#this is supposed to be the framed picture mario and luigi have in their room in pape rmario 64

[pianokantzart]

The Super Mario Bros. Redux (Pt. 3)

What would happen if, in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, after Mario and Luigi are separated, Mario was the one who ended up in the clutches of Luigi’s eventual arch nemesis, while Luigi teamed up with some of his own close allies to go rescue him? (This part of the story is in one shot format. Most other parts are written in bullet points.) Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 ________ Mario never coped well with feeling trapped. As early as nine months old he was racing around like his life depended on it, clamoring over gates and out of windows, unbuttoning clothes he felt were too tight and twisting door handles the moment he developed the coordination to grasp them. Starting his own business was supposed to be a path to freedom… or at least the closest thing to freedom one could achieve in the modern world. He never in a thousand years would’ve guessed that the domino effect of his little endeavors would have landed him here. His cell felt more like a coffin than a prison; a golden picture frame hung halfway up the wall in an expansive gallery stacked floor to ceiling with other “artwork.” He could move no more than eight inches to the left or right. He couldn’t jump, lie down, sit, or turn around. The only thing he could do was bang his fists against the transparent barrier keeping him trapped, though that did little more than worsen his sense of claustrophobia.

His surrounding captives– far more accustomed to the cramped conditions– did what they could to calm him, as conversation proved to be the best distraction from their unfortunate situation. The talking turtles and mushroom men– Koopas and Toads, they were apparently called– were generous with what little information they had, and slowly Mario learned where he was, why he was where he was, who was responsible, and that– according to the game of telephone that ran up and down the conversing portraits– he was the only human that had been seen in the gallery. The mystery of Luigi’s whereabouts left Mario conflicted. On one hand, he was relieved. This was the last place his little brother needed to be. On the other hand, it opened up the possibility that he was somehow somewhere worse. He had promised his brother that they would be alright as long as he was together, but… to his shame… there was a selfish part of Mario that simply didn’t want to be alone.

He was listening sympathetically to the woes of the Toad in the neighboring painting when the large oaken doors to the gallery swung open, and a gaggle of cackling boos swarmed in. Mario had learned by now that ghosts of this world, free from the fear of death and any physical need, desired only amusement. They acted with a form of malicious playfulness, like a housecat that continues to hunt despite having long eaten its fill. The boos certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves as they floated through the room, lunging and making faces at the helpless captives, laughing every time they whimpered or flinched. Mario, his heart still clinging to memories of his twin, braced his palms against the barrier and shouted at the ghosts to leave the others alone. His command proved far more successful than he thought it would. All fifteen of the little white ghosts turned their attention to him, then swarmed in his direction, blending together into a whirl of white until they arrived in front of his painting fully transformed into a giant, singular boo, staring daggers with glowing yellow eyes. Mario put on a brave front and stared back.

He was made all too familiar with this enormous specter the moment he first stumbled upon the portraits. He still had bruises to prove the memory, though it was only thanks to the other trapped paintings that he was finally able to put a name to the face.

“Boolossus, is it?”

The behemoth didn’t answer. With a smug, sharp-toothed grin it merely plucked Mario from the wall and flitted away with the plumber tucked under its arm like a piece of common furniture. With his only view of the outside world obstructed by the translucent body of Boolossus, Mario was rendered lost and disoriented, and when at last he was once again hung upon a wall he found himself in a different room, carved out of murky, sulfur colored stone. This new location felt musty and ancient, very different from the colorful, well-tended opulence of the gallery. Long defunct lion-faced fountains stared at each other across the room from between towering pillars, where black grit filled the crevices of intricately carved designs. The only signs this decaying place had that it was ever visited was the lit chandeliers hanging overhead, and the blue flames dancing in the stone lamps that lined the center of the room.

Boolossus maintained his victorious expression as he backed away from the newly hung portrait, then buried himself in a corner to make room for the newcomer, phasing through roof overhead. Mario felt his apprehension grow, not because of the darkness around the ghost's eyes that sharpened the spectral glow of his gaze, or the enormous crown atop his head that indicated his place of royalty, or even his enormous size which dwarfed even that of Boolossus. Instead, Mario was troubled by an instinctive sense of true hatred emanating from him, far different from the impish malevolence of the other specters.

His heart leapt a little when the ghost’s crown lit up, and a field of purple magic reached toward him, plucking his painting off the wall and pulling him suspended mid-air to the center of the room.

“What is your name?” the ghost asked with a thoughtful hum. Mario felt the world spin around him as the giant boo used one of his stubby arms to twirl his painting in the air, then stopped it with such suddenness that Mario’s body slammed into the side of his prison. Slightly dazed, he collected himself enough to answer the question. “Mario.” “Mario… I have to admit, despite the novelty of a human visitor, you don’t seem to know your place in this world. Perhaps you don't know who I am? What I’m capable of?”

“You’re King Boo.” Mario answered after a pause– a brief reflection on his conversations in the gallery. “You shattered something called The Dark Moon, and now you want to lead an army of ghosts.”

“Very good! I guess you’re not as dumb as you look.”

Mario let out a yelp as he felt his portrait turned upside down, his feet remaining fixed in place as his arms dangled over his head and the blood rushed to his face. 

“Speaking of looks,” King Boo continued, his faux smile looking more like a scowl from its new angle, “it appears you didn’t arrive alone. There just so happens to be another human just like you! Mustache and everything!”

Knowing at once who he was talking about, Mario felt every muscle in his body tense up. His stomach tied itself into knots, and he felt his heartbeat double its pace. King Boo’s eyes flashed. His grin widened, and his great purple tongue lolled hungrily at the air like a dog. “Ha ha ha! There’s that fear! Utter terror in fact! So you do know him!”

“Listen, Luigi isn’t–”

“Luigi! Is that his name?”

Mario winced in self-directed frustration, then sputtered to his sibling’s defense. “He’s no threat to you! He’s just– he’s just a plumber! we both are!”

Mario felt his portrait righted, but his relief was short lived when, just as quickly, the frame grew suddenly smaller around him. He took another look at King Boo. His insincere grin had twisted into very sincere sneer. The magic emanating from his crown was clearly the source of the change, and was only making the frame smaller with every passing second.

“Is he now? And what is ‘just a plumber’ afraid of?” “What do you mean?” Mario returned, bracing his arms against the portrait frame, helplessly trying to push it back. “I mean Luigi has decided to make friends with the sworn enemy of my kingdom!” King Boo shouted, shrinking the portrait further in sharp jolts with every word he emphasized. “So if you don’t want to die alongside him, you’ll tell me just what it’ll take to frighten him off.”

“Those are two different questions!”

“What!?”

“‘What’s he afraid of?’ and ‘what will frighten him off?’...” Mario huffed, struggling to squeeze out the words with his head pressed painfully between his shoulders and his arms pinned against his aching chest. “He’s afraid of ghosts, but it looks like you’re not quite scary enough to get rid of him, huh?”

The retort felt good in the moment, but was followed by a sense of dread. Mario squeezed his eyes shut, expecting the painting to crush him then and there, but to his surprise the walls receded.

He would’ve fallen over in relief if his prison allowed, but instead he simply slumped backwards, taking in large breaths and wiping sweat from his brow. King Boo turned angrily to Boolossus, watching from the corner.

“Boolossus!” “Yes, your Highness?” came the answer, fifteen voices speaking as a single entity as they emerged from the shadows. 

“Go to the The Birabuto Capitol! Find E. Gadd and this… Luigi… and bring them here either as paintings or in pieces! Either way is fine with me!”

“Yes your highness!” returned the conjoined voices, falling out of unison as the giant boo flew apart, its fifteen pieces phasing through overhead roof in a gale of otherworldly giggles.

When they were left alone, King Boo turned to Mario to gauge his reaction. It didn’t disappoint, the ramifications of what he’d said clearly dawning on him. King Boo cackled. “Now that’s a face worth mounting on my wall! Let’s keep it that way, shall we?”

Mario opened his mouth to protest, when a blast of violet energy from King Boo’s crown suddenly halted him. Mario's portrait lost all color, motion, and consciousness, paralyzed and wide eyed. The perfect preservation of a moment of true fear.

[duckapus]

Dead, Inside and Out

"Grah! Stupid, useless-!"

Kamek walks up to the doctor, "I take it there's a problem?"

Eggman huffs and shows him his tablet, "It's this blasted Zone. All the spectral energy is interfering with the Seed Detector. I have no idea where the next seed is."

"Of course. I suppose we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way. Bomberto! Bring us down near the center!"

As the ship descends, everyone gets ready to begin the search.

"Okay guys, from what Kamek's told us this Zone's conversion trigger is depression. Now, I know things have been pretty rough so far and none of us are feeling too great, but I'm sure that as long as we all support each other and stay focused on the plan, we'll make it though without...any...losses," 4 sees that most of the group looking at something behind him and gets a deadpan expression, "Toad's already a ghost, isn't he?"

"Yep."

Bob shrugs, "Well, at least it wasn't anyone important."

"BOB!"

"What? We were all thinking it."

4 sighs, "Anyway, since the scanner isn't working, we're going to have to find the seed ourselves. If the other Zones are any indication, it should be with whoever triggered the Wonder Flower, and it's pretty obvious who it was here."

Cubot scratches his head, "It is?"

"Well, let's see," Root makes a show of contemplating, "who do we know who's dead, depressed, and literally sucks the color out of anything she touches?"

"Ohhh...I don't get it."

Ignoring him, Meggy chimes in "Okay, but how are we going to find her? Either she's drifting around and we'll have to scour the whole Zone or she's holed up in her house, and the only guy who can actually find that place is currently a Muppet."

"Well, Floyd's house usually shows up pretty close to mine and Luigi's, so we could start there."

"Sounds good to me. Alright guys, let's move out!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

It takes a few minutes to get from the landing site to the Mario Bros' house, and when they do they make a rather unusual discovery.

"How does it still have its color?"

Indeed, Somehow this one building was exempt from the Wonder Effect. The group approaches cautiously, not sure what to make of this. Mario slowly, carefully opens the front door, revealing that the inside looks pretty much the same as when they left, a startling reminder that this whole ordeal only started a few days ago. There's a bit of light and sound coming from the living room, and Mario leads the way as they sneak over to peek around the corner...

And find an oddly familiar young woman with an ornate dress and sharp, curling horns slumped unceremoniously in Luigi's favorite chair, staring blankly at the TV, which currently displays only static.

(ignore the sword, that's not important 'till later)

"Floyd? Is that you?"

A disinterested hum is the only indication she even heard him.

Bob looks her over, "Well, somebody had a growth spurt. Isn't she supposed to be twelve?"

"I, ah, I think it made her the age she would've been if she was still alive."

"...Oh. Yikes."

Mario moves up in front of her, "Hey, Floyd, you hearing me kiddo?"

Her eyes, though still unfocused, shift over to him.

"Great. I'll let you get back to...whatever this is soon, but we really need your help right now." he pulls out a picture of a Wonder Seed, "have you seen something around here that looks like this?"

To most people it would just look like she's still staring, but anyone who really knows her can tell she's trying to remember, "...maybe? 's hard t' think."

"If it helps, they come in different colors, so it might not look just like this one."

"..." after a little while, she somehow slumps even more than she already had been, " 'm sorry. can't...remember."

He sighs and slumps a little himself, "that's alright. We can figure something else out."

As he turns to rejoin the rest of the group, he lingers at a hanging picture of him and Luigi, running his hand along the frame with a sad smile. Floyd...actually visibly reacts to this, sitting up and leaning forward a bit, her eyes just a little brighter.

"Luigi...he was with you guys, right? On that trip?"

"...Yeah."

"What happened?"

"...Kermit. I couldn't...he didn't jump in time."

"..." Her eyes turn sharp, returning to their usual resting glare, and she stands up and starts floating about an inch or so off the floor, "Follow me."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

She leads them on a winding path through the forest, which looks particularly spooky when painted in shades of grey. Marcy, as usual, looks around suspiciously as they go.

"Give it a rest, sis. I'm pretty sure nothing around here cares enough to attack us."

"There's nothing wrong with staying vigilant. If nothing else it keeps me in practice. You could stand to be more cautious yourself, you know. I've heard about what you're like when you gamble."

"Hey, I'm getting better."

As the two of them are bickering, the group arrives at Floyd's house, which looks pretty much the same as it always does. She phases through the gate and opens it for everyone else, then brings them to the front door.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure I left the Seed in my bedroom. You guys wait in the parlor while I grab it."

She's gone for a few moments, then comes back with a red Wonder Seed in hand and tosses it to 4, "here ya go."

"Thanks." he turns to the group, "Alright, that's three down and four to go! And with only one loss so fa-"

"Two."

"What?"

She points at Bob, "You lost two."

"Oh, goddamnit!"

"Huh, I didn't even notice." he checks himself out in a nearby mirror, "Hey, sweet! I look like some kinda Grim Reaper!"

"Yes, and it only cost you your legs and your freedom."

"Shut up Mar."

"Um," Tari raises her hand like this is school, "How are you still acting like yourself?"

"Eh, I've been living with bouts of depression for centuries. This artificial numbness isn't even the worst I've felt this decade."

(...Not sure how to end this so yeah, they head back to the ship and have to leave Bob behind, but he'll be fine and will probably be able to help Floyd with her brain fog issue. Next up is the mushroom forest Zone.)

(also older Floyd comes from this picrew, because she's one of those characters I've never been able to draw properly myself despite being my own goddamn oc)

[josephthesnailshow]

Burnt Luigi

Burnt Luigi is a creepypasta/arg created by JosephTheSnail (or JosephTheSnailShow). The story explains about a weird copy of Super Mario 64, an installment of Nintendo's Super Mario franchise, where the player supposedly activated an easter egg that shows Luigi burning alive and becoming disfigured afterwards.

I love Nintendo. The console I grew up with was the Nintendo 64; the games on the console are alright, but the one I liked the most was Super Mario 64. Unfortunately, I just realized that I don’t have a copy of Super Mario 64; I looked everywhere and couldn’t find one—only a dusty Nintendo 64 console I have.

I shrugged and asked my parents if I could get Super Mario 64 again; they agreed, and I went across the street to the nearby GameStop next to Walmart, because it's a submall with GameStop—I found the game, brand new, and gratefully purchased it—but there wasn't any short message written in sharpie on the cartridge or anything eerie from one of those haunted game stories I'd seen before.

I returned home, dusted off the console, and turned on my Nintendo 64 to begin playing, and the game began as it usually does: I was greeted by the head of Mario, I pressed START, and it played the cutscene where Mario jumped out of the pipe; I didn't find anything weird; it was like any other Mario game. Keep in mind that this game was not cheap; it cost the exact same as what you would expect from a Super Mario 64 copy.

Anyway, when I first started the Bob-omb Battlefield level, I collected stars one by one.

After I reached the top of the mountain, King Bob-omb came there to greet Mario and say his line. For some reason, his brother is mentioned in the text, but I don't remember what it said because I was focused on the good part of the level, fighting King Bob-omb. I did notice the text though; here's what he said:

"I'm the Big Bob-omb, lord of all exploding matter, and king of global ka-booms! How dare you scale my mountain? By what right do you set foot on my imperial mountaintop? You may have eluded my guards, but you'll never escape my grasp. And you'll never take away my power star. I hereby challenge you, Mario! If you want the star I hold, you must prove yourself in battle. Can you pick me up and hurl me onto this royal turf? I don't think you can!

Don't disappoint Luigi."

I didn't care since there's nothing weird about hearing Luigi get mentioned in any of the Mario series. I finally collected the star after I defeated King Bob-omb.

Nothing really weird happens; it's just me having fun.

But I played the game until I unlocked the basement after defeating Bowser and getting the key; I didn’t go into any detail because nothing fascinating happened, and then I entered the basement.

This area always creeped me out as a kid; I don’t know why. I just walked around messing with my N64 controller for the fun of it; I don’t know what I activated, but I might’ve activated a secret, and eventually, I reached the part of the basement where the picture frame of Lethal Lava Land is.

For some reason, instead of the figure in the picture frame, it was Luigi. For some odd reason, this version of Super Mario 64 is so dedicated to Luigi that it's almost like the "Year of Luigi" thing is still continuing; I personally didn't find anything wrong with it since I like Luigi as a character after all.

Again. It didn’t seem too out of the ordinary because Luigi was planned to be in the game in the beta test days, but I just jumped into the picture frame, and I was sent to the level afterward.

Lethal Lava Land was the same as it normally should be, but some platforms were missing and coins were gone.

I began looking for stars to collect in order to unlock a level or star room. I eventually arrived at the platform where Mr. I was supposed to be, but instead of Mr. I, Luigi was standing there on the edge, not moving at all. I approached him to see if he was just Mr. I with a different model; this could have been a modded version of Super Mario 64, a personalized copy, or something, but I accidentally pushed him into the lava.

I felt very bad for him.

His screams and cries for Mario were not distorted or recorded by a different person; they were made by Charles Martinet, the voice actor of Mario and Luigi.

After Luigi’s flesh melts and he drowns in the lava, a star flies out of the lava, and I collect it.

I was instantly sent to Peach’s castle, but for some reason, I was knocked out of the picture frame like Mario does when he fails a level. I noticed that the water was red, almost like blood, and Mario had a terrified expression on his face.

Right behind him, Luigi looked different—almost like a zombie, his clothes were darker, and his skeleton was visible. His clothes were torn as well. Every time I tried to find my way out, it was like the endless staircase you need to go up to defeat Bowser. but every door was locked, and the gruesome imagery of Luigi will stay on my mind until the day I die. It sounds a little dramatic and morbid, I know.

But the eerie part is that Luigi in the picture frame had 1080p graphics, and it’s pretty eerie because the game doesn’t have decent graphics since it’s on the Nintendo 64. Let's be honest here. You've seen the games like Super Smash Bros. and the others, and the quality is not very good, in my opinion. The picture of Luigi's disfigured body in the picture frame threw the low-quality graphics out the window.

I was correct; the bloodied water rose, and Mario drowned in it while performing the drowning animation; there are no more lives since it took them all, and it returned me to the intro with Mario's head.

The Aftermath

This was originally planned to be in the game. I was searching through the game files on Super Mario 64 with my computer, and here’s what I found—the file name was "Burnt Luigi.fbx" Luigi's model was the same shape as the original Luigi model, but with some textures and polygons missing; there was even a bone in his right arm.

[illdothehotvoice]

“Lately I’ve dreamt about our days back in the castle. I hope we’ll spend carefree days there again soon.”

[savagematchmaker]

violet poppies (deaf!Shintaro AU)

@rxxshintaro i wrote you a lil something! (lil meaning like 4k hahah.) hope you’ll like it! this is the first chapter:

also found at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25107196

Kano was having a bad day.

��    Really, it was that simple. It had started with him waking up because of a damned mosquito, which had managed to get itself into his room at some point during the night before proceeding to incessantly buzz at his ear only when his palms were too far away from the fiend for him to utterly destroy that fucker. And, of course, when he went downstairs there were no mosquito repellers left. And, of course, that when he went to the coffee shop at six A.M. they were out of cocoa, therefore unable to satisfy his hot chocolate cravings. And, of course, that on his way back home, a random dude wearing noise-cancelling headphones would block his way. Of course.

     So yeah. Kano was having a bad day.

     “Excuse me?” he tried for the third time, still keeping his polite smile on. He was way too tired for conflict.

     The teen before him remained silent, staring at his phone’s screen as he took multiple pictures of some poppies on the side of the road- he was probably even unaware of Kano’s presence.

     Sighing, Kano contemplated inching past the boy. But no, if he tried passing through he’d most likely end up in the other’s personal bubble, squeezed against the other- which he definitely did not want to accomplish. Which meant there were only two options left for him:

Turn around and take another route home. The exercise would do him good anyway.

Get the other to notice him via (shudder) human contact.

Turn around and take another route home. The exercise would do him good anyway.

Get the other to notice him via (shudder) human contact.

     While option one was very tempting and probably the more advantageous option of the two, it also meant admitting defeat. Although Kano didn’t know the boy before him, a part of him bristled in indignation at the thought of giving in to the other’s despotism. No. Kano would not give in— he would bypass his usual mentality regarding his aversion to human contact and he’d (shudder) pat the other’s shoulder to get his attention.

     A sigh.

     “Excuse me?” he asked once more, this time lightly tapping the teen’s shoulder while ensuring that the rest of his body was a healthy distance from him— wary of giving the other the wrong impression, whatever that would be.

    It was just a light tap, even by Kano’s standards, yet the boy violently flinched away. Confused, Kano took a careful step back, his hands lifted in a nonthreatening manner; the other took a deep breath, his frame relaxing when the distance between them lengthened. Kano waited for him to take off his headphones, yet they remained on. Instead, the stranger just pocketed his phone, then, with his fist, made a circular motion on his chest.

    Once, then twice.

    It was during the third circle that Kano realized what was happening. His bad mood suddenly disappeared, replaced by burning regret, and he agitatedly shook his head.

     ‘No, I’m sorry,’ he signed to the other.

     The black-haired teen lightly smiled and stepped aside, clearing the way for Kano. Signing a small ‘Thank you,’ the blonde passed him and continued his walk back home, shoulders slightly hunched as he attempted to fight off the lingering embarrassment.

Shintaro regretted many things, starting with him getting in the accident that led to his deafness and ending with him letting Ayano convince him to come visit her home.

     A terrible decision, really. He came off as dark and brooding at best and misanthropic at worst; there were few exceptions to this general rule, like Momo or Ayano.

     Ayano, who was currently grinning at him as if he’d just told her he was getting married. Not a very good comparison, but still. Weren’t her siblings sixteen? Didn’t teens that age hate absolutely everybody and everything? Or was that thirteen? Shintaro could no longer remember, but his belief did not waver. Ayano’s siblings would for sure hate him; that meant that Ayano would soon hate him too.

     Taking a calming breath, Shintaro hit the breaks in his spiraling. Everything would be fine. He’d live for a couple of months in his room until people forgot his face— he could ‘borrow’ from Momo’s dried squid reserves.

     At his side, Ayano was still smiling, slightly facing him at all times to make sure that he could read her lips. They’d abandoned ASL after some disastrous accidents rooted in Ayano’s attempts to learn it, and although lip-reading wasn’t that accurate, there were very few people who knew sign language well enough to communicate with him. Stifling his swelling apprehension in face of the imminent awkwardness, Shintaro fidgeted on the spot.

     “I’m home!” called Ayano as she toed off her shoes. A couple moments later, her siblings showed up, all of them hosting wary expressions bar one. The familiar blond’s eyes were wide in recognition.

     ‘Hey,’ signed the blond. Beyond his cheerfulness there was defensiveness Shintaro was pretty familiar with, piled upon what was probably fierce protectiveness of his sister.

     Shintaro decided not to get into either of them. ‘How come you know ASL?’ he asked instead.

     ‘Was bored,’ replied the other, grinning dismissively. Then, his eyes suddenly flicked away from him and towards a green-haired girl; someone had asked something and Shintaro had missed it, <strike>as always. Torn between reading the girl’s lips and the blond’s, Shintaro hesitated for a moment before settling for the boy. “...met him yesterday, on my way home. Want me to introduce you guys?” the blond said.

     Shintaro felt Ayano tense up at his side. He knew her well enough to know that she was feeling jealous for not being the one to introduce Shintaro and hating herself for it. Probably a lot too. 

     Pulling in his usual reservation, Shintaro comfortingly took her hand in his. She tensed up, then relaxed and smiled at him. Reassured, he turned back to her brother. 

     He was staring at them strangely, but went on and signed anyway. ‘I’m K-A-N-O.’ He pointed to the green-haired girl. ‘K-I-D-O.’ Then to the tall boy. ‘S-E-T-O.’ And the small, white-haired girl hiding behind Seto. ‘M-A-R-Y.’

     ‘Nice to meet you,’ replied Shintaro, trying his best to smile politely. Damn his awkwardness and social conventions. The latter most of all.

     Why was he here again? How should he handle this? Did normal people even ask themselves these things? What was ‘normal’ though—

     Ayano elbowed him and his spiral screeched to a stop.

     “Anyone want to play Mario Kart?” she asked, her eyes sparkling in fierce competitiveness. “I’m really good at it now.” As a rare show of caring, his competitiveness reared its head at the statement.

     ‘I want to be Princess Peach,’ he declared, slightly smiling. Really, he’d smiled a lot today. Weird.

Competitiveness brings out the worst in people. This is known well enough by countless people everywhere: professional or amateur, young or old. Kano supposed that their game of Mario Kart was proof of that fact. Kido, as Luigi, had been kicked off-route so many times that she’d finally huffed in exasperation and blamed her lack of proficiency on her remote. She dumped it in Seto’s lap, then got up to make lunch. Seto was relaxed, Ayano was fierce yet three laps behind. And Kano and Shintaro… Kano and Shintaro were the living proof of the aforementioned universal truth.

     Once more, a shell knocked into Kano. Once more, the air around Shintaro started stinking with smugness.

      Kano was gonna destroy this bastard.

      Easier said than done. For the third time in a row, Shintaro won first place, Kano second, Ayano third, and Seto a very much left behind fourth. He didn’t seem bothered by it. Only smiled at Mary and handed her the remote, asking her if she wanted to try playing.

     Just as Kano opened his mouth to demand a rematch, from the corner of his eye he glimpsed Shintaro turning to Ayano and signing ‘Should we help your sister?’. 

     Ayano seemed surprised by his offer. “No, she usually does it herself— she really likes it. Once, she kicked me out of the kitchen, saying that I was too clumsy to help her cook,” she replied, laughing at the last part. Shintaro’s shoulders slumped in relief.

     So Kano’s initial opinion of Shintaro had been true. The guy really was a selfish bastard most of the time. 

     He’d have to keep a close eye on him.

To protect his sister, of course.