Author's Notes
Bleh. Got my capstone's report back, with my advisor's suggestions. Most of them are not bad, but there are three in particular that are problematic: update Literature Review to address a missing topic (actually "hard" part), build a repository (more annoying than anything), and tweak my calculations to ignored a segment of my data (bleh. Not hard but creates a domino effect that cascades into every number in the report. Time consuming).
Every other change is either a syntax errors, clarify a point, or elaborate. I fixed this in an afternoon, but I dread doing the above.
Syntax… rereading previous chapters always bring up things I would change or improve. One of the pitfalls of this medium.
Edit: I derped. Uploaded without properly formatting.
Chapter 18: A date in Vale
Mytyl narrowed her eyes. Could it work? Based on the information she had, they do fulfill the minimum requirements for a nonzero chance to exist. And if there was an ideal place to start Operation Girlfriend, it was now when the test subjects were trapped with her in a Bullhead.
"So, Coco, Velvet, what do you think of my brother?"
Coco paused on her one-sided glaring contest against GV – who was savoring a bagel with bacon, sausage, and cheese he smuggled for the trip – and continued ignoring Velvet's plea to behave. She gave Mytyl a questioning look. "What about him?"
"Well. You are girls. He is a boy. You're available as far as I know. He's definitely available."
"Mytyl?" Copen sighed, dragging a hand down his face in frustration. "Would you stop? Velvet is turning red and is about to faint."
Mytyl didn't know about fainting, but the rabbit girl was using her ears in a futile attempt to cover the blush on her face. Coco was right, Velvet is too easy to tease.
"I'm doing the three of you a favor!"
The entirety of the bullhead's passengers, which consisted of Team CFVY and Team KVKC, looked incredulously at Mytyl. Even the pilot inclined her head to better listen in.
"How, exactly, are you doing us a favor?" Coco wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was afraid of the answer.
"Seriously?" Mytyl asked. "Kohaku, why don't you enlighten our sister team?"
Kohaku shook her head violently. "Nope. Leave me out of your special brand of Mytyl-ness."
"Fine," Mytyl rolled her eyes, "I'm trying to hook you up with a hell of a deal. Copen is handsome, funny when he tries – which he rarely does – and, like, super intelligent. We are talking genius levels machinist here. You should let him tinker with your earpiece, Fox."
"Mytyl…" Copen groaned. Then he added, towards Fox, "About trying to hook me up, not your earpiece. I can take a look and recommend improvements, if you want."
"Hmmm, you mentioned you built the battle pods you use, right? I'll consider it," Fox said.
"And he's rich!" Mytyl added.
"Mytyl…" Copen groan intensified.
"I have to agree with your brother on this," Coco commented. "Flaunting your wealth paints a bad picture for everybody here."
"Oh… didn't know you were able to afford all the designer clothes you liked. Never mind then."
A beat.
"Coco Kamizono… what do you think, Fox?"
Fox gave a sly smirk. "Cannot see it."
"HA!" Mytyl exclaimed. "That's why you're my favorite brand of CFVY, Fox."
"I try my best with my roasts."
"Let's take a moment to appreciate Yang is not here," Copen added.
"Never change, Fox." Coco turned towards Copen. "Sorry, pretty boy, but you're not exactly my type."
"What is your type?" Kohaku asked.
"Let just say Copen lacks the necessary equipment I look on a partner."
Mytyl hummed. "Wouldn't it be that Copen has extra equipment?"
Without any warning, Copen unclip his safety belt, shot up from his seat, and stormed towards the bullhead's door.
"Copen, what are you doing?" Kohaku asked while her partner worked on unlocking the door.
"Getting out of here."
"Copen, we are in the middle of a flight," Mytyl said.
He stopped to look at his sister.
"So?"
With that, the Bullhead's door slid open, buffeting the cabin with the gust of wind.
Seeing her own chance to escape Coco's impending shopping spree, Velvet also got out of her seat. With a quick sleight of hands, she brought up Anesidora and took a picture of Copen's White Tiger's boots. A few seconds later she was sporting her own Hard-Light copies.
Finishing his bagel, GV joined them. "Anyone else?"
"You guys are being ridiculous," Mytyl yelled, fighting against the wind to be heard.
Yatsuhashi, seeing his own partner abandoning him to Coco's sweet mercy, decided to try his luck.
"I don't have a good landing strategy."
"Et tu, Daichi?" Coco expressed in mock shock.
GV patted Yatsu. "Don't worry about that, big guy. Just carry me and I'll take care of the details."
Copen jumped off the airship.
"We'll meet you at lunch," Velvet shouted and waved before following Copen's lead.
"Just jump?" Yatsu asked GV, who was currently dangling from Yatsuhashi's arms.
"Just jump," GV confirmed. With that, the last two escapees were on their way out.
Silence reigned for a few seconds over the remaining members of CFVY and KVKC.
"So… that just happened." Kohaku broke the silence.
"Guess that answers the age-old question of whether Velvet and Yatsu are willing to jump out of a flying bullhead to get out of going shopping with you."
Coco gave Fox a deadpan stare, before crossing her arms and huffing. "Killjoys."
Mytyl good cheer wasn't dampened. "Told you Copen can be humorous when he tries."
-o-
Velvet's eyes narrowed.
"The Meat Emporium," she said as she read the sign of the food establishment they've been dragged to.
Yatsuhashi, ever the voice of reason in a mad world, asked GV, "Why are we here? We are meeting the others for lunch in a few hours."
"I'm hungry," came the simple answer from the blond.
"Volt, you just ate," followed Copen's accusation.
"I have a hyperactive metabolism," GV waved off, "besides, it's not like we jumped out of the bullhead with a plan in mind, so we might as well come here. This place is great. It's as delicious as it sounds."
"Is it also as heart-wrenchingly apocalyptic as it sounds?" Copen asked.
"Yep," GV popped the 'p', making his way towards the entrance. "Anybody wants something?"
There was no response.
"Suit yourself," GV shrugged and walked into the store, "someone has to make mistakes for others to learn from them."
-o-
"Ta-da!" Mytyl enunciated
"That looks so good on you," Kohaku complimented
"Kohaku is right. I am impressed you can make an evening gown into a strong fashion statement."
And Coco meant it. This wasn't her original plan – her original plan included an unwilling Velvet and her search for the abstract concept of 'style' – but this was good too. Velvet literally jumped out of a flying bullhead, so there wasn't much she could do about it. As for looking for stylish clothes… turns out she misread Kohaku about her approach. While Coco sense of style meant wearing the hottest trends in the world of fashion, for Kohaku being stylish meant having a style. Any style. Be it Coco's high-end fashionista profile, Mytyl's odd mix of classical, high-society dresses fused with more modern, popular accessories, or Kohaku's own abrasive and overconfident clothes. It was a hill Kohaku was willing to die on.
In the end, they ended up picking their own clothes and trying what they wanted. Well, she and Kohaku were trying. Mytyl's approach resembled more a little kid trying on dresses to go to teatime with her plush toys than a concentrated effort to actually find something jaw dropping. While the attires she and Kohaku tried always had a minimum level of coherence, Mytyl's ranged from 'laughably atrocious' to 'unexpectedly impressive'.
All in all, not the shopping trip Coco had planned, but still pretty good. Now if they could only convince Fox to join them. Coco's partner had no desire to participate in their parade. Instead, he retired to the first music store he found. She couldn't blame him, but still…
"Look at all these dresses we will never wear!"
"Speak for yourself," Coco challenged Kohaku's words. "I don't know about you, but outside my combat outfit, I cannot wear the same clothes twice in a year."
Mytyl giggled at Coco's ridiculous claim. "Let's pay for these. Lunch time is fast approaching and there is one last thing I want to do. And I need Fox."
"Mytyl… what are you planning?" Kohaku asked warily.
"Well…" Mytyl trailed off, before suddenly clapping excitedly, "I thought it unfair that we are the only trying clothes, so I was planning on dragging the boys for suits!"
"Suits?" Both Kohaku and Coco said at the same time.
"Yeah, suits. Three pieces. Look dreamy in men. Suits!"
While Mytyl daydreamed, Coco and Kohaku shared a look.
"Mytyl," Kohaku started, "you don't just buy a suit like you do normal clothes or even some dresses."
"You… don't?" the lavender-haired girl asked with a tilt in her head as her dream bubble popped.
"Not one that looks as sharp as you're imagining, at least. At the very least you have to go a tailor to get one that truly fits you," Coco explained.
"Huh. Today I learn," Mytyl offhandedly says as she pulled her scroll and sent a few messages.
"Coco, go fetch Fox. We have an appointment in fifteen minutes."
"We what?" Coco asked.
Mytyl simply shoved her scroll unto Coco's face. Squinting her eyes behind her sunglasses, she read.
CyberDivaXD: Nori, I need a tailor now! Can u help?
Oh: Hello, Lady Mytyl. You need a tailor? As in suits?
CyberDivaXD: Yep :)
Oh: The kind that look dreamy on men?
CyberDivaXD: U know me so well :D
Oh: Are you buying a suit for yourself?
CyberDivaXD: For a friend. Shoul I get one?
Oh: You should. Then send your father and me some photos so we can see how dapper you look. Here's the direction to the tailor [link]. Your appointment is in fifteen. Reservation made to your name.
CyberDivaXD: Ur are the best :)
CyberDivaXD: Wat we do without u?
Oh: Probably run, flail, and scream, on fire, after one of your father's or brother's experiments goes awry. I need to get back to work. Tell Glynda I say hello. Take care, Mytyl.
CyberDivaXD: Love u too 3
Coco, and now Kohaku, stared dumbfounded at the message chain.
"What," Coco eloquently said.
-o-
Coco's shock persisted all the way up to her current dilemma. She was being measured for a suit, being posed like a mannequin by a woman with a measuring tape and a suit herself that Coco had the inkling was worth around the same as the totality of her wardrobe, both the stuff she had at Beacon and the what she left at home.
To her left Fox endured everything with resigned stoicism. To her right, Kohaku with stoic resignation.
And further right…
"Haha, that tickles!" Mytyl laughed as the measuring tape wrapped around her waist.
"Would you like something to drink, Miss Adel?" The owner, OWNER, of the store approached Coco to ask her that. "We have a varied selection of the finest wines from Vacuo. Or perhaps some of the richest scotches from Atlas are more to your taste?"
This was too much. "Mytyl, how are we supposed to pay for these?"
At this, all the employees laughed, as if she had told joke.
Mytyl sent her a small smile. "My bad. I tend to forget how good Nori is at her job. Too good. I honestly expected something less… high class. Don't worry about it. The Kamizono estate will cover it."
Coco squirmed. "That's-"
"Not ideal. I know, I know," Mytyl sounded genuinely regretful. "But we're already here and we're already wasting these people's time. I'm getting a suit for myself. You might as well get one too. It's not a big deal."
"Not a big deal!? Mytyl, how much will these suits cost?" Coco gritted, before exhaling in relief as the employee measuring her retreated. Then inhaling in trepidation as a glass of expensive looking liquor got push unto her hands.
Kohaku also accepted a drink, before turning towards Mytyl. "I never really asked because it was none of my business, but exactly how rich are the Kamizono?"
Mytyl sipped at some chocolatey-looking cocktail. "Let's do an exercise. Coco, you built your minigun, right? Can you name some of the companies that fabricated its components?"
Coco hesitantly nodded and started listing a bunch of names that left Kohaku dizzy. Who could just name every part of their weapon and the makers? Her sword had been a gift from her sister, so she sure as hell couldn't. By the time Coco finished, Mytyl was nodding while deep in thought. After a few seconds, she spoke.
"That means over 80% of your weapon is made by companies my family owns."
Coco lowered her sunglasses and stared directly at Mytyl. "Could you repeat that?"
"Just like the Schnee are THE Dust manufacturing family, the Kamizono are THE weapon manufacturing family. We own most of the companies that build weapons' parts. We are also the main suppliers for Atlas' military."
Coco, Fox, and Kohaku listened to Mytyl's explanation in surprise.
Kohaku raised a finger towards her filthy rich teammate. "But… wouldn't that make you…"
"Potential heiress to the second richest family in Atlas. After the Schnee," Mytyl confirmed. "Though it is more likely my brother will be the one to inherit the company. Unless he surrenders his claim, I'll just be holding stocks."
"Why aren't you as well known as the Schnee?"
Mytyl shrugged. "My guess would be because unlike the 'Schnee Dust Company', it's a bad idea to name a business the 'Kamizono Weaponry Company'. Weapons are not something you want to be actively associated with. So instead of having one big company, we own many smaller ones under a conglomerate known as Sumeragi."
"Miss Kamizono, Miss Mino, Miss Adel, Mister Alistair, your suits are ready. Would you be walking out with them on, would you like to take them with you, or should we deliver them somewhere?"
Coco narrowed her eyes at the owner, OWNER, of the store. "That was quick. Too quick."
"We had all hands-on deck for this request. Nothing but the best for such esteemed patrons."
"We change into them now!" Mytyl declared. "I want to see the face on the others when they realize their mistake!"
-o-
Velvet made a mistake. Everyone but GV did. They were warned, but they didn't listen. Fools.
And now the smell of the monstrosity the Meat Emporium called a chili dog was assaulting her with an enticing aroma. And she wasn't all that into meat!
GV hadn't even bothered trying to fit the behemoth into his mouth, opting to use a fork to dig into it. Yatsu and Copen were not faring any better. Every now and then, Copen would steal a glance at GV's food, determine on not acknowledging his own folly. Yatsu hid it better, but she had spent an entire school year living with the man. His tells were no secrets to her.
If GV noticed any of this, he didn't show. The blond boy was as unreadable as ever. He didn't even make any indication of enjoying his food, eating it with mechanical precision worthy of… a thing. An object trying to impersonate a person and leaving something to be desired. Yes, that was the terminology she was going with. A 'thing'.
"Where are we going?" Yatsu asked her in a poor attempt to distract himself.
Velvet opened her mouth, but her response was not what one would consider valid. "I've been following Copen."
"I've been following Velvet. I like to think myself smarter than leading on a girl."
They both looked at Yatsuhashi. "I've been following Velvet too."
The three of them turned towards GV. The man took a forkful of his meal, chewing slowly, letting their mistake sink in further into the abyss of anguish. Taking out a soft drink he was carrying in the pockets of his long coat, he sipped at it, clearing his throat.
"Then it's a good thing I've been leading the three of you. We're here."
Following GV's gaze, Velvet and her two companions were met with the storefront of a secondhand electronic store. The kind of homely place managed by an enthusiast more in love with the craft than the money.
"Why do we keep allowing Volt to choose our places?" Copen accused everyone, including himself, with equal resentment.
"Because from the sounds of it, I'm the only one with prior experience taking the lead."
Velvet blinked. What was that supposed to mean?
"Velvet, you can have what's left of my meal. Consider it an extra apology for the other day."
Yes! Velvet happily hopped towards GV and picked the chili dog. Yatsu and Copen could spend an eternity glaring at her. She was not letting their petty envy dampen the one good material thing to come out of her unintended wounded gazelle gambit. Or would that be wounded bunny? Rabbit? Maybe hare?
While Velvet happily munched on food while contemplating the differences between similar-looking rodents, the group was greeted with the jingle of the front door as they made their way into the store. Copen wouldn't admit to it, in fear of validating Volt, but a secondhand electronic store was right up his alley. There was just a certain comfort in navigating through the technology of yesteryear. But that still didn't answer why Volt came here.
"Why are we here?" he voiced as much.
GV shrugged. "I came here a few times when I first arrived at Vale. They have a good selection of old games I want to browse. See if they got anything I'm looking for."
With mouth still full, Velvet asked, "you like video games?"
It just felt bizarre to think someone as seemingly unfun as GV could enjoy such a pastime.
"It's an acquired taste of sort," GV explained.
Copen knitted his brow in equal measure annoyance and confusion. "What are you babbling about? How can games be 'an acquired taste'? Do you even have money to buy them?"
Of course, it didn't escape Copen that GV was not the most affluent of individuals. And GV was not afraid to admit it. "I don't," GV responded, "but…"
"Heads up!"
On cue, a wad of lien bounced off GV's head and into his hands.
"Boy, glad to see you are not a smear somewhere in Remnant. Guess you got into Beacon then. I got new machines that need some of your magic. Interested?"
GV nodded. His companions sent him a questioning look, prompted by the store's owner's greeting.
"I helped fix some machines for Mr. Green during my early days in Vale," GV explained.
"You can fix stuff?" Copen asked, his voice dripping with skepticism.
"Electronics," GV clarified. "Outside of weapons, I'm average when dealing with mechanical stuff. But give me a malfunctioning electronic and nine out of ten times my Semblance can solve it."
Copen stared. Then he muttered, "When all you have is hammer…" before wandering off to explore the mysteries hidden in the store.
"Your Semblance is definitely something, GV," Velvet commented, finishing her pilfered meal. "Thanks for lunch, by the way. And sorry for Coco earlier."
"You can thank me again when Copen and Mytyl take us out for lunch." GV started browsing through the catalog of games in display.
For her part, Velvet hovered close by, curious as to what someone like GV played. She wasn't one for gaming, but once or twice she had found enjoyment in a party game or a quick, mobile app. And GV gave off a feeling that even that would be a tall order, so to find out he had such a hobby was a surprise. She was curious about what made the boy tick.
"Are Copen and Mytyl that bad at choosing places to eat?" she asked. It wasn't the first time GV made a comment to that nature.
"No, no. I'm sure the place they picked will be spectacular."
The way he said it didn't inspire confidence.
"Is that bad?"
GV nodded. "When you go out to eat and want to impress your friends, you go to good places. When you want to impress your date, you go to great places. When you want to impress a business partner and close a multi-million contract? You go to spectacular places."
Velvet winced and threw a look at Copen, who was currently inspecting some ancient device the Velvet couldn't identify. Surely GV was exaggerating. Right?
Well, she supposed she'll find out during lunch. She started to browse through the stack of games GV slowly created, hoping to gleam into his likes and dislikes.
She came upon a cartoonish game with cute character designs.
"Mighty Beck? Is this any good?" she asked GV.
GV spared the game a glance before returning to browsing. "An old friend once described it as offensively mediocre. It's ok, I guess. It was a good enough waste of time."
Velvet went back to browsing. Soon enough, she stumbled onto a game which artwork had her blushing a bit.
"W-what is this game about?"
GV picked up the case from the red-faced Velvet and inspected it. It took him a couple of seconds to answer.
"Ahhh, I guess this game is a bit risqué. More silly than offensive or explicit, though, if I remember correctly. You are easily flustered, aren't you?" He handed the case back to Velvet.
"You like this sort of games?" Velvet would have never pegged GV for that kind of guy. But she supposed at the end of the day he was a hot-blooded male. Of the straight variety, apparently.
"Not particularly. I played it once. Twice at most. Honestly, the copy I owned belonged more to my… roommate… than it ever did to me."
"Wait…" Velvet looked at the stack GV was building. "You already own these?"
"Owned," GV corrected. "When I left Vacuo, I left many of my belongings. I wanted to at least rebuild this."
'That's surprisingly heartwarming,' Velvet thought. To build a little bit of home at Beacon.
"You're from Vacuo, right? Do you miss your home?"
GV froze. His eyes narrowed. After a beat, he answered, his voice raspier than before. "I don't. I miss some things, but not my physical home."
It was clear she stepped on a landmine and Velvet was quick to try and steer away from the topic.
"Why don't you tell me more about… this game?" she cringed as she picked up the suspiciously risqué game.
GV snorted. "If you insist..."
-o-
Velvet's left eye twitched.
"Il Ristorante."
The Restaurant. They were going to eat lunch at a restaurant literally called The Restaurant. With a red carpet, bunch of businesspeople that seem to make more money in a day than your average Hunter makes in a year and a hostess in the front door that seems to make more money in a day than your average Hunter makes in a month. Also, said hostess was giving her the stink eye. Wonderful.
"You were right, GV. This place is… spectacular." She didn't know she could utter that word and make it sound like an insult. Yet, here she was.
"Isn't this a bit overkill?" Yatsuhashi wondered as he looked at some customers' business attires and compared them to his Huntsman's garbs.
"If we learned anything from today, Yatsu, is that the Kamizono do not do anything less than overkill."
Yatsuhashi and his companions turned to see Coco and her own entourage arrive. All of the former raised an eyebrow at the latter and their sharp suits that looked suspiciously in accordance to The Restaurant's dress code.
Copen in particular looked at his sister. "Do I dare to ask?"
"Nori."
"Oh."
"It was your idea to get suits!" Kohaku accused Mytyl.
"I wasn't expecting to have them ready in minutes! Let's just enter the res…taurant…." Mytyl words died as she finally took in the locale.
She turned towards her brother. "We asked Nori to pick the place too, didn't we?"
Copen nodded.
Sighing and composing herself, Mytyl approached the hostess with the most charming smile she could muster. The hostess matched her blow by blow with the most repulsed grimace she could manage.
"Table for eight!"
"And you are…" the hostess drawled the words as if through mud, clearly unconvinced these kids had any business here.
"Right! Reservation should be to Copen and Mytyl Kamizono." Mytyl flashed her Beacon ID as proof of her identity.
The hostess still didn't seem convinced but kept her professionalism and checked for the reservation. Her veneer of superiority crumbled as she looked at the reservation, then at Mytyl and Copen, then at the reservations again.
"O-of course, Lord and Lady Kamizono. Your private room is ready. Follow me."
Mytyl's smile broke as her right eye followed suit with Velvet's and twitched.
"Copen, why do we keep asking Nori to do stuff for us," she gritted a whisper to her brother.
"Because I am a shut-in social outcast and you are a daddy's spoiled little princess?" Copen offered.
Everyone stopped to spare a glance at Copen. After a beat, Mytyl responded. "Yeah, that sounds about right."
"That has to be the most self-aware thing I've ever heard you say, Copen."
"Shut up, Volt."
-o-
Despair. Yatsuhashi, a mountain of muscles clocking at 7 feet tall, despaired.
"This cannot be all of it. It just cannot."
"Relax, Yatsu, this is a multiple courses meal," Mytyl tried to pacify the man who looked despondently at modest (i.e. small) appetizer in front of him.
"How many courses?"
"Three? Maybe five?"
"Are all of them this size?"
Mytyl winced.
Despair. Yatsuhashi despaired like no men ever despaired before.
"GV, I owe you my first child."
"I don't want it, Velvet," GV looked around, "I'm kind of surprised how quickly their tune towards faunus changed when they discovered you're with Mytyl. I was half expecting the hostess to call security.
"As sad as it is, money speaks," Mytyl said, "unfortunately, many faunus don't have the resources for places like this, so naturally these businesses assume you have no reason to be here." She started rubbing her index and middle finger and thumb together. "Give them a reason to think otherwise and they'll be the first in line to welcome your money."
"So, it's less racism and more classism?" Kohaku asked.
"A bit of column A, a bit of column B" Copen conceded. "Although if you can pay the price of admittance, they don't really care about your social class and race as long as you behave."
Finishing savoring her appetizer as the waiters brought in the next course, Coco chimed in. "Still have a hard time believing the Kamizono are almost as disgustingly rich as the Schnee."
Copen rolled his eyes. "We're not as 'disgustingly rich' as the Schnee. We might be the second richest family in Atlas, but that still is a long way from the Schnee and a long way from second place if you consider the entirety of Remnant."
"So, you're what? The tenth richest family in Remnant?"
Mytyl let out a nervous cough at Fox's question. "Seventh."
"That's impressive. I can sort of understand a virtual monopoly on Dust, but to think one exists on weaponry… does Ruby know?"
Copen and Mytyl paled. With their already pale hair they were giving a Schnee a good run for their looks.
"I thought your father was an Aura researcher."
Mytyl looked at GV. "Oh, I guess you wouldn't know. Mom was the Kamizono. Dad married into the family and took her name."
"A weapon mogul and a nerd," Coco thought out loud. "There's an interesting story there."
Mytyl snorted at that. "Dad. Nerd. Sure, let's go with that. Dad was a researcher hired by one of the Kamizono's companies. It specialized in aura conductive metal if I recall correctly. They met each other while Mom was taking a tour of the site. You know, familiarize herself with the business."
"And she ended familiarizing herself intimately with the personnel, eh?" Coco teased with a smirk and a waggle of her eyebrows.
"She said she was enamored by the passion Dad showed towards his work," Copen reminisced, a rare slight smile adorning his face.
"They were pretty young," Mytyl said, "I think they dated for five or six years before finally marrying and having us."
GV listened attentively at the story. Now that Copen and Mytyl mentioned it…
"Did either of your parents published any research papers on aura and its use in weapons?"
The twins looked oddly at their blond teammate.
"It's possible?" Mytyl answered. "Dad is constantly publishing papers and I think he and mom penned a few together after they started dating.
"The love between a pair of nerds. How oddly romantic," Coco said while wiping a mock tear.
"Coco," Velvet chided her teammate.
"Why do you ask?" Copen said.
GV shrugged. "It's just that when I was working on Dart Leader, I recall looking at a few papers on the subject and I believe for a couple of them the authors shared last names and was something long enough to be Kamizono."
"You read?"
Mytyl elbowed her brother. "Copen, be nice."
"I did not come up with the idea of darts capable of superconducting my own electricity out of nowhere," GV said, "but I'm flattered you think I could." He raised his glass. "A toast to Copen's faith in me."
Everyone raised their drinks in toast. Including Copen albeit with a long face.
"Puts into perspective how small Remnant truly is," Fox wisely said.
"You know, you could get Blake interested in your parents' love story. Make a book out of that. Rake in millions"
Mytyl laughed nervously at GV's suggestion. "How about we don't? In fact, how about we don't mention anyone what we talked about?"
Mytyl could picture absolutely everyone in team JNBR and RWPY hounding them. Ruby would hover over them talking about weapons nonstop. Yang would tease them mercilessly. Ruby would harass them about weapons. Weiss would lecture them about flaunting their wealth. Again. Ruby would bother her about weapons. Pyrrha would flaunt their wealth as soon as she got a whiff of anybody approaching her for her fame. You don't have to outrun an Ursai, just one of your friends. Oh, and Ruby would pester them about weapons. Did she mention Ruby?
On JNBR's side of the pond, Blake was a sucker for love stories, and she would pump them for information. Same with Nora, if only to make a dent in the 'Ren and Nora' front. Ren… he wouldn't care. And neither would Jaune.
'I should hang out more with those two,' Mytyl decided.
Dessert finally arrived.
"I despair," Yatsu muttered in defeat.
"Don't worry, big guy, we'll pass by the Meat Emporium on our way back."
Yatsu, Velvet, and, to everyone's surprise, Copen perked up at that.
"The sizes suck, but you have to admit these are pretty tasty," Mytyl defended the food.
"Fair enough. Enjoy it while it last. I believe you have the Forever Fall field trip the week after, don't you?"
Team KVKC groaned at that.
"Despair."
Author's Notes
Why did I write this chapter?
Anyhow, here we explore a bit of the backstory for GV, Copen, and Mytyl, as well as have some fun with KVKC and CVFY. But enough of that. Let's look at the rundown:
ASSUME SPOILERS FOR GV!
Mighty Beck!: Yes, this is a reference to Mighty No. 9. In rereleases of ASG, they added conversations where the characters reference Beck in passing as a video game in-universe. Since I already transported the cast here, why not also this?
Gal*Gun: This is the risqué game Velvet and GV talk about. It also exists in the GV-verse. Since Inti had a hand developing the bad version of MN9, developed the good version of MN9, and own Gal*Gun, they can get away with that.
Hmmm: I originally planned on dropping a bigger "bomb" here. But ultimately, I decided it's still too early to start throwing around the darker elements of the story in. It's debatable how big the explosion would have been, though.
Lucky Number 7: I recall intentionally changing the Kamizono's ranking among rich families to seven – from an arbitrary Top 10 number – due to the significance of that number in the ASG lore. It's were the term "Septima" comes from. Living beings' abilities, physical and cognitive up to supernatural, are measured by their attunement to the Lifewave, with Adepts being attuned to the seventh (Septimal) Lifewave.
In all three Gunvolt games, the main antagonist groups each consist of seven members if we exclude their leaders. In two cases their names explicitly reference the number (The Sumeragi Seven and The Grimwald Seven/The Seven)
The Kamizono: We don't really see much of the Kamizono family in the ASG-canon. They are more of a plot device to justify Copen gallivanting through the rooftops of the red-light district in the hunt of a gender fluid super criminal while wearing enough gadgets to make Bruce Wayne blush. That's not a joke. In here, with the family not consisting solely of Copen, Copen's butt monkey of a sister, and Copen's battle maid, we can explore them a bit more.
In canon, the Kamizono family has strong political power and ties to Sumeragi, a conglomerate with a hand on everything. I decided to translate this "everything" into something more tangible and slightly more realistic. Or at least achievable. Specifically weapon manufacturing (turns out Dust is already taken. Who knew?). Canonically Dr. Kamizono married into the family but his wife didn't inherit the estate (Copen's and Mytyl's aunt did), so his political power was diminished. In this story she did inherit it. To be fair, I did it because I didn't research too much into it, but I like the idea. Different world, different outcome and gives new dynamics to the twins and Dr. Kamizono that we can play with. On that note:
Sumeragi: LOL! I originally intended to have Sumeragi as a powerful but not cartoonishly evil corporation. Probably not on the same level as the SDC, but pretty damn close. In the end I decided I really had no good reason to have them here, so I shelved the idea. Kept it close by if an opportunity showed itself. When I finished this chapter and started to write this A/N, I wrote the paragraphs on the Kamizono and decided to quickly touch upon Sumeragi. Then it hit me: I made the Kamizono the owners of a bunch companies, a.k.a. a conglomerate. Not in the same vein as Sumeragi, who had a piece of the pie of basically all of Japan's markets, but still. And originally, I left this conglomerate unnamed because I didn't need a name. But then Sumeragi. Not only does it fit. It fits very well considering some ideas I have in my head. It is also deliciously ironic: The conglomerate that caused so much pain to Copen and Mytyl in canon have them as the heir and heiress in this fic. So yes. The Kamizono are the owners of Sumeragi.
Also, apparently Sumeragi is written in Japanese as "Heavenly Emperor". They're not even trying to be subtle
Nori: I never mentioned this, but Nori's name is also based on a color. Specifically, derived from the French noir (black). I'm aghast at her. The more I read about her, the more I realize she is a dark fantasy creature hiding in a dark sci-fi setting. Speaking of languages…
Languages in Remnant: Are weird. All names must be based on colors per RWBY's naming convention (which to be fair, I like the challenge it represents, but I won't shoot myself on the foot following it to a tee. Case in point: The name of this fic). Anyways, there is an in-universe reason for the naming convention and we have people like Jaune running around Remnant. Yet "Jaune" shouldn't mean yellow because there is no France for French to exists.
Look, the point I'm trying to make is I named a restaurant The Restaurant in Italian because its humorous and I'm attempting to justify it.
Coco is gay: That's apparently canon. Though from what I read the wording revealing that tidbit is vague enough to be misinterpreted. It's not like I had any plans of pairing her anyways, so I really don't care. However, it serves as a good device to get Copen to jump off a moving airship. If only because Mytyl couldn't keep her mouth shut.