AN: These are 3 related snips based in the same world. Cross with Acchi Kocchi. Written as individual snips, so it would be best to pause between each snip.
Acchi Kocchi snip 1 : Io
Or "Why isn't this guy the Windalfr?"
~~~~~
"Ah. Louise."
The young mage didn't know what to think of her familiar. She summoned a commoner boy but at the same time he didn't act like one at all.
Seemingly perpetually half-asleep, his calm and ever gentle demeanor just oozed confidence and comfort. He did what he was commanded without protest, and always seemed to be perfect.
"kyuuuuiii..."
Except outside of her room.
No matter what, where, or when, Louise's familiar seemed to accrue a band of happy and touchy-feely familiars the moment he was in public. It disrupted classes and made travel difficult, but any scolding or reprimand would bring instant hate from the said animals.
Many mages began to feel inadequate and betrayed, as no matter how close the bond, it would always be interrupted by the summoned boy's natural charm.
The teachers and Old Osmond have been spending all their free time in the library trying to find the reason, but there was no indication of what this boy could be.
Louise had to admit it, but her familiar was Magical.
End snip 1
/Snip - Acchi Kocchi - snip 2 (Miniwa)
Tiffania didn't know what to make of the miniature blue-haired girl she summoned not a week ago.
While she had command of unparalleled mind-erasing magic, there were tasks that the half-elf relied on her "elder sister" for.
Like keeping the Orcs away.
The Albion-native pig-men Loved children. And the orphanage always looked like a juicy target.
Mathilda always spent a day ensuring the Orcs would stay away from the orphanage with her large Golems, earthen protectors that would dissuade the beasts from coming near. But it had been too long: the Orcs were getting bolder and bolder.
Tiffania heard them coming while she was outside, and quickly rushed in and locked the doors. She gathered all the children and doused the flames, begging them to be quiet and to hide out of sight.
The sounds of the orc's rampage and destruction drew closer and closer. And Tiffania began to panic. The only time they were ever this close was when Mathilda first moved here, after the guards her family owned had disappeared. She needed someone to help she needed...
"someone out there, anyone, please come to my aid"
With that prayer, an otherworldly light filled the room as the door splintered and cracked against the might of a lone pig-beast, separated from the main raiding party by it's own greed.
That was the first time Tiffania met the pint-sized superhuman. Her summon, Tsumiki.
Later, the orc would find itself with it's head embedded in a tree, with no recollection of anything.
Life at the orphanage now, a week or so later, was good.
But still, Tsumiki and Tiffania both knew, it would be only a matter of time...
End snip 2
AN: I suggest going to youtube and watching some Acchi Kocchi videos right now, as a break between the previous snip and the following one. It'll also be a good introduction/refresher on Acchi Kocchi's particular flavor, and it'll enrich the enjoyment of the next snip (which, as you can tell, is quite substantial and better written).
/Acchi Kocchi - Io and Tsumiki (that idiot couple) summon - snip 3 - "I could swear I saw cat-ears"
Louise's summon, the legendary Gandalfr known as "Io", always had this calm about him. This gentle charisma and permeating influence made him the envy and idol of wherever he went, despite being a commoner. But for the first time ever, Louise felt her familiar's anger through their bond.
Or maybe it wasn't through the bond. The calm fury seemed to radiate off of every inch of his body, a sort of white-hot heat akin to a cannon shot heated before launch... there was no rampaging rage nor berserker's aura about him, but rather a consumingnothingness.
It almost was as if his expression was saying "Angry? I'm not angry. Not at all", but you did not need to see him to feel the icy hand of fear tightening its grip upon your heart. An exquisite anger. An elegant ire. He surveyed the scene as if an Elf watching over misbehaving commoners, as if the necessary intervention was so beneath him, he did not know where to begin.
"Tsumiki"
There it was again, that name. In this sea rancor that emanated from her familiar, it was the one word filled with tenderness, with care, with... love.
From her position behind the spectacled boy, Louise dared not breathe a word of it, to ask her familiar just how that word could be so gentle.
No, Louise just watched on, and stared straight ahead at the proof of a neglectful noble.
An orphanage, with one of the older residents fighting valiantly, against a pack of Orcs.
A horde of Village-breaking, Child-raping, Baby-eating Pig-men. The kinds of monsters the Lord of the land was supposed to protect his people from.
But now, in front of her, was the prelude for "Orchish Delight", a feast for the herd, in progress.
What could she do? Idealistic, righteous, and young... even then, Louise knew that she could make no difference. A single orc needed five hardened soldiers to be felled, or an adult battlemage. In such a throng like this, even someone like her mother would think twice about rushing in without backup. (Not that she'd lose or anything. But Mama Valliere wasn't Stupid. I mean it wasn't like she would have gotten hurt, right? Not Karin the Heavy Wind. Of course not. But still, she would... "take her time before engaging". Yes. That's it. "Take her time".)
Clearly the blue-haired girl, which at this distance seemed even smaller than Tabitha, would not be able to hold out. Even as she used the door and threshold to her advantage.
"Derflinger" Io's hardened voice intoned, somehow still being pure calm in its purest essence.
The sword barely had time to affirm it was listening (with the traditional rusty "aye") before the paragon of serenity vanished from Louise's side.
And the battle was Joined.
Louise cursed from her hiding spot. Stupid familiar, now she had to follow him. Into the fray it ways.
The pig-men were disgusting.
Even moreso than Sawaki's plan of putting pig-feet in marshmallows or Mayoi's frog-filled chocolates.
But there was no end to them.
Miniwa was strong. Miniwa was fast. Miniwa was small. All three of these factors allowed her to minimize damage taken, maximize damage done, and use the bottleneck created by the doorway to her advantage. But even that wasn't enough.
The waves of monsters didn't seem like it would end.
In the beginning she used tools like mops and brooms to extend her reach and to deflect attacks. Now she was reduced to splintered legs of chairs and parts of a table. She was running out of environmental weapons, but worse, she was running out of energy.
But she had to keep going. To protect Tiffania and the children. She had to stay alive, if only just to increase the chance of seeing Io once again just by hair. She had to.
And so she fought. And fought.
Her hands were bruised, and her arms sore, screaming in protest as she soldiered on. Each dodge became more sluggish, each breath burned just that much more.
Still, the cat in the form of a little girl kept baring her claws.
But for how much longer?
Tsumiki.
Io's heart soared. It had been too long, and in that time he realized just how integral she was to his life.
She was everywhere. Each day he woke up, each moment he lived, he expected to run into the little one around the next corner, behind the next door, at the next moment. But she never did. She couldn't.
But here she was! Here she was… in danger.
He had to save her.
He had to.
The Girl had saved her again. That blue-haired body hid more power than Tiffania ever imagined. With feline grace, and superhuman reflexes, the elf-girl's summon made her feel more secure than she had for months.
But even with this power. Even with this grace, this expertise… Tiffania dared not hope.
For it was hopeless. A pack of Orcs, what normally required an entire army to take out, had found her sanctuary.
With the petite blue-haired girl as the orphanage's only defense, Tiffania watched with a darkened heart, whispering assurances to the children she wished she could have had the tiniest drop of belief in. She had no delusions of her chances. She knew the impending fate for her and those she took care of for so long.
And then the screams came.
As did the explosions.
The pack broke away. A new threat had emerged. Confusion began to spread throughout the ranks.
It was the chance, the breather, Tiffania's summon needed.
One by one the orcs fell, some at the door, some at the back, some seemingly blown away by a familiar force.
Tiffania prayed not to the spirits. Tiffania prayed not to Brimir. Tiffania did not pray today.
But somehow, some force had saved her.
Maybe she should start.
It was not the glamorous reunion either of them had dreamed of.
Two lovers reuniting amidst a sea of freshly butchered corpses. A battlefield perfectly set for Love and War.
But it didn't matter. Their breaths caught in their throats, in disbelief the two almost forgot how to breathe
"Mitsuketa [I Found You]"
Derflinger dropped, with a cry of protest, from Io's hands as he began to move forward, accelerating towards the one he loved.
"Mitsukata [You Found Me]" responded Miniwa, as she too broke into a run.
For some reason, as the two Void Mages looked on as their respective partners embraced, despite the touching and uplifting scene before them, a deep seated jealousy burned. A voice in the back of their heads seemed to seethe and scream "But She/He's MINE!".
Io broke the embrace and scooped the petite powerhouse into a bridal carry, causing Tsumiki's face to turn a luminescent pink.
The earlier voice was then immediately drowned out by a chorus of "Awww!"s, all cooing at the cuteness exuded from the two displaced earthlings' interactions. Looks like that hereditary possessiveness won't be a matter this generation.
Oblivious to the Birimiric Miracle that just happned, Io ducked his head close to his pretty-much-official girlfriend's ear.
"Welcome back" he whispered.
"Welcome... nyack?" the blue-haired girl replied in confusion, as two ear-like appendages seemed to pop up from the top of her head.
With a gentle smile, as if he expected that answer, Io continued.
"Yes, To where you belong: In my arms"
"Nya! *poomf*"
Tiffania and Louise could take no more. His graceful line, her childish reaction... they felt the pressure building and then...
*pi-chuun!*
Despite being universes away from Gensokyo, the two girls had the first Simultaneous Nosebleedsparku in the history of Halkegina.
~Owari~