A/N: What IS the proper term to describe Mizuki's ponytail? Side-ponytail? Ponytail on the side? Is there a proper hair term for that thing? Maybe I'm just not a Mizuki fanboy, but I don't like her hair. One of the CPM Comic Party mangas has a side story all about how Mizuki's ponytail placement affects her entire personality... it's worth the read just for that.

Anyway, enough babble. We're moving on into the final act if I've got anything to say about it (And I'm the author, so I do have something to say about it) and making something happen. I'm not sure if I want to go with something that keeps the ends tied together or something that blows the entire canon away, but let's all keep in mind that Comic Party was originally a dating sim... and Kazuki could end up with ANY of the girls (Even Ikumi. Eww. Smacks of illegal), not just Mizuki as we saw in the anime. Point is, theoretically, I or any other fanfic author could make Kazuki end up with anyone. Wink wink nudge nudge, depending on my mood...

I can't wait for volume 4 of the Tokyopop manga to come out! Finally, we get something on Asahi. All I've got are little clues from the CPM manga, and that's not nearly enough to base a character on. After the big project I'm working on along with this story comes to pass, maybe she'll be in it... that and Aya. She's on the freakin' cover. She hasn't had an erg of story whatsoever in the manga, and considering the backstory and tidbits we got on the other characters, this'd be a great boon. Keep in mind that 90 of my writing is interpolation, inference, and induction. I would kill to have a translation of the Comic Party game... sigh A fanboy can dream.

I did Black Friday this year... I was up at 4 AM with Marivel and her brother to go for mad bargains. 60 gig hard drive for $30? That's a damn fine deal. I got tons of blank CDs and DVDs, enough to last through the Apocalypse, and over the weekend I backed up and reformatted my hard drives to swap 'em around. I'm rearranging the controllers to get it to run faster. So yeah, that's my fun life since the last update.

On with the show!


5: Secret Oktober

January 15th
Vandalize Couture
3-20-5 Jingumae
Harajuku, Tokyo
2:30 PM

This is actually really nice...Yuu turned the jacket back over, holding it up against herself to get an impression of it. Even has the buckle closures. It's more cocoa than dark brown, too, and the trim is poofy. It'll go with a little more. It's cuter.

Now for the bottom line...

Yuu's eyes visibly flew open as the price had one zero less on the end than it did in Kobe.

"How is this so cheap?" Yuu effused to the salesgirl, handing over the ¥8700 for the jacket.

"That's the beauty of Vandalize" the girl said, picking up the jacket and folding it to fit into a Vandalize garment box. "We do buybacks of our own line; this one came with a bunch of others. An entire wardrobe, I think."

An entire wardrobe? Damn, I gotta come back with more money.

No! Bad Yuu! You're supposed to be a dojinshi otaku, not a fashionista. There are better things to waste your money on.

Yuu waited until she was out of the shop to discard the box and put on the jacket. It was warm for January, and she had elected to go out with her new outfit on rather than her old trademark. All the better to surprise Kazuki with when she met up with him and Aya to start working to synchronize their final plans on their dojinshi. Despite the warmth, she felt warmer having something on over her shirt.

We've got this meeting and then all of next week to get things hammered down. Yuu pulled on the jacket, adjusting the belt-like closures, getting comfortable in the coat. It was a very good quality suede, thinly lined but still very warm.

Perfect. I finally have it all together. Time to head off to meet up with the rest of the circle. If I get there early enough, I'll have a few minutes with him before Aya shows up...

As she turned the corner onto the thick Sunday crowds on Meiji-dori, Yuu had to jostle for position in the throng of people. It was a real sea of humanity in the small street, with most people wearing elaborately strange clothes and fashions more worthy of a cosplay contest than normal street wear.

To each their own... Yuu raised an eyebrow as two young boys with heavy amounts of makeup, matching black-and-white striped jester-like outfits, and red-feathered wings walked by, jabbering in high-pitched voices.

Yuu stepped up onto the vestibule of another clothing store to avoid the winged strangely-dressed pair, scanning ahead for an opening.

Hey, if I didn't know better, that'd be...

The distinctive red ponytail drew her eye as she looked towards Takeshita Street, which led to the Harajuku JR station.

I wonder where Mizuki's off to. Maybe I could score another female opinion on the outfit, see if I need to do anything else with it.

Yuu raised her arm and was just about to yell "Hey, Mizuki!" when her breath was suddenly caught in her lungs.

Mizuki had reached back into the store she had emerged from and pulled Kazuki out, mock-forcefully. He was carrying two large white shopping bags in one hand, and his backpack in another. Kazuki nearly avoided tripping over one of the bags, but Mizuki helped him stay up on his feet, propping him up.

As he restored his balance, though, she saw them exchange a few words and smiles. Mizuki gave Kazuki a quick hug, but worst of all, she didn't let go of his arm when they headed off in the opposite direction from Yuu.

No. That didn't happen.

Yuu flopped down onto the veranda of the store, took a deep breath, and exhaled with a sudden, burning calmness.

Don't delude yourself. Take a step back. Take stock of the situation. In that outfit, you only look like a typical cute teenage girl. Doesn't mean you have to whine all over the place. Do what you can right now. What can you do?

You saw what you saw. What didn't you see, though? No kisses, no lingering looks, nothing obviously dangerous. But still...

The crowds around Harajuku kept flowing, blending the indescribable, the contemporary, the classic, all the styles of clothing and all the makes of people around them. Yuu stood up and lost herself in the crowds, simply flowing and walking forward.

I kept forgetting that part. I kept thinking that I didn't have to worry about anything else. Competition... that's the right word for it, competition. But I don't want to compete with Mizuki.

Get it together. They'll be waiting for you at Marvel Burger. Just get it together. Keep it together. Think, Yuu. Think.

The ride on the train, the transfer, and the walk to Marvel Burger passed in a fatigued, empty feeling as Yuu simply tuned out the rest of the world. She felt a swirling, dizzy sense of anxiety as she tried to figure out how to deal with the sudden influx of Mizuki.

What can I do to prevent this from becoming worse?

What have I done to prevent this?

Yeah... what have I done indeed...

Yuu sighed as she pushed open the glass door to Marvel Burger. She was a few minutes early; ignoring the "Welcome!" from the girl at the counter, she grabbed a seat, smoothed out the pleats of her skirt, and sighed, propping her arms up on the back of the bench where she sat.

"So what should I do?" she asked the ceiling.

"You must take action, my sister," the ceiling replied.

"Dammit, Taishi!" Yuu's cheeks erupted in a serious blush, her harisen appearing from out of nowhere as she leapt to her feet and glared at the ceiling. "Show yourself!"

The corkboard ceiling tiles didn't move an inch.

"I know you're up there. I heard you. There sure as hell isn't some damn Kerotan in there croaking at me, that's for sure!"

Sound-absorbent to the end, the corkboard yielded nothing.

Exasperated, Yuu wound up and prepared to lunge upward with a harisen Hadouken. As she reared back to deliver the killing throw, though, the harisen gave off a loud whap.

"My stealth camouflage seems to be without regard to its primary function," Taishi calmly spoke through the harisen across his face. "I applaud your deductive reflexes, my sister."

"Forget that!" Yuu reached up and grabbed Taishi by the lapels of his suit jacket, physically hauling him down; no small feat indeed for the very petite girl. "You didn't hear anything, you got that?"

"I indeed heard nothing, my sister, nothing at all," Taishi grinned maniacally. "I merely interpolated and guessed, and you managed to prove me more right than I thought I could have been."

WHAP!

"I deserved that," Taishi picked up his glasses from the floor before Yuu could follow through with a double slap. "But don't you think that the time for venting your anger has since passed, comrade Yuu? Are you not yet prepared to move forward?"

"I'll move YOU forward, Taishi," Yuu shoved Taishi into the booth bench opposite hers. "Siddown and tell me how long you've been involved in this and every single fact you know to be true."

"I know one thing to be true, my sister, and one thing that makes all truths paramount," Taishi crossed his arms and closed his eyes in his version of a wise man speaking. "It is regardless how you or anyone else feels, but the one thing is this."

Yuu tapped her harisen on the table impatiently.

"Feelings are meant to be expressed, my sister. It is up to the feeler how it is to be done."

"Taishi, I know you're hiding something critical from me."

"Why would you think that, my sister?"

"Doesn't it benefit you in some way?" Yuu growled. "I know that you never act irrationally. You probably plan out when you have to use the restroom in order to advance whatever goals are in that propaganda-soaked lump of a brain that you've got."

"I realize it may seem this way, comrade," Taishi placed a hand flat on the table. "But do you think that there is truly no point at which my goals end and my humanity begins?"

"Taishi, I've known you since I came to Tokyo and I have never had any reason to see that whatsoever." Yuu's voice was devoid of emotion, as cold and truthful as she could get.

I'm tired of your interference. I want to believe that you're looking out for Kazuki, but dammit, in times like this, how do I know you're not trying to manipulate me like you manipulated him?!

Taishi didn't flinch in the least from Yuu's words. "I see," he calmly spoke. "If you don't trust me, I can't force you to do so. But I do only hope that you'd realize I have nothing to gain from alienating you, nor do I have anything to gain from forcing your emotional state."

"Then why should I even listen to you about how I feel?!"

"Because I can see how you feel, Yuu. Why else would you want to practice straightening a necktie? Why else would you dress up for him? Why else would you be so angry right now if something hadn't already happened that went against your feelings and desires?"

Yuu clutched her harisen tightly enough to crumple the thick paper that it was made out of. Seething, she willed her right arm to smack him with the paper fan, clenching a fist with her left hand to follow up. Wanting nothing more than to strike Taishi down, fulfilling old sayings about Hell having no fury like a woman scorned, she took a deep breath and prepared to attack; she then stunned herself by settling back into the booth bench.

"Taishi..." Yuu said, after taking three deep breaths. "What is it that you want to happen?"

"For once, comrade, I don't have a goal in mind," Taishi tucked his hands together and leaned forward towards Yuu. "I just want to see everyone come out of this happy, and I want us all to still be together when it's all said and done."

"Even if that means one of us is going to have their heart broken?"

Taishi was silent.

Yuu slumped forward a little. "Dammit, this sucks."

"Matters like this are never to be taken lightly, my sister," Taishi sympathized. "But I would not let this go as it stands now. You haven't yet had the chance to take action on your feelings."

"Taishi, you've known them forever. What if this ruins your friendship? What if Mizuki and Kazuki grow to hate each other because I threw my wrench in the works?"

"If you are truly that worried, and if you are truly prepared to put others before yourself in all things, then do nothing, comrade. But if you have something you must find out, something you must know to make yourself more of yourself, is it not your imperative to make good on that question?" Taishi propped his chin up on his folded hands. "Are you an egoist, or do you have no self-esteem? It is not an easy choice, but such is the nature of such choices. You must make the choice. I cannot do it for you."

"You make it sound like black and white."

"Comrade Yuu, if we humans could deny our feelings and negate them then and there, do you think we wouldn't have done so long ago?"

"Yeah... you've got a point."

"I know it's hard. But I think you should know by now that I'm your friend, and I'll support you through thick and thin. I can do this because I know you'd do the same for me as I speed onward towards conquering the w-"

WHAP!

"Point taken, comrade." Taishi managed to catch his glasses in mid-air this time.

"Taishi, would you honestly be okay with me dating Kazuki?"

"Get to that point first, my sister. But remember..." Taishi clasped his arms around himself as if embracing an invisible lover. "I saw him first..."

"You're nuts, Taishi," Yuu poked him with her harisen and broke down laughing.

"You two okay?" a familiar voice asked.

"Where've you been?!" Yuu leapt up, her troubles forgotten, punching Kazuki in the shoulder. "You kept me alongside the Chairman here."

"Sorry, I got dragged into shopping again," Kazuki sighed, sitting down next to Taishi, but freezing for a moment. He looked Yuu up and down quickly. "Hey, Yuu, you look really pretty today."

He looked. He looked at me. He looked at me in this outfit. I saw him do it! I saw his eyes! I'm blushing. Crap, crap, crap, sit DOWN already!

Yuu slid into the bench across from Kazuki, pulling out her sketchbook. "Well, finally, a girl can get noticed around here for things other than her natural talents," Yuu stuck her tongue out. "Taishi, why don't you go buy us a couple of burgers or something. Shoo!"

"My sister, of course, I am more than willing to share the wealth that truly does belong to one and all, but only on the condition that you've got it next time."

Yuu looked at her bare wrist, where a watch should have been. "Taishi, if there's no Double Marvel with fries and a medium Coke in front of me in two minutes, 'next time' will be a Marvel Burger delivery to you in Tokyo General."

"Fair enough, fair enough, my sister." Taishi got up. "My brother," Taishi lay a hand on Kazuki's shoulder as he got up. "I take it that our dear sister Mizuki has had her desires satiated for now?"

"She's not pissed at me for being late last week for shopping back then, if that's what you mean," Kazuki sighed as he paged to a spot in his sketchbook. "Next time there's a convention, I'm going to drag her out of spite alone."

"That's the spirit!" Yuu joked sardonically. "That'll teach her to spread her estrogenical ways upon you."

"Yuu, she's a girl. So are you. There's nothing wrong with estrogenical ways... whatever those are..." Kazuki raised an eyebrow, looking up from his sketchbook as Taishi went up to the counter.

"Feh. Enough of that. How'd your part come along?" Yuu asked.

"Better than I hoped. Long story short, Kenshiro's looking back on everything just before he goes out on his first date in three years since his wife Maki died. I figure that we can dovetail in details in your story if you've got the space. My dialogue can flex to the situation; if you want to put this after your story, I can put in the textual references."

"Sounds like a plan. How'd your artwork shape up?"

"I worked with some characters from your back issues. I think I've really gotten a good meld going. Here, take a look." Kazuki held up one of Yuu's dojinshi, this one from To Heart, showing Multi looking over her shoulder while holding her broom. Kazuki had replicated the pose with stunning accuracy, turning Multi into Kenshiro, retaining a linear, tall grace with masculine composure and holding a bottle of wine instead of a broom.

"That's really quite impressive," Yuu nodded appreciatively as Taishi brought over a tray with their food on it. "You've really managed to polish your art style. I hope Aya's done this well; all we'll have to do is coordinate our stories and we'll be in good shape."

"Where is our quiet sister, anyway?" Taishi took a tentative look at his Teriyaki Marvel and opted for fries instead. "Is she not part of this circle?"

"You got me. She's supposed to be—wait a minute. Kazuki, how much did you tell him about what we were doing?"

"Worry not, comrade, I am leaving this entirely in the capable hands of the dojin involved. There is little left that requires my direct influence in the coming conquest."

"That's what frightens me, Taishi," Yuu deadpanned.

"Um... I'm sorry, the train was delayed..." Aya's quiet voice called rather silently from the front of the restaurant.

"Hey, there you are!" Yuu waved her over. "C'mon in. Here, Taishi got you a Teriyaki Marvel." Yuu grabbed Taishi's burger out of his hands as he was elevating it to his mouth, handing it to Aya with a mischievous grin.

Later...

Kazuki and Yuu looked up at each other, their eyes meeting and glimmering with shared joy.

"Did we really..."

"We did, Kazuki. It took us all this time, but we really did it. There's just the tiny little bit..."

"Yes..." Aya interjected, the scene suddenly met with a quiet, determined visage.

"We really are synchronized. There's nothing left in the layout. Is this real?" Yuu held out her arm, rolling up her sleeve. "Kazuki, pinch me. I think I'm dreaming."

"You're not dreaming, Yuu," Kazuki slumped back into the bench, eyes gazing happily into space. "We really have our layout done and our dialogue all lined up."

Dammit, I was hoping to get you to at least touch me. How dense are you?

More so than you may think, Taishi's sidelong glance answered Yuu's as their eyes met briefly. She rolled back her sleeve, not showing her dejection.

"So... we just polish this up and submit it, then?" Aya inquired.

"Well, we have to create one original on A3 paper so that Chisa-chan can create the image for the press, so we need to get this properly done. We have forty-eight pages including our extras and comments, and it's due for printing on the 5th. That leaves us with some real time to work with here, but don't slack off, you two," Yuu waggled her finger at Aya and Taishi. "Let's go with what we have here and get it on final. Remember, a true dojin knows no pain, no fear, and no sleep when a deadline is set!"

Yuu stood up and slapped her palm down onto the table, startling the nearby patrons and easily scaring Taishi, Kazuki, and Aya. "We're going to make this great, guys, so give it everything you've got!"

"A wonderfully rousing speech, comrade Yuu," Taishi nodded appreciatively. "I will even go so far as to say it makes up for your burger-thieving ways."

Yuu glared at Taishi. "Regardless of these baseless accusations, I recommend we break and go forth to work on the project at our own paces. We can always work together; you've got my digits if you want to get in touch and get a thing going. Let's aim for the 4th in having everything ready, okay?"

Kazuki and Aya nodded affirmatively in striking unison.

December 31st
Kobe

"Hey, panda girl, you're just going home?"

I can't stand her. Eimi, just leave me alone, okay? You finally shut up at dinner. Go hang out with my brother. You're a match made in heaven: annoying as anything, yet I can't get rid of either of you.

"Pandaaaa, are you listening to me?"

I don't hear you, I don't hear you, I don't hear you, I don't hear you.

"Hmph. Fine. Where are you going, anyway? Isn't your place down Shikijo-dori?"

No, I don't want to go home just yet. You'd be there. So go home already. I'll wander all night if I have to. I am NOT going home to the caring words of Eimi Oba.

"Hey, come on, what's wrong, panda? Too much bamboo?"

Please. You can do better.

"Well, fine, if you don't mind my company, you can just take me on the grand tour of the zoo that you call Kobe. Where do pandas go for fun around here on a New Year's Eve?"

Geez. That's really a good question. All I ever really do is hang out and shop for dojinshi.

I turned around to look at her. "You wanna see what I've been doing around here?"

Eimi blinked a few times. She must have thought I was going to ignore her all night. I suppose there are worse fates than having to entertain Eimi Obaka for a night... but not really by all that much...

"Yeah, your panda brain looks like it's about to melt. What do you do for fun around here?"

"You grew up in Kobe too. You should know all the good spots."

"Yeah, but YOU were the one who took Eimi-chan-sama's spot in Seishin, and—"

"For the last time, Eimi, you suck at math and you always have. Seishin is HUGE on math and science. You probably thought that a tangent was a really nice guy who's been out on the beach too long. You're in a good school in Tokyo and loving it, so quit whining already."

"Shut up!"

Ha. You're so easy to get to pouting.

"Fine. C'mon, let's go wander."

"Wander where? The panda caves?"

She forgets that I have wicked harisen powers.

"Ow!"

"That's why it's called wandering, Eimi Obaka. We don't know where we're going to go."

"Fine. Where are we wandering to?"

"That, Eimi, is a very good question."

To be continued...