Starting Notes:
Welcome back! I guess you could call it a double update? Not really. I finished editing because I had no time to write. Plus, I felt bad that the last chapter had no duel for you guys after you waited so long, so… yup! Let's get into it.
#11: Shimmer and Sparkle
As she followed the girl, Keika had only one thing to say.
"How are you so calm when your brother is injured?"
"Calm?" The girl blinked with a doe-eyed expression. "I mean, why should I worry? I got some basic first aid for him with the money you gave me—which, thanks, by the way! But it turns out that his injuries are just a bit more serious than I'd have liked, so I had to get you."
"But you're… not worried?"
"Mm. Yuto can take care of himself. As long as I get you to come with me and we can get him somewhere that he can actually clean his wounds, he's going to be just fine."
… so this girl was either a smiling sociopath, or genuinely just a naive optimist. Keika was inclined to lean towards the second.
"Yuto? Is that your brother's name?"
Those black eyes were filled with affection as the girl spoke up. "Mm. He's my brother. Looks exactly like your brother too, which gave me another heart attack when I first saw him, by the way!"
And while that was a warning—
Keika was still surprised to see the face of the boy sitting in the alleyway. A boy with black and purple hair, and Yuya's face, looked back at them. He was wearing goggles, yes, but there was no way that Keika would be tricked by just that. He had been twisting a red piece of cloth between his fingers, but it had dropped as he stared at them, shock clearly on his face.
"Hey, nii-san!" The girl with Keika's face called cheerfully. "I brought help. Now we can fix up that wound of yours!"
"... and how exactly am I meant to help?" Keika asked dryly.
"Well, you can carry him, right?" The black-eyed girl raised her hands, swiping them through the air. "You threw that ball and knocked down those bottles like 'whoooo'! 'Klink klank klunk!' So you can carry him, right?"
Keika, somewhat exasperated, turned to the boy on the ground, who grimaced, looking slightly apologetic.
"I'm sorry that my sister dragged you here," he muttered.
"It's fine," Keika said. "Can't you call the ambulance?"
"That would… complicate things." The boy seemed more down-to-earth than his sister, at least. "Hospitals would look into things that we… have no answer for." He picked up the red cloth, wrapping it around his face again. His knee was clearly very badly injured—and it looked terrible. There was some gunk at the edges of the wound, and in general…
It was going to get infected, if it wasn't already infected.
Keika glanced up at the sky and prayed for patience. And normalcy.
"You can come back to my house," she said with a sigh.
"Appreciated," Yuto replied.
At that moment though, approaching the alleyway was a group of voices.
"Really, I just want to get a bite," someone was complaining. "Carnival food is too sweet for me."
The girl next to Keika immediately pulled her hood over her face again, wrapping a red cloth across the front of her face. The boy on the ground did the same.
Keika recognised that voice.
As she watched the entrance to the alleyway, Shingo Sawatari and his friends turned the corner.
Keika stared at them.
… they really had the worst timing in the world.
"Friends of yours?" The girl next to her commented cheerfully.
"The day that I call them friends is the day when the world ends," Keika replied. "We don't get along."
"I see." The girl stepped forward. "Ooh! He looks rich!"
"… yes?"
"Nice!"
"Are you a gold digger?" Keika replied dryly.
"Huh? What's that?" The girl sounded genuinely confused. "No, I was thinking that if he's rich, we can just rob him and be done with it!"
It was very rare that Keika was shocked to the point that she had nothing to say—and yet, the sheer audacity of what she had just heard caused her mouth to fall open in shock.
What.
Not even Sawatari or his friends seemed to know how to react.
In desperation for something normal, Keika turned over to Yuto, who shrugged helplessly.
"Kirari's…" He stopped there for a moment, before he figured out how to phrase what he wanted to say. "Different."
Oh no, really? How could anyone ever tell?
… she needed to cut back on the internal sarcasm.
"But she's very honest."
Keika turned back towards the girl—Kirari, who had cheerfully strode forward and was now looking at Sawatari from different angles, seeming rather oblivious to the implications of her actions. Sawatari was sweating bullets in confusion—and clearly somewhat flustered.
"What are you doing?" He exclaimed, his voice going up by an octave.
"Checking out what you have!" Kirari replied—perfectly honest. "Oh, that's a nice phone… and I bet that wallet has tons of cash!"
"She's checking me out?" Sawatari said. Both Yuto and Keika sighed, thinking the same thing—he had comically missed the point. Kirari even laughed when he said that.
"Nope! Not interested in you in the slightest~!"
Swatari comically fell on his face. Then, he leapt back up. "Y-you, are you insulting me?"
"Huh?" Kirari blinked. "Uh, was I…? I just said that I wanted your wallet. So, can I have it?"
"Who gives their wallet to a stranger?" Sawatari spat out. "And you—you can't get away with treating me like this! Duel me!"
"Huh? But I'm not interested in dueling for no reason at all."
"... what?"
Kirari held up her hands in an exaggerated shrug. "Well, dueling's a waste of energy. And I don't wanna waste my energy on anything. I don't like doing things for no reason!"
Keika looked at her.
Now that was… certainly an interesting view. In this city, where dueling was for the sake of an audience…
This girl didn't want to duel for no reason?
Fair enough.
Of course, this very logical response was immediately undercut by Kirari's next cheery words.
"So, if I win, can I have your wallet?"
… Keika facepalmed.
"And if I win, you'll apologise to me!"
"A wallet for an apology?" Kirari raised a hand. "Sure! Sounds like an easy way to do things! And I always take the easy way out." Her duel disk clicked on, the blade forming.
Was this just tradition now? Someone just dunking on Sawatari for no reason?
Keika felt a little bad for him. After all…
If the track record was right, then he was about to lose in the most embarrassing way possible.
"Let's get going then!"
"What's your name?" Sawatari demanded.
Kirari raised a finger. "Hmm… I guess that you do have the right to know!" She laughed. "My name is Kirari Ageha. Let's at least have fun!"
[DUEL!]
Kirari Ageha: 4000LP
Shingo Sawatari: 4000LP
"I'll start!" Sawatari snapped, still clearly flustered and confused by what was going on. "I'll activate the effect of Mithra the Vassal of the Thunder Monarch! I can't Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck this turn. Then, I can Special Summon Mithra from my hand, and Special Summon a Vassal Token to your field!" A purple-skinned human figure surrounded by bright electric sparks appeared, a yellow cloth wrapped around the lower half of its body. Green curls surrounded its head. A similar figure appeared on Kirari's field as well.
[Mithra the Vassal of the Thunder Monarch (2*/800/1000/LIGHT/Thunder/Effect)]
[Vassal Token (1*/800/1000/LIGHT/Thunder/Effect)]
"Then, I will release Mithra to Advance Summon Thestalos the Flame Monarch!" The fiery warrior appeared in front of him.
[Thestalos the Flame Monarch (6*/2400/1000/FIRE/Pyro/Effect)]
"Since Thestalos was Advance Summoned, I can make you discard a random card from your hand, and inflict 100 damage to you times its Level, if it's a monster!"
A random card was selected in Kirari's hand, and she glanced at it. "Hmm… it's Level 4!" She said cheerily. Some flames shot past her.
Kirari: 4000 - 100 x 4 = 3600LP
"And then, since Mithra was released for an Advance Summon, I can perform a second Advance Summon this turn! I will release Thestalos the Flame Monarch that I control… and the Vassal Token you control!" The two monsters vanished into pillars of flame, tinged with darkness.
"Oh?" Kirari blinked. "You can release monsters I control for your Advance Summon?"
"For this monster specifically, yes! Come! Thestalos the Wicked Flame Monarch!" A purple-tinged version of the monster who had appeared on the field earlier emerged, glowing slightly, dark flames writhing around it in the shape of skulls.
[Thestalos the Wicked Flame Monarch (10*/3000/1000/FIRE/Pyro/Effect)]
"And with Thestalos's effect, I will banish a card from your hand and inflict 1000 damage to you!" Sawatari shouted, pumping a fist in the air. Another burst of flame shot past her, but Kirari didn't seem bothered by it—though to be fair, they couldn't see her face.
Kirari: 3600 - 1000 = 2600LP
"I'll end my turn!"
"Okay," Kirari said. "Then, I'll end this duel!"
"What?" Sawatari exclaimed.
A giggle left Kirari's lips. She picked up a card from the top of her deck, seeming unbothered by the fact that she only had four cards to start with, as opposed to six. "Draw! I'll Normal Summon Exosister Irene!" She called cheerfully. In front of her, a nun with dusty ash blonde hair appeared, her hair going down to her elbows. She was dressed in a neat blue outfit with white edges and ruffles to the sleeves.
[Exosister Irene (4*/400/800/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]
"I'll then activate the Quickplay Spell, Exosister Pax! I'll pay 800 life points to add a "Exosister" card from my deck to my hand, except for "Exosister Pax" itself!" Her life points fell further, and Sawatari laughed.
"What, are you planning to get rid of all your life points yourself?"
Kirari: 2600 - 800 = 1800LP
"Nope!" Kirari replied. "Since I added a monster to my hand by this effect, I can Special Summon it if the other "Exosister" monster mentioned in its effect is on my field or in the graveyard! I will Special Summon Exosister Sophia, since she mentions Exosister Irene!"
A girl with short, spiky brown hair appeared, wearing purple clothing. Her brown hair was pressed down by a purple cap that seemed to flatten it down towards her head.
[Exosister Sophia (4*/100/800/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]
"Sophia's effect," Kirari continued. "Since I control another "Exosister" monster, I can draw a card—and since I control Exosister Irene specifically, I can gain 800 life points!" She swiped up the top card of her deck, even as a bright glow surrounded her.
Kirari: 1800 + 800 = 2600LP
"Then, Exosister Irene's effect," Kirari continued. "I can place an "Exosister" card from my hand on the bottom of my deck, and I can then draw a card. Then… since I control Exosister Sophia, I can gain 800 life points!" Her life points shot up by another large amount.
Kirari: 2600 + 800 = 3400LP
"So your monsters… rely on specific other monsters?"
"A girl doesn't share her secrets that easily!" Kirari replied. Sawatari shot a 'what have I gotten myself into' look at Keika, who honestly had no clue how to respond to his silent plea for help.
What had this day become?
"I'll overlay the Level 4 Exosister Irene and the Level 4 Exosister Sophia!" The two monsters shot up, turning to golden yellow streaks in the air and spinning around each other. "Angel of mercy, angel of death! Now, take human form, and at my side, crush all injustice in the world with your holy judgement! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Exosister Mikailis!"
A beautiful, blonde woman with bright eyes and silver-white armour appeared. Blue energy danced around her, embedded in her bright armour and her thick sword. She had a confident expression on her face—similar to the cheerful confidence that Keika had glimpsed on Kirari's face earlier.
[Exosister Mikailis (R4/2500/1800/LIGHT/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
"Hah! Your monster is still 500 attack points short!"
"Oh, it doesn't matter how many attack points I'm missing!" Kirari said. "Exosister Mikailis's effect! Once per turn, while I control her, if she was Xyz Summoned this turn using an "Exosister" monster as material—I can target a card you control or in your graveyard, and banish it from the field!"
"What?" Sawatari exclaimed.
"So I don't need any more fancy manipulation or stuff like that… and my dragon gets to take a nap instead of dueling!" Kirari paused. When she spoke again, she sounded like she was pouting. "I… kind of wish I could take a nap too. I'm already tired." She yawned. "But yeah! I will target Thestalos. Do it, Mikailis—Merciful Execution!"
The woman with honey blonde hair dove forward, slicing straight through the air with her sword, and cutting open a portal. She then jabbed the sword straight through Thestalos, shoving it into the portal.
It was a surprisingly savage action coming from a refined-looking monster and a cheerful girl.
"Then…" Kirari hummed. "Have you heard of a One Turn Kill?"
"What?" Sawatari blinked. "But you already Normal Summoned! You can't bring out another monster!"
Kirari waved a hand. "Well, if you think that way, that's not just standard, that's sub-standard!" She snapped her fingers. "Since I control only Xyz Monsters, I can Special Summon Exosister Malfa from my hand!" A pink-haired woman appeared, her long and flowing pink ponytail slipping through the wind. She was dressed in a black body suit.
[Exosister Malfa (4*/1600/800/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]
"Then, I can Special Summon Exosister Elis from my deck!" A blonde young woman dressed in white and green robes appeared on the field, smiling brightly.
[Exosister Elis (4*/500/800/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]
"And there it is! Mikailis and Malfa will attack directly!" The two monsters ran forward, striking at Sawatari—
And, rather anticlimatically, reducing his life points to zero.
Sawatari: 4000 - 2500 - 1600 = 0LP
Winner: Kirari Ageha!
"And that's it!" Kirari moved forward, grabbing Sawatari's wallet. She stole all his money, and then returned his wallet to him. "Come on, fire hair, let's go! I wanna buy ice cream!"
… how on earth was Keika supposed to explain this?
Even so, she did feel kind of bad for Sawatari, who had literally just been robbed. Alright, he'd technically bet his money in the duel, but with all of Kirari's… weirdness, she didn't blame him for just going along with it. So she gestured to him.
"I'll explain to you next time I see you," she said. "Sorry." Then, she walked over to lift up Yuto, so that she could carry him back. Kirari had already skipped forward, counting out the money to figure out how much ice cream she could buy.
Sawatari blinked. He turned to his three friends, who looked equally as stunned.
"Am I still asleep?" He muttered. "Or did someone just steal my money?"
"Thanks."
"No problem," Keika said, helping to disinfect the wound. "I'm guessing that my 500 yen went to the bandages?"
"Yeah."
Yuto, thankfully, seemed a lot more level-headed than his sister. Both of them had removed their jackets once they had entered the house. It still felt weird to see his face—she had gotten used to seeing her own face with Kanae around, but Yuya's face being on someone else felt odd. Even so, there were some subtle differences. He wasn't her brother.
(Some part of her hummed in satisfaction, in the back of her mind.)
(There you are, it murmured, recognising something familiar in a new form.)
Kirari was balanced on the table, leaning back cheerfully and drinking apple juice. For a moment, Keika snug a look at her again. Kirari had short, platinum blonde curls around her face, barely going down to above her shoulders. Her smile was pretty cute, as Keika had thought earlier. She had the darkest eyes, not even grey—simply black, the same as her brother's. She had a few black feathers in her hair, acting as dark hair accessories—used as hairpins. She was wearing a ring on her right ring finger, as well as one on her pinky—silver rings, with two pale black gems on each of them. On her left hand, there was a thin ring with a purple gem on it as well. She was wearing a slightly oversized dark short-sleeved shirt, with cobalt jean shorts. Her shoes were very worn, as Keika had seen earlier.
In general, she was just a lot more cheerful than Keika could ever imagine herself being.
"So, can I ask why you look like…"
"Honestly, we don't know," Yuto said.
Keika looked at him, and then she nodded. Alright then.
She'd just have to deal with it.
The door opened, and all three of them looked at it.
Kanae walked in, glancing at her phone. The brunette raised her head for a moment, spotting Kirari, before nodding as she turned back to her phone. "Hey, Keika. I didn't realise you'd be at home." She carried on walking, heading past Keika and Yuto on the couch. "Hey, Keika. Hey, Yuya." She walked towards the stairs—
And stopped.
Slowly, she turned over to look at them.
"... Keika," Kanae said. "Did you clone yourself again?"
"Whoa! Cloning technology exists?" Kirari said, blinking.
"... god. That smile is too cheery." Kanae grimaced. "And that's my face too."
Once again, Keika felt a sudden moment of relief having Kanae there. Thank goodness. Someone normal in this weird day of carnivals and strange hooded boys and people with the same face as her.
"Are they staying here right now?" Kanae asked, and Keika shrugged.
"I'm leaving that up to mum, and mum will probably say yes," she replied.
"Sure, why not." Kanae walked up to Kirari, holding out a hand. "I'm Kanae. Nice to meet you."
"Kirari Ageha!" Kirari replied cheerily. "And that's my brother, Yuto!"
"Sure." Kanae didn't seem to care. "What, did you suddenly show up on the doorstep with no memories?"
Kirari raised a peace sign. "Nope! I tried to steal her money, and then I kicked the butt of that guy who totally has a crush on her."
Kanae snorted. "Mood. I'd take any chance to do that too. Did you steal his money, at least?"
Keika facepalmed. Kirari nodded enthusiastically.
Yuto looked between all of them.
Keika took pity on him. "Do you need anything?" She asked.
Yuto glanced back at her. "Just a bit overwhelmed," he said. "Really… thank you very much. I was worried that Kirari was going to get in trouble."
"I didn't exactly stop her from getting in trouble when Sawatari showed up."
Yuto shrugged. "You said that your brother looks like me?"
"You don't look too surprised at that."
"I was surprised to see you," Yuto admitted. "But… it's not the first time that I've met someone who looks like me."
Keika glanced at him. She turned back to look at Kirari and Kanae, who were now engaging in a long and hearty conversation. There was a strange feeling in her heart—some jealousy over how well Kanae was getting along with the other girl. Even so, she turned back towards Yuto.
"And I'm guessing that the person you met had a younger sister too," she said. "With… a dragon like your sister's. Like mine's."
And like Cloud Piercer's.
It was a guess on her part that Kirari Ageha had a dragon too—after all, the other girl hadn't had to use her dragon. Even so, Yuto nodded.
"And I'm guessing that the person you met had a sister," Keika said. So… there were at least five people with her face, right? Herself, Kanae, Kirari, Cloud Piercer (probably, honestly, because she wasn't that dumb) and whoever the sister of this fifth person was—
"Yes," Yuto said. "… most likely. Their sister dueled me when we first met, and Kirari dueled him." He grimaced. "It was a tough duel."
… Yuto clearly didn't want to talk about it, but he had already exposed too much.
Now, Keika knew that there was something else going on here.
All she had to do was dig it out.
First though…
How on earth was she going to explain all of this to her mother and her brother?
Yuto Ageha, Keika decided, was a decidedly strange person to be around. Not just because of how much he resembled her brother, but also because he was rather skittish in his own way—while he seemed to be rather calm and responsible, there were some topics that he just would not talk about.
And he had a really bad poker face too.
When Yuya came back home and just stared at Yuto, Keika excused herself, walking to the side to get a cup of water. Meanwhile, Kirari and Kanae, who were getting along like a house on fire, were sitting on the kitchen counter and doing the equivalent of watching with popcorn in their hands.
"Who is this?" Yuya finally said, looking at once surprised and confused, as well as… well, somewhat resigned to the clusterfuck of weirdness that was their lives.
"I found them on the street," Keika said. "Your guess is as good as mine."
Yuya whirled around to look at Yuto. "You—where did you come from?" He asked.
Yuto, with that terrible poker face, said: "Somewhere else."
"You can't just—" Aggravated, Yuya put his hands on his head. "You can't just pop up like this." He whirled around, glancing at Kanae and Kirari, before he turned to Keika. "Doesn't this just feel weird to you?"
"... even if it does," Keika said, "it's the kind of weird that we can't just ignore. If they do something while having the same faces as us, someone might think that they're us. And that's problematic—you know how LDS has been after us from the get go anyway."
"LDS?" Yuto interrupted suddenly.
"LDS. The school that Sawatari and his group are from." Keika turned to him. "... are you alright? You've gone pale."
"LDS, as in Reiji Akaba's school," Yuto muttered.
"You're talking about the Akabas? I guess so. Is that important?"
Yuya sighed, looking at Yuto with some annoyance. "... he's really suspicious, Keika," he said. "I get letting Kanae stay—she literally has nowhere that she can go. But the two of them clearly aren't telling us everything. What if they're gangsters?"
"... please excuse us," Keika said. She walked forward, grabbing Yuya's shoulder. She pulled him upstairs, and then she whirled around to look at him. "It isn't like you to be so paranoid, Yuya."
"And it isn't like you to be so trusting!" Yuya shook his head. "Look… I'm not saying that we shouldn't be nice to them. But with LDS and everything… I just…"
Keika took a moment to look at her brother. She then took a step forward, wrapping her arms around him—an attempt at comfort.
"You've been very stressed," she said. "About LDS and everything. But trust me, Yuya. I just… know."
What a ridiculous sentiment. Completely lacking logic at all. If Yuya asked any more questions, Keika wouldn't be able to answer them. But something warm and fuzzy had woken up in her heart when she had first met Yuto and Kirari—the same warmness that had welcomed Kanae into their household in the first place. That feeling of knowing a stranger, the sense that she could trust them in a way that she did not trust most others that she met.
A false familiarity.
That had proven itself to be… alright, with Kanae. In Keika's life, her trusted people could be ranked in the order of her mother, her brother, and then Kanae—and then, no one else.
So Keika wanted to trust that feeling. She wanted to trust Yuto and Kirari, despite how little she knew about either of them.
"... sure," Yuya said. He sighed. "Sorry. I guess I got heated…"
"It's fine. It must have been a shock to see someone who looked like you."
"It was. I don't know how you manage two doppelgangers at once—it'd drive me nuts."
Keika shrugged. "It does. A bit."
It was like looking in a mirror. At other possibilities—
At other people that she could have been.
"Huh?"
Keika didn't explain anymore. She just shrugged, and she walked back downstairs. Kanae was standing by the staircase, conspicuously eavesdropping, but Kirari and Yuto were clearly whispering to each other. They both immediately stopped talking the moment that Keika showed up, which wasn't suspicious at all, of course.
… they could at least try to be more subtle.
"Why don't the two of you duel?" Keika said casually. "Yuya—and you, Yuto Ageha."
It was a perfectly natural sentiment, and yet it rang false to her ears. As though a part of her was eager to watch them fight, but the rest didn't really care.
"If you want to, that is." Keika downplayed her original statement, feeling a little strange.
"… it could be interesting," Yuto acknowledged. "But I'm tired. Maybe another time. Are you sure that your mother will be fine with us staying here?"
"… the question isn't if she'll be fine with you staying here," Keika said with a sigh. She and Yuya exchanged a look. "The question is whether you'll be fine with it."
"… huh?"
"Oh, they really do look the same as you!" Keika's mother continued to fuss over Yuto and Kirari, even as Yuto continued to look more and more awkward. Kirari, meanwhile, had taken to the situation like a duck to water.
… what was with these girls with the same face and getting along well with her mother?
"You two can stay here as long as you need," Yoko said. "What are you doing in town?" She seemed to have taken the existence of these doppelgangers in stride, meaning that she had a far greater ability to suspend her disbelief than Keika herself.
"… we were meeting up with a friend," Yuto said. "We've been…" He hesitated. "Travelling. Thanks for the help, but we'll get going after this."
"Hold up, hold up! Before we go…" Kirari glanced at a nearby photograph, placed in a frame above the drawer.
Keika grimaced.
"That's… Yusho Sakaki, isn't he? He's your father?"
"Yes," Keika said tersely. Kirari giggled.
"He's pretty cool! I admire his dueling style, you know, though it's a bit weird to see him in a photo here after he just disappeared—"
"Want water?" Kanae called loudly from the kitchen, interrupting the blonde girl. Keika shot her a thankful look, and Yuto seemed to notice something wrong, quickly distracting his sister again.
… good.
Keika sighed.
These two were going to leave, and for now, she could pretend that things were normal.
Everything was fine.
End Notes:
Reminder that the warehouse duel was very different here, and Sawatari is still perfectly fine, if sulking.
Also, my friend made the joke that every K counterpart has to wreck Sawatari in a duel at least once, and it's such a funny idea that I've decided to make it true. Was the Sawatari duel necessary? Nope. Was it funny to me, and only me? Yes. Duels will get longer as the fic goes on, pretty much, as the rest of the cast starts to get stronger.
The archetypes I considered for Kirari were… a lot. Pretty much any DARK or LIGHT Xyz archetype that could Xyz Summon a Rank 4 monster was in contention. My first thought was Artifacts, but since they're all 5*, I rejected it. Tellarknights and Starry Knights came in contention because they contrasted Phantom Knights nicely. Eventually Exosisters won, because of graveyard interference vs Phantom Knights being a great idea, haha. Of course, only having like five Main Deck monsters in an archetype makes for a boring duel, similar to the issue with Sky Striker/Flash Sword, so I do have another archetype as an engine I'll splash into the deck.
Kirari also literally means 'shine', 'sparkle' or 'glitter'. Which makes sense, considering that her personality is the living embodiment of ":D".
Also, Kirari was definitely like "yup, my monsters can do the dreaded 1 card Xyz, but this dumbass is never going to actually use an effect in the GY. I'll just school him normally!"
No dragon yet. I have a specific other point when I want to introduce her dragon.
I love that I set up Kirari as a pickpocket, and you might think that she's sneaky at first, but then you realise that she's not some stealthy sneaky person—she's just overly naive and optimistic. And then she robs Sawatari straight to his face.
The scene where Kanae walks in on Keika and Kirari is just the spiderman pointing meme. And poor Keika, thinking that Kanae is normal.
Also, the "not just standard, that's sub-standard" joke is one that I'm never going to stop using.
I will confirm that Yuto and Kirari are not taking part in the LDS arc, but I had to introduce them at this point for other reasons.
Anyway, wow, I didn't expect so many people to see the new chapter. Thanks for reading. I don't really have a lot of time to write right now, but I can at least edit chapters that are already written :D
Review responses!
To Ben23ten, well done with that! And you're right, there is no precedent that you can hold onto. Hope you liked Kirari.
To AccurateGap1, I don't really like the dub names that much either. Sometimes, they can actually be adapted pretty well, but other times… not really. We love 'Declan Nolastname' in this house. It was a joke I made to a friend and it made it into the fic.
To Bryz0n, Keika and Reiji's interactions were always planned. And I guess for the rest, you'll have to wait and see :3
See you next time!