As The Fox
By: Aviantei
[Twelve Shots of Summer: Eleventh Hour 8/12]
[Parameters: "Last Command" & "Final Countdown"]
Game Eight
"Alright," Nepuro says as the flash of bright light fades and the Pact falls into place between them, "that makes us Partners. I'm Hasekitsu Nepuro. Nice to meet you." Satisfied that the first part of his work is done, Nepuro glances at his palm, finding just under three-quarters of an hour left. That's plenty of time to make it to 104 and get some grinding in along the way. The real fun of fighting, he's found, is having an enjoyable Partner to synch up with, and that tends to take most newcomers at least a day of combat to get their footing. "Let's make this a fun Game, alright?"
His Partner—long, lanky, and androgynous looking with a bunch of Lapin Angelique in their wardrobe—nods. "I'm Kinomin Kukoru. Kuguri is here, too. It's nice to meet you." Nepuro quirks an eyebrow at the two-part introduction. In most cases, a bit of quirkiness wouldn't be any of his business, but he kinda needs to know his Partner's deal if he wants to success. Once, he met a barista who knew way too much about the Game to be a normal dude, but he was insistent that Trust your Partner is the most important thing in the UG. Kinomin shrinks in a way that seems at great odds with their height. "There are…two of us."
"Two of you?" Nepuro asks back, trying to figure out what they mean. Being in the Game over and over, he's seen plenty of shit, but it's nice to know that there's still new things to discover in the world. "Mind telling me more about what that means?"
"It means there's two of us," Kinomin says, scowling. Nepuro doesn't miss the switch from boku to watashi, though that just brings up more questions than answers. "Look, have you ever watched a crappy horror film before? You know, that thing they call multiple personality disorder? Not what it's actually called, but whatever."
Nepuro's heard some of those things before; he just hasn't thought much about what they're like in reality. It's never seemed relevant, but he guess it is now. "Alright," he says, and Kinomin looks at him with a faint hint of surprise. "I'm not sure how this all works. Mind if I just call you Kinomin-kun to make life easier? That'll be helpful when we're fighting Noise."
Kinomin stares a bit longer. "You seem a lot less bothered than I expected you to be."
Nepuro shrugs. "I'm just here to play the Game. Everything else is just kind of extra to me. I mean, you agreed to play, so you want to come back to life, right?"
"Figured we'd at least try."
"If you wanna play to win, we can get along just fine, then. If you have anything else you think I need to know, you can tell me on the way to 104." No matter who's in charge, that opening act never changes, though it's something Nepuro's willing to put up with for the sake of the rest of the week.
After a moment, Kinomin follows.
From a practical standpoint, there is very little different about having a Partner with two minds instead of one—or, at least, not on the Player side. Sure, when it comes to combat, there is some adjustment in combat style (Kukoru uses wind psyches, Kuguri long-range projectiles—and thus have different rhythms to best draw out their Synch). If anything, Nepuro thinks the arrangement makes their Pact even more powerful. After all, they have three sources of Imagination instead of three.
And it's that sort of advantage that has the Game feeling even easier to crack open than usual, which Nepuro's certain might be pushing the ends of his terms of participation. Of course, that sort of thing is admin's job to handle, but it would suck if someone's dissatisfaction got in the way of his good time and Kinomin's shot at life.
Day Seven is upon them, and a decent number of other Players have survived. Nepuro and Kinomin take a quick pitstop at 104 to exchange some pins in for upgrades (Nepuro's collection gives him some decent trading power), and then they're headed for the Shibuya River as always. As they head through the West Exit Bus Terminal, Nepuro can't help but frown.
"This is weird," he says, and Kinomin looks at him, an eyebrow quirked. "In pretty much every other Game I've played, there's always been some sort of sub boss floating around this place." Another look reveals no Reaper of the sort, nor any of their other gaggle of Players.
"Wow. Something else isn't trying to kill us. What a bummer," says Kinomin with a roll of their eyes. They elbow Nepuro the next second, though, making it clear it's a joke. "I know you're here to enjoy yourself, but it won't be the worst thing if someone else takes on a fight for us. We can join up for the big final push against the Game Master. Won't that be way more badass?"
"I will admit, you do have a point there." There are worse endings than having a dramatic arrival to the final fight. And, hey, if Nepuro can make sure at least a couple more people who want to come back to life avoid Erasure long enough to have that shot? He's not gonna complain. "We'll just go on ahead, then, and that will make sure—"
The sensation of pain catches up with him halfway through his words, though it takes longer than that to recognize what's happening. While fighting the Noise can be rough, the pain is nowhere near as intense as some of the other injuries Nepuro's experienced. The pain he's feeling right then and there, though, is worse than the great deal of scrapes and bruises that were once his norm, worse than the familiar snap of broken bone.
It's Kinomin that reacts first. "Hasekitsu-san!"
Whatever's pressing into his back is yanked out, and Nepuro stumbles, leaning on Kinomin for support as he turns around. Floating a few inches off the ground is a Reaper, dressed in the short-sleeved black hoodie of a Harrier and a yellow bandana around her forehead. A lock of bright blue hair falls into her face, while the rest of the undyed brown locks are tucked back in a ponytail. Around her neck, a pink trinket on the end of a necklace catches the light.
"I know you," Nepuro says, trying not to pay too much attention to the pain in his voice. He's not successful, and even less so at ignoring the pain in his back. "We fought you two Games back, right? In the Mission for the keypins." The one DnD had set up for them to get through the walls keeping everyone apart the following day.
"I'm honored," the Reaper says, her tone making it clear that she's anything but. Well, Nepuro's not exactly pleased to see her again, either, not whenever she's still showing off the knife she just drove into his back. "But I'm afraid it's Game Over for you after this. No more second or fourth or fifth chances for you, got it?"
"But Reapers aren't supposed to attack Players directly!" Kinomin says, as if reciting the rule book is going to do anything about the about the static Nepuro's hemorrhaging. "If you wanted to attack us so bad, you should've sent Noise to do it."
The Reaper scoffs, somehow managing to look even more displeased than she already did. "Like Noise would be enough to deal with your Partner over there. He's made it through so many Games that this isn't anywhere close to enough of a challenge. No, if he's going down, then it's going to be through an attack like this."
Nepuro chuckles, which no one else seems to appreciate, but that's their problem, not his. "Oh, I get it. Someone upstairs finally got sick of me, but my deal with the Composer means I'm allowed to play so long as I follow the rules. But if I get Erased…"
"You're not wrong. You're also just half right." Hm, Nepuro was kinda bullshitting, but it seems like someone in the Reapers does have it out for him. If it were the Composer, he would've just done it himself. Kitaniji's never shown any hint of disagreeing, so it's gotta be someone else. It feels like a new record, pissing off someone he's barely interacted with—though the Harrier with a knife does seem like a much more pressing concern. "Konishi-sama sending me to get rid of you was just a convenient excuse.
"You're one of the ones who Erased Daikoku-sama!"
Funny how two little sentences can give so much to unpack, and yet there's no time to unpack it. The Reaper charges again, using her wings to give her a burst of speed that Nepuro's in no state to react to. Kinomin is the one who moves, putting themself in the Reaper's line of fire, taking the knife, and the Reaper clicks her tongue.
"Coulda just gone out easy with the Timer, but nooo," she says, and Nepuro catches onto Kinomin's shoulders, as if that's going to change anything. It's possible to fight Reapers in the Noise Plane, but the Harrier's being careful not to drag them there, where their Pact will have much more power. Nepuro doesn't mind getting targeted, but it sucks Kinomin is gonna go down with him. "Well, you've got guts, at least. I'll do my best to make it quick for you."
And there's there more pain before there's the silence of what must be Erasure.
In the place where static has faded away, two balls of blue blossom to life.
"When the fox dies, fowls do not mourn."
—Proverb
[Author's Notes]
Well, to line up with Muse, this had to happen eventually. What goes around comes around, yeah?
More thanks to EeveeGen9988 for getting some more reviews in for this fic! I love the support, and I'm curious to see how this one lands for you!
Oh boy, oh boy is there a lot to say about this one. Kinomin is an idea I've had floating around since I conceived Nepuro's concept: a Player with Dissociative Identity Disorder. While I didn't go too deep into the logistics on this one, I feel there's a lot that would go into calculating Entry Fees and the like. Kinomin Kukoru and Kuguri also get not actual names to match the same pun structure I used when naming Nepuro. Whatever could it mean?
This week we also have our Muse cameo who doesn't get named - Copycat Ryuko! Part of me worries that I've gone ahead and made a contradiction for some Muse events, but I'm just rolling with it. As DnD's buddy, Ryuko holds a grudge against those that defeated him, so she'd be easy to convince to target him. Breaking the rules and making a direct attack against a Player is also what puts her on suspension, which she's taken off of during the Muse game.
Make your bets on what Game Nine's gonna look like!
As I've fallen behind with reading one shots, I don't have a concrete recommendation this week, but EeveeGen9988 has dropped some more one shots, so check out what she's got!
Next week's prompts will be "Last Light" and "Final Boss," which will go up on Saturday the 3rd. Please look forward to it!
-Avi
[21 July 2024]