Primary Pairing: N/A
Starring: Flash Pyre, Nullsilver Luna
Secondary Pairing Trio: YuuAyuSetsu
Rating: T
Words: 656
Fandom: D&D, Love Live Nijigasaki
Time Frame: D&D, ??? / Niji, sometime during their 1st (?) year of college
Event: Promptober 2023
Event Source: Idol Fanfic Heaven channel on Discord
Prompt: Esoteric
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Author's Note: Primary entry for the 6th
Summary: Flash and Nullsilver shop for some unusual items
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“Eh? Whadaya want, kid?”
Flash inhaled and was about to open his mouth when a hand touched his. A silent reminder not to lose his cool. Thus, he bit down on the retort he had been about to issue.
“Give ya ten platinum fer the forged.” The grizzled shopkeep grumbled.
Flash blinked. He hadn’t expected that.
“Cayos is not for sale.” Nullsilver stated.
Anyone familiar with the elven girl would have been able to detect some irritation under her monotone.
“So again, whadaya kids want?”
“We heard this shop was the best place to find some… how shall we say, esoteric equipment.” Flash explained.
“Oh?” The man seemed to lighten a little.
“Yes, we were told we could find keys to the drop zone here.”
“Aye,” The man nodded, “just got a shipment of ‘em last week.”
“Blinker fluid.”
“By cask or flask.”
“A box of grid squares.”
“Might take a bit a searchin’ in the back room.”
“And winter air for windmills.”
“A popular item this time a year. Inventory’s runnin’ low. Better buy quick.”
“And that’s our list.”
“Right.” The shopkeep stooped behind his counter for a moment. “Here we have a fine selection of keys to all manner of zones.” A sizable ring of keys jangled in his hand.
“Drop zones, specifically.” Flash reminded.
“Right.” He shuffled through the keys. “Ah, yes, here.” He indicated one that appeared to have been intricately inlaid with gold. “Drop Zone Alpha, the finest of them all. Seven gold.”
“Five.” Flash countered.
“Six.”
“Sold.”
Flash reached for his coin pouch but noticed a subtle signal from Nullsilver. Oh, thank the gods, finally.
“On second thought,” he smirked, “I think we should just collect your bounty.”
“What?” The man growled.
“Surely you didn’t think the local nobility was unaware of your fraudulent activities. Cayosin,” He turned to the warforged behind him, “if you would be so kind.”
Cayosin produced a set of manacles and began to step around the counter.
The shopkeep shouted something in a language Flash did not know. A door burst open and several armed figures filed out. Weapons already drawn, they charged.
Flash smirked and sent a fireball past them to take care of further reinforcements.
“What the…” The shopkeep sputtered at the explosion in his backroom. “How?”
“I had Weyog Kornari disable your antimagic device.” Nullsilver explained, naming her spider-like automaton companion.
She dropped a pair of metallic spheres. One shifted into a cat-like automaton that pounced at the closest guard. The other sprouted wings and shot into the air before firing small thunderbolts from its beak at another guard.
For his part, Flash wasted no time in sending a cone of flame into a pair of nearby opponents. All the while, Cayosin subdued and manacled the shopkeeper.
Nearly as quickly as it started, the fight was over. Unprepared to face the magical might of a sorcerer, the mechanical menaces of an artificer and the strength of a warforged, the fraudster and his goons swiftly surrendered.
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“I think I know which character Setsuna-chan is going to play next.” Yuu said as she looked up from the draft she had been given to review.
Setsuna smiled. “Flash Pyre has been fun to write so far. And I think playing a caster might be a nice change of pace. Although I will still miss playing Lacey Rayshun…”
“I’m sure Shizuku-chan would be willing to run a game from the earlier time.” Yuu assured.
“Is Rina-chan is up still playing Luna?” Ayumu inquired.
“She said yes when I asked.” Setsuna replied. “And since Nullsilver Luna is an elf, she would still be alive in this time frame and available for her to play.”
“What characters do you have for me and Ayumu to play?” Yuu asked.
“Well, there’s Keltahk Cayosin, the warforged fighter from this chapter… as well as…” Setsuna reached for her notes and began to explain her roster of prebuilt potential player characters.
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Author's Note Continued: I made a joke in the IFH event channel about how for this prompt I should write references to my old unpublished D&D stories that none of my current readers would understand. Then I spent wa~y too much time rereading said old works to remind myself of a few things, only to get distracted and end up rereading other chapters as well.
But if I learned anything from the venture, it's that I'm glad I haven't published any of it. If I do ever decide to start posting those stories, I will have to either write entirely new stuff, like this event entry, or do some serious revamping of the old stuff. Either way, LL has the lions share of my attention, so I have no intention of redirecting too much of my efforts away from it at this time.
Anyway, if any my current readers remember, the first stories I posted here on tumblr were not Love Live fanfics. Instead, I had tried my hand at participating in a sort of event over on the fansite Sukutomo. The theme was to create "idolsonas" and draw or write about them in the Love Live universe. I translated a handful of my D&D characters into this world, and Flash and Luna were among those chosen. Ryqoshay, my screen namesake, and Yozakura also starred in some of the chapters. So there is some meta esoteric stuff for the prompt.
Edit: Almost forgot, got both prior prompts in again, Thunderbolt from '21 and Seven from '22.
“Ryqo, wait!” Tack’s voice called out from within the house as I opened the front door.
Sure enough, a moment later, a bundle of energy, wrapped in a white yukata with purple stars, bounced down the hall towards us.
“Yoza-chan! Mayocchi!” The grinning girl greeted. “Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!” She launched herself at me.
I sidestepped the incoming tackle hug but thought better of it when I saw Mayonaka step into the path instead. Thankfully, Ryqoshay reduced her momentum a bit so she wouldn’t bowl over the younger girl. Wrapping my sister in a tight embrace, the raven-haired girl lifted her off her feet.
“Mayocchi, you look so~ cute I just wanna hug ya ta pieces!” Ryqo giggled, earning a smile from my sister. Setting her down, she turned her sights on me. A smug smile formed on her lips. “I though’ ya didn’ like that hair clip.”
“Mama picked it out.” I lied for some reason. “And it’s not that bad. I’m getting used to it, I guess.” Her smirk grew. “Besides, it matches this yukata well.”
I caught Mayo’s gaze out of the corner of my eye. Don’t you dare. She blinked. Please… Not now… We’ll never hear the end of it. It really does match, though! Ryqo really does have a knack for picking out cute accessories, and she knows pink is my favorite color…
“Ryqo…” Tack said, exasperated, as he walked up. “I still need to finish tying your sash.”
It was then that I noticed he was holding said piece of cloth and Ryqo’s outfit was lacking.
“Need help?” I offered.
“Can you get her to stop squirming around?” Tack said somewhat sarcastically, but I could detect some frustration in his tone.
“I can help with that.” A monotone voice said from behind him.
He turned to reveal Luna holding a strange device.
“Mr. Tingly!” Ryqo exclaimed happily.
“Mr. what?” Tack asked.
“I’ve been shocked by tha’ before.” The overly excited girl explained. “I’ made me feel all tingly an’ weird, so I named it Mr. Tingly!”
“Right…” Tack sighed. “Luna, put that away. We still need to take care of your hair.” He glanced at me. “Think you two can get her to wear this?”
I nodded, accepting the strip of cloth. “I tied Mayo’s, I think I can get Ryqo’s.”
Several attempts later, I was beginning to sympathize with Tack’s plight, but I finally got the sash tied properly. No sooner than that task was completed than Tack and Luna returned to the foyer so we could leave as a group.
“Your parents messaged me saying they were running late.” Tack said as he closed the gate. “They’ll meet us at the festival.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah…” I agreed. They’re always late these days.
“Will Shougo be meeting us there as well?”
“He’s picking up Taiyouko, so yeah, he’ll meet us there as well.”
“Taiyouko?”
“His new girlfriend!” Ryqo explained in an overly dramatic voice.
“Ah, I see.” Tack said with a smile.
“I can’ wai’ ta meet ‘er! He’s been ‘oggin ‘er all to ‘imself an’ they spen’, like, a~ll o’ they’re time t’gehter!” Ryqo continued to explain unnecessarily, while holding her arms out in an effort to represent the amount of time she was describing. “I’s like they’re attached at da hip ‘r somethin’.”
“Like you and Oneesan.” Mayo spoke up.
“Exactly!” Ryqo said with a giggle.
“I, wha-what?” I spluttered, shooting a glare at my sister. “What the hell are you talking about?”
She returned a rather passive gaze. “You and Rebecca-nee spend a lot of time together.” She said with a small shrug. “Is that not what friends do?”
“Of course!” Ryqo answered, still laughing lightly.
“Well, yeah, but…” Why did it feel like my heart wanted to pound its way out of my chest? Was I really that angry about this, or was something else bothering me? Stop staring at me like that, Mayo! Geez!
Thankfully, my sister obeyed my silent demand and looked forward once again.
Ryqo laughed aloud before asking Tack something and the conversation shifted. We talked about how Ryqo was liking her new school, Tomodachi Academy, and as we neared the festival, we started talking instead about what we wanted to see and eat first upon arrival.
“Mmmmm… I smell meat!” Ryqo breathed in deep before making a beeline to a small karaage stand.
“Ryqo, wait!” Tack called. “Let’s all get our orders in and I’ll take care of it.”
“Woo! Sensei’s payin’!” the girl cheered, throwing a fist in the air and jumping a little.
“I can cover Mayo and I.” I offered.
“Don’t worry about it.” The man said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Your parents have spent plenty keeping Ryqo and Luna entertained over the years.”
Well, that’s true.
We all placed our orders and the woman began chopping fresh cuts of meat in a flurry of two unusually shaped knives. Well, unusual in that I don’t believe such knives were meant for use in the kitchen. For starters, chef knives generally only have one edge. It was strange, but I was willing to dismiss it because she showed incredible skill in wielding the blades to prepare our food fresh to order.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Mayo staring. I followed her gaze to Tack, who was, in turn, staring at the woman behind the counter, so I took a closer look at her. Well, I guess I can’t blame him, she is somewhat attractive. I have heard that men like red hair and her piercing emerald eyes certainly demanded attention. But other than those traits, nothing else really stood out. She was above average, I suppose, but barely. She didn’t wear accessories as far as I could see, her shoulder length hair was left loose, her kimono could easily blend in with any festival crowd, and for someone running a food stall, her smile seemed a little bit on the forced side. Maybe Tack really just liked redheads? Still, it was rude to stare… Which is what I’m doing now… I turned my attention elsewhere.
“So, what was tha’ all about, Sensei?” Ryqo asked as we made our way back into the crowd.
“What do you mean?” he asked in reply.
“Don’ thin’ we didn’ catch ya’ starin’!” her voice went into teasing mode.
“I just…”
“She was very pretty.” Ryqo interrupted.
“Well, yes, she is.” Tack admitted, glancing back towards the booth. “But, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’ve met her before…”
“So why didn’ ya ask?”
“She didn’t seem to recognize me, so I figured I may be in error.” He shrugged. “Besides, I didn’t want to hold up the line.”
“Hrm…” she stared at him before looking at Mayo who nodded. “Alrigh’, fine, I’ll le’cha off da hook this time…”
Tack and I both rolled our eyes and he shook his head.
“Woo! Shootin’ range!” Ryqo cried, suddenly. “I’m gonna win a prize!” That said, she scampered over to the booth, tossed a few coins on the counter and grabbed a gun.
By the time the rest of us arrived at the stall, the small sniper wannabe had already burned through all of her shots but had yet to hit a thing. Strange. The twin-tailed girl stared at the mock weapon in her hands for a moment before holding out more coins for another clip. Her second attempt seemed to go a bit better as she took more time to aim, but still failed to knock over the necessary number of targets to win a prize.
“<Somethin’s no’ right…>” She muttered before cursing in English.
“Ryqo.” Tack chastised sharply. “<Watch your language.>”
“<Sorry…>” Her gaze never left the device.
“Would any of you three care to try your hand?” The booth’s attendant asked us.
“I’m good, thanks.” Tack politely declined.
Wait, three? I glanced about for a moment. Where is…
“Woo! Got ‘em!” Ryqo cheered suddenly.
“C-congratulations, little lady!” The attendant replied. “That many targets gets you…”
“I want that one!” She pointed at a plush purple dragon. Figures. “An’ I wanna go again!” She held out more coins.
“Yes, of c-course.”
“Got ‘em all again!” the girl with the gun exclaimed a moment later.
“Congr…”
“I want tha’ one!” She pointed this time to a plush pink cat. Strange. “An’ I wanna go again!” She held out more coins.
“I’m terribly sorry.” The man said, not accepting this money this time. “I’m afraid I must limit players to two large prizes each.” He pointed to a small sign, which did indeed list that as a rule, though in very small print.
“Awuuu…” Ryqo pouted.
“However, if anyone else wants to try, you are more than welcome. I… just need to check something. I’ll be back in a moment.” With that, he exited the back of the booth.
Not a second later, Luna appeared from behind the stall.
“Luna, where were you?” Tack asked.
“Fixing things.” The girl replied flatly.
A large grin crossed Ryqo’s face. “So ye’r da one ‘oo increased the air pressure!”
“Yes.”
“Uhm… let’s move on, shall we?” I said nervously, gesturing towards the rest of the festival.
“You mean there was something wrong with the air pressure?” Tack asked as we walked away.
“Yup, yup!” Ryqo chirped. “’Member ‘ow I couldn’ knock over anythin’ at first?”
“Yes.”
“Well tha’ guy ‘ad the pressure turned down too low. Luna-chan fixed it!”
“I see.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I feel like I should scold you, Luna, for tampering with someone else’s property, but I’m not going to. I also feel like I should tell you not to do something like that again, but I’m not going to do that either. Lastly, I feel like I need to go back and warn that man that his booth may explode at any second, do I need to do that?”
“No.” Luna replied. “It was an easy adjustment; no modifications necessary.”
“Alright,” Tack sighed, “let’s just leave it at that then.”
“An’ this one’s fer you, Yoza-chan!” Ryqo suddenly said, shoving the cat in my face.
“Huh?” I uttered before removing the stuffed prize from my field of vision.
“I saw ya lookin’ at it.” The older girl smiled. “It’s cute and i’ suits ya.”
“Th-thank you…” I replied, feeling warmth spread to my cheeks.
“An’ I’m sorry, Mayocchi an’ Luna-chan.” She continued, practically ignoring me now. “I wan’ed ta get you two somethin’ as well, bu’ he had a stupid limit.”
“It’s alright.” Mayo said simply while Luna remained silent.
“Tack! Girls!” I heard my mother call from behind us.
“Youko-chan!” Ryqo cried, running ahead to glomp my brother’s girlfriend. Leave it to Ryqo to skip formalities and go straight to familiar terms.
Thankfully, the new girl smiled. “Shougo warned me about your hugs.” She said with a laugh. “You must be Becky-chan.”
“Yup! Yup!” the raven-haired girl chirped.
“Good to see you’re in high spirits, as always, Becky-chan.” My mother said, patting her head and earning a giggle. “Sorry we’re late, Tack,” she turned her attention to him, “I trust our girls weren’t too much trouble for you?”
Tack chuckled. “You know as well as I that I had far more trouble with my own two than with yours.”
My mother hummed in response. “Well the fireworks should be starting soon, so we should probably find seats. Shall we?”
With that, the nine of us made our way to the hillside we traditionally used each year. Ryqo and Taiyouko had hit it off immediately and were chatting excitedly about gods knows what while Tack and my father began talking about some local politics. My mother, Shougo and I talked about the festival and what we had already seen and done.
“Something wrong, Tack?” My father asked a moment after the first firework burst in the sky.
The rest of us turned our attention to the man as he stared at the smoke trails. “Yeah… I just…” He stood up. “I’ll be right back.”
“You sure you’re alright?” My mother asked as well.
“I think I remember where I met her.” He explained before walking off.
“Met who?” Mother asked those of us left behind.
“A cute redhead.” Ryqo cooed. “Sensei’s in lo~ve!”
“Really? Well good for him. That man needs a good woman in his life.”
Ryqo pouted, earning a laugh from my mother.
“You know what I mean, Becky-chan.” She continued. “You and Luna-chan are good girls, but Tack could really use a partner.”
It wasn’t until after the finale that we saw Tack slowly walking back towards us with a strange expression on his face.
“So, how did it go?” My mother asked.
He looked up as if just realizing where he was. “Well, I was wrong; she’s not who I thought she was.” His eyes flitted over to Mayo, just for a moment. “I’m not sure what I was thinking.” He’s lying, and fairly obviously at that. He took a breath. “But I somehow ended up with a date this weekend.”
“Congratulations!”
“<Sensei and Vivian, sittin’ in a tree…>” Ryqo began chanting.
“Who’s Vivian?” I asked.
“Sensei’s new girlfriend, durr!”
“How did you know her name?” Tack asked.
“Wha, even you?” The girl gaped at us for a moment before jabbing at her chest. “Nametag! She had a nametag! Don’ tell me I’m really da only one tha’ noticed!”
“I saw it.” Mayo said simply.
“Well o’ course you did, Mayocchi,” Ryqo said with a giggle, “you actu’lly pay attention ta things.”
“I saw it.” Luna added.
“Even Luna-chan saw it!” Ryqo threw up her hands in a dramatic display of exasperation. “Were you two jus’ too distracted by dose em’rald eyes a’ ‘ers?”
“Wha? No!” I denied quickly, as Tack just sighed. His response was probably better as mine attracted more attention from the others. “I… uhm, was paying more attention to those strange knives she was using.”
“I asked her about those.” Tack said. “Apparently they’re what her father used, and now she’s just accustomed to using them.” He shrugged. “They obviously work for her, as you saw.”
“So wha'cha gonna do?” an overly curious girl asked.
“Dinner and a movie of course.”
“Bo~ring!” Ryqo sneered, making a thumbs down sign. “And so~ cliché.”
“And how would you know?” I asked. “It’s not like you've ever been on a date.” At least I don’t think so…
“And I intend to ensure that stays true for a few more years.” Tack added, earning a chuckle from both my mother and brother. “What do you think, Asame? Five, six more years at least?”
Ryqo booed again.
“I don't know, Tack,” my mother replied, “your little girl is growing up fast. You may want to reevaluate that time limit.”
My father grunted disapprovingly.
“I’m ready now!” the aptly labeled little girl insisted, stomping a foot in frustration.
“When did you two let Shougo start dating?” Tack asked my parents, earning more disapproving sounds from Ryqo now that she was being somewhat ignored.
“Well we were willing to let him start last year, but he didn’t seem interested at the time.” My mother answered honestly.
Shougo shrugged. “All the girls at my school are boring.”
Taiyouko elbowed him in the ribs.
“But then you transferred, of course.” He said, earning a smile from her. “But maybe things would have been different had I chosen to go to Tomodachi, I hear there’s no shortage of cuties there.” His girlfriend shoved him, but he recovered quickly as he had obviously anticipated the move. “And that goes for both guys and gals.” He looked up at Tack. “You may want to be careful.”
“Hey!” Ryqo protested. “Who’s side are you on!?”
Shougo just laughed in response.
“So I guess we’ll have to talk about it next year, then.” Tack said after a moment.
“Won’ matter.” Ryqo suddenly pouted. “’S no’ like they’ll be ready by then anyway.”
“So you already have someone in mind?” Taiyouko inquired.
“Uh huh.”
“Like I said, Tack,” My mother began, “your little girl is growing up fast; she’s already got a crush.”
“It’s not a crush.” Ryqo crossed her arms.
“Who is it?” Taiyouko asked. “I have some friends over at Tomodachi. I’ve probably heard their name.”
“Not tellin’” the raven-haired girl stuck out her tongue.
Tack, my brother, his girlfriend and my mother laughed and I even caught a smile on my sister’s face as she watched Ryqo’s behavior. I wanted to join them, but I found that I couldn’t, though I know not why.
My best friend has a crush, that should make me happy, right? Why did it make me feel uneasy instead?
“Looks like you have your work cut out for you.” My mother said, placing a hand on Tack’s shoulder. “You have my condolences.”
“So where should we go next?” Shougo asked.
“Choco banana.” Luna spoke up for the first time in a while. And she wants food. Figures.
“Choco banana it is, then.” Tack said. “And I think I see a stall right over there.” He turned to the rest of us. “Shall we?”
We agreed.
The rest of the night was rather uneventful, and my memories are sketchy at best. This may be due, in part, to the fact that I found myself unable to get Tomodachi Academy and its student body of “cuties” out of my mind. Perhaps, just maybe, that was the night I honestly started to consider attending classes there as well. Just to keep an eye on whoever this crush of Ryqo’s is; make sure they were fit for her and did not have ulterior motives. Ryqo is far too trusting sometimes and I didn't want anyone to take advantage of her good nature. That was definitely the only reason.
Ryqo and Hakumei crossed their arms almost in unison and turned away from each other as I walked in the room. “Hrmph!” they puffed in stereo.
What the heck did I miss in the few minutes I was late?
“Oh, Ae-chan!” Ryqo caught my eye and immediately started waving. “Over here! Over here! Over here! We saved a spot for ya!”
“Shhh!” Hakumei held a finger to her lips. “They’re starting.”
“You ‘Shhh!’” Ryqo mimicked back.
Sure enough, music started pouring out of the multitude of speakers scattered throughout the fairly sizable room. Spotlights flooded a small stage at the end opposite me and a girl grabbed the microphone and began singing an upbeat and catchy tune.
This is a karaoke room? I knew my family lived out in the sticks, but the local karaoke bar in town was nowhere near this size. Heck you could probably fit three of their rooms in here, maybe a fourth, and there were apparently multiple rooms like this, from what I had heard. About half a dozen small tables were set around the room with several chairs each. Along the exterior walls were long padded benches. All told there was probably about two dozen students gathered here. I was really beginning to like this Tomodachi Academy. Definitely made the right choice to come here.
I took the seat offered to me beside Hakumei who gave me a pleasant smile. Ryqo leaned forward and flashed a toothy grin and a peace sign. Well they both cheered up fast, weren’t they just fighting?
I glanced across the table to see Nullsilver on the other side of Ryqo, fully expecting to see her tinkering with some half disassembled device in her lap. To my surprise, she seemed to be paying rather close attention to the singer on stage. Strange, she seemed so disinterested in everything else besides that cursed drone of hers. At least her hair was the same color as the last time I saw her.
The four of us, well sans Nullsilver, so the three of us made small talk between numbers, mostly about our favorite idols. The singers on stage ran the gambit of incredibly talented to decidedly mediocre, but there were thankfully none that I would call bad. And that was good. Becoming the best of all of them would be a worthy challenge indeed.
“Ooo! I’m next!” Ryqo suddenly shot up from her seat. She scampered to the stage like a child late for dinner. “Heyo!” she cried into the mic upon arrival, throwing a hand into the air. Pretty much everyone except for Hakumei, Nullsilver and myself responded in kind. Must be some sort of tradition of which we were unaware.
I recognized the song immediately; Mahoutsukai Hajimemashita, originally sung by the legendary Yazawa Nico. Ryqo’s high pitched voice and high energy was a good match, though I could tell she was a little bit too excited as she often was a little ahead of the beat. It was a decent enough tribute, though I certainly preferred the original. In the end, her enthusiastic performance was met with appropriately enthusiastic applause.
“You’re turn, Yoza-chan!” she called, pointing at the girl beside me before skipping off the stage.
Hakumei sighed before rising to walk calmly to the front of the room. I must admit, with all of the idol music I had listened to in the last year or so, I had not heard the song she performed that night. Still, it came as no surprise that it was a serious and powerful ballad that lent itself will to the tones she was capable of producing. Ryqo, undoubtedly, gave the most passionate reception, going so far as a standing ovation. Not completely undeserved, but I had seen better, even earlier tonight.
“And now for you, Luna-chan!” Ryqo said gleefully.
“…”
She wants the impassive Nullsilver to sing?
“I already requested one a’ yer fav’rites. Git on up there!”
“…”
The twin-tailed girl pulled something out of her bag and held it in of the other. Pocky? “If you sing, you can have this.” She spoke slower with clearer enunciation, likely to drive home her point. “It’s limited edition and this was their last box.”
Something changed in Nullsilver’s eyes, though not the color. Without a word, she rose, walked slowly to the stage and stood before the microphone. Moments later, the music started playing…
Wait. Something’s not right. That’s Moshimo Kara Kitto, originally sung by Toujou Nozomi. How the hell did they expect an emotionless girl like Nullsilver to breathe life into one of the purest songs in µ’s’ discography? But from the looks on some of the older students’ faces, they seemed to actually be waiting for a good show.
The girl on stage opened her mouth and…
A tingling sensation ran down my arms as I could do little but sit and stare for a few seconds. It was beautiful. The only one capable of doing better would be Toujou herself.
A moment later, the logical part of my mind caught up and I started glancing about, seeking the actual source of the vocals I was hearing. Surly, Nullsilver was just lip-syncing and someone else was providing the words. That was the answer, right? That or this was a really good recording. Either way, there was no way she was actually singing right now. Right?
I looked at the two girls beside me. Hakumei was sitting properly, eyes closed and a peaceful smile on her face, just enjoying the music. Ryqo was leaning forward, elbows on the table with an incredible grin on her face as she stared wide-eyed at the performance. It suddenly dawned on me that maybe, just maybe, this was real, no matter how surreal it seemed.
I collapsed back in my seat and just stared as well, letting the lyrics wash over me until the last chime faded at the end of the piece.
My suspension of disbelief was shattered immediately as Nullsilver turned, without ceremony, and walked off the stage, apparently oblivious to the roaring applause. She made a beeline back to our table, took the offered snack, sat down and tore into the package like a kid at Christmas.
Despite her utter lack of stage presence, I found myself pitying the pour soul who had to follow that performance as the applause continued for a while.
“So, Ae-chan.” Ryqo spoke up. “I think yer the only one who ‘asn’t sung yet.” Of course. “We can’ start goin’ back up for second rounds ‘till ev’ryone’s ‘ad a go.”
Well, I wanted a challenge. And fate decided to give me one, in the strangest package I could imagine. Still, I thought, while making my way to the stage, a duet with her would be a good way to gain some publicity. I found myself anxious to play guitar again. I needed to make more music. Excitement burned in my gut me as ideas raced through my head, but I had to push them aside. Right now, I had to follow a grand performance with one even better. I needed to make the audience remember me, despite everything else they had seen and heard tonight.
I quickly spotted an energetic, rock-style song that had been one of my favorites upon first diving into the world of idols. “Let’s burn.” I murmured under my breath before grabbing the mic and shouting out the opening lines. I got the reaction I wanted as several in the audience started clapping along with the raucous beat, though I won’t deny I was hoping for more.
I was sweating by the time the final cords faded and I made a quick mental note that priority one was to get my stamina up. Task two was to become more accustomed to these blasted lights, or I would never survive multiple songs. But far be it for me to let my current audience know that. I swallowed to wet my throat and shouted my thanks for the applause, though it was notably less than that for the performance before mine.
Ryqo was squirming in her seat with excitement when I returned. “Oh my god, tha’s like my favoritest song ever!” she squealed as I sat down.
“You mean one of…” Hakumei started.
“Yeah fine, whatever,” Ryqo interrupted with a dismissive wave, “‘one of’ my favoritest songs ever.”
I smiled. “It’s one of my favorites as well, though their new single is giving it a run for its money.”
“I know, right?” the raven-haired girl laughed. “I have all of their CDs if you ever wanna borrow them.”
“I was going to make the same offer.”
As Ryqo let loose a riotous bout of laughter, I turned my attention to the girl opposite me.
Nullsilver sat silently, watching the stage intently as the next singer chose their song. Every so often, she would raise a stick of Pocky to her mouth and nibble a little off the end, apparently slowly savoring the rare version. Out of everyone I had met in my first two days in Tomodachi Academy, she was by far the strangest. Despite that, I wanted to learn more about her. I needed to know how such a voice could come attached to such a personality. Questioning her directly would likely be a lost cause, so perhaps I would need to hit up Ryqo or Hakumei for answers.
Speaking of, the former was asking me something. I apologized and asked her to repeat her question before answering. Before long, we fell back into our pattern of making small talk between numbers and enjoying a night of good music.
Day One wasn’t a complete loss, even if it started quite awkwardly when a device owned by a strange girl hit me in the head. Honestly, the bump was still there and it was still pretty tender, but that was all in the past. I must keep moving forward.
Today is a new day.
I took a deep breath as I gazed at the elegant gate before me. Time to make up for yesterday. I took a step forward and…
THWACK!
… fell to the ground, landing hard on my tail bone.
“Oh come on!” I didn’t bother holding back my frustration this time. “Nullsilver, get your drone under control!”
“I’m sorry.” Her neutral voice said from nearby.
I whipped around to face her. Bad idea, as the quick movement caused pain to shoot up my back again. This is going to make dance practice a bit difficult. I couldn’t help but wince.
“He’s right, Luna,” A new voice spoke up, “you really should figure out what is wrong with Itov’s AI. That’s the second person it’s run into in as many days.”
I opened my eyes to find myself staring into the sharp blue eyes of a girl with long, intricately braided blonde hair. An aura of maturity radiated off her as she held her hand down to me.
“Are you alright?” She asked with an expression of concern.
“I’m fine.” I assured her, accepting her aid to get my feet back under me. “No worse than yesterday.” Geez, she’s taller than me. But not by much. Definitely not by much…
“Yesterday?” She raised an eyebrow.
“So you were da one Itov-chan hit yesterday too?” a third girl spoke up. “Sounds ta me like she likes ya.” Her casual manner of speaking matched the way she had her hands up behind her head.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Ryqo” the blonde said, rolling her eyes, “machines don’t have feelings; they can’t like things.” She blinked and made eye contact with me. “Or people. They can’t like people either.”
“They c’n too!” The raven haired girl insisted. “Right, Luna-chan?”
Who was Luna? I had assumed the two new girls were Yozakura and Ricochet that Nullsilver had mentioned yesterday, but was there a fourth girl I had missed? Speaking of, where was Nullsilver? I glanced around and quickly located her. Not surprisingly, she was already sitting on the ground, repairing her drone.
Oh, for the love of… her hair is different now too?
Her now blue hair was as unkempt as before as she sat hunched in the middle of another growing pile of tools. Not surprisingly, she seemed to ignore the other girl’s question.
“See? Luna-chan agrees!”
She does?
The blonde puffed air through her lips. “You need to stop reading all that scifi manga. It’s messing with your head as to what is actually possible.”
At this, the twintailed girl laughed aloud. “I think Luna-chan’s doin’ a better job a’ that!”
Perhaps Luna was the strange girl’s given name and Nullsilver was her family name?
“Oh how terribly rude of us.” The blonde turned back to me. “My name is Hakumei.” She extended her hand again. “Yaiba Hakumei.”
“But mos’ o’ us jus’ call ‘er Yoza.” The ravenhaired girl said with a full toothed grin.
“There are some who call me Yozakura.” Hakumei corrected with a roll of her eyes. “The shrimp there is Rebecca Bouteillevoix.” She jutted a thumb in the direction of the shorter girl, earning a stuck out tongue in return.
“But mos’ just call me Ryqo.” She pointed to herself and started smiling again.
Maybe I was wrong, maybe they’re just nicknames that the childish one likes to use. I suddenly found myself rather curious as to what Nullsilver’s actual name was.
“And I believe you’ve already met Luna.” The polite girl stated, gesturing to the mechanically inclined one who was still fixing her drone.
“But most call her Nullsilver.” Rebecca said, lowering her voice, apparently attempting to imitate Hakumei, and doing a rather poor job of it.
Wait, that was actually her name?
“And what about you, good sir?” Hakumei suddenly asked.
I jolted a bit, realizing I had been staring at Nullsilver and had remained quiet for too long. Good sir? Me? I like that. But, yes, an introduction, perfect. I donned my best smile, held my head high and my hand over my chest. “I am known as Hogosha Aelic.” I bowed deeply. “It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“It is good to meet you, Hogosha-san.”
“Oh that sounds way too formal.” I said, flashing her my best smile. “Please call me Aelic.”
Had I blinked, I would have missed a strange look flash across Rebecca’s face before her smile was back.
“Aelic it is then.” The blonde smiled gently. “I like that. It’s a good name.”
That it certainly is.
“An’ you c’n call me Ryqoshay.” The twin-tail spoke up, pointing to herself. “Or Ryqo if you want. Don’ worry ‘bout the whole sempai thing, nobody else does.”
“Can’t imagine why.” Hakumei said under her breath, though loud enough that the two of us could hear.
Sempai? Wait. I glanced down. Sure enough, her skirt sported three sparkles. For that matter, Hakumei’s only had one like mine? Well, I wouldn’t have called that in a million years.
“So,” Ryqo continued, “Ae-chan, are you gonna be a school idol too?”
“But of course!” I proclaimed, puffing out my chest. “That’s why I applied to this school. I am going to be the best school idol that ever was.”
I didn’t think her grin could get much wider, but it did. She leaped forward to close the distance between us in a single bound and grabbed my hands. “That’s awesome!” She cried, practically shakine with excitement. “Yoza-chan jus’ started here too! She agreed ta join my group. Do ya wanna join too? I’m always lookin’ fer new members. Luna-chan’s a member too! Do ya wanna join my group? It’s alright if you don’ wanna, but you totally need ta do some collab’ration work wi’ us sometime! But you should join anyway. Idols are allowed ta join multiple groups ‘ere, so even if ya make yer own group, you shou’ also join mine! Do ya wanna… hey!” She cut off as Hakumei grabbed her collar and dragged her away.
“Sorry about that.” The blonde sighed. “She gets a little over exited from time to time.”
“Awuuuu...” Ryqo pouted behind her.
I laughed. “It’s fine, really. But I want to see what I can do on my own first, before I consider joining a group.”
“Well the offer stands.” Ryqo crossed her arms, I believe in defiance of Hakumei rather than me.
“Apparently some of us are going to karaoke after class this afternoon.” Hakumei started.
“And you shou…” The raven-haired girl was cut off again as the blonde clamped a hand over her mouth.
“It’s to celebrate the first years, like you and I, as well as give us an opportunity to see some of the existing groups in action.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I nodded.
“I’m sure you will hear plenty about it throughout the day, and there are pamphlets everywhere, so I’ll spare you the details.”
“Alright, I’ll probably see you guys there, then.”
“We’ll save ya a spot!” Ryqo pried herself free.
“It was nice meeting you, Aelic.” Hakumei bowed politely before turning towards the entrance. “Perhaps we’ll have a class or two together.”
“<See ya!>” the twintail said in English, waving. “Hey, Luna-chan, you done yet?”
“Almost…” came a quiet reply.
I gave the young engineer one last glance before making my own way towards the doors as well.
I breathed deep as I approached the gates of Tomodachi Academy. This was my moment. It was time for a grand entrance. You only get one shot at a first impression after all, and I knew that I needed to make sure mine was the best anyone had seen. This school was chock full of idols already. If I was to outshine them all, I needed to be perfect from day one. And it all started with the entrance.
I took a step forward and…
THWACK!
… fell to the ground, landing hard on my tail bone.
“Ow! What the hell was that?!” I practically shouted, earning a few strange looks from other students as they passed. Well, so much for my amazing entrance. Something had struck me in the head and I was now seeing stars, though not of the school idol variety. Rubbing my scalp, I could feel a lump already forming.
“Are you alright?” Someone asked as she and a few other students stopped to check on me.
“I’m fine!” I proclaimed, flashing them my most winning smile, while trying to ignore the small amount of red on my fingertips. “Just an accident. Everything’s fine. Really.”
My act appeared to convince them and they went back about their own business.
But what in the world had hit me? Glancing around, I spotted a strange device on the ground nearby. Though it was clearly mechanical in nature, the way it was spasming made it look like a little like a wounded bird trying to take flight. Trying to stand caused pain to shoot up my spine and I groaned, collapsing back to my knees. I crawled, over to the device to inspect it.
Pathetic. I look pathetic now. I can just see them now, they’re all laughing at poor Aelic who can’t even walk through the gates without falling down. Gods, this is horrible. Who the hell was flying this thing out the gate when people are trying to walk in? Would it have killed them to just fly it over the wall?
“I’m sorry.” A quiet and rather flat voice said from behind me.
I craned my neck around to see a girl with short and messy orange hair staring passively at me with blue eyes that appeared almost lifeless as the sapphires they resembled.
“Were you flying this thing?” I asked, feeling heat creeping into my tone.
“No.”
“Then why are you apologizing?”
“Yozakura told me I should apologize in situations like this.”
Yozakura? What kind of name is that? “But if you weren’t flying it, who was?”
“She was.”
“Who, Yozakura? Then she should be the one to apologize.”
“No.”
“Then who was flying it?!” I raised my voice a bit as the girl was starting to irritate me.
“Itov Altiui flies herself.” She seemed completely unfazed.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
The girl knelt and picked up the device. She did something that stopped its erratic movements and it lay still. “Itov Altiui flies herself.” She repeated, pulling a small screwdriver from one of the many pockets of her lab coat before shifting to sit in a cross-legged position and setting the device in her lap. “Her primary sensor malfunctioned.” She explained, opening a panel. “As well as…”
“So that thing is like a drone then?” I placed my hands on my hips, though I could already feel my anger waning, being slowly replaced by curiosity instead.
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“She is like a drone, but not like a drone.”
I was beginning to give up hope of getting a straight answer out of the strange girl. By this time, she had pulled a number of other tools out of her coat and placed them haphazardly around her. I found myself somewhat fascinated by the entire situation. She seemed completely oblivious to the fact that she was sitting in the middle of a major walkway, but even more amazing was that nobody else seemed to care either. Everyone just walked around us without so much as a second glance. Also, as more tools joined the pile, I found myself wondering where she had kept them all before. I mean I knew she was pulling them out of the pockets of her lab coat, but how in the world had they all fit? Surely they should have caused noticeable budges in the fabric, to say nothing of the fact that all of the weight surely would take a lot of effort for such a small girl to haul around, right? And was all of this necessary for a sensor malfunction?
“So,” I spoke up after a while, “What does this drone thing do, other than fly into people?”
“She was tasked with retrieving food. Ryqoshay wanted a snack.”
Ricochet? Another strange name, but maybe that’s just the way of things here at Tomodachi. They must be stage names or something. Hrm. Perhaps I should start thinking of one for myself.
The device suddenly sprang to life, leaped off the girl’s lap, soared over the wall and disappeared. When I looked back down, the girl was standing up and the giant pile of tools was gone. How in the nine hells did she clean up that mess so fast?
Without a word, she began to walk away.
“Hey,” I called out. “I didn’t catch your name.”
She kept walking.
“Hey!” I jogged to catch up and placed a hand on her shoulder. “What’s your name?”
She stopped, looked at me and blinked her green eyes that still seemed about as lifeless as the emeralds they resembled. “Nullsilver.” She stated simply before continuing to walk towards the doors leading into the school building. Apparently she had little interest in hearing my name.
Nullsilver… The names just keep getting stranger. I am going to have to come up with something good to stand out in this crowd. But that’s alright; I knew coming here would be a challenge. If I am going to be the best and outshine the others, it’s not enough to attend another school with only a handful of idols. No, I need to show everyone that I can outshine anyone even when among dozens of other idols, or even hundreds.
I felt a smile come to my lips. My grand entrance may not have gone as planned, but I can deal with a minor setback like that. Far be it for me to let something as simple as that ruin my first day. Besides, the girl I just met was kind of cute, though if she would just run a comb through her hair every once in a while and smiled, she would probably be even cuter. She was also a bit quirky, sure, but definitely cute. So the cloud had a silver lining after all.
A bell rang, signifying that class would be starting soon.
My heart leapt into my throat and I dashed towards the entrance. Being late on my first day was definitely not good for my image. And if I had to run to… wait, weren’t her eyes blue before?
