Chapter 1: When She Completed the Formula
"Okay, let's try this one more time." Mihari said as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.
It was a beautiful day in the city of Onimai. Summer was right around the corner, and this meant bright clear skies with just the right balance of heat. While most people would be spending their days hanging out with friends and enjoying everything that the bustling city had to offer, the situation was different for Mihari Oyama. Even though she was only seventeen years old, and young enough to still be in her second year of high school, she instead spent her days in a university research lab working nonstop on a secret project whose completion meant everything to her and her plans. It was long and grueling work, and something that she had been developing fruitlessly for more than a year now. With all of free time occupied, she never had any time to do anything else. Her best friend Kaede Hozuki still came over occasionally to ask for help with her homework, but Mihari rarely saw her anymore because of her workload.
Even though it was very challenging, Mihari refused to give up. She had given up everything else in her life to make it this far, so failure at this point was not an option. She had learned so much since she first began her project, and every misstep in her eyes was rather another step towards the path that would lead to her ultimate success in the end. She was in the final stages now. Only one last aspect of the formula needed to be perfected for it to be completed at long last. The biggest problem was just how much testing was required to ensure that this component was perfected. Several fine variables needed to be manually tested one at a time in order to make sure that the intended results would occur as hypothesized. Because of how much time was required to do this, Mihari had almost lived in the lab for the past week, not returning to her home for any reason whatsoever.
Although this might seem like a bit of a problem to the objective onlooker, it wasn't that big of a deal for someone like Mihari. It wasn't as if there was anything or anyone waiting for her at home that depended on her presence, at least for the time being. She had no pets to feed, and her mother Matsuri currently lived overseas. There was her older brother Mahiro at home, but she knew very well that she didn't need to be concerned about him at this stage. He was the real reason why she was doing all of this after all, and she knew from his habits that he was fully capable of surviving on his own for a little while without her. After all, he had gone the last two years without leaving the house, only leaving his room to eat and use the bathroom. There was more than enough food in the house to last him a few weeks at least. Even if he ran out, it wasn't as if he would actually bother to leave the house to search for more. Ever since he stopped leaving the house, Mahiro had shut out everyone and everything, including Mihari. The two still lived in the same house, but Mahiro treated Mihari almost like a complete stranger instead of a sister. Any time that he wasn't in his room, he would just pretend as if he was the only person in the house. Mihari would try to engage him in small talk, but he would say nothing and just retreat back to the safety of his room.
Even though this silent rejection from Mahiro was painful for Mihari to endure, what was more painful was her seeing him in this state. The two rarely made eye contact anymore, but on the few occasional moments that they did, Mihari always noticed something that made her tear up inside. Although Mahiro projected the facade of a stoic loner who was trying to avoid everyone and everything, Mihari could tell that he was deeply hurting inside. In his eyes was an underlying sadness that he wasn't able to outwardly express, and this made Mihari sad as well.
She had always loved Mahiro more than anything else in the world. Since Matsuri was always out of the house working so often, he was the one who was always there to comfort her when she was scared, give her love and affection for no other reason than just because, and to encourage her to do her best during the rare times that she doubted herself. All of this had been extremely helpful to Mihari as she grew up, and she had expected this close relationship with Mahiro to last forever. Sadly though, it wasn't meant to be.
During the time that Mihari was in middle school, Mahiro's demeanor towards her began to change for the worse. For reasons she couldn't possibly fathom, he stopped making time for her, instead spending it increasingly alone in his room with the door closed. Desperate to get his attention back, she pushed herself to excel even harder in the hopes that he might take notice. Unfortunately, this only seemed to have the exact opposite effect that Mihari had expected, as Mahiro continued to ignore her and eventually began the process of locking himself away physically and emotionally once he graduated from high school. She had made one final attempt to get his attention when she started high school. She was excited about her new uniform and wanted him to see her in it, only for him to not even bother to make a sound when she knocked on his door and asked him to tell her what he thought of it.
None of that was important anymore though. The only reason that Mihari had started the project in the first place was for Mahiro's sake. Once she perfected the formula, it would make things right again. Mahiro would have a chance to live a completely new life, and the two would once again have that close bond that had been lost so long ago. All of it happening though was dependent on Mihari finishing the formula, so she knew that she had to press though. The odds might not be in her favor, but she would never give up on this. Nothing else mattered more to her than Mahiro, and she would do anything and everything she could in order to help him.
Mihari quickly wrote into a box on a piece of paper on her desk before picking up a voice recorder and speaking into it.
"Test of combination 25-5-17 has proven unsuccessful. In this particular instance, the compound appeared to stabilize for roughly five seconds before dissolving into a gooey, black sludge. Although, the result took more time to dissolve compared to the same values of Compound-C at different parameters of Compound-A and Compound-B. Result would suggest that the current amount of Compound-C value is to blame for the problem. Need to proceed to combination 25-5-18 as soon as I can."
Mihari set the voice recorder down and proceeded to take the failed experiment to the disposal area. After doing so, she walked back to her station and proceeded to turn several knobs on the mixing machine so it could dispense the new combination of compounds.
"Okay then. 25, 5, and 18." she thought. "Let's hope that this batch is more successful."
As soon as the machine was set, Mihari took a fresh beaker from a nearby cart and placed it inside. She then proceeded to lock the hatch and pressed a large red button on the machine.
"Well, here goes nothing." she said.
The mixer machine began to whir. After a few seconds, a series of tubes inside began to dispense the combination of compounds into the beaker. As this happened, a small whisk-like device lowered itself into the beaker and began to stir the contents inside. After a few seconds, the dispensation of the compounds ceased and the stirring device retreated back into the ceiling of the machine. Mihari smiled as the mixture started to bubble.
"Ooh, could this be it? Is this the combination that I've been searching for all this time?" she thought.
The mixture bubbled for a few more seconds before it turned a bright purple color. It remained this way for a few seconds before it started bubbling even more rapidly than before, turning a bright red color as it did so.
"Oh no." Mihari thought.
A bright red warning light on the machine began to flash. A few seconds later, the beaker and its contents exploded, covering the entire inside walls with bright-red fluid which quickly turned black. Mihari immediately sighed and pressed a blue button on the machine. A series of sprinklers soon began to clean the inside of the machine and wash away the combination of chemicals and glass into a garbage disposal unit beneath the machine. Mihari grabbed the voice recorder and began to speak into it again.
"Test of combination 25-5-18 has proven unsuccessful. This time, the compound exploded on me. I have no idea what to make of it. I need to move onto combination 25-5-19 right away."
Mihari repeated her procedure of disposing of the chemicals before grabbing a new beaker and placing it in the machine. After locking the hatch, she set the dials to their new combination and reached out to press the button. Just before she reached it though, she hesitated. After holding her hand out for a few seconds, she slumped her head down and sighed. She was so far out of it, that she didn't hear the door to the lab opening and closing.
"Oh, what's the point?" she thought. "I've been at this for days, and every single combination ends with a pile of sludge, a chemical explosion, or something much worse. I haven't slept in over a week, and this constant failure is driving me up a wall. Urgh, if this keeps up much longer I think that I'm gonna lose my mind."
All of a sudden, Mihari felt a set of arms give her a tight bear hug from behind.
"Boo!" a female voice playful cried out.
Mihari soon cried out in shock and turned around. Her expression softened when she saw that the person who was doing this was her advisor Chitose, who was laughing in delight. Seeing this caused Mihari to feel a bit angry.
"Senpai, I thought I told you not to do that anymore." she yelled.
"I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist." Chitose laughed. "You looked so stressed out, so I thought that I'd lighten the mood just a bit."
Mihari sighed for a bit before chuckling.
"Well, it did get my mind off things, so thanks." she said.
The two proceeded to laugh at this for a few seconds.
"So anyway, how are things going?" Chitose asked. "Making any progress?"
"Not really." Mihari sighed. "No matter what I seem to try, every single attempt to perfect the combination ends in failure. I'm starting to think that it's never going to work."
"Want me to take another look at your formulas?" Chitose asked.
"Please." Mihari replied.
Chitose walked over to Mihari's desk and picked up her research notes. She proceeded to flip through to the page containing the chemical formula for Mihari's compounds. She looked it over for a few seconds before responding.
"Well, I can confirm to you without a doubt once again that everything adds up on paper." she said. "That means that there is a way to get it to work, you just haven't found the right combination yet."
"I still don't know why I can't find it." Mihari groaned. "I've been giving it all I've got for the last fifteen months, and this is the only thing which isn't clicking for me. I don't know how much longer I can last."
As Mihari went off on her little rant, Chitose proceeded to flip through the pages that Mihari had filled out for her recent experimentation with the mixture. As she did, a few things began to catch her eye.
"Ooh, very fascinating." she thought.
Chitose walked up to Mihari and placed her hand on her shoulder.
"Maybe you should give your latest combination a try." she said.
Mihari looked up at Chitose in confusion.
"What?" she asked.
"I think that it's gonna work this time, for real." Chitose chuckled.
Mihari's head sank once again.
"But what if it doesn't?" she asked. "What are the odds that this one is any different from the hundreds of other failures I've had to endure?"
Chitose suddenly placed her hand on Mihari's chin and used it to tilt her head until their eyes were locked.
"Mihari-chan. Trust me, it will work." Chitose said with a smile. "Have I ever led you wrong before?"
Mihari felt herself blushing just a bit. Chitose's warm smile gave a sense of reassurance that she had been missing for quite some time. She soon found herself smiling as well, and stood back up.
"Where would I be without you Senpai?" she asked.
"That…is not a question that either of us should be asking." Chitose chuckled. "What matters is you do have me, and I will be here to help with this for as long as it takes."
Mihari didn't say anything in response. She simply continued to smile as the two made their way back over to the mixer.
"Is everything properly calibrated?" Chitose asked.
"Yeah. I finished doing that right before you came in." Mihari answered. "I'm still a bit nervous about pushing the button though."
"Well then, why don't we do it together?" Chitose asked. "After all, it's only because of both of us that you were able to make it as far as you did. Only seems right that we both push the experimental mixing button for what is sure to be the final time."
"Well okay, if that's what makes you happy." Mihari shrugged.
Mihari raised her hand over the button, while Chitose placed her hand directly behind Mihari's. The two looked at the button with anticipation.
"Okay, on three." Mihari said. "On…"
"Three…" Chitose interrupted as she slammed hers and Mihari's hand on the button. As she chuckled and pulled her hand back, Mihari looked back and forth between her and the mixer with a shocked expression on her face.
"Hey, what was that for?" Mihari asked.
"Sorry, couldn't resist." Chitose laughed. "The suspense was killing me."
"You're impossible. You know that?" Mihari said.
"I know." Chitose laughed.
Mihari just sighed at this before looking at the mixer. Just like last time, the machine whirred as the compounds were deposited in the beaker before being mixed together. As soon as the stirring device retracted, Mihari and Chitose looked at the mixture to see what would happen. They noticed the bubbles slowly disappearing as the liquid turned a bright purple color, and this caused them to gulp.
"Please work. Please work." Mihari thought.
All of a sudden, the mixture let out a single large bubble which rose above the beaker for a second before popping. The gas let out of the bubble, also the same color, formed what looked like a slightly distorted female sex symbol before dissolving. The mixture remained still afterwards while Mihari's mouth dropped open.
"Oh my." she said.
"What? Was that supposed to happen?" Chitose asked.
"I can't believe it. That was it. I actually did it." Mihari whispered out.
"Wait, did you just say you did it?" Chitose asked.
"Yeah. That was the right combination. I did it." Mihari answered.
Chitose's eyes widened with delight.
"You did it?" she asked.
"I did it." Mihari answered.
Mihari jumped for joy, followed quickly by Chitose.
"You actually did it." Chitose cheered out.
"I actually did it." Mihari cheered out as well.
The two danced around for a few seconds before Mihari hugged Chitose tight.
"Senpai, you were right. The right combination was out there." Mihari said. "Thank you so much."
Chitose began to rub Mihari's hair.
"Hey, you were the one who did all the hard work." Chitose said. "All I did was give you that last push across the finish line."
"Well, now I know what the trick is." Mihari said. "The combination is 25…5…19…"
As Mihari finished that last sentence, she let out a massive yawn before collapsing on the ground while still holding onto Chitose.
"Whoa Mihari-chan, are you okay?" Chitose asked.
Looking at Mihari, Chitose saw a sight that made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. Mihari was fast asleep, with a bright smile on her face.
"Aww, I guess that all the excitement from finally finishing the drug caused someone's lack of sleep to finally catch up with them." Chitose cooed.
Chitose then picked up Mihari in her arms and began to carry her towards the lab exit.
"Let's go big girl." Chitose said. "I think that you of all people have earned some well deserved rest. You can use my office."
Chitose slowly pushed her way out of the lab and into her office. She rested the sleeping Mihari down onto the couch nice and gently before placing a knit blanket over her.
"You rest up, Mihari-chan. We can celebrate your success once you wake up." Chitose said.
Chitose turned off the light in her office before opening the door. As she stepped back into the hallway, she turned around to look at Mihari and smile once again.
"Sweet dreams." she said before closing the door.
The room soon went fully dark as Mihari continued to slumber without a care in the world.
The first thing that Mihari was aware of was that she was in a very dark place. Although her eyes were still closed, there was absolutely no light coming onto her eyes whatsoever to indicate the time of day. Nonetheless, Mihari felt very well rested and knew that it was time for her to get up. Thanks to her many hours in the lab, she was very used to irregular sleep schedules at this point, so she was able to get up and fall asleep no matter what time of day it was. Knowing this, she quickly sat up and stretched her arms above her head while letting out a large yawn.
"Wow, that was a nice nap." she said. "But I guess it's time to get back to the lab."
Mihari then looked around through the dark, trying to get a sense of her surroundings.
"Of course, first I need to find out where I am." she said. "Now where's the light switch?"
Mihari felt around the wall for a few seconds until she found a switch and flicked it on. Light illuminated the small room, and Mihari smiled as she immediately recognized it.
"Oh, so I'm in Senpai's office." she chuckled. "She must've brought me in here to get some rest."
Mihari proceeded to start stretching again.
"Well thank you very much, Senpai." she said. "That wonderful rest led to an equally wonderful dream. It was amazing seeing what might happen when I finally get the right combination. I'd better get back to work, otherwise I'll never be able to figure it out."
Mihari folded the blanket and placed it back on the couch. She then exited the office and closed the door. After a quick trip to the bathroom, she breathed a sigh of relief and walked up to the lab entrance. She inhaled and exhaled as she placed her hand on the door.
"Just one more day. Hold on for just one more day." she thought.
Mihari opened the door to the lab and stepped inside.
"Senpai, I'm awake." she called out.
All of a sudden, a storm of confetti rained down on Mihari.
"SURPRISE!" several female voices called out.
Confused by what was going on, Mihari glanced around the room. She saw not only Chitose, but also her labmates Arika and Tsubasa smiling at her. There was also a large banner hanging from the ceiling that read 'CONGRATULATIONS'.
"Look who's finally up. Sleep well, Mihari-chan?" Chitose asked.
Mihari was way too puzzled by this to answer.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"Senpai told us everything, and we just had to celebrate." Arika answered.
"Yeah nice job there, Mihari-chan." Tsubasa added.
"Wait a minute. Celebrate what?" Mihari asked.
The three immediately giggled at this.
"Look at you being all modest." Chitose laughed.
"We're celebrating you finishing the drug after all this time." Tsubasa answered.
Mihari's mouth dropped open.
"Wait, what?" she asked.
"Oh, it's just so wonderful." Arika beamed. "You've been working on that so long now, and now it's finally complete. Isn't it such an amazing feeling?"
Mihari blinked her eyes in confusion.
"Hold on, I haven't finished the drug yet." she answered.
"Of course you did. Senpai told us you did. She was there after all." Tsubasa said.
"No, I only had an amazing dream where I finally found the right combination." Mihari replied. "I went through hundreds of failed experiments in it right before Senpai helped me with the last one which actually worked."
"Yeah, that's what happened right before you collapsed from exhaustion." Chitose explained.
Mihari nearly fell over backwards after hearing this.
"So you mean…I really finished the drug?" she asked.
"Yep, and I was careful to write down the exact combination for future uses." Chitose answered. "Once I put you down to rest, I called up Arika-chan and Tsubasa-chan and told them everything. We knew that you'd be out for a while, so we prepared this entire party to be held the second that you woke up."
"Well, thanks for that I guess." Mihari shrugged. "You didn't really have to do that though."
"Well the fun's not over yet." Arika said.
Arika proceeded to quickly pull off a towel that was covering something on her desk.
"As soon as Senpai told me, I was so excited that I picked a cake for all of us to celebrate with." she said. "Everyone pitched in so we could get you a really nice one."
Mihari walked over to the cake and smiled, as the cake more than lived up to its reputation of being a 'really nice one'. It was a small multilayer vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting, fresh strawberries, and the phrase 'Congratulations Mihari-chan!' written in red icing on the top. Mihari felt very touched inside, as this was a very nice gesture on behalf of her labmates.
"Seriously, thank you all so much." she said. "You really know how to make someone's day."
"It's the least we can do, Mihari-chan." Tsubasa said. "The first time that someone's pet project is successfully finished is always a good reason to celebrate."
"Yeah. Senpai did something similar for us when we completed projects of our own." Arika said.
"For real?" Mihario asked.
Chitose walked up to Arika and Tsubasa and put her arms around both of them.
"What can I say? I will always do my best to take care of those who I work with." she said. "Now come on, let's eat some cake."
The four girls shared a brief laugh at this before Chitose grabbed a knife and cut the cake into several slices. Mihari got the first piece, and at her request Chitose cut the remaining cake into four additional slices. When asked, she said that this was because she wanted to bring a piece home to Mahiro as a way of cheering him up once she put the next phase of her project into action. Soon after, everyone started eating their slices, and they all exchanged words as to how good the cake was. Before long, they all had full bellies and were packing up to go home for the day.
"Well okay, we're heading out." Arika beamed.
"See you tomorrow, Senpai." Tsubasa added.
"Okay, have a nice evening." Chitose said while waving goodbye.
Arika and Tsubasa bowed slightly before exiting the lab. Mihari soon got her stuff together before walking up to Chitose.
"Okay Senpai, I should head out too." Mihari said. "I need to get home before Onii-chan realizes that no one's making food for him anymore."
"Well, that sounds like a plan. Good luck, Mihari-chan. I look forward to seeing how your experiment progresses."
"Speaking of which, I still need one thing from you, Senpai." Mihari said.
"And what would that be?" Chitose asked.
"I need the vial of the age-reversal compound you developed for me." Mihari answered. "It's the key to making the entire project work."
"Oh yes, of course, how silly of me." Chitose chuckled. "Hold on a second, I just need to get it out of the fridge."
Chitose walked over to the refrigerator and took out a sealed test tube from the top shelf. She soon walked back towards where Mihari was standing and handed it to her.
"Well, here it is." she said. "Just be careful to to misuse it. You would not believe how hard it was to convince the scientist that had the key component in their possession to let me borrow it. Luckily I've made it my own thing enough that we can easily replicate it without needing the original source, but if they find out what it was used for we could get into some serious trouble. You can't even imagine what happened the last time that the original source escaped containment."
"Well that honestly doesn't matter." Mihari said. "I have no sinister ideas in mind to use it for. Besides, you made sure that it'll only work on male DNA, so that limits its potential for misuse. Don't you worry, I'll be sure to use it wisely."
"Speaking of which, there's something I've been meaning to ask you." Chitose said. "Can you tell me what age you intend to make your brother using the drug?"
"Huh?" Mihari asked.
"Well, it's something interesting to think about." Chitose answered. "I won't be able to directly observe Mahiro-kun, but if I know the starting point it'll be easier for me to imagine what your overall game plan is."
Mihari didn't say anything in response.
"Mihari-chan, is something wrong?" Chitose asked.
"Well, to be honest…I haven't really decided on that." Mihari answered.
Chitose gave Mihari a puzzled look.
"You haven't?" Chitose asked.
"Well, all I asked was that you develop the drug." Mihari answered. "I assumed that I would simply de-age him with it and then plan ahead from there. I mean, it's not like he'll be going back to school right away or anything. Those kinds of things take time, and he'll need to get used to his new body. It just isn't something that I thought I would need to think about."
"Well in that case, give me that back then." Chitose said as she swiped the vial from Mihari's hand.
"Hey." Mihari said.
"Look, you know that I'm normally a very easy-going person, but this is one situation where I feel that I have to put my foot down." Chitose said with a very serious demeanor. "This elixir is not some magic formula that will miraculously do whatever you're expecting it to do. Like all chemicals, it is a substance that can do good or bad depending on how much is used."
Chitose held up the vial.
"With the amount of liquid contained in this vial, you'll turn your brother into a baby if you decide to mix all of it into the drug." Chitose explained.
"Really?" Mihari asked.
"That's right." Chitose nodded. "I don't know if that's what you had planned, but the formula's instability gives the science the possibility of a slight margin of error. The results could end up being off by a few years in either direction, even if you manage to measure out the exact right amount. Imagine if you did want him to start life over as a baby girl, but you ended up making him a year or two older, or even younger. The latter would cause him to be erased from existence. That's why I need to know the general age range that you're shooting for, because then I can measure it out for you and plan ahead. Even if it doesn't turn out perfect, we can still take all the necessary safety measures to ensure that we get as close as possible. Plus, the de-aging effect won't activate again until the user eventually returns to normal. That means that if something goes wrong, we won't have another chance to fix it until it wears off several months afterwards. Does all of that make sense to you? Huh?"
Mihari didn't say anything in response. She was still processing everything that Chitose had told her. These simple facts about the de-aging formula were throwing a wrench into the plans that she had so carefully thought of in her head for months. Even so, all of it made perfect sense. Even though she had a reputation for always being prepared in the long term, Mihari had a tendency to overlook little things that could ultimately lead to her downfall later. Treating Mahiro's de-aging like a roulette wheel at a casino would introduce too much randomness in the equation. Mahiro could be de-aged too far or not enough, and that would throw the entire project off the rails. If she was going to go through with this, knowing Mahiro's intended age would be important. She knew exactly what she needed to do.
"Well, does it make sense or not?" Chitose asked.
Mihari closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Yes Senpai, it makes sense, all of it." she answered. "It really baffles me that I could've missed something so important."
Chitose put her hand on Mihari's shoulder and smiled.
"That's why you're still a student." Chitose said. "Because you still have a lot to learn from your senpai."
The two chuckled at this for a few seconds.
"Anyway, you think it over for a while." Chitose said. "Once you're sure of what you want to do, just give me a call and I'll bring you the proper dosage of the formula to make it happen."
"Okay, I will." Mihari said.
"Good." Chitose said. "Now why don't you get home then. You'd better put away that piece of cake before it goes stale. Wouldn't want your brother to miss out on it once his new life begins."
"Yeah, I guess so." Mihari chuckled.
Mihari couldn't stop thinking about what Chitose had said to her. On the way home, while making dinner, taking a bath, and then doing homework afterwards, none of it mattered. In the end, the thought of what age to make Mahiro continued to flow through her head. She had tried to take her mind off of it by doing some light reading, but she ended up seeing every character as a possible version of what Mahiro might become and stopped. She quickly placed her hands on her head in frustration.
"Urgh, why is this so hard?" she said. "I should be able to figure this out, but nothing is coming to me."
Mihari leaned back on her bed and stared up at the ceiling.
"There are so many possibilities with so many different things that could ultimately go right or wrong." she continued. "I'm someone who prefers to improvise once the experiment is initiated. Having to narrow it down to just one beforehand is so frustrating."
Mihari sat back up and got off the bed.
"And on top of that, I'm a bit thirsty." she thought. "Maybe I'll figure something out once I get something to drink."
Mihari stepped in the hallway and closed her bedroom door behind her. All of a sudden, she heard a cry coming from Mahiro's room.
"Onii-chan?" she asked.
Mihari slowly walked down the hallway until she was standing directly outside of Mahiro's room. She slowly reached out her hand to knock on the door. Just before she did though, she heard another cry coming from the room, but she noticed that it wasn't a cry of pain as she expected. Confused, Mihari put her ear directly on the door and heard a faint sound coming from inside. From her perspective, it almost sounded as if Mahiro was rubbing two rubber objects together repeatedly. When it finally clicked as to what it really was, she immediately backed away from the door in disgust.
"Eww." she said. "Well one thing is certain: he can't remain the age he is now. Unfortunately, that doesn't help me very much because it wasn't even an option to begin with."
Mihari quickly went downstairs to pour herself a glass of water. As she gulped it down and tried to clear away the memories of what she just heard happening, she let out a large sigh.
"I can't do it. There's no way that I'm going to be able to narrow it down all by myself." she said. "If I'm going to figure this out, I'll need to call a professional."
Mihari got out her phone and scrolled through her contacts. When she found the one that she was looking for, she hit the 'call' button and put the phone to her ear. After a few rings, she heard a female voice greet her on the other end.
"Hello. Kaede?" Mihari said. "Listen, do you think that you might be able to help me out with something tomorrow…?"
End of Chapter 1
8/29/2024
Special thanks to my Patrons: Homura VanRoyen, sudowiki
Hi Everyone. This is an idea that I've had in my head for quite some time. Because I've been having so much trouble writing Chapter 24 of The Oyama Project, I decided to write this short story as a bit of a palate cleanser. It certainly worked, as I wrote more pages of this story in one day than I have for that respective chapter over the last twelve days.
Writing this was extremely freeing. Maybe it was because I was too eager to get to an upcoming chapter in The Oyama Project which involves Mihari's research lab, but I really enjoyed writing this. These characters and their settings are so fun to write for, and I'm glad that I can make a self-contained story for a change. This means that the next chapter of the Oyama Project will be delayed for a bit, but trust me when I say that it's for the best. I never release content unless I feel that it's ready, and I want the chapter to be perfect before anyone reads it. Hopefully after that, it will be much easier to write as I pivot back to female Mahiro's perspective.
I'd like to say that unlike my unfinished fic 'Yuta, Minato, and the Mystery Shots', this story will be finished right away. I have the entire concept in my head, and the words have been flying out of my fingers at the speed of light. There will be three chapters, two of which are already written, and I intend to release them within a few days of each other. That way, the whole fic will be completed within a week. I hope that you look forward to what comes next as there are some major surprises in store.
Please be sure to like and comment on this chapter as any feedback you give me is extremely helpful to me as an aspiring writer.
If you enjoy what you've seen so far and you're interested in seeing more, consider supporting me on my (instructions on how to reach it can be found on my profile). Your support will give me the resources to write more often, and anyone who contributes will be have their name appear in a 'special thanks' section of all future stories that I write.
I'd like to thank you all for your encouraging likes, follows, and comments, and stay tuned for Chapter 2, coming soon.
