Today is clear sunny weather, and with the cool breeze making the sun bearable, it was the perfect day to hang around outside, especially for a seaside city that usually gets warm all year round. Yagami City is a bit of a misnomer, it actually refers to the Yagami Bay Area and its collection of cities located by the bay, they are surrounded by mountainous forests up north and split in two halves by the Yagami River flowing southward into the sea; People have gotten used to just referring to the whole area as a city. Anyways, the current from the sea causes the area to have a relatively warm climate, so a cool refreshing afternoon is welcoming to Harima.
Kenji Harima was exploring the northwest district– a sleepy residential neighborhood composed entirely of houses built from the Meiji era. It's near the homeless camp and is relatively peaceful compared to every other district on the map, it is a good place to pick up materials and grind the weak random encounters. It was a hazy morning so there were not that many pedestrians on the street.
When he felt he had seen enough, Harima decided it was time to explore the agricultural district on the east side of the river. So he entered the main street lining the river on one side, and taller commercial and office buildings on the other side, where there's more hustle and bustle even at this time. He walked among the crowd, eventually finding himself on a familiar bridge crossing the Yagami River. 'What a nostalgic sight.'
Harima stood and leaned onto the railing of the bridge, taking a deep breath... and he immediately regretted it. 'Ugh it smells like piss over here.' The view and breeze from the bridge overlooking the river was one of his best memories… 20 years ago.
It was the coolest shit– now it's literally shit.
"Man, the river stinks like hell."
"It sure does, and I doubt it will ever get better."
Harima overheard a couple of bums talking about the river.
"I wish the Kappa would return someday."
"Yeah, anything to make this river clean again."
'What the hell are they talking about, a Kappa?' Harima got curious.
Substory #2: Like a Kappa [Start]
Harima approached the two homeless people having a conversation on the bridge.
"Yo, you're… Harima-san. Right? The guy that threw the Homeless Hunters out with Yoshidayama." One of the bums recognized him, surprising Harima.
"For real? I'm grateful for what you've done, man." The other bum bowed his head. "What's up, can we help you?"
"I just overheard you guys talking about a Kappa, what's that about?" Harima inquired.
"Ah, you're new to this area so I'm not surprised you don't know about the local superstition. Folktales say that Yagami River had a guardian spirit for the longest time, its presence made it pristine and bountiful even after humans settled by this river." The eloquent bum rambled on, he's apparently into this sort of stuff. "And that spirit is supposedly a Kappa."
"I'm not that into youkai, but even I had to believe it when I witnessed it firsthand." The stoic bum crossed his arms and nodded in agreement.
"Wait, people actually saw the youkai?" Harima raised his eyebrows, suspicious that they actually saw anything but a real Kappa.
"Yeah buddy. It happened around twenty years ago, when I was still in high school. It suddenly rained pretty hard that day, and I was on this same bridge trying to run through the storm." The stoic bum leaned over the railing as he talked. "That's when I heard a girl yell about a cat caught in the rapids of the river. A bunch of people and I stopped whatever we're doing and watched the cat helplessly cling on a piece of wood flowing downstream."
'Wait, that story sounds familiar.' Harima scratched his head, trying to remember where he heard or seen this before.
"Then the unbelievable happened! A humanoid creature surfaced from the water and caught the cat! It then brought it to the riverbank where a highschool girl thanked and identified the creature as a Kappa, it had a bald head and shiny black eyes after all. Then it swam back into the water."
'Wait a damn minute, that was totally me!' Harima screams internally.
"Since that day, more people began believing this river is blessed. Look, they even built a statue of what that Kappa looked like."
They pointed to a spot on the bridge where a decorative stone carving was set up. Harima's jaw dropped to the ground upon seeing the half-meter statue of a chibi version of him with black beady eyes, sunken cheeks, and messy hair with a bald spot on top. 'That is not me at all!' He screamed again, refusing to accept the fact that it was indeed him.
"Who the hell made that?!" Harima yelled.
"It looks tacky ain't it?" The other bums laughed lightheartedly. "Nobody knows who made it, it was already here like a week after the sighting."
The confused Harima just stared disdainfully at the statue. Who knew people would witness that one time he saved Iori from the raging river and turn it into a youkai superstition…
Harima just shook his head as their laughter died down. "So you're saying this Kappa is currently living in this shitstream?"
Harima pointed over the river. The homeless men looked over it with a solemn gaze. He took in the awful view of opaque dark water flowing steadily down the stream, going south into the Yagami bay area. He almost thought the water was stagnant with how flat the river surface seemed, and he only realized it was actually moving when he saw some plastic cups and styrofoam pieces floating along the water surface, sliding downstream.
'There's a crap ton of trash stuck along the river banks too, why did people turn this place into a dumping ground?' Harima sighed, 'Back then, I thought it was just a given that this river would stay the way it was as I grew up, constantly crossing its bridges as I went from place to place. I took that view for granted, that's for sure.'
"No, I think it left long ago... Nobody ever saw the Kappa again after that sighting, and soon the river turned dark on its own!" The eloquent bum sighed in frustration. "That's gotta be it, the river no longer has the Kappa's blessing which is why it got dirty over the years."
"I doubt that's the case myself." The stoic bum shook his head. "I'm not into this youkai stuff, but wouldn't you think the Kappa left because humans dumped trash on its home? I mean it had to have a reason to leave the river."
'I hate to break it to either of you but there never was a Kappa, it was just a lovestruck delinquent doing shit to impress his crush… Agghhh I should tell them or this superstition might get out of hand.'
Harima took a deep breath as the two bums continued debating on what they thought happened. "Hey uhh, listen-"
"C'mon, today we're going to clean up this side!" A young kid's voice rang out from the western side of the river. Harima and the others stopped talking to look at a group of kids down on the riverside grass, carrying huge empty bags and wooden sticks.
"Oh, it's the kappa kids again." The eloquent bum smiled.
"What? Kappa kids?" Harima questioned.
"Yeah, for some reason those kids are super passionate about wanting to see the Kappa themselves. They believe that they'll get to see it if they clean the river until it's crystal clear again."
"I don't know where they got the idea from, but as long as it keeps them entertained and helpful I guess. Superstitions or not, it would suck if someone tells them their efforts are wasted because Kappas don't exist." The stoic bum added on.
"Urrrkkk." Harima felt a metaphorical arrow stab his heart. 'Damnit! I can't possibly tell them about this entire misunderstanding now! How am I supposed to clear things up when those kids look so determined!'
"Whoa, what's up Harima-san, you look like you've been stabbed in the heart."
"Eh, I'm fine, this whole Kappa thing just got me thinking about the past."
"Yeah I get you. It was beautiful to look at... Oh we should get going."
"Oh right, see you around, Harima-san. Let us know if you see the Kappa!" The bums bid their goodbyes, leaving Harima to continue leaning on the bridge and gaze at the opaque water.
'I remember it now. It was during the time I ran away from school after finding out Tenma-chan loved Karasuma, my rival. That experience was how I started drawing manga seriously– and I even submitted my first manuscript to Dakonsha Publishing. Although that went nowhere at the time and I kept wandering around for days.' Harima continued staring into the water, the dark canvas reflecting his memories back to him.
'Then I ended up on this exact bridge as I wasted my life away in the rain. Tenma-chan suddenly appeared, looking for Iori… I swore to myself I wouldn't involve myself with her but… my love for her was still too strong. I ended up jumping into the river and saving Iori, she mistook me for a Kappa and I went with it to keep my identity hidden. Who would've thought an impulsive decision from my highschool days would end up being a local legend now…'
Harima eventually left the bridge. "Heh, maybe the Kappa left because the love of his life is no longer here." He smirked.
…
A few days later. Harima continued wandering– this time he was on the east side of the river. The Yagami Bay Area is like an open world for him to explore, afterall. The only problem is the strength of the random thugs and lowlifes that his party randomly encounters. He just has to be wary of their approach and continue collecting briefcases packed with random items without being noticed.
Soon he reached an unassuming spot on the eastern riverside walkway. It was a brick path with sturdy railings to prevent falling into the waters. Tall lamp posts and benches are sparsely placed, overall a good place to hang out if it wasn't for the river's stench. 'Come to think of it, I'm pretty close to my old high school right now and it's already after school around this time.'
Harima looked around to observe the place. 'But this place is empty. Wow, not even broke ass students want to hang out by the river nowadays. '
"Please, stop bothering us!" A girl's shout was heard throughout the area, urging Harima to check out the commotion.
When he got to a secluded area of the walkway, he saw a group of punks harassing a pair of Yagami Highschool girls, no one else was around. He walks up to the commotion, incidentally noticing how familiar the two girls appeared to him; it almost made him think he was sent back in time.
"Hey you punks, can't you see how pushy you're being." Harima called out, immediately attracting the attention of the thugs.
"Huh?! What's it to you, old man? How about you mind your own business."
"Yeah! We're only inviting them out for lunch!" The thugs spoke with a greasy sleazy tone.
"No!" One of the girls, sporting long blonde hair worn with a braided bun, denied the thug's claims. "They- they were harassing us into a corner!" She stood bravely despite an obvious worried face, all to protect her shy friend– who has short black hair and red eyes. That was admirable of her to act, it reminded Harima of a friendly sister.
"Shut up!" One of the punks was about to backhand slap the blonde girl when Harima caught his arm in a menacing grip.
"Not on my watch, kiddo."
"Grrrrr! That's it! We're beating this old fart."
"You guys better scram, or I'll feed you to the river!" Harima yelled as he assumed a brawling stance.
LOWLIVES
"Alright let's do this!" Yoshidayama cheered-
"What the hell?! Where did you come from?!" Harima asked loudly.
"What are you talking about? I was exploring with you the whole time! I figured I should just give you space and go off screen when needed."
"Wha-?"
"But I'll be there if there's a battle, don't worry." Yoshidayama flashed a thumbs up, "Let's get this over with and continue on with the story."
Harima shook his head in disbelief, and then sighed. He doesn't care anymore, wild things have happened around him since childhood, so stuff like this shouldn't faze him anymore.
"It's still weird for you to do that though!" Harima groaned as he and Yoshidayama started beating the frankly puny enemies.
Once Harima threw the last punk into the river, he dusted off his hands and returned to the two students. That same last punk is somehow there, on his knees and grasping his bruised body. Harima doesn't care how he got there anymore.
"D-damnit! Urghh…" The punk murmured in pain.
"What, you guys want another reason to never bother these people again? I'll gladly give you more!" Harima threatened.
"Noooo! We're sorrryyy!" The punks shambled away, not looking forward to getting thrown in the river again.
"Thank you, sir!" The blonde student bowed, her shy friend also peeked out from behind her to bow.
"Um… Thank you very much, sir." The black haired student meekly spoke up. If Harima wasn't used to listening to soft-spoken people, he wouldn't have heard it.
"Don't thank me, it was nothing. I just wanted an excuse to beat people up anyway." Harima looked away. However his act only made the schoolgirls giggle after a short while. "Huh, what're you guys laughing for?"
"You reminded us of a friend we have, he's rude and loudmouthed and gets in trouble a lot." The blonde girl explained.
"Is that so? I mean that fits me, but I don't get how you could be friends with someone like that?" Harima crossed his arms with a huff.
"Because Takao-kun is surprisingly kindhearted. He's the type to go out of his way to give a classmate an umbrella when it rains."
'That's very specific…'
"And he gets into trouble only because he chooses to fight people who are actually making trouble, like you did just now!" Sarah- No, the blonde student, Harima corrected, gleefully clapped her hands.
"So we're not alike at all." Harima concluded, making the teenagers giggle more. "Never mind that, what are you guys even doing in this secluded area?"
"Oh right, we were running an errand for our club. We just came from our tea supplier and were on our way back to the school when those delinquents blocked us off."
"Oh yeah… this path used to be a popular shortcut to the Outdoor Market from the school back when I was a student. Though it seems the students of today don't know about it, I'm surprised you guys do know." Harima put a fist on his palm together as if he solved a puzzle.
"I- I knew about it… from our senpais at the Tea Ceremony Club." Yaku- the raven-haired girl, Harima corrected again, explained bashfully. That club name brought Harima back to good times; when he was a third year, Yakumo and Sarah would often invite him to have tea at the club building. He figured he might as well humor his landlords, and it eventually became his afterschool spot even though he wasn't a club member. Compared to his eventful second year, he got through his third year pretty smoothly and even graduated, and he figured it was all because of his time with the Tea Ceremony Club.
While Harima was staring into the distance, the two students glanced at each other, wondering why he stopped talking. They seemingly communicated just from eyesight alone, a feat that he'd seen in another pair before.
"You look lost in thought, sir." The blonde girl tilted her head in wonder, "Are you reminiscing about something? You did say you were a student of I assume Yagami High back then." She is surprisingly insightful.
"Ah, well, I was."
"Were you… also a Tea Ceremony Club member then?" The raven girl guessed. Her striking red eyes stared curiously.
"No, not exactly. I did visit often though, my cousin was the Teacher Advisor of the club at the time and two of my friends were members who always invited me."
"Woah…"
"And you say you're not alike with our friend at all." The blonde girl teased.
"I want to know more about the members of your time, what were they like?" The raven girl's curiosity seemed to override her shy nature.
"Well, one of them was a bubbly exchange student who had a hard time fitting in with the locals for a while, and the other was a shy honor student that had a hard time making friends. They met each other in their first year and hit it off well, I just became their friend due to circumstances."
"That sounds like an outsider's view of them," The blonde girl blatantly called out. She and her friend glanced at each other and nodded. "Tell us what they were like, as your friends."
"Eh?" Harima thought he described them well enough, but it wasn't enough for these youngsters he guessed. Why is he even humoring them with his thoughts? He was supposed to be the type that didn't talk about personal stuff. 'But I guess I'm already at the age where I can just look back on highschool memories without shame.'
He sighed as he sat down on the nearby bench, figuring out how he could ever put his feelings about those two into words. "Sarah was a bit overbearing and loved to tease me to no end, but she was always there for others and would never give up on them even if the entire world did. Despite being younger, she was more like an older sister to me, always chastising me for things I do wrong and teasing me when she saw me do things right. In hindsight, I learned a lot because of her."
Slowly, he started to unravel. "Yakumo and I met because of her cat, and she'd been helping me with my selfish whims ever since. She was quiet and had a lot of things in her mind but she still took the time to help her friends and family. She's my most trusted person to confide in, I never knew it at the time but if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here now. Those two are very kind, so kind hearted that they even befriended someone like me. I have a ton of gratitude and admiration towards them, and I feel indebted to them so much that I could never figure out how to repay them even now. Hell, I had nowhere to live for a while and those two came up with a goofy plan to get me under a roof."
He then told the two students the story of how Sarah cooked up the plan for him to live with them, he would've refused otherwise and became a homeless wanderer if that plan never succeeded.
The students had a fun time listening as he recounted his absurd story. "That's very sweet of them. I can see why you hold them in high regard." The raven-haired student commented while her blond friend clapped and nodded.
"Oops, you guys got me talking way too much." Harima realized they'd been here for a long time. "I probably held you up for too long, my bad."
"No no, it's alright. We were the ones who wanted to know about previous Yagami High students." The blonde student waved her hand in apology, "Oh, we should probably introduce ourselves. I'm Regina Tipton, an English exchange student."
"Ah, my name is Shiori Kojima." Shiori gracefully bowed her head. She no longer seemed shy, she just had a hard time expressing herself to new or threatening people.
"Alright then, I'm Kenji Harima, you guys can just call me Harima."
"Incidentally, Shiori has also been the class representative every single year since middle school. Did we perhaps remind you of your highschool?"
"What?!"
"I noticed you did a double take when you saw us earlier. That was you being nostalgic, wasn't it? Harima-san." Regina smirked, teasing the poor old man.
"Shut up, I never should've told you anything." Harima grumbled. "You're just like Sarah. I feel like I'm back in 2001."
"It is a huge coincidence how similar your friend trio was to our friend trio now." Shiori was amused at such a fateful encounter.
"I guess so?"
"So how are they now? A lot of things can happen from then to now, right?" Regina asked, still curious.
"Huh?"
"Which of them did you marry?" Regina didn't beat around the bush.
"Huh?!"
"Regina! That is too-" Even Shiori was aghast at such a direct question from her friend, they then communicated something through eye contact.
Harima has no idea what they're thinking about but he should answer honestly. Just in case.
"Uh… I haven't actually talked to them in the last twenty years. I know they're living comfortably and that is good enough news for me."
"Oh. You weren't in love with one of them, or maybe even both of them during highschool?" Regina was a bit disappointed, so she probed a bit.
"No, they're more like family to me. If you really must know, I was in love with Tenma-chan, Yakumo's sister."
"...Oh…" Now even Shiori was disappointed.
"Now this is awkward for me, you guys. My love life went nowhere anyway." Harima sulked.
"Ahhh! We're sorry!" They both uttered at once. "I apologize for digging up your painful memories."
"No worries, you're fine. Besides, you two should get going, your clubmates might get worried by now."
"Ah, you're right. Thank you again for helping us out."
"We wanted to repay you somewhat but we don't have anything but tea."
"It's alright." Harima then remembered something about the tea club. "Actually, I do have a favor to ask. You still have an entire building for your club right? Southwest of the campus?"
"Yes, it's been renovated over the years but it's still the same building from your time."
"Then, I don't know if stuff from 2001 is still stored on the second floor, but if they are… could I borrow one of the costumes?"
The two students tilted their heads; it was a strange request. Harima simply smirked and told them about the Kappa legend.
…
"Let's go guys! Let's reclaim the river from the Trash King!" a grade schooler yelled, beckoning his friends to the eastern edge of Yagami River. The kids all wore clear raincoats and held trash-picking sticks and buckets. They are armed and ready to fight for the Kappa, seeking to free the Youkai's territory from the clutches of mankind's garbage.
"Charge!" The children cried valiantly. Earnestly doing something that usual kids wouldn't ever want to do. Why are they so eager to clean and pick up wet and smelly trash? Ordinary kids would just stay in their homes and play video games these days.
For one of these grade schoolers, Yuta-kun, his family was simply poor to afford games and toys. His mother was bedridden and his father is suffering from dementia. One day, when he was peeling apples for his mother, he listened to his mother ramble, trying to make her husband remember their highschool memories.
"...Do you remember? How the river used to be so crystal clear? We would always be at the bridge, hanging out and talking for hours before we were even together… Joking about the Kappa protecting the city and such fun nonsense…" She coughed, "Perhaps it has forsaken us. It was us, the city, that trashed the river afterall."
Curiously, Yuta-kun looked at his father and seemingly saw a glimmer of recognition in his eyes, even for just a bit. Yuta-kun never saw the river be so clean like his mother described, he always thought it was dirty from the beginning of time. So in his young mind, Yuta-kun saw a connection between his ailing parents and the river, believing that it was slowly making the neighborhood sick. He began dreaming that cleaning the river would merit the return of the Kappa and make everything better.
Splash!
"Huh, I just saw something splash around!" One of the kids pointed at the middle of the flowing stream.
All the curious children focused their eyes on it. Something was definitely swimming among the floating trash, no doubt about it!
Who would ever want to do that though? They wondered. They looked closely in awe. They saw its green limbs calmly weave through the water. A frog-like head occasionally surfacing, revealing a dish-shaped lily pad attached like hair and beady black dots that seem like its eyes. It swam with both grace and elegance even amidst the black river.
"I think that's the Kappa! It looks just like what I saw in the picture book!" One of the kids loudly exclaimed!"
"Really?! It's really the Kappa?!"
"They have returned! We did it!"
The swimming Kappa stopped moving for just a second, flashing a thumbs up to the onlooking children. Far enough to recognize it's a Kappa without looking carefully. It then dived and continued swimming downstream.
Excitedly, the children began following the Kappa's direction, running along the riverbank sidewalk. They cheered and hollered for the creature. One of the kids got so into it that he climbed the metal railing, "Will we ever see the crystal blue river again?!" He asked the Kappa from afar.
Suddenly his foot slipped, his body flipped over the fence and he plummeted into the river.
"Aaahh! Yuta-kun fell!" One of the girls cried, they stopped cheering and began looking over the spot where Yuta hit the river.
The Kappa heard the cry and did a double take when it looked at the concerned children. It then turned with a purpose, furiously swimming through the sewer-like waters to reach the fallen child.
In just five seconds the Kappa arrived and immediately grabbed Yuta who was frantically waving his limbs in an attempt to reach the surface and breath.
"The Kappa saved Yuta-kun!"
"Thank you!"
The Kappa then deposited the child onto a concrete platform that's closest to water level. Taking care to hide most of its body underwater, only the lilypad hat was visible.
Yuta-kun hacked up a bunch, dirty water and trash clinging onto his face and clothes. He was grateful that he was alive, but he hated the taste and smell of the water. The kappa stayed until it was sure that Yuta stopped coughing and heaving for air. The other kids couldn't get down to the platform because of a locked gate, so some of them went to look for an adult while some remained and verbally supported Yuta in their own childish way.
After a while, Yuta stopped coughing and sat up, and he instantly saw the Kappa's lilypad hat and its shiny bead eyes peeking out of the water. He smiled a bit, and reached to pat the big lily pad with his grimy hand. "Thank you for saving me. Kappa-kun!"
The kappa's big head wobbled from the head pat, Yuta giggled, "You look and feel more like a stuffed toy come to life. You look more grown up than what the statue looks, your bald spot is even gone!" After a bit, it looked towards the locked gate, and abruptly turned around and dived. Leaving a huge splash in front of Yuta.
A responsible adult working as security opened the gate and climbed down to reach Yuta, not noticing the ripples in the water.
…
Yuta was saved and immediately brought to the hospital for a health check-up. The river was dirty enough to be a toxic hazard after all, some of his close friends went with him, while the other children stayed behind at the riverside.
"The kappa really was real, and it saved Yuta-kun too!" They looked over the river, searching to see if it was still around.
They hollered loudly, "Kappa, are you still here?" beckoned the kids.
"Why the hell are you kids so noisy?!" some teenage punks walked up behind them. "Kappa this, Kappa that! Why don't you shut the kappa-p!"
"Because we wanted to see the Kappa again!"
"Get real! Unlike that kappa, who is totally not real." The punks sneered. "It's just a dirty river, there's no folktale creature to save it, you know."
"Whaaa- you take that back! The Kappa is real and it will make the river all healthy and better again!" One of the more rambunctious kids talked back, "you- you loser!"
"What was that?! You little shit should be at home playing games!" The punk moved to hit the kid.
Splash!
A surge of water suddenly rose from the river, a green figure jumping out from unrealistic heights onto the center of the commotion. It moved to stop the backhand slap that was about to hit the kid.
"Wha- what the hell is that now!" The punk yelled in shock.
"Woah, it's the kappa!" The children were first excited, but they noticed its grimy body and realized how awful its stench was.
The kappa silently put its fists up and assumed a combat stance.
"Oh you wanna fight?! Hey, let's put this discarded frog plush back into the river!" The punks cracked their knuckles. Oh hey, they were the same punks that were harassing schoolgirls before!
LOWLIVES
Yoshidayama gets the first turn because of his speed advantage, he peppered the side punks with continuous sword thrust, easily defeating each of them in just two to three hits.
Then the Kappa grabbed the main punk and led him towards the river. Unleashing a classic throw into the river maneuver. "Gaaahhh not again!"
The battle quickly ended and the Kappa turned towards the children, frightening them even more with the now soggy and frankly abhorrent costume in front of them.
"Uhh, were you guys hurt?" The creepy Kappa spoke like a thug in his forties.
"Run away!"
"That's not the kappa, I don't believe it!"
"It's just an old man in a suit!"
"Waaaaahhhh!"
…
Harima in the soggy kappa onesie sat on the riverside bench, the kappa head placed beside him as he stared at the opposite side of the river. He was beating himself up since he couldn't keep the children's fantasy alive and might've even traumatized them to the idea of a guardian Kappa protecting the river.
"Shiiiit. I messed up."
"Umm, Harima-san." Harima looked up to see Regina and Shiori holding out an unlabeled bottle of greenish drink. "Here you go, it's matcha milk tea, we brewed it in the club." Shiori offered.
"Oh, uhh, thank you." Harima clumsily took the battle and fiddled with it a bit. "Sorry, I wrecked this costume. It ripped in the water and it smells awful, doesn't it?"
"Don't worry about it, Harima-san. It was collecting dust on the costume rack anyway. We never knew what to do about it. But as long as it helped children like you did, then I believe you made good use of it." Regina smiled.
"...But I failed. The kids ran away once they saw me up close." Harima hung his head low once again.
"I think they'll understand…" Shiori spoke up. "We saw that you protected them from those delinquents, and even saved one of them from the river."
"Yeah. I mean, I thought the plan was a bit reckless and dangerous for you. But all things considered, it went really well!" Regina added in support.
"Did it really? I was just supposed to swim from afar. I didn't expect one of them to fall or the punks showing up."
"And you handled them well regardless… I thought you looked cool despite the costume." Shiori replied, "The children will look back and remember that someone went to great lengths to pretend to be a Kappa and make them happy."
Harima looked up at the smiling girls and he felt life coming back to him, maybe the kids would even grow up and laugh fondly at the memory of an old man trying to swim with a costume that heavy just to impress a bunch of youngsters. "Heh, that would be a nice thought."
The rejuvenated man stood up suddenly, the two girls were taken aback one step. "Whoops, yeah, I'll need to wash up and trash this costume properly. Thanks and I owe you guys for this." He was about to leave.
"Wait," Regina handed him a card.
Tea Club Passcode acquired
"Huh, what's this?"
"It's the passcode for the Tea Ceremony Club building's door, you're free to come whenever you want during after school hours."
"What? You're giving to me just like that? Plus it's a card? Not a key?"
"Yeah, you're a regular from before anyways. And yeah, the building's been modernized recently."
"Please come over for some tea, we'd love it if you could also bring your friends from before too." Shiori asked.
Was taken aback at the request, and then looked to the side, avoiding eye contact. "Well that could be difficult…"
"I'm sure you guys will be on speaking terms again. After all, if we got separated from our friend Takao for twenty years, we'd surely want to find a way to befriend him again, just a thought."
Harima let out a short wheeze.
"What?" Regina pouted.
"No, no. Maybe you're right, I just don't know if I have the courage to appear in front of them again. But maybe I could try." Harima smiled wholeheartedly, it felt weird for him but it was also nice.
"That's the spirit! See you later, Harima-san!" Regina and Shiori bid farewell then they walked away.
Harima opened the bottle of matcha milk tea and drank. "It's not what I'm used to but it's great." He gulped down the entire drink. "I guess it's just like a change of attitude. A new outlook makes all the difference to the same old things."
Substory #2: Like A Kappa [End]
Kenji Harima Appearance (Kappa Costume) is now available in Premium Adventure mode.
Due to Kenji's actions, new sujimon "Kappa Man" and "Kappa Crusader" will now spawn around the river area.
You can now use the Storage and Save Phone at the Tea Ceremony Clubhouse.
After Harima dumped the onesie and washed up at a public bathhouse (Good use of his meager yen, he'd say). He returned back to the homeless camp at nightfall. Upon entering, he heard some guys talk about the river commotion.
"Did you hear, the kids thought they found a kappa, then it turned out to be some old weirdo in a costume! Hahahahaa!"
"Guess there wasn't much to the superstition after all, maybe the kappa they saw from twenty years ago was a costume too!"
Harima whistled, in a few days the rumor mill should sort itself out and people will no longer think there is actually a Kappa in the river and his embarrassing past should sink from public consciousness undetected.
"Yo, Harima!" The camp's Grand Elder, Ishihara-san, called out to Harima by the barrel fire. Harima approached the whimsical old man.
"Crazy news today, huh?" Ishihara laughed.
"I hear. It's the usual misunderstanding turning into something big. It'll calm down." Harima warmed up by the fire.
"Perhaps so. Where've you been the whole day?"
"Oh you know, finding gold in the dumps, fixing junked appliances."
"That so? Guess you didn't see the kappa figure for yourself."
"Yeah… I didn't."
"Well the kappa may not be real, but it was never about the kappa anyway." Ishihara suddenly talked like his age, a very somber elder that knows infinite wisdom.
"Huh?" Harima was surprised.
"What people really wished for, was for the river to be better. The Kappa was just a symbol of that dream."
"..."
"The fact that someone took the effort to don a kappa costume and try to represent the hope of the people actually gives me hope. It's people like you who are gonna make the river sparkle bright again, not some Kappa from folktales."
Ishihara patted Harima on his shoulders and went into his tent. Guess he was found out by the grand elder of all people.
Make the river sparkle bright again… Harima doubts he could actually do that by himself.
Author's Corner:
Hello! Been a while yet again. I've been sitting on this one for awhile since I felt embarrassed writing it. But I figured it's fanfiction, I can be cringe all I want as long as it's from the bottom of my heart so here you go. May it bring even a little smile on your face.
Yesterday was 20th anniversary of School Rumble anime's first episode wasn't it? Man I've been a fan since 2008 and I feel like a teenager again writing these stuff. Harima is still like my childhood idol just like Kiryu was my teenage idol.
The "teammates disappear until there's a battle" joke was something my friends and I kept as an inside joke with Like A Dragon's substories. But Yoshidayama and other members will appear in future substories. Just wanted to make the joke once.
Gotta thank RGG's random grunt name generator for helping me alot with names, whenever I need a new NPC name I just boot up Infinite Wealth, fight some random encounters, and the last thug I defeat gets to be a named NPC in my story.
Hopefully I finish Act 1 (equivalent of a full Yakuza chapter) before the year ends. Keep on keeping on, everyone!