A/N: Hey, everyone! Welcome to my first "Castle Town Dandelion" fanfic, and probably the third such fic on this site! (Wow, this anime is so underrated.) I managed to find this anime while looking up catchy anime OP videos on YouTube. I somehow found the OP video for "Castle Town Dandelion", got intrigued by the characters I was seeing, decided to look it up, got even more hooked, surfed through Tumblr photos of it, and finally decided to watch it.
Like I said earlier, this anime is underrated. In fact, I would say it is one of the most underrated anime of 2015. I mean, I thoroughly enjoyed the family's antics and the slice-of-life atmosphere. I'm not afraid to admit that I'd love to be a member of the Sakurada family, since my real family sucks butt, lol.
Then, after finishing the anime, I searched around and eventually found a website where I could read the manga translated and receive updates on it. I must say, I'm very glad Ayumu Kasuga is still writing it and continuing its story where the anime practically left off. It's a shame updates are only coming in irregularly. I could use some more Sakurada goodness.
Anyway, after months of boredom and suffering from writer's block, I decided to pull myself out of the gutter by writing this. Like the anime, it will have a simple story, nothing too epic or deep, and it will be around 10-15 chapters, probably even less. This fic is more or less a means to get back my writing mojo, since I don't expect it to have a lot of reader traffic anyway, and therefore I don't have to work myself up trying to gauge the readers' expectations.
Okay, I'm beginning to ramble. On with the story. ENJOY!
Disclaimer: "Castle Town Dandelion" DOES NOT belong to me in any way! All rights of ownership go to Ayumu Kasuga and Houbunsha.
BLOOMING KINGDOM
Long ago, a select few were granted astounding powers, secrets that were passed down from the stars. These people, who could even make miracles become reality, were feared and revered by the rabble, and henceforth became known as royalty.
One line of royalty stood out from the rest: the Waldfogel, whose members possessed two unique abilities instead of one. They ruled over their country with kindness, and ushered in a golden era of peace and prosperity. It was a time of happiness.
But then, all of that changed.
The fourth and youngest child of the Waldfogel family, Gregor Klaus, was a greedy, ruthless, and ambitious man who sought to claim the throne for himself, no matter what the cost. As a result, he slaughtered every last member of his family, any potential heir who could challenge and defeat him. Gregor then inherited the throne unopposed and ruled over his family's country with an iron fist.
But the crown alone was not enough to satiate Waldfogel's lust for power. He next intended to subjugate all of the other kingdoms and wipe out all traces of royalty so they would not pose a threat towards his reign. And so, he began a destructive campaign of conquest and genocide, taking over one country after another and killing anyone he deemed a threat. At first, it seemed as if Gregor Waldfogel's mad dream of becoming emperor would become a reality.
But then, a wondrous miracle occurred, in the form of a multinational alliance led by the Sakurada and Rose kingdoms. Together, they resisted against Waldfogel's forces and eventually triumphed. In a fierce battle between lines of royalty, the mad emperor-to-be was put into a deep sleep and imprisoned in the Sakurada kingdom.
In the wake of the war, all of the countries conquered by Waldfogel were divided among the victors, while the once-flourishing Waldfogel kingdom became a territory under the jurisdiction of the Rose kingdom. Though peace had fallen upon the land once again, the people of the fallen Waldfogel kingdom lived in squalor, and the reputation of the area was reduced to that of a third-rate country. With the Waldfogel family legacy now in tatters, many wonder whether the now-disgraced country would majestically rise from the ashes and reclaim its title of prosperity.
Perhaps time will tell...
Prologue
"Akane Sakurada. That little twit."
Jiro Nakamura guided the journalist into his apartment, which was the living definition of a pigsty. Beer cans, wrinkled newspapers, cigarette butts, and an assortment of other trash was lying about; the walls were faded and peeling, exposing the wooden boards within; a small but foul stench was in the air; and more than a couple of flies were buzzing around. The journalist flinched when one such fly flew in front of his face, and he swatted a few times at the air to ward the pesky insect away.
"Oi, Isao!" called Jiro. "Remember Akane-sama?!"
"Eh?" moaned the stout, grubby man slouched over lazily on the torn sofa, trying to watch the small, rundown television set. "Oh, yeah... That redheaded princess." He scoffed and spat somewhere on the floor. "Bratty little pipsqueak tried to kill us." He looked up at Jiro and the reporter. "Why? What about it?"
"Apparently this guy wants to interview us 'bout that day." Jiro pointed over his shoulder. "He's some reporter."
"Well, ya not gettin' anything from me." Isao buried his face in the sofa pillow and spoke into it. "I'd rather not think 'bout that day..."
"Yeah," replied the journalist. "So, you two were in the process of committing a burglary when she came in? Akane-sama?"
"Yep," Jiro replied. "And we coulda gotten away with the goods too, if it hadn't been for the little brat." Then, he shrugged dismissively. "But we've repented."
"Repented, you say?"
"Ya know, changed our ways." He approached a nearby chair and collapsed on it with a grunt of relief and relaxation. "We're not into the criminal business anymore. We've paid our debt. We're regular, hardworking citizens." He gestured around the room. "We've got jobs-"
"Five in the last month for me," interrupted Isao, "nine for him."
Jiro's eyelid twitched, but he continued professionally, "We're living steadily in this apartment-"
"Which is complete and utter crap, as you can see."
Jiro's eyelid twitched again. "And we have no complaints 'bout our lifestyle."
"Yeah, aside from the fact that we're two slouches who can barely keep a job, live in a crap-sack apartment, are behind with all of our payments, thrive on fast-food, and have not gotten laid, then yes, I'd say we're living the life. Living the flippin' life indeed."
Jiro's eyelid twitched yet again, and this time, he had nothing to say. The journalist merely nodded in satisfaction, procured a small notepad and a black pen, and began scribbling something on the paper.
"Next question," the journalist said after a couple of seconds. "Could you describe the objects you found in the house?"
Jiro blinked. "Say what now?"
"I mean, you tore the place inside-out, so surely you saw a whole variety of personal belongings. Could you describe any of them that stuck out to you? I intend to put that detail in. To spice up the flavor of the story." The journalist rested his palm on the notepad, prepared to write something. "Just anything that comes to mind."
"Man, that burglary was, like, ten years ago. Ya really think I can remember that far ago?"
"Just think. Anything in particular that would stand out?"
Jiro crossed his arms. "Man, if there was something in that house that stood out, I woulda remembered it by now. But to tell ya the truth, when Akane-sama and that friend of hers showed up, I pretty much forgot burglarizin' the place and got focused on keeping those girls quiet."
The journalist blinked. "There was someone with Akane-sama?"
"Yeah. A little girl, 'bout her age. Black hair and blue eyes. Kept whinin' and clingin' on to her like a dog. I think she may have had a crush on her or something. Eh, I don't know. Remember her, Isao? Black-haired girl?"
"Huh?" Isao raised his head from the pillow before sinking it back in. "Oh, yeah... That side-ponytail was somethin'..."
"Huh... That's very interesting..." The journalist wrote something down on the notepad. "So, I take it you're not at all happy with your current lifestyle, huh?"
"Does it freakin' look like we're havin' the time of our lives?!"
Tatsumi blinked before asking, "I see. Anything else you can give me? Anything at all?"
"Other than the fact that the little redheaded brat tried to kill us?" replied Jiro sarcastically. "No, don't think so."
"I see. Alright, well then, I guess that's it."
"Really?" Jiro raised a confused eyebrow. "That's it? No more questions for us?"
"Yeah, that's about it."
"Oh, thank goodness... So, um, what'd ya say your name was again? I don't think I caught it properly..."
"Ah." A sudden glint flashed across the journalist's eyes. "It was Tatsumi Kimura."
"Tatsumi Kimura?" Surprised, Jiro turned away and placed an index finger on his chin in thought. "Me and Isao watch the news a bunch, and I don't think we've heard the name before in any of the channels."
"Ah, good." The journalist suddenly pulled out a suppressed pistol and aimed it at Jiro's temple. "That's kinda the point."
A few minutes later, Tatsumi Kimura exited the apartment, hiding the pistol inside his coat and wiping his hands with a small handkerchief. He then walked down the rundown corridor of the apartment complex, all the while humming a catchy tune to himself. Behind him, the door to Jiro and Isao's apartment closed, the fresh smell of gunpowder still hanging in the air.
"Looks like we have what we need now," Tatsumi remarked to himself. "Ah, today's a good day..."
Preparations
A week later
"Oi, Nee-san, Ange, you two better wake up, or you'll miss school."
Inside a certain shared bedroom, the redheaded teenage girl moaned softly at the sound of her younger brother's voice, and turned over onto the other side of her bed. However, her vain attempt at prolonging her sleep was disrupted by the dim rays of sunlight penetrating the bedroom.
"Mm, ten more minutes..." she groaned out in exhaustion.
She heard her brother sighing. "Everyone's awake already, Nee-san," he said. "You'd better move."
"Every..."
At that moment, the girl allowed her eyelids to inch open, slowly revealing her ruby-red pupils. At first, her sight was blurry, and all she could see were abstract shapes. But then, as her eyesight focused itself, she realized she was staring at her bedside clock. Which read...
"7:10?! You've got to be kidding! I'm late!"
The girl leaped out of her bed and ran toward the closet, undressing as she did. In the other bed, a stunningly beautiful teenage girl, with silver hair and blue eyes, sat up and gave a small, almost unnoticeable yawn, covering her mouth as she did so.
"Ak...Akane?..." the second girl asked as she rubbed her eyes.
"You have to hurry, Ange!" cried the redheaded girl as she put on her shirt. "Every morning in this house is a battle!"
"A...battle?..." The silver-haired girl became extremely worried at those words. "As in...fighting?..."
"Yes, Ange, fighting!"
Upon hearing that clarification, the second girl became to sweat at the implication.
"Your family actually battles with each other?!" she exclaimed. Then, she hesitantly added, "Over what?"
"For who manages to get to the bathroom and sink first!"
The girl sweat-dropped. "I fail to see what there is to war over, then..."
The redheaded girl ignored her companion and rushed out of their bedroom. She was now wearing more presentable civilian clothing, and had a light blazer slung over her shoulder. She found the stairs and began walking down them at the quickest pace she could manage.
Oh, hello! I'm Akane Sakurada, third daughter of the royal family. Things have changed since that fateful election over a year ago.
Aoi-oneechan has moved out of the house and into a university dorm, Shū-chan is studying hard to become the next king, Kanade-chan is focusing all her effort on her medicinal studies, Misaki and Haruka have graduated to high school, Hikari is building a steady idol career, and Teru and Shiori are, well, Teru and Shiori. As for me, well, I haven't changed a lot. You could say I'm a bit more comfortable speaking to other people.
I still hate those security cameras, though, but that's another story for another day.
After Aoi-oneechan left, we took in Angelica Rose, a princess from a foreign country that's one of Dad's allies, who is studying abroad. Ange is a very nice girl, but she's still getting used to living the lifestyle of an ordinary person like we do. Understandably, she has her quirks. There's also this tension she's got going with Haruka, and it doesn't help that she's in the same class as him. I wonder what that's all about.
Anyway, yes, things have changed. But there's one thing that still remains the same with this big family of mine.
"Oi, Hikari, hurry up. Teru can't hold it anymore."
Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Akane turned left and passed Haruka and Teru, who were standing in front of the closed bathroom door. Haruka was knocking on the door to get the occupant's attention, while Teru was trembling and desperately clutching his nether regions.
"Aniue, I-I can still hold it..." Teru moaned softly.
The rest of the exchange was unheard to Akane, as she had reached the other bathroom. Upon opening the door, her red eyes widened, and she sighed heavily: Kanade, Shiori, and their father were standing in front of the mirror, while Misaki was protesting against the latter for taking up much of said mirror's space.
We're still scrambling for the bathroom and sink.
"Akane! Oh Akane, there you are!"
Akane looked across her shoulder and saw Ange running up to her side, still wearing her sleepwear. There was a panicked expression etched on her face.
"Why did you run from me?!" the silver-haired girl exclaimed in relief.
"Ange?" asked the redheaded girl, surprised by Ange's aura of urgency. "Wh-What is it?"
"A-Aren't you going to put me in my clothes?"
Akane sweat-dropped and thought to herself, "So that's why you were freaked out?"
Suddenly, someone scoffed, and both girls looked at Haruka, who seemed to be within earshot. He was wearing a disapproving expression on his face.
"So our little princess needs to have someone put her in her own clothes for her?" he said. "I can't believe I'm hearing this from someone my own age..."
"Of course!" exclaimed Ange in outrage. "Such is the way of royalty!"
"Being royalty is more than just relying on others to do tasks for you and being pampered babies-"
Ange's blue eyes widened. "How dare you speak in such a disrespectful and immature manner!"
Haruka shrugged nonchalantly. "What? I'm just saying the truth as I see it."
Yes, it seems like an average day under the roof of the Sakuradas.
"Now, now, guys," Akane said, stepping between both teenagers and waving her hands in a peacemaking gesture, "let's not fight..."
After giving Haruka an angry glare, Ange held her chin up high and marched away...into the closed door at the end of the hallway. The foreign princess blushed in embarrassment before opening the door and slamming it shut behind her. Akane then looked at Haruka.
"I know Ange has a very different view on how to live day to day," she said, "but you should treat her a little more nicely. She is still learning how to live like us. Like a normal person."
Haruka sighed and looked away. "I know, I know. It's just... I find it very illogical for someone to live that way." He looked towards the doorway that Ange had gone through. "Relying on other people to dress you up and serve quality food and clean up after you... It's just not right. How do you expect to look after yourself if others have been doing that for you for the majority of your life? And she's my age, a point where she's close to adulthood, full of duties and responsibilities..."
Akane's eyes softened in realization. "You're concerned for her well-being. Aren't you?"
Haruka bit his lower lip, the faintest blush creeping up his cheeks. He then turned away and approached the bathroom that Hikari was still occupying, knocking on the door a second time. But his refusal to answer her question only confirmed Akane's suspicions.
That's Haruka for you. Hiding his emotions and motivations behind numbers and logic. But no matter what his words are, he truly cares for others.
Unbeknownst to anyone else, Misaki had been listening in on the conversation, an unknown expression on her face.
Moments later, a sudden loud squeal erupted inside the house.
"AKANE!" Ange called.
"Ange!" Akane called back in response. "Are you okay?! What's happened?!"
"Y-Yo-You still haven't changed me..."
"...Do I really need to?..."
"Mm-hm..."
"I can't believe I'm still hearing about this..." replied Haruka, sighing in disappointment.
Yes, it does seem like an average day under the roof of the Sakuradas. But little did I know that today would be one of the most memorable days of my entire life.
Shigeo Suzuki sat in the passenger seat of the gray van, examining an old photo of two unknown teenagers. He then stuffed the photo back into his pocket, picked up a pair of binoculars, and used them to observe the nearby Sakurada household. He grinned as he focused on the upper balcony, where he caught a certain redheaded girl trying her best to hang some white-colored sleepwear.
"And it looks like we've got Akane Sakurada over here," he remarked. "The news doesn't do her justice, I must say."
"Eh, that's because security cameras aren't around," replied the man sitting in the driver's seat. "I'd bet she runs faster than a cheetah when one looks in her general direction." He then sighed and leaned back on his seat. "Man, this is boring! When are we gonna get to the good stuff? I'm itching for some goddamn action!"
"Later, Tomimoto, later. For now, we must observe all of the targets and wait till they all go off their separate ways. Until then, do calm yourself. The boss is not gonna be happy if your boredom's the thing that'll disrupt this whole operation."
"You sure we're gonna get the crown in time, Suzuki?" asked a man sitting at the rear of the van with half a dozen others. "I mean, with that scheduled of ours...if we don't get that crown to the boss soon, who knows what'll happen once he-"
"Relax, Shidehara," interrupted Shigeo. "You heard Kimura's report. Once we find her, we find the crown. All right before lunchtime." He lowered the binoculars and looked over his shoulder at his accomplice. "Speaking of which, how's your otouto doing right now? Is he still in position?"
"Yes, he still has Aoi Sakurada right in his sights," Shidehara replied. "But, um...I really don't see how that's going to help us-"
Suzuki sneered triumphantly. "Trust me, it will. The boss said so."
"But doesn't she have that ability of hers? What if she uses it against us? It'd be game over."
"Not if she uses it against a good friend of hers. With a power like that, and given her goody-two-shoes personality, the chances of such a scenario occurring are close to zero. She doesn't have the guts to do it." Upon seeing his companion's hesitation, Suzuki continued, "Trust me, Shidehara, the boss has it all planned out, to the very last detail. And everything's going according to plan..."
"I understand. Thank you, and keep up the good work."
Elsewhere, in an office at an unknown location, a man hung up on his cellphone and put it back into his pocket. He then looked out of the window in front of him. This man had piercing hazel eyes and gleaming blond hair that was tied into a ponytail, and he was wearing a red suit. There seemed to be a pompous and intimidating aura surrounding him as he smirked in triumph.
But it was understandable. After all, the call he had just gotten gave him important information that was rather unexpected to him, but just as good as what he had previously wanted. If this information was right (and he knew it would be), then this crossed off one big problem off his list.
"Soon," he thought. "Soon, you will be free, and you will teach this world who its rightful master is...Lord Waldfogel... Soon..."
Yes, I was unaware it was going to be a very, very memorable day, very soon...
A/N: And here we have the first chapter I posted on this site following my brief hiatus from writing. Given this fact, plus the fact that I'm treading in unfamiliar fanfiction territory, I really hope I did "Castle Town Dandelion" justice, because I really did like this anime. Now, it's pretty obvious I'm going to make this a mostly serious story, but I do intend to mix in the anime's usual humor, family dynamic, and character balance, otherwise it will not feel like a "Castle Town Dandelion" fic. Hopefully it'll be a good mixture.
As to where this story's overall plot comes from, believe it or not, it was actually inspired by the twelfth and final episode of the anime, when Shū gives that inspirational speech of his to the kingdom's citizens while piloting the out-of-control blimp. In it, he tells the citizens to rely on the Sakurada family to absolutely protect them long into the future. Being the action-savvy madman I am, I wondered what would happen if the family actually faces a situation where they must protect the kingdom. So, I created this organization and this lead villain that they could square off against. The plot also gave me an opportunity to further expand on several subplots in the anime, i.e. Aoi's insecurity about her true inability, Akane's relationship with Karen, etc.
In the end, I am trying to make this fanfic some sort of follow-up to the anime, but as you can see, I set it after the point where Angelica "Ange" W. Rose moves into the Sakurada home. Other manga-only characters and elements will appear in this fic, because they're pretty interesting and originate from the source material of this wonderful anime, obviously. But some anime elements will stay, such as Misaki being the older twin over Haruka (in contrast to the manga).
And obviously, you can expect a whole lot of shipping to be featured in this fic. Because shipping is very good plot fuel. :D
Please let me know how I'm doing in your reviews, if you can! Criticism is welcome, but not in the form of flaming, please; that honestly doesn't help in pointing out weak areas and convincing me to make improvements. Plus they make Jesus cry. XP
Well, hope you enjoyed this first chapter from me in months! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!