Disclaimer: Kubo is god. Kubo is king. Tite Kubo owns everything. If I owned them the show might not be suitable for children.
AN: Yeah, I know the story is over, and some of you hate omake (although many of you seem to love them), but I figured this was the best place to announce my newest story, as the last story in the series said I was gonna do IchiHime next, and well that's not working out so well, so, read and see… (There's a reason this is after the HitsuKarin story) I also hoped writing something fun like this would get my muse thinking again, and I think it worked. Oh, and so no one gets smart with me, I know it's Radio Kon, but I just assume there's a video camera there as well.
*Oh, and, Spoiler Warning, not for anything cannon but for Behind This Mask and In Times That She Cried, two other stories in my AtWW series.*
Special Omake (aka Sequel Info)
By Lady Callista
"Hi everyone, thanks so much for tuning in tonight. We have an extra long program, and the perfect guest for it." Kon said with a grin to the camera. "Joining us tonight on Radio Kon is a very unexpected guest, so let's all of us please welcome Lady Callista, the author of the After the Winter War series. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, tonight we are joined by one of the many people who has decided to reject a fictional reality and substitute their own…fictional reality. Thanks for being here, Callista-sama."
"Hi, it's great to…wait…Callista-sama?" Lady Callista replied, a confused look on her face.
"Well, you are nobility, are you not?" Kon's face took on a confused look as well.
"Well no, it's just a…" She trailed off, realizing there was really no good reason to disabuse him of his conclusion. "Yes, well, it's great to be here tonight."
"So, before I get to the things our viewers wanted to ask you, I just have one thing I need to know. Isn't "No Warm Memories" complete? Why did you want this interview to be shown here?"
Callista gave him a mysterious smile. "I'll be revealing that a little later."
Kon gave an exaggerated sigh, then gave the camera an exaggerated grin. "So, I think the most important question, the one everyone wants answered, is this: When is Kon going to get his own story?"
Callista laughed, "Well, I don't have one planned, but…"
"Because I should totally have my own story, but if you can't do that, I should at least be in one, I mean, people want to see me, and…"
"Well, I planned on doing IchiHime's story soon, and it would be easy to put you in that one. Although I'll have to decide what cute little costume Yuzu-chan should make, and…" Callista cut him off with a smirk, and was unsurprised when she was cut off in return.
"Oi, well, maybe I don't need to be in a story after all." Kon said quickly. "You're probably not a good enough author to capture my magnificence."
"I'm sure I'm not." Callista managed with a straight face.
"So, I am curious as to why you suddenly wanted to be on Radio Kon."
"Well, when I finished my latest story in the series, I told everyone that I would be doing Orihime and Ichigo's story next, but I'm having problems with it…"
"What do you mean you're having problems?" Ichigo yelled as he kicked in the door to the studio, causing all the people who had been listening at the door to topple into the room like dominos. "I only had, like, one scene in "No Warm Memories," and I wasn't really in the other two stories in your series at all, and…"
"Actually, there are three other stories, why does everyone forget One Step Behind Him, I mean, I know it was kinda weird, but…" Callista began, only to be cut off.
"Hey, at least you get mentioned by people occasionally." Ishida retorted as he picked himself up, making sure his cape was hanging perfectly. "My name never comes up."
"That's not true, Ishida-kun." Orihime replied comfortingly, smiling at Ichigo as he offered her a hand to help her to her feet. "Your name was in NWM once, and you even got to shoot your bow. Besides, she mentioned 'four humans' at the remembrance ceremonies, so you know she hasn't forgotten about you."
"Yeah," Kira Izuru replied as he shoved Renji off of him enough to rise and move further away from the pile of bodies still tangled in the doorway. "I mean, I didn't really get any lines at the ceremonies either, and she likes me enough that she gave me my own story."
"She didn't give you a story, she gave you a one-shot." Renji moved more into the room as well. "At least I get a chapter-fic, although she is taking forever to write it."
"Hello guys, sitting right here." Callista said sarcastically, knowing she would be ignored now that the Shinigami had begun to argue.
Shunsui pushed his way into the room as well, smirking as he took a slug from a jug of sake. "At least your story has a name and a basic outline, she hasn't even started working on mine yet, she was so infatuated with that odd pairing she loves so much…"
"What's odd about me and Byakuya together?" Rangiku replied as she sauntered into the room, swiping the jug of sake and taking a swig before passing it back and perching on the desk in front of Callista. "Although I will say, I'm kinda glad it's over. It's hard work being the main character in a story."
"Tell me about it." Ichigo mumbled, only to be ignored by everyone.
"And we all know how much you dislike hard work, Ran-chan." Shunsui shot back.
"Hey, at least you got to have some fun in your story, Rangiku-san." Momo replied as she moved over by Izuru and leaned back against him. "You got bankai, two lemons, and a marriage proposal; all I got in my story was angst and a confession of love." She glanced up at Izuru over her shoulder. "Not that that last part wasn't nice."
"Well, Callista-sama did say maybe she'd do another story with us, so maybe you can get her to…wait…what's a lemon?" Izuru replied.
Yoruichi, in cat form, smirked as much as a cat could as she leapt up into Callista's lap. "I guess you'll have to wait and see, little boy."
Callista smiled as she began scratching the cat behind the ears, looking over at Izuru and Momo, "I'm pretty sure I'll be writing more with you two eventually, don't worry."
"And what about the rest of us?" Rukia asked as she squeezed into the small room, her brother an unhappy shadow at her back.
Rangiku immediately hopped off the table and went over by Byakuya.
"I'll get to as many of you as I can as fast as I can." Callista replied, which started a whole new round of arguments.
"I still say you should do us next…"
"More people would read about me…"
"So many reviewers of No Warm Memories wanted a sequel, wanted to see…"
The bickering got loud enough that Callista finally tuned it out, leaning down to murmur to Kon, "And this is why I don't put all of them in the same room very often."
"Maybe they'll tire themselves out. There is one more question you've gotten a lot, if you don't mind me asking."
Callista glanced around the room at the Shinigami, judging how close hands were to zanpakuto hilts, and how loud the yelling was. She couldn't even tell who was yelling at who anymore, so she looked back to Kon with a sigh, "Ask away."
"Why Ichigo with Orihime? Don't most people like him and Rukia-neesan?"
"Honestly?" Callista replied, having expected this question. "I think him and Rukia could be fine together, I could even write them, but I like the two other pairings more. Orihime loves him so much, and his actions tell me he may feel the same way. And there's really no one but Rukia that I can imagine with Renji, and he's one of my favorite characters so I really wanted to write a story about him."
"There are lots of other stories of him with someone else." Yoruichi replied with a smirk from her place on the author's lap. She was probably the only Shinigami that could hear them with all the bickering going on.
"I don't write yaoi." Callista said flatly, although a twinkle in her eyes showed she knew exactly what stories the cat was talking about and didn't object to reading them.
"What's that?" Kon asked.
"Never mind." Both women said at once.
"So, do you think this has gone on long enough?" Callista asked Yoruichi as she continued to pet her, glancing around the room to see hands on zanpakuto.
"If you let it go much longer, well, let's just say a human like you shouldn't be in the room when this shit hits the fan."
"Right." Callista raised her fingers to her lips and gave a shrill whistle, which did nothing at all to quite the room. Finally, she thought for a moment, then just screamed as loud as she could, "The next person to say a single word gets killed in the first paragraph of my next story."
There was dead silence.
"That's better," The author smiled at all the Shinigami staring at her. "I guess the pen is mightier than the sword. Now, I see we're almost out of time, so Kon, were there any other important questions?"
The plushie lion stared at her, terror on his face.
"You may speak." Callista smiled.
"Well, Callista-sama, you never really answered my first question." Kon said nervously. "I know you don't really know what order you're doing your stories in, so all the arguing that's been going on is pointless, but, my original question…"
"About why I wanted this shown here." Callista prompted when he fell silent, and at his nod she continued, "Well, I will still be doing IchiHime soon, but my muse just kinda grabbed on to a different story, and won't let me do anything else until I finish it."
"Are you going to tell us?" Kon asked after about 20 seconds had passed and she hadn't said any more. The fact that no one else broke the silence showed how seriously the Shinigami had taken the author's threat.
"I guess I thought it was obvious from the fact that I wanted to announce it at the end of NWM." Callista said with a smile. "I'm finally writing the sequel to No Warm Memories, although it will only be two-parts, not another long story."
"And what prompted this?" Kon asked.
Callista was about to respond when she noticed Rangiku had her hand raised like a school-child, and she nodded to the older woman with a smile.
"Your muse decided it was lemon time, didn't she?" Rangiku asked with a smirk.
"Yeah, and although I think I'm gonna be writing one for IchiHime, I have to write lots of other stuff for that first, whereas for HitsuKarin all the work has already been done, I just need to jump a few more years into the future. Oh, and any of you can talk now, as long as you don't start bickering again."
"I do not bicker." Byakuya felt the need to assert.
"What's a lemon?" Renji asked, remembering the term from earlier.
This time it was Rukia who smirked. "Do we get a lemon?" She asked Callista, ignoring Renji's question.
"Of course you do, I'm pretty sure all the couples will." Callista replied, "They're fun to write, and readers seem to enjoy them. NWM was actually the first story I've written in a while without a lemon in it, it just didn't seem right to do it with them so young."
"I'm older than you are." Toshiro spoke up as the temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees.
"Sorry, um, with Karin as young as she was." Callista quickly amended the statement. Although Hyourinmaru was her favorite zanpakuto, she had no desire to see it up close and personal.
"What's a lemon?" This time it was Shunsui who asked, and Nanao who smirked at him, settling her glasses firmly on her nose as she replied, "I'll show you later."
"Why do all the women know what it is?" Ichigo spoke up.
The women, Callista included, exchanged smiles, eyes twinkling with mirth, but said nothing.
"So, does that mean I'm gonna be in a lemon?" Karin spoke for the first time, having been too fascinated watching the fighting to have joined in.
Callista nodded, smiling at the young woman. "Like I said, it's only two-parts long, but it should be a good read. It's titled Hanabi, and the first part will be posted tomorrow."
"Hanabi. Fireworks." Karin grinned. "A nice contrast to No Warm Memories, as it makes me think of summer festivals and, well, fire."
"My thoughts exactly." Callista returned her smile. "So are you up for it?"
Karin laughed. "I'm 17, I've been waiting for how long now?"
"Fair enough. I'll try and make it worth your wait." Callista said as the light flashing over the camera indicated they only had 15 seconds left. "Thank you all for tuning in to Radio Kon, and please look forward to Hanabi. Good night."
"Good night, and thank you all for listening." Kon said quickly.
"What's a lemon?" Half a dozen male voices echoed in frustration just before the broadcast ended, meaning it ended with the sounds of female laughter.
THE END
AN2: So that was fun to write, and hopefully enjoyable to read. I wanted to announce Hanabi here, specifically for the people who have NWM on Story Alert, but who don't have me on Author Alert, as I feel anyone who liked this story will enjoy Hanabi, as long as you like lemons. But I hate just putting up an announcement saying something like that, and I enjoy writing omake. And there you have it.
So, part 1 of Hanabi will go up tomorrow, with the second part following hopefully only a few days later. I hope you will all enjoy it and let me know what you think.