The Protagonistes
***Please note that references to other anime stories other than the game KINGDOM HEARTS are made within this chapter. However, characters from these places are only going to be present in this chapter! Thanks.***
Ch. 1 ~The Con
"…are you quite done yet, boy? I do believe that if we look through any more of this footage, I am going to-"
"I'm serious! It's coming up in a moment sir, if you'll just be patient-"
"If you have learned anything by now, you should know that I am not a patient man. Now, what is it that you are wasting my valuable time to make me see?"
"I'm telling you sir, there is something unusual about this one. Something…hey, wait, there it is! See, there as they are leaving that structure. That one has an unusual energy reading for a normal human, not apparent to the naked eye. There is only so much I can do with the equipment, they've been doing a pretty good job of blurring contact and so this is the closest range we have access to."
"...enhance the footage and audio on frames 897 through 932."
"Yes sir, adjusting the quality…"
"That…is very unexpected."
"Right…there! See, one of them has-"
"Yes, I know what I am looking at. I need you to do something for me, now."
"…Sir?"
"Send a message to the Superior requesting him to meet me here as soon as possible. Tell him…we've found what he's been looking for."
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You cannot live in a city and not attend its festivals, or celebrate with it in its traditions and ceremonies. Therefore, when a huge convention full of enthusiasts takes place in the center of this bustling, entertaining city, you can guarantee that there shall be people of all sorts, sizes, and shapes there, all eager and willing to express their opinions with others. To sway another to their opinion, have a mash-war with another group, or to just find a friend who understands your ideals and ways. Gatherings like these are priceless to those lucky enough to take part.
Of course, the main two people of this story are none other than said festival-goers, and they already have friends who share their same opinions (cough cough each other cough) and do not need to go looking for anyone else. At this particular moment. Also, at this particular moment, the story begins with our two heroines nonchalantly walking through a crowded room. Two girls, very exciting, extra, and overall "different" than the average girl. They were sparkling, amazing, wanted desperately to be beautiful, had huge plans and ideals and futures ahead of them, were overconfident and knew that they were the ones, the ones who were the leads, the better of "the average" non-fangirl who would go where no one else could and brave dangerous adventures and always win.
Yeah right.
Sora and Hitori slowly made their way through the crowds of Seattle's annual SakuraCon, one of the largest and most prominent Japanese anime conventions on the West Coast. Sora, armed with her brand new Nikon camera, camcorder, and with a press pass swinging by her neck, excitedly made her way through the many fanatics, fangirls and cosplayers. Hitori, though seeming a bit more perplexed by the whole scene, followed her friend, taking in the many colorful sights with awe.
Slowly the duo made their way through the crowded booths and scores of sweating bodies, pushing and shoving unneeded at this place where fanatics gathered to show off their impressive collections and unique styles of all forms of artwork at this place where heroes (or not) of tomorrow gather. A patron of the Art of Funky Hairstyles sauntered past with his long black hair gelled to the max in multitudes of spikes jutting out at all angles. Bells jingled as he brushed past the pair of Otaku.
"Hey, Hitori…" The words were spoken from the figure on the right, as she walked with a steady foot through the crowded room. Bright light did little good for her skin as the white bleached; her naturally pale body eased past the scattered tables around the floor, avoiding the sudden thrown about limb or costume piece with ease. Striding proudly, her curvaceous hips swayed naturally in motion to her unusually long legs as they did almost split-second maneuvers which she did not take a second thought to in order to dodge the haphazardly thrown set piece or merchandise.
Rather pure-bred European decent was obvious from her finely defined face and skin tone, which she considered unfortunate enough to be very evident. Brown waves, not quite mousey but not much else to describe it with was tied into a pony-tail for sensibility, then curled into a multitude of ringlets rather set apart from her confident, not-girly attitude.
The girls strode past a table where real swords lay out of their sheaths on display, the silver blades shining proudly in the bright florescent light of the cavernous room. A taller woman, black hair with a blue-ish hue, with red glasses perched on her head stood in front of the booth with a small book held in front of her, arguing with the manager of the table. The girls passed-by the booth as the man's face began to turn red from his yelling at the woman over the price of one of the blades. The girl on the left looked curiously at the scene, trying to ignore what her friend was attempting to tell her.
Unusual for her age and class, the 16 year-old smiled vaguely and glanced to a set of collectables in a booth near where they passed. "Wanna bet on how many cute guys we meet here today? I bet you I can find YOU a guy even I'd be pleased with…and I promise, he won't look too much like a geek…" Her words droned on with a soft gasp from her left, as she ignored the motion and turned wide-eyed to look at something that had caught her eye.
Taking this pause as a chance to defend herself, her friend, Hitori, coolly replied "No Sora, I told you that I'm not interested in looking up boyfriends, you know that all of the guys around here are-" She stopped when her brown-haired friend shoved her elbow into her ribcage. "Ow! What was that for?" Irritated, she glared for a moment at the other teen.
Ignoring her, Sora said, "Oh. My. Gosh! That is one of the best Luffy cosplays I have ever SEEN!"
Taking the hint that her fellow anime-lover would never hear her anyway, Hitori grumbled, "Well considering that this is our first convention for either of us, I'd wager that this was the Only Luffy cosplay that you've seen…" Hearing what her friend had said, Sora pouted comically and playfully punched her shoulder in mock irritation.
"Aw, To-chan, you're just jealous because he's cute and if I were to go over there right now, you couldn't understand a word he would say to you because he would talk in One Piece terms!" They both cracked up at this logic, as the older girl scolded her irritably for calling her the pet-name.
Although Hitori was older than Sora by a few months, she was not quite as outgoing as her companion was at times. Neither short, nor tall, both girls seemed to be the average type. Only reading descriptions of the two would not reveal much in physical differences, but their actual appearances on sight varied greatly. Each of their attitudes made up for their lack of physical difference as well. Bouts of outgoing-ness, mischievous, and spontaneous, Sora seemed even too immature at times to be the one who held such opposite opinions from everyone else.
By comparison, Hitori was slightly shyer, a little more conserved, and much more careful than her friend. She did not like to be too outgoing, so more often than not didn't act-out as much as her friend, though Sora seemed to have enough energy (at times) for both girls combined. Content to observe from a distance then act once all the information was gathered, Sora was a constant strain on her when she suddenly "became" spontaneous and insisted on trying something odd or completely foreign, as was the case more and more often.
In terms of physical differences, again, each girl would find differences easily. Sora claimed that Hitori's face was flatter than her own. It was this occasion that she got her first black eye. Hitori noted how Sora's nose had a bump in it when looking at it from a side angle which made it resemble a witch's nose. Sora accepted this. Hitori wore glasses, whereas Sora's previous pairs of glasses met with…unfortunate accidents.
Hitori, unsurprisingly, was of higher fashion sense than Sora, even though she did not live near the big city like her friend. Even so, however, she had not ever really cared about having a 'perfect' appearance as many other girls did. Sora did not ever care about her appearance in any manner, often criticizing herself in happy jest, also as strange. Both had very pale complexions, which Sora teased her friend about often, claiming that a pale face scared off all of the men. "But I don't want a man, Sora. I just want a guy, someone who is near my age at least! Jeez, where do you come up with these topics anyway?"
"Way too much internet, haha!" Her friend laughed. "Anyway, I would want a man. Hehe, they are so much more…oh, interesting." Slapping her palm to her face in a movement which is typically considered a wonderful element called a 'face-palm', Hitori groaned.
"Why do I hang out with you again?"
"Because nobody else you know can get you to one of the largest and not to mention most famous Conventions in the US. Plus, I've got a great personality." Her friend sighed, gave a little start, and gave up the argument in defeat. It was no use arguing today, it was too good of a day to spend on silly commentaries such as this. With all of the excitement in the air, there was little they could do but stand and stare at the proceedings around them at this great affair.
Seattle's SakuraCon truly was a glorious event, and as she had mentioned earlier it was one of the most notable Conventions for Anime and video games in the United States. Being on the West Coast helped considerably, for most of the Japanese Voice Actors who came to tour in America came only to Seattle for this event. Being so close to the country itself helped substantially as well.
Booths lined the walls and walkways of the building's promenade, leaving just enough room for the pair of Otaku to navigate the aisles. Passing a squabbling group of girls, who seemed to be consumed by their latest fandom, Hitori leaned in Sora's direction, asking, "Is it even safe to have this many fangirls in one place?"
Sora replied, "Sure it is. Besides, we're girls. What are you worrying about?"
"Nothing in particular. I just don't feel like being stuck in a mob of fangirls at any time during this convention….besides, is it even ok for us to be walking around taking so many pictures?"
"Of course!" Sora exclaimed. "I brought my press pass." She took this moment to hold the powerful slip of plastic much closer than necessary to her friend's face to make her point. As Hitori's eyes went cross-eyed with her attempt to see the slip, Sora grinned. "I can take as many pictures as I want."
"Just be sure of that." Hitori sighed afterwards, pushing the jutting hands out of her 'space' and wondering what had possessed her friend to want so many pictures of cosplayers this year.
As they rounded a corner, a cosplayer dressed as a straw-hatted pirate came into view.
"Oh my God, his Luffy costume is too perfect!" Sora exclaimed, beginning to hurry towards the teen. "I have to get a picture!"
Hitori sighed and shook her head slightly. "Alright. You can do that while I look for the current standings of the Amv contest. Meet back here in five minutes?"
"Sure, whatever." Sora was already halfway gone, leaving Hitori wondering if she had even considered a word she had said. Hitori smiled in slight amusement, she hadn't seen her friend this excited in a long time. She turned and headed to the Amv booth.
Meanwhile, Sora had converged upon the Luffy-lookalike. "I love your outfit! It must have taken you a long time to achieve the look perfectly."
He looked at her strangely for a second, and cocking his head to one side replied, "It's not really that special. I wear similar outfits every day!"
This time it was Sora's turn to exchange a strange glance. "Oookaaaay. Anyway, I was wondering if I could get your picture?"
"Sure!" he agreed. After a few shots, he began to goof off and make the most hilarious faces and poses, and Sora couldn't stop laughing as she snapped a few shots. Pretty soon her photo-shoot seemed to be interrupted by an overall-wearing boy who asked where the other cosplayer had been. Taking this opportunity, Sora immediately praised his costume as well, and brimming with pride and ranting a wondrous story about whales and a giant squid, the boy began to pose alongside her first subject. They carried on like this for a bit, their poses becoming more and more outrageous by the moment. After a few minutes, the girl was done, and thanked the boy's for their time. The one with more tanned skin inflated his chest high and said something about how 'the courageous Captain Usopp always has time for fans to get his autograph and pictures' while the other one just laughed and laughed and called him silly.
Smiling, Sora waved goodbye and went to find more people to photograph. She had heard a rumor about Luffy's Japanese voice actress making a special guest appearance today and did not plan on missing it.
As she walked away, Hitori rounded that corner in search of the AMV booth. Huh…where did that booth go…oh, that looks like the cosplayer Sora was getting photos of earlier. As the two boys met up with another one of their group, the female smacked their heads together and grabbed the one in the red vest by the arm, practically dragging him along after her as she ranted to him about 'wandering off like that again and next time I'll…' Although she couldn't be sure, Hitori thought that, for a moment, the boy's arm stretched just a little too far to be normal. That's strange, I didn't know that skin could stretch that many inches. Oh well, maybe he's just really flexible. She took no notice of her observation, for at that moment, she found her booth.
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Hitori waved to her friend from across the aisle, waiting near the Amv booth.
"How'd the picture turn out, Sora?" she called.
"Great!" Sora replied. "It couldn't have been better. Haven't seen a better Luffy cosplayer, and I've seen a few today. His friend dressed like Usopp came up and joined us too, it was fabulous!"
"…Isn't it kind of strange to just walk up to someone you don't know to ask for a picture?" Hitori inquired.
"Not really. Not here, anyway." The girl stated, but her friend had already turned away.
"Oh! Mine's still in the competition running!" Hitori said excitedly, motioning towards the Amv counter.
"Awesome!"
"I'll be good with any place it gets, because I didn't think I'd get any slot worth mentioning. Still might not get one."
"At least you tried. I think it's good." Sora offered supportively.
"Thanks." Hitori said thoughtfully. "It really means a lot."
Sora shook her head. "Aw heck, what am I saying. Yours is gonna knock the socks off of all those lame, regular ones! Yours is the best there is, it'll easily hit top!" She grinned wickedly at her friend as the other girl blushed, then laughed and laughed while Hitori tried to shut her up. That was another trait of Hitori's that Sora was trying very hard to abolish: her timid modesty at any endeavor she undertook.
Sora smiled in her friend's direction, and they decided to head off to meet some of their favorite authors and illustrators.
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It was only a few minutes later that the pair ran into a tall, thin highschooler with…"cat ears?" Hitori inquired. "Huh, you look just like Ikuto from Shugo-Chara." The older teen looked down at her with indifferent eyes, causing both girls to flinch from his startling gaze. Before they could see him move, the boy was standing behind Hitori, hand clasped gently but firmly on the nape of her neck.
"Oh…aren't you…" he leaned forward, and his cool breath drifted down the girl's neck as goosebumps formed. "…really cute." At this she promptly turned a lovely shade of deep scarlet and attempted to swing around at the boy, who had jumped away in a moment to stand next to Sora, his face still vacant but an amused smile in his dark eyes.
"You…you…PERV! How dare you-" Hitori indignantly sputtered, but Sora began to roughly shove her away from the mischievous teen before she could start a scene.
"That's ok, To-chan, he was just playing in character, right?" All the while her friend fumed and sputtered, Sora spoke soothing words to her aggravated friend as she quietly pulled out her cell and began taking a high-res picture of the phone number imprinted in black ink on the back of Hitori's neck, signed with a much too small cat-print.
Behind the departing girls, the boy named Ikuto sighed in mock disappointment as he strode thru the crowd with ease, deciding to go and harass a certain pink-haired elementary schooler. Hm…I wonder if I should go find the kiddy king to amuse me as well…maybe I can interrupt them kissing or something…A small blur of black and a fuzzy tail hanging over his shoulder were the last thing seen as he rounded the corner of a table selling what looked to be decorative Faberge Eggs and disappeared into the crowd.
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"…Did you really take a picture of that? I swear Sora, you'd better not post that anywhere. Or I will get you. You don't want that, now do you?" after her mock anger faded, she added, "Wait a minute, maybe I can make some of my friends jealous."
Beaming with pride, Sora answered her friend. "You definitely might!"
"Yeah, I might've….overreacted a bit. Oh well, I'm over it."
"Are you really?" Sora teased, her companion about to assert a quick confirmation that she was, and continued. "Even with your new phone number?" At that she dangled the camera in front of Hitori's face. As she made a wild grab for the swaying camera, Sora pulled it jokingly back. "You can see it later, if you really want to."
Embarrassed, Hitori pulled up the collar of her faux-leather jacket and decided to desert the subject for a later date.
"There are so many great cosplayers this year!" Sora broke the silence that had settled upon the two. Never one for awkward silences, Sora was rare to let a silence last for too long.
"Well, it is our first year. We don't know what they were like last year—"
Cutting off her companion, Sora interjected with a comic pout that what happened last year didn't count, and that this year was entirely more important. Both girls laughed at this fact, unsure of exactly why it was so funny; but the excitement in the air had uplifted both on this glorious day when they were finally able to stroll through endless booths of the anime and manga they both loved. The ecstasy of the day had brought them both great enjoyments.
They continued their stroll through the booths, viewing merchandise of every sort. Sora's camera was now sporting a new Chopper chibi keychain, and her backpack an autographed picture of Luffy. Hitori's neck was adorned with her own Shakugan no Shana style Alastor necklace, and had her own autographed picture from the creators of +Anima. As they made their way to the heart of the convention, swiftly moving past other bodies in the aisles, Hitori took note of another particular cosplayer. Moving through the crowd, the girl approaching was only slightly shorter than the brunettes.
Hitori nonchalantly nudged her friend's arm. "Her Shana costume is amazing. It's almost like an exact replica…." Gasping, her usual demeanor melted away to almost that of an excited schoolgirl as she stared in awe at the cosplayer, brown eyes wide in bright reverence.
Sora smiled knowingly in her friend's direction. "Picture?" she asked.
Hitori nodded excitedly, knowing a picture would make the perfect memory and keepsake. "All three of us can be in it if you'd like."
"Sure, but I have to get a good angle first."
Waving to the cosplayer Hitori called, "Hey. Your Shana costume is really admirable. Can I get a picture with you?"
The raven-haired girl seemed to whisper something before consenting to the spontaneous question.
The girls took many poses, and eventually the costumed participant revealed her prop sword.
"That looks startlingly real…" Hitori alleged, praise in her tone.
"It's not a fake." The cosplayer replied.
"Is that allowed in the convention?" Hitori asked, almost to herself. The All-Knowing Sora spoke then, mainly just so that her friend could overhear.
"Yeah, as long as she has a special permission slip, anyone can bring a costume weapon in with them. There is just a lot of paperwork and junk. I read up on it when I went to the webpage." Sora shrugged as Hitori gave her a glare, then a look that obviously said 'and whatever did you need to know about swords for?' in a quick glance which was ignored by the other girl.
The Shana cosplayer just shrugged and sheathed the katana. After posing for a grand number of miscellaneous photos, the flame haze objected to anymore flashes. "I have to go now." She said, a tad curtly.
"Ok." Hitori said. "Thanks though. The pictures will be really great!"
Sora nodded her consent and turned off the shining camera. "They are really awesome. You have a great physique for the character, and the lighting was good on your hair. These photo's are gotta look great in my Video class's production!"
The shorter girl blushed a little, and said, almost to herself, "Urusai…."
Hitori chuckled a little bit, recognizing the reference to Shana's response to flattery. The Shana look alike then turned to leave. "Bye." Was all she said upon taking off, as well as talking to herself, something about 'a promising candidate?' Hitori wasn't sure.
"Wow. She was really in character. I wanted to be Shana, but didn't have costume funding." Hitori explained to her friend.
Sora replied a bit skeptically. "Did she really just hint to me to shut up?"
"Don't take it personally; her character sometimes says it to anyone. It's sometimes kind of a happy gesture, she doesn't deal well with flattery."
Both thought this was a little funny, and, thinking nothing else of the incident, continued forward to the heart of the convention.
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Night had descended upon the convention, and it was time for the two girls to head back to their hotel room. As the two tired brunettes were heading towards the door they, much to Hitori's dismay, had another fateful encounter. As they headed for the doors, Hitori tried to hurry her friend along, and in her haste had bumped into a man in a dark cloak.
Apologizing hastily, Hitori pulled on Sora's arm to get her to follow, but the girl wasn't listening. Her gaze was set on the cloaked figure, who's hood had been knocked off when her friend had collided with the man. Platinum blonde hair was cut in a sophisticated manner, and a goatee complimented his rough yet elegant look. Three silver earrings hung from his ear.
Turning irritated to see what was distracting her friend this time, Hitori looked at Sora's face to see the tell-tale signs of a devious scheme growing behind her brown-grey eyes. "Oh no you don't, I don't care how good his costume is Sora, we are leaving-"
Sora wasn't even paying her friend a thought as she practically sprinted over to the man, camera raised high and an enamored gleam on her face. Grumbling irritably at the time and having to be other places, Hitori followed begrudgingly after her. Catching up with her as she had almost reached the gentleman, Hitori began to protest this last-minute photo-shoot.
"Do you really have to?" Hitori allowed herself an out-of-character whine. "We've already gotten hundreds of pictures, of so many cosplayers and other things…."
Oblivious to her friend's reluctance, the other girl continued, distracted by turning on her camera, "Yes, I have to!" putting a cheerful emphasis on the "have," rather than Hitori's negative inflection. Resigning herself to the finality of her friend's statement, Hitori settled for fidgeting with her rose hairpiece. Something did not feel right about the moment, but the silent girl was not going to ruin her friend's fun with a hasty departure.
As the girls reached the tall man in the cloak, Sora held up her camera in the universal signal to ask for a shot. "Can we please get your picture? You look brilliant, definitely the best Organization coat, ever! You are the most realistic Luxord I have ever seen, and it is so rare to see someone come in costume as you."
Slightly perplexed by the girl's request, the Luxord-figure thought to himself, Costume?, but nodded to the eager girl, replying, "Of course, it would be my pleasure. I've got all the time in the world."
Sora beamed brightly at the reply. The response exactly what she was looking for, not to mention that it was the perfect catchphrase, right down to the British accent. Hitori, though still wary, was also impressed with his role-playing for this late at the convention.
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Sora backed up a few feet, and steadying her camera, took the shot. "Perfect!" She cried triumphantly. Before she could go over to thank the man, Hitori stopped her by tugging insistently on her arm.
"Alright, alright, you've got your shot, now let's go!" The girl urged impatiently.
Sora frowned. "But, I still wanted to get a picture of him with cards, if he had any, and then one of us together-"
"Not enough time, if you've forgotten already, we are already over our 'stay-out' time. Our cousins are going to freak. Now, come on." A hint of worry crept onto Sora's face, as she tried to turn away from her friend.
"Just, at least let me say thanks…" But try as she may, she could not find the blonde within the cleaning up crowd or exiting masses. "Where did he go…? I really wanted to thank him…" Sora murmured disappointedly, but followed her friend onto the skywalk to their hotel. She did not notice her friend's kept breath extinguished upon their leave, nor did she catch how Hitori glanced around once to check that no one was following them.
That guy…it is weird, but he just gave me the creeps… Hitori thought to herself as the girls continued walking through the covered walkway. She looked over at Sora, who had already recovered from her disappointment and was beginning to sort through her pictures with giggles and 'oohs'. Hitori inwardly frowned. Well, I couldn't just tell her that her favorite character from Kingdom Hearts was…Hitori paused in her self-talk, unsure of what to say next. What was it that she was feeling? Apprehension, suspicion, worry? She could not tell.
The moonlight lit the walk as the pair walked slowly to their hotel, located only a few blocks away from the convention center. Banter had subsided between them, and Hitori was walking along humming "Sanctuary" and taking pictures of the moon with her cell. Both were pleased with the events of the day, and they walked along in companionable silence. Hitori was the first to speak again, her breath making clouds in the cold night air.
"Ok, so after such a great day, we are not going to bed early. We ARE going to hang out and watch TV, or anime or something."
Sora sighed just a little. "To-chan, you know it's sometimes hard for me to stay awake."
"Well you are tonight." Hitori gave a definitive answer.
"Well fine," her friend play-humphed. "But, I soo need double Pepsi!"
"Deal."
She looked back to Sora as the girl pulled her closer to share a funny moment she had been able to take a picture of, of a silver-haired man with cat-ears chasing after a tall orange-haired boy in a Shinigami's outfit who had stolen his bowl of ramen. Hitori smiled and shared a laugh with her friend. Well, it wasn't all that important anyway. Besides, its not like we're ever going to see him again, right? Plus, he was probably just a normal cosplayer. As the girls continued their walk through the covered skywalk, Sora pointed out the heavy rain that had begun and commented on the rain against the glass. Hitori's trivial worries were shoved to the back of her mind and forgotten. The doubt, however, lingered silently.
The sooner we're out of here, the better.
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Little did the two girls know that as they reached their hotel, a dark cloaked figure was watching from a distance. As their forms disappeared through the lobby's revolving door, he turned away. Silver earrings gleaming in the moon's light clinked together playfully, and a dark portal appeared in the alleyway to the right of the entrance. Without a sound, the ominous figure walked into the portal, leaving the two girls, as well as a whole world, behind.
"Well, I'll give that man Saix one thing: He was certainly correct about these two, and the world at that."
A/N: ATTENTION ALL: (Which hopefully includes a few people reading this story):
Sora Tayuya: Please do not assume that this is formula fiction or cheesy work done by wanna-bes. …which it started off as, but the idea has progressed much further than that, so give it a chance. You hear it a lot, and I know it's never true. But please, for the sake of just…trust. Try it out, even for a few chapters. I cannot guarantee much, well…heck, I cannot guarantee anything, but please. I can do that. I can say Please. Is anything else required?
Hitori Asahi: Please give this story a try, as we are putting great effort towards making it an unusual sort of self-insertion! And, all of the anime/manga we have mentioned or made a reference to in this story belong to their original owners and illustrators. We do not claim ownership over them in any way!
We are going to try and have a new chapter up every other week, unless something comes up, which hopefully will not happen. Also, since this is Co-Authored, this A/N section will probably be up for each chapter, where my friend and myself shall rant about the chapter, and such. This is an experiment, and I hope that it will be interesting for us, and entertaining for all of you viewers out there! Enjoy.