Alright, here is next fan fiction.
As i said, this is a FUTA warning for Eli.
The request was actually a Love Live x Mafia AU, but since i know there was already NikoMaki Mafia AU, i want to make it different.
Then about the PoV, yes it's Maki's PoV and Niko's PoV. As always too, I'll put up test chapters.
Hopefully you enjoy it!
Have you ever heard the music of the wind? Or a music of the road as you sit in your carriage with all of your belongings? Humming to a song from the air in silence, while resting your spirit away in an ocean of fantasy.
To my music of life,
I have heard a thousand words and a thousand music— but why haven't you showed me the true colors of your tone? I wish I could change you—into a rainbow after the rain.
I am born to a family who has everything but time— my father was a local of this land until he decided to move in with my mother and take care of the clinic, now he was called by the Lord of this land again in order to help them with an outbreak.
It was said to be a very strange outbreak. There's no one in the land who knows about what may have caused it.
"Maki-chan…." my mother called me,
I replied by turning my sight towards her,
"When we get there, you should stay in your room, ok? We need to make sure that you didn't catch the outbreaks…" she said gently to me.
What does she think about me? I'm not even that young! I'm fifteen years old! I'm no longer a kid!
"I'll be fine!" I said clearly.
"This is serious—Maki-chan, don't rebel, Papa doesn't want you to catch the disease…" my father said to me.
When papa is the one to say it…
I feel like I can't say anything else.
Sigh…
Why can't I go out? I was demanding to join them because I want something new! Not be locked inside the house or something of that sort!
I bet…when we get there, my house will be huge and surrounded by a tall fence along with a few towers on each side watching over everyone inside and out.
It's going to feel like living in a prison than living in a house.
No matter how many luxuries I have—it will never pay enough for a freedom that I really want.
Ah well…
They won't listen anyway…
So I'll just play my piano later… or any other music instrument that I may find to be interesting. New place, new music instruments…. Right?
It takes a while for us to arrive at my new home,
Just like what I expected…
It really is surrounded by tall fences and towers.
What am I?
A Prisoner?
That certainly is the truth here.
My parents are so strict about me. I wish they started to acknowledge me as a woman instead of a kid.
Tch…
What do they know about me anyway…
They will also never know that I hate being schooled at home… not that I like the public school either. Its just that… well…. I don't like the people in school. None of them understand me. Then the way they forced me to take medicine study?
That's my greatest burden.
I want to be a musician…
I wish I was born in a musician family or something.
Not in this one hell of a family. I don't like them.
Even though there's a time where I sometimes like them. Like… when my father gives me something that I want…every once in a year. My piano is one of those gifts and I love it so much.
As I took my first step on the floor of my new home, I could hear the wood knocking as my shoes knocked against it. Then it went more quiet as I walked deeper into the depth of the darkness. I have never really relied on my sight, because my ears works as good as my eyes—perhaps, I will be able to walk in the darkness without a single light of torch.
I know I'm born with a talent— a talent that I decide to grow. When I stand inside a kitchen with no lights, I heard my father talking to someone. I didn't recognize his voice, but, I believe, he was someone with authority as I could sense the hint of charisma in the way he spoke.
"Are you the head of family?" he asked.
"….yes, I'm the head of the Nishikino family…." said father.
"I'm glad. I have to thank you for your willingness to help us with the outbreak, but just for a heads up, there's a criminal organization that dominates this city—they should be taken care of soon or later, though it might be best to stay at home for now. We will send you your patient each month…"
"Understood, I'll try my best to not attract them…"
"Good, then, also, if you have any workers that you send for any tasks outside, please tell them to be careful around merchants. There's a rumor where someone saw a mysterious merchant selling strange bottles. Legend says that each bottle will take one soul if opened and some might be able to take more than a soul…"
"That sounds really horrible, I will certainly tell them to not approach the one you speak of…"
Then I heard one of them take a few steps before the went their separate ways. Those supposedly "strange" bottles sounded like complete non-sense to me. The only thing that I can imagine is that, either people are just trying to discriminate—or the bottle is literally used to take someone's life. Heh—everyone can simply swing that bottle into someone's head then stab it to the wound or something like that, right?
I don't believe in that kind of thing so easily. A lot of people tell lies just to make them look better than anyone else. This is why I never like people…
So troublesome...
So… disgusting.
Why does my family have to work so hard to cure them?
Why do they want me to inherit their job?
I don't like saving people…
I never want to be a hero to begin with.
Maybe by the time I get there— I could just pretend that I'm bad at it and want to be something else. Maybe they will finally understand what I want?
Heh—either way, I would rather just play it safe until then. Parents don't listen—right? They just speak and command.
Sigh.
Maybe it's better to just go in my room. Who cares about whether they put up the light or opened the windows or anything like that. I just want to rest.
I can hear the sound of water flowing swiftly down the streams, I can hear the sound of birds singing behind the leaves, and I can hear the sound of the wind blowing between the hole of the wooden logs.
When I open my eyes…
I could see the sky with its bright clouds floating above me..
"Yahooo!" an annoyingly cheerful voice came from somewhere behind me.
I turn myself around to find the person who made this cheerful voice.
It was a ginger haired girl sitting on a bear that had luggage on it's back. She looks somewhat friendly—though somewhat…mysterious….
I can see her wearing this strange-looking outfit, with a flag on her back.
"Who the hell are you…" I said.
"W-whoa! Don't be that rude, I'm just a traveling merchant!"
"A traveling merchant?"
That's suspicious…
Very suspicious.
Besides…
Just a while ago, I was in that unfinished bedroom.
Then I'm suddenly in a big grass field like this?
What the hell?
"Yup, I'm a merchant who travels through dreams—and my name is… Kou-sa-ka Ho-no-ka!" she said cheerfully.
That's annoying.
"Heh—well, then I'm Nishikino Maki…." I replied plainly. I know she doesn't deserve this attitude of mine, but i can't help it.
"Maki…Maki..huh? Then…Maki-chan?" she asked me with her playful smile...
Ew…
Why is she acting like I'm her friend already?
That's really troublesome.
"Don't call me like that, you don't even know me…" I said.
"Oh? ok, Maki-chan!"
How stubborn….
"I said, don't call me like that!" I restated again.
"Hehe, well—let's ignore that for now. Why don't you just take a look at my goods?"
"Why would I want to look at your goods, I have everything already…" I said.
"Well—my goods are specially designed for those who doesn't like to live for who they truly are… so if you feel that way right now, you should try and check it out!" she said happily.
Urgh…
I think I'm going to be sick.
But—heh, maybe I'll just give it a shot.
I decided to approach her bear.
And then she started to uncover her goods one by one. Sheesh… what kind of food did I even eat today to have a dream like this…?
Why did I have to meet with this silly looking merchant…?
To think about it, perhaps she is the one that was being talked about—though she doesn't seem to be dangerous, she just looks….suspicious and stupid.
When I tried to look at her goods, there were plenty of things set up and some even looked somewhat exotic and expensive. Just like… that not-so-cute fortune cat.
What's so good from that one anyway, sheesh…
Just about the lucky myth?
I could spit on a bead and call it lucky bead and sell it to everyone. That would be called scamming…
Stupid people…
Why do they have to believe in things like that…
Anyway,
While looking through her goods, I found something very eye-catching—for no reason.
There was a small red colored box that was decorated with bright pink flowers. I wonder what's so great about that. Why does it look so mysteriously attractive?
What's inside that box?
I tried to pick it up and take a closer look.
When I made a few tap on the box, I could hear something thick and heavy inside.
Then I tried to open it—but…it was really heavy. It wouldn't budge!
"Hey! I can't open this one!" I said loudly at her.
"Ohhh! That one!" she took if off me.
"This will never be opened unless you buy it…" she said.
"Huh? Ridiculous!" I said clearly.
"It's true, you have to buy it first before you can open it…" she replied.
"Fine! How much is it?" I said to her.
"It cost as much as you can offer…" she replied to me.
Seriously, this girl is annoying as heck.
"Huh? Then I will offer one gold! That's all you get for not letting me know what's inside it…"
"Well, you never asked about what's inside it. You just wanted to open it…"
Urgh! Damn it!
"Fine! Then tell me what's inside it!" I started to yell at her,
"It is as much as what you offer…."
That's just—….! Tremendously annoying!
"How can I know what's worth something? You can always scam me!" I yelled at her.
"Well—the box itself is empty before you buy it… it will only be filled once you buy it—and what's inside it is worth what you buy it with. It doesn't have to be worth of money, you know. I don't even actually use money as my currency…." She said.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"It means—you can offer anything for it…. Maki-chan!" she said somewhat cheerfully.
"I don't get it!" I said clearly.
"Well, you can ask what you don't know… Question is free here…" she said.
"Then, tell me, is there anyone else who bought from you?" I asked.
"Yep, there are a lot of them…. If there was no one, I wouldn't continue my life as a merchant, you know…" she said.
Hah— at least she made sense here.
"Then, tell me, what kind of things they offered for this thing?" I asked.
"Hmm…that's a hard question—because there are like, a lot of them. I doubt you will have the time to listen to it all… but I can give you a few examples of the deal…" she said.
"tell me…." I replied as I crossed my arms.
"Well, about over a hundred to a thousand people offered their soul for this box. Then about a half amount of it offered the same amount as what you offered in the first place…"
"You mean, one gold?"
"Yep…" she nodded.
"Then, can I see what that person got from one gold?" I asked again.
"Yup, you can…" she replied before she took one dark glass bottle and handed it to me.
"That person returned it to me because he doesn't want whats inside it… but what bought is bought, so I can't possibly return that back to nothing…" she said.
I tried to shake the bottle—and heard something very light and thin inside it. Its probably a piece of paper. I tried to look through it— I'm probably right about this. I decided to open the bottle and carefully take out the paper,
It says,
A Rich man who owns over a billion worth of properties, offered a single gold, it is all that's worth for a bottle of wish. Now his wish is worth a single gold to him...
"No wonder he doesn't want this— this is like a misfortune prediction!" I said.
"Well, a single gold is not that bad, you know… it's value is relative to the person who holds it…" she said.
Good point.
"Say, what happen to this man?"
"What happen to this man?" She raised her eyebrow,
"Nothing particular. He just continues to live with his problems…" she continued as she leaned against her bear.
"Let's just say that by buying this box, you are given a chance to show how much your wish are worth. That man showed his wish is worth one gold to him, so he gets the value of one gold…"
"Just this piece of paper, huh?" I asked.
"To tell you the truth— a paper and ink is worth over a thousand gold for an artist, but it is worth a single gold to him. So that's why it's written in a piece of paper and ink…"
"You mean, there might be various things that could be given from offering a single gold?" I asked.
"Yup, like I said, a value of one gold is relative to who offers it…" Honoka said.
"Then, what about those who offer their soul?" I asked.
"Well—it depends on how much they value their soul…." She replied.
Now I wonder about that.
"There's someone who offered her sword for the box—and she got the same value as someone else who offered her soul…"
"A sword that worth as much as one soul? That's…ridiculous… How could an object be worth as much as one soul?"
"Sheesh—Maki-chan, I told you, a value is relative to the person who offers it!"
"Heh—is that basically saying that this person valued her sword as much as she valued her soul?"
"I think it's more than her soul. Because her sword meant everything to her…"
"I don't get it…" I said.
"Well-well, Maki-chan. Rather than being like that, why don't you just go ahead and offer something and get the box for yourself?"
"I don't even know what I value most. I doubt I value my soul as much as the other person. So I think—I'll have to pass for now…" I said.
"Hmmm..I see… then, why don't you hold onto that box until you know what you will give for it?"
"H-Huh?!"
That's surprising.
"Maybe—you would like to take a look at that again and think…" she said.
"I don't know about that… I can't possibly take something I haven't bought… can I at least give something as a guarantee?" I asked.
"Hehe, don't worry. I'll just take it back if you decide to not want it…." she said.
"Uh—that's possible? You might never meet me again…." I said.
"Let's see about that!" She replied cheerfully.
Then suddenly, I felt myself being carried away by a gentle wind, until I started to hear wood knocking everywhere. I wonder what was exactly happening here?
As I realized,
That it was all just a dream—which felt so realistic to me. I woke up with my ears still listening to the wood knock and my eyes looking at a few workers peeling off the window's cover and replacing it with transparent glasses— letting the sunlight enter the room while my mother stood next to the door.
"Ah—Maki-chan, you are awake…" she said.
I can see her wearing a strange looking outfit, but she looks really beautiful in it.
"What are you wearing?" I asked.
"Oh? This? Well… this is the local traditional outfit for female, it's called a Kimono…" she said.
"I see…." I replied.
"Why don't you wear them too? I've got some for you…" she said.
"Heh—Not interested. I would like to stay with my shirt and trouser…"
"Hmm… what if I gave you the male outfit? Maybe a Hakama…?"
"As long as its not as gaudy as that…" I replied.
She giggled,
"There, I know deep inside you admire my looks. Mama is beautiful, right?" she said.
"I–I didn't even think like that! Sheesh! Just give me the Hakama!" I said clearly to her.
"I know…I know…" she giggled again before she left.
When she returned,
She handed me a few pieces of clothing—it's kind of weird, but somewhat looks pretty cool. When all the workers finally left, my mother closed all the curtains and asked me to start wearing it.
It took a while for me to be able to grasp the idea of the outfit.
When I managed to wear it, I realized that I somewhat wore almost the same style as that mysterious merchant, Kousaka Honoka. Except this one is less gaudy and I didn't even wear any additional accessories such as her flag. I don't even know what that flag was for…I didn't get to read what on the flag either.
Anyhow, when I finished, my mother open the curtain once more and let the lights from outside fill the hole room.
"How is it?" she asked,
"Shouldn't I be the one to ask that? Sheesh…" I said.
"Well, it looks good on you…" she replied.
"heh—alright…"
"Let's go for a walk…" she said.
"W-what? But…. papa said…."
"Sssh…. He doesn't need to know. He will be away for five hours—so we just need to return before that…" Mama said before I could finish speaking,
This is why I like my mama.
"Then—I'm up for that!" I said,
She giggled at me,
"Now that's a good smile I see here… but anyway, Maki-chan, I found this next to you when you were asleep.." my mother handed me the red box that I saw from that mysterious merchant. She really gave it to me? What kind of sorcery is this?
"I was wondering what's inside it, so I tried to open it, but it won't budge. I wonder if you know how…." She asked.
"Eh—well.. I …. I kind of know, but I'm not ready to open it yet…" I replied.
My mother raised her eyebrow.
"Is that so? Then I guess I'll have to wait for you to be ready, hmm?"
"Yeah…Sorry…." I replied as I twirled the tip of my hair.
I don't know why I always do that sometimes. Either way—I think that it's just me trying to make myself feel less nervous.
Hmm..
Perhaps I should ask her opinion here.
"By the way, mama…." I started,
"Yes, Maki-chan?" she replied so gently,
"What do you value most in your life?" I asked.
"Hmmm… what a weird question—but if I have to answer that, then, I would say that… you are one of my greatest treasure…"
I think something is burning my face right now,
"I—I mean! When someone asking you to offer your most valued things, what will you give?" I asked.
"Hmmm…That's difficult to answer, but, why don't we just ask back about what that person values most from us? A value is relative, right?" She said.
"E-Eh?"
Why didn't I think about that?
"That's what your father did, you know. he never asks someone for an exact amount, he asks for what they can give to him. It was his fortune to get someone who decided to give him half of his wealth….and me…."
"W-what?"
"Hehe—don't sweat over the details…or maybe, let's just talk about it later when we take a walk. Ok?"
Alright, next chapter.