AUTHOR NOTES:
Middonaito here! Phew, didn't expect to upload this chapter earlier than I would've thought. Well, here it is, and it explains how Mikoto got to meet Blanc, and why they were in the mall in the first place. Well, without further ado, let us begin the show under the moonlight. *snickers* Magic Kaito 1412 is getting to me. XD
/ MIDDOSTATION ENDS HERE
Hi there. Seems you're here for a story. Well, I'm the Storymaker, Mikoto Katsumi. And here's an interesting story. Not quite fictional, just a tip.
The title is Interaction (You Need It). Ahem…
I am Mikoto Katsumi, a 16-year-old Tokyo boy. I go by the name The Storymaker every time I write a story and self-publish it. In short, it's doujinshi. I'm also a guy behind a mixer, ever since Aunt Saaya got me a mixer for my 12th birthday. I've made 4 full-length songs, 19 shorts, and 10 covers, mostly sticking with the electronic side. After 2 years of hiding my talents in sheer fear of pressure, someone finally got me out of my shell. His name is Minamoto Minazuki, a YouTuber under the name Masteralz. He's the one that talked me out of shyness. So since then, I'm well-known around the school and Tokyo as a young writer and musician. Umm… I'm not pushing the story forward… Ahem…
[Currently playing: Avicii - The Days (Mikoto's Theme)]
"Aunt Saaya! I'm going out!"
"Okay, Mikoto, be careful!" I nod at Aunt Saaya and walked out the door. Oh, the great outdoors!
"These are the days we've been waiting for~"
I move to the mall. I'm planning to buy a few samples for my mixer. While enjoying the atmosphere of the city…
*cough* I guess not. Damn road pollution. XD
[Music stops]
A few minutes later, I had reached the mall like a breeze. Looking around, I see a few Re:Zero merchandise. Okay, this anime… I gotta watch it some time soon… Hey… I look at someone from afar... Can't clear it out, but is that...
Is that… Minamoto? And he's… what is he doing? Is he making a fool of himself? I wanna laugh at him but no… And eh? A girl is pulling his arm to… a lingerie shop? Uh… is that Minamoto's girlfriend? No way, no way a younger girl like her could be Minamoto's girlfriend… Tomoka Tohsaki, even. She's popular with the boys in her class. I should know, I know a few school rumors. But, eh, that's none of my business. I'm not one to judge… Anyways, I gotta go buy myself some samples.
"Thank you for your patronage!"
I nod at the cashier, the same old cashier after all these 4 years. I go to a restaurant to buy myself some food. "What will you order?" a waiter asked me.
"Some ramen please…"
"Coming right up!"
I wonder if this waiter is a working student, working for his family. The parents might be dead or ill and unable to work, so he has to work for his younger siblings. But that's none of my business. As the waiter moved away, I check out my email. And, yes, the good old tumbleweed sound effect. Nothing. Except for this one… It's from someone named MIN. MIN? I thought it was the HIST mail that's so widespread? Why can't I see it here and just this MIN mail instead? Hmm… I decide to read it…
From MIN (Unknown)
You have been chosen for an important mission. This mission will decide the fate of your own world and ours. Please help us. CLICK HERE.
I wonder if this hacker had nothing to do to pass time, so he made a virus out of sheer fun. I don't know... Why... Why am I urged to press CLICK HERE? I... I... No! Must resist temptation. Can't afford to brick my phone now... Aunt Saaya will... AHHH! YIKES! No! Not 'that' side of hers!
"Woah, sir, you okay?" the waiter asked me as he saw me panic.
"I'm fine, my ramen's ready, yes?"
"Ah, yes, here you go..." he hands me a bowl of delicious ramen. Oh, the aroma is already alluring me to eat it. But before that...
"Here..." I give him a tip. And when I say tip, it means 350 yen. "R-really?!"
"You seem like a hardworking guy. You deserve it."
"T-thank you! You're so kind!" the raven-haired waiter managed to say before going back to attending other customers. I look back at my smartphone. MIN mail... I'll check it out... Something tells me that there's importance in this email's link attachment...
Managed to finish up my ramen, and yes, I'm on my way back home. I'm currently in a park, enjoying the view of kids playing around. How I wish to bring back my childhood, but... I'll go through that again... I can't afford to experience that again...
I look at my smartphone. And after a few moments, I decide to stay away. I'm gonna tap the link. I don't know what will happen. It might explode, like what the HIST mail did to countless PCs. But, this is a phone so... Different consequences? Whatever.
*tap*
A moment of silence. Silence. Silence...
"Huh, nothing happened... Is this mail the prank version of the HIST mail?"
"No, it's not a prank..."
I got startled. Someone replied to me. Who was that?
"Who's there?" I shook my head around, trying to spot suspicious people. None.
"I'm here..."
I look back, and… I have no words...
A brown-haired girl, like Tomoka's shade of brown hair, having blue eyes, wearing a loose clothing and a coat. She also has a big hat of sorts, a blue ribbon on her neck, sandals, and her right leg has a bandage-like thing wrapped around her ankle. So tantalizing... Is she real?! Is she like a cosplayer?
"Sorry, but are you lost, little kid?"
"DID YOU CALL ME LITTLE KID, SMARTASS!?"
WHAHAH! SHE HAS AUNT SAAYA'S ANGRY AURA! I DUG MY OWN GRAVE!
"S-SORRY! I... How old are you?"
The girl in question thought for a while, and answered, "If counted by your Earth standards, I'd be around 16 if possible..."
"16? I thought you were 14 with your appearance. Sorry about that. And I made a bad first impression."
"Like hell you did! Did you press the MIN mail's link attachment?"
MIN? How does she know that? "Y-yes I did, why did you ask?"
"So you're Mikoto Katsumi..."
"Woah, how do you know my name? And who are you?!"
The girl just looked at me silently. Uh... Now what? She knows my name, so she's supposed to-
"Greetings Mikoto Katsumi, I am Blanc, Goddess of Lowee, and you're my host for my Earth stay..."
"Say what? Didn't catch that..." Is this a joke? An RP event or something? I clean my rectangular glasses.
"My sisters, Oracle, and I are staying with you for the duration of our stay, that's that."
I scratched my head, "But, you're... Uh... What was that series again? Are you from... Gamindustri?"
"Yes I am."
"Then you should've picked my friend, Minamoto! He's more knowledgeable about your world! He's practically the Lost Pause of Japan! For me, at least."
"The Planeptune group already picked him for a host," Blanc answered. Okay... How is Aunt Saaya gonna feel about this? And who are these sisters and Oracle she's talking about, and where are they?
"Uh... Oh, hey, an ice cream shop! Want one?"
She nodded. Honestly, she reminds me of me back then, 2 years ago. Hope she doesn't end up friendless. "Hey, mister, two ice creams please?"
"What'll it be for you and your girlfriend?"
I immediately redden at the thought. "No! I believe you're misunderstanding, sir!"
"Oh, it's because my customers are always couples so... what will it be for you and your friend?"
I look down at the ground, still all flustered and stuff, "One chocolate and one vanilla, please..." Man, that was embarrassing.
I took the chocolate, and Blanc took the vanilla one. Right now, we're just walking around the city. I've been touring her around for at least 30 minutes before we stumbled across a certain book shop.
"Be right back," I said. And she waited inside. I take a look at all the books being sold here. And oh my God! There it is!
"I'm buying this!"
The shop clerk took a look at the book, "The book 'Colors' eh? Isn't this your book, Mikoto?"
I become so happy, "Oh man! They published it!"
"I'm happy for you, bro. And hey, who's the girl?"
"Oh, that's Blanc," I tell him, "A friend," getting a stare from her. "Anyways, gotta go!"
Right outside, I caress my book like I'm hugging my lover. "Oh, man! This is one of the happiest days of my life!" I shout while jumping. In a jolly way.
"What was that about you and that book?"
I look at Blanc with a rejoicing face, "This was one of my manuscripts that I sent to an online novel contest. Whoever wins gets a chance to get his or her work published. And guess what, after 5 months of working on this, I manage to win!"
And Blanc tilted her head. I also tilt my head. Huh. "You'll understand once you get to know me more. Hey, why don't we go talk back at my house, well not mine but my... parent's..."
"Aunt Saaya, I'm home..."
Hey, no one's here. I thought it was Aunt Saaya's day off? I look around. Feeling that I stepped on something, I check my foot. To discover that one of my manuscripts... Who... Who the heck doodled over this?! I almost teared up. I worked at least 50 hours for this one! "Mikoto? Honey, I can explain..." Aunt Saaya said, looking so tired. Wonder what happened that got her so exhausted.
I look at her with the teary puppy eyes and awkward smile that gives the thought of confusion, "Who... Who did this?"
"It was... Uh..."
"Those two, right?" I look back to see Blanc already nearby. And she's emitting that aura again. I get the chills. Brrr...
"Who's… *pant* Who's that girl, Mikoto?"
"Oh, oh where are those two?" an unfamiliar voice called out.
I look at Aunt Saaya. "There are other people here, Aunt Saaya?" and then I spot a blue-haired woman wearing a graduation cap. Her clothes are so... Scholar-ish... Can't really describe it. Sorry.
"Mina, did those two do reckless things again?" Blanc suddenly spoke out. Do these two know each other?
"Mina?" I ask. Then, the blue-haired woman looked back to see me. "Are you Mr. Mikoto Katsumi? I expected you to be a bit... taller..."
"Mind introducing yourself first, ma'am? There's no need to mention my height problem..."
"Oh, Mikoto... *pant* Your height is what makes you Mikoto..." Aunt Saaya said. "I knew you'd say that... *sigh*"
Fixing up my glasses, I wait for the blue-haired woman's answer. The blue-haired woman then fixed her posture. "Oh yes, I'm Mina Nishizawa, the Oracle for Lowee. I am Blanc's advisor and caretaker for her sisters..."
"By sisters, you meant *pant* those two energetic kids? *pant*" Aunt Saaya said. Forgot to mention, she's panting heavily, so I walked up to her and got her a seat. "I'll get you a drink, Aunt Saaya..."
I enter the kitchen. I take a glass to fill it with some water. Well...
Splash!
Someone poured water on me. A bucket full. "EH?!" What the heck? Who the...
"Haha! Such a dummy..."
I look around for the source of the voice. To be presented with an appearance of a brown long haired kid with clothes that are pink-themed. And why are they wearing coats? It's summer!
"I feel bad for mister..." And I spot a girl who looks like the pink one, but with shorter hair, blue color scheme of clothes, and a shy personality. Why I said that, well she's hiding behind the pink girl. I wear an unamused face. Really unamused that I got wet. Pranked by two kids. How did I fall for that?
"You two! What did you do to your host? You ruined his manuscript, and now you get him wet. Say sorry!" Oh my. Blanc's enraged again. I NEVER wanna get to this girl's bad side, ESPECIALLY since her anger's on par with Aunt Saaya's...
"Sorry, dummy. Didn't know you were our host."
"S-sorry, mister..."
I drop on the floor. "How can such a kid exist? I'm practically... sugar crashed..."
Lunch time. With me, Aunt Saaya, and our new guests, who are gonna stay with us. For a while. To mentioned, I had changed my clothes into a white long-sleeved polo shirt with a tie. You'll understand later.
"Okay, who's ready for lunch?" I call out, presenting them with delicious food. "Oh, Mikoto honey... You should've let me cook..."
"Oh, come on, Aunt Saaya. I like to show off once in awhile. Besides, you were exhausted."
I put down the food on the table. Taking my seat, I said, "Well, before eating, I should introduce... or reintroduce to some… myself to you all. I'm Mikoto Katsumi, 16. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Saaya Katsumi. 35."
"I'd like to know you girls more, so..."
Silence filled the air. Then...
"I am Blanc. Goddess of Lowee."
"I am Mina Nishizawa, Lowee's Oracle."
Then I looked at the two girls. They've been silent all this time. Yeesh... "Don't worry," I said with a confident smile. "I ain't angry. Blanc, mind introducing me to your sisters?"
"The blue and short haired one is Rom, while the pink and longer haired one is Ram."
I then looked at the twins. "Rom and Ram. Alright. You also got that, Aunt Saaya?"
"Of course I do, Mikoto. I'm not an old woman."
I begin to laugh at Aunt Saaya's answer. And then I noticed the TV showing something...
"Top 5 on the Fan Music Video list is the Roses cover by young Japanese electronic artist Mikoto Katsumi, along with vocals from rising idol Setsuna and video direction from Minamoto Minazuki, the teen behind Masteralz, the rising Japanese YouTube channel. Here it is..."
Wow, they're really... showing it on TV. I didn't think... Wow.
"Oh my life, Mikoto! I'm so happy for you!" Aunt Saaya said, then gave me a hug from out of nowhere. I then got surprised and blushed. And I try to flail to get out of her clutches.
"Stop embarrassing me, Aunt Saaya, especially in front of girls...!"
"So dummy makes music..."
"Yeah, sometimes when I don't write stories, I make music as a hobby..."
And now everyone's watching the video, which consists of me and Minamoto while in the field trip to Kyoto we had last year. While there, we made the Roses cover. I didn't even think that Minamoto could sing! Well, until Setsuna came along to steal his spotlight, that is. Might have felt bad.
"That's really cool of you, Mr. Mikoto..."
I quickly look at Rom, who was smiling. I return it. "Really? Well, and here I thought you girls would poke fun at me for that video..."
"I will, dummy..."
My face turns to unamused. "Not funny, Ram."
Night time. After lunch, I decided to go to school to prepare the papers for Blanc and the twins. And I didn't expect it to be so easy! Well, I heard from Mina that she's registering for a teacher position, and I don't know how she's gonna pull that off.
Right now, I'm rewriting the manuscript the twins doodled over. And wow, this is hard as always.
*yawn*
Feeling that I'm so sleepy, I decided to stop typing. Aunt Saaya had prepared my room for the twins to sleep on, and her room for Blanc and Ms. Mina. So, yeah, classic sleeping on the couch. I take the pillow that I managed to get from my room and put it on the couch. Then I decided to lie down and think of stuff.
Now, there are additional four members in our household. And three of them have god-like powers, I don't know. I'm not a fan of Hyperdimension Neptunia, okay?
*sigh* Maybe everything could work out fine tomorrow. Night, Mikoto.
"Someone... Anyone... Help..."
A gentle voice can be heard from an alleyway. A boy all covered in mud and dust. He has been finding for his parents for so long, and it seemed like his flame was about to go out. He hasn't eaten anything for days, have not drank clean water, and didn't care to sleep. He was focused on finding his parents, and now...
"I... Don't want to die..."
His hands twitching, his heart beating slowly, and his breath was out of place. He's dying.
"Mom... Dad... Where... Are..."
*shopping bags dropped*
"Oh my God! Kid, wake up!" Thankfully, a young woman rushed to his aid. She then called the ambulance, picked the boy up, and carried him...
"Thank God he's still breathing... Why was he there anyway?"
The young lady then took no time to keep the boy alive while the ambulance is coming. "Don't worry kid, I got you..."
The dream did not continue, as it faded to black.
"Hnng..." I awoke to the bright light. Who's still reading at this time of night? I wear my glasses, that I put on the living room table beside the sofa.. Ah...
"Blanc, what are you doing? It's past midnight, right?" and then I noticed that...
"I just... Wanted to read your book..." she has my 'Colors' on the table, opened to Chapter 2: The Plight. "Well, you could've just read it in the morning, it's bad for your eyes..."
"It's just..."
I sit beside Blanc, "Just what?"
"It's just... You're not embarrassed about your skills as a writer. And making music in front of people... It makes me envious of you..."
I did hear from Minamoto that Blanc's character likes to write fanfictions but when someone reads it, she either gets embarrassed or knocks the reader's chops off...
"Well, before... I wasn't confident myself..."
Blanc looked at me with intent, "…Back then, I was so scared of making music, publishing my work, and making friends... Before he came along."
"He?"
"Minamoto. He was really serious about befriending me, no matter how many times I drive him away since his family's one of the richest in Japan..."
I continued, "In short, it was just interaction that made me open up. And now, I'm free. No fear of criticism, hate... I'll just keep my head up, and never look down. Because someone will always comfort me. Be my friend. Be my support."
I look at Blanc. She's been staring at me for a while. I take off my glasses.
"Now that you woke me up, I can't sleep right away, so for now, I'm gonna work on my manuscript," I stand up, took the typewriter out of the cabinet, put it on the table, and started typing.
"See you, you two!"
It's already morning, and Blanc wanted to buy this 'Percy Jackson' book for herself. Man, I can't believe that she read through the entire night without being so drowsy. And when she got hold of 'The Lightning Thief', she read until like 7 in the morning. She wanted to read more, but I didn't buy 'The Sea of Monsters' yet, so there we go.
Oh, this mall is still huge, no matter how many times you look at it.
"I'll be right back," she said, while entering the bookstore. I could've taken her to the bookstore where I got 'Colors' but no, they don't sell Percy Jackson series there. Heh, their loss. Let me look aroun- Woah!
"Ow, ow..." Oh, I bumped into someone.
"Oh man, so sorry..."
"Wait, that voice..." the guy stood up. Wait...
"Minamoto?"
"Mikoto?"
"Ahaha, fancy meeting you here, Minamoto..."
The ruffled blonde haired guy in front of me is my best friend Minamoto Minazuki. You guys already know what he's like.
And then, "Hey, you're that geek that this otaku (japanese meaning) is with at school!"
"He's not just any geek, he's the well-known Japanese electronic music artist, Mikoto Katsumi!"
After Minamoto said that, I felt like I'm being given weird stares from the raven-haired twintailed girl they're with. Now that I mentioned it, there are a bunch of other guys here. Minamoto, the gray-haired guy, who I know as Tuckson Kosaki, the raven-haired waiter from yesterday, Tomoka Tohsaki, a raven-haired girl around Tomoka's age, and some kind of emo boy. Wonder what they were doing, anyway...
"Hey..."
"Hey, are you a cosplayer?" I ask, getting a flustered reaction from the twintailed girl who I think is cosplaying as Noire from the world where Blanc also came from.
"W-wha?! HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT!?" Wow! Did not expect such a reaction. I give off a disappointed face, and the other peeps did too...
"Ahem... Well, Mikoto, was it? My name is Noire, and I am a Goddess!"
"What? Come again?" I replied, taking my eyeglasses off and squinted.
"What?! Hmph, I wasn't expecting you to revere me or anything..."
I just looked at Minamoto and straight-forwardly asked, "Hey, Minamoto, is she a tsundere?"
Blam!
Gah! Did... DID SHE JUST GIVE ME A FLYING KICK OUT OF NOWHERE?! DID SHE JUST TRY TO RKO ME?!
"Are you okay, Mikoto...?" Yes, Blanc, save me. Oh, she gives me a hand on standing up.
"Yeah, I'm okay..."
"Hey, Mikoto, you alright?"
"Yeah, I can stand..."
And he took his attention to Blanc, who was not facing the guy. "No... No way..."
"Minamoto, I'm sure you'll be delighted to meet my newest friend..."
And as Blanc turned around... I voiced out an epic voice...
"Her name is Blanc, and I'm her Host."