In commemoration of my 10th chapter I shall reward my beloved reader, who has been with me from the start – Kenata-san, chocolate chip cookies for you! (Also stolen from Fuji's pouch)
Fuji: #stares suspiciously at Ryssa and at empty cookie jar in his hand#
I've been wallowing in papers and scholarship application forms this week. And I'm still not done applying. #sigh# But I also did promise to have a chapter up by this week. So, here I am. And I declare to the world – I hate forms with a vengeance.
Sorry that this came out slightly late. I'm actually taking a break from all those forms so don't be too hard on me for not being able to put this up on time kay? And I have to warn you all that I kinda skipped on the editing… I wanted to put this up ASAP.
To Kenata: Bwahahaha! I never even noticed that myself! Tezuka, the pillar. I just wanted to tie him to somewhere vertically since that was how I imagined it. My thought process: 'What about one of those pole thingies in castles? What was it called again? Oh yeah, a pillar.' Or maybe my subconscious registers the connection between Tezuka and pillars. Lol
To DemonGirl13: It was only supposed to be Tezuka… But I thought, why not Kabaji? And the rest was history. #grins#
To Tuli-Susi: I mainly put their HP/MP there coz it looks more like it's part of a game. I also think it looks pretty that way. With the little hearts and all. #smiles# It's all random stats. Don't worry about it.
And Kabaji wasn't that important. I put him (her) in for the shock factor (mainly to shock the chars actually). I did try really hard to mislead you all on Tezuka. That was planned even before I wrote this story.
To IceWolfQueen: Ah well, glad you liked the chapter. I have lots more of subplots and whatnots planned for this story, so keep your seatbelt on!
To BitterBonbon: At least something shocked you. Hehe. I changed the description of Tezuka several times. Initially I wrote his hair as black (It looks sorta black and Asians are supposed to have black hair anyway) but I remembered some description of him having brown hair.
After which I took to staring at one of his pictures and decided that it was brownish looking and altered the desc to brown. I also gave him 'caramel eyes' and added 'serious scowl' to the mix. The latter being Tezuka's signature look. (Well ok, his face is usually expressionless; but considering the situation, can't you just see him scowling?)
To wolf fullmoon: I thought that Jirou had gone without sleep for too long. I would say that 'Insanity Within' is aptly named. It seems pretty crazy in there. It would be fun to watch those scenes on screen. Except for the shonen-ai parts; not suitable for children.
And no offense but I dislike yaoi/shonen ai… Though I do read fics with those elements, it's usually in spite of it rather than for it. As long as they have good plots that are not entirely related to those elements. But still, nice story. #smiles#
To singer in the wind: Dilemmas of gender confusion shall follow!
To .. (anonymous): Thank you! You shall see your suggestion played out in the next chap. I wanted to put it here, but it seemed like a bit too much going on. Anyway, I hope you'll like it when it does come out!
To Winter's Light: Imagine Kabaji as one of those stereotype Viking ladies. That's the image I was going for. Hmm, maybe I should make him hit the high notes…
To kawaii-kitsune-kurama: The good thing is, we'll get to see more of Tezuka. I did hint that he wasn't going to be in a… delightful situation. But hey, he's still pretty.
To ImmortalTigeress: Thanks for reviewing! Unfortunately, I was kinda busy this week. This must be the longest I've abstained from writing this fic. I miss it already. Lol
To ficfan3484: I had wanted to spring Princess Tezuka on you guys for a long time. But he seemed to keep evading me with every additional chapter (and with good reason). Not anymore. #smirks#
A/N (continued): I tried drawing Tezuka as a girl. He looked really beautiful, even with his usual stern expression. I especially loved the long wavy hair that flowed down. He reminded me of Hanamura-sensei when I drew the glasses. Without them, he wasn't as recognizable. (Or maybe that's coz this was my first time drawing him)
I'd show you all the pic but I don't have a scanner unfortunately. Sigh I want a scanner.
Princess Tezuka: …
Random topic of the day: Kirihara is cute! Those curls! And that smirk! Funny how I like guys who either scowl or smirk most of the time. Excuse me for acting fangirlly.
Kirihara: Of course I'm cute! #smirks#
Ryssa: #smiles#
I'm happy to receive so many reviews for the last chap! Thank you all! Replying here is making this part long again…
Translations:
Eto… – In the context
of this chapter, a hesitant pause in speech
Otouto – Younger brother
Rizumu ni noruze – I'm
riding with the rhythm (You had to
know that as a PoT fan)
Chapter 10: Deathly, Deadly Dolls
To those unfamiliar with RPGs ( This is for you, Tuli-Susi! ):
HP – Hit Points
Represents a character's life force and how much more damage they can
take. Once their HP hits zero, they die.
MP – Mana Points
Needed to cast spells and perform Special Moves. Spells/Special Moves become
unusable once a character's MP runs dry.
HP and MP can be regained by taking certain items like potions, or resting at an inn.
Where am I?
Looking around, Tezuka saw that he was in a dark chamber. He realized that he was not tied up as he previously thought. But still, he felt an odd, tight sensation around his abdomen – as if bound by his clothes; clothes that were unnaturally poofy and large. Heck, he was practically drowning in them!
"Awake now are we?"
"Who's there?" Tezuka glanced about furtively. The chamber was lit only by a few torches, placed along the walls. A bunch of odd junk resided in this room; tables, chairs, broken chandeliers, treasure chests… The voice seemed to be coming from the direction of the two full-length mirrors opposite him.
A small dagger on one of the nearby tables caught Tezuka's eye. If he could just silently pick it up, he may have a chance at defending himself against his kidnappers. Slowly, he waded towards it only to find himself tripping on the hem of his flowing clothes. Cursing under his breath, he picked himself up.
Darn clothes! What was he doing in such unpractical clothes? It certainly wasn't something he'd normally wear.
"Something wrong?" asked a more feminine voice. "Are you alright, darling?"
'Darling'? Who would call him 'darling'? These are some peculiar kidnappers. Unless… they wanted more than just a ransom from his family?! NO! He'd fight for his purity! There was no way he would let them touch him! Not without a punch or two! Now, he had to get that dagger.
"Tsk, tsk. Shame she'd be treated like this," said the first voice. It was definitely a male's.
"Oh, you poor dear. I'd come right over and pick you up, but in my condition…"
Yes! He had gotten the dagger! Now, to lure one of them over…
"Who are you?" asked Tezuka.
"Us? Why, I can't believe you would have forgotten us, your old friends!" exclaimed the male voice.
"Now, now, Raleigh. It was a long time ago since the Princess played with us. It's not her fault she can't remember us."
"Princess?" asked Tezuka, mortified. It was bad enough that they had called him 'Darling' and 'Dear' but now they were referring to him as 'Princess' as well?
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Forgive me and my manners, your Highness," apologized the female.
Tezuka didn't know whether she was mocking him or not.
"And now she wants us to revert to formal honorifics! Hmph, Royalty!" snubbed Raleigh.
Now Tezuka was really confused. Since when was he considered royalty? And even so, shouldn't he be 'Prince' then? Also, this place… it certainly seemed like part of a castle but there weren't any castles near his area. Oh, how his head hurt. Science and maths he could handle, but this was beyond logic.
"Why did you kidnap me?" This seemed the easiest question to ask.
"Kidnap you? Oh, dear me. We did not kidnap you, your highness. We are merely humble servants of your father, the King."
"Save your breath, Harriett. The girl's been befuddled from all that man-handling by her real kidnappers. Just threw her there and left her. Ruffians, I tell you!"
Not his real kidnappers? "Then, who are you?"
"Like she said, humble servants… your Highness." Now, there was a sure tone of mockery in Raleigh's words.
"Show yourselves then!" demanded Tezuka.
"But your Highness, we've been in plain view since you arrived," said Harriett. "Do come closer, your Highness. I have longed to see you up close. To look at those beautiful locks and pretty smile again," she said in a wistful tone.
Hesitantly, Tezuka took several steps towards the voices, dagger tightly in his grasp. As his heart pumped faster, he was finding it harder to breathe. The tight sensation in his chest was contributing to that. Ignoring that, he focused on his so-called allies. Perhaps they were behind the mirrors? He still could not see any human figures.
"Oh, you look lovely!" It was Harriett's voice, coming from one of the mirrors. Tezuka's eyes grew wide at the sight of the moving lips on a carved, bronze face just above one of the mirrors. A lady's face, he noticed. It was smiling at him; and crying at the same time.
"What's the matter? Never seen a talking mirror before?" Raleigh's voice came from a similarly carved face on the next mirror. This time, it was silver and obviously male.
Not one, but two talking mirrors? Tezuka was stupefied.
"Oh Princess, how I've missed you," sobbed Harriett. "And look how you've grown! You've gained such a lovely figure; and that same beautiful face of course."
He shifted his gaze towards the actual reflective part of the mirror. For the first time since he arrived, Tezuka came face to face with his reflection. Decked in a gown fit for a queen and made up like a doll; it was a gorgeous sight to behold.
Tezuka fainted. His dagger clanged noisily to the ground.
"Princess! What's wrong?" shrieked a frantic Harriett.
"Maybe she saw that she gained some weight?" suggested Raleigh. "Women. Can never figure them out."
------------------------------------ooo------------------------------------
Tezuka scowled as he recalled that memory. When he woke up tied to that pillar, he assumed that he had been dreaming. But seeing how his friends had laughed at him and what he was wearing now… apparently not.
Several stifled chuckles came from behind him as he tripped for the umpteenth time down the stairs. His scowl deepened. He needed to get out of his dress. Now.
"I need some clothes." It was a demand rather than a statement.
"Don't you think you have too much on, nya?" giggled Eiji, who was quickly silenced by his glare.
"I need some guy's clothes," he repeated.
"Usu." Being well trained to fetch random things on demand, Kabaji immediately complied to the request by his new… mistress.
"Would it be alright to change? I mean, you'll see yourself naked and all as a girl…" trailed Ryoma, making Kaidou blush.
"…"
At that moment, Kabaji had returned in record time with a suitable men's suit.
"Ahh! Your veil! Put it back on!" yelled Mizuki, as Momoshiro quickly grabbed Kabaji's fallen veil and covered his face.
"Is it safe to see now?" asked Eiji, who was covering his eyes.
Ignoring them, Tezuka grabbed the suit, nodding in thanks to his helpful maidservant and strode off to the nearest bathroom. As he locked the door, a familiar voice greeted him.
"Princess! You're free!" said Raleigh, mildly surprised.
"What are you doing here?" Tezuka frowned.
"After you were whisked off again, a maidservant found me. Polished and shined me she did. Now I'm set up here, to be used just like old times. Of course, it's not exactly the same… Why I remember when you were young and Harriett and I watched as you dressed up and played with make up –"
Tezuka raised a hand. "That's enough, thank you. I need to change now."
"Well, go ahead then."
Tezuka stared uncertainly at the mirror. His breath was cut short by his reflection. Staring back at him was a long-haired, feminine version of him. It was amazing how he could look so different yet exactly the same. He had to admit that he didn't look too bad as a girl. A thought crept into his mind – would this be considered cross-dressing? But then again, he was a girl in a true sense; at least, he was one right now.
But back to more pressing matters. He had to get out of his dress. It was a very long and fluffy dress. He could see now that it was a pretty, blue gown with layers of silk flowing down with shiny, valuable gems scattered strategically onto it. Even with all the ornaments, Tezuka could see a corset peeking through. A corset! No wonder his body felt like it was being squeezed all the time. He had to remove it. How does one take of a dress? Shouldn't there be a zip of some kind?
Slowly, he pulled the hem of his skirt up, revealing ultra-slim and sexy legs.
Raleigh whistled. "Those are some legs, Princess. If only I was a prince now… Rawr."
Tezuka felt his face grow hot. He dashed out of the bathroom leaving the suit behind.
"What's wrong, Tezuka?" queried Oishi. "You haven't changed yet."
"I think it's best if I didn't," he said hastily. "Let's just go."
Oishi stared uncertainly at the rest, but they didn't seem to take notice of Tezuka's flighty decision.
"Oh! We forgot Jirou!" exclaimed Kawamura.
Momoshiro sighed. "I'll go get him."
Location: Village of Frielda
Oshitari ------------------- ♥ HP 72/101 ---- MP 37/62 ------- Lvl 12 ----- Sniper
Sengoku ------------------ ♥ HP 54/94 ------ MP 52/76 ------- Lvl 11 ----- undecided
Dan ------------------------ ♥ HP 54/79 ------ MP 20/37 ------- Lvl 11 ----- Elf
Itsuki ---------------------- ♥ HP 56/90 ----- MP 28/42 ------- Lvl 10 ----- Summoner
Atsushi -------------------- ♥ HP 22/43 ----- MP 17/22 ------- Lvl 7 ------- undecided
Key Items: –
Gold: 8003
Note: 'Undecided' means I haven't assigned a class to that character. Feel free to make a suggestion.
"This village is awfully quiet," noted Atsushi.
"Sou, desu! It looks like most of the villagers are in their houses, desu."
"Almost as if they're afraid of something…" said Oshitari. His keen eye took note of the many shops that were closed.
"Go 'way you!" yelled a small urchin. Dressed in rags, the boy – who looked no older than six began throwing pebbles at them.
"Itai desu! Did we do something wrong desu?" Dan's green outfit was showered with pebbles and sand.
"Why are you throwing rocks at us?" Itsuki asked, walking up to the kid. "Nande, nande?" and he blew his abnormally large nose at him.
"Yaaah!" cried the boy, running away from the honking Itsuki.
"Na, Itsuki-san. You just scared a valuable source of information away," said Sengoku.
"Why was he scared?" asked Itsuki.
"Eto…"
Just then, Dan was pulled into a house by a random stranger.
"Ah, let go of me desu!"
They barged into the house.
"Shhh!" the man urgently hushed them. Then, he locked the door behind them.
"What do you want with us?" asked Atsushi.
"I have a gun here with me… Just thought you'd like to know," smiled Oshitari, as he polished the gleaming weapon in his hand.
The man looked stricken with fear. "Oh no, have I brought the wrong people into my house? You're part of the bandit gang aren't you?"
"We're not bandits. We aren't are we?" Itsuki asked Oshitari.
"That depends…"
"What? Of course we're not! We're good guys!" defended Sengoku.
The man looked at the youngest of the group. "You're Dan Link aren't you? You must be. You have that green tunic and pants on. And of course, a matching green cap that keeps slipping down."
"A-ano, I'm Dan Taichi desu. Not Dan Link…" His green cap slipped, covering his eyes.
"You don't have to deny it. You are indeed Dan Link! I knew it right when I saw you. Oh, thank heavens! Our village is saved!" cried the man.
Amused and intrigued by the man's exclamation, Oshitari ventured a question. "And what exactly does your village need saving from? I recall something about bandits…?"
"Oh yes, bandits. They've ruined our town. Taken all our money and goods. And worse still – they've kidnapped our children! Those poor kids!" he wailed.
Dan patted the man's back in an attempt to comfort him.
"Is there some way we can help?" asked Sengoku.
The man grabbed Dan's hand, much to his surprise. "You must save them of course!"
"E-eh?" asked Dan.
"What's in it for us?" Oshitari asked.
"This isn't the time to ask for such things!" cried Atsushi. "Didn't you hear? There are kids in danger!"
"So-sou desu. Oshitari-san, that's a bit too much…"
"We're going to save them anyway," said Oshitari. "What's the harm in asking about rewards? After all, there's no way we'll lose."
"Well," said the man, "we don't have much, but there must be plenty of gold and goods in the bandit's hideout. They live in a cave over the hill there."
"Sounds good to me," said Oshitari. "Let's make a move."
"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" the man bowed to them. "And if you come across an entrance behind a waterfall, be sure to enter it. There are a great many secrets to be learnt from doing so!"
Raising an eyebrow at that last statement, Oshitari replied a dismissive, "Sure."
Location: Plains of Briskale
Fuji ------------------------ ♥ HP 96/106 ---- MP 32/52 ------- Lvl 13 ----- Archer
Inui ----------------------- ♥ HP 78/92 ------ MP 63/122 ----- Lvl 12 ----- Wizard
Sanada ------------------- ♥ HP 56/82 ------ MP 34/46 ------ Lvl 8 ------- undecided
Kirihara ------------------ ♥ HP 54/73 ------ MP 33/39 ------ Lvl 7 ------- Thief
Yuuta --------------------- ♥ HP 46/68 ------ MP 32/40 ------ Lvl 7 ------- Archer
Key
Items: Fuji's
Pendant
Gold: 3948
Note: 'Undecided' means I haven't assigned a class to that char. Feel free to make a suggestion.
"This game is pretty fun!" said Kirihara. They had entered a cave and were searching their way through to the exit.
"I thought you said this game stinks," said Sanada.
"Well I changed my mind."
"This is fun isn't it Yuuta?" asked the older Fuji.
"I guess."
"This is a great place for me to gather data. Although it's rather dark in here to write properly. Maybe I should use that candle…"
"Oh! We're about to enter battle again!" cried Kirihara, as the screen changed. "I am just sooo good at this. This is one place where I beat you, Sanada-fukubuchou!"
"We'll see about that," a hint of a smile crept onto Sanada's face.
"You're all mistaken. No one beats me at video games," smiled Fuji Syuusuke.
"Aren't we all on the same team?" asked Yuuta.
A large bird greeted them with a deafening squawk. It was covered in beautiful feathers of silver and blue, not unlike the one Yuuta had on his necklace.
"This game sure has a lot of huge animals on it," said Kirihara. "No matter. It's going down!"
Fuji attacked first with his bow. He aimed a sturdy wooden arrow at the bird, firing three in quick succession. Each stroke brought a mere 20 damage to the creature.
"It seems to have a very high defense," Inui scribbled in his notebook. "Hmm… a Garuda. It's probably best if I used a Scan Lens on it." He then took out what looked like a magnifying glass from their pouch and threw it at the monster.
'Garuda. 5000 HP, 1500 MP. Attack 400, Defense 400, Magic Attack 150, Magic Defense 80.'
"That's absurd!" cried Kirihara. "We'll spend hours attacking it!"
"Unless it finishes us off first," said Sanada. "This must be the boss of this cave."
"I can always teleport us away should we need to," said Inui.
"Let's try to beat it anyway!" said Yuuta. "I'm sure we can –"
He was cut off when the Garuda grabbed him by its claws and carried him high up into the air.
"Yuuta!" screamed an anguished Fuji. "Come back here with my brother!"
The bird gave another loud squawk and dropped Yuuta from where it was, causing Yuuta to suffer 138 damage.
'Yuuta has perished.'
"Noo! Yuuta!" cried Fuji. He wanted desperately to run to his brother and hold him, but as always, no one could move in battle except to attack. He watched in vain as Yuuta faded just as monsters faded away when slain in battle.
"Inui! Teleport us from here now!"
"O-of course."
'Poof'
"Yuuta! Where's Yuuta?" cried Fuji frantically.
"It appears that when one dies in this game, you can't revive him…" said Inui, who quickly continued upon seeing Fuji's distressed look. "But I'm sure he's safe somewhere. You can't really die in a game. The most you'll have to do is start over."
"Yeah, it's just a game. He won't die," said Kirihara. He didn't usually comfort people, but the thought of someone dying in a game was just too cruel to comprehend.
Fuji sniffed. "I-I suppose so." He picked up the necklace he gave to Yuuta, the silver-blue feather still attached to it. "Yuuta…"
"Come, let's move along," said Inui gently. "We're bound to find him this way."
Yuuta found himself in a bright, white room. A sweet, pleasant melody tinkered in the air – it reminded Yuuta of a tune from a music box. He saw that he was draped in clean, white robes with contrasting black sandals. As he walked through the tall, strong pillars that decorated this large hall, Yuuta wondered if he had died and gone to heaven.
'That can't be right. I just died in a video game. No one really dies in a video game. But then again, no one gets sucked into one like this either.'
"Hey, isn't that the second year from St. Rudolph?"
Yuuta broke off from his thoughts to see Gakuto, Tachibana and Kurobane sitting on several marble benches.
"Oh yes, Fuji Syuusuke's otouto isn't it?" asked Tachibana.
"I'm Yuuta. Fuji Yuuta," he said a bit too fiercely.
"Me Tarzan. You Jane," said Kurobane.
Yuuta raised an eyebrow quizzically. "What's up with him?"
"He was hit by multiple confusion spells before we died. It seems that the spell lasts even after battle," explained Tachibana.
"Now he thinks he's Tarzan," snorted Gakuto. "But, I suppose it's an improvement from before when he thought he was a fairy princess and insisted that one of us be his prince charming." Gakuto shuddered at the memory.
"Um, okay… Wait, did you say you died?" asked Yuuta.
"Yes, we all did," said Tachibana. "We came into this place and formed a party together, but we ran into a monster too powerful and fell prey to it."
"It was all Akutsu's fault!" yelled Gakuto. "He wouldn't fight at all!"
"I didn't want to fight it!" Akutsu yelled menacingly from behind the pillar he was leaning on. "I hate video games! Video games are for sissies!"
"Then why did you play this game? Does that mean you're a sissy?" Yuuta trailed off as he realized that what he did was probably not very wise.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"
"We-well, you said it was for sissies yet you're here, which means you must have tried to play this game and so…"
Akutsu balled up his fist and advanced on the blunt brunette, growling like a mad dog.
"No! He Jane! He mine!" Kurobane yelled while waving his arms frantically at Akutsu.
"Get out of the way!" Akutsu bellowed.
"SILENCE!"
They stopped to look for the source of this new voice which appeared to be coming from invisible speakers around them.
"Ahem, thank you. Now you must know that this is a game suitable for all ages, which means there will be no scenes of brutal assault, alright?"
Still no sign of the person bearing the voice. It was a girl's voice – sweet and almost angelic, yet demanding at the same time.
"I am the Game Master. And you will all do as I say. Do we have that clear?"
"Why should we listen to you when we can't even see you?" asked Gakuto.
"Because!"
And she sent a zap of lightning towards Gakuto, who yelped.
"I control every little thing in this game."
She gave a little giggle.
"But alright, if you must know how I look like…"
'Poof'
A pretty little doll appeared. She had long, black hair; large, golden eyes and milky-white skin.
"A dolly!" squealed Kurobane, who then tried to grab at her but was pushed back by an unknown force.
"We're being played by a doll?!" asked Gakuto in disbelief.
"This is merely a form in which I chose to show myself," sniffed the doll. "But that's not important. Right now, the key players are your friends – who are busy in this little world. All of you, unfortunately, have met with tragic, early ends. And so, you can only wait; till your friends are done with their tasks, then I shall summon them to play a few games."
Her laughter tinkled as the boys stared at her uneasily.
"Do you think she's insane?" Yuuta whispered to Tachibana.
"I heard that," she said coldly. "And to think I just saved you from being mashed to pulp. Hmph. You should be thankful I'm such a gracious person."
"Not to me you weren't," muttered Gakuto. "And you're not even human."
"Dolls are for sissies," snorted Akutsu.
The doll glared at them squarely, before raising her petite hands. Bracing for the worst, the boys huddled together as they were blinded by bright flashes of light.
Multiple television screens switched on around them, each one showing a different group of their friends.
"Ooh, I can see Yuushi from here. Why is Jirou in a wheelbarrow? Oh look a hot chick!" said Gakuto.
"Doesn't that look like Tezuka?" Tachibana peered deeper at the screen.
"You're right! It does look like Tezuka-san," exclaimed Yuuta. "What's he doing in drag?"
"Dolly…" whimpered Kurobane.
Location: Plains of Roatina
Kamio ---------------------- ♥ HP 54/75 ---- MP 59/63 ----- Lvl 8 ----- Bard
Marui ----------------------- ♥ HP 32/68 ---- MP 48/52 ----- Lvl 7 ----- undecided
Niou ------------------------ ♥ HP 68/72 ---- MP 42/60 ----- Lvl 7 ----- Trickster
Shishido ------------------- ♥ HP 62/80 ---- MP 33/40 ----- Lvl 7 ----- undecided
Yanagi --------------------- ♥ HP 53/71 ---- MP 36/45 ----- Lvl 7 ----- undecided
Key Items: –
Gold: 1862
Note: 'Undecided' means I haven't assigned a class to that character. Feel free to make a suggestion.
"Bwahahahaa! I can't believe you play a guitar to kill monsters!" laughed Marui.
"U-urusai!" Kamio shouted. "Music is a powerful tool and it can be used on you too!"
"Oh yeah? Show me."
"Fine!" Kamio proceeded to strum a gentle tune. Nothing happened at first, but slowly Marui felt his eyelids droop and his body began to slump onto the floor.
"Hah! Take my Sleep Song!" yelled Kamio triumphantly. "Rizumu ni noruze!"
Marui answered with a loud snore.
Kamio felt dejected. It wasn't as much fun to gloat when your opponent was sound asleep.
"Oh great, now we have one conked out member," said Shishido.
"He snores pretty loud doesn't he?" mused Niou.
"Nothing new there," replied Yanagi.
Niou was slightly startled. How could he have known? Does he stalk Marui at night? What if he had stalked him too?
"Sanada almost slapped him once for falling asleep during practice. His snores gave him away. Would've been interesting to see that though."
"Oh. How come I wasn't there?" questioned Niou.
"You had the chicken pox."
Niou shook his head to clear away his thoughts. He had to stop being so suspicious of Yanagi. He was his teammate after all!
"Can we just get out of here? I want to look for the rest of my team," said Shishido before stalking off.
Kamio stared at the sleeping Marui. "I'm leaving him here."
Location: Castle of Tralista
Momoshiro -------------- ♥ HP 67/128 ----- MP 34/52 ----- Lvl 17 ----- Warrior
Ryoma ------------------- ♥ HP 93/102 ----- MP 68/68 ----- Lvl 17 ----- Warrior
Oishi ---------------------- ♥ HP 40/118 ----- MP 55/70 ----- Lvl 13 ----- Knight
Jirou (Reserve) ---------- ♥ HP 88/109 ---- MP 43/60 ----- Lvl 13 ------ Strange
Kaidou (Reserve) ------- ♥ HP 45/82 ------ MP 36/43 ----- Lvl 10 ------ Archer
Kawamura -------------- ♥ HP 60/92 ------ MP 32/73 ----- Lvl 11 ------ Warrior
Mizuki -------------------- ♥ HP 40/86 ------ MP 32/38 ----- Lvl 10 ------ Spectre
Tezuka ------------------- ♥ HP 35/52 ------ MP 68/73 ----- Lvl 7 -------- Kung Fu Princess
Key Items: Eiji,
Shinji
Gold: 3386
"I feel so poor," moaned Momoshiro. "All our money…"
"We were lucky to have gotten this far because we leveled up so much before fighting the last boss. But we need to get better equipment if we want to survive this game," said Oishi.
"Oi, Echizen. Did you have to buy so many potions? You're wasting them all just drinking them like that," complained Momoshiro.
"No, I'm not. My health bar isn't full yet." Ryoma took another sip out of his potion.
"Speaking of bars, why don't we go inside that one? It looks like fun," Shinji said, pointing to a quaint establishment further down.
Mizuki smiled slyly at him. "Why Shinji, I never knew you were into these things. I, Mizuki Hajime, support you on your quest!"
"We shouldn't go to such places," said Kawamura. "It's bad influence."
"Don't be such a spoilsport," said Mizuki. "I doubt this game would have anything indecent anyway. It's probably just an average, boring bar."
"Have you been to one?" asked Shinji.
"Well, I just know of these things," Mizuki replied.
"What is inside there?" asked Kaidou, curious.
"We won't know until we find out." Mizuki strode towards the bar while the rest of them followed in a more grudging manner.
Loud music was blaring out into the streets. Catcalls and rowdy cheers could also be heard.
"This really isn't a good idea," Kawamura warned again.
Ignoring him, Mizuki flung open the door to see a gorgeous, silver haired babe croon 'Eternal Flame' while dancing rather suggestively much to the delight of the crowd. Her fans gave an encouraging roar of applause as she hit her last note. Winking at them, she curtsied, flipped her hair back and demanded silence with a flick of her wrist.
Ryoma choked on his potion. "A-Atobe?"
A/N: More than one original character appeared here. I don't know about the mirrors, but the doll is here to stay. What do you think? Love her? Hate her?
Also, I found this cute statement on the web:
"Although we may not consciously realize it, in a two-person conversation, people speak by taking turns. When someone thinks it is their turn to talk, they do. Otherwise, they listen. A two-person conversation becomes like a tennis match."
While there probably won't be any tennis matches in this fic, I thought it was amusing that conversations could be viewed as such. And indeed TeniPuri characters talk a lot. They just don't seem to want to shut up. Not that it's a bad thing. It just gives me less room to work on my descriptions. Anyway, I guess that was random thought #329 of the day.
I'll try to keep you guys updated on the progress of the next chapter in my profile. So if you're curious, just drop by to see how much I've done. I've still got lots more forms to fill. #Sighs and goes back to filling them#