tw: a boatload of internalized traumas, including gender dysphoria.

"So, we're the army?" Kariya asked, arms crossed, as heels clicked first on glass and then on concrete as the group of about fifty- Sora's group, some Reapers, and exactly two pairs of Players followed Joshua to the end of the hall to a backroom of the club.

"You're the army," Joshua replied, waving a finger as the concrete separated to a round, empty, white room. "Welcome to Heaven, or one of the entrances, anyway."

"Heaven is an empty concrete room under the sewers?" Lea asked incredulously. "It almost looks like…"

"The World that Never Was," Isa finished for him.

"Um… no, I was going to say Betwixt," Lea replied. "Cramped, and featureless."

Isa looked at him funny. "The giant vaulted ceiling reminds you of a corridor of darkness?"

Lea looked up. "It's barely taller than our heads."

Joshua paced to the middle of the room, holding out a hand like he were grabbing for a chair, and there one was. He flipped it so the chair back faced forward, straddling it so his wings could drop, relaxed, tips scraping the floor. "Technically it's exactly what you think it is. We're not anywhere physical, mind."

"No," Foaly said, stomping, as his hoof clipped through the floor a moment. "The entire place is nothing but magic." His eyes went wide and hungry, and suddenly there was a chaise lounger in his height before him. Kicking off the concrete, he settled.

"It's powered by our imaginations, isn't it?" Artemis asked. "We see what we expect to see."

"Yeeeeeep," Joshua said, lengthening the sound. He would have popped the P in yep for added effect, except what he'd actually said was "sou'su'neeeee", and thus had no P to pop. For those hearing him through magical translation- everyone from off planet save the four Reapers who came via death's door- a popped P was what they heard.

Artemis effortlessly made himself a throne, and sat smugly in it.

The higher ranked Reapers seemed to know what to do, fashioning themselves chairs and sofas to circle Joshua, who waited patiently, watching their skill.

"So, for those of you who aren't high ranking officers, this is exactly the sort of thing that gets you promoted around here," Joshua explained. "The whole point of all this Playing the Game charade is twofold," Joshua added, capital letters apparent in his tone. "Keep Noise in check on this world- 'lest ye rainne fyre and brimestonne' and all that Biblical and-or Sutra crud, as well as finding people for this," he added, shaking and stretching out his pearlescent wings to their maximum span.

"You're extending a job offer?" a Player- Li-chan- the powerful woman who had lost her memory as an entry fee, not for herself, but for the meek young man sitting next to her- asked. Sora reflexively rubbed his shoulder where she'd beamed him with a telekinetically thrown vending machine during his single day actually on the job.

"In so many words, pretty much. Keep the universe in balance, darkness at bay, et-cet-er-a," he replied, accentuating every syllable. "We can't reproduce, funny considering we're basically willpower. And some of the old guard is so, well, old, they're more angels in theory than actually… well. That's political nonsense for another day."

Princess K adjusted herself on her plush purple velvet chair. "Master Joshua, what's the plan for tomorrow? Princess K's skills do not lie in direct confrontation."

"Right. Yes. Well. With the brand restriction, we have to wear Lapin Angelique clothing. I have the Composer of Toshima checking it out from the north side. I owe him twenty favors for this. We're not on great terms, but he's less happy with the border, so… anyway. No political stuff. He says it's only a clothing restriction, but it makes sense to keep Lapin pins on hand, too, just in case. We'll go in groups of what… ten or twelve sound okay?"

"To Princess K's shop? Yes, clerks can be called in to assist if Master Joshua is willing to compensate them for working overnight."

"That's not even up for debate, yeah, go make your calls and get your shop ready," Joshua said. "And no combat for you tomorrow. I do need your shop open though, just in case. Sorry for putting you on the spot, Princess."

"It's not a problem, truly. Princess K will call her staff and make sure the tailors are on hand."

"Expect the first group by 9PM," Joshua said sternly. "And don't worry about needing child sized things, they're not dead, so they're not affected by the restrictions," he added, pointing a thumb at Holly and Foaly, sweeping to the rest of the faux fairies. "Though our living friends should probably get decked out."

"Won't that… make them a target?" Princess K asked worriedly. "Anyone in Lolita is going to be seen as a Reaper, or safe to harm."

Joshua clasped his fingers together. "That's the point, my dear."

"You're essentially asking us to be bait," Lea said, crossing his arms. Unlike the rest of the group, he deliberately seated himself on the floor, having conjured no chair or even a cushion.

Joshua sighed. "Yes. Yes I am. You're a lot smarter than you look."

"It's not hard to put together the pieces," Lea said with a shrug. "Everyone else realizes what it means to be wearing… whatever that girl was wearing, tomorrow, right?"

Sora shook his head no, as did some of the others. Ienzo, though, nodded to Lea. "Anyone in dress like that tomorrow is dead. And therefore, a safe target to maim. Yet, the dead harming the living is a massive taboo, punishable by… well, by God themselves, if what you've said is to be believed. Which I suppose it is."

"Coco's not stupid, though," Gabriel said. "Even if you were to pose as a Player coming with us, you wouldn't smell like one."

"I was… planning on hiding a few of my feathers in their pockets," Joshua said, mildly embarrassed.

"You could've asked," Lea glared. "Given how you actually treat dead people I would've said yes. What, just gotta fight monsters for a week to get my life back? Not like I haven't been doing it already."

Joshua leaned back in the chair, genuinely confused. "You're… willing to die?"

"Well, I'm not suicidal," Lea admitted, looking over his shoulder fondly at Roxas, Xion, and Isa. "But if it works, and my punishment is a week of mild annoyance, it's not that big a deal."

"Not everyone who dies gets to play," Joshua said, quietly. "And you'd die in Shinjuku too, so…"

"I trust you," Lea said, eyes burning as bright as his hair. "You've done nothing but protect Sora and Riku, and two more stowaways to boot."

Joshua actually laughed.

"What? Something I said?" Lea asked the group.

Neku shrugged. "Josh isn't used to being trusted, don't take it personally. Combo of most angels being self-serving dicks and hiding what he was for so long."

Joshua frowned, but nodded. "Neku's not wrong."

"So that's why the subterfuge?" Lea asked. Joshua nodded quietly.

Lea cracked his back and stood up. "Who's gonna die with me tomorrow?"

Xion and Roxas immediately stood, and Lea glared. "You're not human right now, sit."

"But we're not leaving you!"

"No, if I die, you can see me just fine like that. Hang out here with me for a week, yeah? We're all going home. Together. May just take a bit longer."

Roxas and Xion looked at each other and sat quietly, pouting a little. "Holding you to it," Roxas hissed. "I'm sticking with your corpse like glue."

"Technically it's his soul," Joshua offered, finger in the air. "His body'd probably- er now is not the time for black humor."

"I'm with you," Isa said, standing. "Can't leave you alone for five minutes without you doing something profoundly stupid."

"Well, that settles that, ha-ha!" Mickey said. "Pretty sure my wife's gonna kill me when I get back for it though."

"If I die, that means you're my Reapers, right?" Kairi asked Sora and Riku. "That's not so bad."

Joshua flicked his eyes between them. "I'm comfortable with everyone but you risking their lives," he said finally, eyeing Lea warily. "You're to wear standard streetwear tomorrow."

Lea hardened. "No way."

"Yes, way. If you can't even make yourself a chair in here, where you're quite literally swimming in Imagination, you're not going to have enough power to be a candidate for reincarnation. That is risking your life foolishly."

"Wait, so that's the qualifier for being a Player?" Lea asked, huffing. "Should've said so. I was just too lazy to bother."

He flopped backwards and landed on a giant bean bag in the shape of a Shadow Heartless.

Joshua blinked. "Excuse my French, but, holy shit." Lea hadn't just made something to sit on, but had imbued it with an artistic flair and a sense of personality, and done so in the moment it took him to flop backwards.

"This good enough for you or do I have to make a throne to prove my point?" Lea asked, flicking an arm to point to Artemis.

Joshua bit his lower lip. "No, you'll be just fine."

"So, now I suppose I'll come clean before moving forward," Joshua said to the group. "The original intent was to corner Coco until, when attacking us, she'd hit a bystander and kill them on accident. Hence the flash mob. God- more likely Metatron or a Throne if nobody wants to do the dirty work- would swoop down, haul her off, and with her gone, Uriel could take the district back over, name a new Composer that actually answers to her, and put the city back to rights. The poor living soul's entry fee would then be the fact that they died too soon. They'd be protected under Uriel and her Composer in the same way Rhyme and I are making special exceptions for Sora, Riku, Vanitas and Tomo. That's not to say there isn't a risk involved. If the person killed in the crossfire didn't have enough Imagination of their own, they're not eligible for reincarnation. I mean, if everyone had the chance, you'd see way more than 50 people dead in a city after a whole week. Someplace as large as Shibuya? Over 200,000 people live here, and that's not counting transients and tourists who just pass away here, to say nothing of the hospitals and clinics where people go to die. We can give perks as we see fit to the dead in extenuating circumstances like that, but… we can't make their souls coalesce after death. Only willpower itself does that."

"So this restriction forcing you all into 18thcentury French courtwear is actually a blessing in disguise," Artemis thought aloud. "I am one for subterfuge, but if someone's life were on the line by pretending to be dead, I probably would have, well, you know, asked. Or merely played the role of decoy myself."

"You have before, Artemis," Holly groaned. "Too many times at this point."

"Yes, and this time I won't be. You heard Butler. I truly do not need him breathing down my neck for a week in Tokyo while I gamble for my life back, divine intervention or otherwise."

"And, if it's all right with everyone here," Mary said solemnly, "I shall not be risking my life. I am over 900 and well on borrowed time. Who knows if dying for me will be the end of it," she added, squeezing the hand of the little imp leaning into her. Myde was half asleep himself, but aware enough to know he'd need to help with magic come tomorrow. More fighting. Just what he wanted. At least he could show off his magic skills to Mary- if he could still tap into them as a Somebody. She'd always chided him on not learning anything but telekinesis to hold up his papers while composing.

"Four… Four fakes is probably enough," Joshua admitted. "The rest of you, I'll need to split you up. Reapers will be helping me control the mob, you'll all be given the ability to impose your will on the communal imprint. Your goal is to guide some mass of living people in such a way as to corner Coco around myself and a small group who will directly engage her. She's going to want to take me down, for sure. Riku is a likely target as well, given that he's technically her property."

Riku bowed his head down, reflexively reaching for his right hand, still covered in the black Velcro bandage to hide his timer.

"Rhyme and I also didn't reveal her as the new Conductor just because everyone was present, in fact, it was probably the worst time to do so. She deserves a party, at a time when we're not in crisis mode."

"You made her bait as well," Isa said simply. "Word might reach Shinjuku."

"He didn't make me bait. I did," Rhyme said sternly. "I let Joshua take credit for a lot of my ideas for a reason. People think I'm stupid and weak. It's easier to let them."

"My sis is the smartest person I know. And that includes adults," Beat said proudly, slinging an arm over her. "And in six months, she can beat a few angels to a pulp. I can't wait to see how she thrashes in a year or two when I'm outta high school."

The four Players looked at her warily.

Rhyme smiled gently. "Don't worry, when you fight me Sunday, I'm under certain handicaps. But I'm not throwing the match; you need enough Imagination to be reborn properly. If you don't, you'll never come back to life."

Joshua nodded. "Continuing. You four Players, I picked you out of the group that wanted to help for a reason. You four are to be equipping healing pins only, and acting as medics if needed. If Noise chase you, and it's likely it will, you break out of the pocket dimension and stay with the group. No heroics, you die while dead, and, er, you don't get another chance. If we get Noise chasing us, that'll be on our next group."

Joshua swept his hand to the remainder of the living. "Fairies, and everyone else alive who isn't bait, your job is to keep the lanes clear. Feel free to use your magic or any skills you have, and make it showy. Coco's going to see there's people alive who can still fight Noise and it's going to do nothing but piss her off. Don't worry about being harmed, she may send Noise after you but she knows killing you will just cause more problems."

Holly glared at Joshua. "In broad daylight? Not happening. I can keep myself shielded, but not anyone else. And the cam-foil breaks too easily to be worn in any kind of combat."

"The holographic fabric?" Gabriel asked her.

"Yes. It's pretty sensitive equipment."

"What's the penalty for being visible?"

"Well, I won't be," Holly said. "I can shield. But there's going to be entirely too much explaining back at HQ and there's no way I can erase enough memories and video footage to get my way out of this."

"No, certainly not. But you can blame us," Joshua said, sharply. "Here, get out of jail free cards."

He tossed Holly one of the imprint pins. "If you're all under my control, what's your boss going to do about it?"

Holly laughed. "If it's possible to prove a fairy was under the effect of a Mesmer, it is the person doing the mesmer that is at fault. Police bylines on culpability, paragraph two."

"Three," Foaly corrected. "Paragraph three. Two is the one on calling one's lawyer. There was an addendum while you were MIA."

"Pedant."

"Proud of it," Foaly grinned, showing off a row of blunt but powerful looking teeth.

"It's a blank, don't worry. And, actually, all of us will be wearing them. Since I'm extending the imprint control to all the Reapers present, should I… become incapacitated, Coco will quickly realize the imprint isn't fading. She won't know who's doing the controlling and who's being controlled unless she physically takes the pin off your clothes."

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Joshua," Artemis said, primly, "but I cannot fight in any capacity. Brains are my forte, not brawn."

"Same," Ienzo and Foaly both said in unison.

"Would managing communications be more your speed? Right now we don't have anyone doing that. You and Butler could. I'd be asking the four other people from the Oregon group to fight if they're capable."

"They're very good at combat," Kairi offered. "Magic and offensive fighting both."

Joshua clapped his hands. "Done. Everyone has marching orders now, yes? Get into groups of twelve, for everyone but the fairies and the living not risking their lives, and we'll take turns getting our gear for tomorrow. Neku, Beat, and Shiki, can you walk everyone else home?"

Neku nodded, giving Joshua a fist bump on the way out.

"Oh, and, nice punch, anything broken?" Joshua added, as they turned to leave.

"Just your face this time," he said with a smirk.

Joshua, Gabriel, Komaeda, Rhyme, Sora, Riku, Tomo, Vanitas, Mickey. Kairi, Isa, and Lea hurried through the glow that was Shibuya at night, the latter four getting a chance to marvel at the city bathed in neon for the first time as the final rays of the late summer sun began to fade.

"So, what, everyone gets a giant dress?" Lea asked, easily keeping pace with Joshua's hurried steps towards Princess K's store in south Harajuku.

Kairi giggled. "You'd look good in a ballgown, especially with that hair."

"Excuse you," Lea said, nose up. "I'd rock it better than you."

"Nobody is putting me in a dress," Gabriel grumbled, annoyed. "I'd sooner walk to Shinjuku totally naked than wear anything girly. And why isn't Uriel getting anything?"

"It's still her city, even if she can't control Coco," Joshua said. "She went to see if she could walk through the border in what she had on, and she can. So she's going around and checking up on all the dorms and adding extra wards, just in case things spill over and get out of control."

"Fuck her and fuck her Dragon Couture blouse and chinos," Gabriel whined. "At least DC sells sneakers."

"Lapin sells pants, too," Joshua said, rolling his eyes. "You don't have to get a dress."

"It's the principle of the thing!"

"Says the girl who wears Mus Rattus."

"It's cheap and comfy, knock off. And I like their line of anime tees."

"Theeeeeere's the answer," Joshua giggled back.

"So, uh, what's the deal with the clothes here?" Lea asked. "I mean, I'm familiar with magicked vestments," he added, holding the edge of his plaid button-down. "But where we're from you can't exactly buy them in shops."

"The higher choirs- er, the angels upstairs- have an arrangement with some of the shops," Joshua explained. "They provide charmed gear to the Reapers and Players to fend off the Noise," he said, pointing up and diagonally to a symbol in the air, "and we help influence the trends to get people to shop there. Free advertising, basically. We get a cut of the profit, and that's how we can pay for the more mundane parts of this. City rent's not exactly cheap, to house a couple hundred Reapers. We might own some of the buildings, but that doesn't excuse us from our taxes, sooo…"

"What's taxes?" Lea asked. Mickey stared at him for a solid minute.

"You were just a kid when you turned Nobody, weren't'cha?" he asked. "Wait 'till you have to buy property."

"Joy," Lea whined. "I guess it's more munny owed isn't it?"

"Social services don't pay for themselves," Mickey and Joshua said in unison, staring at each other, surprised, beofre Mickey finished the thought. "The joys of political leadership, ha-ha!"

A Noise flew dangerously low, and Joshua furrowed his brow. "I never found out if you guys could fight the Noise with your goggles on, did I?" he asked.

"We can use Keyblades, not just pins," Vanitas said with a shrug. "If they could enter the sewers, they should be able to fight, right?"

"Doesn't hurt to find out, who wants to be a guinea pig?" Joshua asked, holding out his hand. Before Lea could grab it, Kairi pulled it firmly, and Joshua called the sigil to him.

In a flash, the two were gone.

"I know I trust him in theory, but I'm still on edge," Lea admitted, watching the thing glow and flicker with interest, before it shattered and the two were back on the pavement, wide eyed.

"Crazy woman almost burned my hair off through two pocket dimensions," Joshua muttered, touching half an eyebrow, fixing it with a wince.

Lea grinned, slapping Kairi a high-five for her effort.

Lapin Angelique was small, less a store and more a boutique. A sign, in graceful calligraphy boasted the words "Private Consultation, Please Return Friday", and, when Joshua opened the door, the group was assaulted with the scent of strong black tea and freshly baked cookies.

"Welcome!" cried a chorus of voices, as six people greeted them on entry. One of them, aside from Princess K herself, sported Reaper wings, the other four seemed to just be humans.

"They know?" Joshua asked, aiming a thumb at Princess K's living assistants. She nodded politely.

"Well," Joshua said with a shrug, "if I'm getting something tailored I'd rather it around my wings than through them. All of you with goggles, mind passing them off to one of our new friends here?"

The four of them hastily removed their eyepieces, wiping them down on shirts or jackets, before leaving them on an end table. Kairi gave Riku and Sora a halfhearted smile. They looked just like they did alive without the eyewear. Quietly, she squeezed Sora's hand, still feeling like ice. She saw him blush profusely but missed the view of his wings flutter from the contact.

One of the shop assistants nervously picked up the goggles. "Sirs, madams, and friends," he said nervously, a twig of a teenager in a full suit with coattails, "oh, wow." He blinked through the eyepieces, putting his pinky through the open hole in the five yen coin on the left side just to make certain it wasn't a trick. "Princess, your wings are exquisite! As are everyone else's'."

"Praise later, we've got a lot of people to gear up," Joshua said, all business.

The young man bowed. "Yes, yes, let's get everyone sorted, shall we?"

The twelve of them were split, two per attendant, trying to keep those with similar body types together to make trying clothes easier.

Naturally, this meant Sora and Vanitas were put under the same young man who tried the goggles on first.

"Er, twins, sirs?" he asked them.

"Could you cut the small talk and please just help us?" Vanitas asked, a bit snippy.

"Vanitas!" Sora chided.

Vanitas bit his lip and sighed. "Sorry. I just really don't do well in small spaces or touching others."

"If you'd rather, I can measure your twin and bring things upstairs to you where there's less people?"

"Let's do that," Sora suggested.

The clerk pointed to a door on the side. "The tailoring room is that way. All I ask is you not touch the machines."

Vanitas nodded, and disappeared through the side door.

"Sorry," Sora admitted.

"No need to apologize. We're used to it. Princess K sometimes drags in your people. Her magic lies in just knowing when someone needs help, or a day off."

Komaeda looked over their shoulder, almost back to back with Sora in the small shop. "I kinda figured she was giving Reapers get out of work excuses," they said with a smile.

"And a makeover!" Princess K added, pouring Joshua a glass of tea as he looked through a book near the register. "Everyone likes to feel pretty sometimes, Princess K knows."

"Mhmmm, and I want whatever's going to give me the most defense," Joshua said between sips.

"Of what Princess K has now?" she asked, scanning her store. "We do not have the time to make new spells on clothing, our best defensive attire will severely hamper sir's speed or attack."

"That's fine, I'm trying to stay in one piece as long as possible."

Princess K walked between the racks, pulling out a deep blue dress with black accents and a large bow in the back. "If sir would prefer a suit, there is one that might fit the bill, but the enchantments are to one's constitution rather than defense."

Joshua didn't even consider. "Hey, Gabe, you keep complaining I'm a boy, want to fix my face?"

Gabriel poked her head out from the shop's small anime collaboration section. "Josh, honestly, If you were any more androgynous, David Bowie would be asking for his shtick back. I think you just need to grow out your hair and you're good. You know at least two-thirds your Reapers think you're hot, right?"

Joshua turned a bit pink to his ears, snatching the dress from Princess K and marching to the back room.

"Master Joshua, wait, that's a JSK! Sir needs a blouse!"

"See, look," Gabriel said, squeezing into Joshua's changing room to try on a Black Butler tuxedo collaboration. "You're cute."

"Well I know it, but it's odd to be reminded of it," Joshua admitted. "And people only find me attractive because I'm an angel. No matter how much a jerk I am, my magic makes people want to like me."

"That's absolutely not true and you know it," Gabriel said, attempting a bow tie while giving her friend a once-over. "Think you need a size down unless you want to give yourself a bit more chest."

Joshua looked down and considered, before reaching up to help fix Gabriel's bowtie. "I want it a little loose. We're still fighting tomorrow. Too uncomfortable and I can't move. It's not my city, I can't just will things to work there. And here," he finished, showing her how it tied. "You can't just use a regular necktie knot on it."

"You make a cute girl," Gabriel said, patting his head.

"I'm no more a girl just because I'm in a dress than you are a boy in a tuxedo."

"Touché. You'd still look better with longer hair, your nails done, and a little makeup. At least in this getup."

"And you need a pocket square," Joshua replied, rolling his eyes as he gave Gabriel a quick hug. "Can't be a proper anime butler without a handkerchief on hand for all the swooning shojo mistresses."

Gabriel beamed, and hugged him back, their wing tips touching in the cramped space. "I'm glad Uriel and I moved in with you. We wereall so fucked up, weren't we?"

Joshua looked at their reflection in the mirror, and grew his hair to his shoulders.

"Yeah," he admitted quietly, shaking it out. "I was a monster."

"No," Gabriel corrected, reaching over to tease his blonde locks into loose ringlets with her own magic, "you're just not a human. You and I both used to see humans the way humans saw ant colonies. Or bees. A little terrarium with you as a god. And while it's not wrong, it's, well, missing the point. All those ants and bees still had lives, and lives with meaning. It wasn't our place to go sticking our hands in just because we were bored."

"I see Coco, and I see myself," Joshua said slowly. "More so now that I'm wearing the clothes she likes."

"You were never that bad, Josh."

"No, I was worse. I nearly blew up the entire Underground. A third of the people helping us would have just… ceased to be. And all of them trust me? Why could they poss-"

His hushed whisper was promptly cut off.

"Can Princess K offer any assistance in there, Master Joshua?"

"He wants another glass of tea and his makeup done," Gabriel cried out for him. "And a dress for me, please. That Unineko collab would be prefect."

"Ah, yes, Princess K has one left in good miss's size. Hang on, we will fetch it from the stockroom."

Joshua perked an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Which- forcing you to sit still in a chair for makeup or me in a dress?"

"Yes."

"You need a chill pill and I'm going to show you that it's just fucking clothes, Josh. Get over yourself."

"You really need to take that psychology course you've been whining about, that's a horrible way to cheer someone up," Joshua mock-whined, almost laughing.

"It works on you."

"Yeah, yeah, it kinda does."

"Look, look! Pirates!" Sora said, bounding up the stairs to the second floor, the teenager behind him looking a bit worse for wear receiving the full blast of Sora trying on clothes. The room Vanitas had been pointed towards was eerie at night- filled with mannequins pinned up with half-finished mock-ups, piles of fabric on tables next to ancient looking sewing machines. Vanitas and Flood almost collectively jumped as Sora thrust a long burgundy coat in his face. "When I go to Port Royal my vestments turn into something just like this! And they have two in our size!"

Vanitas took a step back. "Sora, slow down."

"Oh, yeah, sorry, overload," Sora replied, sheepish. "Here, try it."

Vanitas rolled his eyes, before taking off his windbreaker and carefully shrugging on the coat. Immediately, he fell to the floor. He wasn't in pain, per se, but weak, woozy, like he were on his last legs in a fight to the death. He snapped his arms out, and clutched his chest.

"The fuck."

He took a few deep breaths, then ordered Flood to prod the coat on the floor, wary, like it were a venomous snake.

Finally, Vanitas spied the handwritten tag attached with a safety pin on a cord.

[Mortal Peril: Grants the wearer double strength on all pins in exchange for perpetual Mortal Peril]

"Are you trying to kill me… again?!" Vanitas snapped. "I don't even fight with pins!"

"I… oh," Sora said embarrassed. "I should have asked about the tags."

"You don't fight with pins, sir?" their attendant asked. Vanitas at least had the decency to look embarrassed, and pick up the coat by the collar off the floor.

"Not don't. Can't," Vanitas hissed. "I fight with a… with a sword, and this abomination," he added, jabbing a thumb at Flood. The Unversed picked its head up and chittered happily.

"May I take the coat? I have a few ideas that might be more suitable to your combat style."

Vanitas sank in a swivel chair next to one of the ancient Juki machines. "A fuckup is me," he sighed annoyed.

"Change takes time, Vanitas," Sora said, trying on his own coat, clutching his chest, but having the decency to take it off properly and set it aside. "And oof, that feels really weird."

Vanitas nodded. "So, no bottles of rum for ye, ye scurvy pirate?" he asked, raising the pitch of his voice to match Sora's tone more closely.

"Vanitas, never do that again. Ever."

"Yarrr, me matey, swab the deck and hoist the mainsails!"

"I'll take a video of it and send it to Ventus!"

"And?" Vanitas said, eyebrow cocked. "Stopped caring what he thinks. Not worth the trouble."

"How do you even speak pirate anyway?" Vanitas leaned forward and poked Sora in the chest with a smirk.

"You were so damn excited you woke us all up when you visited Port Royal a few years ago. Roxas was pissed, and the only reason he didn't straight up possess you was that his girlfriend was there."

Sora turned pink to his ears. "Right. Did… I mean, other than that time I was drowning, did you ever… um… possess me?"

"Times you were drowning," Vanitas corrected. "And… yeah, but never on purpose. The only one who ever did was Roxas."

"Right… I remember sometimes I'd just blurt out something that wasn't me."

"That and your sudden obsession with ice cream. You never really liked sweets growing up."

"How much… did you see, anyway?"

"Bits," Vanitas said, slouching back in the swivel chair. "Sometimes, when you were really emotional or really stressed, it was like I had a body again, just, y'know, without the control. I could see and hear what you did and felt, too. Sometimes I could just sort of gather echoes. I could just… sleep's the wrong word, but… something like stasis I guess?- and wake up months later, only aware so much time had passed because of a snippet of conversation that filtered down or seeing a calendar in a moment of clarity. There was something you had a lot of that I was always really jealous of."

"Friends?" Sora asked worriedly.

"Well, yeah, that. But… well. Love."

Sora reached out, offering a hand. Vanitas squeezed it.

An unholy shriek broke the silence.

"I thought only Joshua brought you out," Vanitas cried, fallen out of his chair.

Sora leaned down, scratching his nail on the floor to try and coax out the unruly peacock. "That's because you're afraid of me and Riku. Joshua didn't come with any of that pre… precon… any idea of who he was before."

"Preconceived notions," Vanitas grumbled, squatting to look under the sewing desk at a rat's nest of wire. "I think it's stuck."

"Aw, your love is stuck," Sora cooed at it.

"I am not in love with you!"

"Uhhhh… not that kind," Sora replied. "Hercules once said there were what? Five kinds of love or something? Only one is romantic. The rest were friendships, familial love…"

"I get it, stop rubbing it in. Go me, I have the power of friendship," he muttered, staring at the screaming bird. "Why is it such an asshole?"

"Because friendship takes hard work to maintain?" Sora asked, as he heard thundering from the stairs behind him. An incredibly gorgeous young woman with loose golden curls and a blue-black dress stormed into the room.

"Your cock is stuck," Joshua said, dryly, once he realized what the racket was upstairs. He was half-worried he'd need to imprint on Vanitas again.

"You could have phrased it any way but that," Vanitas stammered out, realizing who he was talking to.

"Could have, didn't," Joshua said with a grin that knew exactly what he was doing. "You scared me half-to-life so I'm going to push your buttons for it." Joshua squatted, swept his hair back, and carefully began unplugging sewing machines, embroidery machines, and sergers to extricate the very irate Unversed.

"So, little mister Pride, what did Sora tell you to have you come out of hiding?" he cooed at it as he worked, finally pulling the beast out from under the table, bouncing it a little in his arms. "Look at you, Mister High Maintenance."

Vanitas turned slightly more pink and the Unversed began to calm, wiggling its tailfeaters and snuggling up to Joshua's neck.

"Oh, no, you are not going to grow, you stupid bird," Vanitas snapped at it, without bite.

The peacock trilled, and grew about a foot in size. Vanitas actually had to slump over on the floor, overwhelmed.

"Joshua, please put it down, Vanitas is still pretty shaky on this whole 'love' thing," Sora insisted. Joshua gulped, embarrassed, and dropped the bird like a hot stone, flinging himself out of the room, knocking over their attendant on the way down.

"Oof," he whimpered. "Here, I've got some better options for you two."

"Joshua-fucking-Malakh."

"What?" Joshua cried out.

"I don't know what you did," Gabriel huffed, stomping over to him like she didn't know how to wear heels- a solid truth- "but you're marching right back up there to apologize."

"You look good in that," Joshua stammered out, his brain still stuck in 'Vanitas' and 'love', given his earlier worries about non-angels and their innate obsession with him. The last thing he needed was to impose his celestial will on Sora and his friends. Natives swooning over him was enough.

"Damn straight, now march before I get Biblical on your ass. In the 'holy wrath' sense, not the er… Just go."

Kairi popped her head out from between the racks. "Oh! I picked the same thing, just in pink instead of blue!" she chirped, looking at Joshua's ensemble before ducking her head back in to try and find a cute hat to match.

Komaeda sat awkwardly in a plush chair near the tea and cookies, eating absentmindedly. The cookies smelled nice enough, sort of a herbal-lemon scent, and made in the shape of little tea bags in such a way that they could be slotted on the sides of one of Princess K's probably very expensive teacups to soak a little of tea into the harder shortbread.

They busied themselves with the catalog, thumbing back and forth, trying to figure out how to address the situation.

There weren't too many options for Komaeda's child-sized frame. At least, they didn't find any that weren't extremely frilly. The plainer tailcoats and waistcoats were only in adult sizing.

Princess K, now herself free from her own two charges- Joshua and Gabriel both in stunning ensembles- noticed the oversized-hoodie wearing Reaper fidgeting near the front of her shop.

"Princess K doesn't have many options in sir's size. Shall we collect them all for perusal?"

"Toshi already showed me everything you have that I could wear or that could be tailored down in an evening," Komaeda replied, biting into their seventh cookie. It tasted like ash.

"May Princess K inquire what the issue is?"

"I'm not a sir," Komaeda replied, cutting Princess K off before she could apologize. "Or a miss."

"Ah." Princess K flicked a finger, and a second chair scooted its way to them from over by a far mirror, for trying on shoes. She sat primly, facing Komaeda. "Princess K would like to speak frankly, if our honored guest will allow it."

"Not like you can do anything," Komaeda replied glumly, shutting the catalog.

Princess K inhaled, and her strict features softened a little, her tone completely changed. "I have a not insignificant number of customers who fall into the same boat, friend, er,"

"Komaeda."

"Your last name?"

"Yeah."

Princess K nodded. "Komaeda, the advice I'm about to give you is usually meant as a visualization exercise. I have many people walk through here who wear Lolita because it's an escape from reality. A chance to look at gender normalizations and give them the biggest 'fuck you' possible. Salarymen who want to be beautiful. Hosuewives who long to be princes. Whether it's a fantasy indulged from time to time, or a total change in lifestyle, my job is simple. Make sure everyone who leaves, leaves with something that makes them feel gorgeous, handsome, or both."

Komaeda snorted. "You sound a lot different when you're trying to be a mom."

"I was one, last go-around. More tea, Komaeda?"

"S-sorry, and, yeah, please."

"Anyway, the advice I normally give to those who come in, worried, questioning their gender is this: come in, and I'll help you be the princess, prince, butler, maid, whatever you please. But know that when you take it off and have to return to family or friends, those who may not understand that who you are isn't the suit or skirt you wear daily, but the skirt or suit you'd prefer to wear, you're a secret agent. You're undercover, filling a mission, so that, when you're off the clock, you can take off that disguise of Mister Salaryman or Miss Perfect Wife or Miss Secretary or whatever else you hate and wear what you'd rather be in. And in your case, this couldn't be more true. You're duty bound to my things, thanks to tomorrow, so treat it the same. You're quite literally going to be wearing a disguise tomorrow and infiltrate the enemy. And when it's over, take it off and put on what makes you feel right."

"You're not mad that that's what this is?"

"Oh, normally I detest tourists and people who treat this like some sort of Halloween shop," Princess K elaborated. "But this is a literal emergency. And I think I've converted a pair of angels, so I'm willing to let a few of my pieces be used as costuming," she added with a devilish glare, eyeing Gabriel twirling in front of the mirror, as she changed the color and curl of her hair to best match her new floor-length gown. "If you tell me your fighting style, I'll find an outfit to best accompany it. But, given the sizing choices, it's probably going to be a dress."

"I can wear a costume for a day."

"Then we'll do it correctly. I have a few wigs that would fit your head too. Full Lolita costume, I'll be rolling in my own grave for this, but it's a necessary evil."

"Thanks, Princess K," Komaeda said, taking another bite of a cookie and actually tasting it this time.

"It's Kaede," she said, squeezing Komaeda's hand gently. "And I'm sending you home with a tray of those. I'm sure your dormmates don't eat enough home-cooked food."

"I don't even know how to cook," Komaeda admitted.

Suddenly, Princess K's trademark disdain returned to her face.

"Well!" she huffed. "Princess K knows that any fine upstanding noble knows their way around running a proper tea or garden party. Princess K beseeches our esteemed guest to return next week for proper culinary lessons."

"Frilly apron mandatory?" Komaeda asked, almost spitting out their tea.

She winked, and dropped the act for one final comment. "Only if you'd like."

Komaeda smiled as Princess K strode off to go grab some items. No wonder people moaned so loudly about the horrors of being kidnapped by her. If word got out how good she was, well… every Reaper in the city would be knocking down her tiny purple door.

Vanitas frowned, fumbling with the buttons on the dress shirt that wasn't making him feel like he was on deaths door- metaphorically, as literally he'd long since tipped the doorman and ridden the elevator up for a penthouse view. A few silk ties with varying minor effects were draped over the back of the swivel chair, several waistcoats, pants, and a high waisted skirt were off to the side. Vanitas eyed the skirt. It had a crossed belt, much like the one on his own jumpsuit, and was probably as comfortable. More so than most of the pants, at least, though the one with suspenders was a contender, and came with a minor regeneration ability.

"You done freaking out?" Vanitas asked, as Joshua stood in the doorway, afraid he was intruding. Sora sat on the floor, keeping Flood and the peacock occupied, having already chosen his own clothing. The peacock was surprisingly accepting of his affection.

"I was just talking with Gabriel how it's a problem that most of the Reapers are infatuated with me."

"Yeah, well she and Uriel gave you a nice face. And you're not as bad a person as you think you are."

"-and then I come up here to find out that Unversed is love. A creature that came about after I imprinted on you, might I add."

"Because you're the first person that's ever cared, sorry Sora, it's true," Vanitas fumbled with the tie. "How the fuck does this go on?"

"Want a hand?" Joshua offered, nervously, looking between Vanitas and the increasingly haggard attendant.

"Well, you or him, I just need to figure this shit out."

"That's a loaded statement," Joshua said. "Hey, Kazu, I've got this, go take a break. We're only the first group of the night."

The young man hastily bowed, and disappeared from the room.

"Vanitas, you're three days dead, and from the sounds of it, three days out of the hole, too," Joshua offered, taking a tie and standing next to him to walk him through a half-Windsor. "I'm not saying you're confused about stuff right now-"

"I am."

"He is," Sora added from the peanut gallery.

"But your emotions are haywire. Especially your fears."

"Point?" Vanitas asked, looking down at the tie. He felt a little like he was a suitor at a ball, frowning hard that it was a memory leaked from his and Ventus's shared time in Sora, and not one of his own. Why did he have to have all of Ventus's memories, but not the other way around- not that he really wished his time with the old bastard on anyone.

Sora smiled. He was so, so very oblivious so often that when he had a stroke of genius it tended to catch people off guard. "Joshua, it's just love. Not romantic love. The feeling of being cared for. Why do you think it's so needy, and colorful, and just a bit… well, impractical?"

Joshua dropped the tie from his fingers. "I'm the first person that cared about you, Vanitas?"

"Well, I mean, ages ago when Ventus and I were one person-" Vanitas started, eyes downwards, but Sora cut him off.

"Not Ventus. You, Vanitas." Sora fluffed the peacock's feathers under the chin, and it trilled.

Vanitas never felt so calm. "Y-yeah. You were, Joshua." He gulped, and grabbed for the angel, pulling him into a tight hug, or as tight as he could manage. Gently, Joshua wrapped him in his wings, trying to exude some sense of calm from him.

Love, not lust, not attraction. This is what angels were supposed to be, though most tended to forget when they realized what their power did to the little ant colonies of humans far below them.

Vanitas let go, smiling. Not smirking, not this time.

"Tomorrow, we kill a god," Joshua reminded him. "So get your armor, and we go. Three more groups need equipment tonight, and it's already after ten."

"Tomorrow we kill a god," Vanitas agreed, still smiling. "For a friend."

"For Riku, and everyone else in Shinjuku, besides," Joshua added, nodding.

"You know, you really do look good in that," Vanitas offered.

Sora perked up with a "Yup!"

"Damn straight," Joshua said. "I'll be back, so long as Princess K stops cooing at me; there's a bunny-eared poncho in the window that's the same purple as my eyes."

unlike gabriel's shitty advice, princess k's is legit advice thats helped me with my dysphoria. might not work for everyone, but on really bad days i play secret agent, go home, and change into something else for a while that makes the shitty facade feel less, well, shitty.

right now for me, that's working on an aziraphale (good omens) cosplay. i already wear a lot of waistcoats and slacks at work, but its nice to wear them with a very short wig and a binder and not feel ungodly self conscious about it.