Author's Note: Hey… So, I'm back! I've been really, REALLY, busy with real-life stuff right now. But, this one idea started to develop itself and was invading my every thought when I had a slither of free time. Hence, I'm going to write it out! Just for some context: I'm keeping most of the characters' at their fandom wiki age. So, Ren's 16, Itsuki's 17, etc. But, for the purpose of plot, some characters will be aged up. For example, Wyndia will also be 16 in this fanfic. I don't really like stating ages in my writing, so stuff like this will probably be said in notes.
But, with that! I hope you enjoy this two-shot!
Disclaimer: I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero, that honour solely belongs to Aneko Yusagi
—
Melromarc Café
New Character
The air was tense as the self-proclaimed, "Legion of Legends" stood tall against their opponents (The ridiculous name had been Salamander's idea, and they still hadn't been able to persuade him to stop proclaiming themselves as such to every man, woman, and bird they encountered). The sky was deep, blood red while ominous, smoky clouds circled above. The wind howled as it was forcefully spun into a makeshift arena for the two sides.
"HA. HA. HA!" The colossus of a creature - even for a Goliath - chortled at their merry trio. "Your so-called allies have fled like the flies they are! And I have slaughtered the fools who stayed by your puny side! The Gods shower me with victory!" He roared to the heavens, lifting a giant, steel battle axe in his blue palms. Right on cue, lightning flashed in the distance and bathed them in light.
"It doesn't matter how many of us you kill, Helix!" Salamander resolutely shouted back, arming himself with his trusty javelin. The paladin glanced at his friends, who shared a look of fiery determination. "We shall rescue the lovely, fair, just, Princess Elise from your wretched hands!" Salamander resolved, his long, scarlet hair billowing behind him like a cape.
"Even if it kills us! We won't abandon our good friend!" Bruce nodded, notching an arrow in his bow. Though, his long, pointed, elven ears twitched. The ranger wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he worried about their chances.
"Remember our faces! They'll be the last three you ever see, fowl heathen!" Salamander snarled. His eyes sparkled upon meeting the Princess's gaze behind Helix's form, held down by heavy chains. "Wait for us, Princess! Not even the heaviest of restraints could hold down your radiant, ever-present, fair-" The paladin charmed before being interrupted.
"We get it, you buffoon!" Kazuto the rouge hissed, unsheathing his inky, black sword. His face was hidden by a leather hood. Had the hood been miraculously removed, the mysterious man claimed the world would implode from seeing his face… Neither Salamander nor Bruce took him seriously in that regard.
"You love the Princess, we know! We have a fight to win right now!" Bruce added with an annoyed roll of his eyes.
"If you got it you'd let me finish!" Salamander glared, before snapping back into a daring smirk. "Let us begin the-" His next words never had the chance to leave his lips. For Helix, already bored of the three's back and forth, had merely raised his axe and brought it down upon the redhead's skull.
"Salamander! No!" Bruce screamed, drawing out the 'no' for an absurd amount of time. The sky started to spit acid at them, drowning out his stretched reaction.
"Serves him right, to be fair." Kazuto shrugged with a flat voice. In turn, Bruce turned to him with narrowed eyes. "What? He hasn't shut up about the Princess for the last five months. Now we're free of that buffoon's simping." The rogue deadpanned. Afterwards, the elf blinked, taking a moment to consider his companion's words before slowly nodding.
"Actually, that is good." Bruce agreed, ignoring the phantom screams of the fallen that echoed throughout the field. "Princess can revive him later, anyways. We have a fight to win." The elf too shrugged.
"For freedom from Salamander's simping!" The two happily chorused as they charged the Goliath.
None of their attacks worked.
Kazuto even managed to trip on a rock in a failed sneak attack.
Two moves. That's all it took for Helix to strike them down. Hardly any effort on the Goliath's part as he whistled to the stunned Princess.
"Weaklings. WEAKLINGS. WEEEEAAAAAKLINGS!" Helix sang as he chopped the heroes' bodies to bits.
—
"And you're dead." Naofumi deadpanned to his surprisingly shocked friends. A beat passed before the three exploded into a bundle of accusations and insults. The Dungeon Master leaned back with a tiny smirk, wiping some ketchup off the counter with one of the few remaining napkins.
"What do you mean 'Serves him right, Ren?!' Serves you right for dying after mocking my death!" Motoyasu screeched, nearly launching himself over the table to grab the teenager.
"Who here absolutely threw their roll for initiative and then failed their defence roll?" Ren shot back, crossing his arms over his chest.
"At least I didn't get a Natural One!" The blond brought up, causing the other to look away.
"Should you really be bringing up dice rolls when you got owned by an actual squirrel last week?" Itsuki argued with a pointed expression. The former ranger proceeded to fist bump the rogue.
"Okay-" Motoyasu started only to get smacked on the head. "Hey!" The blond protested, turning only to see a stoic Naofumi.
"That's enough. People are staring." The brunette ordered, motioning with his head to the growing pairs of eyes watching the four's shenanigans. Instantly, the other three males settled down. Ren and Itsuki in particular had nasty shades of red flushing their faces. On the other hand, Motoyasu exhaled a few times before his cheerful demeanour returned in full.
"Well, I'm disappointed we weren't able to save the Princess. But, that was fun, right guys?" The blond went, flashing a bright smile.
"Yeah, it was." Itsuki chuckled along after a moment. "I can't believe Ren went full edge lord for the entire campaign!" He teased, poking said black-haired teen in the arm. In response, Ren playfully shoved him off.
"Excuse me, good sir oh what a gracious and marvellous morning it is this lovely today!" He went back, pitching his voice to mimic Bruce's high-end speech. It was Itsuki's turn to be annoyed at his remark.
"Anyways." Naofumi coughed to steal his friends' attention. "We'll be starting a new campaign next week! So, have your new characters ready to go." The brunette explained as they grabbed their belongings. Three affirmations later, the group walked towards the exit while nodding to Erhard and Melty. "How to start next week's campaign off?" The young man hummed while walking down the street. Their recently ended adventure had lasted for nearly half a year. The next story would be their third campaign since first getting into Dungeons and Dragons. "Hopefully they don't die this time." Naofumi snarked.
Despite travelling in the opposite direction, Naofumi heard remnants of Itsuki and Ren's conversation.
"Since we died early… Want to head to Zeltoble?" Itsuki asked while presumably straightening his coat. The young blond was very picky with his appearance like that.
"Sure." Ren quietly agreed.
—
Zeltoble was a new arcade located surprisingly close to the Melromarc Café. However, Zeltoble's main attraction was its abundance of crane games filled with unique prizes from snacks to technological devices. The 'new arcade' aspect was important for Itsuki and Ren. For they'd been banned from nearly every other arcade in the area.
"Don't get us kicked out of another arcade, okay?" Ren reminded as they collected some coins from Zeltoble's front.
"Right back at you." Itsuki rolled his eyes as they strolled up to a set of claw machines. "So, what are you thinking for your next character?" The blond casually pried after inserting a coin to begin playing. "First try!" He chirped not ten seconds later. The claw released his prize into the bin so Itsuki could victoriously lift a white bunny into his arms.
"You're too good at this." Ren shook his head as the claw nudged his own prize away from the bin. "I don't really know what I'm going to do. Wasn't really planning on dying yet, you know?" The black-haired teen explained. Though, his claw merely tapped the prize again, causing him to softly curse. "These are rigged." Ren complained.
"Let me give it a shot." Itsuki smirked, taking control of the machine. "First try yet again!" He cheered, showcasing an anime figurine off.
Score (Successes):
Itsuki: 2
Ren: 0
"These are rigged and you're the one who rigged them." Ren glowered. Was this what it was like being Naofumi and Motoaysu during tournaments? Somehow, Itsuki was a claw machine prodigy who couldn't struggle with the maneuvering if he'd tried. The black-haired teen couldn't ever remember a time when his friend had taken more than three moves to earn a prize. Heck, he could barely remember where it took him more than one!
"Wait, is this a 'My Super Academy'figure? Ew." Itsuki scrunched his face, as if he'd just picked up a piece of foul trash.
"Wow. Itsuki not liking super heroes? Motoyasu would be horrified!" Ren smirked.
"Cut me some slack! Not every super hero is good! It's just not a good show anymore!" The blond defended.
"Naofumi is crying in his sleep." His friend retorted while waving his friends in front of his face. They all knew that 'My Super Academy' was the brunette's favourite show at the moment.
"The studio is butchering the original story! This guy should've died years ago!" Itsuki defended.
"The world is ending." Ren joked as they flew from machine to machine, winning prizes left, right, front, and centre. Before they knew what had happened, their bags were full and a crowd had flocked to their sides. Though, the two high-schoolers didn't notice the growing attention since they'd become too engrossed in their conversation about the 'My Super Academy' anime's flaws.
Itsuki: 53
Ren: 11
It was only when the duo turned to move onto the next machine and found themselves surrounded that they realized what had happened. Ren glanced at their various prizes and groaned upon seeing the owner, Hickwaal approach them with his lips pressed in a thin line.
"Itsuki, again?!" He accused, leaning his head back to stare at his friend.
"Okay, but you're supposed to stop me! So, this your fault as much as it is mine!" The blond huffed.
"… Fair point." Ren reluctantly conceded.
—
The two high schoolers yelped as they were unceremoniously tossed out of Zeltoble. A second later, their - Itsuki's - numerous bags of prizes were thrown after them. Hickwaal smirked and cracked his back after kicking the two out. Though, in the commotion, their crowd had only increased. To the boys' absolute mortification, cameras were on and recording.
"Banned! You hear me! Banned!" Hickwaal hollered antecedent to sauntering back into Zeltoble.
"I think that's every arcade this side of Tokyo…" Ren groaned, nestled under a dragon plushie. Sighing, the black-haired teen grabbed the fluffy toy and hugged it against his chest.
"Yeah… It's just too easy! I keep forgetting to not get carried away!" Itsuki boasted, his entire body covered with pirate and samurai figurines. He didn't really bother getting up, not until the crowd left and not turn them into the next viral meme at least. "Also, 'My Super Academy' still sucks." He promptly added.
"You're still on about that?" Ren exclaimed, directing a glare towards him which Itsuki easily brushed off.
"I will die on this hill, Ren! Now-Hey!" The blond hissed as a girl no older than five-years snatched one of the plushies from the pile. "That doesn't belong to you! I spent good money to get that!" Itsuki protested, hurriedly standing. He could practically feel Ren staring daggers into his head. "Okay! Not much, but still my money!" He amended after a wry glance from Ren.
"Mine!" The girl excitedly babbled, spinning the plushie in her arms while frantically jumping. "Mine! Mine! Mine!" She continued to ramble.
"Not yours! Mine!" Itsuki argued, moving to take his prize back from the girl. However, she mercilessly kicked him in between the legs with an animalistic growl.
"Mine!" She insisted one final time before sprinting away with the plushie. While the crowd exploded with laughter, Itsuki wheezed as he fell onto his side next to Ren. His friend was both amused and concerned.
"Kids are terrifying…" The black-haired teen observed as they watched the girl vanish down the road.
"Agreed." Itsuki sagely nodded.
—
Before they knew it, the weekend had rolled in and out. After morning classes ended, Itsuki sought Ren out in their usual hangout spot - the hallway near one of the school's exits. The wall next to the exit had a cheesy mural painted onto the bricks. It depicted various students having a picnic underneath a row of cherry blossom trees. Each student had some inspirational or stock quote attached to their heads. Though, ignoring the cheesy lines, it was an extremely well-made piece of art. It didn't stop a certain group of students from continuously taking photos before editing the lines into jokes though.
Anyways, the important thing was that not many people used that particular exit. So, the spot was usually empty for the two to occupy.
"Ren!" Itsuki amiably greeted while taking a seat next to his friend on the ground. "How'd your test go?" He pried as he unpacked his lunch.
"… Fine…" The black-haired teen slowly replied after a long, awkward silence.
"That's good…?" The blond tilted his head. His eyes glanced downwards to see a fountain of scrunched up paper balls in Ren's lap. The younger of the two was hyper-focused on another piece of paper in his hands. "What's that for?" Itsuki asked, curiosity shining in his eyes.
"I'm still trying to work on my new character for the next campaign." Ren explained with a frustrated sigh. He proceeded to tear his current paper in two before adding them to his mounting rejections.
"Seriously? I got mine done ages ago." The blond noted with wide eyes. "I'm doing a firbolg bard. Thought I'd bring some music to the table, you know?" Itsuki proudly revealed.
"Bard suits you. But, firbolg?" Ren queried, raising a brow.
"I like being tall, okay? It's not fair that I'm the shortest when you're younger than me!" The blond complained with a slight pout. In response, Ren chuckled as he continued to work on his own character. "So… what did you think of so far?" Itsuki questioned, motioning to the pile of crumpled paper. "These look pretty cool." He noted, unfolding one of the rejects and studying it.
"Thanks. But, I'm trying to do something different for once! The only thing I can draw decently are mysterious guys with hoods!" Ren bemoaned. "I just can't draw faces!" To prove his point, the younger of the two held up his current attempt.
"Understatement of the year." Itsuki winced. Ren's character design was comparable to a bad child's doodles. His friend wasn't the best when not working with a dark palette. "I'm trying to do a battle mage since I've mainly done rogues in the past. And, I'm trying to go more colourful this time around… it's not working out…" Ren frowned, slumping in defeat.
"You want… some help?" Itsuki unsurely offered.
"Nah. I want to do this myself." The black-haired boy firmly turned down.
"You going to eat?" Itsuki asked, tilting his head.
"I'll eat after finishing this…" Ren vaguely waved off to the blond's unimpressed stare. "Hey!" He protested while Itsuki yoinked the paper from his hand and shoved it in his pocket.
"Dude, eat. Remember that time in Middle School when we were grinding for that one tournament and decided sleep was for the weak? You passed out in front of your Mom and I had to explain that. I really don't want to go through that again at school." Both Itsuki and Ren turned slightly red at the thought.
"Point taken." Ren nodded. "Just let me throw all of this away." He stated, gathering all of the crumpled papers in his arms before shoving them in a nearby trashcan. After finishing their lunch while idly chatting, Ren continued to work on his character. However, the teen chucked that paper as well when the bell rang for afternoon classes. "I still have a few days… Shouldn't be a problem to come up with something by then." He assured himself.
…
…
Though, when both boys had vanished down the hall, a girl silently entered through the doors and peeked into the trashcan. She had short brown hair and styled it in a way that appeared to resemble dog ears. Fortunately, there were so many papers that any smell that had been there was nullified. Nonetheless, the girl pinched her nose while snatching one of the balls of paper. She quickly glanced around to ensure no eyes had seen her before scampering away.
—
"Still no character?" Itsuki asked while bagging his newest prize, some wizard figurine from a new RPG game.
"Nope, couldn't think of anything that felt right." Ren grimly responded.
"Darn. Also, your moustache is wonky." The blond observed, subtly pulling at the ends of his own black strands. The two boys wore matching disguises composed of inky moustaches and poofy, white wigs… Of course, it was Itsuki's idea. And somehow it had worked.
Itsuki - 12
Ren - 7
"I can't believe we haven't been caught yet. It's so dumb…" Ren grumbled as his claw failed to entangle a plushie.
"It's not dumb if it works!" His friend retorted with a prideful smirk. "Besides, now we don't have to wait for new management to play." Itsuki pointed out as he fished a fish from another machine.
Itsuki - 13
Ren - 7
Usually, the duo would simply wait for Zeltoble's management to transfer, get fired, or quit and for the banned board to be subsequently reset. After all, Zeltoble and many other arcades were the bottom of an ever changing corporate system, Hence, their staff changed every time the next changed and the next changed. Hence, the board reset often.
"We look ridiculous." Ren rolled his eyes.
"That's an opinion!" The blond shot back. "Anyways, what're you going to do later then? The new campaign starts today." He reminded, prompting Ren to scowl.
"I don't have nothing. I have backup characters already that I'll use instead. Just not completely happy with it." Ren explained with a disappointed aura.
"Another rogue, huh? Hey, you never know." Itsuki shrugged. "Apparently, Motoyasu used a last minute character in his first campaign with us but ended up loving them in the end. Maybe something similar will happen for you." The blond went as they walked down an aisle.
"Maybe…" Ren listlessly acknowledged. "So, how are things going between you and Rishia?" The black haired boy questioned with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Instantly, Itsuki turned a flaming red and defensively crossed his arms.
"I-There's no things between us! We are just friends! Friends, okay?! Two friends who are in no way romantically involved with each other! I understand that, Rishia understands that! And frankly, I think it's insulting and a little telling that you feel that when a girl and a dude are friends…" Itsuki ranted with a flustered face while Ren chuckled.
"Works every time…" Ren thought. Meanwhile, he was able to get more prizes as his friend ranted.
Itsuki - 13
Ren - 12
Perhaps he'd finally beat Itsuki at those darn games. However, before Ren could start up another round or reach a tie, a light force slapped the back of his head.
"What the-No!" Ren bemoaned as the distraction caused him to lose his shot. "Itsuki!" He yelled, twirling around to scold his friend only to see him continuing his verbal crusade." "Itsuki?" The younger of the two roughly shook the blond by the shoulders.
"Huh?" Itsuki blanched, meeting his gaze with stern eyes. "Yeah, what is it?" He went in turn. Ren pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Who hit me?" He asked after placing his hands on his hips.
"Someone hit you? Who?!" The blond quickened in tone, suspiciously glaring at the crowd.
"That's why I asked you. I don't know!" Ren groaned, kicking the floor only to see a small, crumbled piece of paper at his feet. "What's this?" The black haired boy went, hesitantly pulling it apart. "Eh?!" He deadpanned .
"Isn't that…?" Itsuki noted, peeking over his shoulder.
"It is." Ren confirmed with a confused cloud settling into his face. Spread out, the paper was actually one of Ren's rejected characters. However, there were minor notes and annotations all over the page with suggestions on how to redesign or tweak the character. And they were actually good? Ren found himself agreeing with many of the suggestions and felt his mind whir with how to begin implementing them.
"I didn't know you got someone else to do it. That's not like you, Ren." Itsuki stated with a raised eyebrow.
"I didn't ask anyone!" Ren heatedly denied. "Besides, whoever returned this didn't do it for me. They just gave me suggestions for how to improve it myself…" He added, slowly pocketing the paper. "Actually, I'm going to start on this right now! We don't have that long until the meet up." Ren speedily defended, sliding down against the wall with a pencil and his papers.
"Here?!" Itsuki exclaimed. "Are you asking to get caught-" The blond started only for a hand to clamp onto his arm.
"Hickwaal-san!" Both boys pass at the seething man.
Though, as both protested while they were kicked out by Zeltoble's owner. Neither noticed the brown head of hair among the crowd.
—
"… Great, now Ron and Itsu are banned from Zeltoble's too…" Itsuki groaned as they staggered toward the café.
Itsuki - 15
Ren - 12
"How did you get two more prizes while I was reading the paper?" Ren demanded to know while putting the finishing touches on his character.
"The machine right behind you was really easy." Itsuki shrugged to his aggravation. "So, next time I'm thinking of disguising as-" The blond was interrupted.
"No. Not this again." Ren cut off.
"Hear me out first! I have this neighbour who sells glasses and…" Itsuki chattered on and on as they reached the café.
"Hey, Itsuki! Ren!" Motoyasu cheerfully greeted from their table. He was promptly ignored.
"I am not coming with you pretending to be some tree-loving hippie." Ren bickered.
"We'll see about that!" Itsuki insisted, wagging his finger in his face.
"What's this about dressing up as hippies?" Naofumi neutrally pried as they prepared to start the campaign. As Itsuki took the lead on explaining their Zeltoble exploits, Ren proudly readied his character: A Dragonborn wizard.
Although… he snook a glance at the original paper once more. Ren felt as if he'd seen that handwriting somewhere before…
— — —
Author's Notes: So, I went to Paris recently! And, i wrote most of the latter part of this chapter and another chapter on the plane ride by hand. Discovered it's really painful transcribing paper to digital on a phone. Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter! Also, let me know what kind of things you want to see expanded in this AU! The other chapter I wrote on the plan is also pretty Ren-Itsuki centric. BUT, I have this tendency to turn everything I start writing into angst so I don't really want to post it right away.
Have a great day guys! Until next time!