Ya'll got consistent updates for a while, then I stop for a month. My schedule really is all over the place. Anyway, not that it matters. You're getting an update before it crosses the one month mark because otherwise I'll be annoyed with myself. Luckily, I'm taking a break from my other stories to work on this to complete the first book by at least March, and at the latest, April.
Also, I saw someone commenting on FF saying that Jolyne was a bumbling idiot, and, like, my guy, you would be too if you were thrust in her situation as well with no knowledge of anything from your past life, while also being thrust into a culture you are not used to/have no memories of. This isn't a power fantasy where the MC knows everything. Ya should've clued in by now.
Anyway, you know the drill, response to comments will be at the end of the chapter. Let's get rolling.
[Opening Song: Gambling – By: Syudou]
"Love is a fickle mistress. I've always loathed her. She always took away my loved ones from me. I think it was out of spite. Or maybe, she loved watching me lose my collective shit whenever I lost someone I cared about." – Diary Entry 0115, lines 5 through 7, page 101.
[-Chapter 16: An Urgent Situation-]
"Damn it…" Makaria cursed under her breath, scowling as she stared at one of the many screens that lined the walls of her hidden away base. She watched it all unfold before her eyes. How Jackson was ambushed by the followers of Frenzy, how Jamol stepped in and helped before being pulled back from whence he came, to how Junko captured Jackson and took him somewhere far away.
Frustration and anger festered beneath Makaria's very being after re-watching the events unfold. She couldn't help but feel useless—and how could she not? Being stuck at such a low point in power… it was frustrating. Constant thoughts of "What If" flowed back and forth as she tried to reason with herself about the various things that she should have or could have done.
At any point, she could've intervened—should've intervened. But for what? To die? Because, realistically, that was what would've happened. Mukuro and Junko were roughly the same in power, though Junko had a burgeoning secondary form that she could burst into at any point—especially if she was like the other Lords of Frenzied Flame that she had witnessed in her lifetime.
Mukuro, she could handle on her own. It would be difficult, but if she went in and dodged all of her attacks, and forced her into a position to where she couldn't dodge attacks from her Embrosia Mythic Tier Weapon, that being a lance, she could probably kill her. It would be hard, and it would be a very long battle, but she could do it.
But, if Junko jumped in at any point, she would die. Hands down. Those two are a tag-team nightmare. While Junko didn't strike Makaria as the combative type, to have the powers of an Outer God, albeit slightly dumbed down, resting within you it would more than likely make that individual incredibly powerful.
The only reason Makaria survived those encounters with the other Lords of Frenzied Flame was because she had strong, powerful allies and a practical army at her side. She had managed to take a battalion of soldiers from the Japanese Army who were dissatisfied with the war to take down the Emperor, who had become one such Lord.
She remembered the battle being one of the most casualty heavy battles, though it was never recorded in any history book. Their battle devastated Kyoto, and while Makaria had won, she had nearly died during the battle. She didn't have those kinds of warriors to help her. She didn't have an abundance of allies like before.
Scowling, Makaria stood, arms crossed as she closed her eyes. What was there to do now? What could she do? She couldn't just storm into Junko's compound—wherever that may be. Her only powerful ally in Jackson was taken, and even if Sayaka's latent potential was immense due to her status as a Half-Elf, she wasn't going to thrust her into something like this.
"There has to be something…" Makaria mused, humming to herself, frustration boiling in her blood. It was at times like these that she really hated being such a low level, and having very few spell slots. Her Magic Level was somewhere around the couple hundreds, and she had a large swath of spells that she could use, but not enough slots to use them.
Not counting her two trait and perk slots, she only had two spell slots at her disposal, which were currently being taken up by her transport spell and a spirit summoning spell. Shadow Travel and Spirit Summon.
Spirit Summon had been the strongest spell that she had at the moment that she could feasibly use. Usurper was stronger, but that required her to have over 10,000 Mana to cast, and she was still lacking in Arcane Wisdom and Blasphemy to use it. So, she was stuck with using Spirit Summon. Not that it was bad; she could summon any spirit that she wanted, excluding Boss Enemies that she killed. That required Boss Monster to summon, and, once again, she was lacking the Mana and the Arcane Wisdom and Blasphemy.
Then, of course, there was Shadow Travel, which while useful and stealthy, wasn't all that great during the day. That, and while she knew every corner of every inch of this world due to her prolonged stay, that didn't mean that she was just going to jump in to rescue someone by herself. Not to mention that only she could access Shadow Travel, so even if she did have allies, they'd have to go the long way.
"Damn it, Jackson," Makaria thought as her frustration grew to its peak. Jackson had always been the kind of person who acted first and thought about it later. It was why she typically have to remind him to calm himself before he went on missions, because otherwise he'd screw up somehow.
In hindsight, she should've been the one to track down Junko, and not him. Because at least she could trust herself to get out of a sticky situation. She had out maneuvered Mukuro before, she could do it again. Jackson was about as stealthy as a rhino in a china shop, so Mukuro was able to abuse that to her advantage.
She needed allies, and she knew where to get them. It would be quite the gamble, and while they hadn't met in any official capacity, this would be as good a time as ever. She swiped at the air, bringing up her mini-map as she inputted the names of the people she was looking for.
As soon as she inputted the names, she smirked. They were both in Aoyama. A smile took up Makaria's expression as she tapped the "track" option that was given to her. They were both an hour away. If she remembered correctly, Sayaka had dance practice in Aoyama in two hours. It would be both a convenient excuse to bond with her daughter some more, and also meet up with two potential allies.
[XXXX]
"Today's the last day until school comes back," Jolyne thought, frowning as she leaned against the counter in her kitchenette, arms crossed as she stared at the cupboards trying to think of something to eat. Not that she needed to eat, but she wanted to. That, and it was lunch time for Kotoko. She figured it would be a good idea to feed her before she went out on that date she had scheduled with Hajime.
Two days after Hajime had come over, and after their little… entanglement on the living room loveseat, he suggested that they set up a date. That day was today, and she was more than a little nervous. She knew that she didn't need to be nervous. It wasn't like the date was to officiate any sort of relationship—they had just had sex not too long ago and she'd like to think that made things at least a little official.
But, truth be told, she had no real dating experience. According to "her" memories, when they got together it was initially a "friends with benefits" type thing, but slowly changed into an actual relationship. Hajime was trying to bring up his self esteem and the only way "she" could think of helping him with that was, well, getting him off. One thing led to another, and "she" wound up realizing that "she" liked him in a romantic sense, and vice versa.
There was also the fact that she wasn't comfortable with leaving Kotoko alone. She already hated being alone due to school coming back, and for Jolyne to be going to school again, but there was also the fact that Kotoko had said that she had seen someone watching the apartment from Jolyne's bedroom window at night.
That didn't bode well. The last thing that she needed was for some stalker to come around and do something. Or, a more worrying thought, maybe The Kuzuryu Clan had found out that she had been the one who killed Natsumi.
And if that was the case, a part of her thought about cancelling the date. To mention her concerns to Hajime. She knew he'd understand, but at the same time, she wanted to do something fun. Especially before school goes back into session. She still had to keep the guise up that she was, at least to some degree, a regular person living a typical life.
Though, she was fairly certain that was all but impossible now due to what happened at Hope's Peak. It was getting to the point that, now that the news were starting to run stories about what happened on a much more frequent basis due to the confusion and concern it caused with more details "coming to light" as it were, up to and including a video of her fighting the mutated Kokichi outside the front of the Reserve Course Building, people were starting to recognize her.
In other words, she was starting to get famous. She had a few people come up to her and thank her for her role in protecting the students. They asked to take photos with her, asked her to sign autographs, and there was even one person who took a selfie with her. It was both equal parts interesting, and also unnerving.
That added onto her want to cancel the date. She didn't want to be recognized in public. Luckily, most of the footage that was captured was deleted, so none of them saw the brutality she committed on the DICE members or that red-haired girl, of whom she had forgotten the name of.
"Uh, Big Sis?" Kotoko called out, snapping Jolyne out of her thoughts as she glanced over her shoulder. She was staring at the TV screen, playing some sort of Spiderman game on the PlayStation. The Amazing Spider Man, if Jolyne remembered correctly. She saw it at the store and picked it up for Kotoko, seeing as she didn't want to play Dark Souls. Something about it not being "adorbs" or whatever.
"Yes, Kotoko?"
"Lunch?"
"Crap," Jolyne thought, chuckling to herself as she rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Yeah, hehe, oops! Um, whaddya want?"
"Ramen," Kotoko said, groaning as the words "Game Over" appeared on the TV screen. "Stupid game…" Jolyne couldn't help but snicker under her breath as she grabbed the pot and a packet of instant ramen. It didn't take very long to make Kotoko her lunch, and once she served it to her, Kotoko took it, muttered a thanks, and then went back to the couch to eat.
As for Jolyne, she made herself a ham and cheese sandwich. She went back to leaning against the counter, her back facing the TV as she ate, drawing back into her thoughts. "What to do…" Jolyne thought, taking another bite out of her sandwich. That was when she got an idea, a small smirk taking up her visage.
She turned to look over at Kotoko, who threw the controller to the floor in a fit of anger. Jolyne frowned, huffing. "Oi! Now throwing the controllers, that cost me 8,000 yen!" Jolyne snapped as Kotoko froze, her shoulders raising and her face turning pale. Ah. She didn't like getting yelled at. That probably brought out some uncomfortable memories.
"I'm sorry…" Kotoko murmured as Jolyne walked and sat next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. The tension in Kotoko's shoulders slowly relieved, and after a few seconds, she picked up the controller and put it back on the table.
"It's alright, just don't throw things. You're not a toddler," Jolyne said before ruffling her hair. For the first time, Kotoko laughed instead of pouted at her messing up the girls hair. Either she was getting used to it, or she was starting to warm up more to Jolyne. Either of those were good things.
"Idea, Jolyne, remember?" Jolyne thought to herself before crossing her arms and leaning into the couch. Kotoko looked at her with a raised eyebrow, as Jolyne spoke. "Alright, kiddo. I've got a date with Hajime today, and I've gotta be out of the house at 4:30."
"B-But—"
"I know you don't want to be alone, that's why I'm hiring a babysitter for the evening," Jolyne said as Kotoko frowned.
"A babysitter?" Kotoko grumbled, disdain in her voice. "I hate babysitters."
"Well, you're going to have to get used to it, okay? 'Cause I've got school over the week, and you need to lay low until I deal with that shitty mom of yours, okay?" Jolyne retorted as Kotoko sniffled. It was a barely kept secret that Kotoko had trust issues. It took almost two weeks for her to get used to Jolyne and let her into her world. So for her to spring on her another person probably felt like a violation of that trust.
Unfortunately, the world didn't stop for one's sensibilities. Whether or not Kotoko liked it or not, it needed to be done. As much as she wanted to stay behind and make sure Kotoko was safe and wouldn't get hurt by whoever was staking out her apartment, she wasn't going to let general paranoia get the better of her.
"I'll make sure it isn't a guy. I know you don't trust them, and you have every reason not too, but—"
"It wasn't just guys…" Kotoko muttered, rubbing her arm uncomfortably, her expression visibly shriveling at the memories. "It didn't matter who it was. If they paid her, they got to be gentle with me…"
Jolyne's nose shrivelled in disgust. That was something that she really didn't need to know. But.. it helped paint a better picture for the shit that Kotoko was forced to go through. "More of a reason for me to bleed the cunt dry…" Jolyne thought, a small, barely noticeable snarl escaping her lips, something that Kotoko nodded and glanced away from.
Jolyne noticed, clearing her throat as she sighed. "Right… Sorry about that. Listen, Kotoko, I—"
"No, I get it… Um… You're really a vampire, right?" Kotoko asked as Jolyne raised an eyebrow. Right, she did overhear that, hadn't she? It wasn't as if that wasn't the case. She was technically a vampire. Maybe not a full-blown one, but she was. Looking over at her thirst meter, it was starting to get low. She was going to need to partake again. She just didn't know how she was going to do it.
"Yeah, I am. Which reminds me, I'm gonna need to drink some blood soon before I go mental," Jolyne noted, rubbing at her neck uncomfortably. "Been there, did that, wasn't great."
"W-Well… Um… You could always, um… I don't know…" Kotoko babbled incoherently, eyes darting from Jolyne to her wrist, her hands squeezing into fists, making the vein on her wrist visible. Jolyne got the message, and recoiled at the thought.
"Kid, I'm not gonna—"
"I just want to repay you for your kindness…" Kotoko whispered, her voice shaky. Jolyne was about to say something, only for Kotoko to continue. "I've been nothing but a leech… You let me sleep in your bed, you feed me, you brush my hair, you take care of me, you take me to the bath house to get clean in the private sector and it costs you a lot of money… I feel like I'm just a burden. So, I want to help you. And… The only way I can help you is—"
"That's enough," Jolyne interrupted, snapping Kotoko out of her spiel as she looked over at her, blinking. There were tears in her eyes, and it made Jolyne wince. She more than likely really did feel those things, and it made sense. Her whole life, as far as Jolyne was aware, she was a commodity for sick freaks. That had to do something awful to someone's mental health.
Jolyne stood in front of Kotoko, before getting down onto one knee and placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Kotoko, you don't have to repay me for anything. I don't want you to repay me for anything. The only way I can see you repaying me for anything is to live your best life. Whatever that life might be, I'll help you with it as much as I possibly can. That's what your mother should've been doing, instead of doing what she was doing. The only thing you need to do, is focus on being a kid. Got it?"
"But—"
"No buts, Kotoko. You're not a leech. You're a child, and children don't have any responsibilities. They don't need them. I don't count because I willingly took you in. If you see me as your big sister, then I see you as my little sister. They say family isn't bound by blood, and I'd like to think that's true. We've only known each other for a few weeks, but that's enough for me. Like I said, you don't owe me anything. So don't go thinking you do. Okay?"
With that, the damn broke, and Kotoko began to cry, latching onto Jolyne. This had been the second time she had done that, but frankly Jolyne didn't mind. Jolyne stood up, allowing Kotoko to properly cling onto to her without having to hurt herself to do so.
To think, Mono had been trying to tell her that Kotoko didn't matter. That their relationship didn't matter. Clearly, it mattered. How Mono couldn't see that was beyond her. Kotoko was her little sister, damnit. She had mostly just said that to make Kotoko happy but now that she was thinking about it, it kind of made sense.
Jolyne was too young to be a mother, or a mother figure. So the next best thing was being a sibling. If that was what Kotoko needed in her life, then so be it. She'd be Kotoko's big sister.
After a few minutes of letting Kotoko cry, it came to an end as she pulled away from Jolyne, wiping the corners of her eyes and sniffling. "T-Thank you… I mean it… Thank you…."
"You're welcome, Kotoko. Now, I'm going to make a couple calls and see if I can't get a babysitter to watch over you while I'm gone," Jolyne said as Kotoko nodded.
"You won't be gone for long, right?"
"Two hours at the latest."
"You promise?" Kotoko asked as Jolyne smiled, sticking out her pinky finger. Kotoko wrapped her pinky finger around Jolyne's, as Jolyne once again ruffled her hair.
"Pinky promise."
"Okay," Kotoko said, smiling as Jolyne let go and turned around. Pulling on "her" memories, she walked over to the kitchen, opened one of the drawers, and found what she was looking for. It was a yellow pages book. These things were ancient, from what "she" remembered. But they helped a ton.
She pulled out her phone, flipped over to the babysitting section, and began dialing numbers.
[XXXX]
What was there to say about Komaru Naegi? Well, for starters, if her brother, Makoto was boring, then she was boring premium. For starters, she liked precisely one singer, and that was Sayaka Maizono—of whom she was convinced Makoto was dating seeing as she came over way too often for that not to be a thing.
Second of all, in terms of books that she read, she only read Shojo Manga. Exclusively. To the point where if she was asked what her favourite genre was, it would be teenage romance and nothing more. Even TV shows, she only watched adaptations of her favourite Manga. Oh, and Magical Girl shows. Couldn't forget those!
She had "no taste" according to her brother, which was appalling since he only read Shonen Manga. Though, she guessed it was a case of "to-each-their-own" but still, it was hypocritical coming from him.
As for extracurricular activities, she had none. Well, except for the babysitting service she offered, but no one even bothered because, well, she was a kid. Even if she had gone out of her way to get a medical certificate and was really damn good at it. Not talented mind you, but pretty good for an average gal such as herself.
That, and, as far as she was concerned, she was cheap compared to most babysitters. She only asked for 1,900 yen an hour, with a maximum of five hours a night due to having to go to school. Most other babysitters asked for 3,000 an hour, and they still somehow got picked over her! Like, seriously, what was up with that?!
Regardless, it didn't matter. She knew it wouldn't have gone anywhere, but she still had to try. Even if it was disheartening that no one would test their luck on her. Hell, if she could take care of Makoto when he was sick, she was pretty sure that she could take care of a younger child, right? It couldn't be that hard, could it?
Speaking of school, though, Komaru had just gotten home from the all girls school in Tokyo, of which's uniform consisted of a dark brown blazer with a white button-up shirt underneath accompanied with a red ribbon and matching brown skirt and below-the-knee black stockings and matching black runners.
Currently, she was wearing a pink shirt with the main character of Madoka Magica on the front, Madoka. Alongside that, she wore a blue mini-skirt with blue shorts underneath it that cut off just below her thighs, and long white stockings that went over her knees. It was summer, and she didn't want to overheat and wear long, uncomfortable pants. Hence the mini-skirt.
Her parents, though, made a rule that if she wore them she had to wear shorts. She understood why, but she didn't like it. The whole point of a mini-skirt was to stop that area from getting all sweaty and gross. At least, that was what her gym teacher said—he even made it a part of the new gym strip, much to her mothers dismay, of which Komaru didn't understand.
Ironically, in an all girls school, most of the teachers were men. She never understood that, though she guessed it was because most teachers in the country were men—at least, in Tokyo, anyway.
But that was beside the point. Right now, she was perfectly content on relaxing in her bedroom, reading Ouran Highschool Host Club for the fifteenth time that year. Personally, she shipped the twins. Not because they were twins but she was pretty sure it was implied that they were in an incestuous relationship anyway.
Her bedroom was standard. Nothing really special was going on in it. She had a bookshelf for her manga, a desk for her school work, a dresser for her clothes, and a bed that she slept on. She had a pink fluffy blanket, and her walls were painted pink and white to contrast her brothers blue walls. She had been in this room since she was an infant, and it hadn't changed since then.
Giggling as she read, tapping her knees together as she read, she felt like she was the protagonist of the book—mostly because the main character was such a nothing character that you could easily put yourself in her shoes. She loved this manga. It was probably the best one that she had ever read out of the whole romance genre. Was it generic? Yes. Did she care? Absolutely not.
She kept it hidden, but she had a body pillow hidden under her bed of Tamaki Suoh. She had bought it with the saved up allowance that her mother had given her throughout the year, and she often slept with it.
Her brother had said she was obsessed. She told him to shove it. Besides, he had a pseudo-girlfriend, meanwhile she was lonely. He could at least let her have that. The jerk.
Just as she was in the middle of reading, her phone next to her began to ring. For a moment, she thought it might've been Kaede calling asking if she wanted to meet up at the local café, seeing as they were well over do for a get together. That, and she was pretty sure that Kaede had a crush on that Shuichi boy from that all boys school across the street.
However, when she put her book down and reached for her phone, she looked at the number that it was displaying, and didn't recognize it. So it couldn't have been Kaede's—she registered it in her phone—meaning it was a stranger. "Maybe someone's finally calling about a babysitting job?" Komaru thought, a tiny shard of hope sparkling in her eyes.
Without thinking, she answered the phone. "Hello? This is Naegi Komaru speaking, how can I help you?"
"Oh! Perfect, I was hoping this number actually worked. All the numbers I was trying haven't worked so far, and it's been really annoying me. Uh, it says here you offer a babysitting service, and you're medically qualified." The voice on the other end sounded young, about her age, if she were to guess.
Komaru didn't want to pry, but why was someone her age calling about a babysitter? An… upsetting thought came to mind that she quickly pushed out of the way. It wasn't any of her business anyway, and she wasn't going to ask questions either. Putting on her best cheery voice, Komaru answered.
"Yup, I sure do! I have a medical certificate, so there's no need to worry about that!"
"Wonderful! Okay, hopefully this isn't too big of an ask, but I have a date with my boyfriend in an hour, and I really need someone to look after my little sister. Our parents died in an accident and no one in my extended family wants to help me. I've been scrambling all afternoon to try and find someone to look after her. I saw your rate, and it's perfect for me, seeing as I've got no job and my income comes from the government. I can pay you up front for the bare minimum two hours, and if it goes over that time, I'll double the pay. Does that sound okay?"
Komaru's eyes widened. First of all, phew, it was a little sister she was looking after and not a baby from a teen mom, crisis averted. Second of all, she felt really bad for this girl. To have to live on your own must suck. And three, she could pay up front the moment she got there and she'd double the pay if it does over two hours? That was wicked!
"That sounds amazing, actually! Um, hold on, let me get a piece of paper and tell me what your address is, and how long I need to be there for," Komaru said, scrambling over to her desk, grabbing a pen and paper, before sighing. She clicked the top of the pen, and got ready to write down the address. "Alright, ready whenever you are."
"Okay. My address is 1-1-6, Shibuya, Tokyo. That would be the MF Aoyama Apartment building, and my apartment is 503—on the fifth floor, and it's the apartment on the left after the first one. Fastest way to get there is by boarding the Monorail and going to Shibuya Crossing. At minimum, you'll be here from 4:30 to 6:30. At most, 4:30 to 8:30, and those last tow hours will be double pay."
Komaru finished writing all of that down, a huge smile on her face. This was awesome! Finally, someone was asking her to babysit! She could finally put that on a resume—assuming things go well, that is.
"Alright, I'm on my way. It'll take me an hour to get there, thank you so much for reaching out!" Komaru said as the girl on the other end laughed.
"No, thank you for taking the offer. I will warn you though, Kotoko—the girl you're babysitting—has trust issues so you'll have to be patient with her, okay?"
"That's no problem."
"Perfect, see you at 4:30!" And then, the phone hung up. As soon as she pulled the phone away from her ear, she practically squealed. She had been waiting for a moment like this, and now she had it! She could prove to her brother that she was responsible!
Not even a second later, her bedroom door swung open, as Makoto stood in her doorway, scaring Komaru as she stumbled backward, nearly falling on her rear.
To describe Makoto was to describe someone who had just come out of a bland and boring school. First, there was his hair, which was dark brown—much like her own—and he had light brown eyes—much like her own. He had pale-tan skin—again, much like her own—and was dressed in a red shirt with a picture of Super Saiya Man on the front and a pair of black shorts.
His hair was messy and all over the place, with a single strand of hair stuck up on the top of his head in the form of a curl—an ahoge, if she remembered what they were called. She was pretty sure she had one too.
"Gah! Makoto! Learn how to knock, damnit! I could've been… doing things, and you woulda been walking in on me!" Komaru shouted as Makoto faltered, his face turning red with embarrassment as he stuttered over his words.
"I-I, um… Well, y-you were screaming and I—"
"Whatever," Komaru grumbled, standing up as she dusted herself off and straightened out her skirt. "I was squealing because I finally got a hit! I've got a babysitting job in Shibuya, and if I don't leave now, I'll be late!" Komaru said, excitement in her voice as Makoto blinked, the blush on his face disappearing as he smiled.
"That's great, Komaru! I'm happy for you," Makoto said as Komaru smiled back.
"'Kay, well, I gotta go! Oh, by the way, good luck on that date of yours with Sayaka~!" Komaru said, running past Makoto as the boy stammered.
"It's not a date! She invited me to her dance practice, that's not a date!" Makoto retorted, but Komaru ignored it. He was hopeless. But, knowing Sayaka, she was pretty sure that she'd rope him in at some point. Sayaka was, after all, a charmer first and foremost. It was weird, because they had become somewhat friends.
Underneath all that idol stuff, Sayaka was just a regular girl with normal asperations and dreams. Well, for an idol, anyway. She wanted to make awesome music, get her name out there and become popular enough to where big-name bands and musicians from out-of-country would work with her. And with her being accepted into Hope's Peak Academy next year as The Ultimate Idol, she'd make that dream come true.
At least, that was what Komaru believed. She had no idea what went on in Maizono's head, though. All Komaru knew was that she was a blushing mess in front of Makoto, and stammered a lot. It was clear that she was head-over-heels for Makoto but Makoto was too dense to notice it.
Rushing out the door, she slipped on her running shoes, grabbed her purse full of medical materials—bandages, polysporin, and a first aid kit—announced to her mother and father that she'd be back by 8:30 at the latest, then ran her way to the monorail station in the city. She was super excited to finally be doing something productive.
It didn't take long, maybe about ten minutes to get the station, and the train ride took less than five minutes to get to Shibuya Crossing. From there, she used her phone to look up the address. It was a thirty minute walk, but if she ran, she'd cut it down by half. By the time she made it to the building, she walked through the front doors and… she wasn't going to lie when she said that it looked rundown.
The lobby was a mess, and that was being generous. The carpet smelt atrocious, as if it hadn't been cleaned in months. The wallpaper was falling off—and it looked ugly to boot. The elevator had an out-of-order sign next to it, and the sign that stated the rules forbade pets! What kind of apartment banned pets?! That was just cruel.
Komaru didn't linger in the lobby for very long, taking the stairs to get to the fifth floor. The further she got away from the lobby, the better smelling the building became. Then again, the floors weren't carpeted, so that was that. The wood was scuffed, though. The people who owned the building clearly didn't care for it, if this was the state it was in.
After making it to the fifth floor, Komaru got to the apartment that she was looking for, and knocked on the door. She waited a couple of seconds, and just as she was about to knock again, the door opened.
Standing in front of her was a very, very pretty girl. Two tone black and pink hair that was split down the middle, emerald green eyes that shined like literal gem stones, white-tan skin that clearly had a lot of make-up on, but well done make-up, and she wore green lipstick to match her eyes.
She was dressed in a black short dress that stopped just at the top of her thighs, and she was wearing black high-heels. The dress was sleeveless—and she knew the brand, too. It was the kind of dress that left the back exposed, so whoever she was seeing today, she had one goal in mind and it was brutally obvious.
"Ah! You must be the babysitter. Nice to meet you! Names Jolyne, thanks for stopping by," The pretty girl—Jolyne—said as Komaru nodded fervently, trying to ignore the burning feeling on her face.
"N-No problem! I'm Naegi Komaru, thank you for trusting me with your sister. I promise I won't let you down," Komaru said, bowing as Jolyne giggled—oh my god it was so cute like did she even know how cute she sounded!
"No, thank you for coming by," Jolyne said as Komaru straightened herself out. "Alright, some ground rules. Kotoko is not allowed to play Dark Souls. Do not let her. She has a habit of throwing the controller at the wall, and Dark Souls is way too hard for her anyway. Do not open the door for anyone. I'll call when I'm on my way home, and I have a key, so I won't knock. I'll just open the door and pay you. Speaking of payment," Jolyne said as she walked over to the counter that Komaru could see in the distance.
She reached into a purse, which she promptly picked up and slung over her shoulder, before pulling out 3,800 yen in bills. Komaru took them and put them in her purse, her smile beaming. "That's for the first two hours. I'll pay you the rest when I get back. You're free to eat whatever's in the cupboards, and no fast food, at all, whatsoever. You got that?"
Komaru mock-saluted. "Understood, ma'am!" Once again, Jolyne giggled before patting Komaru on the shoulder.
"Alright, awesome. Thanks again," Jolyne said before looking over her shoulder and into the apartment. "Okay Kotoko, I'm leaving. Be nice to Komaru-chan, don't give her any problems, please?" And with that, Komaru took a step back to let Jolyne walk past, and she stepped into her apartment, closing the door behind her. She took her shoes off at the indent, then stepped into the apartment true.
The apartment was small, but it was the quaint kind of small. Off to her left kitchenette with a fridge with a bottom freezer, a stove with no oven, a small sink, and a dishwasher. There was a single drawer for utensils, and the rest was all cabinets.
In front of her was a very small living room—about the size of both her and her brothers bedrooms combined—with a loveseat, a small coffee table, and a 24 inch flat screen TV. The TV sat on a cardboard box of all things, and next to the cardboard box was a PlayStation 4—that thing was brand new! She wondered if Jolyne had Dark Souls 2? It came out only five months ago, though, so probably not.
There was a door on the left wall, which after peering into the doorway, she could make out a bedroom. On the right wall there was another door that she assumed was the bathroom, which was closed. She was guessing that whoever this "Kotoko" girl was, was in there, seeing as she wasn't in the living room.
Komaru put her purse on the counter, and began rummaging through it. She pulled out her Nintendo 3DS, which already had Pokémon Y downloaded onto it, walked over to the loveseat, flipped open the device, turned it on, and waited for Kotoko to come out. She had only just started the game—she picked Froakie because Froakie was the cutest one there besides Fennekin—and by the time she exited Santalune Forest, the door behind her closed.
Putting her 3DS down, she looked over her shoulder and saw the girl who she was supposed to be babysitting. Long pink hair that flowed down to the end of her back, pink eyes, pale skin—there was some resemblance to Jolyne in her face, or maybe it was because she was young enough that the default description of "girl" fit both of them so they looked related.
She was short, probably standing about just to the middle of her torso, and her expression read as "why are you in my home, I don't like you even in the slightest" which she half expected. Jolyne had warned her that she had trust issues.
"Hiya, I know Jolyne-chan said that your name was Kotoko, but I'm bad with names. What's your name?" Komaru asked as Kotoko frowned.
"Utsugi. Utsugi Kotoko. Call me Utsugi," Koto—Utsugi, said bluntly. It almost made Komaru recoil. "You like music?" Utsugi asked as Komaru blinked. Sheepishly, Komaru rubbed at the back of her neck.
"U-Uh, only Cherry Pop… You know them?" Komaru asked as Utsugi's eyes widened, sparkling, as if she had said some kind of magic word.
"Wait, for reals?! They're toats adorbs, right?! Their dresses are sparkly, and the led singer is super cute to the max!" Utsugi practically fangirled. Komaru smiled, suddenly feeling a lot better about the situation.
"I know right? Hey, ya wanna know something cool?" Komaru asked as Utsugi titled her head to the side, curious. "What if I told you I'm friends with the lead singer of Cherry Pop?"
Utsugi scoffed. "Lies! Lies I say, you don't know her at all!" To that, Komaru whipped out her phone, scrolled to the photo section, and pulled up a picture she had taken with her in the confides of her home. Utsugi snagged the phone, eyes wide as she stared at the picture. "I-Is that your home?"
"Yup!"
"Is Maizono Sayaka, lead singer of Cherry Pop… In your home?!" Utsugi practically squealed, to which Komaru nodded.
"I told you I know her!"
Kotoko handed Komaru back her phone, before adopting a thinking expression. There was a devious twinkle in her eyes, and then, she smiled. "You know what, this might actually work. I've got an idea…."
[XXXX]
It was official, she hated running in high heels. They sucked, and if it wasn't for the fact that she had amazing balance, she would've probably tripped and ate concrete on three separate occasions. She wanted to look nice for her date, and maybe—just maybe—go over to his place for a little bit of "fun" because, and as embarrassing as it was to admit it, she loved it.
Like, okay, she had known from watching more than a few videos online that it probably felt good, but she didn't expect it to feel that good. It also didn't help that Hajime was huge. She had heard the phrase somewhere on the internet "hung like a horse" and after looking it up and knowing what it meant, that was probably the best way to describe him. At least, in that department, anyway.
Praise over Hajime's "magnum dong" aside, the date in question was just a simple coffee date, a part of her felt as if she had overdressed for the occasion. But, she wanted to look pretty. Mono had gone out of his way to get her the dress, high heels, and make up. Even if Jolyne wasn't a fan of make up, both past and present, it wasn't a bad thing to try and add onto the whole beauty thing.
That, and Kotoko had helped her. She was surprisingly great with make up. Like, to the point where she wondered if she was secretly a beautician. The green lipstick was her idea. She said something to the affect that "lipstick should match the eyes. Makes the colours pop and draws attention to them."
A little dark thought in her head told her that she probably learned from her mother, and there was a disturbing chance that had been the case, but she chose not to think about it like that.
After what felt like running a marathon, she got to the café. It was a small little building, just out of the way enough to where it wasn't noticeable, but there had been a sign pointing out it's existence. It closed in two hours, which was how long she was expecting the date to be.
Entering the café, she was greeted by the smell of pastries and coffee. From the entrance, she could see a litany of deserts ranging from muffins, cookies, slices of cakes, slices of pie, and she could see blueberry coffee cake. She had to hold back drool after seeing that. "She" loved blueberry coffee cake, and she guessed that transferred over to her as well.
Stirring her attention away from the treats and snacks, she looked up at the counter and spotted a semi-familiar face. "Sato?" Jolyne called out as the seaweed green-haired teen blinked upon hearing her name. Finally, the girl seemed to notice Jolyne, purple eyes met green, as Sato flinched.
"Y-You! T-The demon girl!" Sato barked out before covering her mouth, looking around, as if trying to keep it secret. She was lucky no one else was in the café, otherwise Jolyne would've been very annoyed.
"Demon girl? Seriously?" Jolyne said as Sato frowned. Jolyne approached the counter, resting an arm on the counter as Sato looked her up and down, before finally speaking.
"I saw what you did. What the hell was that?" Sato whispered as Jolyne smirked.
"Magic. What else?"
"Magic's real?" Sato balked as Jolyne hummed in acknowledgement.
"Yup. Sure is. You see the news?" Jolyne asked as Sato nodded.
"Yeah, I did. What the hell was that thing?" Sato grumbled. "It looked like something out of a fantasy manga…"
"That was the leader of the group who attacked the school. He… wasn't that big when I first encountered him, though. Nor did he look… like that," Jolyne said as Sato crossed her arms.
"Enough about that. Why are you here dressed like that?" Sato said, a hint of a judging tone in her voice. Jolyne glanced around. Seems like Hajime was running late.
"I'm waiting for Hajime. He's running late, though," Jolyne said as Sato's eyes widened.
"A date? You guys are getting back together?" Sato asked as Jolyne nodded.
"Yup. Though, I don't think we were ever "not together" since amnesia doesn't really count. A couple things remained intact, such as my feelings for him," Jolyne said as Sato hummed in surprise.
"Honestly, Hajime ain't bad. Sure he's a little dull, but he's a keeper," Sato said as Jolyne frowned.
"Whaddya mean "dull", Sato?"
"W-Well he's no Ken Takakura or Yamazaki Kento! He's just… average, I guess. Like, if he walked into a crowd, you wouldn't really be able to pick him apart from the guy next to him," Sato said, a stutter in her voice, clearly afraid of making Jolyne angry. Which, Jolyne wouldn't lie, she kinda was.
But, she'd let it slide. She knew Sato meant no harm in what she said. "That's rude, but whatever," Jolyne said, shrugging. "What he supposedly lacks in looks, he makes up for in bed, so I see no problems with him." As Jolyne said that, she walked away, and judging by the "eep" that Sato made it was clear she had been extremely embarrassed by what Jolyne had said.
Props about having a sex life: You get to brag about it to people who don't.
Taking a seat at one of the first tables in the café, she waited for Hajime to show up. It didn't take him very long to finally show up—about a minute or two. When she laid eyes on him, she hadn't expected him to dress up like she had, but he did.
He wore a button-up black shirt with white buttons, a pair of dress pants, and had a rose pin attached to his upper left lapel. He also brought along a bouquet of flowers—pink roses, to be exact. His hair was brushed back—including that weird ahoge of his, it was now flush with the rest of hair, though it was clear he used gel—not that it particularly mattered.
When he saw her, he smiled, walking over and sitting across from her, his smile never wavering. "For you," Hajime said, handing her the bouquet of flowers. She took them, smiling. They were very pretty. She placed them next to her, making sure they were propped up so that they would've fall out of the wrapping.
"Thanks, Hajime," Jolyne said, looking him up and down. "You look amazing."
"I could say the same about you. I didn't think you'd wear make-up, though," Hajime pointed out as Jolyne shrugged.
"Eh, helps when your little sister knows her way around a make-up brush. Seriously, you wouldn't believe how much she knows. It's crazy," Jolyne said as Hajime nodded, though he was somewhat confused. Jolyne mouthed "Kotoko" which he immediately caught onto.
"Right, I forgot," as Hajime said that, Jolyne sighed.
"I'm sorry. I didn't think to get you anything."
"Well, you're here, so that's all that matters to me," Hajime said as Jolyne blushed. People thought you had to use effort to smooth talk, but sometimes it came to others naturally. Hajime was apparently one of those people. "Um, so… about two nights ago—"
"You don't gotta worry about it," Jolyne quickly cut him off, prompting Hajime to raise an eyebrow.
"You sure? You weren't… uncomfortable? Before, you would always be ashamed of yourself. Though, I guess things are different," Hajime said as Jolyne hummed. Ashamed? Why would she be ashamed? Sex was awesome, and anyone who said otherwise was stupid in her opinion. Though, she guessed some people had different experiences with it.
"Why would I be ashamed?"
"You… had body image issues. You would degrade yourself, and… looking back on it that was probably a sign that I missed that you were miserable. I should've noticed sooner. Maybe then you wouldn't have—"
"Hajime, please. I don't want to talk about it," Jolyne cut him off again, prompting Hajime to stop talking. "Look, what happened in the past stays in the past. What was said back then doesn't apply anymore."
"What happens if you regain your memories?" Hajime asked as Jolyne blinked. She… had never thought about that. What would happen if the original Jolyne tried to take over? Was that even possible, or did Loki erase her completely?
"I'm… pretty sure those memories won't come back."
"What makes you say that?" Hajime questioned. Crap. Maybe she said too much. Internally, she began to panic, thinking of ways to move around the topic, but given Hajime's expression of both curiosity and, what she thought at least, was annoyance, she had to think of something.
"Should I just tell him? About Loki?" Jolyne asked Mono, who responded immediately.
[That is a very bad idea. I do not think that would be advised, Jolyne it's—]
"Completely and totally okay." Loki's voice interrupted Mono, catching both of them off guard, though Jolyne didn't make it noticeable. "Relax, Monotorigonta. Do you really think that I care if my name gets spread around? That's the whole point about being a God. Getting your name out there. I've noticed you've been over policing the poor girl. Let her have a life, man. Besides, it would get boring if she was just fighting things all the time. I like my Patrons to have fun, to live a little. Not to be drones like Ra and Zeus or Zeus's alter ego Jupiter. Why else would I let Lucifer anywhere near her?"
[Very well.]
Jolyne had no idea that Loki could just talk to her at any given time. That was new. Also, for Loki to call out Mono for "over policing her" proved that it wasn't him being strict. It was Mono. It felt extremely cathartic to know that she was right, and Mono was just being a dick the entire time.
Either that, or he was taking orders from someone else. Who that someone was, though, she didn't know. She had an idea, but she didn't know if it was true or not, so she'd keep that one to herself.
"Because…" Jolyne whispered, prompting Hajime to lean in. "You know the guy who I mentioned? The guy who brought me back?" Jolyne said as Hajime nodded. "Well, that guy was Loki. The Trickster God. He took a majority of my memories and erased them. That was the price I had to pay to be brought back to life, among other things."
Hajime leaned back, clearly taken aback. Jolyne couldn't blame him. It wasn't like she enjoyed the fact that she was missing her memories. Both of "her" and her past life. Honestly, having those would make life so much easier. But, of course, life wasn't allowed to be easy.
"That's… a lot," Hajime muttered, blinking as if stunned, before sitting up straight. "You know what… that's fine though. You're still Jolyne. That's all that matters. Memories be damned, I'm not going to stop loving you."
"Good, because otherwise I'd have to punch you," Jolyne joked as Hajime cracked a grin, the seriousness in the air fading away. Seeing an opportunity to steer the conversation away from that line of discussion, she changed topics to something else. "So, Hajime… what kinda dreams ya got locked up in that noggin' of yours?"
Hajime smiled sheepishly. "Well… I know this is sudden, and… I know we're still young so I have no idea if we'll be together after high school… but, since I'm gonna be accepted into Hope's Peak's main course, maybe with the help in training that I'll get and… maybe after I start up a viral career, somehow, I could get enough money to buy a house for us. Somewhere nice and secluded, away from the city…"
That… was really sweet. Like, oh my god if she had a heart it would be melting right about now. She felt a warm glow burn in her chest, and her felt like it was on fire. She covered the lower half of her face with her hand, concealing the blush she had on her cheeks. God, why was he such a dork. She loved it.
"W-Well… Um… I kinda got a similar thing in mind. It's… a little presumptuous, but… Maybe I can help you with your dream…" Jolyne paused, looking into Hajime's eyes, who stared back with a mix of emotions, all of which positive, reaffirming ones.
"I'd love that. But, what's your dream, Jolyne?" Hajime asked as Jolyne broke eye contact, lowering her hand and head as she gripped at the ends of her dress till her knuckles turned white.
"Like I said… most of my memories are gone. But… from what I do remember…. My parents weren't really much of a family," Jolyne said. That was true in the case of "her" parents but she didn't know much of anything about her real family. That had been one of the things that she was annoyed about the most, was that she didn't remember her real family. A mirthless chuckle escaped her lips as a faux smile warped her expression. "I mean, they shipped me off to Japan when I was thirteen, so that should tell you something about how shitty they were…"
"All I've ever wanted was a family. To be loved. So… if it's not too much to ask, maybe… after high school is finished, you could help me fulfill that dream?" Jolyne continued, before looking up at Hajime, her faux smile being replaced with a natural, honest one. Hajime looked taken aback—not because he was offended, but because of something else.
Jolyne knew what she was asking. She was basically asking to marry him in the future. But that was how certain she was that her feelings for him were as ironclad as they had been. "I-I…" He stammered, clearing his throat, taking in what it was she said, registering her words as his eyes narrowed in thought.
Maybe she was asking too much. It was a lot to commit to—to agree to chaining yourself to another person after high school, when there was so much more life to live. Maybe she was being more presumptuous then he was. "I-I mean, you don't have to but—"
That was when Hajime reached under the table, grabbed both of her hands and squeezed, forcing her to look him in his eyes. There was a resolve in his eyes that shook her to her core, and that blush on her face that she had stomped down came back with a vengeance.
"I promise, Jolyne. I will stay by your side. Till death does us part, right?" Hajime said as Jolyne's eyes widened. She went to say something back, when she noticed someone approach them. Before she could say anything, Hajime's eyes widened, and before Jolyne could say anything, the end of a blade was poking out of Hajime's chest.
Hajime spat up blood, before being grabbed by the back of the head, and thrown through the counter, shattering the pastry display. Sato screamed, scrambling over to Hajime's side, and before Jolyne could jump at whoever the fuck stabbed Hajime, she was kicked through several buildings, with each wall that she crashed through doing 100 damage to her.
When she finally came to a stop, she had lost 600 HP, but was rapidly regaining it. Standing up, a figure was standing at the end of the wall that she had been thrown through, and immediately, it sent her blood to the boiling point.
Blue and purple hair, golden yellow eyes, a white dress with silver armour and cross motifs, and a katana that sparked with what Mono identified as Holy Magic. Chinatsu Ouma stalked toward her, eyes narrowed. "I told you I was going to kill you. That back there? That was payback for him shooting me four times," as she said that, she pointed her blade at Jolyne, a menacing glare in her eyes. "You're next."
Jolyne growled, fury colouring her vision. "You bitch…!" Jolyne spat, fury coating her words as Chinatsu smirked. She was enjoying this! That only sent her over the edge. She had thought that maybe, just maybe, that after sparking whatever kind of rivalry that she had hoped to spark in Chinatsu would've delayed her. But, apparently, that wasn't the case.
Now, because of this skank, her boyfriend could be potentially dying in the next room over. And unlike her, he wouldn't be able to properly recover like she could. Depending on where he got stabbed, it could ruin him! That alone made her more angry than she thought possible. "I'm gonna make what happened to your brother look like a fucking accident!" Jolyne roared, and before Chinatsu could say anything else…
Jolyne put both her hands together, interlocking her pinky and ring fingers as her middle and pointer fingers pointed into the air, whilst her thumbs rested in-between her palms. Chinatsu eyed her with confusion, before her eyes widened as Jolyne uttered four words. She guessed that now was as good as enough time as any to try this out.
"DOMAIN EXPANSION: BLACKENED DOMAIN!"
[-To Be Continued-]
[-Outro Song: Paradisus Paradoxum – By: Myth & Roid-]
GET CLIFFHANGERED, BITCH! Yup, bet ya didn't see that one coming, did you? I'm not saying shit so you guys are just gonna have to live in suspense until the next chapter. Now, onto my response to reviews/comments
(Quotev) Sunky Addict: Yeah, Jackson fumbled big time. But, at the same time, I can't have a side character kill one of the two final bosses, right? Now, I wonder if you're regretting wanting more of Chinatsu? Will Hajime survive? You never know with me :)
(Ao3) Shine375: Certified fraud.
(Ao3) JustSomeoneCooler: Yeah, I really shouldn't have mentioned that, should have he?
(Ao3) void_boi1: Like I said to Sunky, couldn't let him kill one of the main villains. Also, yeah, Hajime's gonna be fun to mess around with since I've given him guns. Guns are fun.
(Ao3) fluffycuddlebug: I don't know if you're talking about Junko or Chinatsu, but I'll take it as a compliment for both.
(Ao3) Kolt: Ah, the essay's have returned. I'm glad you pointed out the stupidity of what Jupiter had said, because not even Loki or most of the other Gods agree with it. It's mostly just something that Zeus/Jupiter enforces, and you'll see more of that later. Chinatsu's Heavenly Restriction is the same as Maki's incomplete Heavenly Restriction. She'll get Toji's version later. Assuming she survives her next fight, that is :) Have an awesome day, Kolt!
(Ao3) WilburDrake: So, about the whole "Jolyne and Chinatsu's fight going to be after she completes her mastery dungeon". On a scale of 1 to 10 how stupid do you feel now? Did you really think I was going to set up a fight between the two and wait to let Jolyne get stronger? Ha! You're funny. I've been itching to bash these two at each other since Kokichi got capped, and now I have an excuse. Have a good day, Wilbur.
And that's all from me for now. See you in the next chapter! Peace out.