Hi, and welcome to the first of the Battle Against Fate Specials! These are a series of oneshots that I thought up while working on the main story, but I decided to keep separate, since they had very little to do with the main storyline. If you haven't read Battle Against Fate yet, it might not be a bad idea to read it before starting on these special stories.
Anyway, this first story takes place in between chapters 9 and 10 of the main story, and was the result of a random thought I had while working on the main story- since Natsuru spent much of the anime going between the boy's and girl's sides of the school, what if Tara ended up having to sneak into the boy's side? So this, in a way, is a sort of role reversal. Instead of Natsuru becoming a girl and ending up on the girl's side, we have Tara dressing up as a boy to enter the boy's side. The result is a story that is quite ridiculous and stupid, but I feel quite close to the Kampfer universe. And there's a fair amount of ecchi as well. It must be said though, I wasn't happy with how this ended up- I felt it was one of those ideas that sounded better in my head than it was in writing. But I guess you can be the judge of that. I'm sorry if it isn't that great, but I promise the third story, in particular, will be a very good one. The second one… Well, I'll have to wait until I type it out to see what I think of it.
One more thing I'll add- although Tara is the focus of this story, the other ones won't be about her. Who will the other stories focus on? Ahh, but that would be telling! Let's just say you won't be disappointed.
As ever, please read and review!
Disclaimer- I do not own Kampfer.
A Walk on The Boy's Side
It was a beautiful summer day at school, and lunchtime had finally come around again. And naturally, since it was so nice outside, eating outside was the only way to go. So, I found myself sitting down underneath a tree with my best friend Akane, about to eat. It was pretty hot out here, but it felt pleasant as well. Even more so given we were under a nice shade as well.
I'm Tara Goodman, by the way. I'm pretty much your normal, everyday teenage otaku who just so happens to be living the dream of living in Japan. Apart from one little thing- I'm also a Kampfer, a warrior created to fight others like myself. As a red Kampfer, distinguished by the red bracelet around my wrist, I had to do battle against the blue Kampfers, who had blue bracelets. Or at least, that's how it was supposed to be. A short while back, we all agreed to a truce, and we haven't actually fought since. You see, we don't know why we're being made to fight, and we want to find out. So, we've decided to join forces to try and find out the truth. Akane over there? She's also a Kampfer, and one of those I'm supposed to be fighting against. But in any case, none of that really matters right now. What does matter, is that Akane and I were about to have our lunch in the open.
"So, did you make your own lunch, Tara?" said Akane, fishing out a medium sized bento box from her bag.
"Nope." I said, opening my backpack to get my own lunch out. "I got mine from a store. Let's just say my cooking could well spark some kind of zombie outbreak, or some other disaster."
"You're not a very good cook?" asked Akane. "You know, I could teach you a few things if you want. I'm pretty good at it myself."
"You can try, but I doubt you can get any more out of me than you already could. By the way, how's Natsuru doing? Didn't you see him over at the boy's side earlier today?"
"I did pay him a visit in his classroom, yes. I wanted to ask him if he could control his ability to transform yet, and… a few other things…"
Natsuru, a blue Kampfer, was the only boy who'd been dragged into these battles. At least, he was most of the time. When he becomes a Kampfer himself, he ends up turning into a girl- something which has been giving him no end of trouble. Even worse, at this moment in time, he couldn't even control when he transformed. Let's just say he's probably the worst off out of all of us…
"I did notice you had two lunches with you earlier this morning." I said. "Was the other one for him?"
"Uh, well…" Akane started, before glancing at something in my backpack.
"EEEKKK! There's something hairy in your bag!"
"Oh, this?" I said, reaching in my backpack to pull out the object Akane caught a glimpse of. "It's okay. It's just a wig. It came through the post today, and since I didn't have time to open the package before I left home, I thought I'd open it on my way to school."
Akane looked at my wig. It was about medium length, and was a dark brownish colour.
"Oh. Is that for a cosplay, then?"
"Yup. It's one I've been working on for a little while now, and I'm hoping to wear it to that convention we're going to."
"So, who are you going as?"
"Follet from Deathsmiles. You know, that Xbox game I showed you the last time you came over? That shoot em up? The one with the heavy gothic influence and all of the bullets onscreen?"
"Oh, that! Wasn't Follet the one with the green outfit and the glasses?"
"That's her, yeah. I really want to cosplay as a few of the characters from that game, actually. Once I'm done with this one, I hope to do a Windia cosplay as well. I just adore her outfit…"
Akane looked at me, slightly confused. I guess she isn't as clued up on video game characters as I am. She's not a massive game fan though, so I guess that was understandable.
"But yeah, this is the wig I ordered for my cosplay. It needs some cutting and styling, but I can easily do that. I can't wait until it's finished!"
"I'm looking forward to seeing it." said Akane, enthusiastically. As I put my wig away again, we both heard a familiar voice right in front of us.
"Is this spot taken?" We both turned and saw Shizuku Sango in front of us. The student council president, and a fellow Kampfer. She was the one who suggested the truce between us in the first place, and also the most determined to find out why we fight. Before we could even answer her question, she sat down besides us anyway. Looks like we're stuck with her either way… Akane looked away from Shizuku as she made herself comfortable.
"What's the matter?" Shizuku asked, slyly. "You still don't trust me because I'm a red Kampfer?"
"It's not that." said Akane. "Tara's also a red Kampfer, and I still trust her. I just wonder why you've decided to sit with us, is all. Don't you have some important student council business to do?"
"There's nothing to do right now that can't be done later." said Shizuku. "I just want to spend a little time with you all. Now that we're no longer fighting, I thought it would be nice to get to know you a little better…"
Hmmm. I wonder…
"Well, I guess there's no harm in you sitting with us." I said, albeit somewhat reservedly. "But we're sitting here to relax and eat our lunch. We're not going to talk about anything related to the Moderators, or the battles between the Kampfers. So please try not to bring that subject up…"
"Fine." said Shizuku. "It's not like I was going to say anything about it anyway…"
As we settled down to eat, Akane searched her bag for something. As she continued to look, she began to panic.
"Where are they… Oh no, don't tell me I left them behind…"
"Something wrong?" I asked.
"I can't find my chopsticks!" said Akane. "I can't eat my lunch without them. I must have misplaced them somewhere…"
"Maybe you dropped them in class?" I said, standing up. "If you like, I can go get them for you…"
"I don't think it's that easy." said Akane. "They were in the bag before I left for the boy's side, and the only time I opened it between then and now was when I gave Natsuru his lunch…"
"So you're saying they're over at the boy's side?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Well then," said Shizuku, "You'd better get a move on if you're going to get them, shouldn't you, Tara?"
Wait- what? Is she seriously suggesting that I go over to the boy's side to get Akane's chopsticks?
"Uh… Maybe it would be better if Akane went over there." I said. "Girls aren't allowed over there unless they have a pass. Since Akane has one-"
"But you volunteered to get them for her, didn't you?" said Shizuku. "What kind of friend would you be if you decided not to help her when you said you would?"
"That was before she said her chopsticks were at the boy's end." I said. "How the hell am I supposed to get over there without permission?"
"You're a resourceful girl." Shizuku replied. "I'm sure you can think of something."
I just looked at Shizuku, not quite sure what to say. I could tell there was no way out of this…
"Fine…" I said, grabbing my backpack. "I'll try and come back as soon as possible, alright, Akane?"
"O-okay." said Akane. "I'm so sorry you've had to do this for me…"
"To be honest with you, I hope I don't end up regretting it." I replied. I walked off, trying to rack up my brains to think of a way to sneak into the boy's side…
…...
I made my way to the library, since that was the area where the boy's and girl's sides where joined together. So how am I going to do this? It's too crowded to simply just sneak in without being noticed. Security is really tight too, so even if the place was fairly empty, I'd still most likely get found out. Maybe I could do a Solid Snake and try hiding in a cardboard box marked to go to the boy's side… OK, that's a stupid idea. I sat down to think at a table that had some duct tape lying around- no idea what that was doing there. At this point, I was beginning to think this was a waste of time, so I opened my backpack to see if I had any spare chopsticks I could let Akane use. There wasn't, but my attention quickly turned towards my wig. Taking it out, I noticed that it looked sort of boyish. Of course, it wouldn't once I was done styling it, but it gave me a brainwave- Why not dress up as a boy and sneak in that way? That could actually work, although there was one main issue- where do I get a uniform? Just then, I noticed a boy walk past me and turn the corner. Hmmm. There's no one else around this part of the library. Perhaps… I turned the corner myself to see the boy near one of the shelves, reading. I couldn't believe I was about to do what I was about to do, but this was the only solution I had at the moment…
"U-um… Excuse me…" I said, trying to mock shyness. Luckily, I'd cosplayed as a few shy characters in my time and had lots of practice acting that way to keep in character, so it wasn't hard. The boy turned around to look at me.
"Yes?" he asked.
"W-well, I… Uh…" I said, still acting. "I've seen you around a lot, and I… Um… I've really grown to like you. I… think I love you…"
"W-what?" said the boy, who was starting to blush.
"Can you… come a little closer, please?" I said, edging back slightly. The boy wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but he obliged. OK, I don't think anyone can see us now… I put my arms around him while still keeping up my timid act.
"W-wow… You're really serious about this, aren't you?" he said. "Sorry, but I don't really think we should…"
He pulled my arms away, but I wasn't about to give up just like that… I clearly needed to use a little more… persuasion.
"Ummm… I've seen this kind of thing in the Hentai games I often play. I-I play a lot of them, you know…" I said. I was lying, of course- the only Hentai game I've ever played was Shuffle. But still, this is more or less what happens in them, right? Still pretending to be shy, I undid the top buttons on my uniform, showing off some of my cleavage. The boy seemed to blush even more- that certainly got his attention!
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I think… this is how it works. If a boy doesn't want me, I'm supposed to show off my body to him, right? That's how I've always seen it…" I said. It was fair to say I was just making this up as I went along… I decided to undo the rest of my buttons on my top, so I could open it and show off my full cleavage, as well as my midriff. I never thought that sexy bra I was wearing would come in so useful… The boy took one good look at my breasts wide eyed and opened mouthed.
"My god… You're so… big…" He said.
"M-maybe I can… take the bra off as well…" I said, still acting shy. The boy couldn't resist any more- he put his arms around me and pressed his forehead against mine.
"Sure, I'd like that. Wow, you really are so beautiful…"
We both moved our lips together, and just as we were about to kiss… I moved my head back and headbutted him, knocking him cold. I can't believe that actually worked! I quickly took his uniform off and stripped down to my underwear, quickly seeing another problem- my boobs. Boys are generally flat chested, while I, on the other hand… Let's just say my assets are very impressive. My eyes turned to the duct tape that was on the table, and I immediately found a solution. Pushing my boobs flat down, I grabbed the tape and wrapped some of it around my chest. Once I felt I'd used enough, I cut the rest of the tape off and put it back on the table. There! Nice and flat. Now that I'd taken care of that, I threw on the uniform I took from my unassuming victim, then put my wig on. As a finishing touch, I also put on my reading glasses. No one will ever know it's me. All I had to do now was dispose of the unconscious boy on the floor. Luckily, there was a locker close by which I could stuff him into. Once I made sure he wouldn't get out in a hurry, I left the library for the boy's side. As I did so, my head started to hurt a little. Damn, that's the last time I ever headbutt anyone…
…...
Having made it to the boy's side undetected, I set about finding Natsuru's classroom. That'd be the best place to start. Class 2-4, wasn't it? That made things pretty easy, as that was Natsuru's classroom on the girl's side, too. Same class as Akane and I. As I walked through the corridors, my chest really started to feel uncomfortable. Maybe taping down my breasts wasn't such a smart move. I really hoped that I'd find those chopsticks fast… Oh well, at least my disguise was working- everyone was just passing me by, not once doubting I was a boy. So far, so good. I was looking downwards all the time, hoping that I'd find Akane's chopsticks on the floor. No luck there though… Suddenly, I was stopped by a voice.
"Hi, not seen you around here before! You look kind of down, though…"
I looked up to see a boy with spiky brown hair.
"U-uh… I suppose I am." I said, in my best masculine voice. "I've just moved here from… uh… England. I don't know anyone here, so I'm kind of on my own here…"
"That explains a lot." said the boy. "You should join a club and get to know people, then. You know, as the head of the Hottie Research Club, I'll be more than happy to accept you there!"
Hottie Research Club? Ah, now I know who this guy is. Kanji Higashida. The head of said club. He's pretty well known around here for his ability to gather information on all the girls in the school. Probably has all my details somewhere too…
"Uh, thanks. I guess…" I said, feigning interest. At least he hasn't figured out I'm a girl yet…
"Hey, don't mention it. So, you're from England, huh? Man, we're getting a lot of foreign people here lately. What with you and that babe from America…"
"A-America?" I said.
"Yeah. Tara Goodman. You'll know her when you see her. She's totally hot. No idea why no one's considered her to be one of the school beauties yet, as she's easily up there with Sakura, Shizuku and Natsuru. The female one, of course. But hey, I'm sure she'll up being as popular as those three someday. I'll see to it myself that she is if I have too."
"Uh… Yeah. Good luck with that." I said, not sure whether or not to be honoured or repulsed by that remark. Either way, I'm wasting time here. I still need to find Akane's chopsticks and get back to the girl's side in time to actually eat my lunch.
"Um… Hey- I appreciate you taking time to talk to me and everything, but I really need to go now. Kinda need the bathroom, you know?" I said.
"Okay. No problem." said Higashida. "Hope to see you at the Club someday."
I quickly walked past Higashida and continued on my way to Natsuru's classroom. Now, if only I knew where it was…
…...
I soon decided to take my search to the second floor. That was where class 2-4 was on the girl's side, so I figured it would be the same for the boy's side. I was still looking down at the floor, just in case those chopsticks were on the floor somewhere. Of course, as a result of that, I wasn't looking where I was going, and I inevitably walked into someone.
"Oh. I'm really sorry…" I started, until I saw exactly who it was I walked into. A boy with blue hair and matching eyes. Oh god, not him… Not Natsuru… He was the last person I wanted to run into here, since he could easily recognise me- not many people in school, let alone in the boy's side, sported one of those bracelets. Natsuru took one good look at my bracelet and then looked into my eyes. As I feared, he realised who I was…
"T-Tara-Chan!" said Natsuru "What are you- MUMPH!"
"Shhh!"
I quickly put my hand around Natsuru's mouth and dragged him to a spot where we could talk in peace.
"What are you doing here? Why are you dressed like that?" asked Natsuru as I removed my hand from his mouth.
"Shhh! Keep it down! I don't want to get found out." I said. "I know this is kind of extreme, but dressing as a boy was the only way I could get in here. I'm here because I'm looking for some chopsticks. Akane thinks that she dropped them when she came to see you earlier today. Have you seen any, by any chance?"
"But if you're looking for something that belongs to Akane, why isn't she here looking for-" Natsuru started, before a thought crossed his mind.
"Wait… Unless Shizuku…"
"Bingo." I said. "I offered to get those chopsticks, until Akane said they'd most likely be here in the boy's side. But Shizuku insisted that I go get them myself, since I offered. That's why I'm here, and not Akane. So, have you seen any chopsticks in your classroom? Or anywhere else for that matter?"
Natsuru looked at me, like he actually understood my plight.
"I don't think so. Is Akane sure she left them somewhere around here?"
"Well, she said that she had them before she came over here this morning, and the only time she opened her bag before lunchtime was when she gave you that lunch while she was in your classroom. So she thinks they're most likely to be here somewhere."
"Well, since you're looking, why don't you let me help you? You'll have a much better chance of finding them if you have someone with you. Besides, I kind of know what it's like to be forced into something by Shizuku…"
"Really? You'd do that for me? Thanks! To be honest, I need all the help I can get."
And so, we both made our way to Natsuru's classroom. I let Natsuru lead the way, since he obviously knew where he was going. Along the way, I began to wonder. Maybe running into Natsuru wasn't such a bad thing. After all, since he knew that I was really a girl, and he understood my situation, he could actually help me not to arouse any suspicion. And with him around to help me find those chopsticks, I could find them quicker and get out of here before anything really bad happened. Yeah, this was a perfect opportunity! Just then, Natsuru interrupted my thoughts.
"Tara-chan? We're nearly there." he said.
"Uh? Oh, right. Sorry, just thinking about a few things." I said, just as I heard a faint sound. Oh shit, that sounds like my bracelet is glowing! That's the last thing I need right now, as it means I'm about to become a Kampfer! If that happens, my cover could be blown… I looked down at my bracelet, only to see it wasn't glowing. Phew, false alarm. That wasn't my bracelet going off, it was Natsuru's. I looked over at Natsuru, and saw that his bracelet was indeed glowing. So he's the one about to transform. At least it isn't me- wait a second, that's even worse! Natsuru kept staring at his bracelet, looking understandably panicky. Before either of us could even think, there was a light glow, and when it faded, there was a blue haired girl in Natsuru's place. He had, unfortunately, transformed into his Kampfer form, which meant that he'd become a girl. Curse you, fate!
"Ummm… Sorry…" said Natsuru. "I still can't change on my own yet…"
Okay, I take back everything I said about running into Natsuru being a good thing…
…...
Miraculously, we both made it to Natsuru's classroom without being seen. I took a quick look around the room- it looked more or less the same as my own classroom. I just hoped we could find the chopsticks quickly- not only did I have to get Natsuru out of the boy's side without any trouble, but my chest was feeling even more uncomfortable. I seriously needed to get all this duct tape off as quickly as possible.
"So, where do we start?" I asked.
"Well, sometimes when our teacher finds something, he puts it on top of the blackboard for some reason. I'll get a chair and check that out." Natsuru replied.
"Why on earth would he put anything there? Why not just put it in his desk like any normal person would?"
"I know. It doesn't make much sense. But I'll check there anyway."
"Okay. I'll make a sweep of the floor and see if I find anything there."
As I searched under the desks, Natsuru grabbed a chair and put it near the blackboard, clambering on top of it. I found no sign of Akane's chopsticks on the floor, or on the desks, so I searched the desk, hoping to find them in there. Sadly, they weren't. This was taking a lot longer than I hoped… To make matters worse, my chest wasn't just feeling uncomfortable, it was now starting to twitch. I really hoped that didn't mean anything… I turned to Natsuru, who was still searching the top of the blackboard.
"Find anything, Natsuru?"
"No. There's nothing up here. What about you?"
"Nothing. Where the hell are they?"
"Maybe they're in the Lost And Found? Someone might have found them and taken them there."
"Guess we have no choice, because they're certainly not here. Can you tell me where it is? I'll head there right away."
"I'll show you the way, if you like."
"That's probably not a good idea. We've been lucky no one's spotted you in your female form so far, but the more we stay together, the more likely someone'll see you. No, just tell me where the Lost And Found is, and I'll go there myself. In the meantime, you should try and get over to the girl's side without being seen."
Natsuru winced at the thought of going to the girl's side. I didn't blame her- she had an enormous fan base over there, and they were far too over enthusiastic about her. However, there wasn't much else we could do at the moment.
"Okay, I can tell you don't want to go over there." I said. "Tell you what, just go to the library, and I'll meet you there once I've found the chopsticks. Then we'll go to the girl's side together. Is that okay?"
"O-okay." said Natsuru. She didn't seem to be fully convinced, but she felt better about going to the library than she did about going to the girl's side on her own.
"Great! You may as well get down from that chair, then…"
Natsuru nodded. As she did, she began to lose her balance on the chair. Now that I thought about it, it did look kind of wobbly. Then I saw one of the legs- it was in a really bad state. Natsuru finally fell forward and landed on top of me, making a lot of noise as she did. And it didn't go unnoticed…
"Hey! What was that noise?" came a voice from outside. Just then. A small group of boys ran into the room, and saw what appeared to be the female Natsuru Senou draped over another boy.
"Whoa, is that the female Senou? What's she doing here?" asked one of the boys.
"Who cares?" said another. "We just caught her about to make out with someone! How cool is that?"
And just when I thought things couldn't possibly get any worse… They did. My wig slipped off from my head, revealing my long blond hair. The boys became a lot more wide eyed after seeing this. Plus, at this point, my chest was now twitching to the point where the duct tape simply couldn't hold anymore. In an instant, the tape burst, and my chest returned to it's proper, rather voluptuous shape. Thank god they were still under the black T-Shirt I was wearing- God knows what would have happened if they bust right out of it… Sadly, it didn't change the fact that if my hair hadn't given away the fact that I was really a girl, my breasts had…
"W-WHOA!" said another boy. "That's guy's a chick! And a really hot one, too!"
"Oh, sweet!" said another. "I never thought Senou had the hots for Goodman!"
Suddenly, a lot more people started to gather around the scene, and before we knew it, there was a huge crowd, taking pictures, egging Natsuru and I to make out, some even wondering what the hell we were both doing here. Truly mortified by what had happened, all I could do was whimper out the six words I never thought I'd ever hear myself say…
"T-this isn't what it looks like…"
…...
That evening, I lay on my bed, trying desperately to forget everything that happened today. Before Natsuru and I could get into any serious trouble, Shizuku stepped in to help us. She said that the reason that I was on the boy's side dressed as a boy was to test the security on that end. The boy who I knocked out so I could take his uniform had also been found, and Shizuku said that too was part of the exercise. She basically told everyone on the boy's side that they failed the test, and had to beef up security in future- not to mention to be careful of any girls acting amorously in the future. As for Natsuru, Shizuku said that she had sneaked over to meet up with the male Natsuru, and that the suggestive position the two of us were found in was merely a misunderstanding. Damn right it was! She also made everyone on the boy's side promise never to speak of what happened today, while she confiscated all photos taken of myself and Natsuru to be destroyed. Though, by "destroyed", I'm sure she meant "kept for blackmail purposes"… I wouldn't have put it past her. Oh well, at least she bailed us out. Considering it was her fault I ended up in this situation in the first place, it was the least she could have done…
The absolute worst thing though- it turned out that Akane had her chopsticks with her all along! After turning her bag inside out, she found them in one of the compartments. So I basically went through all that for nothing! Akane spent the rest of the day apologising to me for her mistake, but thanked me for going so far out of way for her anyway. I wasn't mad at her, though- like I said earlier, it was Shizuku's fault, not hers. But still, the damage had been done. I'd never been so embarrassed in my life. But at least I could forget about it all now. Of course, I hadn't told my parents about any of this, and somehow I managed to keep a straight face and not let on what happened while I was talking about my day over dinner. Right now, I had just threw on my pyjamas and put my clothes in the washing basket, ready for Mom to wash, while I'd also done everything I wanted to tonight as well. I guessed the best thing to do would be to get some sleep. Tomorrow will be another day, after all. I rested my head on the pillow and closed my eyes. A few minutes later, however, I heard Mom's voice calling to me.
"Ummm… Tara?"
"Yeah? What's up?"
"Why is there duct tape on your bra?"
Uh oh. I'm not going to be able to explain that one in a hurry…