[Content Warning: Somewhat saucy themes during the latter portion of this chapter. Nothing too much. Just thought I'd give a half warning in case it catches anyone off guard. Don't expect this to happen often. This is a harem after all, and there will be a lot more of this coming down the pipeline. Some explicit, and some not.]
We're now getting into the first of the last two arcs of this universe. This one, the D.I.C.E. Versus The Grey Council Arc, according to my plans, should be as long, if not a chapter or two longer, than the Camping Arc. Either way, it doesn't matter. After six months, everything I've built up, everything that I've put my heart and soul into, is finally paying off spectacularly. But, before we get into that, here are the poll results (as of right now).
RWBY – 26 votes [1st]
Genshin Impact – 25 votes [2nd]
The Owl House – 12 votes [3rd]
Kuroinu – 8 votes [4th]
Wow, it's like, really close now. Like, stupidly close. RWBY's only winning by one vote. Now… this could get interesting. Should it end on a tie, I'll do a wheel to see which world happens. Whatever wins will happen first, and whatever loses will happen directly after the fact. One more thing: as of the day of posting this will be THE LAST DAY to vote. So if you want to vote for one of these worlds, then do so. Because after that, I have to start planning out what Jolyne will be doing in that world, aside from adding to her Harem and Guild.
Now, before we get into my response to reviews/comments…
1: I have a P-Atr-Eon. Please check it out! The links are all in my bios on Wattpad, FF Dot Net, Ao3, and Qoutev. Just in case, here is the link: gobblegum2?fan_landing=true&view_as=public
2: The Poll for the next world is now up! You can find it on my profile on Fanfiction Dot Net under the username DeathlyJazzHands55. It will be up until The Danganronpa Universe is finished. Once it is, I will take down the poll and begin planning out that world. If you cannot find the poll on my profile, or my profile in general, use this instead: poll4630933xB6B34Bef-145 and for those on Wattpad unable to see the link without it being split up: take. Super survey poll 4629498x00734f98- 145 type this into your search bar (without the spaces) and boom! There you go.
Now! Let's jump into those reviews/comments!
[Response to reviews/comments]
(Qoutev) Gh0sty.C0ffe: First of all, interesting username. I had to think before typing it out, lol. Anywho, you're not too far off from what's going to happen. Though, you're also not exactly accurate, either. You'll see…
(Qoutev) Shine375: Well, you're not completely wrong. Death shall occur to D.I.C.E. But to what extent…?
(Qoutev) JammyJam: That was the intended purpose :)
(Qoutev) TACO SENSEI: See, I would respond to that, but if I did in earnest, then I would be spoiling a LOT of stuff. I'll let this chapter explain itself.
Kolt999: Go Cry Go is, in my opinion, the best opening song in OVERLORD, next to HOLLOW HUNGER. But, that's a discussion for another time. Now, onto my response!
Jin is a rather sad character both in canon and in this AU. Honestly, if it wasn't for his father being the absolute colossal douchebag that he was, then he and Kyoko might have had a somewhat normal life. But no, fate is a fickle bitch as it would seem. As for how Kyoko can move her skeletal hand… you'll see why that is in the next chapter. I would've put it here, but by the time I was about to do so, we were already scratching nearly 10K words, and I don't want things to get too bloated. And yes, it does have something to do with Magical bullshit.
Oh, and that's not the Boosted Gear. I know one of the tags on Ao3 is "out of wack power scaling" but giving Izuru the Boosted Gear would make him so many levels of busted that not only would it be pointless, but it would also make things extremely unfair. If you remember back to the beginning of the story, Jolyne's Bear Claw looks exactly like that. Sorry for confusing you.
Ah, and as for why I had Sayaka get an instant kill ability, to be blunt, it was purely for irony. Even in the notes I had for when we got to this point in the chapter, I literally put down "Sayaka gets an instant kill skill because beauty kills." That, and I didn't want to give Jolyne that spell. I mean, that's an instant "I win" ability. And thus, all stakes would be taken out of the story if the MC had such a broken ass spell.
And, ah, yes, the Stalker. Some people are just like that. Think of the Bjork Stalker, for example. Just, you know, fewer pipe bombs and shotguns. Also, I've never heard of Lookism. I might look into it at a later point.
Rantaro… oh Rantaro. Yeah, there is a trend going on here. I feel like Rantaro deserves a little bit more time in the spotlight. So he's a member. Plus, the group needs a healer. Especially with all the shit that Jolyne gets into, lol. And, oh, Kokichi is going to be furious! Speaking of….
How about we get into the chapter right about… now?
xxXXxxXXxx
[Kokichi Ouma]
If someone were to describe Kokichi Ouma, they'd probably call him a mischievous little shit with no concept of right or wrong. And while they'd be partly correct, Kokichi knew when something was wrong, and when something was justified. His sister drilled that into his head at a young age, and while she could never take away that mischievous side from him, she was his grounding force. If something bad happened to his sister… he'd probably lose it.
But that wasn't why he was heading up to the rooftop of The Future Foundation headquarters. His sister was fine. Actually, she was more than fine. She was in great health! If not a bit stressed out at the moment. Which was reasonable. She met the driving force that their father was trying to stop from ending the world. And it turned out that they were extremely powerful.
That… wasn't a good thing. So, the plan was to wait for them to come to D.I.C.E. and pick the members of their guild off one by one. It wasn't supposed to be that hard, in fact, Kokichi was sure it was going to work. All that needed to happen was for them to cross paths in some way, shape, or form, and lure them to the base, where every member of D.I.C.E. would unleash their most powerful attacks on this Jolyne Brooks individual.
The plan was so simple that it HAD to work.
That was, until it didn't.
Dragging a person behind him with a nonchalant expression on his face, the person he was dragging thrashed about helplessly, all the while Kokichi continued forward. What was he going to have for dinner tonight? Maybe Katsudon? No, too bland. Oh? Maybe teriyaki with a side of rice? Well, that depended on Chinatsu.
"Nii-san, is this necessary?" A voice spoke up, to which Kokichi did not react, at least not facially speaking. "Nii-san, seriously! Listen! I'm sure he can—"
"Shut up, Chi-chan, I'm not hearing it," Kokichi spat, interrupting his sister, who walked just far enough behind him to not see the furious expression on his face, as he continued marching over to the ledge of the roof, dragging the person behind him up and over the edge. "Now… you've broken the second rule of D.I.C.E., no killing innocent bystanders unless it is unavoidable, Aoba-Kun. How do you plead?"
"K-Kok-kichi-s-san!" Aoba spoke as Kokichi's dark purple eyes glazed over, staring down at Subject 005, Sugichi Aoba, resident bruiser of the group, as he dangled over the ledge of the building. He was tall, lean, and had magic that increased his physical capabilities, speed, and defensive power. He was quite the powerhouse, and definitely a key member of D.I.C.E. "But! B-But I-I—"
"Guilty," Kokichi interrupted, dropping Aoba down the side of the building, watching as he fell a great distance. He continued to fall, until he hit the sidewalk, causing people to scatter and scream and run away in various directions. Kokichi couldn't tell if he was dead, or if he was just brutally disfigured. Whatever the case might have been, Kokichi didn't care.
He broke the rules. He broke one of the most vital rules. And he paid the price. Sure, did Kokichi go a little overboard? Maybe, but that didn't matter to him at the moment. What mattered was that Aoba had fucked up, massively. He not only fucked up massively, but he made a bad situation a million times worse, and now he and Chinatsu had to clean up after him.
Though, seeing as Aoba had a history of going against orders, Kokichi shouldn't have been surprised. Then again, no one else in D.I.C.E. had the stealth nor subterfuge skills that Aoba had. He was a powerful Battle Mage, and knew how to work defensive and offensive magics that most people couldn't. Sure, while Kokichi's probability magic would've been a better choice, he was doing some tests with a couple of the scientists to see if his abilities could cure cancer. And, the only reason why Chi-chan couldn't do it was because she was already doing something else. She was off on the other side of the city dealing with a bunch of rogue members of The Future Foundation who had gone mad.
Needless to say, it had been up to Aoba to do the espionage. So when he killed the Maizonos all for assuming that Sayaka Maizono, someone Kokichi would call a close friend due to having known her since she was a little kid, back when he was still on the streets while he and Chi-chan bummed around in that neighbourhood until having been adopted by Munakata, had been aligned with Jolyne Brooks was something that could not have been forgiven.
And now, without a shadow of a doubt, Sayaka would've joined with Jolyne Brooks. There was no way that she wouldn't join her now. Not when the only other Magic-using Guild in the country had been the ones to kill her parents, even if it had been a rogue member who acted against orders.
Kokichi turned around, a pensive expression on his face as he walked away from the ledge of the roof, hands clenched and shoulders tense. "I don't work with heartless, scumbag murderers, who can't follow orders" Kokichi spat, walking past Chinatsu, who followed after him. He might've been the second-in-command of D.I.C.E., but with how much Chinatsu stayed away from the guild, Kokichi basically was the guild's leader.
Not many people in D.I.C.E. were a fan of Kokichi's no killing unless absolutely necessary rule. He had that rule in place so that people like Aoba would fucking listen. But, as was apparent, that wasn't happening. An example had to be made. And Aoba, funnily enough, became that example. It wasn't something he was proud of doing, but he wasn't being given an option.
"Kokichi! What the hell?! What happened?! Why'd you do that?!" Chinatsu shouted, glaring at her younger brother, who looked over his shoulder as he opened the access door to The Future Foundations rooftop.
"He attacked and killed Aiko-chi and Higashi-chi, Chinatsu. That's what he did," Kokichi said, walking down the stairs as Chinatsu's eyes widened to the size of saucers. She was about to speak, but Kokichi knew what she was going to say, and answered her preemptively. "And before you ask, I asked Samidere-chan to use her mind-reading ability on Aoba when he wouldn't tell me where he had been, and why he had taken so long. He was planning on keeping it a secret from us. What's worse is that he signed it in our name, Chi-chan," Kokichi explained, walking down the stairwell and heading to the main room where D.I.C.E. hung out.
Chinatsu clamped her mouth shut, then cursed under her breath. "Fuck… and that means…." Kokichi nodded, before clenching his right hand into a fist.
"It was supposed to be a regular spy mission. He was supposed to get intel and intel alone. Sayaka-chi joined Jolyne Brooks…. And he assumed what we wanted him to do. That assumption might as well have been us handing in our resignation from life notes. We have to fix this, and quick," Kokichi said. "Because if we don't, we're fucked. I don't know what kind of power this Jolyne person has, but I don't want to be the one to find out by being on the opposite end of it."
As they reached the 6th floor out of 10, and as they rounded the corner which led to where the rest of D.I.C.E. had been, they ran into a ginger-haired lady that neither had seen for a while. She was tall, pale-skinned with a few freckles on her cheeks, and had light blue eyes. At the moment, she wore a neutral expression, which meant she was doing something serious. Either way, it didn't stop Kokichi from greeting her.
"Ah, Chisa-san, glad to see you again!" Kokichi said as the woman looked at them. She was wearing a black business suit, which was something that she wore around the office. Funnily enough, though, she was missing that apron she usually wore around it. If she wasn't wearing that, then that meant that what she was doing was something more than serious. "How was your time at Hope's Peak?" Kokichi asked as Chisa continued to give him a flat look.
And then, without any kind of acknowledgement, Chisa looked away from them and continued walking. Kokichi arched an eyebrow, sighing. "What's up with her…?" Chinatsu spoke up as Kokichi frowned.
"No idea… maybe it's that time of the month?" Kokichi replied, then shook his head. "C'mon, we gotta tell the others what happened. We have to prepare for war because I don't doubt for a second that's what she'll bring to us. I doubt peace talks are possible. But, if we do encounter them before they come at us, then we have to play damage control," Kokichi stated as Chinatsu sighed.
"Wow, Kokichi… you're taking this second-in-command thing seriously when normally you don't," Chinatsu replied, her tone dry and sarcastic as the purple-haired teen shook his head, pushing open a set of double doors. 5 pairs of eyes looked at them with varying emotions, but all shared the same concerned expressions. Chinatsu stepped up, crossing her arms as her voice carried across the room.
"Listen up, everyone. Aoba has been removed from the group through punishment number 4," Chinatsu said, causing everyone to tense. "He broke rule number 2. And due to his violation, we might have entered a war with another guild. Train your abilities to their absolute maximum while you can. We're going to need it."
Everyone nodded, as Kokichi spoke up next. "If you run into anyone today with pink and black hair, do not engage them. That is the leader of the enemy guild that we're most likely up against. Only Chi-chan has the power to go up against them. And that's if we get into a fight. We plan to explain things and hopefully end this peacefully. But, if we cannot… expect a fight," Kokichi said as, once again, everyone nodded. Kokichi turned to look at Chinatsu and spoke at a much lower volume so that no one else could hear. "Tell father what happened… he's going to need to prepare everyone else. We have no idea what Jolyne is capable of, nor where her strengths lie. We'll need everyone on high alert. The Future Foundation cannot fall. Not yet, anyway…." Kokichi said, whispering the last part as Chinatsu nodded.
It was a secret between the two siblings. Chinatsu and Kokichi both hated the Future Foundation. Not because it was cruel, or hurt their employees—which it didn't! But because it had corrupted their father too much. The man had changed from a relatively normal man with some eccentricities, which were expected of Ultimate Students past or present, to someone possessed by Hope. He was too attached to it, and it was ruining him and his ties with them. He was not the same man who adopted them 10 years ago. He had changed, and not for the better.
After that brief discussion, the two dismissed everyone as they went off to go toward the training room on the third floor. Chinatsu then turned around, and headed for the elevator back in the hallway, leaving Kokichi all by himself in the hang-out room. He walked over to the chair nearest to the television and grabbed the t.v. remote.
"D.I.C.E. will come out on top… we have to. We've done this before. Sure, not against another person like Chi-chan, but against other magic users…. Even still… fuck, Aoba, what the hell did you do…!" Kokichi thought, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood. He let out a calming breath, then turned on the t.v. to put on his favourite show.
He needed to unwind…. Once he unwound, he'd track down and find Jolyne Brooks. His probability manipulation would allow him to do that with ease. Hopefully, she'd understand…. "Or, it'll blow up in my face, and fuck over everyone because of it…" Kokichi thought as the opening theme of Gundham Build Fighters came on.
"One episode… that should be enough. And then, I'll try and calm the situation down as much as possible…."
[Jolyne Brooks]
The moon shone down atop the roof of Hope's Peak Academy. A dejected Sayaka sat next to Jolyne on the edge of the roof both of whom were sitting in silence. Jolyne was fuming mad, staring down the door as she waited for everyone to come to the rooftop. It was an impromptu meeting, but it was required. They were attacked. Indirectly, mind you, but attacked nonetheless.
She had already informed Mukuro, who had sent Chisa to the Future Foundation Headquarters. Why? Because from what Mukuro was able to get out of the now droneifed Chisa, D.I.C.E. was a sub-division of the Future Foundation. That meant that they were to blame for this, too. And while that accelerated their plans a little bit earlier than intended, what mattered now was that they get revenge, and they get revenge now.
"After all, I think the saying goes: Kill two birds with one stone. I just wished that it didn't have to involve Sayaka… or anyone for that matter…." The mage thought, her eyes narrowing. "Why though…. Why did D.I.C.E. do this? Did the head of the Future Foundation tell them to do it? Was it on their own accord? Or, is this something else entirely…? Am I missing something? I know they're my enemy, and I have every right to hate them. But… something seems off. I don't know why, but something seems very off about this…."
Jolyne looked over to Sayaka and placed her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Sayaka…. Are you going to be okay?" Jolyne asked. The blue-haired teen squinted, looking at the ground with an unforgiving frown. There was nothing but silence for a few minutes, and then, Sayaka finally spoke.
"Why…?" Her voice was soft. Vulnerable would be the right word to describe the idol. What happened to her… it wasn't fair. Her parents didn't deserve what happened to them. Sayaka didn't deserve what happened to her. Jolyne squeezed her shoulder, gently, as tears began to form in the idol's eyes. "Why them…?"
Jolyne lowered her head and shook it slightly. "I don't know, Sayaka… I really don't," the dual-haired mage said, as the idol leaned against her shoulder, burrowing her face into her arm as she sobbed quietly. Slowly, Jolyne enveloped her in a hug, rubbing her back to help calm her. "First she gets attacked by some crazy fucking stalker on our unofficial date, and then just when things were about to end on a good note, her parents get killed…. Why? Why does this keep fucking happening when I'm around! Or to the people I know?!"
Jolyne looked down at Sayaka, who was starting to slowly get a grip on herself, which was good. She let go of the girl, the idol sitting up as a result. Jolyne wiped away the tears in her eyes, which resulted in her caressing her cheek, and brushing some of her hair aside, a gesture that Sayaka seemed to appreciate.
The two stared into each other's eyes, or in Jolyne's case, eye. At that moment, the two seemed more connected than they had any real right to be. And it was with that that Jolyne made a single, solemn promise. "Sayaka, I… I know that everything will be alright. By the end, all of it will be alright… I'll make sure that those who're responsible pay… I promise…"
As Jolyne said that, Sayaka took her hand and placed it on the one that was holding the left side of her face, and lowered it to the edge of the roof that they had been sitting on. "Thank you…." Sayaka spoke in a hushed tone, her voice still shaky. There was a bit of tension in the air, which caused the two to look away from one another.
When their eyes met again, there was a slight… urge. Something in Jolyne's chest that refused to die down. The pair blushed at one another, both looking at the ground. Jolyne's heart was practically beating against her ribcage, or at least, that was what it felt like. The two faced each other again, Sayaka raising her hand to press it up against her cheek, and then, just as the idol leaned in a little bit further to act upon what the two were most likely thinking about doing….
"WHAT'S UP, BITCHES!" The access doors to the rooftop were kicked open by Junko, who along with her was Mukuro, Chiaki and a confused, and also tired-looking Rantaro. Following that was Natsumi, who had brought along the five children that Jolyne recognized to be the Trouble Makers of Hope's Peak Academy's elementary division.
The entrance startled both Jolyne and Sayaka, though luckily neither came close to falling off the edge of the building, which would've been bad. Sayaka's face did redden like a tomato, though, and Jolyne did feel a slight bit of disappointment, but that was neither here nor there. Junko looked at the two, put two and two together, and snorted. "Ha! Were you two having a moment? Fuck, that's funny! Hey, Jolyne-san, how the hell did you get smitten by the Idol? That's like, bad anime trope number 200 and some shit!"
Jolyne sucked in a deep breath through her nose, trying not to make a snide remark to the Ultimate Despair, as the five children looked over to her with gleams in their eyes. Jolyne couldn't quite tell what that meant, but something told her it had something to do with "meeting their hero" or some dumb crap like that. The green-haired one, Monaca Towa if Jolyne had remembered correctly, approached her with a confident posture.
"You're Jolyne Brooks… correct?" Monaca asked, looking at Jolyne, who immediately recognized that dead, almost depressing look in her eyes. The kind of look that someone had when they had absolutely nothing left to live for. Deep down, they were broken, hurting, and wanted nothing more than to die, but didn't express it.
Jolyne nodded, not saying a word as the other children approached her. It was then that Natsumi spoke up. "They've already been invited to The Grey Council. They all accepted without hesitation, Jolyne-sama," Natsumi said as the dual-haired mage hummed in approval.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, er… Ms. Jolyne," a boy with blue hair, Nagisa Shingetsu if she remembered right, said with a bow. A lavender-haired girl, Kotoko Utsagi, did the same thing, as did a boy with light brown hair, she assumed this was Jataro Kemuri, but due to the lack of his face mask, she couldn't quite tell. Then came the red-haired boy, who smirked, and reached out to shake her hand, which she did on autopilot.
"Thanks for taking care of my Dad, Jolyne-chi!" The boy, Masaru Daimon, said as he looked at her eyepatch, a small frown on his face. "I… also heard that he did that to you, right?" Masaru asked as everyone looked to see the eyepatch. Kotoko gasped, as Nagisa grimaced. Jolyne traced the eyepatch but smiled nonetheless.
"Don't worry about it. Besides, it doesn't hurt. I don't feel anything from it, aside from phantom itchiness now and again. But, it was worth it," Jolyne said, ruffling the boy's hair with the hand she used to give him a handshake. After that was done, Jolyne gained a steely-eyed glare, though not directed toward anyone. "Alright, everyone in line, front and center. We have some urgent business to discuss," Jolyne stated as the little kids straightened immediately, and fled to line up with everyone else.
"Brooks-san," Mukuro spoke up, earning a glance from Jolyne, which prompted her to continue. "does this urgent business have something to do with you asking me to send Chisa out on that scouting mission?" The Ultimate Soldier questioned as Jolyne nodded.
"Precisely, Ikosaba-san, that's correct," Jolyne said, before addressing everyone, especially the children. "I know I promised I'd train you children, but we can't afford to waste time. Not right now. Things have been going far faster than I imagined, and with the escalation of events, we have no choice but to meet our enemies, The Future Foundation, in the middle."
Each of the children looked at one another before Kotoko raised her hand to ask a question. Jolyne nodded in her direction, as she lowered her hand. "Uh… if you don't mind me asking…. What enemies? I thought we only had to… er… get rid of those bad adults that were tormenting us…." Kotoko said as Jolyne hummed.
"Technically speaking, that's what we're still doing. Except, these adults are bad for everyone, not just you guys. We've been doing a shadow war with them for a while, but now, they've taken it a step too far. They went after a pair of innocent people who had nothing to do with this, people who were close to Sayaka," Jolyne said, gesturing to the blue-haired teen. "Originally, we planned to draw this out as much as possible, to strike where it hurts, but now, that's not the case. I hope that answers your question, Kotoko," Jolyne explained.
The lavender-haired child nodded, fidgeting for a moment before looking at the ground. She looked at the children, then frowned, though it wasn't directed toward them, but rather toward herself. "Am I really about to bring little kids into this…? No. No, I'm not." Jolyne thought, before speaking up again, addressing Natsumi. "Natsumi, when this meeting is over, take them back home to that mansion. I don't feel comfortable allowing them to take part in this. They can get seriously hurt, or worse."
This caused Masaru to snap his head up, and look Jolyne right in the eyes. "Hey! Wait a minute! No! That's not fair! We want to help too, ya know!" Masaru retorted, earning a glare from Jolyne, which caused him to flinch.
"Listen here, kid. I don't give a rat's ass if you want to help. You have no training in combat, or even know how to fight. I can't, in good conscience, send you on what's effectively a suicide mission. At least, in terms of you guys. You might have very powerful Stands that you can use to your advantage, but against battle-hardened, militaristic mages, who have been training for most likely their entire lives… You have no shot in hell of actually beating them in combat."
"And speaking of…." Jolyne thought, looking over to Chiaki. "Nanami-chan, how is your training going?" Jolyne asked as Chiaki smirked, lightning bouncing gleefully off her left hand, and fire dancing across the other.
"So far, so good!" Chiaki beamed. "Those levels were really easy—beginners level stuff. I noticed it was set on once per day, so I changed it, and started throwing myself at the harder ones. I died a few times, but I ended up respawning, so that's good. I can fire off continuous lightning attacks without getting tired, and I even unlocked a new way to use it. I call it Chain Dragons Lightning! It sounds like something ripped right out of Final Fantasy Seven!" Chiaki said, swaying happily from left to right with no hint of stopping.
Jolyne felt a bead of sweat drip down the side of her face. "There's no way she got that strong that fast, right? It was only two hours of training, at least, for her it was. How fast can one progress in two hours?" Jolyne thought, activating CHECK to see just how much Chiaki levelled up.
And it turned out, it was a lot.
Name: Chiaki Nanami/The Ultimate Gamer/Ultimate Despair
Level: 100
HP: 50,000
Stamina: 25,000
Mana: 100,000
Faction: Ultimate Despair/World Ender
Guild: The Grey Council
"Seriously!? What the fuck!?" Jolyne thought, clearing her throat. "I-I see… well then, thank you, Nanami-chan. I didn't realize that it had a setting on it…. Good to know. "Mono! What the fuck, why didn't you tell me!"
[In my defence, Jolyne Brooks, you never asked. I can't just tell you things without you asking. It is how I function. My apologies]
"Fine. Still, though, I could've been WAY stronger than I was in the beginning! I probably would still have an eye if I was that strong!" Jolyne thought, lamenting her loss. Shaking her head, she cracked her neck from side to side to get that buzzing feeling to go away. Once that was done, leaned back into her chair and thought. "Now what… I don't really have a game plan other than "storm the base once given the information needed, kill them all, then cause some world-ending bullshit…. Ugh, why does this have to be so complicated!"
"Wow! You lot look like you're in a bind!" A sudden, unfamiliar, cheery-sounding voice echoed from the rooftop, as Jolyne shot up from the ledge. There was no thinking involved, as her right arm turned into Magma, and aimed for just above the access way, firing off a Great Eruption immediately. Standing there was a purple-haired, straight jacket, black and white checkered scarf-wearing teen. When the clump of Magma came close to hitting the boy, he raised his hand, and moved it out of the way like it was nothing. The clump of Magma then dissolved into thin air, leaving no traces of its existence.
Jolyne's jaw dropped, as the teen smirked. "Oh, come now, was that needed? Let me guess, you're "attack first, ask questions later," Right?" The boy asked, placing both hands behind his head with a cheeky grin. "Anywho, that's not what's important. What's important is that I iron some things out, because from what I know, there's been a mix-up."
The boy then proceeded to hop down from the top of the accessway, and land front in center with a little flip, before bowing in front of Sayaka, who had a shocked expression on her face. "Good to see you again, Sayaka-chi. It's been a decade!" The boy said as Sayaka's eyes widened.
"Ko… Ko-chan? Is that… really you?" Sayaka asked as Jolyne raised an eyebrow. "An old friend? Interesting…" Jolyne thought asSayaka blinked, before shaking her head. "Y-You're a boy!? I-I thought you were a girl! You'd always wear dresses, so I just assumed that—"
"Sayaka-chi, it's fine," this 'Ko-chan' said, waving her concerns away. "But that's not what's important. And while this reunion is nice and all, that's not why I'm here," Ko-chan said, before looking at Jolyne. "You're Jolyne Brooks, correct?" He asked, crossing his arms. Jolyne glared at him, but otherwise nodded.
"How did you know where to find us?" Jolyne asked, crossing her own arms in response as the boy shrugged.
"That's not important. What's important is that I clear up something before we both end up killing each other over something that shouldn't have happened, to begin with," Ko-chan stated, sighing. Jolyne raised an eyebrow, and then, she realized something, and her eyes widened.
"Wait a fucking second. You're with D.I.C.E.! You little—"
Jolyne wasn't given a chance to finish her sentence or do anything else for that matter, as some invisible force crashed into her like a tidal wave, knocking her on her ass, as well as everyone else around him. It was like she was hit by a semi-truck, and the damage it did… it was nearly half her health bar, over 2000 damage. The boy snickered, coughing into a balled-up fist. "Damn, Probability really is OP. To think I could just… force a gust of wind in a localized area. Neat." As the boy said that, Jolyne went to get up again, only for another gust of wind to knock her over. 800 HP left… if she tried to do anything again….
"Holy shit…! This is the second in command?! And this is regular magic?! What the fuck is that other Gamer Capable of then?!" Jolyne thought, panic setting in as the boy loomed over her and everyone else. Luckily, it seemed that none of them were too badly injured, probably because they weren't the target of the spell. She hadn't noticed it yet, but a small, yet thick trail of blood started to drip down the side of her mouth, and only did she notice when it began to drip on her hoodie.
Jolyne paled, and the boy who had done the attack looked as if a revelation had dawned on him, before then smiling with a somewhat disturbed-looking grin.
In just two moves… this boy completely washed her. It was almost pathetic. If she fought them at the level she was at now… she would've died. And she assumed that was the point that he was trying to make. A point that worked. Jolyne was terrified of him, not only because of what happened to her, but with the efficiency he used to take down everyone around him.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Kokichi Ouma, second-in-command of D.I.C.E., an organization that was created by The Future Foundation in a time of desperation. Though the backstory doesn't matter," Kokichi explained, before locking eyes with Jolyne. "Allow me to make this extremely clear, and extremely obvious. The person who killed those two people, while having been a member of D.I.C.E., was not ordered to do so by anyone. Not by me, not by Chinatsu, and not by my father, Kyosuke Munakata. Suigichi Aoba did what he did on his own terms. For that, he's been killed. I can understand your want for revenge, Ms. Brooks. But, I advise you to rethink your plans." Kokichi said, doing a backflip to the top of the accessway after his little speech.
Just before he turned to leave, he looked over his shoulder, and with what could only be assumed to be a demonic grin on his face, the sentence that came out of his face chilled Jolyne to her very core. "Oh, and just to dissuade you even further… I'm the weakest member of D.I.C.E." And with that, Kokichi Ouma jumped away, doing yet another backflip. Rantaro ran to the other edge of the roof and stared down at the ground. When he turned around to look at everyone else, he paled.
"He's gone…." Rantaro said as Jolyne paled, but for a completely different reason. Kokichi Ouma. The person who came to do some form of negotiation. The same person who knocked her on her ass, and depleted her health down to 800 with two very basic, very easy attacks, at least from his part, was the weakest member of the Guild they were about to go up against."
"Yo, Jolyne-san! You're looking a little pale, you good?" Junko asked, rubbing the back of her head. Jolyne didn't answer. She just stared vacantly forward, blinking once or twice.
"He could've killed all of us. All he'd have to do is use that attack a couple more times, and we would've been dead. It would've been just like that. He didn't even exert any effort… he just… did it. He didn't care… it was a simple magic trick for him…." Jolyne thought, and with every passing second, the increased amount of worried looks trailed over to her.
"Jolyne…." Sayaka muttered, placing a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes drifted over to the idol, before uttering a few words that she didn't think possible for the level of power that she was at.
"I almost died…." Jolyne responded, body shaking as she wiped the blood away from the side of her mouth. "He… he attacked me, twice. It felt like I got run over by a freight train. He could've killed me… killed us… just like that. It didn't even matter to him. We were like ants to him. And I… I was about to send you all to fight them… I would've sent you all to your deaths…. I would've done nothing but make things worse…. If he didn't show up…."
It took a moment for that information to sink into everyone. Junko laughed for a few seconds, but when no one else did, even Junko went pale at that, and from what Jolyne knew from her, she was completely unfazed by death. So for that to phase her the way it did… "Holy shit… you're not joking, are you," the Ultimate Despair said, looking away. "Fuck… are we really that outclassed?"
Jolyne shook her head, taking a deep breath, before standing up. No. She wasn't going to go down like that. She wasn't going to let some brat tell her she was weak. Fuck that, and fuck everything that stood for. If she was going to go down, she would at least go down swinging and take a couple of people with her.
When Rantaro saw her get up, he walked over to her, placed a hand on her shoulder, and healed her using his healing magic. Her HP went from 850, as it had been slowly healing, to full in a matter of seconds. She nodded, silently thanking Rantaro, as he walked back into the line.
When he did that, Jolyne cupped her chin. What was she going to say to Junko? No, better yet, what was she going to say to all of them? She couldn't just dismiss this now. Kokichi had more or less challenged them, even if it wasn't intentional. And while yes, it was a good thing to know that D.I.C.E. didn't intentionally go after Sayaka's parents to kill them, or even meant to go after them at all, the fact remained that they did that in the first place and that they, technically, poked the sleeping bear first.
It was only fair for the bear to respond in kind. The question was… how?
Then, an idea formed in the back of Jolyne's mind, and she smirked internally. It wasn't the most solid of ideas, but it was better than nothing. They needed to get stronger, and fast. And the only way she knew how to do that, was with some help. And thankfully, she had that help already waiting for her inside Hope's Peak Academy.
She looked over to Junko, a gleam of determination in her eyes, and spoke. "For the moment, we are. It seems as if we're back to square one. However, I have a way we can get out of this predicament. But first," Jolyne began, before turning her head over to Natsumi. "Take the kids home. It's late, and they all need to get some rest."
Natsumi nodded, before quickly gathering the children, and hurriedly walking down the stairs. Jataro or the person she assumed was Jataro, turned to look at her, his eyes gleaming with a tinge of concern, but afterward turned to follow the rest of his friends down the stairs. After they were gone, Jolyne rolled her shoulders and helped Sayaka off the ground. "Second, tomorrow, I'm going to show you all something important. Something that we have that they don't that'll help us win, and get stronger than them by a long shot. It's in my Ultimate Lab, Nanami-chan already knows what it is, and it's the reason why she got so powerful so quickly."
Chiaki nodded at that, once again showing off her lightning and fire. Junko hummed, then smiled, before nodding. "Gotcha, boss! So, uh… what now?" Junko asked, some colour returning to hers and everyone else's faces as Jolyne was quick to respond.
"Get some rest. We're gonna need it. That's all for now, take some time to think this new information over, and come back here at 12:30 in the afternoon. Alright?" Jolyne stated as everyone gave a firm nod. And soon, one by one, everyone left the rooftop, leaving Sayaka and Jolyne by themselves once again. Jolyne looked over to the idol, then gave her a concerned glance. "Do you have anywhere to stay the night? I highly doubt you'd want to stay at your house, you know, after what happened?"
Sayaka shook her head. "No… I mean, I have my idol group, but… I don't want to burden them. I'll just go find a nice hotel to sleep in, and come back here…" Sayaka said, her voice still a bit weak sounding, but otherwise, it seemed as if she was doing a little bit better. Jolyne shook her head, causing the idol to look up at her with a confused expression.
"I'm not leaving you alone. Not after what happened today. I don't care what that Kokichi guy has to say, or what past you might've had with him. To be frank, it's not him that I'm worried about. It's his other Guild Members. He might've said it was a fluke, but I have my suspicion that those other Guild members might get the same idea. If they find that you're alone…." Jolyne didn't finish that sentence, letting the implication set in as Sayaka looked dejectedly at the ground. Immediately, Jolyne cupped her hands over Sayaka's, drawing her attention to the dual-haired mage. "If you want, you can sleep in my dorm room. I'll make the bed and get a few extra pillows if need be. It's a double-size, so it'll be a tight fit, but… I think I can make it work."
Sayaka blushed, as a small pop-up appeared in the corner of Jolyne's eyes. Sayaka's affection rating went up again, from 41 all the way to 70. "Jesus, I'm just trying to be nice. I didn't expect her to react like that… but then again, this is pretty easy. Not that it matters, but…" "Like I said, you don't have to, but—"
"No!" Sayaka interrupted, before clearing her throat, and sighing. "No, it's… it's alright. I'll take you up on that offer," Sayaka said, her cheeks dusted with a small bit of pink. Jolyne nodded, smiling, before walking her to the stairs, as the two made their way to Jolyne's dorm, the mage taking the lead.
On their way there, Jolyne bumped into someone and said person huffed at them, not even apologizing. He had blond hair, and a goatee, and was wearing a white and gold suit with a black tie, along with a white fedora. He seemed a little drunk, but that was about it. "Jerk…" Jolyne muttered as Sayaka shook her head.
"That was Kizakura-sensei. He's always drunk and unaware of his surroundings. Honestly, it's pathetic, and surprising how he even got a job teaching in the first place," Sayaka quipped, causing Jolyne to snicker to herself.
"Damn, I didn't know you could be rude like that," Jolyne said as Sayaka smiled.
"I usually keep it bottled up, in case I get noticed. I have a lot of rude things to say about a lot of people, the least of which is Kizakura-sensei," Sayaka replied as the two now stood in front of the entrance of Jolyne's dorm room. Grabbing the door handle, Jolyne twisted the handle. Like magic, it opened with ease. When stepping in, Jolyne blinked a few times.
The room was perfectly clean, and the bed was made. Not only that, but the PTD mirror, or at least a copy of it, was now in her room. On the wall, right before entering the room properly, was a sticky note that read as follows:
Had Chisa come in here and clean your room as thanks for making my job infinitely easier by taking out Class 77 – B. Also, something I found strange was that when I had her take the mirror from your Ultimate lab, it left a duplicate behind, kinda like how a cell does its whole mitosis thing. It weirded me out, but I thought it was important to share.
From – Mukuro
Jolyne blinked, then pocketed the note. "I'll have to thank Ikosaba-san for that. She didn't have to do that for me," Jolyne said, letting Sayaka in before turning around and closing the door behind her and locking it. "If you want, you can take a shower in the bathroom. I have a few soaps and hair conditioners, but I don't know if they're up to your standard or whatever," Jolyne said, turning around…
Only to be met by Sayaka pressing herself against her and kissing her.
It took Jolyne half a second to realize what was going on before her eyes widened, though she suddenly relaxed, and gave in to that desire she felt on the rooftop, holding Sayaka's right cheek affectionately. The kiss only lasted for a second or two more, but when it broke off, and when Jolyne stopped hearing the beating of her heart in her ears, Jolyne let out a soft breath, something that she heard coming from Sayaka, too, as they looked away abashedly, their cheeks a fiery red. Jolyne looked at the ground, a bit confused more than anything.
It was so unbelievably unexpected, despite Jolyne knowing that it was going to happen regardless of what came of it. But still… it was… strange. And then, Sayaka spoke up. "That… that was my first time kissing someone… like that…." Sayaka said, her cheeks flaring a darker red. "And… I liked it… I liked it a lot…. I wasn't sure until now… I was always, questioning…."
Jolyne smiled, placing a hand under Sayaka's chin, forcing her head up just a little bit, making Sayaka look her in the eyes. The blue-haired teen blushed even harder, which earned her a smile. "And I'm glad that you found out the truth about yourself with me…." Jolyne said, her tone low and sultry. Sayaka fidgeted under Jolyne's gaze, which only served to amuse Jolyne more. "Your cute when you do that, ya know?"
It was like Sayaka's face was turning more and more into a tomato with how red in the face she was getting. And while Jolyne could tease her the whole night, Jolyne wasn't exactly ready for that kind of next step. She wanted to take things slowly, find boundaries first, and not rush into that kind of activity. Not unless Sayaka wanted to, of course. But, preying on her vulnerability at the moment made Jolyne feel bad, so she stopped.
"Listen, as much as I know I could tease you some more," Jolyne started as she let go of Sayaka's chin. "I know you're vulnerable, and looking for a way to drown out your sorrow. I don't want to prey upon that. It would make me feel weird. So, for now, go have a shower. I'll have one afterward, then I—er, we, can crawl into bed. Okay?" Jolyne said as Sayaka gave her a hurried nod. That was when Jolyne remembered something. "Oh, shit, wait. Do you have any spare clothes?"
Sayaka stopped dead in her tracks. "Uh…. No…." The idol said as Jolyne bit her lower lip. She walked over to the dresser, and saw yet another note, which read as follows:
Also, Junko asked me to bring you a couple of new pairs of clothes. Don't really know why, but she said something along the lines of: Hoodies can't get you everywhere in life. They might fit you, or they might not, but even so, it'll help regardless.
-From, once again, Mukuro.
"Convenient" Jolyne thought, opening one of the drawers. Sure enough, it was filled to the absolute brim with… bras and panties. They were all of various shapes and colours. Some scandalous others not, and it made Jolyne's cheeks flare pink. Immediately closing the drawer, she opened another one and found what she was looking for. Sleepwear. Only issue? They were all semi-see-through nightgowns. "Damnit, Junko! I know you knew nothing of this at the time, but come on, really?" "Uh… you like nightgowns?" Jolyne asked, showing one off to Sayaka while looking over her shoulder.
"I… uh… are there any that aren't… see-through?" Sayaka asked as Jolyne shook her head.
"I got spare, unused underwear if that helps. All my stuff auto-cleans due to my magic, so I don't really need it," Jolyne replied, though she didn't know if she was lying or not. Honestly, none of it was dirty. Whenever she went to sleep she woke up refreshed. That included her clothes, too. At least, the ones she wore.
"O-Oh… um… but, I… um…." Sayaka stammered, clearing her throat. "Sleeping in underwear is… weird," the idol replied as Jolyne shrugged. She kept checking through more drawers and found jeans, hoodies, and ridiculously short shorts that honestly could only be worn by a porn star. She also found crop top hoodies as well as a few with…
"Boob windows, really Junko?" Jolyne blurted out, sighing. "look all I got for sleepwear are these nightgowns. I'm convinced Junko's actively trying to sabotage me, but either way, it doesn't matter. So… what you wanna do?" Jolyne asked. The blue-haired teen walked up to her and took the nightgown out of her hand, looked at it, and smiled.
"Well, at least it isn't completely see-through. It still bugs me," Sayaka said as Jolyne brushed a hand through her hair in contemplation. Then, she got an idea. Taking out another nightgown, a pure white one, Jolyne laid it against the edge of the bed, and sat next to it.
"I'll wear one if you wear one. That way it isn't too embarrassing, right?" Jolyne said as Sayaka, once again, blushed.
"I-I… uh… but that's… I… um…." Sayaka stammered once again, earning a raised eyebrow from Jolyne.
"What's the matter? These things aren't completely see-through. I won't see your junk if that's what you're worried about. Besides, they go down to your knees, and even if it is a little see-through, what I do see will be blurred, so I think you're safe," Jolyne said, although it didn't seem to alleviate any fears that Sayaka might've held. The mage sighed, before picking up the nightgown. "Okay, how about this? You turn around, I'll undress and put this on, and if you don't like the level of visibility there is, I'll grab the very suggestive shorts that Junko gave me, because that's all I got, because unless you like sleeping in jeans, then that's all I can do for you, Sayaka," Jolyne said. Sayaka looked at the ground and seemed to weigh her options.
And then, with the nightgown in hand, she ran into the bathroom without a second thought. Jolyne smirked, before opening her inventory, taking off every inch of clothing she had, dropping it on the floor for added dramatic flair, and putting the nightgown on. And much to her surprise, without the hoodie or bra on, she saw just how much it was she had to show for.
Because holy fuck what the hell did Daimen deem to be modest? From what she knew about breast sizes in comparison to bras, which wasn't much, she knew that this had to be at least an E-cup. Because holy fuck. That was not modest. That was big. "Actually, on second thought, I'd be scared to see what Daimen things big looks like…. fuck me sideways…." Jolyne thought, shivering slightly at the thought.
Looking down, she was able to tell that, just as she thought, all that showed off was the colour of her skin, her curves, which admittedly she had to admit were in all the right places, and nothing else. Although, to be fair, how could one see anything when her legs basically covered it up on their own? The only way anyone was seeing anything was if she spread her legs, and that was only going to happen if she wanted to, nothing else, nothing more.
It took a few minutes, but as Jolyne waited idly by sitting on the bed facing the bathroom door, reading a book, something called The Chronicles of Nick, the door to the bathroom opened. Putting down her book, she watched as Sayaka, who was wearing a blue nightgown, walked out with a small pink hue on her cheeks, and the tips of her ears were also red. She had her arms covering her chest, but even then, Jolyne figured out why Sayaka was a bit… shy.
Because her legs didn't really cover much. Then again, there wasn't much there that she could see, due to how the gown wasn't really all that see-through in that particular area, or around the chest area. In comparison to Jolyne, her chest wasn't nearly as big as her own, probably ranging around a C cup at worst, and maybe a D cup at best.
But even so, Jolyne still found her to be cute. She was thin, with some meat on her thighs, and a surprising amount of muscle—all that dancing was technically working out, and seeing as she was The Ultimate Idol, she had to be moving almost constantly. Jolyne found herself smiling, as Sayaka walked over to her, sitting next to her with a bit of an abashed expression on her face.
"Oh come on Sayaka, you don't need to hide anything. If it's because you feel insecure, don't," Jolyne said as the idol sighed, lowering her arms. And it was then that she realized why Sayaka was covering her chest. It was because…. "Oh, you're a bit… excited. Ah, and you didn't want me taking it the wrong way, huh?" Jolyne quipped, which caused Sayaka to blush even further.
"I-If you want to, I—"
"No, Sayaka, save it," Jolyne interrupted, getting up and walking to the other side of the bed, sacrificing two of her four pillows to give to Sayaka to use. "I don't want to take advantage of you. I know you're still reeling from what happened, and I'm not about to abuse that to get my rocks off. Maybe some other time, though," Jolyne said, as she turned out the light, and laid down, putting her arm under the pillow and flipping the covers over her, then resting her head against them. Sayaka did the same, and for a moment, there was an awkward silence.
Jolyne tried to sleep, but found herself unable to. She didn't know why, but it wasn't working. She was stressed. Really, really stressed. With everything that had been happening, she needed to unwind. Maybe she could let off some steam in the PTD? But… then again, she did want to sleep. It wasn't as if she was immune to sleeping, she had to. She also had to eat, and she hadn't done that in a while. The last time she ate was… "God, how have I not lost any weight? I haven't eaten in weeks… better yet, how haven't I died to that?"
[Gamers Body. You technically don't need to eat, but you get the sensation of wanting to. Same thing with Gamers Mind. You technically don't need to sleep, but you get the sensation of wanting to. You may want to sleep, eat, drink, and what have you, but you don't need to.]
"I see… thanks, I guess…" Jolyne thought as she ruffled her head against the pillow, trying to get a little bit more comfortable. Just as she was about to finally doze off, however, suddenly, an arm wrapped around her waist. Jolyne felt her cheeks turn beat red, and opened one of her eyes. Sayaka was resting her forehead against Jolyne's back, and her hand was dangerously close to her privates.
"What is she doing…."
Jolyne was so preoccupied with everything, that she hadn't noticed her affection with Sayaka had raised from 71 to 100 out of 100. Jolyne simply closed her eyes, and tried to go back to sleep. And that was when she felt Sayaka inch closer, pressing herself against her back, as her chin rested against her shoulder, as something… moved past her waist.
Jolyne's eyes snapped open, as she looked over her shoulder. "Jolyne… I…" Sayaka muttered, her eyes gleaming with a foreign emotion that Jolyne hadn't seen, at least, applied to her. There was curiosity, yes, but there was also something else. Something that particularly unnerved her. Lust. And it was in that Jolyne had a bad feeling where this was going. "I… please, Jolyne, I… I know you're stressed out too, and I… I…." Jolyne's eyes narrowed at this, which caused Sayaka to recoil.
"Look, Sayaka, please, not right now. I'm tired. I haven't had a good sleep in weeks, and yes, I'm a little stressed out, but I—"
Her words came to a halt when a wave of an unknown sensation filled her brain. Something down there moved, and she melted into it like it was nothing. Jolyne shivered, as something had rubbed against something sensitive around her nether regions. "H-Hey, Sayaka, I said stop… I don't want to do this right now," Jolyne stated, biting back a hiss of annoyance at her attempts.
"I—"
"I said no, Sayaka. I'm fine if you want to hug me from behind, but please don't touch me. I'm too tired anyway. I need to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us, I don't want to waste any more energy today, okay?" Jolyne interrupted, now sitting up, earning an ashamed expression from Sayaka, who had sat up on reflex.
"I-I'm sorry… I… I misread the room…." Sayaka apologized, which earned a lopsided frown from Jolyne. The mage felt a little bad for being harsh, but even still, she did say "not right now" the first time. Jolyne sighed, placing a hand on Sayaka's shoulder.
"Look, Sayaka. We just started dating, did we not?" Jolyne asked as Sayaka nodded.
"Y-Yes, but… isn't it common for someone to… lose their v-virginity on the first date?" Sayaka asked as Jolyne wanted to facepalm. She blamed Hollywood for that, honestly. The whole concept of virginity was bullshit, anyway. And while she thought about how it would've been great to get that stupid sex quest done and out of the way right here, and right now, she wasn't in the mood.
If Jolyne Brooks was going to have sex, It was when she damn well wanted to, and it was when she was in the mood for it, damnit! "Look, Sayaka, listen to me. Don't believe the shit you see in movies, first and foremost—you of all people should know that. Second, as far as I am concerned, virginity is just social pressure friends put on one another to get laid quicker. That's all there is to it."
When Jolyne said that, Sayaka nodded, albeit with a bit more hesitant look on her face. "Now, that doesn't mean I don't want to have sex with you, Sayaka. What it does mean, is that I, at least for tonight, am not ready to do that. I'm too wound up, and while normally that'd be enough for me to say "fuck it" and let it slide, I'm also still pissed off. And I don't want to hurt you, okay?"
Sayaka nodded again, as Jolyne smiled. The mage kissed her on the forehead, then laid back down. "Now, get some rest. You got classes in the morning anyway, and I got some training I have to do. Goodnight, Sayaka," Jolyne said, closing her eyes as, once again, she felt an arm drape over her waist. The only difference was that this time, there was no touching of her private area.
And then, she entered into a deep, well-needed sleep….
-To Be Continued-