Manga Ichimonji

#in cash #chapter 3 #mori morihiko #it's ok!!#take as much time as you need #hohoho honestly happy whenever I get replies eeeeee

Manga winced. Not 10 seconds later and he was back to being called Manga-chan? - Again, why even bother to shout about it if you weren't even going to sodding listen? But what the heck. Honestly, what did it matter - what did anything matter.

He let out a big sigh and pressed his fingers deeply into his temple again. The initial anger he'd felt was already starting to dissipate. It was half making Mori tear up, and another half being verbally abusive to her. He didn't feel guilty though. God ...Or did he?

He gave his head a little shake. This was why the past should stay buried. It brought complication to an otherwise delightfully black and white universe and bleeding the line between the two should stick to being a very much unneeded pastime.

He let out another sigh. "Manga-SAN if anything, please." Or 'sama' he thought. Manga secretly wondered if he could get the fickle model to call him that. The thought alone brought another little piece of Manga's usual character to his face. He waved a hand at him.

"And no tears, please. It'll ruin the face. Hate to ruin a face like that, right? After all without that, it's a quick-stop on the poverty bus - with the poor people, the really poor people. No one wants that right?" He paused a half second. Almost as if to restart his mind, and usher the unnecessary thoughts that clouded it aside. It was ancient. Forget it - forget it all. You were Manga Ichimonji now.

"Sorry for blowing up like that, sheesh - I'm embarrassed, it's out of character for me - honestly, I'm appalled!" He shook his head in a jovial mock-disappointment at himself. "Lying is awful, terrible. Such a hurtful lie caught me off guard, you can understand that can't you Mori-san? Afterall, you, Mori-san - you look the very picture of truth n' honesty - truer n' fairer than Snow White herself, even. I too, strive for honesty. ...That being that, maybe we should try sticking together? As friends, yeah?"

"What d'you say?"

...Well he was Manga Ichimonji after all.

And when you're Manga Ichimonji, you better strike while the iron's hot - because the shadow you cast is long and dark - and it always threatens to engulf you one day.

Mind your own business | Nagisa

shslenigma

Well… Nagisa wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting here, of course Manga was in a mood. The networker had zoomed off before anyone could really catch him after the announcement and although part of him thought it was a bad idea… well, Nagisa had tracked him down. He could justify it as he’d rather not see Manga kill anyone in a big fit or something. Was the networker even capable of that? Well… maybe. Better safe than sorry - easier to think everyone a potential threat than end up suffering for it later.

The mysterious (or perhaps now that’d be the ‘lying’) boy finds Manga in the cafeteria and he makes a slow approach, like a hunter sneaking up on a predator.

"Uwaa, always so angry…" he mutters. Nagisa’s, honestly kind of cheery and jovial nature was probably only going to make this worse but what kind of a person would he be if he didn’t at least try to talk to him about this?

"You know it’s not like Tanaka is a bad name. Takehiko too… salt of the earth names really show how hard you’ve worked. And honestly shouldn’t you be prouder of humble roots since you’ve come so far?" he tilts his head and then flashes Manga a peace sign. "So don’t stress out over it, Tanaka-chin! I feel like you’re your own worst enemy here."

This would surely end well.

#in cash #chapter 3 #nagisa yamanami #no u mind ur own business #nagisa whyyy you call manga this???#you'll drive the most psychically useless oc to get psychical lol

A burning desire to wrench Nagisa's fingers backwards seethed into him. Manga had visibily recoiled at being called Tanaka... and not to be outdone, he had called him Takehiko too! The 'chin' suffix truly was the cherry on top of the most provocative thing that could have been said to him at this time. The gall of this obnoxious fuckwit defied all reason - and Manga's patience for the "delightfully mysterious perky boy wonder" was at an all time low.

"You..." Words almost failed him. He pressed both hands firmly to his forehead as if the pressure alone was the only thing preventing his head from exploding. It was a herculean effort not to just burst into an endless stream of swear words. When his hands eventually fell back to his sides Manga was the very picture of fury.

"FUUUUUUUUCK. OFFFFFFFFF." It was spoken slowly and deliberately, every syllable stressed. Because it was important. He definitely wanted to make sure captain headcase understood.

"I WANT YOU - TO CLAW YOUR WAY BACK TO YOUR CRAZY CAVERN, YES? AND YOU STAY THERE OK, WITH NO-DOUBT YOUR CRAZY BESTIE AMEYA - AND YOU CAN BOTH HAVE YOUR KOOKY SPECIAL LITTLE SNOWFLAKE PICNICS AND YOU CAN LEAVE THE GROWNUPS TO DO THE GROWNUP THINGS, ALRIGHT?" Again, Manga near-shouted and stressed every word. Because it was important.

"And if you ever-" he paused a second, his hand again pressed to his forehead. "...and I am deathly serious here- if you EVER! Call me 'Tanaka', 'Takehiko', or '-chin' or any combination thereof EVER-AGAIN, I swear if you don't die here, you'll wish you had been."

"Now MOVE. ASIDE." For what was essentially a scrawny office clerk, Manga's words seemingly did all the fighting for him. And what fight they offered indeed. What could possibly be worse than death?

Manga's eyes burned into Nagisa.

Mind your own business | Leo

shslhostclub

"Well, I can see that timing’s not my strongest point."

He sighed and shook his head.

"Alright, look. I’m not going to try and stop you from being upset, but about who you used to be and all that…"

"…who cares?"

It probably wasn’t the kindest way to say it, but Leo wasn’t planning on stopping to rephrase himself.

"Yeah, maybe that’s who you were once upon a time. The point is that you decided you were going to change and you went out and damn well did it. Not everyone starts out with their name already made out for them, but if you can go out and make one for yourself then who the hell cares who you used to be?"

#in cash #chapter 3 #Leo hazuki #ahhhhh noooo!!! thank you for replying too #I LOVE REPLIES #BRING ONE BRING ALL MWAHAHAHAHAHA #leo super adorbs hello

"That wasn't me!!" Manga burst out instinctively. "That thing- whatever, it was bullshit!! It-It wasn't real, none of it." He shifted uncomfortably. It wasn't convincing at all. He knew it, he didn't even have to look Leo in the eye. Inwardly grimacing, Manga massaged the side of his head. This truly was the worst day ever. But this unexpected support from Leo was somewhat gratifying. Why only somewhat though...?

Maybe it was because Manga had not endured a delightful underdog story. Maybe it was because he hadn't had a feelgood pulled up by his bootstraps life... No, you didn't even have to analysis much. Because when you got down to it, Manga was just another selfish kid with stars in his eyes who'd abandoned his only family to the wolves in order to chase personal glory. And maybe...just maybe, somewhere deep down that glimmer of a consciousness still surely persevered... refusing to disappear, no matter how often it was suffocated in the desires Manga had always endeavored for.

And his heart hurt. What happened to the farm? Their income, their life? There was more than one reason why he never wanted to hear the name Tanaka Takehiko. He took a deep breath and tried to bury it once more. He faced Leo... his expression must have been a real mix of emotions.

"I did, didn't I." He paused. "It's cruel... for life to be decided... for people. It's unjustifiable." His face darkened a moment before facing Leo again.

"Thank you... I think. This isn't normal... for me."

"Don't get it in your head for a second it is."

Mind your own business | Mori

morisquared-blog1

She turns a corner and comes face to face with a spitting mad Ichimonji Manga, and Mori’s hesitant smile fades immediately.

"Ichimonji-chan…! Mori… wanted to know if you were okay…?"

It’s kinda obvious he isn’t, but…

"Mori… doesn’t think any less of Ichimonji-chan or anything… Mori just hopes Ichimonji-chan is okay…"

She flashes him a smile that’s only a little forced, as he puts her hands up in a defensive position, trying to let the other boy know he means no harm.

"I-if there’s anything Ichimonji-chan wants to talk about, Mori can listen…"

#in cash #chapter 3 #mori morihiko #wahhhhh thank you for replying morimorimorimori

'Doesn't think any less of me ...?' That line alone was so offensive to Manga's sensibilities, his hatred near became tangible.

He was never supposed to garner sympathy from people - goodlord, sympathy of all things! The only time sympathy proved bearable was after being destroyed at tennis or some other VIP pastime. 'I'm sorry to keep beating you down like this, Manga. You've really gotta work on that backhand!' He practically glowed.

But this?

No, this was feelgood sympathy. Something people with 'friends' do for each other - and not for the last time today, yet more bad memories from his past resurfaced. If Manga was ever so bad he'd need comfort he could find it crying into a pillow of banknotes instead.

Who the hell was Mori to offer sympathy - to him of all people? The same way it doesn't take long for a tensed rubberband to snap - as was Manga.

“Well there’s a bastion of goodwill! EVERYONE, MORI LOVES THE ME DEEP INSIDE.” Manga shouted out loudly and sarcastically.

"How fucking benign of you Mori! Shall we embrace over our mutual experiences and come to some grand consensus that 'boy, being poor sure sucks!' Oh no... wait..." Manga made a big show of slapping his head. "Stupid me! I nearly forgot that Mori Morihiko spent his entire childhood being SOMEONE. So you know what that means Mori? We have - wait for it ... FUCK ALL - IN COMMON!" Having said his piece, Manga proceeded to stalk off back the way he came, not wanting to walk past him.

He didn't leave quietly though, and shouted over his shoulder: "... And don't you EVER call me Ichimonji-chan again - I'm not fucking 10, you ignorant rich prick."

Mori was soon left in the corridor with his thoughts. ... Not for long however, as seemingly less than a minute later Manga's furious footsteps could be heard, stomping all the way back to the corridor.

"That stuff was bullshit, anyway! Did you see that thing, I mean come on!! That trash is so FAKE, like everything else here. Y-e-a-h, I was poor, but seriously - a rice farmer? Me?! You don't seriously believe that do you?" His heart was beating too fast - it was wrong. His heart shouldn't be beating so fast for a lie, of all things. He was usually so poised... the whole thing was just wrong and unfair. Why did it have to be this?

Nothing in his tone revealed it. Nothing in his language. But in his eyes it was irrefutable.

He was looking at Mori for a lifeline.

Mind your own business | Open

"No..."

This was a dream - a nightmare, surely. Just some horrible little dream right? He'd wake up soon and it would be gone. But he blinked and it was still there - minutes passed and it was still there.

Staring him dead in the face was the one thing he'd spent most of his life avoiding, forgetting.

"N-No, no, no, no, NO!" He muttered to himself frantically.

He'd been in the cafeteria. Found himself a quiet little table where he could eat in peace (the usual hectic bonding lunchtime dynamic in the real world nowhere to be found in this circus). At the announcement however he left - immediately. He couldn't be caught by anybody, not when he was like this - so frantic and nervy... But more importantly - so mad. The things he might say in this state... No, he just couldn't be caught, that's all. Easy - he'd just find somewhere to hide while he composed himself...

But he was so caught up in his own thoughts that he neglected to hear the footsteps approaching, and after rounding a hallway - he unfortunately came face to face with someone and stopped dead.

"...WHAT-!?" He snapped at the person, hardly even paying attention to who it was.

"Your timing - let me be frank, IS SHIT. Get out of the way!!" His tone was clipped as he hand-waved them to move aside. If Manga was previously a snake in a grass, then this was definitely the cobra rearing up and spitting venom.

#in cash #chapter 3 #aod2 starter #reaction

in which the narrator only wants to (cash register noise) take your money | manga

It was incredible to witness his transformation. Ameya couldn’t have seen a better one from a Magical Girl show. It almost made her want to applaud, but that probably would have been seen as rude. As would suggesting he himself go into acting, probably. Ameya may have looked airheaded, but she wasn’t stupid, and he pretty obviously didn’t like her as a person. That said…a new and interesting line of conversation, she might as well go with it!

"The Narrator is not a voice actress, she replies innocently, folding her hands behind her back with all the demure shyness of a schoolgirl. That’s probably where his problem lies. She hasn’t done that kind of stuff since…" Since Under a Green Sky ended, probably. The title made her feel a little nauseous just in her own head. “…Since ever, really. Narrating has always been her deal and she’s really only done the stuff that interested her for a long time. Which, granted, isn’t the best thing for getting her name up in lights.”

Finally allowing the machete sheath to get the best of her, she snatched it up off the ground and put it over the arm of her injured hand like a giant mitten. “I-chi-mon-ji Man-ga. Hmmm. Sizzle-kun it is, and he should count himself lucky it’s not Dickhead-kun. She’s absolutely horrendous at remembering names, see?” She grinned like a possessed girl scout. Not her best, but hey, there were always more slots available. “And yet, she’s still very appreciative of being called interesting. Which everyone can be in their own little way, but the fact that he hasn’t already hightailed it out of her screaming and swearing and shouting at maybe-present cameras says a lot. Very sorry about the machete, ｂｅｅｔｅｅｄｏｕｂｌｅｙｏｕ. She’s a woman on a mission.”

It didn’t really matter if she came off as just insensitive or the world’s worst liar. What mattered was that she had said it! “Aaaanyway, she continues, looking Sizzle-kun up and down as his whole demeanor changes, and inwardly wondering what brought up his newfound interest, she can roll with this. No, she has never ever wanted to get into voice acting at all, she responds with a slightly mechanical smile in dramatic contrast to her earlier too-smiley smile. She is not about that life. As if looking at him is now offensive to her eyes, her gaze drifts off to around the rest of the store, seeking out more cool goodies to brandish.”

Just as she said it, her eyes fell on a display of festive…Aku-chan-themed snow globes and her eyes narrowed. Maybe she could just…scan the whole stock and smash them all up. Not very surreptitiously, she started sidestepping towards it. Soon, snow globes, your reign of terror would be over.

"So what did Workaholic-kun say his talent was, anyway?" Tone now back to normal, she gave him a very curious look out of the corner of her eye.

'I've discovered your problem! You're mentally 4 years old!' Manga tried to appeal to some greater power, anything, anything at all that would help him to mantain some level of composure.

"Haha, So I've gone from Sizzle-kun, to potentially Dickhead-kun, to Work-a-holic-kun, huh?" He was trying to be charming. Truthfully - Manga wasn't compelled to violence very often, but between the nicknames and her machete exhibition he was about set to hire a hitman.

This was honestly starting to look like fixing smashed china with sticky tape. Some things just-could-not-be-fixed. Regardless, he tried again.

"Hnnn, but as you say Ameya-san, 'narrating' the common man doesn't offer much in terms of bread for the table, no?" After a second to stroke his chin, he went for a different tact. "I mean, don't you MISS being in the limelight, Ameya? At a certain level of fame, hell you can get away with practically anything. You could carry a Yari, Pudao, Bardiche, Glaive a-a Partizan, heck even a poleaxe and like, nobody would bat an eyelid at you!! You've read all this stuff before, you don't need me to tell you how so-and-so famous person held up traffic for 14 hours and got off scott-free!"

"Look you're a smart gal, Ameya-" Well that's a lie. "and I like what you do-" and that's a worse lie. "But you're not being clever with this. Life sometimes only gives us one shot at being successful, and sometimes yeah that means biting the bullet and doing something we might not like neccessarily." He put his hands up diplomatically. "Now don't think I'm saying you should do VA buddy, - I ain't. You could do voice over for documentaries or-or I dunno, theatre, yeah? If you don't think voice acting is your thing, that's your call. But baby when you speak people listen. That's power. And that power is yours alone - it's a waste to let a good thing go to waste."

"As for what I do?" He smirked, and looked down at her. "I'm a rainmaker, sister - and my word n' influence is like the stuff of legend out there. When I see great people, I'm the guy who helps by throwin' them the life ring."

in which the narrator only wants to (cash register noise) take your money | manga

"Okay, she apologizes, to, uhhh. People with legitimate triggers, which may or not be Pinstripe-kun. And she specifically said weird-ass, like with a hyphen! A person with a weird ass trigger would just get triggered by weird asses and that is a horrifying way to live your life! …And she didn’t really come here to wave big knives around, this is just the most outwardly intimidating thing they’ve got! She didn’t really check for chainsaws around the hedge maze but tropes aside they’re terrible at tearing through human flesh anyway. Not that she’s personally checked. She’s not crazy!”

So she might be messing with him a little bit, but that wasn’t what she was trying for in the first place! Look at that whole gravy debacle or every other time she interacted with Kousuke. These things just happened. And this all seemed completely normal in her mind. There wasn’t, like, any large-scale pranking business going on with enormous knives. That would probably be Legitimately Dangerous and not just the potential danger of dousing someone in hot gravy.

Still with her finger in her mouth, she kept up her chill conversation. “Ahah, oh man, she was beginning to think everyone here was living under a rock because that’s actually the first time she’s heard that brought up! And you can’t beat classics, alright? She’s avoiding that typecasting stuff like the plague. Consider the happy result that she’ll probably be more famous for this, whether she gets out or not. No Child Star business for her, no sir!” Oh, wait, he was screaming. Dude, why were you making this so difficult.

"Okay, no, no, really, it’s cool, there’s no injury aside from straight up murder that sticking the bleedy part in your mouth won’t fix, see?" She promptly held up her saliva-covered finger for investigation, only to remember that she probably shouldn’t have been sucking on it, because even the non-bleedy part of it was now stained a light red. "…Ehhhh, maybe that wasn’t her best demonstration yet, she responds in a mollified manner, wincing as she just rubs the offending finger off on her dress and probably staining it a little bit, gross. So, what brought Pinstripe-kun into…this particular corner of Consumerism Hell, she adds cheerfully as though the previous five minutes hadn’t happened."

The longer he spent in the presence of the narrator, the more inclined he became to just scream and throw his head into a wall until it - the narrator - stopped making sounds.

He was sure by this point that this was true agony. True, real pain. Forget poverty, forget obscurity. There was a new low in town, a new deep dark depth to depression one could discover.

And that was Matsura Ameya.

For a second or two he just stared - his expression a mix between bafflement and horror as she babbled on and on. At a certain point, Manga gave up trying to follow her wild train of thoughts and instead did his best to block out the onslaught of drivel. That was until she brought up his reference to her most famous work, and despite himself he couldn't help but burst back into the conversation with some level of pride at recognizing her voice and having done his homework.

"Of course I know who you are. I make it my job to recognize t-...ah." He caught himself just in time. Talent, her? He scratched at his head distracted by the sudden thought - a frown spreading across his face in the process. Maybe he'd been too busy shoehorning her into his own neatly categorized boxes rather than paying attention to what she actually offered the world. Crazy sells, after all. Not only that but a VA that narrates every goddamn thing (no matter how infuriating) is unique. She definitely couldn't be labeled in any conventional way and when you look at it like that - that's unique. Special. One of a kind.

He paused all of a sudden. Maybe he'd been jumping the gun on Matsura Ameya. Personally hating the guts of all people he was acquainted with was almost par for the course. Plus, whose to say her latest hits weren't failures because her agent was inept? Almost by convention - Ameya further nailed the point home.

"she’ll probably be more famous for this, whether she gets out or not."

...It must have been incredible to witness Manga's 180 - glare and tension dissipated, replaced by his usual cock-sure demeanor and sharp eyes that barely hid ulterior motives.

"It's not Pinstripes-kun, Has-b" ...-corrected himself just in time - 'Don't call her has-been- chan, Manga. Focus.' "...The name is Manga Ichimonji, Ameya-san.. I'd say I'm a fan but, really I haven't caught any of your latest works. It's almost like you fell off the spectrum a bit?"

The smile he wore was earnest - or at least in Manga's case not totally arrogant. The closest it ever got to normal. It was most likely due to him still being rather alarmed and unnerved at Ameya's earlier act - he hadn't exactly made a full recovery. Still, it worked wonders for keeping his personality under control as even as Ameya waved her drool covered finger, Manga's reaction was simply to blink. Oh sure - he absolutely winced inwardly at this gross and horrific display. But Manga had figured his angle in this mess. So long as he was motivated, nothing could stop him.

"Why'd I come here? Guess I was just looking for something entertaining." He shrugged with a smile. Honestly, Manga just scoured the grounds for the famous people. "When the world's full of people who're all sizzle and no steak, maybe I'm just looking for the next big thing."

"Tell me Ameya, did you ever want to get back into voice acting? Get your next big gig? I could be exactly the guy you need to get you back in the saddle."

Baby, you're a star (Katsumi)

beautyqueenshsl

As of late the rose garden had become something of a retreat for Katsumi. She was conscious, of course, that even there Aku-chan was watching her; but at least it gave her some fresh air and put her far away from shamisen players, music producers and all of their kin that she disliked. It was a relaxing sanctuary in this generally stressful environment. She would come, often with a book to read, and usually spend her time completely undisturbed.

She was anticipating one such afternoon, complete with a copy of The Devotion of Suspect X tucked under her arm, courtesy of the island’s library. However, seeing a shock of bright red hair that could only belong to one certain individual spoiled any hopes she had of peace and quiet, and Katsumi was just about to leave in the hopes that Manga had not heard her approach when he turned around to face her.

As he spoke, his bashful manner a far cry from his pronounced arrogance at the trial, she watched with a cold yet curious gaze that became far more the former when he uttered one word in particular. As he continued to talk - layering on the pointless compliments until they were thick enough to choke on and even having the audacity to not only use her first name, but a contracted form of her first name with absolutely no honorific - her expression shifted until it reached the point where the beauty queen would have been unable to look more unimpressed if she tried. She raised an eyebrow.

"No, it is not okay to call me Kat. I assure you, Sakata-san will suffice.” The ‘s’ sounds of her name almost came out like a hiss. “And thank you. Considering that I am a successful model and pageant queen renowned across Japan for her beauty to the extent that it is even her super high school level talent, I really needed your comments to validate that I am, indeed, gorgeous. Thank you for confirming what I obviously did not know.”

Were sarcasm a weapon, Katsumi had used it so gratuitously that Manga would be the mutual killing game’s fifth casualty. To put it bluntly, she did not like the networker - to whom she had bestowed the title ‘Parasite-san’ - one bit. He was far too cocky in the trial, derailing it with his inane comments. Plus he had gone too far with criticizing Mori; Katsumi let nothing of the sort slip past her radar. Even his sudden shift in manner did little to win her over. Katsumi knew when people were trying to take advantage of her, having experienced such attempts far too often. She held grudges and was not going to let go of them for a phoney.

However, she did have aims of her own, and a plan that she had been forming ever since she had learned of Ichimonji Manga’s talent and what it entailed. So (as she reminded herself) if she was to put this plan into action, then she had to at least soften her harshness, if not temporarily hide it until she had him on her side. That was easy, of course. She had practically charmed half the teenage population of a nation - how difficult could one guy be?

Therefore, despite wanting to walk straight away, Katsumi released her tension and offered a slight smile. “Sorry if that was too harsh. A girl’s got to demand respect, you know? I’m not normally that cold, really - I guess the pressure of this place is starting to get to me. Doesn’t help that I’ve got nobody to talk to.” She sighed, perhaps a bit too dramatically. “There’s no need to go. Sit down. We haven’t become properly acquainted yet; I say we should remedy that before making any judgments. Unless you have somewhere better to be, that is.”

#in cash #chapter 3 #reply #katsumi sakata

Ouch.

Beauty queens were the bad and beautiful indeed, and as lovely as she looked was as venomous her strike. Every sentence dealt to Manga was delivered like a verbal slap.

He certainly wasn't expecting any less. After all when you're in a class of your own you start to grow accustomed to that separation and covet the attention the common riff-raff through your way. It also lends to spending much of your time looking down, and Manga was feeling the brunt of that ire. He'd irritated her invading that personal space - that elevated space.

Manga was a seasoned line stepper, however - and he was all too familiar with the rules of this particular game. How was she any different from the others he'd previously bested? He eyed her once more, but this time was careful analysis and not at all for show like his previous stare. He blinked.

"My bad my bad, Sakata-san." He raised his hands innocently and backed off a half step - a gesture that was more for him than her as in all honesty he did want to keep some space between them, afraid with half the looks she was shooting his way that she might actually take a swing at him. "I was taken aback I suppose, you certainly don't need someone like me to inform you of what a mirror does effectively every day." He smiled and tilted his head. "Someone like me, being Manga Ichimonji - but please, feel free to call me whatever. It's a pleasure to meet one of your esteemed talents, even under such strained circumstances." He didn't bother going for a handshake, that was folly. Instead he was half way through re-evaluating his next gambit when he was caught off guard.

She wasn't.... was she?

Manga smiled despite himself - which was just as well! Maybe he came off looking star-struck at Katsumi's sudden reversal.

Smiling? Apologizing? Offering him a seat? Well, well, well! Colour him surprised! 'Seems I misjudged you, miss beauty queen. You're much more clever than I first thought!'

Having mutual interests made life so much simpler. It was good to be understood.

"Certainly not good lady, I'm always available."

in which the narrator only wants to (cash register noise) take your money | manga

This is what you get for entering the corner store of surprisingly available weapons. She wanted a halberd, but there were no goddamn halberds. Just downright disappointing for murder island. Maybe it wasn’t even that sharp. Getting sold right out in the open like that… Deciding to test her theory, she tucked the second machete, the one he didn’t take because he was a weirdo, under one arm and tugged the first one’s sheath off with her teeth. Only to promptly spit it out on the floor. Classy.

"She feels like she’s poked a weirdass trigger point of his, The Narrator proclaims wisely. At least it’s not a money thing. Hey, if she said that everything was free just as long as you scan your card proper, would he have a little freakout over that too? For the record…she feels like getting used to sharp objects is just something that has to happen on Brain-Dissolving Island. Or else you die or something, maybe. She holds the super scary blade up to the light and curiously runs her finger down the edge offffffuck.”

Okay, so it actually was sharp after all. She stuck her now bleeding finger in her mouth and glared at the machete as though this whole problem was its fault. “Okay, scratch that, she says, in a slightly squished voice like a person who’s talking with a finger in her mouth. If getting threatened by a machete-wielding stranger is his spiders she feels that with both of her hands and an entire face full of sensory absorbing details. Sad to say she acted like this a while before she got here. It was a problem but not that big of a problem. She usually does answer sarcasm with sarcasm too! But…no eye-rolls! Boring!”

She poked around on the floor with a bare foot trying to pick up the sheath with her toes, only to succeed in pushing it around a little bit. At a loss and no longer wanting to hold several large knives, she just put the first one back in its place on the wall. (This all could have been avoided if there had been a halberd in stock, but noooo.) “She was thinking something about deterrence, which would work until it didn’t. Deterrence from the Dickass-kun brigade, maybe? She doesn’t want to be unfair with her defense mechanisms but there’s also a thing called risk factors.”

"Weird ass trigger?!"

Ooooh he hates her so much. Nuttier than a fruitcake and with plenty of crazy to spare - Ameya wasn't pulling any punches. He was starting to wonder if this was acting, her kink, or if she was just trying to mess with him. It didn't really matter which one it was because it was effective and it absolutely was bothering the heck out of him. He again tried to appeal to the normal, human side to her - and not the Rambo, beast-warrior, cavewoman he was currently seeing.

"Again I stress, on planet earth we have this thing called "crazy people". See, what you're doing-" He broadly gestured at her with his hand "This- right here, yeah? This is all currently crazy - this is what CRAZY PEOPLE do. Waving around large blades and-" He paused just in time to see Ameya tear the sheathe off with her teeth - "...And -y-e-s- biting off sheathes with your teeth... All these things are what I might consider a CRAZY PERSON doing, you friggin' head case."

"And for the record..." Again, out came his finger - pointing and gesturing once more. "I do not have an issue with getting these things with your card, because as you say we are allowed to use our cards to 'pay' for these things so it's not as if we're stealing or breaking rules... however-" But Manga didn't get much further into his thoughts, because he spent the next twenty seconds scream-shouting a half dozen colourful expletives.

Yes, Ameya accidentally cutting her finger sent what little left of his composure out the window. ...It went without saying he hated horror movies.

"!!!! What the ever living fuck is wrong with you!??! No wonder Endlessly and Forever is like, your biggest hit because they probably realized after that, that YOU'RE COMPLETELY OFF YOUR ROCKER!!!"

"And lady, no dice on your "risk factors" when you start GODDAMN SLICING YOURSELF WITH YOUR OWN PROTECTION!!! Ohhhmygoddd, all you have to do is SPEAK that's deterrent enough for me - bloody mary...!!!"

He shook his head. She was crazy. He was breaking into a cold sweat because of this absolutely nuts voice actor. I mean that was clearly it - she was just crazy - absolutely crazy.

If she didn't impale herself by the end of the day and if she was still alive by the time the authorities fished them out of this hole, he'd be willing to consider that a modern day miracle.

in which the narrator only wants to (cash register noise) take your money | manga

Ohoho, what was this, a present just for her? She’d been missing the interaction with a bunch of varied people and a person could never get enough overt antagonists. Apparently not too disappointed that her conversation starter had fallen flat, she slid a giant machete in a cloth sheath off the wall and hooked it over her shoulder—flat-side-ways, because she had no desire to cleave off her own arm or something. She’d purchase it on the way out, probably. Everyone could use a big-ass machete in their lives.

"Pinstripe-kun continues to feel the indelible call of human interaction. There is no shame in that, she too has subjected herself to far more conversations than normal just to learn more about a person, even at the cost of her own mood. Despite existing outside the story. You know how it is. She prefers to think of it like having the boundless self-esteem to do anything she wants. And sometimes she just wants to act like a big joke too. It happens. A big genre-savvy, tongue-in-cheek, beloved parody, yes."

Her face turned slowly to the machete she was still holding and dusted a minute amount of shirt fuzz off its cool sheath. No one in books ever had to deal with things like shirt fuzz and random hairs attached to their clothes or dandruff.

"She seems to consider the greatest question for a second before shrugging and saying she wishes it might have been from a head injury. Head injuries are the modern day radioactive sludge. But no, she has no excuse, just like she has no excuse for anything. Would you believe her if she said she once glimpsed into the void and discovered that for all our livelihood everything there is…is only a story within a story within a story?” While she was talking, she poked at the other machetes lying around and even slid a second one off the wall to offer it to him. Ameya, what the hell would you ever do that for.

#in cash #chapter 3 #reply #matsura ameya #rofl i am dying over this #I love you ameya bby #gonna try to be more active yus

He'd been feeling pretty sure of himself and his on the money insults - but that was all until Ameya had brought out her machete (which yes, apparently she had one of those) and lovingly pet all the dust off it with the adoration a serial murderer might show for his own like-minded collection.

Subconciously he'd found himself stepping back, forgetting that he was already right in front of the door. The act of bumping into the door startled him a bit, so much so that he couldn't help but sarcastically retort to himself 'you were the one who wanted to bait sally speaks to herself. Just remember that when she murders you and narrates the whole shebang.' He grimaced.

But that was until Ameya had offered him something. A machete. His very own machete!

His eyes just boggled at this.

"Lady..."

"...A-Are you high!? ..W-wait, don't answer that - I really don't want to know!" Nevermind the fact that the sharpest thing Manga had ever held was a pencil and he got his live-in maid to deal with the sharp knives.

"Oooohhhhh-myyyyyyy-gooooodddddddd-" He pressed his hands firmly to his temple. "You really have devolved haven't you..." He then raised his voice in order to address big brother "OR MAYBE IT'S THIS STUPID GODDAMN ISLAND THAT'S DISSOLVING THEIR BRAINS, HOLY COW."

Instinctively he'd tried to back away again, but there was that damn pesky door that hadn't magically disappeared. The thought of making a run for it occurred to him. After all this was clearly PSYCHO BEHAVIOUR. He was just afraid of turning his back on someone holding a great big fucking machete.

"N-no... Okay, just - no."

"I..." He took a deep breath in order to steady himself, his finger raised in the process. "I come from a WORLD a PLACE, right- where a-a witty retort earns you an eyeroll, or I don't know, sarcasm back! I am NOT mentally prepared to have machetes offered to me, you anachronistic caveman - or woman, cave-WOMAN, I-I don't know! I'm just... you- ..." He shook his head numerous times, the effort to connect words into sentences started to fail him.

Baby, you're a star (Katsumi)

Despite the new areas being available for exploration, Manga couldn't quite forget the lost opportunity he'd missed out on - and lost opportunities with Manga were like needles in his side. He was of course thinking of the lovely Katsumi Sakata.

Eyeing each hallway, and ears perked waiting for the ever familiar sound of her clacking heels, Manga had foolishly let the chance slip time after time to ingratiate himself into her esteemed company. But it was time to remedy this.

After all~ there'd been a ton of deaths, it'd been days - it was about time for the fuzz to show up - any day now, he reckoned. Which meant he ought to get his skates on if he wanted to get acquainted with any of these other lucky guys and gals before the sirens started flaring and everyone blew this joint.

Good things come to those who wait, and Manga was glad to hear the sound of those heels clicking across the patio of the rose garden. Taking that initial few seconds to collect his thoughts, Manga then turned round and faced her with a smile. Let's see how far I get with a few well aimed compliments~

"Oh! Hey, it's Katsumi Sakata right?" He made a big show of looking her up and down, then turned away seemingly abashed. "W-ow, don't take this the wrong way - I mean, I don't wanna come across as one of those skeevy guys with a million and one pick-up lines, but god you are gorgeous." He grimaced.

"Y-e-a-h, that didn't come out right at all. Ugh, I'm sorry Kat - can I call you Kat? I'm just uh, a little starstruck - Haha, you know, s'not every day you meet such a bombshell! But yeah, my bad." He waved his hands about. "You probably came here to be by yourself, huh?" He again looked away, scratching his head. "Sorry for getting in your way."

Nailed it! Manga thought smugly.

#in cash #chapter 3 #katsumi sakata

in which the narrator only wants to (cash register noise) take your money | open

"The Narrator thinks this isn’t the kind of ambiance you expect in a gift shop, but also concedes that it’s the kind of ambiance you expect out of mutual killing," she said conversationally to herself, poking at some of the more ridiculous looking weapons and wondering if she could really do more damage to her reputation if she bought a halberd or something. Maybe she could try a candy first and then ask the first unlucky passerby’s opinion. Just as the thought occurred to her, she heard, rather than saw, the door opening from her vantage point behind a display of candies, and greeted whoever it was with her disembodied voice. "Look, it’s a capitalist nightmare in here!"

Manga squinted long and hard. It was work just trying to keep the word bile down. After all when you hear conversation you just assume it's between people - but that's logic speaking, that's something humans do. It was bad practice to assume the "Narrator" was human. She'd devolved.

"...You're the nightmare." Manga hissed under his breath. "Fresh from hell, made manifest from the woes of all mankind..." He'd stalked off in order to look at the trinkets in the shop but had decided fairly quickly that he'd rather not be breathing the same air as the jackass who'd once declared that he was 'The boy with a hairstyle bigger than his head'.

...But Manga just couldn't leave well enough alone. One hand on the door, ready to leave - it gradually fell to his side as he turned round - head held high in order to look down on Ameya - which was as usual, quite the talent considering his stature.

"No, you know what, I'm sorry - I have to ask! Just what makes a person decide to become a walking parody of themselves? I'm just wondering - like, if something traumatic happened to you or if you just woke up one morning and decided - 'you know what mommy, I want to be a joke! Just a big, massive, pathetic joke'!"

Winners win - Losers die

thunderjamrecords

"Glad you see it that way, man. I dunno what everyone’s deal is, just being okay with spending the rest of their life in this hell hole. I don’t wanna die here, you know? Just cause I’m here doesn’t mean I don’t have places to go and people to see. I’m a seriously busy guy.”

For a long time now, he’d only been fixated on getting off the island. That was the priority. What he was going to do once he got to that point? Well, that’s something he hadn’t exactly put a whole lot of thought into. Return to his normal life. Dream bigger, dream smarter. Yeah, his life is gonna improve by about thirty percent with this networker by his side. He sure hopes that the world is ready for an even more powerful Genji Genjirou.

"Yeah man, definitely. I got your back if you got mine."

#in cash #chapter 3 #reply #genji genjirou

"Yeah, yeah-" Manga clicked his finger. "You get it - you just totally get it! These guys, I dunno, maybe all they got lined up is their dentist's appointment and they'll be glad to miss it, but buddy. Me?" Manga shook his head rather dramatically and flicked a hand through his hair. "I got so much I oughta be doin', I'll be surprised if they won't be the ones to murder me for this little fiasco." He chuckled.

It's true that Manga had heard some funky things about Genjirou - a little stabbing here, a little claming to murder there. But in all honesty, what celeb or VIP wasn't without their little bad spots? I mean c'mon, they were on Murder Island! The regular day to day was stressful enough to make a guy go nuts, what would a place like this do to someone? Manga wouldn't be shallow - he wouldn't look past a guy's assets just because of some dubious pen stabbing accusations - no, he'd be just shallow enough to look past the pen stabbing just so long as he wasn't the guy in question getting the stab.

"Each second here though, geez louise - it's kilin' me man, suffocatin' me! This is the murder, right here, this!" Subconsciously he'd fetched his comb out and before he knew it he was idly twirling it in his hand.

He raised an eyebrow at Genjirou. "...I kinda get the impression the two of us stickin' together will be like a hurricane trashin' through this isle ...and the guys and gals here, who don't step aside - are gonna blow away."

shsl-forgeries-deactivated20150

Winners win - Losers die

Today was an exploration day, Kimiko had decided. She’d go to the new island, look at all of the awesome new stuff, and if there was still time left in the day, she’d do it again. She’d already gone to the store – she had a small bag full of assorted papers and candies to prove it. The baseball diamond was next, and she recognized the figure standing nearby.

It was impossible to not recognize him, of course – he was her roommate, not to mention how he’d been almost as mean as Genji at the last trial! There was just something about him that had made Kimiko not eager to talk to him – what was it called? Instinct? Common sense? Either way, she couldn’t remember a time where she’d had a proper conversation with the guy. But hey, maybe she’d misjudged him. Everyone deserves a second chance, right?

“Hello, Manga-san! You’re here, too?”

Unsure what to say next, she dug through her bag. After a moment, she withdrew some kind of weird European chocolate thing and held it out to him as a sort of peace offering for thinking badly about him! Although, she was planning to give candy to everyone she saw today in the first place, so she probably would’ve done it anyway.

“Um… do you like chocolate? If you don’t, I’ve got plenty of other stuff here!”

#in cash #Chapter 3 #reply #kimiko yamazaki

As Manga turned round to face the newcomer he met eyes with his roommate, Kimiko. Being as preoccupied with himself as he was (which was, let's face it) clearly the most important thing on the whole island - he hadn't exactly paid a lot of attention to the gal herself. Deciding to finally remedy this, Manga studied her. She seemed a decent sort, kind sweet blah blah blah and all the rest - but skip to the end and beyond all the nice girl next door stuff was a talent there. A forger. Heck for the select few it's a pretty handy thing to know. He paused once more, before deciding how he'd do this. "Oh hey. It's Kimiko Yamazaki, right?" He smiled at her and then winced a little when she dug out the bar of chocolate - he hadn't been paying attention to her digging in her bag and when he saw her out stretched hand he thought she'd been offering a handshake. My bad! He thought to himself - no one speaks my language here after all, shouldn't be surprised at this point, nope! "...Ooooh you know I would Kimiko, but what can I say? Diet. Watchin' the weight, gotta stay fit as a fiddle, sharp as a tack, yeah? Sorry lady, you can go foist it on some other guy." It was delivered with his usual swagger. In all honesty though, he wasn't going to touch jack anyone offered him - not anymore, not after weather girl decided to drug dog guy's medicine and they both popped their clogs, hell no. After saying this Manga looked aside suddenly looking a little bit withdrawn, and dare he say? A little ashamed. And then he suddenly burst out: "I-I'm sorry you know..." he scratched his head and looked aside again. "At the Trial. That's not the real me, yeah? I was just freaked." He sounded sincere in that kind of embarrassed way, and fiddled with a pen in what looked an absent way. ...Inside his mind, however Manga's ego just swelled. Hotdamn, I am just such the best actor, amateurs can't even hold a candle to this. He was working overtime to make sure none of his ego slipped into his act. That alone was amazing feat, really.

Winners win - Losers die

thunderjamrecords

Life goes on.

Those three words were how he ever got himself through anything and everything life had to throw at him. It’s how he got himself through the divorce, how he got through his brother fucking his entire life over, and how he was able to send his brother off with a wave and a toothy grin as he said goodbye to him for the very last time.

He feels nothing for Chinatsu. Nothing for Red. Nothing for those that had fallen before them and none for the inevitable deaths that are to follow. To honor their memory by even thinking about them would be holding on too tightly to the past. And that, is weakness.

The music producer finds that he really enjoys their reward for a successful trial. It really is a temptation to move on and forget, not that he even needs a motivation to do that. It’s how he finds himself at the baseball diamond, pleasant surprised to also find that it’s already populated with the one person that he thinks he can get along with on this god forsaken island.

"Man, am I lucky. You are actually just the guy I wanted to see.”

He shoves his fractured wrist gently into his pocket, holding out his other bandaged hand for a handshake.

"So, I’m thinking I was wrong about you. You’re actually pretty legit. We just see eye to eye on a lot of things, you know? What would you say to sticking together until we get off this island, then doing some business together?"