them after all” and additionally performed the first part of “Imaginary Reload” and all of “Remind Blue”!! Jin-san’s hopping as he played was cute.

The general course of events was that a teaser movie soon played, then the host came on-stage and called Jin-san over, Jin-san showed up slurping a Shissou Word drink, choked while drinking it, and then performed Shissou Word. After that, it was announced that there would be a lottery and some of the prizes were Jin-san’s personal belongings.

The first corner was “Jin-san Talks About Kagerou Project”. It was a talk about why he started making KagePro. With the trigger being that the band he had in high school broke up, he decided to make stuff on his own, and he started creating a story first from the fact that “There are many depictions of ‘eyes that do ￮￮’, huh!” or something of the sort.

“Locking eyes” ➡ “Medusa” ➡ “This is it!!” ➡ “A Medusa who doesn’t want to lock eyes with anyone won’t come out of her house!” - with this trend, it seems the first thing he planned out was Kuusou Forest.

Apparently, the stories of the novel and manga progressed with him deciding their ending first, and he indeed wants to write the next novel. If he ends up unable to publish it, he’ll write it like, “whatever” and turn it into a book anyway, and he talked about writing something like “Kagerou Quest”, lol.

After he finished performing Additional Memory, he stated that he “couldn’t mention it on Twitter”, but he had wanted to say that “Ayano isn’t just a gentle girl”. From then on, we had a questions-and-answers corner.

Q.: What was the moment in which you thought, “I’ve become an adult”? A.: That’s a theme I want to write about in the next novel. I thought, “I’ve turned into an adult, huh” when I was making Lost Day Hour and suddenly felt like calling my friends. Also, when I started paying taxes.

From someone who’s been an Asahiner for 7 years: I want to know the reason why you made My Funny Weekend. A.: I’d wanted to use Hiyori, but I couldn’t until now. Hiyori is strong, so if I’d used her before, she would make everyone else’s worries dim. It feels like Hiyori made me write the parts that go, “being greedier is just fine”. I’m not the one who came up with them.

From a person who used to stan Shintarou and started stanning Ayano after Additional Memory: Please tell us the reason why you gave Ayano that moment in AddiMemo. A.: It’s the one song in MekaRelo in which someone is dying alone. Sorry for going, “I’m sorry” right after singing, “It’ll surely be an even better day!”. This is actually a story that I wished I had included in the manga.

Q.: I would like to know about the Mekakushi-dan of the early stages. A.: There are parts of the way the loops work that I haven’t written yet. There’s a possibility that, epending on the loop, the characters of the first Mekakushi-dan might show up (like the female Konoha).

Q.: I would like to know about the Mekakushi-dan of the early stages. A.: There are parts of the way the loops work that I haven’t written yet. There’s a possibility that, epending on the loop, the characters of the first Mekakushi-dan might show up (like the female Konoha).

Q.: Will you write the story of the characters turning into adults? A.: I’ve already thought out what kind of jobs each will have and who will be married to who. There are many stories in the minds of everyone, but I want to write something like, “This kind of future also exists”. For example, Kido taking over the orphanage and Hibiya becoming an archeologist to investigate the Medusa abroad. But whenever I try to make so and so get married, another side of me cuts it off like, “Wait a minute... the one who will marry Shintarou is Haruka, right?”, so whoever wins this unique armed struggle tournament inside my brain will be the one to write.

~About MekaRelo~

He had wanted to make songs regarding what he couldn’t write in the novel.

Imaginary Reload: it’s about the girl who had been waiting to be rescued in Kuusou Forest going off to fight on her own will, and doesn’t just wait to be saved. It’s 274 BPM, so it’s the fastest song?

Shissou Word: it’s based on the fear that Jin-san experienced when he was a child from continuously being asked, “Why can’t you do such a normal thing?” and from wondering, “What is ‘normal’ even?”

My Funny Weekend: it’s the song that feels the most final episode-like to him.

Additional Memory: a song that he thought he “had to write”. It’s the saddest one.

Lost Day Hour: the song that had him thinking, “I have to make this” back when he was writing volume 6.

Remind Blue: a song that made him think, “This is the last summer song”. It’s a song packed with the things he didn’t manage to write about in SumReco. It has the image of Shintarou, but there are parts about Haruka, about Seto and about Kano, so it’s kind of a song with no definite protagonist. Makes one think about not forgetting summer.

Wasurete Shimatta Natsu no Owari ni: since the fireworks festival that he once watched in his hometown is his image of the end of summer, so he had wanted to make a story that ended with people watching fireworks, but he was indecisive, because “the last battle happens in the basement of a school, what do I do~” (said originally with a northern accent). He didn’t want to let summer end, but if it didn’t end, it would be weird and unpleasant.

After this talk, Jin-san was about to play My Funny Weekend, but realized that the Shissou Word drink he was having had disappeared without him noticing and was like, “Where’s my Never-Lost Word!?”. He drank water instead, sulking.

“I might make a mistake, sorry!” ➡ *makes a mistake during the hook* ➡ “There were no mistakes, right!?”

Then, we had the big lottery. Sadly, although I had a number in hands, I wasn’t able to get Medusa, the amplifier that Jin-san used when making Imaginary Reload. Sad.

And so, we had the last song, Wasurete Shimatta Natsu no Owari ni. Jin-san played while saying, “I wanna do collaboration drinks again~”

Everyone frantically lined up to pay their checks and buy goods, but then Jin-san suddenly came back, said, “I wanna do this after all!” and played Imaginary Reload and Remind Blue while drenched in sweat. “Why is it that I’m sweating so much even though I’m playing while seated?”

And then it really was the end... however, people quickly queued to get autographs as if racing to board the last train. While stiffly shuddering, I also got autographs on my CDs and MekaTalk, then handed a letter to him.

I was happy to get a “Ah! It’s a folded paper crane!” reaction from him, but I was nervous for real, so I turned into the typical figure of a useless otaku. When he was signing, I told him, “I won’t be able to go to tomorrow’s autograph session, so I’m happy to be getting it now.” and he replied, “I’ll hold lots of other events after this one! So when the time comes, please! Do attend them!!”

I’ll go.

@Hiroyannn168

I arrived at the venue a bit too early, and when I was waiting for the opening, the staff people and Jin-san passed by me like it was nothing...! He was giving off a civilian-like aura. He boarded the elevator crammed with staff members as if having fun, and when the door was closing, he waved a little at us.

During Jin-san’s play-and-talk live, there was a questions corner and Jin-san discussed about the compositions. He had always wanted to try creating collaboration drinks based off the songs, so it seems he talked it over with the personnel like, “Shissou Word is this kind of song” and, “This color will do~” and, “Could you make this thing float? Is it impossible?” in order to have them made. The band BACKHORN, which Jin-san likes, had been doing these kinds of collaboration drinks, so he had wanted to try his hand at it no matter what.

There were also two types of pancakes that had the image of song compositions, RED and BLUE, and just when Jin-san thought of eating them too, he was told by someone from the staff, “There are only five left” and went, “Incredible” www... They were mad popular, so there was a lot of people eating them.

When Jin-san entered the stage, he brought with him a Shissou Word-themed glass and was drinking it like, “Yummy”.

He’d said on Twitter that he wanted to do something like explaining about the compositions of the songs, so he tweeted about it just a little, but he hadn’t been able to tweet at all after that, apparently because he had been practicing for the live and doing all sorts of things in the meantime. It seems that, since Jin-san was late to tweet about it, he decided to do it properly if he had the chance to tweet later. Is what he said. That he wanted to “explain a little about the song compositions tonight~”.

First track was Shissou Word. At the applause that rose naturally from the audience, Jin-san bashfully said, “thank you” in-between the lyrics. The motif behind Shissou Word was Jin-san’s experience with being asked, “Why can’t you do normal things?” Even though normal things are easy to do for other people, they’re difficult for him... that’s what the song says.

He looked happy when he asked a girl sitting at the far right of the first row, “What are you drinking?” It seems that this person was having the Additional Memory drink (it was red).

Second track was Additional Memory. The song goes like, “Ayano has a so-called gentle girl image, but she also bears these kinds of feelings”. I sensed that listening to the hook with Jin-san’s live voice made it resonate even more sharply in my heart. A shout of her emotions... is what it felt like, I guess?

Jin-san also said something along the lines of, “It’s great being able to expand my range of expression by not just using VOCALOIDs but singing with my own voice too~”.

It seems Jin-san spent a period in truancy during his childhood, and what gave him energy back then was music and books. At any rate, by the looks of it, that had been a truancy amongst truancies.

He’d wanted to form a band in high school, but the bassist quit, so he quickly became spineless about it. It appears that when he was like, “What do I do?”, a senpai of his recommended VOCALOID to him. He came to admire songs with high levels of story settings, similar to the ones from Kinniku Shoujo Tai, and started wanting to create something like an album that would turn into a story – that was the beginning of KagePro.

He said, “It’s interesting that there are lots of phrases about things you can do with your eyes.” Like, “Averting one’s eyes is Hikikomori-ish, concealing one’s eyes means that kind of stuff.” (“That kind of stuff”, you say!? This is just the kind of specific term I wanted~)

It seems that the plot of back then is still in his computer. “The Medusa is a shut-in”, and things like that.

Jin-san is still burdened with the curse from when he was 19 years old www

He also talked about how his computer fell from the second floor when he was moving www and about he wound up naming it Frederica www

Q&A corner. It was a corner where he received questions from people that he’d randomly point at after they raised their hands. The contents of all questions were amazing...

Someone who’d been an Asahiner for over 7 years said something along the lines of being really happy that there was a song about Hiyori-chan, and Jin-san commented that Hiyori-chan is a character with an extremely firm notion of self, so he had wanted to release it sooner but it seems he hadn’t been able to. That’s because, back when the Mekakushi-dan members were still fretting and saying stuff like “oh, my dirty”, if Hiyori-chan had been there with her “Move forward! There’s no mistake that tomorrow will be a much more wonderful day~”, she would cut them off with a single stroke.

It seems she’ll have a lot of screen time from now on. And it looks like rather than Jin-san writing the part of the lyrics that goes “being greedy is just fine”, it felt more like Hiyori-chan was “making him write it”. Hiyori-chan is awesome.

Someone asked Jin-san, “At what time do you think you became an adult?” and he answered that, in the past, he would think of himself as an Onii-chan when looking at children, but now he thinks he’s an Oji-san. That he was paying taxes, laying out a path and keeping it clean www. He said he “ended up becoming an adult when creating Lost Day Hour”; he could see his friends everyday when he was a child, but it seems there’s no such thing after growing up, and he’d find himself thinking, “I wanna give my friends a call”.

Imaginary Reload is 274BPM, and apparently that’s the most in all songs he’s made so far. Incredible. By the way, the maximum for BPM is 300.

It seems Jin-san also likes Remind Blue. Even though he had said, “I’ll make this one and then I won’t write songs about summer anymore!”, he made Wasurete Shimatta Natsu no Owari ni right after that www. His 28th summer song...

Questioner: Even though I’d never budged from Shintarou until now, I ended up coming to like Ayano-chan the most after listening to Additional Memory. Jin-san: It seems a derby happened there. Is this a horse race or what www

Additional Memory is a bit of an unique song even for MekaRelo. He said, “I’m sorry... for bringing about a song that falls down with a hard thud immediately after saying that ‘tomorrow will be an even more wonderful day~’ with My Funny Weekend.” Like, “She dies all by herself...” He also said that what he was going to discuss from that point on were spoilers.

Shintarou’s snake is... The snakes exchange the abilities for lives... Then, lives are their,,,...???

He was like, “Please don’t spread this on Twitter and the like~”.

Remind Blue. This song was supposed to be Shintarou-san’s, but the figures of everyone overlapped in it, and it feels like each of them is being nostalgic in their own spot. The lyrics go, “together with the me of yesterday”, so Kano-kun and Seto-kun were also in it... is what Jin-san said. The way of talking is masculine. So it felt like it turned into everyone’s Remind Blue. Jin-san did say that, to him, friends are people who think the same.

Jin-san had Saiyuki-san draw the manga extra from MekaRelo A, and it seems it went like this: “Is it all right this way?” “It is.” “Is Kido-san okay like that?” “She’s exactly like that.” “The Kido-san that Saiyuki-san draws is really cool!” Jin-san said with great admiration.

Speaking of which, it seems that there’s already a conception of the Mekakushi-dan as adults in Jin-san’s mind and he’s decided things such as, “This person will be like that” and “Their occupation will be this”.

Kido-san will run an orphanage; taking over the will of that orphanage is very much like her. Hibiya-kun will be an archeologist. There are legends about Medusa all over the world, so he’ll be researching that.

He talked about how an adult Kido-san appeared in the MV of Shissou Word after he commissioned it to Sidu-san... something like that. It looks like he’s thinking along the lines of... “this person and this person will get married” as well. But Jin-san also said, “Shintarou’s wife will be Haruka-san (laughs)”. Apparently, these Jin-san’s are on a peerless inner fight inside him, and the Jin-san who wins will have his scenario come to life.

Haruka-san is KagePro’s main heroine www

Jin-san asked the audience, “Do you want to see the children of the Mekakushi-dan?” (I do.) “I wanna write novels,” he said. He was like, “I wanna introduce new characters!”

A parallel universe (one of those that are trendy nowadays?) called “Kagerou Quest” might happen www

Alternatively, it might be set in outer space, and it’ll be like a Martian version of the Mekakushi-dan fighting? Something along those lines? (Martian Mekaushi-dan!?!?)

There was a break of about 10 minutes. In that meantime, we lined up for the sale of goods, ate pancakes, etc...

The latter half of the live started.

My Funny Weeked. Jin-san seems to think that this one is the most last episode-like song. He said something like, “It’s my first time playing it live, so if I make any mistakes, pretend you didn’t notice~” and began playing. There was clapping from the audience seats as if to cheer on him, and he stopped playing right before the hook for an instant, but soon resumed it. After he finished singing, he asked, “See, there were no mistakes, right~?” (lol)

During the play-and-talk part, Jin-san drank water because he was out of options, since he had left the Shissou Word drink that he was having at the beginning somewhere, but he heard someone say from the seats, “The Never-Lost Word has been lost” and replied with, “You say some clever things www”.

Jin-san mentioned that he “was bad at conversing”, but I enjoyed his talk.

Big lotery. I ordered food and drinks and received an application coupon with the second item. The prizes were a set of guitar picks, a set of can badges, a volume of Mekakucity Talkers, a poster of MekaRelo (with Jin-san’s signature), a set of ticket holders and cards that came with the novels as appendix, which Jin-san claimed to have turned his house upside-down in order to bring over, and Jin-san’s own CDs (of Mekakucity~) and guitar effector (he apparently recorded Imaginary Reload with it, and its name is Medusa too). To the people who were sorted, congratulations~!

It seems Jin-san has only told about a part of KagePro until now, and he hasn’t yet talked about the extent of the loops.

When he was a child, he used to think, “I don’t want the new semester to start. It’d be good if summer didn’t end.” but an endless summer is somewhat disturbing, just like the two people living together in the last volume... of the novel.

Wasurete Shimatta Natsu no Owari ni. It seems the last chapter of KagePro closed with fireworks. That’s because, in the past, when Jin-san lived in Hokkaidou, there was a huge fireworks festival, and he thought back then, “Summer is over, huh”. He was like, “But how will I bring up fireworks when the story led up to the school’s underground, a place that has nothing to do with it!?” (lol)

ENCORE!!!

From a wing of the stage, Jin-san got his face out and peeked through (?) from within the curtains with a glance. He’s kinda cute despite being an adult man...

It seems he was being considerate towards us and saying, “It’s late into the night and there are people here who have to go home...” He then played Imaginary Reload (but just the short version of it). And in the end, he was like, “I do want to do it after all!” He sang Remind Blue.

He bid his goodbyes with waving hands~!

Jin-san, you’ve granted me really fun and good memories tonight. You’re indeed by yourself when you’re making music and writing novels... you’ve also gone through hard times. Tonight was super enjoyable, and even though it was a play-and-talk live, you up and said that you were sweating bullets www

“Please let me perform live again,” he said to us.

It was a tremendously fun night. Good job, and thank you very much.

[mystic-messenger-writing]

Hi! I love your posts a lot. May I ask for a request, like a scenario or something with RFA + Unknown... Maybe like something happened and the MC lost her memory and what they'll do next or something.. idk. Thank you very much, I'll continue to support you and your post.

You’re such a sweet anonny, thank you for the kind words!! I really liked this idea so I formatted it a bit differently. Basically, the first part, before the under the cut part, is meant to be like a prologue of what happens to MC. I did it this way because I didn’t want to be repetitive, so I hope that it’s okay! I truly hope that you enjoy!! ^^

You and your lover were driving to a secluded nature reserve for a date. The two of you kept looking into each other’s eyes lovingly, it was officially your first anniversary as a couple. Your lover took one of their hands off the steering wheel of the car to take a hold of your own hand in a loving gesture. The two of you looked into each other’s eyes one more time before you heard a loud crash, the last thing you saw was the look of horror on your lover’s face before everything went dark.

“She should be waking up soon, let me know when she does.” He doctor told your very anxious lover as he headed to treat another patient.

A drunk driver hit your car that day, somehow your lover survived with only a few scratches while you were barely alive. You lover was snapped out of their thoughts when you stirred awake, they happily asked if you were alright. But your answer would haunt them for who knows how long as you said

“I’m sorry but who are you? And where am I, or rather… who am I?”

Yoosung

The second those questions left your mouth, tears streamed down Yoosung’s cheeks

“W-what do you mean? You’re MC silly!”

“M-MC? That’s me? I’m sorry but again, I don’t really remember anything.”

Yoosung used both of his hands to cover his tear-soaked face, he couldn’t believe that his own reckless driving caused you to lose your memories

“Um excuse me, but you said my name is MC, does that mean you know me? Are we friends or something? What’s your name?”

Wiping away the last of his tears, Yoosung determinedly grabbed your hand, gently rubbing the back of your palm as he said

“Yes I know you MC, I know almost everything about you! I know your favorite color, favorite type of music, even what you like on top of your pizza! Believe or not, I’m actually your boyfriend. My name’s Yoosung and I promise to tell you everything about you.”

From that moment on, Yoosung did whatever he could to help trigger your memories back in any way

He stopped playing video games and even took some time off of school in order to help with your recovery

You would only rarely get memories of your past back, making you feel discouraged but Yoosung was always there to support you

No matter what it would take, Yoosung would find a way to retrieve your memories but until then, you learned everything about yourself from your loving boyfriend

Zen

Zen holds back his tears and puts on a convincing smile that only a true actor could do

“You’re funny Jagiya, now come on, let’s tell the doctor that you’re awake and fine and go home.”

“Huh? Is ‘Jagiya’ my name or something? Do you know me or something?”

Zen’s heart was breaking at the seams, if only he had been more careful driving his motorcycle then he wouldn’t have to endure this immense feeling of guilt

But this was Zen’s mistake, he was going to help you regain your memory no matter what

“Haha no sorry, Jagiya is a nickname that I call you. Your real name is MC and you’re the most beautiful, talented, graceful, and wonderful person that I know. My name is Zen and I’m even lucky enough to call you my girlfriend.”

Your eyes lit up and a small blush spread across your cheeks to the tips of your ears as Zen noticed you suddenly became more bashful

“S-so you mean to me that I’m dating you? But you’re like, the most handsome man I’ve ever seen! I must’ve done something right to have someone like you in my life.”

There was his MC, his perfect girlfriend

Zen stayed at home with you as much as he could, showing you some small videos of you and him singing together to try and jog your memories

He’d sing you to sleep every night, making sure you were fast asleep before he let himself cry over the guilt

Zen wouldn’t rest until he helped you gain your memories back, it was his duty as your boyfriend to do so, thus began the long mission that he would fulfill someday

Jaehee

Jaehee holds her head in shame as she soon realizes how much damage she caused because of careless driving

She didn’t want to sugar-coat things, Jaehee decided at that moment on to face this problem head on since she caused it

“You’re name is MC and mine is Jaehee. You… you lost your memories because of a car crash. It’s all my fault MC, I was the only driving and caused all of this, I’m so sorry but I promise you that I’ll help you get your memories back alright?”

“You seem like such a nice person! I how that we were good friends, I’d love to have a friend just like you!”

At that moment, Jaehee realized how much it sucked being called a friend instead of a lover so she made a mental note of never calling you they again

“We’re actually girlfriends MC and I love you with all of my heart, we’re going to get your memories back together.”

“That’s good and all, but I’m more happy for the fact that we’re girlfriends! Thank you so much Jaehee, lets do this together!”

So Jaehee because your personal caretaker, trying all different kinds of techniques like brewing your favorite type of coffee to help trigger some memories back

Things weren’t easy for either one of you, there were days when the two of you just wanted to give up - But Jaehee never did, she wouldn’t stop until the day you had all of your memories back

Jumin

Jumin didn’t believe it, or rather, he didn’t want to believe the damage he had caused

He’ll always blame himself for letting you convince him drive that day, he knew he should have just been stubborn and told you no

But moping around wasn’t Jumin’s plan, he was going to fix this, he was going to get your memories back no matter the cost

“MC. That’s your name. You’re the most imaginative and kind person I know. This is all my own fault so I promise you that I’ll get your memories back.”

“Er, thank you sir. You seem like such a selfless and important man yourself so please, don’t worry about me sir.”

He felt his heart shatter, even in your state you were more worried about him then your own self

“My name’s Jumin, not sir. And you’re my girlfriend MC so no task is too big if it involves you. I will help you MC, you’ll get your memories back.”

“Alright thank you sir Jumin!”

Even with no memories, you still managed to make Jumin crack a smile

He took some time off of work to be with you and show you all kinds of photos, videos, and items to try and get your memories back

Only the best doctors were hired to help retrieve your memories and they all believed that you were truly making progress

Jumin would do anything to help you, you helped him deal with his own emotional issues, he hoped dearly that your memories would come back to you but until then, he would be there to help you every step of the way

Seven

Was Seven always going to be cursed to ruin the lives of the one’s he loved?

He hated himself so much for trying to show off his driving skills in one of his precious cars, but that was the past and Seven knew that he needed to help you

“You’re name is MC and I’m Saeyoung. We were in a car crash and it seems like you lost all of your memories. I’m so, so sorry MC, I know that you can never forgive but please let me try to show you how sorry I am!“

Seven was grasping onto your hand, his head lowered in shame as tears started cascading down his face

"Saeyoung huh… that’s a nice name! You seem to care about me a lot, thank you but you don’t have to be sorry. I’m sure it was just an accident.”

How you could be so kind and forgiving even through you had zero memories about your life is something that Seven would never understand

“Okay I’ll start right now! So you’re MC, you’re a party coordinator for a group called the RFA. We’re dating and I’m madly in love with you. You think I’m funny even though a lot of other people would disagree. And-”

“Easy now Saeyoung, lets go a little bit slower okay? Why don’t we start talking after I get released from the hospital.“

From that day on, Seven was always by your side, giving you all kinds of facts about yourself to help recover your memories

Your progress was almost non-existent and every night when Seven made sure you were fast asleep, he’d go to his own room and cry as the feeling of guilt never left

But Seven never gave up and he never would give up, not until you got your memories back so he could finally marry you at the space station

Unknown

Saeran knew that happiness never lasted long in his miserable life

His jaw clenched when you asked him those questions, why did someone as innocent and kind as you have to be the harmed and not him?

"You’re… my MC. I just- I’m so sorry, this is all my fault.”

Saeran stood up and quickly made his way to the door, not wanting to burden you any more with his presence as well as not wanting you to see him cry

“Wait! You still haven’t told me your name. Please, don’t go. I’m confused and no one else is here to see me so that must mean we know each other right?”

As much as Saeran wanted to walk right out of your life and let you be, he couldn’t

He wasn’t going to run away or be like his idiot brother and push you away, Saeran was going to get your memories back

“I’m Saeran. We were… a couple. I’m going to help you get your memories back alright? Now let’s go, I hate hospitals.”

So Saeran started taking you to familiar places, such as the ice cream shoppe and the park, to try and help recover your memories

He’d tell you stories about your past along with his own, being completely honest with every word that he said

Saeran knew that you may never get your memories back but one thing he knew for sure: he would never stop trying nor would he never stop loving you

[whycanttacosfly]

Freckles

I could hear the laughter of other kids playing outside, the brief sound of a wind chime and birds singing. I leaned against the window still and sighed. ‘Just another boring day huh?’, it wasn’t fair. I wished that someone would come up to me and invite me to join them in an adventure. To take me far away from this place. It would never happen though, wistful thoughts like those would lead to nothing but disappointment. No mage nor hero would come and rescue me. Mainly because I’m no royalty not anything special.

I looked away from the window, (away from the laughter and happiness, things I’d never have), and focused on the large book on my lap. It was a book of a princess being rescued by a great prince. I didn’t know much else, I had just skimmed through the pages, reading without processing a word. I sighed again, it seemed like the thousandth time I had sighed today. I opened the book from the first page and decided to read it again, mostly because I couldn’t bring myself to leave any book half read. It would be an insult to the author.

Before I could start, I small sound caught my attention. A small rock had hit my window. My face perked up instantly, was this it? Was my hero finally here to take me away? I closed book as fast as I could, throwing it to the desk in the corner of my room. I looked at the window and noticed a bunch of kids throwing rocks at my window. I was perplexed at first, until I noticed they were throwing the rocks to some birds by the roof of the building I lived in. “Moronic idiots” I said to myself between clenched teeth. Disappointed in myself for believing my hero would come and take me away.

I looked at the book in the desk, silently apologizing to the author for not appreciating their story. I threw myself to the bed, hitting the hard surface of the mattres. ‘This are no conditions for growing children’ I grumbled. I laid in the bed looking at the ceiling of a place I hated. I put my arm in front of my face, covering my eyes. I decided that I would wait in silence for my hero. I would just stick with my thoughts for the moment, until they came.

I was thinking about possible scenarios of how my hero would come, ‘in a flying carpet? Or a giant robot?’. This mental scenarios made me happy. I rolled in the “bed” squealing at the thought. A hesitant knock came to the door of the room I was staying in. I paid it no mind, I was occupied with my daydreaming. Another knock was heard. I ignored it once again. If the caretakers wanted something they’d open the door, therefore, it was just another of those slobbery idiotic kids.

I continued my daydreaming. ‘Will he bring friends? Or will he come alone? Hmm, he’ll definitely come alone, it’s more romantic that way’. The knocks in the door got more confident and loud. I continued ignoring it in favor of thinking. The knocking got so loud that I was no longer possible to ignore. I got up, stomping my way through the tiny room that I was given. I opened the door with a bang, ready to engage in a verbal fight with the moronic person who had the guts to knock my door, specially when I was busy.

As I opened my mouth to shout I saw the person knocking my door. It was a kid, maybe my age, he looked very nervous, making me question why he knocked if he was so frightened. I raised my eyebrow at him and said “Well? What do you want?” . This only served to make him more nervous. He opened his mouth to speak, but only incomprehensible sounds came out. He closed his mouth again, clenching his fists and taking a quick breath, he stood straighter and looked at me in the eye. “W-would you like to play with me”. I couldn’t help but laugh, was that all he wanted? Gosh, so childish.

“No, I wouldn’t, now scamper off” I said, stomping my right foot in the floor for extra effect. I was hoping this would discourage him, but it didn’t, if anything this made him more confident. He stood even more straight and said “I refuse”. Had I heard wrong, did this kid just said I refuse. “Ha!? What did you say?”, my tone was venomous, surely this would make him back off. “I said, I refuse your refusal!” He uttered. Standing steadfast in his spot, not moving a bit.

“ Well that’s too bad” I said as I moved to close the door. He suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me. I lost my balance for a second. What the hell was this kid thinking, I looked up to see if he had any response to my internal question. When I saw his eyes I saw something I couldn’t describe, it compelled me to accept his proposal to play. He dragged me by the hand until we were outside. I decided at that moment that I’d make this little trip an insufferable to him as I could. That way he’d leave me alone in the future. ( everyone else did after all). “What are we doing then, Freckles”, he flushed a crimson red, was it because of the nickname?Was he mad? Surely he was, that was perfect, if he got mad I could leave.

“I didn’t think about that” he said while scratching the back of his head. “Then why the hell did you invite me to play?” I said while swinging a fist at him. He put his hands up in a placating manner, “ I didn’t think you’d accept”. Putting my hands in my pockets I said, “ Well I’m here now, so you better make up your mind before I leave, I have better things to do than to spend time with someone that can’t even decide what game they want to play”. After a few minutes of indecisiveness he decided we’d play “I spy with my little eye”.A dumb game in my opinion.

We started playing and when I realized it, it was already dark outside. One of caretakers came over and scolded us for staying outside so long. Usually that’d make me upset and angry. But for some reason it didn’t matter. Suddenly I turned to my left when I noticed he was looking at me. “What are you staring for, Dino have something in my face!? Huh!?” I said in an irritated manner. He flushed again, making me notice how his freckles had turned darker over the exposure to the sun. “You are smiling!” He said so happily. I froze in place. I instantly stopped smiling and put an irritated face. “And? That’s none of your business!” I said while cracking my knuckles. “ it the first time I’ve seen you smile since you came here!” He said in a loud manner, suddenly he’s eyes were bright with an emotion I hadn’t seen in along time, fondness. “You look nice when you smile” a small smile full of happiness covered his face. His whole face lit up like the stars. Making me blush, “W-Well, That’s none of your business, so piss off!” I screamed, feeling very flustered.

“Okay!” Cheerfully he uttered, “see you tomorrow then!”. He said as he waved and ran to the down the stairs. Somehow I hadn’t noticed we were by the door of the bedroom I was assigned in the second floor. “You won’t, this was a one time thing idiot” I yelled somehow lacking the usual bite. I opened the door and slammed it without looking back. For a second time in that day I threw myself to bed and looked at the ceiling. I went to sleep that night thinking about freckled smiling faces and laughter instead of my hero. And I didn’t care, my hero wouldn’t be upset about it so why would I get upset for it. Somewhere deep in my heart I was looking forward to the next day. That night I slep with a smile on my face.