"Hahahahahaha~"
The joyous sound of laughter could be heard, or implied from the mouth movements of the second person, coming from a young couple walking down the road. T'was a bright and sunshiny day in Vale indeed! Birds were chirping, flowers were blooming and it was that time of day where the sun was still out but it was getting sufficiently late so that the air was cooling down so you had the best of both natural sunlight and cool air. You know the kind I'm talking about.
At any rate, this was the sort of day that one Hirose Koichi and Neopolitan were experiencing while out on the town. The sort-of-but-not-really-if-you-were-to-ask-them-its-complicated couple were enjoying a small outing full of wonder and mischief. For once, Hirose Koichi's life was not one of pure suffering under the repeated roundhouse kicks of odd strangers either turning him into paper, kidnapping him, turning his face into newsprint to be read and ripped out at their leisure, getting kidnapped while being turned into paper or being assaulted by a serial murderer. Today was just all about enjoying some time with Neopolitan and not having to worry about anything.
Save for the fact that she was secretly on the enemy team and that, one way or another, this entire affair was set to end in tragedy as one or both of them were forced to fight the other to the death, but ignorance is bliss for Koichi, at least for now.
Meanwhile Neopolitan was just enjoying a day away from Cinder and her cronies, so it was a win for both! Yessir, for once in Koichi's life suffering under some weirdness or from crazy women wasn't immediately on the plate. He was just allowed to have a normal, average day with a crazy woman.
At least, that had been on the agenda so far. For you see, unbeknownst to the pair a set of eyes were on them, narrowed in frustration towards Neopolitan but loving and doting as they set themselves on Koichi. A pair of deep, purple eyes that regular rounded off the emotional spectrum from burning, hate-filled fury to endless, deep romantic love. Eyes that belonged to an exceptionally tall young woman with long, black hair wearing a green school uniform.
"Ooooh~... my darling Koichi. I don't understand how you could fall for such an obvious hussy. Can't you see she's not right for you, dear? Can you not see that she has only ill will for you… don't you know what you're doing to me… don't you care that you're breaking my heart, you little piss pants! DON'T YOU KNOW THAT IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT DIMENSION YOU'RE IN, THAT YOUR HEART BELONGS TO ME!"
Surrounding civilians all watched in horrified fascination as Yamagishi Yukako destroyed several of the potted plants she was hiding behind with her hair, the Stand Love Deluxe making short work of the potted plants as several onlookers ran off screaming. Fortunately for Yukako, Koichi and Neopolitan had long since wandered off, not hearing or seeing her little display as she took several, deep breaths to calm down.
"Yes… I knew something was wrong. I felt it in a moment; the stab to my heart, the horrific pain in my chest. The sting of betrayal… not from my dear Koichi, no, but from another… another who's allowed a whore to corrupt him and turn him away from me. A bitch who's trying to take the love of my life away from me!" Once more Love Deluxe slammed into some nearby scenery, tearing it down and causing more civilians to run before a love-sick smile forms on Yukako's face.
"But it doesn't matter though. No matter where he is, even if it's across lines and boundaries of reality, Koichi is still Koichi… he is 'my' Koichi. All I have to do is remind him of the fact that he belongs to me, that his heart and soul are intertwined with my own no matter how far the distance between us… and he'll be mine again. And then he can watch as I tear this little bitch limb from limb for even thinking that she had the right to date my beloved!
"Koichi will see then… he'll see that there's no one out there for him quite like me. No one who can protect him quite like I can… no one who owns him like I do. We'll be together, in all-iterations, forever… me and every Koichi everywhere… starting with this one." With that, Yukako flung her hair back as she walked off after Neopolitan and Koichi, leaving behind a rather busted up and chaotic scene.
As Yukako departed, Cinder, Mercury and Emerald made their way onto the scene, the trio looking at the devastation and destruction. The sight caused Cinder to smile, which in turn made Mercury and Emerald arch their eyebrows.
"Cinder, you do this?" Mercury asked, curious, as Cinder just shook her head.
"No, but I can always stop to appreciate quality evil when I see it." Before they could think to move on, Team RWBY rapidly arrived on the scene.
"NOBODY MOVE! We've been told about a crazy evil woman with long black hair who's been terrorizing… GASP, CINDER!?"
"... What?" Cinder asked, her eyes going around to the carnage around her before her golden eyes went wide with horror. "Wait, no no no no no no no! T-This wasn't me this time!"
"I can't believe it! You've been evil this whole time?! I'm shocked, SHOCKED! Can you believe it guys?" Ruby asked her fellow teammates who all just looked on at the scene in a relatively nonplussed manner.
"... Honestly, yeah, I can."
"Eh I'm not that surprised."
"Kind of obvious when you really stop to think about it."
"Come on guys, I'm your leader, support me on this!" Before Team RWBY could continue on their little sideshow, Ruby turned to Cinder and immediately cuffed her. "At any rate, you're coming with us Cinder! Let's get her to Beacon girls!"
"Err… hello? Little help over here?!" Cinder Fall called over to her minions as she was dragged away, Emerald and Mercury just watching in almost fascinated awe at the scene.
"... Wow, the one time she actually didn't do anything."
"Think that's what they call irony Emerald."
"Hirose Koichi's Life Is Suffering"
"Say, Neo, are you sure we should just be eating this much ice cream? I mean, it's good and all, but it seems just a bit… I dunno, irresponsible."
Oh, that was her dear Koichi in a nutshell. A fine young man with a bright future ahead of him; always so smart and caring and attentive to not only what's best for him but for others. That was why Yukako loved him, why she would do anything for him… why no one else but her could have him.
After all, the reason why was plain to see; because even as Koichi voiced this perfectly reasonable point about how bad it was to consume so much ice cream in one day, how it was bad for them and represented a childish, irresponsible and downright grossly negligent impact on your own body's health, what was the response of the black-haired bitch toying with her love, her boyfriend, her heart and soul? What could the pint-sized little fucking dwarf respond to such apt, such intelligent and such remarkable foresight with?
She shrugged! She fucking shrugged, rolled her eyes, and kept eating ice cream! That wasn't even the worst part. The worst part, the absolute worst part, was when Koichi actually responded to her! As if she'd spoken aloud like a real person! As if they had some kind of connection worth something!
"Hmm, I suppose you're right. Couldn't hurt to do this every now and then." Koichi just took another bite of ice cream as that whore nodded in approval. "Besides, this is actually the first time I've actually really had this. Thanks for treating me."
… That sly bitch! She thought she could buy her way into Koichi's heart by treating him? By giving him ice cream?!
"STOP RIGHT THERE YOU MIDGET!" Koichi and Neopolitan both paused mid bite as they heard this, Koichi's blue eyes wide with surprise and Neopolitan's narrowed as they each slowly turned their head. Koichi pointed to himself curiously while Neopolitan pointed to herself with a quite dangerous look on her face as they both spied Yukako as she slid out from behind a corner. "Oh no Koichi, my darling~ I wasn't talking to you! You're perfectly sized dear… I was talking to the skank with the ribbons."
Neopolitan's green eyes narrowed again as she clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. Well, alright then. She hadn't planned on beating the shit out of somebody today. At least not until she was on Roman's time. On her time, she just wanted to enjoy a day out. But if this giant bitch was gonna pick a fight then Neopolitan was all too happy to oblige. She dropped her spoon into her empty ice cream dish and slowly stood up, cracking her knuckles as she did so. As Koichi watched this scene slowly start, he stood up himself and placed a hand on Neopolitan's shoulders.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Today's supposed to be a break from the crazy for both of us! Let's not just beat the ever loving crap out of her because she's being a jerk! Let's just see if we can talk this down and maybe get on with our day, okay?" Neopolitan turned to look at Koichi with a raised eyebrow. Ordinarily she wouldn't consider taking shit from anyone for any reason, save for it endangering Roman if she tried anything… but she sighed. This 'was' supposed to be a nice relaxing date…
And it was nice that Koichi hadn't even second guessed that she would be the one to beat the shit out of this too-tall bitch. It was a nice stroke of the ego that Neopolitan was very much a fan of. So with a bit of a huff she nodded in agreement, which only caused that giant bitch to chuckle dreamily.
"Ah, that's my darling Koichi~ Always one to put good sense and kindness ahead of rash brutality and unthinking, base idiocy." Neopolitan glared at her again as she kept speaking though, once again, Koichi's hand on her shoulder kept her held back.
"Okay, seriously, who are you and why are you trying to pick a fight?" With that Yukako just laughed as she waved her hair back over her shoulder.
"Why my darling Koichi, I'm your soulmate Yamagishi Yukako… and I'm trying to pick a fight with this ugly, violently little dwarf because she's trying to steal you from me, Koichi. No matter where you are in this world or where you are in the multiple universes that make up existence, you're mine… and I'm here to put a period on that point." Yukako stepped forward with a stomp of her foot, both Neopolitan and Koichi blinking in surprise as she did so.
"... Neo, if I ever say that you act weird, remind of this moment and I'll take it right back." Neopolitan nodded, the mute girl pointing back at Koichi as a way to quickly communicate 'ditto' as they watched the crazy Yandere approach them. Sure, Neopolitan stalked Koichi around Beacon… but to claim to be stalking him from around the world and, more insane, multiple universes? That was crazy even by the high bar that had been set by what Neopolitan had witnessed in her life.
"You see, dearest Koichi?! Even now she poisons your mind against me! I'll need to… correct this at a later time. For now, stomping out this little bitch shall have to suffice." At that Neopolitan had finally had enough; despite Koichi trying to keep things calm Neopolitan stepped forward, now rolling out her neck as she approached Yukako. "I'm going to enjoy this; I know not what foul intentions you had in attempting to steal my beloved, but they end here and now!" At that, Neopolitan stopped dead in her tracks. A thought seemed to run across her face before a mischievous smile graced her features.
Said smile turned into a slightly airy look as she tilted her head to the side, as if to ask 'Oh, you don't know what I intend'? Before Yukako could snipe at her for trying to mime nonsense to her, Neopolitan raised one hand, her index finger and thumb forming a circle.
"What? What are you…" Yukako's breath hitched as Neopolitan then brought up her other hand, only her index finger extended as that wicked grin returned to her face. "Don't you dare… you will not sully the innocence of my dear Koichi by implying such filthy, ugly, disgraceful-"
Yukako's words were cut off as Neopolitan immediately set to 'showing' what she'd intended to do with Koichi.
"YOU WHORE!" With that, Love Deluxe was unleashed as it reached out for Neopolitan, the diminutive assassin grinning wildly as she too jumped into the fray, ready to beat the shit out of this crazy-ass dimensional stalker.
Koichi, meanwhile, just stared off from the side. Mind thoroughly numb as he just shook his head at the events he was watching. After a few moments, Team JNPR, Josuke and Okuyasu showed up, the group of teens watching the mayhem go in with raised eyebrows.
"Yo, Koichi… what's going on man?" Jaune asked, sounding slightly concerned, as Love Deluxe did its best to impale Neopolitan using the round end of a lamp post, which the diminutive assassin could only silently laugh off.
"... My crazy stalker from another dimension is trying to kill my current ex-stalker turned kind of sort of girlfriend because she feels so possessive of me that she's bent the rules of time and space to get to me."
"... Wow dude, that fuckin' sucks." Okuyasu remarked, crossing his arms as he did so, while Koichi just shook his head.
"Yeah, yeah it really does…" Koichi whined as they all watched the scene. Josuke just tilted his side a bit, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Well I mean… look on the bright side. It could be worse." To that, Koichi snapped his head over to his pompadoured leader, a wide, wild-eyed expression on his face.
"HOW COULD IT POSSIBLY GET WORSE THAN THIS?!"
In the Diamond Is Unbreakable/Future Diary Crossover Next Dimension Over
This was it, his life was over.
Hirose Koichi just watched as nearly a dozen strangers that he knew absolutely nothing about blipped out from view, their forms obscured such that he couldn't even tell who all but one of them were. All of whom were now set to kill him because the God of Time and Space decided to make a game out of his succession…
A game that involved cell phones and getting murdered by crazy people.
For his amusement.
"Why is this my life…" Koichi muttered quietly to himself as he slumped down onto the floor, tears threatening the corners of his eyes.
"Oh, don't you worry my beloved." His blood ran ice cold as soon as he heard that voice. Koichi slowly but surely turned his head around, his blue eyes wide with fear as he saw, seemingly from out of nowhere, someone standing just a few feet away from him. Someone all too familiar to him now after this long, chaotic, hectic and horrible day.
A girl with long pink hair done up into four pigtails; two in front adorned with little ribbons and two in back laid bare. She was dressed in his school's female uniform, a nice sky blue and… well, ordinarily, he'd think her exceedingly cute.
But not after what he'd seen today.
Not after what he was seeing now.
For at this moment, Yuno Gasai, her cheeks held in her hands as if to support her head, stared at him. Her head tilted at a slight angle as her eyes seemed to glow with horrific emotion; a mix of love and madness that Koichi had never seen before in his life and, now, never wanted to see again.
"I'll protect you, my beloved… no one will ever hurt you so long as you have me around…"
"Wow kid, sucks to be you." Muru Muru said from the side, eating a cob of corn.
"Tell me about it…" Koichi muttered quite pathetically as he placed his forehead back against the floor. Meanwhile, sat upon his throne was Deus Ex Machina, God of Time and Space and the purveyor of this Survivor Game. He watched the scene with rapt attention, stroking his long chin in thought, before he shrugged.
"Well I mean… look on the bright side. It could be worse." At that, Koichi looked to the God of this world, his eyes wide in disbelief as he shook his head wildly, utterly rejecting this notion.
"HOW COULD IT POSSIBLY GET WORSE THAN THIS?!"
"Well… I mean, there's the DiU/Berserk Crossover next dimension over. The Yandere over there is Griffith and… no… what you'd experience over there is even worse than what you could imagine." With that, Koichi looked over to Yuno, still holding her pose and expression, before he wound right back over towards Deus.
"There could be nothing worse than this! I don't even care if the Yandere's a guy, just get me out of here! Send me there, now!"
"... Alright kid. You asked for it." With that, Hirose Koichi disappeared in a puff of smoke and through a portal that moved through time and space.
The Diamond Is Unbreakable/Berserk Crossover
He was awoken by the side of rocking waves… Hirose Koichi slowly but surely forced himself to his feet, his head pounding as he forced himself up. He looked around and found himself… on the deck of a ship? Yeah. Deck of a ship in the middle of the ocean with no sign of any trouble. Hirose Koichi just laughs a bit, scratching at the back of his head with his metal left hand… okay, bit of a downer but hey, still better than what he expected.
He walked around and tried to find someone on deck and, finding a deckhand, he smiled.
"Hey, listen… uh, I forgot to ask this when we boarded. How long are we going to be on this boat anyway?"
The deckhand turned his head slowly, his eyes sunken in and his stare long and… just broken.
"Seven years…"
Immediately, Koichi's smile fell, his eyes going wide with fear as he shook his head.
"No… no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Koichi ran to the front of the ship, desperate to see the figurehead of the ship. To confirm his worst fears.
There it was.
The figurehead…
A hippocampus.
"NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
So remember kids; being Hirose Koichi is suffering. Do not cry for him; for his fate could easily be your own.
Fin
ANNOUNCEMENT: So in my Author's Note of the previous Beacon is Unbreakable, I mentioned how I was in the middle of two moves and how the place I'm currently staying isn't exactly the most… conducive to writing. Even writing the shortest idea I had for a Chibi Short was made immensely difficult by the various elements that go into where I'm currently living. However, the plan was that I would move into my new apartment today. I would upload this Chibi Update, I would pack up, I would move, unpack, relax and then get back to writing tomorrow in an environment where I would be comfortable, relaxed and able to write…
I will not be moving into my new apartment tomorrow, for reasons I shall not get into. There is no way, under current circumstances, that I would be able to deliver the material that you have come to expect on the 12th. It is simply impossible until I get into my new place.
Remnant's Bizarre Adventure: Beacon is Unbreakable will not update on the 12th. I will be skipping that day with the hope that by then or, at the latest, a day after I will be moved into my new apartment. As of current plans I will be able to deliver the 17th's update and all following updates from then on out.
I would like to apologize for this; it sucks ass to have to break this pattern that we've held. Honestly, I'm quite proud of what I've accomplished with these two series; I have consistently updated a story, and side story, every five days on the dot for the past nearly 7 months. It was something that I hadn't considered myself capable of before and your kind words and support have been great boons in regards to keeping that going. It has been both immensely fun and a personal accomplishment to do this both for myself and for you all.
Which is why this I don't particularly like doing this. I didn't foresee these events but that fact alone doesn't fully satisfy me in justifying this decision. Hell, I hadn't planned on taking any kind of significant break until October, so this is going to make that particular decision even more distasteful. Still, I can't help what's happened and I don't want to try to force myself to write, as 'forcing myself to write' is as sure a sign that what I'll write will not be of the quality that I wish for myself or that you might have come to expect.
I will do my best to return with an update on the 17th. If I can't then I'll fill you guys in further. Until then, I hope you all understand and that you all will enjoy these next ten days. For those of you here on interested in asking questions or the like, head on over to the thread on Spacebattles.
And yes, I realize the irony in bringing up the 'boat arc' in the same update I'm announcing a mini-hiatus.