From the Start: Short Stories
Chapter 4 - Popularity Event 2
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE GOD EATER FRANCHISE HOWEVER I DO OWN MY OC.
Winter's POV
The time had eventually come for another popularity event; featuring yours truly to get the best outcome possible. Or is it income since Sakaki is only doing this for the money? Regardless, Sakaki had arranged this event to take place outside of the Far East since I was apparently world famous. So this event is taking place in a place that was once known as Britain and it doesn't really give off a positive impression. This event was arranged by the Director of the London Branch and so, she thought that it would be best to hold it in a castle which is positioned in the centre of the community that the London Branch guards. It just so happens that this castle is owned by the Director.
Currently, my partner and I are walking to this castle to meet with the Director; where we will be told where it will be held and what activities I will be offering. I'm glad I asked my partner about accompanying me on this trip on Valentine's Day. I'm not sure I would have been able to cope in a new terrain without somebody else with me. Kanon is helping me get through this but i know that things will look worse soon enough.
Kanon and I, hand in hand, turn around a street corner with the castle being in sight and encounter a problem.
"There are so many people..." Kanon says as she looks shocked at the turnout. She was right. We must have been about half a mile away from the castle and yet, we could already see the back of the line. I feel Kanon squeeze my hand.
"There's a hell of a lot more people than the last time." I speak with a stunned expression plastered on my face. Kanon's squeezing of my hand did remind me of her presence but it wasn't enough to quell my fears. I put on a strong front though as we continued our walk.
At first, we didn't grab the attention of all of the people as they were too busy talking about the event. I wish it would have stayed that way but it didn't. Once Kanon and I had approached close enough to the queue a few people recognised who I was.
"It's him!" A young boy shouted and pointed his finger towards me which caught the attention of a few of those in the vicinity who had also shouted the same thing and thus catching everybody's attention eventually. Everybody who didn't want to lose their place in the line that is. They all crowded around me and Kanon and I were split up in the process.
"K-Kanon!" I shout as my hand left hers and she was pushed away with the crowd. My eyes followed her pink hair until even that was out of sight. At that moment, the thought that my one pillar of support being crushed caused my fear to flare. But my anger flared more. With a face that could rival even the most sadistic people, I used my Gawain-like claws to prop myself up into the air and have a better view of where Kanon had been pushed to, not caring about the people under my claws. I started walking, with my Gawain-like appendages, towards where I had seen a head of pink hair. Of course, I was careful enough to not seriously harm the people that I inadvertently crushed to reach my pink-haired queen but I was fully aware that most of the people I had crushed were enjoying it.
"bloody masochists." I whispered as I continued my trek to find Kanon.
By the time I reached the head of pink hair, the owner had been pushed to the outer circle of fans and upon closer inspection I realised that the person's hair was not pink. It must have been the way that the light was hitting the owner's hair that it looked pink but now I realise that the owner's hair was a shade of red.
"Wait, so where is Kanon?" I asked myself and look around the crowd with a relatively upset expression whilst still propped up onto my Gawain-like claws.
"So you're Winter?" The red head I had mistaken as Kanon spoke up. I turned my attention back to her. I noticed that the red head looked to be about 5 feet 8 inches and was wearing a white, long sleeved lab coat over a black and grey shirt with a matching skirt to fit. She also has a purple ribbon around her neck as well as black, laced boots to complete her attire. I gave her a nod of my head before moving away from her; not wanting to have a conversation whilst looking for Kanon. But do I need to look for Kanon? She knows that we are meeting with the Director of the London Branch inside of the castle so surely, if we were ever split up, she'd go there to look to look for me. I had dismounted from my Aragami-like appendages and started walking with my own two feet by this point with no pedestrians getting in the way and forming an orderly queue. I headed to the castle by myself.
I reached the castle without experiencing any more problems and found a woman looking very impatient in the centre of the entranceway. I could also see the beginning of the line of my fans located just a few metres away from the door.
"It's about time! What took you so long?! And wasn't there supposed to be two of... Right, I get the idea. For now just go inside and I'll send your girlfriend up when she gets here." The Director said before she moved aside and allowed me to enter. I heard the wind rush past me as she stood in the entranceway again. When I turned around, I knew why she had did it. Just like before, my fans were stampeding but the Director was holding her own quite well.
"Follow me." A deep voice said from in front of me and I turned around, surprised to hear the it. The man had already started moving forward and thus, with his back turned to me, I could not identify and facial features but I could see two arms of the man's glasses. They looked too thick to be regular glasses but I suppose they could be specially designed for him. It wasn't until we stopped in front of a room on the upper floor that the man turned around, thus showing that it was a pair of sunglasses that he was wearing.
"You'll be greeting your fans in here." The man says as he reached behind himself to grab the door handle and pull it open. I walk inside.
"Will you be needing anything?" The man asks as he pokes his head into the room.
"Erm... May I have a cup of coffee?" I tried my best to sound polite.
"Of course. Make yourself comfortable, sir. You'll be here for a while." The man said as his head retreated out of the room and the door closed. I walked to the two seats that were positioned behind a wooden table and took the one on the left.
Sitting down with only the noise of the crowd from outside was pretty relaxing.
"This will probably be the last piece of peace and quiet I'll have for a while, huh?" I say to myself as I put my hands behind my head and start looking around. This rooms was made to look identical to the stall in the first event and it seemed quite repetitive. I looked to back to the table before realising there was a note on it.
Winter, Kanon,
I'm sorry I couldn't tell you the instructions in person but I will have to manage how many people I let into my castle at any one time. It's likely that we have met at the door and I will talk with you after the event. Anyway, regarding the instructions, I have already marked them down on a few blackboards around the building leading to your room so you should have seen what you will be offering and how much. If you somehow missed it, I have marked on the blackboard to your left what you will be offering. I'm sorry about this, had I known that you were in a relationship then I would have removed these options but they have already been leaked into the public.
Once again, I am very very sorry.
The Director.
This had confused me greatly at why she would feel the need to apologise and mention mine and Kanon's relationship. Looking to the left, I soon understood why. In addition to the offers from the last event, there were several others and each had a different pricing depending on the person. For me the options were:
3,000FC for a handshake,
3,000FC for a high-five,
15,000FC for an autograph,
25,000FC for a photograph,
53,500FC for a hug,
and finally, 500,000FC for a kiss. If it hadn't been for the following information, I would have probably had a heart attack, on the cheek. I then looked to Kanon's prices which were very different to mine.
1,500FC for a handshake,
1,500FC for a high-five,
11,000FC for an autograph,
20,000FC for a photograph,
51,125FC for a hug,
180,000FC for a kiss on the cheek.
I was thankful for this information but that still meant that we may both have to kiss a person that we held no romantic feelings for. I was going through them multiple times when the door was flung open, revealing an angry Kanon who then stamped to the seat next to mine, sat down roughly, crossed her right leg over her left and folded her arms.
"I'm going to kill Dr. Sakaki when we get back." She growls with her eyebrows furrowed.
"So I'm guessing you've already seen our services." I emphasise to Kanon's confusion.
"Huh? I'm talking about the crowds. Wait what do you mean by services?" Kanon responds and I point my finger to the blackboard on our left. It's at this point that the man from before comes into the room and puts the coffee on the table. I take a drink of my coffee.
"But on the cheek is okay, right?" She asks in confusion and I almost spit out my coffee.
"Kissing shouldn't be okay at all unless you are kissing your boyfriend or girlfriend!" I shout in amazement at her innocence.
"Yeah but you see celebrities kissing other people on the cheek even if they don't have any feelings behind it." Kanon seems to have lost all of her anger with this conversation.
"Kanon... We're not even going to discuss this." I state and ignore all her comments about the times he has seen people kiss other people on the cheek without meaning.
Kanon finally drops the topic when our first fans come through the door. Getting a better look at them, they may have been related. The first fan was a teenage male with blond hair and grey eyes to match. He has a dark jacket with mid-length sleeves with a thin red bow attached to the zipper. He also has a white buttoned shirt with a pair of trousers and sturdy boots. He seemed to be sporting the black and gold look. The other person that entered was a young female that is wheelchair bound. The woman has long blonde hair and blue eyes with a small scar on her left cheek and appears to be wearing dark mourning clothes. The two approached.
"What will it be then?" Kanon asks with a smile on her face to keep the customers happy. I see the woman nudge the boy with her arm and he starts speaking,
"I... Er... I'd like for you both to sign this photo." He said with a hint of shyness before handing over the photograph. It was a photograph of the Far East's 1st Unit and so Kanon and I happily signed it.
"There you go." I give him the photograph back, "That will be 26,000FC please." I put on my best customer service face and the boy shyly gave me the money.
"Thank you... So... Does your sister want anything?" I say to the wheelchair bound person and feel a sharp nudge on my knee. I guessed that Kanon was mad at me for saying that but I'm not sure why she would be. I was just addressing the boy's sister.
"Oh my." The woman smiled. "You see, I'm not his sister but I am his adoptive mother." The woman gave a light hearted chuckle and I felt very nervous.
"But yes, I'd like..." The woman browsed the blackboard to the left of us. "a kiss." She turned back to me and I could feel how unwilling I was to cooperate with the woman's request. She must have noticed my hesitation as she pulls out half a million Fenrir Credits (FC) from her bag.
"Don't worry, I have the money." She puts it on the table.
"Thanks miss." Kanon says before giving me a sharp nudge with her leg as if to say hurry it up. I could only imagine the discussion we will get into later about this kiss on the cheek option. Wait. Didn't Kanon say she saw no problem with it before? Reciting that conversation, I leaned over the table and the woman had moved her head to the right, allowing me access to her right cheek. I kissed her just below her scar and immediately retracted after giving it. Her cheek was so cold that it was like kissing a dead person. With that completed, the two fans left.
It was four more hours before any other noteworthy thing took place. As the person entered the room, I noticed it was the same person that I mistook Kanon for. She must have seen my surprised expression as she give a sinister smirk.
"Winter. We meet again." She seemed almost sadistic. "I have bad news for you." Se continued. "I don't want anything on the board. I want something that isn't on it." She says with her smirk growing. I go to grab Kanon's hand before realising that she isn't there. I feel slightly panicked before realising that Kanon is whispering to the person outside of the room. I see the person, the same man who gave me my coffee, look towards the woman and start moving towards her.
"I want to dissect you! It's not everyday that you see an Aragami take on the form of a human!" She says as she tries to grab me but, thankfully, the man stops her by putting her into a head-lock.
"I was originally human, you know. But circumstances turned me into this." I speak, slightly scared at the situation and fearing for my life.
"I can offer you 5,000,000FC!" She shouts before being dragged away. It takes a few seconds for me to process what has just happened but when I do, I slump into my chair, lean onto the table and let myself calm down.
"Thanks Kanon." I say as she sits down next to me and takes one of my hands into hers and squeezes it.
"Of course." She says and I can only imagine she has a cheery grin on her face.
A/N: Let's see if you know the characters that I described.