Izuku: Are you sure about this, Jirou?
Izuku sat up in his bed, having recently been woken up by several text alerts from Jirou. He sleepily recalled that Jirou had something else she wanted to discuss with him tomorrow, and he even suspected that it would have something to do with the campaign, but he hadn't been expecting her to take a step like this. Not by a long shot.
Jirou: Yeah, sure. How hard could it be?
Izuku couldn't help but chuckle a bit, but held off on responding for the moment, as he noticed Jirou typing something else underneath her latest text.
Jirou: Look, can I be blunt for a sec?
Izuku thought it over for a moment before replying with a thumbs up emoji.
Jirou: I might be off-base here, but it seems like you've got a lot going on right now, dude.
Jirou: And I don't think anybody in the group wants to keep playing this game every Friday if it's just gonna become one more thing you feel obligated to do instead of something you're doing purely for fun like the rest of us.
Jirou: But I *also* figured that you'd feel bad if the whole game went on pause because of your busy schedule. Since I'm the only player without a character atm, it makes the most sense for me to take over as the DM, so that everyone else can keep playing their characters and you can *fucking relax*.
Jirou: If you're good to keep going, we can figure out how to introduce Yoko next session and leave it at that. If not, though...look, all I'm saying is that it's okay to take a break when you need to, alright?
Izuku sat and stared at his phone for a couple minutes after that. Jirou had more or less hit the nail on the head regarding his thoughts on the campaign as of late, and he had to admit, her offer was a logical one, and certainly appealing once he factored everything he had to deal with.
So, why was he so hesitant to sign off on it?
After a minute of pondering that emotional minefield of a question, Izuku figured he had to respond with something or else Jirou might get concerned. Not wanting to immediately dismiss the idea or immediately sign off on it, his only recourse was to stall.
Izuku: You're right; it would make sense for you to fill in, if anybody. Were you thinking you'd keep running the same module, or do something totally different in the same setting?
Jirou: Figured I'd just kinda improvise, but like, I don't really care about spoilers or whatever. Where are we supposed to go next in that module thing you're using?
Izuku's eyes widened slightly. Come to think of it, he didn't immediately remember where the party was supposed to go next off the top of his head. As he rummaged around looking for the module to remind himself, he anxiously wondered what other vital campaign information had slipped his mind. Jirou's offer was looking better and better by the minute.
Izuku: Maton, this big port city about 50 miles north of the Wanderer's Reprieve. Should take the party a little over 2 days of walking down the central dirt road to get there.
Jirou: Sweet. Anything on the way, or is it just 50 miles of nothing?
Izuku flipped back towards the brief travel section prior to the description of the city itself.
Izuku: Uh, nope, nothing but forests, dirt roads, and optional random encounters.
Izuku: I think the trek is mostly just there to give players chances to roleplay, relax a bit, and become familiar with how traveling on foot tends to work in Dungeons and Dragons.
Jirou: Gotcha, gotcha.
Jirou: So, got an idea on what to do about that, but first, as far as me taking over goes, you in or out, dude?
Izuku gulped. He probably should've known that Jirou would recognize he was stalling sooner or later. He sighed and groaned a bit, not liking his choice, but also not seeing any other way to get everything he wanted without sacrificing his mental health even further.
He needed a break.
Izuku: Yeah, I'm in, at least for the next couple weeks. What's your idea, Jirou?
Jirou: Well, for starters, you mind if I just plop a random village right smack in the middle of the road? Figure I could just set it down as a good place for the party to stop after the first night of walking.
Izuku thought it over for a moment. He saw no reason to disagree, but all the same...he couldn't deny that he was at least a little bit curious what Jirou was planning.
Izuku: Sure, that should work out fine. Does this village have a name yet?
Now it was Jirou's turn to look up from her phone. She hadn't gotten that far.
"Hm..." she muttered to herself, looking around her room as she continued to sit with her legs dangling off the foot of the bed. Her eyes settled on a particular item: her drums, and with them, the drumsticks so integral to their operation. She chuckled to herself as she shared her idea.
Jirou: Fiddlesticks.
Izuku raised an eyebrow at that, but he chuckled all the same.
Izuku: Nice. Got any ideas on what the party will be doing in Fiddlesticks?
Jirou looked up from her phone again. She probably should've thought up a few more things ahead of time, now that she knew Izuku was up for her taking the reins.
She looked around the room once more, hoping to yet again hit upon inspiration. At first, she didn't have much luck, her eyes mostly falling on other assorted instruments and mundane objects that didn't offer her any ideas. Fortunately, this would soon change once she started scanning her diverse array of album covers and spotted a particularly grisly one, produced by an old death metal band her dad listened to in the car all the time. She smirked. Now she was cooking with gas.
After turning back to her phone, she decided against tipping her hand to Izuku just yet. She still had some aspects of the idea she needed to sort out, and plus...he was real easy to tease.
Jirou: Wouldn't you like to know, Mighty Boy? ;)
Izuku's cheeks heated up in mild embarrassment before he sighed, not having the energy or the will to come up with any kind of comeback.
Izuku: Alright, fair enough. I'll leave you to it, then. Let me know how the next session goes!
Jirou smiled to herself as Izuku's text came in, although a part of her had admittedly hoped to get a slight rise out of her timid friend. Of course...who said she had to stop at just one try?
Jirou: Totally, dude. I'm sure your girlfriend will be more than happy to give you a summary.
Jirou: You *know* who I'm talking about. ;)
Izuku gulped, flushing bright red in the process. After a moment of deliberation, he decided that he might as well address the elephant in the room now that Jirou had brought it up.
Izuku: How did you know I liked her? ={
Jirou chuckled. She couldn't say she was completely surprised, but she hadn't expected him to come clean about it immediately. She decided that she may as well offer him advice.
Jirou: Well, as someone who used to be in your shoes, the signs are kinda obvious, lol.
Jirou: Look, I know you got a lot going on, but sooner or later, you gotta roll initiative, you know? ;)
Jirou groaned internally and paused for a moment before continuing onwards.
Jirou: Ugh, God, I'm making *puns* now. Stupid Joy and her stupid puns are wearing me down.
Jirou: But seriously dude, just...go for it.
Jirou found herself pausing again, this time for a completely different reason.
Jirou: You'll be so much happier.
Jirou: ...Sorry, that got a little bittersweet, I'm gonna let you go now.
Izuku sighed, falling back into his bed in the process as he contemplated Jirou's words. They were good advice, at any rate. He knew he should probably follow it. Eventually.
Izuku: It's alright. Later, Jirou.
Jirou: Later, Midoriya.
With this, Jirou closed her text messages and sighed, taking a moment to relax and focus back on more lighthearted matters...from a certain point of view. With this in mind, once she was good and ready, she opened up a search engine and began to type.
"Dungeons and Dragons 5.5 demons."
"Come on, Momo, spill it already; what's she got planned for us?"
Momo chuckled as Toru looked up at her, in what Momo could only assume was an attempt at intimidating her into giving up some secret knowledge she possessed.
"Your guess is as good as mine; Kyoka hasn't told me or Kaminari anything, save that it is going to involve some changes to our backstories that we discussed last night," Momo replied.
"Hmph! A likely story!" Toru retorted, prompting Mina to sigh and shake her head.
"Come on, Toru, leave it. We're gonna find out what Jirou's got in store for us in, like, ten seconds anyway. No need to get in Momo's face about it."
Toru took a step back, pressing up against the wall of the elevator. "Oh, alright," she conceded, just as the elevator doors opened and allowed the three of them to enter the common area. As expected, Jirou had beaten them there, and was currently in the middle of a conversation with Koda and Kaminari as she busied herself with setting up the Dungeon Master's screen. It didn't take long for her ears to perk up slightly as she heard the new arrivals approaching the table, prompting her to put her conversation on pause as she turned around to greet them.
"Ah, if it isn't the most beautiful girl on campus," Jirou began with a smile, enjoying the sight of her girlfriend blushing for a second before looking over at Mina and Toru. "And you two," she added, with far less enthusiasm behind her voice. "Glad you could make it."
"Of course," Momo replied once she regained her composure and took a seat in between Jirou and Kaminari. "I am curious to see what you have in store for us."
"Same here!" Mina chimed in as she and Toru sat down in between Koda and Kaminari.
"Alrighty then, y'all ready?" Jirou asked the assembled players, who each signalled their agreement in short order. "Cool. Let's get down to business, then." She cleared her throat and began the task of setting the scene and recapping the events of the previous session, using a refined tone of voice that the party had become quite familiar with over the last few weeks. "When last we left our heroes, they had just defeated the evil wizard Tiren and thwarted his plans to corrupt the innocent fey creatures who lived in the woods near the Wanderer's Reprieve inn and taphouse. However, their victory was not without cost, as the party wizard, Alision, was slain by the infected lubberkin Corey and laid to rest at the base of the dryad Fernis' new tree. After paying their respects, our heroes solemnly returned to the Wanderer's Reprieve to rest for the night and collect the gold that Reina Coldaxe had promised them for their efforts in stopping the fey corruption. It is the dawn of a new day for the party, and Reina is quick to recommend the northern port city of Maton, located about two days' travel away, as the next destination for the party to consider if they're looking for work. Whether the party takes her up on that offer is up to them." With her narration over and done with, Jirou brought her hands together and casually addressed the table. "So, which of you are thinking of heading to Maton, and which of you are headed elsewhere?"
Kaminari was the first to answer. "Rai's down. He hadn't expected to go back there so soon, but it'll be nice to see his family again, especially after recent events."
"Ooh, I didn't know Rai was from this place!" Toru interjected excitedly, to which Kaminari chuckled while rubbing the back of his head.
"Yeah, it was kind of a recent development. Figured I ought to expand on his backstory a bit if I'm gonna be in this campaign for the long-haul, you know?"
"Yeah, I gotcha," Toru replied, nodding along before giving her answer in turn. "Scratch is totally on board. A big city like Maton is bound to be filled with pockets to pick!" She giggled in that sinister, yet strangely endearing way she did whenever the prospect of stealing things came up. Mina couldn't help but snicker; Toru really was suited to playing a rogue.
"Hey, Jirou, question: would Joy know of any comedy clubs in Maton?" Mina asked, smirking as Jirou looked at her with an exasperated sigh.
"Roll a History check," she replied, completely deadpan, already expecting Mina to pass the check in spite of Joy's lack of History proficiency or significant Intelligence. Jirou had learned by now that there was no force on this or any other world that would stop Mina from making all the corny puns she wanted to make while roleplaying as Joy. The least Jirou could do as the current Dungeon Master was to give her the chance to do so.
"Let's see, 13 plus 2, so...15! How's that?" Mina asked, causing Jirou to sigh yet again.
"Yup, you know of one; the Fish in a Barrel Club, located by the docks in the northwest corner of the city and frequented by some of the best comedians in the region. You'd have to be pretty hot shit to get a time slot for a performance in front of that studio audience."
Mina grinned, cracking her knuckles as if expecting to get into a fight. "Challenge accepted. Joy's going; performing in a club like that has been her dream from the moment she could make puns. No way is she gonna let this golden opportunity passerby!" Mina winked as Kaminari and Toru laughed, almost immediately catching on to the pun she had just made. Even Momo couldn't resist a light chuckle, prompting Jirou to turn towards her girlfriend next.
"Rona, Whisper, what about you two?" she asked, eager to keep things moving before Mina got them all sidetracked with her corny puns. Momo cleared her throat as she considered her answer.
"I believe Rona would be willing to go as well," Momo replied. "She could still use gold, after all, not to mention that, after everything that has transpired since she met everyone else, I would say Rona has begun to grow slightly attached to this group. She would prefer that they stick together for the time being, not that she would admit that to anyone."
"Daww! She does care!" Kaminari chimed in mockingly, prompting Momo to chuckle.
"Emphasis on slightly attached," Momo shot back smoothly, a tiny smirk gracing her features for a split second. It was a look that most of them weren't quite used to seeing on the usually polite, well-mannered rich girl they had come to know. Still, it was nice to see that Momo and Kaminari continued to get along fairly well, at least.
"Whisper, uh, he's in a similar boat," Koda timidly added, not quite stuttering as much as he usually does. "Alision, uh, they seemed to like these people, so he's, ah, willing to stay with them."
"Ooh, speaking of boats, maybe we could get one of our own to sail the seven seas!" Kaminari piped up, a look of excitement written all over his face.
"Ah, yeah! Pirate adventure!" Toru added, just as excited as Kaminari was.
"Pirate adventure!" Kaminari excitedly repeated after her, causing Jirou to chuckle softly to herself. While she appreciated her boyfriend's enthusiasm, she knew she had to get things moving sooner rather than later if they were gonna get to everything she had planned for them.
"You gotta get to the city first, babe," Jirou interjected, giving Kaminari a look which managed to get him to settle down for the moment. "Anyway, since everyone is good with heading to Maton, you all set out immediately. The journey is pretty uneventful, all things considered, but is there anything you'd like to do while you're on the road for this first day of travel?"
The group thought this over on their own for a moment before Mina ultimately broke the silence after glancing over at Koda. From the look in her eyes, she was clearly planning something.
"Joy walks on over to Whisper and asks to speak with him alone for a moment," Mina began, waiting for Koda to give his answer. With the timid boy's accompanying nod, Mina cleared her throat and got into character. "'Alright, listen, you wanna learn a bunch of Common words, right? And, as I'm sure you know, I just love an audience, so how about this: I tell you every joke, pun, and comedic story I can possibly think of, and you can tell me whether or not they're any good! So, what do you think? Have we got a deal or what?'" By the end of her spiel, Mina had gotten up and had her arm about two inches away from resting on Koda's shoulder. Not quite knowing what to say in response to all that, Koda glanced over at Jirou, who figured out what to do readily enough.
"'Yes, that would be acceptable,' Whisper replies in Alision's voice," Jirou remarked, causing Mina to wince slightly as she pretended to glance back at the rest of the party.
"'Yeah, see, that's another reason this is a good idea; the song last night was heartwarming, but you probably shouldn't make a habit of speaking in a dead person's voice unless you need to.'" Mina paused to let Koda consider Joy's words, after which the animal whisperer simply let out a small cawing noise to signify his agreement. With that done, Mina clapped her hands together and got right down to business, savoring the look of quiet apprehension on Jirou's face as she got ready to improvise stupid jokes and puns like she had never improvised stupid jokes and puns in her life.
"'Okay, so three kobolds walk into a bar...'"
"'-And then the other guy says "Just what we need; a copper piece!" Eh? Eh?'"
Mina paused to let Koda and the others respond to Joy's latest pun, but deflated slightly as seconds of awkward silence ticked by like minutes. Eventually, Momo cleared her throat.
"'That was the worst one by far,' Rona remarks, evidently having lost just a smidge of what little respect she developed for Joy following the events of the previous night." Momo looked over at Mina apologetically as the pink girl glanced at her with a look of mild annoyance.
"'Yeah, fuck the police and all that, but that was just a bit too grisly. And that's coming from me,' Scratch adds, noticeably uncomfortable with the turn that joke took," Toru added on, earning her a brief look of scandalized betrayal from Mina while Koda whispered to Jirou.
"'That is a rather astute observation,' Whisper remarks, once again speaking in Alision's voice," Jirou cut in, looking to steer the conversation towards other channels. "However...before you can dwell on your party member's feedback for much longer, you all spot something as the sun slowly sets on the horizon: an ordinary village built smack-dab in the middle of the road you all have been traveling along all day. Most of the buildings seem to be in various states of disrepair, and while most of them have lanterns burning for illumination, nobody appears to be walking around outside. A wooden sign on the right side of the road, although covered in claw marks and practically uprooted from the ground, can nevertheless be read clearly enough for you all to know the village's name: Fiddlesticks." Jirou paused in order to let the party process everything she was telling them before giving them the signal to proceed as they will. "What do y'all do?"
Almost immediately, the table began responding in different ways.
"Joy's just gonna stew for a minute, although she definitely didn't like the look of those claw marks, so while she's grumpily stomping away from the party, she's gonna look around."
"Rai will go with her just to make sure she doesn't get jumped by something."
"Scratch, too; she's gonna look for any loot that might be lying around."
"Rona will investigate the claw marks to see if she can determine their likely source."
"Ah, Whisper will, uh, look around the sign for any, you know, unusual tracks."
Jirou nodded along to each of the party members' planned courses of action, and wasted no time in doling out requests for each one of them to follow.
"Alright, Joy, Rai, and Scratch: make me Perception checks. Rona, give me an Investigation check, and Whisper, give me a Survival check."
Each of the players consulted their sheets for a moment before tossing their d20s at the table and hoping for the best, as they so often did.
"Oof, Joy got a 7, yikes."
"15 for Rai."
"Scratch got a 17!"
"Rona rolled a natural 20, so 25."
"Ah, Whisper only got a 6."
Jirou nodded along once again and took a moment to decide who to talk to first.
"Okay, Joy, you don't see or hear anything particularly out of the ordinary. Rai, though, you're clear-headed enough to overhear something rather alarming: a young girl, probably no older than 10, hissing at you from a nearby home. She whisper-shouts, 'Go, traveler, before it's too late!' before a teenage girl, likely her older sister, pulls her away from the window and covers her mouth to keep her from making any more noise. They both looked rather scared."
The whole table became just a bit spooked after hearing that, particularly Kaminari.
"Yeah, okay, Rai's gonna take a step away from that house and move closer to Joy, casting Mage Armor on himself in order to bump up his AC."
"Well, Joy might be grumpy still, but she should notice that her buddy has Mage Armor on him now, yeah?" Mina asked Jirou, to which the Dungeon Master simply nodded. "Alright, Joy didn't get the ominous whisper-shout of impending doom, so she'll just kinda sway her hips a bit and pull out her pink ribbon as she moves ever so slightly closer to Scratch."
"...Hm. Probably stupid question, but what does this 'Mage Armor' spell look like?" Toru asked Kaminari, the slight tilt of her right shoulder the only indication of her confusion. Kaminari puzzled over it for a moment, legitimately eager for the chance to describe how Rai's magic works while also trying to keep things as brief as possible. Eventually, he settled on an answer.
"Well, the gist of the spell is that it's some kind of magical projection that works like a decent set of armor, at least for the purposes of not getting stabbed," Kaminari began, pausing for a few seconds as Toru nodded along. "Rai can't wear regular armor properly, so this is his best bet at the moment. I dunno if he can make it look like any particular type of armor, but if he can, it probably looks a bit like Rona's armor. She's the most badass fighter lady he's met, and that counts for something in his book, even if it's probably just subconscious or something." By the end of his explanation, he was actually blushing a bit, an added tidbit which he was thankful nobody commented on even as he knew that both his girlfriend and his girlfriend's girlfriend would probably tease him about it once the session was over.
So distracted was he, in fact, that he initially failed to register the actual conversation that was taking place around the table, at least until it looped back around to something that was directly relevant to what he had been talking about in the first place.
"-Okay, yeah, that's super adorable, but also, isn't he a Storm Sorcerer? I don't see how you can make a magic suit of armor have something to do with lightning powers, dude," Toru frankly remarked, causing Kaminari to take pause as his eyes widened ever so slightly.
"...Crap, how does that make sense?! I wasn't thinking that hard about it, I had just run out of lightning spells and needed to fill slots! Should I have swapped it out when we leveled up last?! I don't know what other spell I could pick that would-!"
"Kaminari, please," Momo interjected gently, yet firmly. "Rai need not be, to use what I believe is the vernacular expression, 'min-maxed' to such an extent. Simply play him as you wish, and if an explanation for his ability to cast Mage Armor is necessary, say that he somehow discovered a method by which to magically shield himself using electrical energy."
Kaminari nodded along slowly, calmer than he was a moment before. "Yeah. Yeah, that's good, that's really good! Shoot, I better write that down somewhere, one sec!" While Kaminari busied himself with translating Momo's encouraging words into a note for himself that he'd actually remember, Jirou saw fit to get things back on track with Toru the best way she knew how:
Bribery.
"Well, now that that question has been answered, tell me, Scratch: would you like to know what your first ever magic item will be?" Jirou said sweetly, in a tone which made it patently obvious to everyone at the table that she was about to enjoy whatever came from dropping such a gift into Scratch's lap, no matter how chaotic a sequence of events it may turn out to be. The others waited for Toru's response, which she eventually gave after what seemed like a solid minute of deliberation.
"You see, the funny thing is, I know you're bribing me with something that's probably gonna bite me in the butt later..." Toru began, causing the rest of the players to hold their breath for a split second before the girl eventually finished with, "...and I'm grabbing it anyway. Lay it on me."
The rest of the table chuckled as Jirou looked down at her notes, briefly puzzling over just how to describe this particular magic item to a character like Scratch. Eventually, she cleared her throat and began to read. "Scratch, as you glance around the town of Fiddlesticks, something interesting catches your eye: a shortsword engraved with markings the likes of which you cannot immediately decipher, yet nonetheless indicative of the sword's superior craftsmanship. It's lying all by its lonesome at the top of a storage crate, with nothing much to indicate how it got there or who might have wielded this exceptional weapon before it wound up here." Jirou paused as the rest of the table, Toru in particular, listened intently to the details that Jirou placed in her description. After a few seconds of silence, Jirou turned to Toru and simply asked, "What do you do?"
Toru paused as she looked around the room, weighing her options carefully before eventually coming to a decision. "Scratch moves a little closer to Joy and Rai in order to point out this totally cool shortsword she just spotted nearby. How far away is it?"
"About 30 feet," Jirou replied smoothly as Mina and Kaminari thought over how their characters would respond to this latest development.
"Joy turns to look at Scratch, then looks at the sword, then back at Scratch. After a bit of thinking to herself, she whispers to Scratch, 'Lemme guess; you go and grab that as quick as you possibly can, while me and Rai cover you?'" Mina scooted her chair slightly closer to Toru in order to sell the effect, causing Toru and the other players to chuckle a bit.
"'Something like that,' Scratch replies, not really bothering to hide that she wants to go grab that sword over there from either of them." Toru paused as she looked over at Mina, Kaminari, and the rest of the table before smiling to herself. "She trusts them enough," she added, a heartfelt sentiment that quickly got the rest of the table smiling along with her.
"Aww, that is so sweet!" Koda piped up a little louder than he had intended, but to Jirou's surprise, he didn't seem to be as bothered by the way everyone else turned to look at him. She would be lying to herself if she said that seeing Koda being more comfortable around so many people didn't make her happy, and from what she could tell, the others felt the same way.
"Yeah. It is," Jirou replied softly, and for a moment, she simply let the conversation around the table go on around her. Her hearing was nothing to scoff at, after all; she could afford to relax and absorb the sounds around her with reckless abandon. She idly typed out a text on her phone and sent it out just as the conversation turned back to the magic shortsword of unknown origin.
"Alright, Scratch is gonna lead the others to the sword so they can cover her in case something goes wrong," Toru piped up, with an accompanying nod by Mina and Kaminari signalling to Jirou that now was the time to redirect her attention.
"Gotcha. I'll get back to you three in a bit," Jirou remarked before turning to Koda and Momo. "Okay, Whisper, you're up next. You look around the messed up sign for tracks, but they don't really look like any tracks you've run into before. Definitely not humanoid, and definitely not from any common beast whose claw marks you would be able to recognize off the top of your head. And yet, it's clear enough that whatever made these claw marks is not something to mess with." Koda nodded along slowly, thinking the situation over for a minute before making his choice.
"In that case, uh, Whisper's gonna lay low and, eh, keep investigating for now," Koda remarked, sparing a glance towards Rona before adding on another detail he came up with in the spur of the moment. "Between, uh, the whole thing with Joy earlier, and especially the way Rona and Alision were a bit, well, you know, he figures saying anything in Alision's voice would probably be, uh, pretty uncomfortable, all things considered." Koda paused briefly halfway through in order to make a floppy gesture with his hand and let the joke sink in, at which point Mina and Kaminari burst into a fit of laughter simultaneously while Toru and Koda eventually laughed along.
Although Jirou pondered invoking the table rule for that particular jab, seeing Momo chuckling slightly in response to the situation put her mind at ease. At this point in their relationship, she and Momo couldn't exactly deny that there was some major chemistry between their characters that almost certainly had at least something to do with their months-worth of unspoken romantic feelings at the time. Nevertheless, she thought somewhat dryly to herself, it was best not to set too much of a precedent with this group. Jirou herself being teased about her relationships was one thing, but if some jerk who winds up joining the group later starts to think they can pick on Midoriya the same way, she knew full well that there would be a long line of students all over U.A. who might have something to say about that.
"Alright, settle down, kids," Jirou said jokingly, hoping to get things back on track as she once again pulled out her phone, this time eager to try out something she'd thought about in advance of the session. "Rona, you're up, but first, I had an idea on how to add a little atmosphere to the game," Jirou began, twirling her ear jacks around her finger as she looked around at the rest of the table with a slight smirk. "Whaddya say? Y'all cool with me trying this out?" Kaminari, Mina, and Toru all lit up at the same time, while Momo politely chuckled at the others' enthusiasm.
"Oh, this is gonna be so cool!" Kaminari cried out happily.
"It's definitely gonna be something, alright," Mina remarked, leaning back in her chair and making sure she had a nice snack within easy reach.
"Indeed; the addition of music for a looming conflict such as this should be rather immersive," Momo added, finding herself eager to see just what Rona was about to run into.
"Hey, Jirou, do you want lights? I can do lights," Toru offered, piquing Jirou's interest before she politely shook her head at the suggestion, as intriguing as it was.
"Eh, let's not get too crazy," Jirou cautioned the invisible girl gently, causing Toru to slump her shoulders a bit. "It's a good idea, don't get me wrong; I just don't want the administration to see a bunch of flashing lights and assume the worst."
"Well, hang on a second," Koda interjected, looking over at Toru as he considered how exactly to phrase the question that had popped into his head. "Your Quirk is all about, uh, manipulating light waves, right?" Toru nodded slowly, wondering what exactly Koda was getting at. "And, eh, we've all gotten pretty good at controlling our Quirks recently. So...well, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I think you should try it out, Toru."
The rest of the table sat in stunned silence while Toru thought over Koda's encouraging words and the encouraging smile he sent her way. Eventually, she smiled softly to herself, fully knowing that nobody else would see it; Koda was a really, really nice guy. Not to mention funny, great with animals, super polite, and all in all just a really nice person to be around. And to think, she wouldn't have gotten to spend nearly as much time with him if it hadn't been for Izuku and Mina both sticking with this whole Dungeons and Dragons group the two of them had gotten together. The more she thought about it, the more she really ought to thank the two of them for giving her the opportunity to really get to know Koda a little better and-
Oh.
Well, this was an unexpected turn of events. And one that Toru would have ordinarily been far more preoccupied with if she hadn't been more preoccupied with something else directly related to this latest development that was, at the moment, slightly more pressing:
She was now glowing pink.
Somehow, without even really meaning to, Toru had managed to accomplish what she had been hinting at earlier, albeit in the most embarrassing way possible. The others instinctively turned their heads to look in awe at their now somewhat-visible friend, thankfully unable to make out the facial expression of wide-eyed embarrassment which Toru had begun to make in that particular moment. Although Kaminari and Momo simply marveled at Toru's impressive display of her Quirk's hidden versatility, Mina happened to notice just what had caused Toru to begin glowing pink of all possible colors, and shot her best friend a conspiratorial smirk just to let her know that they were going to talk about this once the session was over. As much as Toru wasn't exactly looking forward to that conversation, she had to admit it would probably be a good idea for her to get a handle on just what she was feeling at the moment.
"Oh, hey, it worked! Great job, Toru!" Koda remarked, completely oblivious to the reason that Toru was currently glowing pink in particular. Toru's pink hue deepened slightly after hearing Koda's praise, and she found herself unusually tongue-tied attempting to respond to the kind and, as she was only just now noticing, rather cute animal whisperer, who grew increasingly confused and concerned as each second of awkward silence ticked on by without a word from the now somewhat-visible invisible girl. Fortunately for the both of them, Jirou quickly caught on to the nature of Toru's predicament and threw her a bone.
"Hey, Toru, think you can dial that down to more of a dark red for me?" Jirou asked, taking the opportunity to glance back and forth between Toru and Koda while Toru sheepishly figured out how to comply with Jirou's instructions. For her part, Jirou couldn't say she had expected Toru to start crushing on Koda out of all the guys in their class. She had always figured Toru would end up with Ojiro, if anybody, or maybe Todoroki if the guy wasn't so obviously not interested in anybody in their class except for maybe Midoriya (and really, even that one was just a guess based on what Jirou had overheard her classmates gossiping about every so often). Still, Jirou knew full well how much of a catch Koda was; even if she wasn't entirely sure whether Koda liked anybody himself, he was so nice, polite, and considerate that anyone in their class would be lucky to have him as their boyfriend. That didn't mean she was about to pull a Mina and embark on some crazy matchmaking scheme to get them together or anything, though; as far as she was concerned, it was up to the two of them to sort out whatever was going on here. She was content merely to sit back and watch this high school romance unfold in whatever way it was going to. Unless Toru hurt him in any way, in which case Kaminari and Momo would have to physically restrain her in order to keep Jirou from beating the absolute shit out of her.
"Think I got it," Toru replied just as the lighting in the room shifted to the exact shade of dark red which Jirou had been looking for. She flashed Toru a genuine smile of appreciation before getting to work on the dramatic moment she had been waiting for for quite some time now. She'd made sure to talk about it with Momo the previous night, albeit making sure not to give the whole plot she'd written up for her brief stint as Dungeon Master away. Momo had been eager for the opportunity to expand upon some of the ideas that the previous session had given her with regards to Rona's backstory, but even so...Jirou couldn't help feeling a little worried about overdoing it with the dramatic narration. She didn't like seeing Momo afraid.
"Kyoka?" Momo asked her gently in order to get her attention. "I believe all that is left is the natural 20 Rona rolled on Investigation earlier. And I must say," she added, pausing as she glanced around the room, "the lighting, while excellent, certainly does not bode well." She chuckled in a way meant to reassure Jirou that she would be fine, and so, with a quick nod and a deep breath on her part, Jirou pressed play on her phone and mentally adjusted her jack's volume as she began to speak.
"Rona, as you look closely at the claw marks on the sign, certain details begin to appear...familiar. It would have quickly become apparent to you that this is not the work of an ordinary beast, but the feeling runs deeper than that. Much deeper. You struggle to place the feeling for a moment, but all of a sudden, the reason for this strange familiarity hits you like a stack of bricks. You know exactly what kind of creature did this because you saw the kind of damage they can do firsthand a long, long time ago. Of course, no sooner do you make this connection than you hear something off in the distance: a guttural, unnatural growling noise that you haven't heard on any other occasion save for a night that will never fade from your memory...and the darkest depths of your nightmares. These unnatural growls grow closer and closer before something large and deadly bursts from the nearby forest on all fours, having no doubt sensed the arrival of new prey. The creature's six eyes all lock onto you, Rona, and for the first time since you were a little girl too small to hold a longsword, you find yourself face to face with the same kind of creature that destroyed your village, the same kind of creature that took away everything you had when you were too young to defend yourself. You find yourself face to face with...a demon."
With these last words, the music Jirou had been playing through her phone reached its crescendo, and the entire table looked up in surprise, having been so enraptured by Jirou's narration that the music had more or less faded to the faintest depths of their awareness. While Jirou slumped in her seat, greedily gulping down the water from the bottle she had placed behind her DM screen, the rest of the party was quick to express their appreciation and apprehension in equal measure.
"Holy crap, that was intense!" Kaminari began, to which Momo and Koda rapidly nodded their heads in agreement, both of them more than a bit worried about the imminent peril their characters would find themselves in in the next few moments.
"I know, right?! Chills! Literal chills! Look!" Toru replied, holding out her hand for Kaminari and Mina to look at despite knowing that her goosebumps still would not be visible to any of her friends, even with the dark red light now emanating from her invisible body. Mina simply chuckled at her best friend's antics before turning to look at Jirou.
"Gotta say, Yo Yo, for a girl who had never even heard of this game until, like, two weeks ago, you're pretty good at this," Mina said, smirking as Jirou looked back at her with a withering glare for attaching her least favorite nickname to an otherwise nice compliment. Looking to retaliate just a bit in an effort to get Mina to drop it already, Jirou decided to reply with a little light teasing of her own, one which she guessed would at least keep Mina quiet for a minute if nothing else.
"Well, I'd like to think your boyfriend led by his example, wouldn't you agree?" Jirou asked, smirking as Mina flushed lilac just as Jirou had hoped she would. However, no sooner was Mina about to respond to Jirou's retort when Jirou decided to get the ball rolling once more.
"Oh, you little bi-"
"ROLL INITIATIVE, EVERYBODY!"
Mina simply grumbled to herself as she grabbed her trusty pink d20 and rolled her initiative along with the rest of the group.
"16," Mina said in an uncharacteristically deadpan tone, still nursing her wounded ego.
"18!" Toru cried out happily, eager to test out her new magic shortsword on a big and scary demon monster that she was willing to bet would be especially vulnerable to it.
"20! Yes! Finally, a good initiative roll!" Kaminari cried out, thankful to finally be guaranteed a chance to significantly participate in a combat encounter, as well as the opportunity to test out the new spell he'd decided to pick up for Rai with his latest level up.
"Uh, 12," Koda called out in his typical soft voice, evidently nervous at the prospect of Whisper being attacked by the terrifying foe that stood before him and Rona.
"Agh, only a 4," Momo said, slightly disappointed and worried in the extreme, seeing as Rona was directly within the demon's line of sight and likely to be their first target.
"And the demon got a 15," Jirou remarked after rolling her own d20 behind the DM screen, prompting her to look towards her boyfriend. "Rai, you get the first move, as you dimly hear the demon growling in the distance and making their way to where you had left Rona and Whisper by the sign outside the village. You, Joy, and Scratch are all about 90 feet away from where your allies and this demon are, specifically 30 feet west and 60 feet north of their current positions." Jirou paused to make sure that Kaminari and the others registered what their current situation was before proceeding with their own turns. "What do you do?" Jirou asked, smiling slightly in response to her boyfriend's obvious enthusiasm as he glanced back and forth between her and his character sheet.
"Alright, so first off, Rai's gonna use his movement to book it out of the alleyway. That should put me within 60 feet of the demon, yeah?" Kaminari paused as Jirou thought the question over for a moment before nodding, allowing him to proceed with the second step of his plan. "Alright, awesome. In that case, Rai is gonna spend two sorcery points and use Quicken Spell to cast Lightning Strike on the demon as a bonus action, since they're about sixty feet away from him. If I'm reading this right, they've gotta make a Dexterity saving throw against my spell save DC or take 3d10 lightning damage straight to the face!"
Jirou chuckled as she rolled a d20 behind the screen, then glanced briefly at the stat block she had printed out after finding it online in her search for all the demon-related 5.5e content she could find. "Yup, they failed the save. Go ahead and roll your damage, babe."
Kaminari grinned as he eagerly borrowed a couple d10s from Toru and Momo. "Alright, you all watch as Rai begins charging up electrical energy around himself before snapping his fingers, prompting a bolt of lightning to suddenly appear above this horrific demon and hit them dead-on!" With this description, he proceeded to roll the three d10s all at once, only to deflate slightly upon looking at the results. "12 lightning damage," he said, somewhat disappointed, before looking hopefully at his girlfriend sitting behind the DM screen. "I don't suppose this thing's vulnerable to lightning damage, by any chance?"
Jirou shook her head, giving her boyfriend a sympathetic smile. "Unfortunately, no. Most demons are resistant to lightning damage, actually; you're lucky this one isn't." As Kaminari sighed dejectedly, Jirou felt a slight twinge of guilt, and rushed to remedy the situation however she could. "Uh, you've still got your action, though! Anything you wanna do with that?"
Kaminari perked up slightly upon being reminded of that fact, and pondered the question over for a minute. "Hm...yeah, okay, Rai's gonna follow that up by casting his Lightning Ball cantrip as an action, aiming directly for this demon's face." After a quick roll of his trusty d20, he glanced down at the result before looking up at his girlfriend with a hopeful expression. "Does a 17 hit?" he asked, to which Jirou nodded, causing him to let out a small fist pump as he tossed a d8 towards the table and hoped for a good result. "Eh, 4 lightning damage; I'll take it at this point. That's just about everything I can do, so that's it for me."
The rest of the group offered Kaminari their encouragement and consolation while Jirou glanced over to Toru, no longer providing the dramatic mood lighting they had taken advantage of earlier, and sought to make sure the invisible girl was ready to go.
"Alright, Scratch, you're up next. Rai just took off in the direction of where those creepy sounds were coming from, and you clearly hear the sound of a lightning strike and the demon crying out in pain after being hit by said lightning strike. What do you do?"
Toru brought her fist and her other hand together, clearly eager for Scratch to lay down some pain upon this demon they were faced with. "Alright, so, using Feline Agility, I'm gonna double my movement speed to 60 feet, then Dash as a bonus action. That should allow me to get right in front of the demon, yeah?"
Jirou thought it over for a couple of seconds before nodding. "Yeah, that should work, although nobody else is in melee range, so you won't get sneak attack."
"I'll take it! Scratch runs up and is gonna attack with her new magic shortsword!" Toru cried out, eagerly tossing her d20 onto the table and watching as the die fell. "11, so that would be 16...does that hit?" Jirou chuckled in response, causing Toru to brighten up slightly.
"It hits; roll your damage, and add an extra 2d6 to it. You'll see why in a bit."
"Ooh, intriguing!" Toru remarked as Mina and Kaminari lended her their d6s, which she rolled with reckless abandon alongside her own and watched gleefully as they came to rest one by one. "Let's see, 3, 6, 5, plus 3 from Scratch's dexterity, so...17 piercing damage! How's that?"
Jirou chuckled again as she laid out precisely what Scratch's new shortsword did to this terrifying demon standing before them. "Scratch, as you cut into the matted furry hide of this demon, the markings which you had been unable to decipher earlier glow with a fierce silver light, a light which seems to singe the demon's skin and cause them immense pain. By sheer luck, you have somehow managed to stumble on an incredibly useful weapon: a magic shortsword that appears to have been specifically crafted for the purpose of slaying demons. How do you respond to this?"
Toru fell silent for a moment before adopting what the rest of the table could only assume was one of her trademark adorable expressions of murderous intent. "'Fucking sweet,' Scratch says, more than ready to stay right in front of this thing just so she can get even more licks in."
Jirou smirked in response to that. "Understood. Joy, you're up next. Both Rai and Scratch ran off to go fight this thing, leaving you alone in the alleyway. What do you do?"
Mina thought for a moment before clapping her hands together, ready to take her turn. "Okay, Joy's gonna use her movement to book it towards where Rai ran off to, stopping once she gets right next to him. Since the demon is within 60 feet of her, she's gonna do a quick two-step and cast Vicious Mockery. The demon's gotta make a Wisdom save."
Jirou nodded, rolling the d20 behind the DM screen before glancing down at the result. "Yup, they fail the Wisdom save. Roll your damage and, if I may ask, what do you say to this demon as you viciously mock them with your bardic magic?" Jirou smirked as Mina sat there puzzled for a moment, trying to think of a good insult to hurl at the demon before eventually settling on something that she hoped would be suitably insulting.
"'Ooh, look at me, I'm a big scary demon whose claws are clearly compensating for something! Well, news flash, buddy; you're not that scary anyway, and we're gonna kick your ass!'" With this remark, Mina rolled her pink d4 and waited for the result before chuckling slightly. "Ah, max damage, nice! Still only 4 psychic damage, but hey, now they've also got disadvantage on the next attack roll they make until the end of their next turn, so that's something!"
Toru and Kaminari both giggled quietly at Joy's insult while Jirou simply sighed; it had been about what she had come to expect from Mina at this point. "Anything else, Joy?" she asked, prompting Mina to think about it for a moment before deciding on how to end her turn.
"Alright, Joy's gonna look over to Scratch and be like, 'Knock 'em dead, pretty kitty!' as she gives her Bardic inspiration. That'll just about do it for me."
Toru put a hand to her mouth as she giggled even further at Joy's antics before coming up with Scratch's response. "I dunno whether a blush would really be visible under all of her fur, but you all can definitely see her ears perk up as she realizes that Joy is actually flirting with her. Her poor little bi heart doesn't know how to deal with being flirted with by her pretty lady friend, so she kinda forgets how to talk for a bit as she stammers out some random nonsense before making a point to look literally anywhere but at Joy's face." As she finished her description, she glanced back at Mina, who was struggling to contain her laughter in response to Scratch panicking over being flirted with. "You may take that however you'd like," Toru finished, giving her best friend a wink.
"Oh, I shall indeed, that was amazing!" Mina replied as she finally let herself laugh a little, while Kaminari watched the whole thing unfold with amusement written all over his face.
"Watch; by the time Midoriya comes back, most of the party is gonna be in one big polycule with Joy at the center of it while Whisper just kinda hangs out in the background as all his friends start dating each other," Kaminari remarked with a chuckle as Mina pondered the idea for a moment before Jirou scoffed with bemused indignation.
"Yeah, as if any character of mine would fall for Joy of all people," she remarked dryly.
"I believe Rona would be rather resistant to the concept as well, unfortunately," Momo remarked somewhat apologetically, while Mina simply tsked as she wagged her finger playfully.
"Y'all are missing out; Joy is an absolute delight," Mina replied as both Toru and Kaminari simultaneously nodded in agreement. "But anywho, demon's up next in the initiative order, right? We should probably get back to that."
"Indeed," Jirou said, having had just about enough of that little tangent. "The demon's pretty pissed off after taking all of that damage, and since Scratch is the one that hit them with the magic shortsword, they're gonna attempt to claw at her twice." Jirou rolled a couple d20s behind the DM screen before wincing at one of the rolls. "Hoo boy. Uh, well, the first one missed Scratch entirely, but the second one was a crit, even at disadvantage. Gimme a second to roll the damage on that."
"Ah, crap, not again," Kaminari remarked nervously, echoing the general sentiment felt by the rest of the table. Nobody wanted to see another beloved character be killed in a single blow.
"Aww, don't worry, Kaminari, I'm at full health! I'm sure everything will be fine-"
"Scratch, you take 24 slashing damage."
"-and I'm down. Welp! It was nice knowing y'all!"
As the rest of the table began to panic, Jirou quickly called out the end of the demon's turn and glanced over to Koda. "Koda, you're up," she said, just loud enough for him to hear amidst the general commotion. The timid boy nodded with determination in his eyes, having already figured out exactly what he was going to do on his turn.
"Don't worry, Toru; I'll save you!" Koda began before he set his plan into motion. "Whisper's gonna use his bonus action to cast Healing Word!" With that, he rolled a d4 and quickly did the math in his head before calling out the result. "Scratch is up with 5 hit points! After that, he's gonna use his action to use, eh, Wild Shape in order to transform himself into a wolf, then he'll, uh, charge at the demon and attempt to provoke them into attacking him instead. That's, uh, that's it." As Koda finished his turn, Toru glanced over to him and decided to be a little bold.
"My hero~!" Toru said, in the most blatantly flirtatious tone she could muster, a move which definitely caught the attention of both Koda and everyone else at the table. Jirou rolled her eyes while Mina struggled to keep herself from bursting into a fit of laughter. For their parts, Kaminari and Momo simply glanced at each other, then between Toru and Koda, and then back to each other, neither of them quite sure what exactly was going on at the moment. To Toru's disappointment, Koda seemed more confused by the gesture than anything else, opting to glance down at his character sheet with a look of mild discomfort on his face. Looking to make sure that things didn't get any more awkward, Jirou and Momo glanced at each other before the former cleared her throat.
"Rona, you're up," she said simply, to which Momo nodded before glancing at her character sheet and quickly formulating a plan of attack.
"Rona is going to close to melee range as well, although the rest of you can tell that she is strangely hesitant to do so for whatever reason. After taking a deep breath in order to calm herself, she is going to take her longsword and move to attack the demon in order to get their attention. Before the weapon actually makes contact, however, Rona stops the blade short and uses her Commander's Strike maneuver, forgoing her own attack and commanding one of her allies to attack instead as a bonus action on her part." With this explanation over and done with, Momo turned to Toru and cleared her throat before getting into character. "'Now's your chance, Scratch! Take this damned thing out, now!' With this command, Scratch can make an attack against the demon using her reaction, and if I am remembering the rules correctly, both Rona and Whisper being within five feet of this demon means that Scratch can apply her Sneak Attack damage to this attack. I believe that will be all for now." With her turn over, Momo gave Toru a thumbs up before leaning back in her seat, while Toru giggled in her familiar maniacal, yet strangely endearing fashion.
"Oh, you better believe Scratch is getting that extra attack in. Prepare for death! By! Sneak Attack!" With this battle cry, Toru rolled her d20 at the table and watched with bated breath as the die tumbled across the table a few times before finally resting on a most fortuitous result.
"Oh good God," Jirou remarked as the rest of the table looked on with widened eyes.
"NATURAL 20!" Toru cried out at the top of her lungs, the rest of the table offering their congratulations while Jirou simply shook her head in amusement. They'd gotten some lucky crits before, but this was just ridiculous.
"Okay, go ahead and roll double the damage die; weapon damage, the 2d6 bonus damage, and the Sneak Attack damage. All of it," Jirou ordered, laughing softly to herself as the rest of the table gladly offered their d6s to Toru's outstretched hands. "I knew y'all would be able to beat them, but I didn't think they'd drop this quickly, holy shit!"
"Let's see..." Toru remarked as she rolled each of the d6s one by one, carefully noting down the results of each roll so that she could reuse several of the dice she had borrowed. "2, 3, 6, 1, 5, 3, 2, 3, 3, 6, plus another 3, for a grand total of...37 damage!" Toru and the others looked up at Jirou expectantly, waiting for her confirmation on whether or not this mighty blow would be enough to take down the terrifying demon before them. With a resigned sigh, Jirou nodded her head.
"Yup, with that last attack, Scratch manages to lop the demon's head clean off of their body and kill them dead with a single slash of her new demon killing sword." The party cheered as Jirou paused for a moment in order to give them time to get it all out of their systems before she continued. "The remains of the demon slowly start being consumed by an eerie blue fire that spontaneously appears, until both the severed head and the rest of the demon's body are completely burned away, leaving nothing behind. With that, the encounter's over, and you all are out of initiative as the village of Fiddlesticks falls quiet once more. You all can't help but notice that even after slaying the terrifying demon that seemed to be the source of the commotion, none of the townsfolk seem willing to exit their homes and thank you for your heroic deeds in person, although you can faintly hear some of them cheering and spot a few waving in your direction."
"Joy waves back and blows the townsfolk some kisses, because why not?" Mina remarked, causing Toru and Kaminari to chuckle as the rest of the party followed her lead.
"Rai's gonna wave at the townsfolk along with Joy; he's just happy he got to contribute in a big fight for once, in all honesty."
"Whisper is gonna stay in, uh, wolf form for now, just in case anything else shows up."
"Scratch is gonna keep looking away from Joy as she goes over to Rona and says, 'Hey, thanks for giving me an opening back there. Really came in clutch, huh?'"
"Rona stays silent for a moment before she eventually replies, 'Indeed. However, I'm afraid the fight is not yet over, not by a long shot.'"
"'What, do you think there are more of them out there?' Scratch asks, getting a bit worried."
"'Most definitely. I find it highly unlikely that a single demon was the source of all this destruction and terror. It is more likely that this demon is merely one of many that have been assailing these poor people for gods-only-know how long.'"
"Rai's gonna turn around and add his two cents. 'That makes sense, but I dunno if we can deal with this whole thing on our own. I mean, if it hadn't been for Scratch finding that random demon-killing sword when she did, just the one would've been a lot harder to deal with.'"
"'That may be, but the fact remains that, unless some other band of adventurers just so happens to come into town in the near future, we are the only thing standing between these innocent villagers and the demons which have been causing them so much grief. Continue onwards if you must, but I cannot stand by and abandon these people to such a grisly fate.'"
After a minute of glancing around at each other, Mina was the one who ultimately spoke up.
"'I'm with Rona; Maton can wait as far as I'm concerned.'"
"'Uh, same,' Scratch says, still trying her best not to look at Joy."
"Whisper just kinda, you know, barks, but you get the sense that he's, uh, on board."
"'...Yeah, I'm not one to cut and run either; I ain't gonna start now. So, what's the plan?'"
Momo paused for a moment, partly for dramatic effect and partly so that she could come up with something suitably badass for Rona to say in response to that question. When she had finally settled on something, she went ahead and cleared her throat as the rest of the table watched her with anticipation clearly visible in their expressions.
"'We stay here and fight...for however long it takes.'"
At long last, it returns!
Honestly, I'm not going to get into why this latest chapter took so long, and I have no idea when I'll find the time to publish the next one, but I do at least hope you all enjoy the latest adventures of the U.A. D&D group, and feel free to let me know what you think in the reviews below. As always, thank you all for reading, have yourselves a fantastic night, stay safe, wear a mask and get vaccinated if you can, and take care.
[Edit 10/13/2021: Forgot to talk about this in the original author's note, but for those who may have been curious, the music I had imagined them playing for dramatic ambience was the Prowler's Theme from Into the Spiderverse. Having used it for a similarly dramatic reveal in one of my own campaigns, I can personally attest to the fact that it is a damn good example of dramatic reveal music. Give it a listen on Youtube if you'd like!]