Well, I suppose it's no real suprise the necromancer busts out some body horror. How long until she uses some of the body mass to make her Frankensteins some deformed wings?
Now anyway, which of these options would sting the most for Kamizono? Hijacking her cultivar does involve infringing on her turf, but by her moon logic could be very directly translated into a Bad Seed impeding her ability to bring forth the Resurrection. Meanwhile, Freesia would actively damage her control, which comes as at a high Premium for cult leaders.
[X] Order Freesia to deal with her own leader's corpses, saying they'll remove Emi's Cultivar from her.
Oh my god, I hate arguing with this kind of a-hole, who insists on arguing even though they very openly refuse to accept any argument that would prove them wrong.
Yeah, not helped by how there comes a point where the opposition's argument's foundation is so poisoned that you basically can't engage with it on honest terms without putting yourself in a position where your own points are going to come out mangled just by virtue of granting their premise.
So 5.12 should hopefully be the last update in this arc, since it's now surpassed Merely Players in both update number and wordcount. I've wondered if I should have split the initial Sekigahara part and the cult part into an arc each, but it's a bit too late for that now. I originally planned for 5.11 to be the last, but that could've made things way too cluttered what with the Kamizono fight and all the new cultivars being introduced.
Speaking of which, I'm interested to hear any thoughts on Hibiki's, Emi's, and Palmira's powers (power-copying through emotional understanding, making what you love bring you pain, and gold respectively)
Speaking of which, I'm interested to hear any thoughts on Hibiki's, Emi's, and Palmira's powers (power-copying through emotional understanding, making what you love bring you pain, and gold respectively)
I'm extremely bad at remembering characters' names, but with Palmira the connection to Peru's former tenants seems very apparent. The specific visual flair of her scooping handfuls of molten gold out of a stone bowl and then 'casting' it1 at her enemies is quite nice, and makes her PI shtick all the more delightfully incongruous.
Given that I don't know very much about the Inca, I'll hold off on trying to interpret the cultural symbolism going on here and note the more pop cultural link between gold and money, which loops her PI shtick back around and makes it congruous again (somewhat).
Sidetracking into nerd territory, her power would make her a serious heavy hitter if it obeyed RL physics. Gold has one of the highest melting points out of any metal at just under 2,000°F and just over 1,000°C. For reference, that's enough to chemically crack apart the molecular structure of wood and convert it directly into biogas (which then instantaneously combusts), and it's recommended for a crematorium to heat human remains to ~1,100°C in order to completely reduce bodies to ash.
Likewise, in real life? An object's density stays more or less the same whether it's solid or liquid. Fantasia's Bolero of Fire sequence actually has a fairly accurate (and evocative) depiction of what that means: when you see chunks of cliffside crumbling and falling into the lava floes, they don't sink. Instead, they're jostled and rolled about on top of it as the lava's surface layer shifts and carries them along - while also grinding and tearing at the still-solid rock debris like a rock tumbler, quickly knocking them apart into pieces which then gradually melt and merge into the mass.
Given how dense gold is, the only reason that those coins wouldn't slam into Kamizono's zombies like beanbag rounds (that then sear sizzling holes into the zombies' flesh) would be Palmira not being able to fling them with enough force.
Shoving molten gold down the zombies' throats would still be a decent tactic, though, since it would quickly start frying them into ash and charcoal from the inside out. The optimal move, though, would be to start buzzsawing through the corpse-abominations with a big gold platter like a makeshift Ki-en-zan.
1IE, casting as in 'throwing', casting as in 'turning it from a glob of liquid metal to a fixed shape', and casting as in 'casting a spell'. Wordplay!
[X] See if Hibiki could 'act' in Kamizono's role to turn her own Cultivar against her.
[X] Get Palmira to electrocute them. Some had swallowed her gold, a great conductor.
[] See if Hibiki could 'act' in Kamizono's role to turn her own Cultivar against her.
EDIT: Changed my mind, Hibiki doesn't look like she would take desecrating those corpses further very well.
[X] Get Palmira to electrocute them. Some had swallowed her gold, a great conductor.
Ah. I guess that that leaves the "video game" part...and looking back at past updates, most of the BGM comes from video games. I remembered there being more anime soundtracks and stuff.
I feel like using the corpses is fighting where we're weak, given we know almost nothing about how the Cultivar actually works; and I don't think we have an anudience, so we don't get the benefit of possibly weakening the cult brainwashing either.
[X] Get Palmira to electrocute them. Some had swallowed her gold, a great conductor.
Slightly surprised no one's commented that Emi's Orange power (as copied by Hibiki) is basically the Ludovico technique, or weaponised aversion therapy. I thought it would be quite fitting paired with an artist/writer given burnout, but especially a mangaka given their industry
Slightly surprised no one's commented that Emi's Orange power (as copied by Hibiki) is basically the Ludovico technique, or weaponised aversion therapy.
Speaking of which, I'm interested to hear any thoughts on Hibiki's, Emi's, and Palmira's powers (power-copying through emotional understanding, making what you love bring you pain, and gold respectively)
So Hibiki and Emi's powers are interesting in that while neither of them has a power that's exactly straightforward battle action stuff, they're both very direct in terms of representing their personal hang ups. With Hibiki in paticular the angle of her using acting to disassociate was already discussed before we even got a look at her cultivar.
Palmira meanwhile has less of a clear throughline in terms of personality based powers, which I suppose fits them generally putting on an act. They somehow put a spin on it that ties it back into the PI persona though with the whole paying for crimes chant.
As far as they go as actual powers, gold is a good one with a nice amount of flexibility and cool factor.
Power copying is the kind of thing that can be used to great effect but needs some amount to make sure the character using it doesn't up either redundant, or too versatile. (Ironically enough, as one of the options here shows, it's presumably also much more effective if you're fighting other Hanazakari to expand your potential range of powers rather than the Frost Fair, so consider that another notch of the power relating to its user.)
Pain meanwhile, well, it's not exactly a tangible thing that can be interacted with, so it doesn't make for creative choreography. That being said, it can be leveraged for character beats, be it by how they interact with the trigger of their pain given they otherwise care about it, or by using the pain itself to coerce the victim into action. In hindsight, that might be another thing that pulls me towards the Freesia option. The fact that it turns Emi's (copied) powers from a conditional win button to something that meaningfully adds to the narrative of the fight.
Slightly surprised no one's commented that Emi's Orange power (as copied by Hibiki) is basically the Ludovico technique, or weaponised aversion therapy. I thought it would be quite fitting paired with an artist/writer given burnout, but especially a mangaka given their industry
Half of that can be attributed to the fact I didn't properly understand what Emi's power was, and the other half is that I'm terrible at making connections between things even if I know what they are.
Palmira meanwhile has less of a clear throughline in terms of personality based powers, which I suppose fits them generally putting on an act. They somehow put a spin on it that ties it back into the PI persona though with the whole paying for crimes chant.
As for how Palmira's power relates to them, Briareus did point out their Peruvian background, but the coin-throwing is specifically a reference to the fictional detective Zenigata Heiji, whose signature move is throwing coins at his enemies (though I'd forgotten that he uses copper coins, not gold). Inspector Zenigata from Lupin is named after him, and he's where the Samurai's Gil Toss ability in Final Fantasy comes from.
Huh, I realise that makes three literary references with the new Hanazakari, since we've also got A Clockwork Orange and Frankenstein. Speaking of which, I originally planned Kamizono's power to just be corpse reanimation, corpse combining came about when I realised her God Complex could be tied into Frankenstein (that and I figured we needed more examples of Cup Hanazakari)
[X] Get Palmira to electrocute them. Some had swallowed her gold, a great conductor.
"Hah, we can just electrocute 'em!" Palmira told Koyomi, having the surprising foresight to whisper her plan, "These Frankensteins have a whole bunch of gold inside of them courtesy of yours truly."
They saw Koyomi tense as they said that, so they then asked, "Er, you ain't gonna go off on how Frankenstein was actually the doctor, are ya?"
"No, not that. It's just…" Koyomi muttered and thought, Namie… "I don't exactly see an outlet for that anywhere nearby."
As the corpse colossi stomped their bony path towards them, Palmira said, her nerves letting her whisper anymore, "We've got a speedster, remember? Circle 'em Sfira, we could really use some static friction!"
"<Er, on it!>" Sfira said, though their root-voice still quivered. They sped forth all over, not quite precise enough to ram the colossi despite now being bigger targets. But more than fast enough to create a staticky feel all through even this cold air.
Soon a great crackling was heard. Lightning ran up through the corpse colossi, searing them where they stood.
Koyomi gave everyone the signal to run themselves, before summoning the darkness as cover. Freesia gripped with pain over what should've given her pleasure, and Kamizono unable to touch her own 'creations' without electrocution, what better moment to hightail it?
"And I thought you of all people would understand how defiled this world is, Arisugawa," Kamizono said, any inner rage not showing in her voice, "Run from me all you like, but just try to outrun your own impurity. Or your own Hirasaka."
She then walked over to the wailing Freesia and took her hand, gently telling her, "Dear Minakata, know here of all places you need not feel pain alone."
Away from those two, the Hanazakari and Sfira pushed their way past the corridor of cults to reach the cathedral doors. Though with Emi, this was more because Hibiki forced her to run, if she yanked Emi any harder her prosthetic hand would've come right off.
They made it to the door only to hear someone suddenly shout, "Well I'm going in anyway!" The instant Koyomi made it outside, she crashed straight into the owner of that voice, Kai Ryoichi. "Do you know who you just-" he was about to say, before he saw who it was and muttered, "Oh, it's you."
"The feeling's mutual," Koyomi snarled as she slowly stood back up. "Listen, all of you, we've got Vasilisa and Daimon. So get away from here as fast as you can."
"Arisugawa-sama, are you alright?" Miyako needed no prompt to ask.
"I'm fine. Just get going!" Koyomi said.
"But the Kai finances!" Ryoichi had to bring up.
"The cult won't spare your life, what makes you think they'll spare a yen?" Koyomi rasped at him.
Ryoichi was about to protest, but then sighed and found himself following her orders.
After they all got far away enough from the garden-cathedral to stop and talk, having head subconsciously or not back to Palmira's office, it was Emi out of all of them who first spoke. "Izumi-sama, I do appreciate your concern," she said almost as space filler, "but why, why did you save someone like me?"
"Well, you've worked on projects together, why wouldn't she want to save you?" Reiji said.
"Yeah, you're a great mangaka. Like Reiji-kun said, who wouldn't want to save you?" Miyako said at first, but was quick to add, "And even if you weren't, Izumi-sama's a Hanazakari. Saving people is what she's there for, doesn't matter if they're special! Ah, whoops," she then realised her error, "Of course you're a Hanazakari too, but ah you get the idea."
Hibiki had to smile at the answers the two who were still her fans gave. Still, she asked, "Daimon-san, for my own answer, would you like me to say something befitting the role I have played or… not that?"
Emi had to think those words over, but then said, "Not, actually. Izumi-san, just… tell me the truth. It'll just come out anyway."
That smile of Hibiki's faded, as she told Emi simply, "I saved you as that's what my role required, what I was told to do."
A chill was sent down even Reiji's spine.
Giving a smile and a nod, Emi said, "Yes, that's what I thought you'd say, what I knew was the truth." She then turned around, "I should be going now, I didn't attack so… maybe I can make everything better with Kamizono-sama if I apologise this soon."
But Koyomi stepped in front before she could leave. "Daimon Emi, do what you want, but think before you do so? Do you want to go back to someone who'd turn you into a toy and torture you if she still could? To someone who uses her dead fellow veterans as bargaining chips and meatshields? Rafflesia and Freesia are the ones who should be apologising at minimum, you owe them nothing."
Emi however shook her head. "I owe them a home, or somewhere I didn't have to be… me," she said, then held up her metal hands, "My life in manga left me with carpal tunnel, among other things. It got so bad I had to call a Hanazakari with a roboticization Cultivar to replace these hands. All the while, no one cared for the stories I had to tell, no matter how hard I worked. I… can't go back to that life. Please, don't make me go back!" she then cried out and started clinging onto Koyomi's coat.
"I hear you," Koyomi said as she took hold of her, "and I won't let you go back to that life either. If your publisher let that happen to you, they don't deserve you, and I say that from… personal experience. I… can't guarantee you a future, only you can do that, but I won't let you have that past again. Nor make you use your Cultivar."
Needing to take a few deep breaths, Emi ultimately said, "Th-thank you, but why? I'm just…"
"First things first, stop saying that. Miyako here's been nothing but excited to see you," Koyomi said as she pointed to her, "And as for why, like she said, it's what a Hanazakari's there for. Or at least what a Hanazakari is supposed to be there for," she muttered as quite a few figures came to mind.
"And hey, Daimon-sama, if nobody else reads you for your own manga, I still do," Miyako smiled at her.
Looking at Koyomi, Emi's spirits seemed to gradually lift as she said just, "…Thank you."
With that consolation reached, Koyomi then had to look over to Palmira and ask, "By the way, exactly why do you need our money if your Cultivar controls gold? No wait, think I've got it, it's because RUNE won't let you, right?"
"Ooh boy, you can sure call 'em," Palmira sighed, "Si, the government's banned me from purchasing anything with my Cultivar, kept saying I'd cause inflation. Please, like I'm Mansa Musa or whoever." They then sheepishly added, "Guess a more noble answer would be that gold's sacred in Peru, signifying the Sun God, so I can't be so casual. But no, 'government won't let me' really is it.
Ooh, but since Senorito Ryoichi was looking for what EP swindled off his folks, and 'cause I'm only forbidden from using gold in my own purchases, how 'bout I-" they then said but were quickly cut off.
"What do you take me for? As if my family would stoop so low to beg for gold that's illegal in any capacity!" Ryoichi said.
"…Suit yourself, nino," was all Palmira had to say to that.
"Although my family's got a theatre that could really use fixing up," Reiji stepped in to say despite only having just learned of Palmira's powers, "Ah, if you're still offering."
Ryoichi had to glare at him.
After that, it wasn't long until puffs of smoke formed around the doll of Vasilisa, Freesia's emotions having little incentive to keep her a toy after facing the Orange Cultivar. Putting her on the ground, a few seconds later the spell broke, and the cosmonaut turned back to her human form.
"[I-I'm finally free!]" she said, if in Russian being in civilian form. But then she struggled to stand up, forcing her arms to carry her weight as her legs were completely immobile. She sighed upon having to let the others pick her up and place her on a bench.
But after all the 'fun' Freesia had had and the 'modifications' she'd put Vasilisa through, this didn't surprise Koyomi in the slightest.
"[My legs, they I can't, I can't-]" Vasilisa gasped. "[Did she, that monster, did she think it'd be funny if I never walked again? Okay, calm down, I can still float with my Cultivar, heh, who needs legs? And disabled astronauts are becoming a thing these days… aren't they?]"
"<Zinnia, I mean, Vasilisa,>" Sfira then spoke to her, "<I suppose humans wouldn't normally ask this of someone who tried to shoot them, but… are you okay?>"
"[Do I look okay?]" Vasilisa was quick to snap, but then said, "[No, I should be at least grateful I'm not some doll anymore.]" As she felt the eyes of everyone else on her, she told Sfira, "[Hey, got a message for you. Tell Koyomi that fight for you's still on, I'll just… need some more training, that's all.]"
Sfira twitched, but passed her message on anyway, "<She still wishes to challenge you to take me into Russian custody, once she's able to.>"
Koyomi groaned the first thing hearing that. "Seriously? And the space station's international anyway, yet she's still making about the motherland. I should've-" she was about to say in frustration I should've just left you there but couldn't bring herself to, remembering Freesia. Like Miyako said, a Hanazakari was there to help others. "-Nevermind."
Realising she ought to fill Palmira, Hibiki, and Emi in, she then said, "Mirova here was the first to see Sfira as they came down into orbit, but they still landed on Japanese soil. Not that I'm doing this out of nationalism, I just y'know, don't want Sfira locked up for some scientists to do whatever on them."
"But if your claim is that Sfira landed in Japan," Hibiki suddenly asked, "Then could any other Japanese Hanazakari fight for them?"
Probably for the best Vasilisa couldn't understand that, could've complained about being ganged up on, or say she'd invite a bunch of Russian Hanazakari.
"…What are you implying?" Koyomi asked, knowing Hibiki was corporate.
"Nothing, as of now. I'm merely inquiring," Hibiki just said. Tensions naturally weren't eased, and Reiji didn't even step in for her this time.
All this talk over, Palmira dusted their hands and said, "Another case closed." Except it of course wasn't, since they now had to see to a wheelchair for Vasilisa, Ryoichi was still none too pleased, there was still the matter of Sfira, the Earthly Purified may have been hindered but were still very much functional, and Emi had no idea where to go or what to do. And somewhere out there, Blue Lotus was still lying in wait.
Of course, trouncing that cult in any capacity was hardly 'nothing', Koyomi smiled.
One hanging thread Koyomi was quick to tie up, once she'd found somewhere secluded so no one could overhear, was why the hell Hibiki would say she killed Emet. She felt sick to her stomach from who she knew to call but did so anyway.
"Hello, you have contacted the Japan division of RUNE. Please state your business-" an all too familiar voice said on the other end.
"Yumemi, it's me," Koyomi said.
"Oh I knew that, Koyomi, your number was displayed. I just felt like making you confirm that in person," Yumemi said.
Snarling at that, Koyomi then got to business with, "I had a run in Izumi Hibiki just now, Hellebore in Full Bloom. She claimed it was her who killed Emet, not the Frost Fair. I certainly know about her company siding with them, but I more than ought to remember Emet's real killer."
She left out the Earthly Purified as she couldn't see how siccing RUNE on them wouldn't make things worse, if the two weren't already bedfellows.
Sighing, Yumemi said, "I knew this day would come, I'm just glad it didn't come as soon as I feared. Still, no use trying to hide it anymore. I assume you know we have a memory collecting and archiving Hanazakari on staff, Rosemary in Full Bloom? She was there that day at Taito Base."
Koyomi gasped, "You- you mean you had her steal that memory from me?!"
"Steal? Don't be so quick to accuse. You asked us to take that memory of yours away, specifically the very moment of Emet's death," Yumemi told her, "I won't deny it was in our interests to do so, if it kept you from going on a one-woman rampage against Izumi Hibiki, risking our whole agreement with Yamahi. Quite generous of us too, I've long contemplated doing the same with the sight of… Phobetor's death."
"Your interests? You were barely even with RUNE at the time," Koyomi hissed.
"If you wish, you may report back to us to have this memory of you finding out drained back into Rosemary again," Yumemi said, brushing past that comment.
"No, no I won't," Koyomi said, "And I'm not gonna go after Izumi, she was forced into killing Emet anyway, and revenge this long afterwards would accomplish nothing. But you can bet if Yamahi or any other corporation comes after me, I will not hold back."
"I expected you to say just that," Yumemi chuckled.
They hung up soon after. As if RUNE invading people's dreams wasn't enough, the confirmation they took people's memories made Koyomi seethe all over… especially knowing she'd once given into them. Well, according to Yumemi anyway.
Still, if she ever wanted to give up any more of her memories, she wouldn't give any to RUNE this time around.
But Hibiki, Emi, Kazuya, and Miyako of all people, would they have the strength to refuse the same?
I Am the Resurrection has reached its end. This gives you 200xp each to distribute among Koyomi's and Miyako's stats (their current stats can be viewed here):
See? Keeping the peppy fangirl around was helpful!
"What do you take me for? As if my family would stoop so low to beg for gold that's illegal in any capacity!" Ryoichi said.
"…Suit yourself, niño," was all Palmira had to say to that.
"Although my family's got a theatre that could really use fixing up," Reiji stepped in to say despite only having just learned of Palmira's powers, "Ah, if you're still offering."
Ryoichi had to glare at him.
Look, Ryoichi, not everyone's family can turn down free gold as casually as yours.
Koyomi groaned the first thing hearing that. "Seriously? And the space station's international anyway, yet she's still making about the motherland. I should've-" she was about to say in frustration I should've just left you there but couldn't bring herself to, remembering Freesia. Like Miyako said, a Hanazakari was there to help others. "-Nevermind."
"I should've just left you...where was the last safe place you were? Sekigahara? No, she wouldn't have let me leave her behind..."
If there's ever a chapter that justifies boosting Koyomi's Technique and Physique, it's one with two Hanazakari fight scenes. As for Miyako...she kinda took charge at some points? That's maybe Emotional Strength? I guess?
[X] 100 XP to Technique
[X] 100 XP to Physique
[X] 200 XP to Emotional Strength
So the thing about Vasilisa becoming disabled here is my original plan was to kill her off, to emphasise the danger of the cult and more practically because I was starting to get worried about character bloat. Reason I pulled back is that I figured she hadn't gotten that much characterisation yet, so any reaction would be more about a character dying at all than her dying specifically, and that it might make the rescue mission look for nought.
I also considered having Blue Lotus and/or the swan from the arc's beginning show up near the end, but I figured I was already juggling enough characters in this arc already
[X] 100 XP to Technique
[X] 100 XP to Physique
[X] 175 XP to Emotional Strength
[X] 25 XP to Emotional Intelligence
Is Emi going to go live with Koyomi and Miyako ?
After such a long and eventful day, it took Miyako forever to reassure Asahi and escape to her room. She was fine, really! She was living the kind of Hanazakari adventure she'd always dreamed of, as twisted as that childhood wish had become when meeting cruel reality.
For now, though, she would retreat to an old comfort, one of the few constants in her life- writing. She hadn't updated My Chemical Valentine in some time now, but her handful of faithful readers seemed to enjoy the Real Person Fic drabbles she'd begun writing after moving to town.
Meeting Ryoichi today he'd been, well, honestly quite unpleasant. She could tell there was a fraught history between him and Reiji. But in the end, both of them cared deeply for Kazuya in their own way, and she'd like to think there was room for friendship to develop. And perhaps more...
Adding a few tags to the list and licking her lips, her fingers started dancing over the keyboard.
Chapter 38: The Heist (For Your Heart): Ryoichi x Reiji
They stood under the Earthly Purified's ominous headquarters, resolute in their mission. Ryoichi's parents had been drawn in by this evil cult, and only hard proof of their foul deeds would save their good name!
"There's no way this is going to work, you know. Someone is sure to notice this is a rented costume." Reiji drawled in a manner unbecoming of his guise. He picked at his rented butler uniform, adjusting it as it strained against his broad shoulders.
"Now now, Reiji. Nobody looks at the help. Our plan is perfect- I'll blind them with the Kai family's authority, and you find whatever proof your journalist needs. With her investigative genius, my family and the world will know the truth!"
Ryoichi threw open the doors, storming inside. A soft bell chimed as they entered the atrium. The center of the room held some kind of reception-slash-gift shop, and Reiji began flipping through a large rack of brochures. "Disputed Questions on Resurrection," "Bad Seeds in God's Garden," "Shin Sekigahara, The Guided Bus Tour."
"Look, young master, Kamizono's autobiography is on sale." Reiji spoke in deadpan, begrudgingly getting into character. "Perhaps we might glean her wisdom from it?"
"Don't be silly, nobody admits to the good stuff in those! We need to follow the money!" Ryoichi loudly proclaimed, still resistant to the concept of subtlety.
"As you say. The minds of the rich and famous are beyond a humble servant." Reiji snarked.
Just then, an evil cultist shuffled into the room, almost tripping over the hem of his dark and flowing robes. Head bowed, his face was shrouded in shadow. "I'm so sorry, I was busy in the back! How can I help you boys?"
Ryoichi puffed out his chest and put his hands on his hips. "I'm from the Kai family, you might know us. We've donated quite a bit of money!"
"Oh, of course, the Kai family..." he said, clearly not recognizing the name. "You're quite early for our evening service, did you wish to speak to someone? Lady Kamizono is currently occupied with combat in the chapel, I'm afraid."
"We're here to clear up your foul misdeeds!" Ryoichi blurted out, giving Reiji a small heart attack.
Flailing forward to shush his partner in crime, Reiji blurted out, "He means taxes!" He leaned in, as though sharing a secret. "We're facing a tax audit, you see, and such a topic is best avoided in polite company. We were hoping you might provide us a receipt for our donations..."
The cultist's glowing red eyes had grown worried, but quickly lit up. "Oh, of course, foul misdeeds is right! I'm told our relationship with the National Tax Agency is quite strained, as well! But this isn't a discussion to be had in the atrium. All our foul misdeeds happen in the secret basement!"
The veiled figure began shuffling away. Ryoichi glanced at Reiji, smug.
Reiji grabbed his shoulder and whispered harshly, "Can't you act smart for one minute? I have no idea how they bought that."
"G-get out of my face, a servant would never show such disrespect." Stammering, Ryoichi pushed Reiji back. "I don't know what you're not getting- I tell them my family's name and they do what I want, that's how these things work!"
"Are you boys coming?" Chastened, they hurried to follow.
The cult's compound was sprawling and dimly lit. They were led through several hallways into a dusty storage room. Their guide swung open the hollow stomach of a large Budai statue, revealing a narrow stone staircase descending into darkness. "They're adding an elevator soon, we've been trying to work on wheelchair accessibility."
Ryoichi had been content to take the lead until now, but gestured for Reiji to go first, hiding behind him. Below was a damp stone corridor, lit by torches. Their shadows flickered, and something could be heard skittering in the distance. They soon arrived at a heavy wooden door.
Their guide, so chipper until now, seemed subdued. "Now, I hope you made an appointment. I've grown used to the blasphemies and walking corpses, but that thing in there, it scares me!" Reiji walked closer, examining a plaque on the door.
Michiko
Accounting and Human Resources
The cultist had already begun to retreat, holding up the hem of their robe and running the way they came. Shrugging, Reiji knocked on the heavy wooden door.
A woman's voice called out, "Yes, what is it? I'm still working on the payroll! These unpaid lunches won't add themselves to the time sheets!"
"Excuse us, miss. I'm the Kai family's tax accountant, here for some paperwork." Reiji kept a grip on Ryoichi's shoulder, the message clear- 'behave'.
"You should have said so! Come in, come in!" At her urging, Reiji grabbed the heavy door's handle and pulled, slowly opening it with an ominous creek. What lay beyond blinding fluorescent lights was a small office. Drooping posters displayed workplace rules, and a short bespectacled woman sat typing on a blocky beige workstation. "Now, which forms did you need? You dears could have just emailed me, you know!" Her smile didn't reach her cold, soulless eyes.
Noticing a folding table with coffee in the corner, Ryoichi left a sweating Reiji to his subterfuge. There were two half-full boxes of stale donuts, but all of the good ones had been taken, leaving messy powdered sugar and some sad cream donuts, soggy and partly crushed. Disappointed, he grabbed a styrofoam cup and emptied in two packets of off-brand sweetener. Realizing with horror that both coffee machines were decaf, he awkwardly set his cup down and returned his attention to the conversation.
"Let's circle back to that later, Reiji-san. I'm afraid that without your family seal, we'll need a great deal more paperwork." What limited patience Michiko had for unexpected guests and their vague, made-up tax problems had already ran out, and her polite facade was struggling to maintain itself.
Reiji, however, kept a placid smile on his face and ignored all the hints she was dropping. "I'm so sorry for the trouble, I can be so forgetful."
"I'm sure it'd be easier if you reached out with the email we have on file..."
"Oh, that's alright, we're already here! I can sign anything you need, do you have a pen?"
Scowling, Michiko stood up. "I'll be a few minutes, please help yourselves to the- oh, you already have." Her eyebrow twitched as she noticed Ryoichi.
She struggled with the door for a moment before closing it behind her, heels clacking down the stone hallway.
"I tuned out there, what do I need to sign?" Ryoichi asked.
Reiji stood up, walking behind the desk to her computer. "We're not signing anything, you idiot." Pulling a USB drive out of his pocket, he shoved it into the machine. "Damn it, she locked it down. We're doing this the hard way."
Reiji began typing, and blue lines of code quickly filled the screen. "It's like you said, Ryoichi- we're following the money. We'll see what Miyako makes of Earthly Purified's financials." The perspective of the screen seemed to shift to the side, and Reiji's code became a glowing digital skyline. The monitor's perspective began zooming forward through a psychadelic virtual cityscape.
Ryoichi watched, entranced. "Was this how computers worked?"
"Don't just stand there, make sure she's not coming back!" Just then, there was a knock at the door, and it began to slowly open. Reiji cursed. "There's too many garbage files, I need more time!"
Ryoichi walked to the door, shielding Reiji from view as it opened a crack. A different, shorter cultist cocked her head to the side. "Hello, I had a question about my paycheck? Is Michiko-san here?"
Ryoichi stammered, "No, she's not. Uh, family emergency."
The cultist raised a hand to their mouth. "Oh my, I hope everything is alright. I guess I'll try again tomorrow." As she walked away, he heard her grumble, "So she's allowed to leave early?"
As Ryoichi's heart calmed down, Reiji let out a whoop. "I got into the kernel! That's like, the computer's brain. I can see everything from here, and... wow, I think we found our proof." Reiji's eyes opened with shock. "They've spent a significant amount of money bribing the local police, and exhuming the bodies of Hanazakari!"
Ryoichi shook with anger, "I knew it! Those scoundrels!"
Shaking his head, Reiji shut down the computer and stood up. "We have what we need, Miyako can crush them with this. I think it's time we exit, stage left." Striding out into the hallway, they turned to the right and ran to the staircase.
Accustomed to the office's harsh lighting, Ryoichi realized with a moment of terror that he had missed a step, and tripped badly. Catching Reiji behind him, they began tumbling down the stairs.
"Ow ow ow, that hurts... are you alright?" Reiji had ended up on top, pinning Ryoichi to the ground. Oh no, in this position-! Reiji sniffed, frowning. "Ryoichi... you're an omega?"
Blushing, Ryoichi st
Miyako jumped to her feet as Hayato burst into her room, brandishing a wooden practice sword. "H-huh!? Hayato?"
"Miyako! Are you alright?" He looked from side to side, tightly gripping his weapon. "I heard a horrible cackling coming from your room, I think the shrine might have attracted a yokai!"
"Oh no! I didn't hear anything like that, but I'm still a novice at this shrine maiden thing!" Her laptop forgotten, she joined him on his hunt.
I had a handful of stupid ideas, and thought I'd inflict them on the rest of you. However much EXP this gets, the only fitting place to put it is into Miyako's emotional strength.
"Ooh boy, you can sure call 'em," Palmira sighed, "Si, the government's banned me from purchasing anything with my Cultivar, kept saying I'd cause inflation. Please, like I'm Mansa Musa or whoever." They then sheepishly added, "Guess a more noble answer would be that gold's sacred in Peru, signifying the Sun God, so I can't be so casual. But no, 'government won't let me' really is it.
Ooh, but since Senorito Ryoichi was looking for what EP swindled off his folks, and 'cause I'm only forbidden from using gold in my own purchases, how 'bout I-" they then said but were quickly cut off.
"What do you take me for? As if my family would stoop so low to beg for gold that's illegal in any capacity!" Ryoichi said.
Palmira should be headhunting famous sculptors and jewelers to have them launder her gold by making art pieces which contain 'the blessing of the Hanazakari' and selling them predicated on that, with the fact they're made of pure gold as... a happy accident.
Then set the price point high enough that only super rich people will buy them. It's not like the modern rich-people art scene isn't already a giant money laundering scam, after all.
"[I-I'm finally free!]" she said, if in Russian being in civilian form. But then she struggled to stand up, forcing her arms to carry her weight as her legs were completely immobile. She sighed upon having to let the others pick her up and place her on a bench.
But after all the 'fun' Freesia had had and the 'modifications' she'd put Vasilisa through, this didn't surprise Koyomi in the slightest.
"[My legs, they I can't, I can't-]" Vasilisa gasped. "[Did she, that monster, did she think it'd be funny if I never walked again? Okay, calm down, I can still float with my Cultivar, heh, who needs legs? And disabled astronauts are becoming a thing these days… aren't they?]"
Again, how many more people are still in Freesia's "toy chest", and how many of those have had far worse damage done to them? As someone who had a glancing interest in the Bionicle home-build fandom as a kid, it's entirely possible that Freesia would have eventually taken to using some of the more extreme methods there - filing down parts, combining parts from multiple toys to create a DIY model, etc.
Like, I'm imagining Freesia making things like these, but out of toyified people:
I had a handful of stupid ideas, and thought I'd inflict them on the rest of you. However much EXP this gets, the only fitting place to put it is into Miyako's emotional strength.
The fanfic-in-a-fanfic setup makes this pretty easy to make canonical actually. Though I did plan to have swordsmanship be the one traditionally Japanese thing Hayato's bad at actually, but luckily that fits as it just makes the last scene all the funnier.
Edit: Also, since Ryoichi and co didn't get to infiltrate the cathedral like he planned, this is actually a clever way of seeing what that could look like (well, to an extent anyway) without even needing to go AU
