SFFAL Love Hina RPG
This is the combined transcript of the Love Hina RPG being currently played by the members of the Shinobu Fan-Fiction Authors League. Each week, the players submit their chapter, and these are amalgamated and reconciled by the GM who then adds any extra interaction before posting the completed chapter.
Noone has author powers in this game, it is supposed to be in keeping with the LH theme and most players are playing versions of themselves.
Currently you are welcome to contact Baka-Alaskan if you wish to join the league; however the game is not looking for extra players.
Players: Cody (Baka-Alaskan), Al (Althesushilovingfanficsage), Lance, Sam (British Dragon), Kyosuke (Blight)
GM: Steve (CheshireCat5)
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Chapter 6: Sam's meeting with Motoko: FIGHT!
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Wednesday: Lance's Move
-----------------------
"Excuse me professor, but do these surveys have a point?"
Yamasugawa looked up from his desk and smiled, "You'll see tomorrow."
Lance groaned, but silently. He'd been filling out long surveys for this teacher he didn't even have, and he doesn't know why and what for. Of course, he shouldn't complain, he's getting paid more money than most guys make in a day for sparing a couple of hours of his time. Still, he would like to know what sort of point this man had for this.
Half an hour later, with his pocket filled with Yen, Lance walked alone down the street toward the Hinata Sou. He thought to himself as he walked.
"I can't believe I'm getting money from home. I only know one person who knew
I was moving to Japan... but how did he know where I lived? It can't be my
parents...they died in a fire at my Dad's work. I guess that was why I moved
here...."
He passed by a power-line that had a poster nailed to it. It read "MISSING! SMALL RODENT WITH GRAY FUR AND POSSIBLY WEARING A BICYCLE HELMET! RESPONDS TO THE NAME 'DIZZY'! PLEASE PHONE THE HINATA SOU FOR INFORMATION!!!"
He tried to get the thoughts out of his head by running up the stairs to the Hinata like he came out of "Rocky". As he reached the top, panting for breath, he noticed Motoko standing in front of the building, apparently meditating. Lance decided to ignore it and go inside. Running up those stairs can sure make you exhausted, especially after another long day in school.
As he walked past Motoko spoke, "Watch your step while you're in there."
Lance froze, and turned back to her. Her eyes were still closed, but he knew she was speaking to him. "What do you mean?"
"Samuel and I are duelling at sunset," she replied, "and Kaolla is taking advantage of that by setting up booby traps. She has one in front of our hall, but it's pretty easy to spot."
Lance grinned, surprised with Motoko's sudden kindness. "You're being awfully friendly today, Motoko. Can I ask why?"
Motoko hesitated for a moment, almost like she was trying to prevent blushing. "Sigh..I know I'm not in a good mood today... but just think of it as another thank you for not allowing Haitani and Shirai to move in."
Lance nodded, "Okay. Thanks for the warning, Motoko."
She said nothing as he walked inside the door. But she did open one of her eyes after the door closed.
"Maybe he's not such a pain after all..." she thought to herself, before returning to her meditation.
Suddenly a shriek echoed through the building and was heard outside by Motoko. It sounded like Lance...
"KAOLLAAAA!!!!!"
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Al's move: Delivery!
--------------------
"Hmmmm."
"Grrr."
"I dunno, it dosen't look too safe."
Dizzy and Al were standing in Al's room, keeping their eyes on a small bluging box in the middle of the room which was marked "Open with care!" and had Al's name on the label.
"Grrr." warned Dizzy, nervously.
"Yup, it looks like it might be a bomb or something -- and let's face it, it's not like we were too popular back in the states, any number of people or things could have sent it to us with intention to harm."
Dizzy nodded. He and Al had spent quite a lot of time fighting off loonys back in the states -- people who wanted to take over the world and whatnot... you'd be surprised how many of those you get in Utah.
Al took a cautious step forward, and then another, and another, reaching out for the box's lid, and very slowly and very carefully pulled on the lid to open it.
---
Shinobu was walking down the hall with a basket of laundry to be hung out on the deck, and as she passed Alex's room...
BANG!
She froze. The paper door that had once been blocking Alex's room from sight was now lying on the other side of the hall, having just missed crashing into her on its way past.
After swaying swirly-eyed for a moment, freaking out over the closeness of the call, Shinobu carefully peeked around the corner into Alex's room.
It was trashed! Books and costumes and papers and various junk was lying everywhere. A large plastic castle seemed to have dented one wall, but Alex and Dizzy were nowhere in sight.
Shinobu jumped -- something in the pile of clothing to her left had moved!
A large scary white cat with a huge head, black empty eyes and a big scary smile crawled out of the pile. Its head must be the size of beachball!
"KEYAAAAAH!" Shinobu panicked and ran, right into Keitaro and Naru who had decided to come check out what the noise was.
"What's the matter Shinobu?" Keitaro asked as she opened her eyes and saw who she had run into.
"Stop that!" Naru punched Keitaro thinking he was holding Shinobu a mite too close.
After Keitaro recovered, the three of them ventured into the room and spotted the thing that had freaked out shinobu. It seemed to be trying to pull it's head off!
"YAHHHH! w...what is that!?!" Keitaro yelled as the beast turned it's eyes on him.
"Little help?" the monster asked.
"WHA?" The three stood frozen, it was Al's voice!
---
After a few moments, Keitaro managed to get the hapless teen out of the cat head.
"What is all this stuff?" Naru asked as she peered into a pile of wigs, wondering if the blue one had just growled a moment ago.
"Well, I'm big into anime, you guys know that, so I've collected a ton of junk." Al indicated some Trigun bobbleheads he was putting on a desk,
"So I've also collected quiet a lot of cosplay stuff -- I'm big on drama and acting, so costumes and disguses are my thing, ya know?"
Al spotted a letter on the ground and picked it up, reading out loud:
"Dear Al -- You lucky jerk, we thought about keeping your things as ransom until you sent us some presents, but after a long while we decided to send them to you. Better send us back some real good stuff, like those fun date sim games that only were marketed in Japan, or maybe a hot Japanese otaku girl?"
Al sweatdropped and finished up, "Your buds, who still have your favorite slurpie cup hostage, Ian, Caz, Jaimie, Alex C., and Andrew."
"Aw, how sweet of them -- though I wish they had packed things in a bigger box! Lousy cheapskates, saving on postage my eye!" commented Al.
Keitaro's attention was grabbed by a lump in one of the posters that had hung itself on the wall in the explosion. It had a lump in it, and when he walked over and try'd to flatten it out, it responded with a muffled growl.
"Dizzy!" Al moved over and undid the poster, allowing his furry friend to fall to the floor.
"Nice dress Al, mind if I barrow it later?" a voice asked.
Alex turned, Kitsune was holding up a rather sexy slim red dress, very fitting for a female.
"Uh...I...I can explain!" Al stammered as Naru turned her rage upon him.
"Come on Keitaro, Shinobu, let's leave this perverted little demon to his toys!" she shouted in disgust.
They left, leaving Kitsune to chuckle at the crumpled body on the floor, crushed by a large mallet that Naru had grabbed from Al's piles of junk.
"Very nice... may I ask why you have it?" Kitsune smiled indicating the dress.
"There was this undercover operation, I had to do a report on the disappearing cheerleaders for journalism, long story... anyway, can I help you?" Alex stood and began attempting to clean the mess of a room he now had.
"No no, the question is, can I help you!"
"Eh?" Alex backed up a step, he had been warned by Keitaro about Kitsune's idea of 'Help'.
"I know about you and Motoko's little date, and I'd be glad to help you get your hands on some protection for after dinner, for a price."
"Kitsune, are you nuts?" Al laughed, thinking she had to be joking.
"You mean you're not even gonna try?"
"Kitsune! She'd rip me in two if I even suggested it! Anyway, it's not a 'date' date, just dinner. She helped me out, I'm just being a gentlemen."
"You are such a wuss!"
"I am not!"
"Whatever." Kitsune left, grumpy, well if she couldn't make a quick buck, maybe a little blackmail could help... or wait.... an idea of evil genius proporations struck her, she ran down the hall to set everything in action. Life was getting very interesting around here, all of a sudden...
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Sam's move: Duel?
-----------------
Keitaro and Naru walked up onto the deck at 8:55pm, ready to watch Sam be demolished by Motoko.
"I just hope she leaves him alive..." muttered Keitaro. "Even though he's not the most prompt of rent-payers, he pays more than Kitsune and we need the money!"
"The pervert will just get what he deserves!" stated Naru, unforgivingly. "If he..."
She stopped. They both looked ahead in amazement.
They were not the first to arrive on the deck. Shinobu was there, looking worried, but it was Al who accounted for their reactions.
They knew he was intending to be cheerleading for Motoko at the duel (he could hardly do anything else, seeing as how he was going on a date with her the next day), but what they had not expected was for him to be wearing the full cheerleading outfit, in a rather fetching grey and silver, complete with worryingly short miniskirt.
He looked like a Sailor Moon cosplayer.
Naru's look darkened. "Hentai..." she muttered under her breath, but was distracted by a further voice from behind.
"Look, I'm not sure about this..."
"Well, if you want to say goodbye to 10,000 yen..."
"Okay, okay..." Lance sighed, and walked up the steps into view. Behind him came a grinning Kitsune, but eyes went immediately to Lance who (scarlet with embarassment) was wearing a similar outfit to Al but in red and blue. He sat down next to Al, saying out of the corner of his mouth, "You just HAD to lend her the costume, didn't you?"
Kitsune was now wearing a trilby hat, and standing in front of a large Tote board upon which were chalked the odds "Sam: 10,000 - 1"
Naru was looking back and forth between Al and Lance, as if unable to decide which to chastise first. Eventually she settled on just glaring at them both equally.
Then Motoko and Sam walked up onto the deck, and took their places at either end.
Kitsune prodded Lance with a long stick. He gave her a pained glance, but she tapped a bundle of yen significantly, and with a sigh he stood up and launched into a half-hearted cheer routine.
"Sam, Sam, he's our man! If he can't do it, noone can!" he shouted as he waved him pom-poms. He paused, but Kitsune waved the bundle again and waved him to continue. Scarlet with embarassment, he executed the finale high kick (complete with panty-flash) and splits.
"this is SO not worth the money!" he muttered, in a voice 2 octaves higher than usual.
"This is SO worth the money!" chuckles Kitsune wickedly, quickly hiding her camera.
Al immediately stood up, saying, "Nah, THIS is how you do it!"
He then went into a very professional routine...
"Do the splits and give a yell! Mo-chan, Mo-chan, give him hell!" High kicks (with panty-flash), spins, and cartwheels finishing with pom-pom juggling, Al really let himself go.
"That was... almost TOO good," murmurs Naru, suspiciously.
"Blue..." murmured Motoko to herself.
Buoyed by this, Al continued to improvise:
"Two, four, six, eight - Motoko-chan is really great!
Ten, twelve - err, thats enough - I'd like to see her in the buff!"
He landed from his final jump, waving his pom-poms, to deathly silence. Looking up, he sees Motoko who is studying an English-Japanese dictionary again.
Al sweatdrops. "Oh crap..."
Fortunately for Al, 'buff' was not listed in Motoko's dictionary, and the chiming of the clock signalling 9pm brought her attention back to the duel.
Motoko fixed her gaze on Sam.
"So, then, ready to show? If you're a true warrior..." said Motoko, as she slowly drew her blade.
"Ready as I ever will be!" replied Sam, nervously. He was fairly sure Motoko could carve him into sushi should she choose to -- he just hoped his secret plan would save him.
"Good," stated the swordswoman. "Seeing as you have less training then me, you may have first blow."
"Very well," shouted Sam, "I shall use the most powerful move in my inventory -- feel the power, feel the wrath of... PANIC RETREAT!" He promptly ran, and jumped off the roof, down the Hinata Inns stairs with Motoko in hot pursuit.
"Come back here, you son of a ninja!" she snarled, sending blasts of Ki after him as he dodged back and forth.
"God... well THAT hurt my feelings" he muttered, as he looped around back towards the deck.
"Ah crap," he thought to himself, "Where is Tama when I need her? And, I paid Kaolla 158 bananas to come over here with a mecha tama to save me! Where is she?"
(Back in Kaolla's room:
Kaolla lies on the floor, next to a huge pile of banana skins. She was experiencing an unusual feeling -- there were still bananas in front of her, and yet she didn't seem to be able to eat them. Also, she seemed to be so full that she couldnt move.
Kaolla sighed.
Well, Sam would just have to cope without her. These bananas were much too important to leave -- maybe she would be able to finish them after a bit of sleep...)
Back on the roof, Sam had returned to the deck to find himself trapped. Motoko appeared at the stair, blocking his escape.
"Well then, ready for your beatings?" she asked, darkly.
"Nope, eat this -- KATEN GIRI!" replied Sam, not quite giving up yet.
Mottoko blocked the blast of his sword with contemptuous ease. "That move was nothing," she commented, "I learned it when I was 12! Now here's a true move -- HIKEN ZANKUSEN!"
A wave of Ki blasted Sam into the air, to crash back down on the deck in front of her. He lay there swirly-eyed for a bit.
"Ow, that hurt!" he moaned. "Only one chance left! Must move in for the kill..."
He leapt up, and rushed at Motoko, and they started a parrying fight. Despite Motoko's contempt of his lack of experience, there was no denying that he did posess a fair bit of skill -- at least, it wasn't over in the first strike.
Motoko readied a fresh Ki technique, only to have it pass harmlessly over Sam's head as he tripped over his hakama. The blast continued on to hit Keitaro who disappeared into the sky with a "Why meeeee?"
"At least, I can beat you with my strength," gasped Sam, pulling himself back to his feet.
"Oh please... you will only last half as long as me" laughed Motoko, knowing that it was only a matter of time until Sam was worn out.
"Maybe so," he countered, "but I have one final technique -- BUTT GROPE!"
With this, he dived under her katana, and smacked her on her rear end with his hand. Motoko fell to the floor with a scarlet face.
"Ha!" laughed Sam, "Looks like I win!"
Motoko, however, had already stood up and her face showed absolute fury. An ominous roll of thunder sounded.
"You... hentai... grr..."
"Oh crap..." whispered Sam.
"HIKEN ZANKUSEN!" A wave of Ki blasted over the deck, and Sam became a dot in the distance.
Motoko sheathed her katana, and straightened her clothing. "Fool..." she muttered, and left the deck.
------------------------
Thursday
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Cody's Move: First day at work
The alarm clock's beeping woke Cody, interrupting him from the rest he was getting after the interesting day he'd had the day before. He groggily got up and prepared for his first real day for at his new job.
"Ohayo, Minna-san!" Cody says as he walked into the dinning room.
"Ohayo, Cody-san, please sit down, breakfast for will be served in a just a second" Shinobu sayed as she set down the last tray of food from the kitchen. After setting the tray down, she quickly sat down herself.
"Itadakimasu!" Cody said, joining the others as they began eating. Cody ate quickly, wanting to get to work early.
He thanked Shinobu for the meal, said goodbye to the others, headed straight to his shoes and out the door.
Thirty minutes later he was at MegaPixal. He walked in to see Minako, the young clerk that hired him, checking-in some books behind the counter.
"Good Morning, Cody-san. ", Minako said cheerfuly to the new empoyee," Can you give me a hand here?". He walked up to the counter and helped her check-in books. Time seemed to pass slowly, yet soon it was noon. The silence that they were working in was broken by the hunrgy sounds of his stomach.
"It must be about lunch time, eh Cody-san?" Minako said with a light tease in her voice.
Cody sweatdropped at the sound that his stomach made, "Uhh.. Yeah, it must be."
They stopped working to take a lunch break. Minako pulled out a box lunch and got ready to eat. She saw Cody was just sitting there looking a little sad and hungry.
"What's wrong, Cody-san?" She asked.
"Umm.. well I forgot a pack a lunch." He answered with another sweatdrop,"Guess I really wanted to get to work quickly."
She also sweatdropped at this," Thats ok Cody-san. Would you like to share mine? I really made too much anyway." Cody just nodded, and Minako broke out a second pair of chopsticks and they ate the lunch together. The rest of the day was spent helping customers and with Cody learning the ins and outs of the comic shop. Minako told Cody that he did a really good job today, and she was glad for his help. She also reminded him to bring his own lunch tomorrow. He thanked her also and headed back to the Hinata Sou.
Once back he headed straight to his room, to change and relax before dinner. He was sitting at the desk looking around the room, noticing how bare the walls are.
"I've got get some posters or something. It's kind of depressing..." He said to himself. Thats when he noticed that one of the panels of his wall was off-center. He went over to check it out. It came off easily, and he was greeted by a passageway leading downward.
"Wow... A secret passage. Wonder where it goes?" As soon as those words left his mouth, a strange wind from the hole pulled the young Alaskan into the passage. He fell down into the darkness. A long "Oh Sleddogs!" was heard as he fell, and then he disappeared into the blackness.
-------------------
Kyosuke's Day
-------------
---
The glow of a bonfire shone through the darkness of night as silent figures assembled in two columns, facing each other around the fire. All were wearing deep blue kimonos, each with a large kanji plastered on the back in red. They were also wearing white sheets of paper over their faces with the matching kanji only in blue. They were all dressed in the same manor except for one figure, dressed in a grey kimono with the kanji for kai, who instead had a string bag tightened around his head. He was accompanied by two guards who led him through the column of viewers and pushed him on all fours before the flames of the bonfire.
The guards stepped back and let another man through to the condemned prisoner. This time, the new man had on the blood-red mask of a demon and a matching colored gi and hakama with an unsheathed katana tied to his hip. He bore the kanji symbols for the word Beheader on his back, which did little to make his appearance any more 'friendly'. The man on the ground trembled in fear, for he knew what was about to come even without the ability to see, as the Beheader moved to his right flank and removed the razor sharp sword from his hip and raised it above his head. The prisoner yelped in fear as his executioner brought the sword down on him with full force.
---
At that moment, Kyosuke woke up in cold sweat from the rather bizarre nightmare that had played through his head. He was sitting at one of the cafeteria tables by himself.
"Guess I must've fallen asleep." he thought to himself, a second before the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. "Crap! I didn't get to eat lunch yet!" Kyosuke cursed under his breath as he got up and left the cafeteria for his next class.
-------------------
Al's Afternoon
--------------
This was one of the more strange moments in Al's life... he was being chased by a large pile of gummy bears, and they seemed to be playing bells.
Oh wait....what? Al blinked, this wasn't right...
Al opened his eyes. The ringing persisted, but he was lying on his back, staring at the phone on the table.
He remembered coming hom early this afternoon -- no classes! -- and trying to spend some time tidying up the mess his room was still in, before his big date (no! Not a date! Honest!) with Motoko this evening.
It hadn't worked, his room was still trashed, and that ringing phone was getting annoying.
Dizzy picked up the phone. "Grr?"
Dizzy handed the phone to a not-quite-awake Al.
"Uh...hi?"
"Hello Mr. Rush, we just wanted to make sure you got our letter about the interviews today at three-o-clock?"
"Err...what interview?"
"You did apply with the cosplay cafe for a job did you not?"
"Oh, Umm yeah, right, three-o-clock on what day?"
"Today."
Alex looked at his watch, 2:30.
"Make sure you have a costume."
---
"GET OUTTA MY WAY!" Al fishtailed a turn, nearly killing himself and taking out a fruitstand.
His tophat slid down over his eyes. Great... now he was speeding, and he couldn't see!
Dizzy climbed up onto his head and pulled back on the wig, allowing Al to dodge around a mailbox that he had nearly had a very close encounter with.
---
Somehow, Alex had made it to the cafe in one place, and still had all of his Tuxedo Mask outfit on.
"Glad you got here in time Mr. Rush, it's your turn to interview." A tall offical looking man with slicked back black hair smiled.
---
Su opened the door to Alex's room. He had walked in that afternoon, looking very pale, and he had gone right to his room.
"HEYO AL!" She cheered as she flew through the air and kicked him in the back of the head, smashing him into the floor.
"Yughhhhhh, hiya Shuuuu." Al's speech slurred as his unfocused eyes found Su as a blurry brownish object in a room of other blurry objects.
Su's eyes traveled to all the empty bottles in the room, and right away she knew, he had been drinking.
"Alllll, why didn't you save any mountain dew for meeeee?" She wrapped her arms around him and he fell back with a thump.
"Sorry shuuu, I'm depressed that's all, I really think I messhed up that interview I went to."
"Soooo, you have all these cools things!" She ignored his depression, and began juggling stuffed toys.
Al blinked, either the soda was really affecting his brain, or Su had just somehow made sense.
"Are you somehow saying to not sweat the small stuff?"
"Um....no?"
Al facefaulted.
"Anyways... where are you taking Mo-chan this evening, then?"
Al was shocked into sobreity.
"Oh my God... the date! What time is it? What am I going to wear? Oh crap..." Al panicked as he frantically sorted through the mess of clothes in the wardrobe for something appropriate.
"Hey, relax!" giggled Kaolla. "Kitsune took Motoko off to help her get ready, and it will probably be at least another hour... so you've got time to play first!"
-------
"You cannot be seriously suggesting I wear THAT!" shouted Motoko, staring at the first outfit Kitsune was holding up. She had been dragged from her practice on the deck into the Fox's lair, and Kitsune was giving 'big sisterly' advice on a girls first date, what to do and how to get her date to spend big without having to 'put out' -- whatever that meant. Motoko was fairly sure that a good plan of action would be to do pretty much the opposite of whatever Kitsune recommended.
Kitsune, on the other hand, was having a great time. By the time she finished, Motoko would look so good that Al's hormones would go out of control, and he would end up being blasted into orbit. She smiled wickedly.
--------
"Have fun Al-chan!" laughed Kaolla, swinging from the balcony as Al (now dressed up smartly in jacket and tie) prepared to leave on his not-a-date with Motoko.
Motoko appeared at the bottom of the stairs, and everyone stopped talking in surprise. She was wearing an off-the-shoulder dress in deep purple, a halter neck tied at the back and with a full knee-length skirt. Her hair had been tied into twin high pony-tails with matching ribbons, and she was uncharacteristically not wearing her sword. She looked stunning.
Al gulped, his eyes the size of plates (yes, even larger than normal anime eyes!) Kitune noticed this reaction with satisfaction in a job well done.
Motoko, looking highly uncomfortable at this scrutiny, quickly grabbed at Al's arm and started to lead him down the steps.
"Remember what I told you, it's full of protein!" Kitsune whispered enigmatically in Motoko's ear as the passed, causing Motoko to flush scarlet and run down the steps with Al flying behind like a flag.
"What is?" asked Shinobu, confused, but was studiously ignored by the older members of the group.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't!" shouted Kitsune after them "... although, that doesn't rule out much..." she added as an aside. Turning around, she saw everyone looking at her.
"What?" she asked, innocently.
"Well, aren't we going to follow them?"
"Oh yes....!"
This is the combined transcript of the Love Hina RPG being currently played by the members of the Shinobu Fan-Fiction Authors League. Each week, the players submit their chapter, and these are amalgamated and reconciled by the GM who then adds any extra interaction before posting the completed chapter.
Noone has author powers in this game, it is supposed to be in keeping with the LH theme and most players are playing versions of themselves.
Currently you are welcome to contact Baka-Alaskan if you wish to join the league; however the game is not looking for extra players.
Players: Cody (Baka-Alaskan), Al (Althesushilovingfanficsage), Lance, Sam (British Dragon), Kyosuke (Blight)
GM: Steve (CheshireCat5)
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Chapter 6: Sam's meeting with Motoko: FIGHT!
---------------------------------------------
Wednesday: Lance's Move
-----------------------
"Excuse me professor, but do these surveys have a point?"
Yamasugawa looked up from his desk and smiled, "You'll see tomorrow."
Lance groaned, but silently. He'd been filling out long surveys for this teacher he didn't even have, and he doesn't know why and what for. Of course, he shouldn't complain, he's getting paid more money than most guys make in a day for sparing a couple of hours of his time. Still, he would like to know what sort of point this man had for this.
Half an hour later, with his pocket filled with Yen, Lance walked alone down the street toward the Hinata Sou. He thought to himself as he walked.
"I can't believe I'm getting money from home. I only know one person who knew
I was moving to Japan... but how did he know where I lived? It can't be my
parents...they died in a fire at my Dad's work. I guess that was why I moved
here...."
He passed by a power-line that had a poster nailed to it. It read "MISSING! SMALL RODENT WITH GRAY FUR AND POSSIBLY WEARING A BICYCLE HELMET! RESPONDS TO THE NAME 'DIZZY'! PLEASE PHONE THE HINATA SOU FOR INFORMATION!!!"
He tried to get the thoughts out of his head by running up the stairs to the Hinata like he came out of "Rocky". As he reached the top, panting for breath, he noticed Motoko standing in front of the building, apparently meditating. Lance decided to ignore it and go inside. Running up those stairs can sure make you exhausted, especially after another long day in school.
As he walked past Motoko spoke, "Watch your step while you're in there."
Lance froze, and turned back to her. Her eyes were still closed, but he knew she was speaking to him. "What do you mean?"
"Samuel and I are duelling at sunset," she replied, "and Kaolla is taking advantage of that by setting up booby traps. She has one in front of our hall, but it's pretty easy to spot."
Lance grinned, surprised with Motoko's sudden kindness. "You're being awfully friendly today, Motoko. Can I ask why?"
Motoko hesitated for a moment, almost like she was trying to prevent blushing. "Sigh..I know I'm not in a good mood today... but just think of it as another thank you for not allowing Haitani and Shirai to move in."
Lance nodded, "Okay. Thanks for the warning, Motoko."
She said nothing as he walked inside the door. But she did open one of her eyes after the door closed.
"Maybe he's not such a pain after all..." she thought to herself, before returning to her meditation.
Suddenly a shriek echoed through the building and was heard outside by Motoko. It sounded like Lance...
"KAOLLAAAA!!!!!"
--------------------------------------------------
Al's move: Delivery!
--------------------
"Hmmmm."
"Grrr."
"I dunno, it dosen't look too safe."
Dizzy and Al were standing in Al's room, keeping their eyes on a small bluging box in the middle of the room which was marked "Open with care!" and had Al's name on the label.
"Grrr." warned Dizzy, nervously.
"Yup, it looks like it might be a bomb or something -- and let's face it, it's not like we were too popular back in the states, any number of people or things could have sent it to us with intention to harm."
Dizzy nodded. He and Al had spent quite a lot of time fighting off loonys back in the states -- people who wanted to take over the world and whatnot... you'd be surprised how many of those you get in Utah.
Al took a cautious step forward, and then another, and another, reaching out for the box's lid, and very slowly and very carefully pulled on the lid to open it.
---
Shinobu was walking down the hall with a basket of laundry to be hung out on the deck, and as she passed Alex's room...
BANG!
She froze. The paper door that had once been blocking Alex's room from sight was now lying on the other side of the hall, having just missed crashing into her on its way past.
After swaying swirly-eyed for a moment, freaking out over the closeness of the call, Shinobu carefully peeked around the corner into Alex's room.
It was trashed! Books and costumes and papers and various junk was lying everywhere. A large plastic castle seemed to have dented one wall, but Alex and Dizzy were nowhere in sight.
Shinobu jumped -- something in the pile of clothing to her left had moved!
A large scary white cat with a huge head, black empty eyes and a big scary smile crawled out of the pile. Its head must be the size of beachball!
"KEYAAAAAH!" Shinobu panicked and ran, right into Keitaro and Naru who had decided to come check out what the noise was.
"What's the matter Shinobu?" Keitaro asked as she opened her eyes and saw who she had run into.
"Stop that!" Naru punched Keitaro thinking he was holding Shinobu a mite too close.
After Keitaro recovered, the three of them ventured into the room and spotted the thing that had freaked out shinobu. It seemed to be trying to pull it's head off!
"YAHHHH! w...what is that!?!" Keitaro yelled as the beast turned it's eyes on him.
"Little help?" the monster asked.
"WHA?" The three stood frozen, it was Al's voice!
---
After a few moments, Keitaro managed to get the hapless teen out of the cat head.
"What is all this stuff?" Naru asked as she peered into a pile of wigs, wondering if the blue one had just growled a moment ago.
"Well, I'm big into anime, you guys know that, so I've collected a ton of junk." Al indicated some Trigun bobbleheads he was putting on a desk,
"So I've also collected quiet a lot of cosplay stuff -- I'm big on drama and acting, so costumes and disguses are my thing, ya know?"
Al spotted a letter on the ground and picked it up, reading out loud:
"Dear Al -- You lucky jerk, we thought about keeping your things as ransom until you sent us some presents, but after a long while we decided to send them to you. Better send us back some real good stuff, like those fun date sim games that only were marketed in Japan, or maybe a hot Japanese otaku girl?"
Al sweatdropped and finished up, "Your buds, who still have your favorite slurpie cup hostage, Ian, Caz, Jaimie, Alex C., and Andrew."
"Aw, how sweet of them -- though I wish they had packed things in a bigger box! Lousy cheapskates, saving on postage my eye!" commented Al.
Keitaro's attention was grabbed by a lump in one of the posters that had hung itself on the wall in the explosion. It had a lump in it, and when he walked over and try'd to flatten it out, it responded with a muffled growl.
"Dizzy!" Al moved over and undid the poster, allowing his furry friend to fall to the floor.
"Nice dress Al, mind if I barrow it later?" a voice asked.
Alex turned, Kitsune was holding up a rather sexy slim red dress, very fitting for a female.
"Uh...I...I can explain!" Al stammered as Naru turned her rage upon him.
"Come on Keitaro, Shinobu, let's leave this perverted little demon to his toys!" she shouted in disgust.
They left, leaving Kitsune to chuckle at the crumpled body on the floor, crushed by a large mallet that Naru had grabbed from Al's piles of junk.
"Very nice... may I ask why you have it?" Kitsune smiled indicating the dress.
"There was this undercover operation, I had to do a report on the disappearing cheerleaders for journalism, long story... anyway, can I help you?" Alex stood and began attempting to clean the mess of a room he now had.
"No no, the question is, can I help you!"
"Eh?" Alex backed up a step, he had been warned by Keitaro about Kitsune's idea of 'Help'.
"I know about you and Motoko's little date, and I'd be glad to help you get your hands on some protection for after dinner, for a price."
"Kitsune, are you nuts?" Al laughed, thinking she had to be joking.
"You mean you're not even gonna try?"
"Kitsune! She'd rip me in two if I even suggested it! Anyway, it's not a 'date' date, just dinner. She helped me out, I'm just being a gentlemen."
"You are such a wuss!"
"I am not!"
"Whatever." Kitsune left, grumpy, well if she couldn't make a quick buck, maybe a little blackmail could help... or wait.... an idea of evil genius proporations struck her, she ran down the hall to set everything in action. Life was getting very interesting around here, all of a sudden...
----------------------------------
Sam's move: Duel?
-----------------
Keitaro and Naru walked up onto the deck at 8:55pm, ready to watch Sam be demolished by Motoko.
"I just hope she leaves him alive..." muttered Keitaro. "Even though he's not the most prompt of rent-payers, he pays more than Kitsune and we need the money!"
"The pervert will just get what he deserves!" stated Naru, unforgivingly. "If he..."
She stopped. They both looked ahead in amazement.
They were not the first to arrive on the deck. Shinobu was there, looking worried, but it was Al who accounted for their reactions.
They knew he was intending to be cheerleading for Motoko at the duel (he could hardly do anything else, seeing as how he was going on a date with her the next day), but what they had not expected was for him to be wearing the full cheerleading outfit, in a rather fetching grey and silver, complete with worryingly short miniskirt.
He looked like a Sailor Moon cosplayer.
Naru's look darkened. "Hentai..." she muttered under her breath, but was distracted by a further voice from behind.
"Look, I'm not sure about this..."
"Well, if you want to say goodbye to 10,000 yen..."
"Okay, okay..." Lance sighed, and walked up the steps into view. Behind him came a grinning Kitsune, but eyes went immediately to Lance who (scarlet with embarassment) was wearing a similar outfit to Al but in red and blue. He sat down next to Al, saying out of the corner of his mouth, "You just HAD to lend her the costume, didn't you?"
Kitsune was now wearing a trilby hat, and standing in front of a large Tote board upon which were chalked the odds "Sam: 10,000 - 1"
Naru was looking back and forth between Al and Lance, as if unable to decide which to chastise first. Eventually she settled on just glaring at them both equally.
Then Motoko and Sam walked up onto the deck, and took their places at either end.
Kitsune prodded Lance with a long stick. He gave her a pained glance, but she tapped a bundle of yen significantly, and with a sigh he stood up and launched into a half-hearted cheer routine.
"Sam, Sam, he's our man! If he can't do it, noone can!" he shouted as he waved him pom-poms. He paused, but Kitsune waved the bundle again and waved him to continue. Scarlet with embarassment, he executed the finale high kick (complete with panty-flash) and splits.
"this is SO not worth the money!" he muttered, in a voice 2 octaves higher than usual.
"This is SO worth the money!" chuckles Kitsune wickedly, quickly hiding her camera.
Al immediately stood up, saying, "Nah, THIS is how you do it!"
He then went into a very professional routine...
"Do the splits and give a yell! Mo-chan, Mo-chan, give him hell!" High kicks (with panty-flash), spins, and cartwheels finishing with pom-pom juggling, Al really let himself go.
"That was... almost TOO good," murmurs Naru, suspiciously.
"Blue..." murmured Motoko to herself.
Buoyed by this, Al continued to improvise:
"Two, four, six, eight - Motoko-chan is really great!
Ten, twelve - err, thats enough - I'd like to see her in the buff!"
He landed from his final jump, waving his pom-poms, to deathly silence. Looking up, he sees Motoko who is studying an English-Japanese dictionary again.
Al sweatdrops. "Oh crap..."
Fortunately for Al, 'buff' was not listed in Motoko's dictionary, and the chiming of the clock signalling 9pm brought her attention back to the duel.
Motoko fixed her gaze on Sam.
"So, then, ready to show? If you're a true warrior..." said Motoko, as she slowly drew her blade.
"Ready as I ever will be!" replied Sam, nervously. He was fairly sure Motoko could carve him into sushi should she choose to -- he just hoped his secret plan would save him.
"Good," stated the swordswoman. "Seeing as you have less training then me, you may have first blow."
"Very well," shouted Sam, "I shall use the most powerful move in my inventory -- feel the power, feel the wrath of... PANIC RETREAT!" He promptly ran, and jumped off the roof, down the Hinata Inns stairs with Motoko in hot pursuit.
"Come back here, you son of a ninja!" she snarled, sending blasts of Ki after him as he dodged back and forth.
"God... well THAT hurt my feelings" he muttered, as he looped around back towards the deck.
"Ah crap," he thought to himself, "Where is Tama when I need her? And, I paid Kaolla 158 bananas to come over here with a mecha tama to save me! Where is she?"
(Back in Kaolla's room:
Kaolla lies on the floor, next to a huge pile of banana skins. She was experiencing an unusual feeling -- there were still bananas in front of her, and yet she didn't seem to be able to eat them. Also, she seemed to be so full that she couldnt move.
Kaolla sighed.
Well, Sam would just have to cope without her. These bananas were much too important to leave -- maybe she would be able to finish them after a bit of sleep...)
Back on the roof, Sam had returned to the deck to find himself trapped. Motoko appeared at the stair, blocking his escape.
"Well then, ready for your beatings?" she asked, darkly.
"Nope, eat this -- KATEN GIRI!" replied Sam, not quite giving up yet.
Mottoko blocked the blast of his sword with contemptuous ease. "That move was nothing," she commented, "I learned it when I was 12! Now here's a true move -- HIKEN ZANKUSEN!"
A wave of Ki blasted Sam into the air, to crash back down on the deck in front of her. He lay there swirly-eyed for a bit.
"Ow, that hurt!" he moaned. "Only one chance left! Must move in for the kill..."
He leapt up, and rushed at Motoko, and they started a parrying fight. Despite Motoko's contempt of his lack of experience, there was no denying that he did posess a fair bit of skill -- at least, it wasn't over in the first strike.
Motoko readied a fresh Ki technique, only to have it pass harmlessly over Sam's head as he tripped over his hakama. The blast continued on to hit Keitaro who disappeared into the sky with a "Why meeeee?"
"At least, I can beat you with my strength," gasped Sam, pulling himself back to his feet.
"Oh please... you will only last half as long as me" laughed Motoko, knowing that it was only a matter of time until Sam was worn out.
"Maybe so," he countered, "but I have one final technique -- BUTT GROPE!"
With this, he dived under her katana, and smacked her on her rear end with his hand. Motoko fell to the floor with a scarlet face.
"Ha!" laughed Sam, "Looks like I win!"
Motoko, however, had already stood up and her face showed absolute fury. An ominous roll of thunder sounded.
"You... hentai... grr..."
"Oh crap..." whispered Sam.
"HIKEN ZANKUSEN!" A wave of Ki blasted over the deck, and Sam became a dot in the distance.
Motoko sheathed her katana, and straightened her clothing. "Fool..." she muttered, and left the deck.
------------------------
Thursday
--------
Cody's Move: First day at work
The alarm clock's beeping woke Cody, interrupting him from the rest he was getting after the interesting day he'd had the day before. He groggily got up and prepared for his first real day for at his new job.
"Ohayo, Minna-san!" Cody says as he walked into the dinning room.
"Ohayo, Cody-san, please sit down, breakfast for will be served in a just a second" Shinobu sayed as she set down the last tray of food from the kitchen. After setting the tray down, she quickly sat down herself.
"Itadakimasu!" Cody said, joining the others as they began eating. Cody ate quickly, wanting to get to work early.
He thanked Shinobu for the meal, said goodbye to the others, headed straight to his shoes and out the door.
Thirty minutes later he was at MegaPixal. He walked in to see Minako, the young clerk that hired him, checking-in some books behind the counter.
"Good Morning, Cody-san. ", Minako said cheerfuly to the new empoyee," Can you give me a hand here?". He walked up to the counter and helped her check-in books. Time seemed to pass slowly, yet soon it was noon. The silence that they were working in was broken by the hunrgy sounds of his stomach.
"It must be about lunch time, eh Cody-san?" Minako said with a light tease in her voice.
Cody sweatdropped at the sound that his stomach made, "Uhh.. Yeah, it must be."
They stopped working to take a lunch break. Minako pulled out a box lunch and got ready to eat. She saw Cody was just sitting there looking a little sad and hungry.
"What's wrong, Cody-san?" She asked.
"Umm.. well I forgot a pack a lunch." He answered with another sweatdrop,"Guess I really wanted to get to work quickly."
She also sweatdropped at this," Thats ok Cody-san. Would you like to share mine? I really made too much anyway." Cody just nodded, and Minako broke out a second pair of chopsticks and they ate the lunch together. The rest of the day was spent helping customers and with Cody learning the ins and outs of the comic shop. Minako told Cody that he did a really good job today, and she was glad for his help. She also reminded him to bring his own lunch tomorrow. He thanked her also and headed back to the Hinata Sou.
Once back he headed straight to his room, to change and relax before dinner. He was sitting at the desk looking around the room, noticing how bare the walls are.
"I've got get some posters or something. It's kind of depressing..." He said to himself. Thats when he noticed that one of the panels of his wall was off-center. He went over to check it out. It came off easily, and he was greeted by a passageway leading downward.
"Wow... A secret passage. Wonder where it goes?" As soon as those words left his mouth, a strange wind from the hole pulled the young Alaskan into the passage. He fell down into the darkness. A long "Oh Sleddogs!" was heard as he fell, and then he disappeared into the blackness.
-------------------
Kyosuke's Day
-------------
---
The glow of a bonfire shone through the darkness of night as silent figures assembled in two columns, facing each other around the fire. All were wearing deep blue kimonos, each with a large kanji plastered on the back in red. They were also wearing white sheets of paper over their faces with the matching kanji only in blue. They were all dressed in the same manor except for one figure, dressed in a grey kimono with the kanji for kai, who instead had a string bag tightened around his head. He was accompanied by two guards who led him through the column of viewers and pushed him on all fours before the flames of the bonfire.
The guards stepped back and let another man through to the condemned prisoner. This time, the new man had on the blood-red mask of a demon and a matching colored gi and hakama with an unsheathed katana tied to his hip. He bore the kanji symbols for the word Beheader on his back, which did little to make his appearance any more 'friendly'. The man on the ground trembled in fear, for he knew what was about to come even without the ability to see, as the Beheader moved to his right flank and removed the razor sharp sword from his hip and raised it above his head. The prisoner yelped in fear as his executioner brought the sword down on him with full force.
---
At that moment, Kyosuke woke up in cold sweat from the rather bizarre nightmare that had played through his head. He was sitting at one of the cafeteria tables by himself.
"Guess I must've fallen asleep." he thought to himself, a second before the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. "Crap! I didn't get to eat lunch yet!" Kyosuke cursed under his breath as he got up and left the cafeteria for his next class.
-------------------
Al's Afternoon
--------------
This was one of the more strange moments in Al's life... he was being chased by a large pile of gummy bears, and they seemed to be playing bells.
Oh wait....what? Al blinked, this wasn't right...
Al opened his eyes. The ringing persisted, but he was lying on his back, staring at the phone on the table.
He remembered coming hom early this afternoon -- no classes! -- and trying to spend some time tidying up the mess his room was still in, before his big date (no! Not a date! Honest!) with Motoko this evening.
It hadn't worked, his room was still trashed, and that ringing phone was getting annoying.
Dizzy picked up the phone. "Grr?"
Dizzy handed the phone to a not-quite-awake Al.
"Uh...hi?"
"Hello Mr. Rush, we just wanted to make sure you got our letter about the interviews today at three-o-clock?"
"Err...what interview?"
"You did apply with the cosplay cafe for a job did you not?"
"Oh, Umm yeah, right, three-o-clock on what day?"
"Today."
Alex looked at his watch, 2:30.
"Make sure you have a costume."
---
"GET OUTTA MY WAY!" Al fishtailed a turn, nearly killing himself and taking out a fruitstand.
His tophat slid down over his eyes. Great... now he was speeding, and he couldn't see!
Dizzy climbed up onto his head and pulled back on the wig, allowing Al to dodge around a mailbox that he had nearly had a very close encounter with.
---
Somehow, Alex had made it to the cafe in one place, and still had all of his Tuxedo Mask outfit on.
"Glad you got here in time Mr. Rush, it's your turn to interview." A tall offical looking man with slicked back black hair smiled.
---
Su opened the door to Alex's room. He had walked in that afternoon, looking very pale, and he had gone right to his room.
"HEYO AL!" She cheered as she flew through the air and kicked him in the back of the head, smashing him into the floor.
"Yughhhhhh, hiya Shuuuu." Al's speech slurred as his unfocused eyes found Su as a blurry brownish object in a room of other blurry objects.
Su's eyes traveled to all the empty bottles in the room, and right away she knew, he had been drinking.
"Alllll, why didn't you save any mountain dew for meeeee?" She wrapped her arms around him and he fell back with a thump.
"Sorry shuuu, I'm depressed that's all, I really think I messhed up that interview I went to."
"Soooo, you have all these cools things!" She ignored his depression, and began juggling stuffed toys.
Al blinked, either the soda was really affecting his brain, or Su had just somehow made sense.
"Are you somehow saying to not sweat the small stuff?"
"Um....no?"
Al facefaulted.
"Anyways... where are you taking Mo-chan this evening, then?"
Al was shocked into sobreity.
"Oh my God... the date! What time is it? What am I going to wear? Oh crap..." Al panicked as he frantically sorted through the mess of clothes in the wardrobe for something appropriate.
"Hey, relax!" giggled Kaolla. "Kitsune took Motoko off to help her get ready, and it will probably be at least another hour... so you've got time to play first!"
-------
"You cannot be seriously suggesting I wear THAT!" shouted Motoko, staring at the first outfit Kitsune was holding up. She had been dragged from her practice on the deck into the Fox's lair, and Kitsune was giving 'big sisterly' advice on a girls first date, what to do and how to get her date to spend big without having to 'put out' -- whatever that meant. Motoko was fairly sure that a good plan of action would be to do pretty much the opposite of whatever Kitsune recommended.
Kitsune, on the other hand, was having a great time. By the time she finished, Motoko would look so good that Al's hormones would go out of control, and he would end up being blasted into orbit. She smiled wickedly.
--------
"Have fun Al-chan!" laughed Kaolla, swinging from the balcony as Al (now dressed up smartly in jacket and tie) prepared to leave on his not-a-date with Motoko.
Motoko appeared at the bottom of the stairs, and everyone stopped talking in surprise. She was wearing an off-the-shoulder dress in deep purple, a halter neck tied at the back and with a full knee-length skirt. Her hair had been tied into twin high pony-tails with matching ribbons, and she was uncharacteristically not wearing her sword. She looked stunning.
Al gulped, his eyes the size of plates (yes, even larger than normal anime eyes!) Kitune noticed this reaction with satisfaction in a job well done.
Motoko, looking highly uncomfortable at this scrutiny, quickly grabbed at Al's arm and started to lead him down the steps.
"Remember what I told you, it's full of protein!" Kitsune whispered enigmatically in Motoko's ear as the passed, causing Motoko to flush scarlet and run down the steps with Al flying behind like a flag.
"What is?" asked Shinobu, confused, but was studiously ignored by the older members of the group.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't!" shouted Kitsune after them "... although, that doesn't rule out much..." she added as an aside. Turning around, she saw everyone looking at her.
"What?" she asked, innocently.
"Well, aren't we going to follow them?"
"Oh yes....!"