A/N: Double update day!
Please accept my humble apologies for the delay.
Writer's block is a helluva thing...and all these site-breaking problems/unexpected glitches didn't help. But here we are!
If this chapter gets a ton of feedback -hopefully it will!- then I'll do my best to ensure an earlier update. Monthly, maybe. Dare I say weekly?
In other news depression's starting to hit real hard these days. Sometimes I wonder why I do anything at all. I can't claim to understand what's going wrong with my head. I don't even know why! One moment I'm fine, then my mood craters for a few hours, then I'm back again for a bit, and the cycle repeats. Its rather annoying; as though I've become a prisoner in my own mind sometimes. Sure, what's one more mental problem on the pile. Not like I don't have enough, what with already being this old. Feels like every day is a battle sometimes. My doctor is of no help at all.
*siiiigh* Don't mind the rambling of this geezer...
With my fifteen year anniversary on this site finally here, I find myself reflecting on the little things in life. What was once a lazy pastime meant for me and a few friends really grew and evolved over time. There are days when I look back on the last fifteen years here and I wonder if anyone will remember me; if I made an impact, despite never making a single cent on any of these stories. Some days were happier than others, and some stories I enjoyed writing WAY too much; to the point where I'd stay up all night working on them.
And of course, there are times when I look to the future and wonder what will become of things when I'm gone.
Of course, I try not to dwell on the latter overmuch; I'm still alive and still writing. In an ideal world, I'd like to keep doing so for as long as I can. But old age is catching up to me and these days, the world is filled with so much madness and death. Feels like everyone's lost their minds sometimes. Even before that, so many friends and fellow writers I once knew are gone, now. Will I still be here in twenty years? Ten? Five? Its a chilling thought. But for now, I'm still here, still writing.
So here we go. The fate of this story depends on you, the reader. Your feedback determines the fate of this tale, and many others.
As ever, I own no references, quotes, themes or memes. They're tributes to legends far greater than I.
I'm just a humble author trying to make his way in this wild world, one word at a time.
Time and feedback will determine if this remains a story. Simple as that.
In other words...its up to YOU, the reader. Do let me know~!
Anyone read for Beast Naruto? Because here he is.
And yes, its a reference to that movie.
"...is that it? Is that all you've got? Okay, then.
Guess its my turn."
~A reference.
A Cause to Fight For
"Ha!"
Zaraki Kenpachi laughed. He laughed, laughed some more, laughed to high heaven, a great full-throated bellow of mirth he hadn't made since he was a child. Palming his face with one hand, he doubled over and continued to cackle, shoulders shaking, throat aching, until finally his eyes watered and his lungs burned.
Why did he laugh, you ask? It was simple.
You see, Zaraki was happy.
Absolutely giddy really.
No, scratch that, he was downright delirious with glee. He was enjoying himself; truly enjoying himself as he hadn't in a long while, perhaps the first time in centuries. Because this was a fight! Better yet, he felt stronger! Like he'd broken down an invisible wall he'd never known existed until now. Somehow he knew he this wasn't his peak; not quite, not yet, nowhere near it and still he couldn't help but laugh!
So this was his Shikai.
He considered the blade and slung it over his shoulder. Damn thing was big. Not that he minded. It felt light as a feather, liked he'd found an old friend he never knew he had lost. Speaking of friends...oops. With a rueful grimace he looked back to the road, idly regarding the devastation he'd wrought there. In all fairness, he really hadn't meant to swing that hard. He'd carved a canyon in the street with his sword's release, mowing down his foe with it to kick up a cloud of dust and smoke.
"Oi, hollow!" he bellowed into the haze! "Don't tell me that killed you!"
"You're not half bad!" Fresh laughter arose from the fog to answer him. "I actually felt that, you bastard!"
The shroud cleared to reveal that damn hollow -Naruto!- wearing a merry grin as he strode forth, clutching the bloody stump of his right arm. Heh. Bastard looked as happy as he felt. And that stump of his wasn't a stump for long. It regrew as he looked on, flesh and bone sprouting from the ruin of his elbow in an instant. Only the bloody stain on his torn sleeve remained.
"High speed regeneration, huh?" The shinigami shouldered his sword with a smile. "You're just full of surprises."
"What can I say?" the arrancar raised both arms in a shrug, "I'm hard to kill."
Good. It would be boring if he died easily.
"You know," He flexed his restored limb with a hum and began rolling his shoulder in a lazy circle. "I oughta thank you. Sure, its my fault for tryin' to tank that attack back there, but I'd almost forgotten what pain, actual real pain feels like." a hand rose, fingers lazily clenching into a claw. "So thanks again, for reminding me. Keeps me honest."
Red light gathered in his palm with a sonorous hum.
"Lets see what the new sword of yours can do."
A cero burst forth from his fingers.
Zaraki met the cero head on with his blade.
He cut it. Right down the middle. Just like that. Nozarashi slammed down and the cero parted like so much water wound it. The blast split before him, severed halves searing past to demolish a pair of abandoned buildings on the block behind him. Well, he hoped they were abandoned. Meh. Didn't matter. The old man probably had 'em evacuated. Wasn't his concern.
Naruto whistled. "Not bad!"
"That all you got?" he leveled Nozarashi at him. "There's ain't nothing I can't cut."
"Is that so?" Grinning like a loon, the berserk blond reached up to his mouth and bit his thumb. "Lets see you slice through this."
Blood swirled from the mangled digit and pooled in the air between them, manifesting itself in the ghastly shape of a strangely familiar spiral. Before his very eyes, red light became a brilliant blazing blue. Sapphire sparks scrawled through his air, mixed with the crimson flowing forth from his hand, growing larger and more powerful with each passing second. An ominous keening noise rose in the air. Unable to withstand it, the street began to crumble and rise around them, reacting to the sheer force of the blast he was conjuring.
"Now what did Nel call this again...oh, right." Naruto's wide grin practically split his face. "GRAN REY CERO!"
Zaraki felt his heart soar at the sight. "Now that's more like it! Shoot me!"
Naruto let the cero fly.
Nozarashi slammed into it head on with a hungry howl. This time there was resistance; his blade struggled in his grasp as it warred with the blazing blue blast and he found himself sliding back half a pace, then another, his feet tearing great gouges in the street. Yes! Excellent. He might actually have to use both hands for the first time in forever-
A palm settled on his back.
Kenpachi stiffened, looking over his shoulder.
"I'm sorry," Naruto beamed back at him oh-so-very-innocently, hair lofting in the maelstrom around him. "Were you under the impression that I was going to play fair?"
With a cheeky grin, the blond bastard shoved him forward into the blast and vanished. The brat's cero swallowed him whole, smoldering away his sleeves and burning him badly. His world faded to black...
.
..
...until, quite suddenly, it didn't.
Kenpachi jolted upright, eyes snapping open and righted himself with a frown, only to find himself unharmed. No bruises. No injuries at all. His robes still smelled of singed cloth, but he wasn't even hurt. All around him buildings lay crisped and blackened, yet he was the only one unharmed.
"What the hell...?"
"How long ya gonna sit there?" He looked up to find the arrancar not three yards away stalking down the street, hands in pockets. "Need another catnap...?"
"Not a chance!"
He lunged at him, bringing his mighty cleaver crashing down with titanic force.
Steel struck flesh and bounced off with a spray of sparks as Naruto parried with a palm, driving his blade high.
"There we go!" The blond bastard grinned up at him, whiskered cheeks dimply in thinly veiled delight. "I can actually feel that!"
They traded blows like madmen, swinging for the fences. Him with his newly awakened blade, and the blond with his bare hands. Back and forth they raged, two gods of death, caring nothing but the slaughter. Laughter began to burst free from Kenpachi once again and he did nothing to throttle it, grinning as he slashed down at his foe's face.
This time he was rewarded with a look of concern as Naruto twisted out of harm's way.
"Why're ya dodging if I can't hurt you?!"
"Instinct mostly." he swayed under another sweep and boxed his ribs, drawing a grunt from him. "My body moves before I can stop it, like this!"
An uppercut caught Kenpachi's chin and sent him spinning into the sky.
A shadow fell over him. "AND THIS!"
He looked up.
Time slowed to a crawl as he glimpsed the blond above, hands linked over his head. His eyes weren't blue anymore. They were gleaming a strange shade of gold, his pupils strange horizontal slids, eyes dusted with an odd shade of orange. That was all he had time to see before his adversary struck back. Nozarashi swept up to block, saving him from a fatal blow.
Not so the momentum behind hit.
The hammerfist struck him from the sky, slammed him through a telephone pole, and drove his back into the street. Asphalt erupted like an overripe melon faced with heavy blow. He plunged beneath the earth. A water-main burst as he struck a solid pipe; the impact of which soaked clean through.
Naruto stood at the lip of the crater and whistled down at him, golden eyes fading back to blue. "Wow! Didn't think you'd fly that far! Need a minute?"
"Heh."
Zaraki cut upward in a savage streak of golden energy, raw reaitsu biting deep into his collarbone.
Now it was Naruto's turn to grunt in pain, a startled noise ground between his teet.
He expected shock, fear, rage from at the very least.
Instead, the blond threw his head back and belted out a laugh.
"Better!" his fangs flashed in the brisk afternoon air as the wound smoldered shut. "Lets kick things up a notch." he hopped into the crater and slid down, kicking up dust as he went. "Hope you like shadow clones." Both hands crossed into a strange symbol he didn't recognize. "Because you're about to...
"Shadow-what-now?" he stalked up to meet him. "Stop throwin' words at me and attack already!"
Blue eyes sparked back into luminous gold.
"Have it your own way~!"
Five fists slammed into Kenpachi from opposite angles, forming the loose shape of a star. Spine. Chest. Lungs. Liver. Kidneys. He doubled over, spat blood, and slashed at them, only for Nozarashi to taste hollow smoke. They didn't even try to dodge or resist in any way, shape or form. "The hell was that...?
"Shinobi, pal!" Naruto finished his descent, alighting not a yard away. "Now lemme see if I can mimic what you did earlier...
His fingers clenched, forming a taut point together.
"Just bring it down...like this!"
Zaraki's chest ruptured.
It all happened so fast.
He looked down, eyes bulging in confusion as he beheld the gaping wound, blinked, now...and then the pain was gone. He'd taken a lethal wound. He knew he had. The blood was still there, the tear in his coat painfully evident. But the wound was nowhere to be seen. There and gone in the span of a blink.
"Confused?" Naruto crooned behind him. "Don't be. You'll catch on soon enough."
He swung Nozarashi at him with a snarl. The blond sway back, ducked, and smashed keening sphere into his chest. He crashed backward to a knee, fresh wounds tearing in his torso
"Well, well." He heard a voice -Nozarashi?- echo in his mind. "So that's what he's doing. Clever boy."
Kenpachi forced his eyes open again. Too late. His wounds were gone once more.
"For a second there I thought I was...
...dead?" Naruto's voice echoed behind him. "You were, for a second there. I fixed you, don't worry." he pivoted, but the blond was nowhere to be found in the fog of war, voice echoing endlessly. "Its what I do, y'see. I fix things. Stuff. People, ya know. I can see your problem, Kenpachi Zaraki; you've subconsciously been holding yourself back, limiting yourself, and you don't even realize it. That's rude."
Zaraki spun.
He wasn't quite fast enough.
Clawed fingers flashed before his face, obliterating his eyes.
Something cool settled against his face and just like that, they were restored.
"See?" came the arrancar's merry voice. "You're just a liiiittle faster now. Lets keep going."
He felt pain in his throat as something severed his windpipe, and then that too was gone, replaced by a tingling numbness.
Kenpachi slashed out with one hand and touched a hand to his neck. Blood, but again no wound. Exasperated, he slashed at him. "Stop talkin' and fight me already!"
"I am fighting you." Nozarashi whirled over his back, blocking clawed fingers. He glimpsed that deranged smile beaming back at him. A bead of sweat ran down his brow. Naruto kept pushing, forcing him back one step, then another. "You're stronger now, but not quite at the level I need you to be. Ah, well." He shrugged. "I'll just have to "kill" you a few more times until you're up to snuff."
He ran him through with an arm. Blood spattered the street.
"Its a tricky thing, pushing someone to their brink, to their very limits, then pulling them back again." He heard footsteps behind him a split second before he healed him; then he drove another spiraling sphere into his back and slammed him face first into the street." I'm a bit of an old hat at it by now. Frankly I'm amazed its taken you this long to notice. How many times have you died, now? Five? Ten? Twenty? Or maybe-ack?!"
His words cut off in a startled yelp as Kenpachi kicked him through a building.
It bought him a moment's respite, but only just. The rubble had scarcely settled before he was free, spearing into him in a laughing human missile. Somehow he managed to bring Nozarashi around in time to smack him down, but the bastard got a punch that sent him reeling. They set their feet, grit their teeth, and rounded on one another. Then they were off and everything descended into murky madness. It became a no holds-barred, knock down, drag out brawl. Power against power, speed for speed, determination versus determination.
Red light crashed into gold.
And he realized something else. "Oi! You're holdin' back!"
"Guilty~!" The blond brought his hands together in a resounding clap, clasping both palms before his face in a low bow, simultaneously dodge an attack that should have cleaved him in half. "I'm really trying not to kill you for keeps, here."
Nozarashi smacked him into the ground, leaving a decidedly Naruto-shaped impression behind.
"Alright, fine!" he righted himself with a laugh. I'll give you a taste."
He threw his head back and screamed.
A pillar of golden light erupted from the blond's body with a wordless roar, blasting Kenpachi backward to pierce the very heavens. Naruto's voice kept rising within it as his body burned bright, brighter, brightest still now, rattling the very foundation of Karakura Town. It was like staring into the sun. He had to look away if only to keep himself from going blind. Spiritual pressure crashed down on his shoulders, rooting him where he stood, choking him, like an almighty ocean trying to squeeze the very life from his lungs.
Zaraki Kenpachi should have felt terror. Fear. Horror.
But he didn't. He was just so damn excited!
"Now that's more like it...!"
(.0.0.0.)
Nel craned her neck. "Oh, dear. He's done it now.
Rich golden eyes followed her gaze. "Friend of yours, take it
Nel tutted softly. "You got the drop on me, I'll give you that. However...
Her dark-skinned foe grinned at her. "Well, well! Aren't you a sturdy one? Or maybe I'm a bit out of practice...
They leaped at one another anew. She realized the trap -and saw her foe's smirk- too late.
"Now, Kisuke!"
'Behind! Not enough time...!'
A rush of red light slammed into her side.
(.0.0.0.)
Zaraki slashed through the smoke.
"You done over there? My damn ears are ringing."
...sorry that took so long. I guess I'm out of practice."
His rival- he couldn't call him anything less now- emerged resplendent, cloaked in golden light, body etched with eldritch black markings like some ancient warrior of yore. His eerie eyes remained gold but now his pupils bore a strange cross shape to them, shining as though lit within. Even the whisker marks on his cheek had thickened somehow, lending him a more otherworldly appearance. He made no effort to approach him, instead he slung a bone white staff -where the hell had he gotten that?!- over his right shoulder.
The younger warrior blinked, balked at it, and did a double take
"Huh?!" he heard him mutter, utterly taken aback. "Where did you come from and where have you been hiding all this time?! Wait, wait, wait." his head shook side to side, as though he were arguing with some inner voice only he could hear. "If I have you, does that mean I really died after all...?!"
...oi." Kenpachi raised a hand, feeling strangely sorry for him. "You alright, there?"
"Sorry," Naruto looked back to him, grinning. "I think I just had my worldview shattered and I'm about to have an existential crisis. C'mon, then." he crooked a finger at him. "Hurry up and attack me before I freak out."
Didn't need to tell him twice!
Nozarashi smashed into Naruto's chest with incredible force...
.
..
...and failed to penetrate his hide.
It was a good slash. Naruto grimaced as it struck. The street splintered and the earth cratered underfoot as it wedged against his skin. And yet for all that the arrancar was neither wounded nor moved. He didn't seem all that surprised either. If anything the kid looked almost...disappointed. Naruto gazed at the blade. Frowned, just a little. Looked back to him now.
"Is that all you've got?" He tilted his head as Nozarashi struggled in vain against his shoulder. "Okay, then." he took hold of the zanpakuto with his free hand and pushed it back. "Guess its my turn."
He vanished, but not for long.
A flicker of movement was Kenpachi's only warning before a sandal-clad foot slammed into his lower torso. His body folded over it with a wordless gurgle, then he was driven back, smashed down into the ground. Velocity was vicious. Momentum, malevolent. The transformed arrancar rode him like a surfboard, drilling his back into the street, carving a fiery furrow in his wake. His ribs shattered; nearly every bone in his body broke outright and there wasn't a damn thing he could do.
Nozarashi tumbled from his grasp.
He couldn't find the strength to reach for her.
One hit. Damnit. He'd beaten him with just one kick...
Naruto hopped off him and nudged him once with his new staff. "Satisfied, now?"
Kenpachi tried to raise his head, but he couldn't even manage that. "Kill me, kid. You're not gonna get another chance."
That beautiful white staff rose...and fell.
"Nah."
Zaraki made confused Zaraki noises. "The hell? I'm telling you to finish me off already! You won!"
"The may be so, but I don't wanna kill ya." the golden light dimmed a little to reveal the smiling man beneath once more. "You're a fun fella to fight, and I can tell you're really not a bad guy. So surpass your limits. Keep breaking them. Don't ever hold back, subconsciously our otherwise. And when you're ready, I'll fight you again. We can be battle buddies, or something. Until then...
He left him there, flat on his back, gasping for air...and just walked away
...see ya around~! Hope you get well soon!"
Blond bastard. So this was what defeat felt like.
"Damnit." Kenpachi heaved a heavy sigh. "Where the hell's Yachiru...?"
(.0.0.0.)
Nel heard Naruto before she saw him.
A mighty explosion, a plume of dust, a moment to wonder what the hell was going on...
.
..
...and then he was just there, standing over her prone form, slapping her attacker aside with the flick of his wrist. Her agile opponent vanished with a gasp and went careening across town. Nel found herself gasping a little as well when she rose, favoring her right side as she drew herself up onto her knees to behold him. His body shone like the afternoon sun, and that was wonderful -Truly! It was!- yet in the same vein, she couldn't help but notice what he held in his hand.
She saw the staff.
His weapon, no more than that.
Naruto had finally found his zanpakuto.
Glowing golden eyes gleamed down at her. "You good?"
When she looked to him, his smile seemed, fragile somehow. Yet still, he reached for her.
Heat rushed to Nel's face for all the wrong reasons as tentatively she accepted his offered palm. She hadn't been in any true danger, not really; she'd simply been caught off guard. Twice. In one day. Her body wasn't so much wounded as her pride. That might never recover. Still, daring to hold her hand in public? How very bold of him...
...yes." she muttered. "And you?"
Naruto gripped his staff tighter. "M'fine."
Liar. She knew he wasn't; she could feel him breaking.
I'm not dead, ya know!
He'd insisted so bullishly on that, but there it was. His zanpakuto, irrefutable proof of what he was. An arrancar. Exceptionally powerful perhaps, but an arrancar nevertheless. He couldn't be anything else. That was a lot to unpack, and he would need time to adjust, to heal.
Certainly not here!
Urahara fanned his face. "My, my, you're certainly making a mess of things...
Naruto rounded on him, warding his staff before him with one hand as one might a club. "You hurt my friend. Maybe I should make a mess of you."
"Now, now!" her attacker dropped his fan and raised both hands. "I think we've all had our fill of fighting today. Why don't we let bygones be bygones. You take care of your friend, and I'll take care of mine. Sound fair?"
"Fair?!" Naruto stepped forward and took a swipe at him, forcing the older man to duck away. "You double-teamed my partner! I'll show you fair...!"
Nel grabbed his shoulder and reeled him back before he could take another swing. "Naruto, no. We didn't come here for this."
His eyes blazed and she wondered if he would fight anyway. She wasn't strong enough to stop him.
.
..
...fine." he heaved a sigh, then turned a rueful look on her. "I need you to make a Garganta, then. I don't know how to do that yet."
Neliel was more than happy to do so. Anything that kept him from leveling this town to the ground.
"As you wish."
Still holding his hand, she turned and touched a finger to the air. It split open at her touch to beckon them home. She stepped toward the impromptu gateway, tugging Naruto with her. He still hadn't stopped glaring gold daggers at his fellow blond; somehow she feared these two would have quite the spat in days to come. Nevertheless, she looked over her shoulder and gave one last parting shot:
"We will return, shinigami.
She stepped through the portal and Naruto with her before her companion could think to give a rebuttal.
Kisuke heaved a sigh in their wake. "I'm sure you will. Well, this is going to be a bit of a problem..
His hat fluttered from his head and fell to the ground, split down the middle.
Ever so slightly, Urahara's right eye began to twitch.
"You just had to murder my hat, didn't you?"
A muscle jumped in his jaw.
This meant war.
A/N: Naruto realizing he's a battle junkie worse than Kenpachi...and realizing that, yes, he did in fact die.
We'll be unpacking THAT mess next month, but it felt fitting to end things here.
Better run Ichigo, you've got a devil on your shoulder.
As ever, the Embers rule yet remains. Meaning...
If folks don't like this story...well, that'll make me sad, and I'll not continue it. So by all means, speak up! Every bit of feedback matters here! Truly, it does! That's no joke! I really don't have much time to write these days and feedback is the wind beneath my wings. Silence is a lead weight that just drags me down.
As ever, reviews/feedback keep me writing them. Without them, I lose all hope, creativity and imagination.
So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review...Would You Kindly!
SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!
PLOT DETAILS AHOY!
YE BE WARNED!
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Yoruichi slammed her now-empty tankard down with a snarl. "Blond bastard knocked me out with one hit! I've been slacking...
"Now, now, Yoruichi...
"Don't get me started, Kisuke!
You seem rather distressed, my friend.
Was he? Naruto found he was. Things had been going so well.
I didn't realize shinigami were so...unique? Eccentric? Odd? All of those.
"You sent that shinigami after me. He mentioned someone wearing glasses.
...I did."
"Why?
"I wanted to test you.
I trust our agreement remains intact?
Is it?
I'm still looking into a way to create the Ouken without extinguishing so many lives.
Are we sure this thing is a key?
What makes you say that?
Eh, call it a hunch. If push comes to shove, I guess I could try smashing my way up there, but I don't think its gonna be that easy.
Indeed, if it were, we'd have Squad Zero to contend with.
They shook hands. Their agreement remained, for now.
How's Nell?
Relatively unharmed physically, though her pride took something of a beating.
Where is she?
Aizen hummed and looked back to him. In her quarters of course-and he's gone.
Sure enough, all the remained was a fading plume of so much smoke.
"Well, I suppose that's one way to secure his loyalty...
You're still working with us? A dazzling smile lit up Nel's face. I'm glad.
Well, I have a zanpakuto, but how the heck do I use it?"
"Ordinarily one would use a command...
...yeah, I got nothing."
Nel giggled. "Well, its not that simple. The word encapsulates what you did while you were alive, or as a hollow." That drew an interested look from him. "What did you do while you were alive, Naruto? What did you do for those you held dear? Did you defend them?" she tried giving him another nudge. "Or perhaps...?"
His eyes widened in realization. "Protect."
The world burst into white light.
Ulquiorra considered him for a long moment. "You baffle me, Uzumaki Naruto."
The blond slung an arm around his shoulder. "Aw, thanks, best buddy!"
He received a scowl for his efforts. "We are not friends."
We totally are!"
Halibel, put the poor hollow down. You'll break him.
"Who says all arrancar are bad?" he turned his head and spat a wad of blood. "The world pushes hollows without mercy, and when some of us push back, the world points and cries 'evil!' And for what?" He climbed to his feet ignoring the seething light chains wrapping his body. "You think defending myself is evil? No. You haven't seen evil. You have NO IDEA. So screw you and your precious Kido. Here's one of mine. Made it myself, ya know.
"Nonsense! One cannot simply create a kido-
"Wanna bet, bitch?"
His right hand broke the binds and rose. The sky stained itself scarlet.
"In the beginning there was One. Then she was split into Nine. The Nine were scattered across the world.
Clouds ruptured overhead; bursting one by one, tearing themselves apart as he spoke.
"One tree. Nine beasts. Now only one remains."
A crazed grin tore across his face.
"I tell you of creation. I speak of destruction."
Ebony cracks crawled across the whole of reality itself.
"Before there was light, there was darkness. I walk to the beginning. Rushing forward to an end not yet seen...
Cruel claws pushed through the tear in the world and a massive golden creature emerged. Its shadow dwarfed them all. Great gaping jaws opened wide. Black light glimmered within.
Some of them tried to flash away. It wouldn't save them. "Therefore...!"
Naruto grinned. "Bijudama."
Let there be light.
"I~chi~go~!"
"Not you again?!"
"What, can't I check in on my favorite strawberry."
"..."
Is that a no?"
EDIT: Hey, you made it! Thanks for reading!
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