Twelve Draws of Christmas – 07: Lucky Run
By Chronic Guardian
-Red J0KER, December 2104, Direct Retrievable Audio Wave #107: Conversation via CARD between members Queen and Ace as follows:
"A very merry Christmas, Miss Ayane! What can we do for you today?"
"Merry Christmas to you as well, Ms. Rikamizu. Just a small favor—"
"Oooh? A favor?"
"Yes, just asking after one of our members."
"Oh, Leo's fine."
"I… no, not him. I meant Pokoni."
"..."
"Ms. Rikamizu?"
"Pokoni is missing."
"Yes. And he left his CARD at base so I can't track his movement. He's not in the kitchen, and I don't have any records of him leaving the building, but he's not showing up on surveillance either."
"Miss Ayane… correct me if I'm wrong, but Pokoni is the red headed boy with a hero complex, true?"
"Yes, that's him."
"A hero complex on Christmas."
"...I think I understand. Do you think he'll make any problems for us?"
"That depends, Miss Ayane, what kind of a budget is he working with?"
"Younger members are mostly paid in benefits, ma'am."
"Ah, that could make things difficult."
"So you think—?"
"Absolutely."
"Alright then, can I count on you to keep an eye out for him?"
"Me and Parker both. In the meantime though, maybe run a check?"
"Of members who have posted requests?"
"Exactly! Bravo, Miss Ayane."
"But if that's really the case maybe we should leave him alone."
"Miss Ayane… have you heard the saying, 'we often meet our destiny on the road we take to avoid it'?"
"Yes?"
"Sometimes the opposite is also true."
"So then, if Pokoni sees his destiny as being a true hero..."
"As I said, I'll keep an eye out. Try not to worry too much, eh?"
"...Yes, ma'am."
"Oh, please. You're making me feel old."
"Apologies, Ms. Rikamizu."
"Right. Well… I suppose we've some work to do. See you soon?"
"Yes, see you then. Good luck."
-Close(DRAW#107)-
-J-
Evening settled over Tokyo in a warm tinge of orange. Soon strings of Christmas lights like rows of fireflies flickered on along the storefronts. Foot traffic began to thin as families settled in for the evening and the leftovers congregated in restaurants and parks to celebrate the occasion. It was a time of peace and joy.
Unless, of course, you happened to be working.
Everyone had their different traditions, and for whatever reason the unattached seemed drawn to eating out on Christmas Eve. Among the more popular locations, Sunshine Burger somehow built up a loyal following of Christmas Chicken Sandwich devotees. On any other evening that would be fine. On this particular evening, it was a waking nightmare.
Tonight, everyone was calling her name.
"H-hey, Toda-san! Pilot light's gone out on the grill!"
"Toda-san, Toda-san! Could you authorize this transaction? He's buying over five-thousand yen worth."
"Toda-saaan, Kaori isn't back from break yet! Did she check in with you?"
Spinning around to cast a glance at the carnage in the kitchen, she quickly assessed the situation and nodded. "Just hang on a sec, I'll be there!"
Shigemi Toda – Queen of Spades
She never said no, she never backed down. Even if Sunshine was technically just a front, she still devoted the same attention to it as she did with her work on Spades. Was that a dumb decision? Oh, definitely. Even if she found it therapeutic at times, she couldn't deny that the job was dramatically reducing her life span with times like this.
However, that wasn't going to stop her from doing her best. She just had to hang in there and hope for a miracle. Besides, it could be worse. She could be fighting Noise.
"Angelo-san," she ordered, pointing at the young man who had reported the break incident. He responded with a bright smile despite the circumstances. "Take the counter, please?"
He shot back a nod and slipped into the position. "Whatever you say!" Even as a foreigner, Angelo was probably one of her best customer service representatives.
"Tokai-san," she said next, taking the other register with the five-thousand plus transaction. "Go see if you can find Kaori."
The relieved cashier clapped her shoulder and winked. "Give 'em hell, boss!" Then he was gone.
"Mayu-chan!" she called out when the transaction cleared. "Can you try restarting the grill?"
"I-I can try!"
Shigemi grimaced. Actually, that was probably a bad idea. Mayu was new to the crew, and painfully shy. She couldn't work a register without apologizing three-times-per-order and anything with fire made her cringe. But, if Shigemi stepped away from the register…
"G-gah!" Mayu cried out a moment later. "I can't do it!"
"Just hold on!" Shigemi shouted back. "I'll be there as soon as—"
"SPECIAL DELIVERY!"
Shigemi just had time to blink as someone a little shorter than Mayu muscled in from the back and took up a power stance at the grill. His bald scalp gleamed in the fluorescent light and his loose kimono blazed with the lucky red of the Chinese new year. In a way, he almost looked familiar...
Pa-thoom!
He snapped his fingers and the burgers on the dormant grill were instantly charbroiled.
"Hey!" He turned to give her an ear-to-ear jolly grin. "You need some help, lady?"
Hotei-Osho(?) – Sevenof Luck Gods
Shigemi felt her jaw hanging loose. "I… I'm sorry. Who—?"
"It is I, Hotei-Osho!" the newcomer boomed in a voice fresh out of adolescence. He thumped his scrawny chest and laughed. "Hohohoh! My second eyes saw that you were in trouble!"
"Oh really?" Angelo raised his eyebrows and shared a look with Shigemi. "You think his second eyes saw the line out the door?"
"Ho-hotay-ozo?" Mayu sputtered out, cringing away from the intruder.
"Hotei-Osho!" the bald boy repeated, helping himself to the order tickets and throwing another batch of patties on the grill. "One of the Seven Luck Gods? Guardian of Christmas? Bringer of presents to all the good little boys and girls?"
Shigemi gave him a tilted look. "You mean Santa Claus?"
"What? NO!" the boy's face squinched with indignance. "Hotei-Osho! And I'mma give ya the gift of catching up while someone fixes this grill!"
"A-alright then!" Shigemi gave a determined nod and turned back to the counter. As bizarre as it was, the mystery boy was still the Christmas miracle she needed. Once Kaori got back things could stabilize, but until then this would work.
When Tokai finally returned with his coworker, however, the young Hotei vanished before Shigemi could so much as thank him.
"What was that kid's deal?" Tokai asked as he took over the register again.
Angelo merely chuckled. "Just a little lucky charm when we needed it most, I guess."
Lucky, Shigemi echoed to herself as she caught sight of the still-swinging backdoor. As a Deck operative she'd seen a lot of unbelievable stuff in her time. However, that didn't mean it was unexplained. The King always seemed to have everything down to a science. He pulled off the impossible, but she wouldn't say he was lucky. Just… gifted.
And cute. And smart. And cool. And—
She shook her head. It wasn't exactly the same with this kid, but she was getting a similar feeling. She couldn't put her finger on it for sure, but it was definitely more than mere coincidence.
I wonder…
Bzzzt! Her thoughts were interrupted as her CARD vibrated an alert. Rushing over to her bag, she slipped the device out and checked the screen.
[Noise attack in progress.] A few markers blinked on the screen, one of them near her location. [Engage?]
Shigemi pressed her mouth into a tight line and looked around the kitchen. Everything actually seemed pretty settled now. Thanks to the mystery kid, she'd be able to step out for a moment without anyone noticing.
Clocking out for a break, the Queen of Spades seized her lucky opportunity and hit the streets.
-J-
The evening breeze was cool in the winter.
It was even colder for those with ice powers.
Outside his foster family's apartments, Izo Shuito began teaching the Noise the danger of relying on a mild forecast.
"Insolent whelps!"
Ice spikes shot out of the ground, skewering the smaller invaders and fencing off the larger ones as they tried to corner him. The interdimensional monsters often took the form of earth animals with distorted limbs. The current batch was currently imitated a wolf pack accompanied by a cast of crabs. Slowly, the began nipping away at his makeshift barrier.
What obloquy, Izo thought to himself. To finally seek reunion only to be thwarted… How much energy had he thrown into that last attack? He was feeling a little light headed...
"Hey!" A higher-end tenor cracked through the air, temporarily startling the Noise as they scrambled to face the intruder. "Ain'tcha got no manners?"
Beyond the fading ice spikes, Izo caught sight of a bald child dressed in monks garb. He looked… vaguely familiar.
"Usually I save the gifts for the good kids," the bald child went on, injecting his voice with theatric drawl. "But for you buncha punks I'mma make an exception!" He leveled a finger at the Noise just as they began to regroup and charge him.
What luck, Izo reflected in a moment of dark humor. A twitty shows up to distract the beasts while I rally. A pity I can't save him too.
Then, as the Noise closed on their target…
"Hotei-OshaBOOM!"
A conflagration ripped through the air, enveloping the entire group. When the smoke cleared, there was only the stranger.
"And for you, little boy," the bald child continued in a tone of maximum-bravado as he brushed himself off, "I give the gift of not dying! You're welcome!"
Adjusting his glasses, Izo straightened up and narrowed his eyes. The voice was familiar, but he couldn't quite place it yet. If he could just get the intruder to blather on a while longer…
"And you are?" the blue-haired young man asked cooly.
"Why, Hotei-Osho, legendary god of luck and luxury!" the child declared, planting his hands on his hips and thrusting out his belly. "Don't you recognize me?"
"Hmph..." Izo knew the mythic figure. He'd actually been terrified of the corpulent monk at one point. Even if Hotei-Osho was traditionally a benevolent gift giver, Izo always found the illustrations of a fat man lounging in a loose kimono disturbing. Now that he saw the trimmed down version though, it was easy to see why the illustrators preferred the alternative. "You look like a half-starved gremlin."
"Hey buddy!" the imposter cried. "I just saved your life! A lil' respect would be nice, y'know! I'll throw in a good word with the other luck gods too if—"
"You're not Hotei-Osho, blathering addlepate," Izo cut in, turning back to his parents' apartment building. Although he didn't usually have the tolerance for these kind of antics, this evening was a particularly bad time.
"What?! You would doubt the power of—Wait, IZO?!"
Izo paused with his hand on the door as the voice clicked.
Pokoni – Seven of Red J0KER
"Blazerat," the Red Six muttered under his breath.
"I mean, uh! You!" the bald Seven tried again, regaining his affected tone of voice. "I… I saw your name with my second eyes! The ones I got on the back of my head to make sure all you kids aren't bein' naughty!"
Izo turned to lock the younger boy in a withering stare before slowly answering. "A J0KER member running wild like this could have consequences, you know."
After a moment of silence between them Izo turned back to the door and opened it. "How fortuitous that I didn't mark one tonight," he said over his shoulder.
Risking one more look, Izo found that Pokoni had vanished into the approaching dusk. In a way, that too was fortuitous.
Izo hated saying direct 'thank you's.
-J-
"Noise attacks in multiple sectors," Reiko reported, reading from her CARD. After a day at the 104 clandestinely catching up with old colleagues, she and Leo were finally headed back to base. Unfortunately, it seemed like the Noise were about to force a detour. "Looks like this is going to be anything but a silent night."
"No problem!" Beside her, Leo drove a fist into an open hand and gave her a tight grin. "Once we find some reinforcements we can—"
"—Point them in the right direction?" Reiko interrupted, inclining her chin towards her counterpart.
"...I was thinking more along the lines of 'help 'em out'," he said, rubbing at the back of his head. "I mean, doesn't it seem kinda dumb to dump all the work off on someone else?"
"Ah, but we'd have to be lucky enough to avoid all the 'secrecy' red tape. Unless you'd like to spend Christmas morning helping the Director host a reveal conference with the Suits, of course."
Leo frowned. "You're kidding, right?"
"Partly," she answered wistfully, looking back at her CARD. "It really will be a headache and probably half-a-year's worth of internal ironing if J0KER gets leaked—"
"But people could die if we don't do something!"
"And then there's that," Reiko acknowledged calmly. "Which is why we won't do nothing."
Leo gave her an expectant look and showed his hands. "So then what do we do? Hope for a miracle?"
"Well… you could call it a miracle. You could also call it calculated grace. To be perfectly frank, though, I'd like to phrase it as—"
"'Scuse me! Make way!" a bald kid in an old-fashioned robe came barging throw the crowd, forcing himself between the two Aces along the way. "Hotei-Osho comin' through!"
"—a lucky run," Reiko finished with a wink. "But only because it's got a nice ring to it. Now, shall we?"
"Wait," Leo grabbed her arm, but kept pace as they hurried after the child. "I could sense an O-Gene on that guy. It felt like—"
"—Pokoni?" Reiko grinned and patted Leo's hand. "Well then, I guess I'll have to tell Ayane we found him. Go and keep the child out of trouble, would you?"
"Oh! Uh, Right!" Leo nodded and started off on the bald one's trail. He threw a wave behind before disappearing into the crowd.
When he was gone, she breathed a sigh of relief and continued on her way. In truth, it was a real stroke of fortune. When she first heard the Seven was missing, she'd expected him to be selling his powers as parlor tricks. To a child with no real income, it made sense to make money through any means available. Even if it was so mundane as frying burgers, she wouldn't put it past Pokoni to sell his abilities to the highest bidder. He was crafty enough to leave his CARD at base, but that didn't mean he was smart enough to realize the consequences of his actions.
Then again, sometimes it took ignoring the temporary consequences to get something really worthwhile done.
"Guess we had nothing to worry about after all," the Red Ace murmured to herself, following after her teammates.
Besides, now she had a story of the most unique Hotei-Osho to ever grace the streets of Tokyo. And considering this one saved lives, she had to admit it was her favorite version to date.
Some traditions are worth twisting.
-End[07]-
Author's Note:
Heya! Uncle CG here!
Yeah, that's right. Uncle.
I'm an uncle now. :D
Can you tell I'm excited?
It's so awesome to know that soon I'm gonna—
What's that? Oh, the story. Right.
Ahem.
Sooo… yeah. This was sloppy and rushed. Although I'm out of school now, this week has been spent on crazy social obligations that drag me to the ends of the earth (Or at least forty miles down the road) and back. I'm glad to reconnect with the sibs and all that (and become an uncle) and talk with some close friends that I haven't gotten to see for a while, but now that that's out of the way I'm gonna try to focus on writing more consistently.
Y'know, since I have a degree for that and stuff.
But I digress. This story. This story is about Pokoni, who is probably the most selfless yet egotistical member of J0KER. The kid really does just want to help, and will do so at any cost, but he also has a fair amount of pride riding on his work. I tried to use "The Doubtful" in some of the reactions to his antics and "Fairy Tale with a Twist" as Pokoni himself twisting the fairy tale of Hotei-Osho. Y'know, in case that wasn't obvious. Forgive me if it is, my brain is kinda mushy at the moment.
Oh, also, this chapter opening had all sorts of cameos that could stand to be more thought out. This included the timid Mayu from EeveeGen9988's stories, the ever-cheery Mihael Angelo from Hyoxjnn(Er… ImamuraCross?)'s X Days, and Tokai Michi from… well, From the UnderGround Up, technically. At this point he only exists on the internet as sketches, but he's totally a character. Oh, and Kaori. Yeah, she happened too. Anyway, I do apologize for wasting the Deckverse positions of these characters on Sunshine Burger of all places, but not everyone can be a Deck Operative. Somebody's gotta rock the front lines of society. Y'know, just throwin' that out there…
Also, I must admit I had fun with this story because it shows off Pokoni in his oddly thoughtful moments (such as freeing up Shigemi to go and help with the Noise) and his totally-not-thought-out moments (such as the encounter with Izo). Although he really is a side character, I feel like Pokoni's come into his own in some ways. If only here, he finally gets to play the hero he's always wanted to be.
Oh, and a Lucky Run would be a run of sevens, the lucky number. Just sayin'.
Well, I think that about covers it then. Join us next week for 08 – Crazy Eights with the prompts "Invincible" and "Scars" as Rueban and Amber take some time to reconnect.
Until then!
-Uncle CG
[07/16/17]
