DISCLAIMER:
I am not Okawa Ageha, Mokona, Igarashi Satsuki, or Nekoi Tsubaki. I do not know any of them, nor can I fluently and easily communicate with them. I do not own any of the characters they created under the entity of CLAMP, nor the fictional locations within Toukyou (such as CLAMP Campus). Additionally, several of the relationships suggested and promoted in this random act of fandom are neither suggested nor promoted by CLAMP themselves.
This is a Nokorucentric Fiction.
Extensive Liner Notes will be included at the end of Le Prémier Chapître in order to explain several instances of the artistic license I took with the canon material. They are quite extensive—hence, why I will not include them here and now.
Updated February Eighteenth with slight adjustments in the text, as well as revisions of spelling and grammatical errors, and extended endnote
乗り進める
煌びやか愛と義の大軍よ!
NORI SUSUMERU
Kirabiyaka Aitogi No Taigun Yo!
«GO FORTH, Shining Army Of Love And Justice!»
chapître un • un • un
『彼の狐の嫁入り』
"ano kitsune no yomeiri"
The Sun Shower
"Moshi moshi. Shirahama Imonoyama Winter Residence, how may I assist you?"
"It's me. Is she available?"
"Gomen nasai, Rijichou Imonoyama. I failed to recognize your voice. I'm afraid she has already retired to her quarters for the evening. She may yet be awake—"
"Onegai moushi ageru, I must speak with her. Put me through to her bed chamber."
"At once, Rijichousama."
—
"Nokorusan, it's rather late for a courtesy call."
"Aisumi masen, I did not intend to disturb your rest, Zennin Rijichousama."
"It is already forgiven and forgotten, Nokorusan. I assume you have contacted me in regards to the Day That Is To Come?"
"Hai, the events which will lead up to the Promised Day have been set into motion. You've witnessed, no doubt, the collapse of Nakano, Ikebukuro, and Shinjuku on the news."
"Indeed, I have. I believe my instructions regarding this delicate situation explicitly stated that there was no possible value in my meeting that boy, Nokorusan."
"Sou desu ga, I haven't called you, Zennin Rijichousama, for that purpose. I know it is a futile effort, and I've accepted defeat on that front. Rather, I've called to ask a favor of you."
"Sou desu ne? What is this favor you would have me grant?"
"I need for you to set up a rendez-vous for me with Majousama. Is it possible?"
"Nokorusan, realize first what it is you are asking of me—no, what it is you intend to do. Jigen no Majou is not to be taken lightly. Those who plea her assistance idly or foolishly often receive more … help … from her than they bargained for."
"My cause is neither idle nor foolish, and I am fully aware of exactly who—and what—she is. However, I have precious little time to waste. If you will not aid me in this arena either, I have other matters that I must attend to."
"I have not said that I will not aid you, Nokorusan. I simply wish that you would reflect on this course of action more prudently before you decide upon it."
"Aisumi masen, I did not mean to offend you, Zennin Rijichousama."
"I will call her tomorrow morning, after my breakfast and tea. Specifics will be faxed and e-mailed to the Toukyou Residence shortly thereafter."
"Arigatou gozaimasu, Zennin Rijichousama."
"Dou itashimashite, Nokorusan. One last thing before you hang up …"
"Hai?"
"Remember: There are no gifts, regardless of her assumed name. All requests have a cost, and that cost is equitable to the gravity of the request. You cannot buy what you cannot pay for, Nokorusan."
"Arigatou, Okaasan."
• • • • •
The paperwork was piling up—as usual. The world could end all it wanted to. It could explode like overstuffed manjyuu or crack in half like an egg tomorrow, and Kaichousama—Rijichousama, Suou corrected himself wordlessly—would plow right onward; he would never cease in his endless quest to avoid signing official documents and relegating motions passed by the board. It was a marvel anything ever got done by the administration at the world-renowned CLAMP Academy. He had more than half-expected the executive office of the Board of Campus Governors to be in a shambles within the first month or so of Nokoru's inauguration.
But, also as per usual with Nokoru, when he put in even the slightest amount of effort, the mountains of documents evaporated over a matter of hours. This, granted, was not one of those days.
No, this was one of Suou's typically atypical workdays wasted on tracking down that maniacal blond genius. Extinguishing all of his insane glittering was an especially difficult task, as it required keeping Akira and Nokoru strictly separated. Akira had a tendency of feeding fuel to the fire with his effervescent enthusiasm for each and every idea that might pop out of Nokoru's twisted mind. Suou had swept through the campus, scoured every one of Nokoru's typical hiding places—from the Duklyon Café to the Campus Terrace, from Gamera Hall to the Imonoyama Shopping District, and every classroom, bookstore, garden, and boutique in between—to no avail. Suou often found himself grudgingly admiring Rijichousama's ability to evade even a highly trained ninja of the Takamura Ninbatsu; it was no small feat.
Suou sighed in mild frustration as it began to rain. It was June, so that was no great surprise, but the sun had been beaming brightly not even an hour past. Temporarily resigning himself to defeat, Suou doubled back from the main buildings of the Junior High School level towards the Imonoyama Mansion. It would take some recuperation to try and outsmart the man whom NASA had been after since the age of six—besides, with any luck, Akira might have cooked up something tasty for Suou to sample.
Approaching the wrought-iron gates of the mansion grounds, Suou fumbled through his wallet, producing a magnetic identification card issued to the personal security forces of the Imonoyama Zaibatsu. He swiped it swiftly through the appropriate slot at the checkpoint and waited in silence through the retinal scan until he was prompted for a spoken password.
"Imonoyamasama's golden locks are truly magnanimous."
Suou uttered the nonsensical code without as much as a second thought, certain that the metallic gates would draw themselves inward automatically at any moment. Instead, he was treated to a flashing red light on the checkpoint's display monitor and a loud buzzing. The words "ACCESS DENIED: incorrect password" danced across the glowing screen. Suou gritted his teeth, feeling a vein on his right temple twitch.
Nokoru had changed the password.
"Imonoyamasama is indeed a fan of Matsu-Take-Ume jankenpon."
ACCESS DENIED: incorrect password
"Imonoyamasama finds himself to be enamoured of Oda Kyuu."
ACCESS DENIED: incorrect password
"Imonoyamasama soon plans to conquer Zanzibar with his army of penguins."
ACCESS DENIED: incorrect password
"Imonoyamasama in the Billiard Room with the Candlestick."
ACCESS DENIED: incorrect password
"Imonoyamasama plans to dress Takamurasan up as Frank N. Furter and drag him to audience participation RHPS at midnight."
There was a melodious chime and the words, "Access Granted: Welcome To The Imonoyama Toukyou Residence!" appeared upon the monitor. Suou silently swore to himself that he would exact a terrible paperwork-related vengeance upon Rijichousama for this indignity—although it had only taken Suou five guesses this time, which put him in better spirits than he ought to be in, given Nokoru's insult of a security code.
"Akirakun, I'm back!"
"Did you have any luck?" a voice called from the direction of the kitchen. Suou followed Akira's voice and a salivating scent through the entrance hall towards the back of the Imonoyama mansion.
"Do I ever?"
Suou's highly trained ears were just able to pick up the distinct sound of forcibly suppressed laughter. Suou wordlessly added the name 'Ijyuuin Akira' to the list of men whose ears he planned to thoroughly box as he stepped onto the pristine tiling of the kitchens.
"I'm making Rijichousama a delicious ice cream cake for later, if you want to sample some." Akira was practically singing with joy.
Suou briefly considered ice cream and began to reminisce about warm summer days and picnics with Nokoru—Nokoru. That man! The nostalgic serenity drained out of Suou as quickly as it had arisen.
"You're sulking again, Takamurasan," Akira intoned. Mirth was still flickering across the taller man's dark eyes as he effortlessly attended to icing and decorating his three-layer ice cream cake.
"Sulking? I'm not sulking."
Suou could tangibly sense the blood rushing to his face.
"Kawaii desu ne!"
Suou barely caught an audible growl from escaping his throat. Oh, yes. Akira would pay…perhaps only slightly less than the Chairman. Suou almost believed Akira might have a hand in Nokoru's games of hide-and-seek.
"You're certain you haven't seen Rijichousama at all today, Akirakun?"
Akira went right on decorating his cake with delicate pink sugar-flowers.
"Not since breakfast at least, Takamurasan. Although…"
"'Although'?"
Akira turned to Suou, placing his pastry bag on the counter as a pensive look passed over his face.
"Rijichousama did mention something briefly at breakfast about having a meeting that he had to attend in the city toda—Takamurasan! Takamurasan, daijoubu!"
Suou could no longer feel anything from his right elbow on down to his fingertips, but he was fairly certain he had just placed his fist through the kitchen wall.
• • • • •
"Ah, Suoupon is probably sweating this one out!"
Nokoru was practically glowing with malevolent glee. He'd "accidentally" neglected to mention his excursion into the city at Suou's daily security briefing earlier that morning. A pity, really, but afternoon tea is afternoon tea, and it would be very unbecoming of the head of the Imonoyama Zaibatsu to arrive late—especially in light of whom he would be drinking with. It didn't take even one hundredth of Nokoru's brilliance to understand that one should never keep Majousama waiting.
"Ruriko, pull over and let me out here."
Nokoru flashed one of his winning smiles at his chauffeuse, Outsuka Ruriko.
"We should be done within an hour or so. If you don't mind the traffic, you can go get yourself something to lunch on while you wait."
Without bothering to count out the bills, Nokoru pressed a sizeable wad of cash into Ruriko's hand.
"Rijichousama! This is 575,000 en! I couldn't possibl—"
Nokoru frowned, his brow knotting thoughtfully.
"Only that much?"
He dug back into his pocket, producing more money, which he passed to Ruriko.
"825,000 en! Rijichousama, surely this is quite enough for lunch!"
Nokoru blinked.
"It is?"
Ruriko exchanged a reassuring gaze with him before merging back into lunch-hour traffic.
Turning on his heel, Nokoru paused a moment to take in the sight that Zennin Rijichousama had described to him in her fax. A tall wooden fence stood between himself and a mansion of respectable size, built in the Western Victorian architectural style. It easily could have dated to the late Meiji Restoration or the Taishou Era. An odd gate—which rather reminded Nokoru of the torii at jinja, though he couldn't quite place why, other than that they were both wooden gates—formed the only gap in the otherwise homologous fence. It was adorned with lunar motifs, all painted black. Or perhaps the gate was worked with inlaid ebony…the edges of the moons seemed strangely…well, too crisp to have simply been painted. Indeed, despite the pleasant shower that had begun to gently fall as Ruriko pulled out of the north entrance of the campus, not a single inch of the shop seemed to have been touched by the rainwater. Everything down to the indistinguishably strange and subtle aura of the shop was exactly as had been detailed in the fax.
Straightening his elegantly embroidered celadon suit—a man must always dress his best for a lady of such grand social stature and grace!—Nokoru put one foot in front of the other and passed through the gate.
He stood in stunned silence a moment. Truthfully, he had half-expected some blast of wind or blossoming of colored light upon entering—one anticipates quite a display of power when crossing from one world into another. The syncretic sorcery he himself had observed during its designing when Zennin Rijichousama was still working on the seal to house the Shinken to this day worked in rather flamboyant manners—well, to those who knew to look for its signs, at least.
Apparently, Jigen No Majou employed a more subdued approach.
Nokoru shrugged and then continued on his way through the yard. Just before he reached the broad, shaded veranda, two rather curious girls emerged from the shop. As they formally bowed to Nokoru, he swiftly took in their…interesting appearances. One was dressed only in white and pink, the other in black and blue. When their faces rose to meet his gaze again, he found himself fascinated by their eyes…eyes that were missing…something.
"Aa! Gomen nasai!"
Nokoru bowed hastily, having forgotten himself amidst the foreign air of Majousama's shop.
"Moro and Maru were instructed to lead Rijichou Imonoyama to the tea table in the garden and bid him welcome from Mistress," the girls spoke in perfect, monotonous unison to chilling effect. "Mistress offers her apologies at her unseemly tardiness and requests Imonoyamasama forgive her this unintended insult."
Nokoru nodded absently, completely enamoured. It finally clicked in his mind as he was guided to an ornately designed wrought-iron table why he found the level gazes of these girls—Moro and Maru, was it?—so unsettling. Their eyes reflected not a trace of the midday sun in them.
Nokoru quickly seated himself in one of the two chairs situated at the table and folded his hands in his lap, content to wait. After several moments, Nokoru found himself mentally reciting poetry. It was midway through an Ikkyuu that a soft rustling of cloth issuing from behind him alerted him to Majousama's presence.
"I see you've made it through the kekkai without incident."
Nokoru stood and faced Jigen No Majou, bowing respectfully. Her long, raven hair was pulled up and back in a simple bun which was complemented by her pallor and a deep violet kimono, patterned in an almost gothic fashion with elaborate, florid black butterflies.
"Jigen No Majou, this is a great honor."
"Onegai itashimasu, call me Yuuko. Let's sit while we discuss your wish."
Nokoru nodded, offering her a chair before settling back into his own. As Moro and Maru poured what smelled of fragrant chai, Yuuko stared intently at Nokoru. She took a measured sip (Nokoru did the same a beat later) and studied him from across the rim of her cup with her piercing, golden eyes.
"Your request," she began, placing her tea back on the table, "is a foolish one. It cannot possibly be granted."
Nokoru felt the bile in him rise instinctively. He sputtered to rid himself of his own cup and opened his mouth angrily, if ungracefully, in protest. No such luck, though.
"I know what it is you would ask of me," Yuuko continued, cutting him off before he even had the chance to begin, "and even I, powerful as many believe me to be, cannot aid you in this."
"You can't possibly know what I was planning to ask for!"
Nokoru did not mean to sound as childishly incensed as he undoubtedly had, but it was rather hard to prevent his emotions from coloring his voice at this point.
"Your wish is to call on aid from other worlds, other dimensions—times, places—to help avert the disaster of the Promised Day. You've weighed this matter heavily, no doubt, but even a mind as great as Imonoyama Nokoru's cannot hope to contend with the forces at work here. You do not appreciate the true enormity of hitsuzen—of that which is inexorable."
"Hitsuzen," Nokoru tried not to spit in disgust as he spoke the word. "That was the problem to begin with. All the data we've managed to gather at CLAMP Campus—data analysed by many of the world's sharpest minds—all of it indicates that there can be only one future. I've refrained from telling the Ten No Ryuu as much…it would destroy their spirit. But all the same, Kamui of the Ten No Ryuu cannot win against Kamui of the Chi No Ryuu. I can't accept that, even if every supercomputer networked on the campus working in tandem came up with that solution. I cannot accept a future where my loved ones do not exist."
"This is exactly why your wish is impossible. Your wish is to bypass the law that is hitsuzen, to defy the very nature of fate and the order of the universes. You thought that by drawing in aid from different dimensions—worlds where hitsuzen is different from hitsuzen of this world—that you could cheat what is destined to occur."
"Yes. That is my wish. That is the only wish that can save humankind."
Yuuko delicately plucked her cup from the table once more, taking a decidedly longer sip. Nokoru, however, was by now much too unsettled to pay his own tea any mind. Replacing her cup upon the table, Yuuko stared into it idly.
"This wish cannot be granted for many purposes."
Nokoru blinked in surprise. Was she implying that if certain conditions were met…?
"The first and foremost among them being that you cannot afford this transaction. For all of you wealth, political capital, superior intelligence, and other comparable resources, Nokorusan, even if you pooled all of them together and offered them as payment, it would still not be enough. Not with all of the citizens in Toukyou exchanging every article of clothing, cellphone, smile, friendship, and coin they had as payment could this wish be afforded. The cost of such a wish is beyond exorbitant—it's simply unfeasible. To bypass hitsuzen is to endanger not only oneself, but millions of others, as well as the medium."
Nokoru felt what dim hope he had slipping away again.
"Secondly," Yuuko pressed on, "even if you were able to afford the price, I've already passed on the power to cross dimensions to those with which it was fated to lie."
"You're Jigen No Majou…surely you can generate more of this power?"
For what could have only been a fraction of a second, Yuuko's detached gaze softened—Nokoru could very nearly feel his internal "Sad Maiden In Distress" radar sounding off—as she sighed.
"I did not create it alone, the power that can transcend the limits of worlds. It required complex alchemy, which in turn required a partner of equal occult skill and power and of the opposite sex. Such a man has not existed for four hundred years, since the last died."
Nokoru intuited immediately…this male sorcerer obviously was very…close to Yuuko. His sympathy caught the better of him. Regardless of the consequences, he could not resist his own core nature; he would not bring suffering to this woman. Reluctantly, he resolved that this issue could not be forced.
Nokoru leaned back, a plaintive sigh escaping his lips.
"I suppose if you can do nothing, then nothing can be done."
Nokoru refused to further upset Yuuko, even if he could not resign himself to the idea that humanity's obliteration was an unavoidable fact. Sighing again, Nokoru gazed up at the graying skies, watching the rain wash the city outside of Yuuko's kekkai. Despite the seasonal downpour, the sun remained in plain view, if weakened slightly by cloud cover.
"Kitsune takes a bride," Nokoru murmured gently, lost in contemplation. Yuuko nodded silently, examining the back of her teaspoon. For a moment, neither Nokoru nor Yuuko made a sound, as if they were both content to doze to the rain's dissonant white noise.
Strangely, as Nokoru's words settled, they seemed to have touched off some chain of thought in Yuuko's mind. A minute, yet impossibly devious grin touched the corners of her mouth and eyes.
"There is, I believe, some other service I may be able to provide…"
Nokoru practically leapt from his chair, alert as ever. It had to be too good to be true.
"Another service? What do you mean?"
The grin deepened, etching delighted and wicked lines farther into Yuuko's face.
"We have no further business here. It was a pleasure meeting with you, Imonoyamasama."
Rather abruptly, Moro and Maru had placed both hands each upon Nokoru and began to pull him out of the garden and back towards the gate.
"Yuukosan! What are you talking about!"
Yuuko had already risen from her seat and started back towards the shoji doors of her mansion. She waved a hand at Nokoru from over her shoulder dismissively.
"You'll know in time! Sayonara!"
"But my driver won't be back for another half-hour!"
Nokoru realized that Yuuko must have been ignoring him by now.
"MORE SAKE, MOKONA!" he distinctly heard her shout as she disappeared back into her house.
• • • • •
"But, Suouppi! I can't stamp official documents! I had to wait in the rain for thirty minutes and I have a cold, now! Daividh's going to be arriving tomorrow and I need rest!"
Suou smirked an evil smirk as he pulled along another red wagon with papers piled four feet high in it, opening the door to Rijichousama's chambers.
Revenge is so sweet.
LINER NOTES:
• Yes, this is a crossover fan fiction (if Yuuko being in it didn't tip you off). This chapter introduces characters from both CLAMP Campus Detectives (originally from CLAMP Campus Defenders Duklyon, Please, Twenty Faces!, and Hagun Seisenki) and xxxHOLiC. The situation directly at hand within this fiction are the circumstances surrounding the Promised Day—that is, the events that occur within X. Nokoru will be the central protagonist, but the Ten No Ryuu will make their own entrances in the very near future. Characters from other CLAMP series may soon become involved—but exactly who I'm referring to shall remain a mystery until they show up on the scene. .
• "ano kitsune no yomeiri", literally translating (as Nokoru spoke) as "kitsune takes a bride", is a Japanese term applied to sun showers referring to kitsune, golden fox spirits sometimes depicted with multiple tales (as they grow one tail for every hundred years they live) marrying. Certain forms of Japanese divination can only be performed during sun showers.
• Shirahama is a resort town along the southern shores of the Kii peninsula in the Wakayama Prefecture of Japan. It's famous for its white sand beaches and onsen (hot springs). I thought it appropriate that the Imonoyama Zaibatsu should have various residences scattered throughout the world as getaways. They are rather extravagant, after all.
• "Onegai moushi ageru" is a very polite way of saying "please" in Japanese. I felt it befitting Nokorusan.
• "Aisumi masen" is a very formal way of saying "forgive me" in Japanese. "sumimasen", the word for "sorry", is a less formal contraction of it. Again, Nokoru is a very polite man.
• "Zennin Rijichousama" is used to refer to the chairlady of CLAMP Campus during the story arcs of CLAMP Campus Detectives, CLAMP Campus Defenders Duklyon, Please, Twenty-Faces!, and Hagun Seisenki. By the time of X, the former Rijichou had retired, and Nokoru had taken her place—hence why Nokoru is referred to as "Rijichousama" as opposed to his typical CLAMP Campus Detectives's honorific, "Kaichousama". "Zennin" literally means "former".
• In reference to the collapsed kekkai: I have decided to set this fiction's beginning between the time of the collapse of the Shinjuku highrises and the collapse of the Ebisu Garden Place (around the end of volume fourteen of the manga). Currently, Kamui is wounded and recovering at CLAMP Campus (with Subaru watching over him) and Yuzuriha is missing in action (with Kusanagi, recovering at Ichigaya). This will be an alternate chain of events and will not match X as it exists in the last five volumes.
• "Sou desu ga" translates as "That's so, however…" or "That's true, but…" in Japanese.
• "Sou desu ne?" translates as "Is that right?" or "Is that so?" in Japanese.
• "Jigen No Majou" translates roughly as "Dimensional Witch", which is, of course, one of Yuuko's epithets. I prefer "Jigen No Majou" to the awkward English-translated titles (Dimensional Witch, Witch Of Dimension, Time-Space Witch, Far East Witch, Girl Witch), so I plan to use it instead. Similarly, "Majousama" would roughly equate to the honorific "Lady Witch".
• "Dou itashimashite" translates as "You're welcome" or "Don't mention it". It's somewhat informal, which displays a bit more of the nature of Zennin Rijichousama and Nokorusan's relationship.
• "Okaasan" is the honorific for "Mother" in Japanese. In canonical CLAMP Campus Detectives, it is merely implied that Nokoru and Rijichousama are related in some way—it is never explained how, precisely, they are related. In actuality, Rijichousama may be Nokoru's mother, his aunt, his cousin, or even a much older sister. In the CLAMP Campus Detective anime (which is, nevertheless, not canon) Rijichousama is confirmed to be Nokoru's mother. I've decided to affirm Rijichousama as Nokoru's mother myself.
• "Ninbatsu" is a ninja clan or family.
• References to June and rain are due to the fact that Japan (the Toukyou area, really) experiences a brief "rainy season" thereabouts.
• Ah, ice cream, the ultimate CLAMP fan in-joke. If you don't get the ice cream references, then you might want to consider visiting http/www.seishirou.nu/ecchi/. Be forewarned—it's mildly inappropriate (sexual situations, implications, and such—no nudity, though).
• "Suoupon", "Suouppi": if you read Duklyon or Tsubasa, you will understand the significance of these nicknames. If not: Japanese girls oftentimes give themselves short, cute nicknames that their friends will call them by. They're very, VERY ultrafeminine.
• ¥575,000; ¥825,000: 570,000 en (or as we would more likely say, yen) is roughly equivalent to $5,025. ¥825,000 is roughly equivalent to $7,210. Yes, Nokoru is that filthy rich.
• "Onegai itashimasu" translates as a somewhat honorary form of "please" in Japanese.
«The next chapter will be coming up on short order. I solemnly promise that there will be less Nihonglish in le chapître deuxième (I began to realize how cumbersome it must be once I started to write the liner notes), so there will be considerably less information to attempt to digest. Gomen ne! -. -;; I also promise that there shall be even more CLAMPesque expositiony goodness! PleasepleasepleasePLEASE review the hell out of this thing. If you LIKE it, tell me. If you DON'T LIKE it, tell me why. I'm open to suggestions on all but three large issues:
1) Romanization—I romanize Japanese the way that I find most aesthetically pleasing. I realize that Suou is "officially" romanized as "Suoh", but I hate that "h" with a fiery passion. My personal tastes in romanization are a blend of Hepburn and Nihonshiki, and if you don't like that, too bad.
2) Storyline—I've already determined the overall arc of this story. It's, by-and-large, already set. There will likely be minor adjustments throughout and I may take some suggestions regarding finer details to heart, but this is, first and foremost, MY story. Again, if that bothers you, too bad.
3) Relationships—There will be some mild shipping (as well as possible fluff and/or lemon) in this fiction. I assure you, I will screw with NONE of the established pairings of CLAMPdom (id est: AraSora, YuzuKusa, AkiUta). However, the characters that have no designated canonical pairing or that are of ambivalent romantic status are subject to my evil, otaku whimsy. There will be some shounen-ai (I mean, really, this a CLAMP fiction), and there is the possibility of some love-triangle circumstances with a bit of angsting (but this will not be Kamuicentric, so the angsting will not ever overwhelm the body of work). I've worked out all of the relationships that will be featured within this fiction already, and it's not likely that I'll change my mind on any of them. If you have problems with either my choice of pairings, the certainty of shounen-ai (I don't understand how you can be a CLAMP fan if you have a problem with that, though), or angsting over he-loves-him-loves-him-loves her kinds of situations, for the third time: Too bad.
Again, please read, please enjoy, PLEASE (I can't stress this point enough) REVIEW. Feedback means everything to me (even—especially—critical feedback). I thrive on the opinions of others. The second chapter will be up within the week (expect it the twenty-third). Arigatou minasan. Mark.»
Post Script: updated February Eighteenth with slight adjustments in the text, as well as revisions of spelling and grammatical errors, and extended endnote.