Hello. It's been a really long while!

To be honest, I'd hit some writer's block, then started working on some other stuff and totally lost track of Seasons. That being said, the live action movie announcement put me back into full-blown Tiger and Bunny hype mode. If you don't already know about the movie, put this aside for a moment and go google it!

Anyway, I will be putting a lot more effort into Seasons to show my support for the fandom. Here's to more Tiger and Bunny in the future!

- panzerkatzen


12 - Probability


"Why can't the feudal lord just order his men to go fight the tyrant?" Pao Lin asked. "Why do we have to go do it for him?"

"Because if he sends his on men it'll be an open declaration of war." Barnaby replied, his eyes fixated on his tablet. Heroes of Sternbild now had a mobile version, and Barnaby's character had just replenished his energy. "We have no discernible ties to the Kitsune clan, so if they pay us to attack the Tanuki clan, they wouldn't immediately be implicated."

He leaned back and crossed his legs, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm surprised that you're still paying attention to the campaign, Barnaby. You haven't put that thing down since we started." Antonio sat on the other end of the room, demolishing a bowl of trail mix.

"My character sheet is here." Barnaby poked the device, and it made a sound. "Tch. Another H-01 helmet."

"That's the trouble with electronic games now, they are really distracting!" Keith sat just next to Antonio, holding some cue cards and a small figurine. Keith had written down his character details on cue cards, rather than using the recommended sheet. "I like playing board games like this. They demand more attention, so you enjoy the experience!"

"So says the guy whose character is maxed out in Heroes of Sternbild." Kotetsu set down some sodas on the table, careful not to knock over any game pieces. "Anyway, did I miss anything? Antonio, I've got some snacks from back home."

Kotetsu tossed a pack of rice crackers at the larger man, who proceeded to rip it open and empty the contents into his bowl.

"Kakinotane! Man, I missed these! Wish we had some drinks to go with them though." Antonio chuckled.

"Not with Pao Lin. No alcohol around the minors." Barnaby shook his head.

"Are you guys finished discussing if you are going to accept the feudal lord's proposition?" Ivan asked.

Ivan was wearing elaborate daimyo robes for the evening's primary entertainment, a tabletop strategy role playing game that his sponsor company had developed. He'd personally had a hand in developing the game as Ivan Karelin, and was promoting the game as Origami Cyclone, and was subsequently playtesting the design with some of the heroes. Nathan was out of town for a meeting and Karina had a tv performance that night, leaving Pao Lin and the rest of the boys.

"Is this decision making necessary to the plot?" Barnaby asked. He prodded his tablet, this time rolling a Darkness Barnaby torso. "Would be nice if I didn't already own two."

"It is, because you have the option of refusing. This will lower your party's reputation with the Kitsune clan, but will keep you obligation-free as you travel eastward." Ivan took out a folding fan and covered the lower half of his face with it. His long, feminine eyelashes made an interesting contrast with the rest of his outfit.

"I honestly don't care either way. It's politics." Kotetsu slumped between Barnaby and Pao Lin, with a bowl of kakinotane. "You guys pick."

"It would be improper to refuse the request of the lord who has provided us warriors with food and board. I vote for aiding the Kitsune lord." Keith set his warrior figurine down on the board.

"Spoken like a true warrior, Keith-san!" Ivan fanned himself, pleased that his friend was getting into the spirit of things.

"Well the Tanuki clan sounds kind of formidable. I'm not sure that making enemies this early in the campaign would be a good idea." Antonio scratched at his 5 o'clock shadow with one hand, taking a sip of cola with the other. His character sheet already had some cola stains.

"Oh? The big tough guy that picked fights left and right in high school is bowing to an unknown enemy?" Kotetsu shot him a grin, handing Pao Lin some pork buns. The young girl received them eagerly.

"At least I know not to pick fights I can't be sure I'll beat." Antonio huffed.

"That's probably why you're still single, then." Kotetsu snickered.

Barnaby kept his eyes on his tablet, ignoring the ad hominem banter. The guidebook says that the Tanuki are composed of assassins. We should be prepared if we decide to make enemies of them."

"Someone's done his homework." Kotetsu's eyebrows raised.

"Well I wanna fight people and I don't care if we make enemies or not, I wanna beat up the bad guys!" Pao Lin stood up on the couch, waving her little monk figurine in the air, a pork bun in her mouth.

"Aren't monks supposed to be pacifists?" Antonio asked, examining his cavalryman figure.

"Monks are allies of justice!" Pao Lin responded, balancing on one foot with her arms in the air.

"You've been watching too many kung fu films." Barnaby lowered his head instinctively. He had finished up all his energy, but now he had to check his social media apps for updates...

"So that's Pao Lin and Keith-san for attacking the Tanuki clan, Antonio-san against, and Kotetsu-san indifferent. Barnaby-san?" Ivan snapped his fan up and pointed at the blonde.

"Hold on, Agnes just tweeted some stuff about that variety show we're supposed to be on next week. Put my figure next to Kotetsu's." Barnaby looked concerned.

At the mention of Agnes, Antonio sat up. "What variety show?"

"Something to do with an obstacle course and falling into mud. Bunny's been trying to put it off for ages." Kotetsu bit into a steaming pork bun, and reached for his partner's onmyouji figure, setting it next to his own blacksmith.

"So that's everyone but Antonio for attacking the Tanuki. I believe that's all the votes, Origami-kun?" Keith nodded at Ivan.

"Yes it is." Ivan took a moment to get into character. His facial features warped slightly to resemble one of the characters on the game packaging. "Ooooooooh, on behalf of the Kitsune clan, I acknowledge your support! With this, we can secure greater control over the realm!"

Pao Lin burst into laughter. "Nobody can look at a feudal lord with that face and take him seriously!"

"Does the game come with a handy transforming Origami Cyclone to manage the campaign?" Antonio held the game's box cover, comparing Ivan's features to what was presumed to be the Kitsune lord.

Ivan's face turned back to normal. "It's assumed that one of the players will perform the role of the campaign manager. He plays by a different rulebook, you see. Now since you've accepted the Kitsune lord's proposition, you can now use the highway that the clan owns. But..."

He took out some complicated-looking dice, and rolled them onto the board. The dice didn't have numbers, but instead carried symbols. Ivan then checked his rulebook...

"...it turns out that some warriors of Nekomata clan have been lying in wait along the highroad to attack the Kitsune, and you happen upon some of them at a hidden encampment! What do you choose to do?"

"FIGHT! FIIIGHT!" Pao Lin cheered.

"None of our business. We're supposed to be incognito, so keep going." Barnaby swapped to his phone and took a selfie with some kakinotane. "Here, for your blog, Kotetsu."

"Our blog, you mean." Kotetsu looked thoughtful. "They're not the Tanuki, but they're after the Kitsune..."

"If they are after our allies, we must fight them! The enemy of our friend is also our enemy!" Keith declared.

"You have that saying wrong, it's "The enemy of my enemy", not your friend..." Antonio gulped down some cola. "Anything aside from pork buns, Tiger?"

"There's some dimsum on the kitchen table." Kotetsu waved in the general direction of the kitchen. Antonio stood up, with Pao Lin following suit.

"Err, Antonio, your decision..?" Ivan looked up from his booklet.

"Oh? Ah, is it worth fighting them?" Antonio looked through the takeout and found some dumplings.

"Well you gain more favor with the Kitsune and less with the Nekomata, but the Tanuki will be alerted by your activities." Ivan read from the manual.

"SIU MAI!" Pao Lin found some of the little pork dumplings. "Tiger! Where do you keep the soy sauce?"

"Second cupboard to your left, next to the dishwasher." Kotetsu replied, moving Pao Lin's monk next to Keith's warrior. "We don't all have to fight, right? Let those two handle it and we'll go scout ahead."

"You can do that?" Antonio had a plate of pot stickers and siu mai, and was now helping himself to some steamed vegetables with oyster sauce.

"You can, but there's a risk we'll be separated. Kotetsu's class can repair armor and weapons, so it's best if he sticks with Keith. Pao Lin doesn't use weapons but risks physical injury so she should go with me. Antonio's class can move between our parties but we shouldn't leave him on his own." Barnaby returned to his tablet. Now to check his email...

"As expected from the onmyouji-class, Barnaby!" Keith applauded. "So if we plan on attacking the Nekomata camp, we should probably check for their strengths and weaknesses to field the appropriate party."

"That sounds like a good plan and all, but we don't know what kind of fighters the Nekomata are." Antonio sat back down, his plate full.

"Neko... Those are cats. They're probably bandits. All fast and sneaky." Pao Lin had found the soy sauce, and was pouring some in a little dipping cup.

"Bandits and assassins, are the Kitsune the only straightforward ones?" Kotetsu updated their blog from his phone. "Oh look, Blue Rose retweeted it."

"If you call hiring a bunch of wandering mercenaries to do your dirty work "straightforward", I suppose." Barnaby finally put his tablet down. "I checked the rulebook. Depending on how Ivan rolls, at this stage of the game we can expect anywhere from just one to five Nekomata bandits."

"...Barnaby-san, you're not supposed to read my rulebook..." Ivan faltered a little.

"The rules say I can't consult it during the campaign. They don't forbid doing any advanced reading." Barnaby pointed out, rearranging the figures so that Pao Lin's monk was right in front of his onmyouji. "This way we take the least damage. After this encounter we can mostly ignore the Nekomata clan as we'll have scared them off, but then we'll be skirting the Orochi borders, so we'll need Keith in front to scare off archers."

"When did Barnaby get so good at games?" Antonio gave Kotetsu a slightly bewildered look. Kotetsu simply whistled.

"With Barnaby-kun in the party, it looks like we can get reach the campaign ending smoothly!" Keith clapped.

Ivan slumped in his seat. "There's no excitement if one of you already knows the campaign inside out."

"Oh cheer up, Origami. Your game isn't bad, it's just that you tested it with a certain Bunny in your control group." Kotetsu gave him a pat on the shoulder. "The figurines look really nice too. Did you make them?"

Ivan looked a bit sheepish. "I designed them on my computer then had them 3d printed. My sponsor company owns a smaller 3d printing business, so we've been prototyping with them."

Pao Lin perked up. "I've heard of that! Can you 3d print other stuff yet? Like food?"

"Food's a little ways off yet, I think." Ivan shrugged. "Well, do you guys still want to continue the campaign?"

"Can it wait?" Barnaby showed them his tablet, with Agnes's tweet. "I've found out what show Blue Rose is appearing on tonight. It's the one we're supposed to be on next.."

"Karina's gonna fall in mud!" shrieked Pao Lin. "Tiger, you have cable, right? Tv party, tv party!"

"This should be good! We get to see her Cutie Escape." Antonio let out a hearty laugh. "Where's the remote, Kotetsu?"

"I'm sorry, Ivan. If you want we can schedule another session?" Keith looked at the younger hero apologetically.

Ivan nodded. "It's all right, Keith-san. I think I've got some more ideas for the game based on this practice session. Barnaby knowing the enemies in advance shouldn't make that big a difference in combat... Hmm.."

"Out of curiosity, Ivan, before you wanted to go into the hero business, did you want to make games?" Kotetsu started clearing up the game pieces.

"Kinda? I just really liked oriental stuff in general. I ended up learning about things like origami and games later on." Ivan started folding up the boards, as Keith started to move the food containers to the other side of the table.

"Oh, so it's like when I was learning martial arts, I learned about proper food nutrition afterwards!" Pao Lin's head appeared from behind one of the couches. "Tiger, we can't find the remote!"

"It's over by the sound system! Can't miss it!" Kotetsu was presently by the sink, arranging the used dishes and bowls.

"Need help with the dishes, Tiger-san?" Keith volunteered.

"But there are four here!" Pao Lin responded.

"Nice little domestic mess we have here." Antonio laughed. "I think it's the one with the green buttons, Pao Lin."

"Two of them have green buttons!" Pao Lin waved the offending remotes in the air.

"Let me have a look, I should be able to recognize it. Does it have blue buttons for the channels?" Ivan sidled over to where the younger hero was, and took a look at the remotes.

Barnaby yawned. "If this is what happens when people come together to play board games, I want none if it. Heroes of Sternbild is exhausting enough as is."

"You're lucky to have been born in an era of phone games." Kotetsu wiped his hands on a dishrag and leaned on the couch, just beside him. Over by the tv, Ivan had found the correct remote and the other heroes were now bickering over what channel Karina's show was supposed to be on.

"You know, I didn't have a lot of people to play with growing up. Maverick got me a game console once but I never really touched it. Most of this is new to me." Barnaby turned to look at him, as he uncrossed and crossed his legs.

"Neither did I. I was afraid of hurting people, so I had to be really careful not to roughhouse with the neighborhood kids." Kotetsu looked at the younger heroes. "There wasn't a Hero Academy when I was older, either. You and Origami graduated from there, right?"

"Mm." Barnaby nodded. "You've been there and seen the students though - it's not exactly the case that we learn how to control our powers there. It still depends on the individual, and how well he adjusts to society."

Barnaby gave his partner an evaluating look. He patted Kotetsu on the shoulder. "You've done really well getting this far, old man."

"Eh? What's this for then?" Kotetsu looked confused.

"Nothing in particular." Barnaby gave him a wry smile, and turned to the other heroes. "It's on channel 68. Hurry, or we'll miss it!"

"Hey, tell me what that was for!" Kotetsu frowned. Barnaby just laughed.


Contrary to all expectations, Blue Rose clears the obstacle course in style.